Chapter Seventeen
The Hunt Begins
Jace Reyaund
And His Haunt
The first part of this was to get to a location where they could watch the subject to make sure it was the right person, and that they could safely get to him without ending up outing themselves.
This wasn’t some run of the mill criminal.
No.
This was a mercenary who blew shit up to kill as many innocent people as he could—and all for money.
There was no doubt that Devon Slater had paid him well to do just that.
For now, surveillance would be the top priority when on the hunt. It could make or break a case as they’d seen many times before.
Only, this was working against them.
How?
First, despite what they told the Blackhawks to calm them down, hunting in the daylight was still incredibly dangerous. They weren’t just playing hide-and-seek with a nut, but they were trying to move around in black tactical gear with people out and about.
The world was awake, and that made it imperative that no one saw them.
Add to that…they were traveling with Elizabeth Blackhawk. No one was on more front pages than her. She stood out like a sore thumb.
An attractive one.
But a sore thumb, none-the-less.
As they were surveilling the joint, Zayn pulled a ski mask from their bag of tricks for her.
“You’re going to have to cover that pretty face or it’s going to be a problem.”
She took the mask without saying a word.
And he didn’t like that.
“What? No snark?” he inquired. “Where’s the sarcasm, and the vitriol?” he asked.
Honestly, she didn’t have anything left in her to be snarky about. Elizabeth felt like someone had stuck a straw in her, and sucked the life from her—all right before disposing her in the trash heap—like one of those kids’ foil pouch drinks.
It was clear someone couldn’t read a room.
“Leave her alone,” Rogue said. “Maybe she doesn’t want to deal with you. God knows we all feel like that most of the time.”
Zayn being Zayn never knew when to leave well enough alone.
“How are we supposed to do this if she’s depressed?” he asked. “We all have to be on our game, and she’s not.”
Gene, also, wasn’t having it.
“Can you shut the fuck up for once?” he said. “Maybe she’s thinking. Maybe she’s plotting your demise. Maybe she just doesn’t want to engage in a conversation with you.”
Zayn stared at him.
Only, she went there.
“I’ve had a rough week,” she stated. “I’ve had to see one of my Marines killed right in front of me.
I wore his brains,” she said softly. “I got the pleasure of seeing a young woman die because the killer took a shot at us and missed. Then, I walked into Caspian’s girlfriend’s home to see her raped, mutilated, and destroyed.
I'm sorry, I’m not up for fun banter,” she stated.
“I still have to rebury my mother and father when I get back because he disturbed their graves and left them for me.”
Oh, Jesus.
That did what it needed to do.
Only, she wasn’t done.
“You don’t have to worry about me being on my game, Zayn. I’m more than ready to burn the fucking world to the ground all around me. Don’t take me being silent as having nothing in the tank. Instead of sarcasm, I’m fueled by pure, unadulterated rage and hate.”
That said it all.
From behind the wheel, Maura looked up at Zayn in the mirror to warn him to back the fuck off. She was with Gene on this one.
Someone needed to shut up.
Only, she didn’t have to do anything. It was clear that the man got it.
Gently, he picked up her hand and spoke to her.
“I know all about what went down. I just don’t know how to deal with this version of you.
Your spiciness is my gauge as to if this is going to be okay or it’s going to Hell.
I’m sorry for your pain this week. I wish there was some way I could make it better.
If you can’t do this, I’ll handle it for you.
We know you’re carrying a lot and are about to break. ”
She looked over.
“The problem is I want to handle it, Zayn. The problem is I want nothing more than to go scorched earth all over his ass. I’m so vengeful now, I knew what was coming.
I had his deceased parents' remains dug up before I had confirmation he even took mine. I had them shipped to a warehouse to destroy in front of him to break what was left of his rotting, dead soul.”
Oh, boy.
Zayn could see he’d been wrong. Also, he was pissed that someone did that to his friend.
Only, before he could say anything, she continued, proving that she wasn’t done.
Not.
Even.
Close.
“That’s where I want to confront him. No matter what we do, I want him alive,” she stated. “That’s condition one for me. Condition two is I need to be the one who ends him because there is no court for him. He’s set this up to destroy my career and legacy if it goes to court. He dies. Period.”
Jagger reached back and patted her leg.
“For what it’s worth, we all understand. We lost Luke, Roxy, and countless friends. We’ve been there. We understand that rage.”
Only, she knew the truth.
Her badge was a boundary from allowing her to go there. This time, that was broken. With that gold badge still with Jet, she was off the leash.
