Chapter Thirteen #3
“Too many things to recount. Dubai, Whit, and Alanna with an idea which is making me question everything. Do you remember when I joined the Marines?” He didn’t usually bring this up because she had encouraged and helped him, then when her son had wanted the same thing, she’d signed his paperwork and supported him all the way, too. And now that much-loved son was dead.
“You were angry, struggling for purpose, and not wanting to go the direction of either your parents or your grandfather. I remember the talk.”
“I don’t regret the choice, Elizabeth. I was thankful I had you to talk straight to me.”
She stayed silent, then asked what he expected. “Do you need me to talk straight to you?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure what I expect to hear.”
Elizabeth was raised on one of the oldest ranches in California where horse manure was horse manure, and she didn’t mince words. “I like her, Quaid. She’s smart and dedicated, and isn’t the type who quits easily. Those are the three things I’d ask for you to find in someone you care about.”
That Elizabeth figured out he cared deeply about Alanna didn’t surprise him in the least. “She wants me to make a choice to support her professionally, and I’m stuck in hell no. This is personal. I’m losing objectivity.”
“She wants you to use her to draw out this maniac, and you want to protect.”
“How did you guess?”
“I sat in on a briefing in Operations during the night. I don’t usually stick my nose in there, but I had an extended conversation with Zephren about you and QM.”
“What about me and QM?”
“He expected you to tinker with this business and drop it like you did the Marines and the CIA.”
“I almost died in the CIA, Elizabeth. War is dirty, and so is spying, and so is killing people. Redemption isn’t simple.
My service and those lasting nightmares changed my perspective of duty and country.
I practice those ideals in a safer place now.
Besides, that career introduced me to a circle of people I trust implicitly, which is more than I get from my family. What did you tell him?”
“I asked him how it felt out there in the cold. That if he wanted to come in, he should get his ass to San Diego and observe firsthand what you’ve built.”
“What we’ve built.”
“What we’ve built. This company has layers of integrity woven into its core strengths, and we’re strong financially because we’ve been smart and future-oriented in everything we’re doing.
That’s you and Mackey, with Harrison and I, putting this company on the radar of every corporate and government entity who needs our assistance.
He needs to analyze those connections, and until he does, ignore him and your parents. But back to Alanna. What’s your take?”
“This man is dangerous.”
“Agreed. But so is every employee of this company, minus me and Celissa. Even Cait has more grit than I do – the Navy SEAL influence.”
“And a humanitarian mission gone awry.”
“That, too. I wouldn’t want to be in a dark alley with you or Mackey or Bailey, or Remy, etc. etc. You are all a threat. Alanna is holding her own.”
“She is.”
“Trust that. Help her. Don’t hinder her. Enough said?”
“Yeah. I have to go talk to Cait and Hunt. Oh, and Elizabeth, lock down. Tell Mac to move us to the next security level until we find this motherfucker.”
“Now you’re talking.”
“QM, your house, Safe Harbor, my house. The whole thing. Alert everyone to go into ambush mode at home and at work. I am not trusting this guy to not try a missile through the front door.”
Elizabeth hissed. “You’re not kidding.”
“No, I’m not. I cannot tell you what it did to me at the LA Patton to have Alanna crash through that plateglass window and land in front of me with blood all over her. Let’s not do that again. To anybody.”
“Copy. I’ll pass that along.”
“Pass this along, too. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Go talk this out with your girl.”
Dealing with Alanna professionally as an FBI agent, his partner, an equal – piece of cake.
Dealing with her personally and emotionally – minefield.
He had to proceed very carefully with steps he wasn’t even sure about.
Fragile wrapped in toughness was a challenge.
Thank God he hadn’t overreacted to her suggestion.
It would not be a way to open the door to making her his.
&&&&&&&&&&
QM International Flash Alert: 09:00:00 PST 12/20 – San Diego HQ. All divisions elevate to Security Level 4. Facility identification required for entry. Restrict access to authorized personnel. ?
Quaid left home after a stern lecture from Niles and an exasperated exchange with Braun.
He kept his gun handy, watched carefully for tails, and knew damn well he was alone without cover.
He drove a QM SUV, and the tracking on the vehicle would mean Mackey would be calling shortly with a what-the-fuck comment. He went anyway.
Alanna was summoned to the San Diego FBI Field Office to meet with Ryker, and Quaid assigned both Conners and Tane to take her.
She couldn’t contain her exasperation after their short, fierce argument about it, but he was playing the odds Mercer wouldn’t come at him on the freeway.
Alanna was another story so needed more cover.
Wait until she got to her headquarters and found another team there, too.
On his end, Hunt and Cait were home. If you wanted to attack him with a Navy SEAL in the house, you’d be dead in the time it took to have the thought.
Hunt put up with no threats in his home space.
He expected when he told his friend what Alanna guessed, he would want a one-on-one explanation of what they suspected about Mercer’s movements, and it wasn’t a conversation for text messages.
Hunt would want all the threat details personally, and, as much as he loved Elizabeth, he needed advice from Cait.
She, with her wartime injury, would be honest with him about panic triggers, hyper-vigilance, fear of stability – all things Alanna fought and didn’t talk about.
If Alanna even suspected he’d figured those out, she’d withdraw.
They were waiting on the porch. Hunt held Cait’s hand, a common sight. Both had coffee mugs. Relationship goals right there. Hunt was in jeans and a gray t-shirt, the casual clothes again raised flags. Cait was still in blue scrubs, but her shoes were off with her legs stretched out on the steps.
He got out of the SUV and kept a slow pace to the steps. No hurry translated to not urgent. Right?
“We already got the security upgrade notice from Operations. Are you here to tell us why?” The friendly tilt of Cait’s head delivered what he knew to be false assurance.
Quaid eyed her face, saw a flash in her eyes, and silently swore.
Threats were her nemesis. Afghanistan had not been friendly to any of them.
Hunt killed terrorists on seven continents for a living.
His face was impassive and harder to read.
He sat on a step beneath them. The smell of roses and lavender should have been comforting, along with the rolling green grass, shrubs, and quiet neighborhood with Christmas lights blinking, but he was past easy solutions to his stress.
“In-depth conversation with Alanna this morning. Ever talk specifics with a profiler?”
Cait raised a brow. “Can’t say I have.”
Hunt stayed quiet.
“So here it is. Keep in mind we have no proof, but he may have followed us right to your doorstep, knew where we were the whole time, the Uber, the Coronado Patton, and continued tracking us all the way to the LA Patton. We never saw him. But the threat was active, and it may not be probable, but it’s possible. ”
Hunt rose to his feet. “Lucky for you I already upgraded the security here. But why upgrade QM’s now?”
“It costs us nothing, gains some time for us to execute what Alanna wants to do next.”
“Which is? Bait?” Hunt thinking two steps ahead didn’t surprise him.