Now posed the question.
Would she be able to pick it up again after she took out the trash?
She wasn’t sure.
What she did know was the weight of taking care of everyone was slowly breaking her.
The Raven was losing her strength.
From his spot beside her, Gene kissed her on the temple as he dropped his arm around her shoulders to give her a place to lean.
He owed her one, for when she’d carried it for him when Javier Hughes was back tormenting Ethan.
For that, and that alone, he’d handle it.
“Elizabeth will not be handling it,” Gene stated. “I will be,” he admitted.
She looked over.
And he stopped her.
“No. If you can’t, I will, Kitten,” he said, using their term of endearment.
“I’m here to help you through this, and to make sure you’re safe.
Vengeance isn’t happening at the cost of your soul.
I will gladly handle it. Maura, make note.
If Elizabeth can’t do this, it falls to me.
I’m her ride or die, and I’ll pull the trigger if need be. ”
The Marine behind the wheel nodded. That was fine with her, and honestly, Elizabeth deserved someone to carry her if she needed it.
“That works for me.”
He placed his lips by her ear.
“My duty as someone married to you and who loves you is to carry you when you can’t keep going. I can see you’re stumbling. Let me help you. Let me carry half the weight. If you need me to do this, I will.”
She squeezed his hand but didn’t go there. All Gene could hope was she’d let him handle it.
A part of him feared she wouldn’t, but time would tell.
Wisely, Jagger changed the subject.
“Since we handled that, let’s talk about how to bring this nut in. Jace Reyaund owns this BIG piece of property. The cabin is a mile back and likely protected.”
They all listened as Maura drove, scoping out the area.
“If we’re lucky, he’s asleep. If we’re not, the shit is about to get wild. What intel we have states that he likes a tripwire, and he isn’t above tick-tick-booms to stay safe. Assume he’s a paranoid anti-government nut who likes making sure if the Feds come knocking, it’s the last thing they do.”
Elizabeth was curious.
“Are we sure it’s him?”
He nodded and shared with her what he’d said to Gene earlier.
“Pretty much. The Underground ratted him out, and the information sent to us by MATE regarding what you found as the incendiary device matches his MO. He’s a bad dude, regardless.
He blew up a school bus full of children in order to take out one kid.
He absolutely would love to kill Feds and anyone else. ”
Gene didn’t like that.
Not.
At.
All.
Hearing that little tidbit, that they’d not told him earlier, pissed him off.
“He’s a kid killer?” he asked, angrily.
Jagger nodded.
“Yeah, and he is happy to brag about that. Even if he’s not the one, he deserves to be the one. Either way, we’re doing the world a favor. Out with the pedos, out with the child killers, and out with the trash. That’s Mikey O’s fucking motto.”
That was a good point.
It shouldn’t just be a mob man’s opinion. It should be EVERYONE’S motto.
Jagger continued updating them, as they were scanning the woods to see if this was a good time to move on him. They could only drive around for a little while before they raised suspicion.
“What we know is he’s a French National who never left here after getting his degree at MIT. So, he’s not dumb. He’ll be careful with cameras and protection.”
Zayn knew what that meant.
“We’re going to have to use tech to get past his tech, and hope that he’s not familiar with it. If his tech is better than CIA goods, we’re fucked seven ways to Sunday without lube, my friends.”
Yeah, unfortunately.
Darkness would have been a little better when it came to him, but you did what you had to do. Word on the street was that he was heading out of the US to handle some jobs in Lebanon.
They had to move at him first.
Elizabeth knew what that meant. If they wanted good tech, they’d use the best.
“MATE.”
She appeared in the seat behind them.
Predictably, that made Zayn sigh.
“Here, I thought we’d have a mission without her,” he stated. “Who invited the spook?”
MATE smiled at him.
“Your momma.”
At her answer, he just flipped her off.
“I think this is my fault. I wanted sass from the pretty one, not the computer one. Also, we need to stop teaching her shit,” Zayn said. “She’s annoying.”
MATE went to say something, but Elizabeth stopped her.
“Later, MATE. I need you to go offline with everyone else. If they ask for updates, you’re not to give them anything, and no tracking us. Ivan is about to start hovering. I can feel it in Zayn’s balls.”
He laughed.
“I mean, they are big enough to share. You want the left or right one?”
Maura pointed at him in the mirror like she would a dog who was about to take a shit on the carpet.
“NO.”
That made him laugh even more.