Cord SEAL Team Seven (Book 5) (15 page)

Lo motioned to me with his head and he and the others moved out of the kitchen headed for the backyard. I walked over to her chair. Someone had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders to help with the shakes. Taking her little face in my hands I studied her eyes; shock, but nothing we can’t handle.

I whispered words of comfort in her ear until I was sure she was going to be okay. “I’m right outside if you need me Gem. All you have to do if you get scared is call out and I’ll be right here.” I kissed her lips once before getting to my feet.

I hated leaving her again knowing that she was still scared and needed my reassurance, but it was imperative that we got in front of this shit before it went any farther. The fuckers had upped the ante this time. They’d thrown down the gauntlet. With one last pass of my palm against her soft cheek I left the house to go meet with my brothers in the yard out of range of the women.

***

“Quinn, what did you find?” I had no doubt that my brother had already used the IDs that we’d lifted off the humps to get started, and I wasn’t disappointed.

“Either they’re getting nervous or they’ve run out of enlisted assholes to forfeit. These two are ex cons with no military record that I could find. The one in the hallway went up for five to ten for armed robbery; he’s only been out three months. The other one did twenty for second-degree murder. Both from out of town.”

I took it all in while I seethed. “You know-I’ve held my cool for the last few months while these fucks ran rough shod over my family, but this is it. They want a war, well they’ve got one.” Didn’t we have this conversation just this morning? I felt like I was repeating myself, but this time no one was talking me down, I’d made up my mind.

“Cord…”

“Fuck that Lo, no more waiting around, these fuckers aren’t waiting. He had his fucking hands around her throat.” The memory of it made me seethe. That was not supposed to fucking happen, not on my watch. I should’ve peeled the skin from his fucking body and staked him out in the sun.

“He put hands on what’s mine and some son of a bitch is right this minute sitting around somewhere waiting for the phone call telling him that she’s done. That’s the fucker I want, I want that motherfucker’s blood in my teeth. Enough of this back and forth bullshit with their fucking lackeys that’s it.”

My voice rose with each syllable but I didn’t give a fuck. If I could, I would walk into the desert and end this fuck with my bare hands, then head to Washington and finish off the deceitful fucks who hid behind their diplomacy there.

“Aw damn, that boy done popped his leash.” I ignored Tyler’s ass. I’m pretty sure they all felt the same, but because we’d been trained to obey orders we were trying to do things the way the old man would’ve wanted, especially with the people who were involved. But I’m thinking they gave up their rights to any consideration from us when they started this. Fuck them.

No one said anything for the longest but I knew it wouldn’t end there. I knew Logan well enough to know how his head works. What he should know and understand, was that the second they went after her, the game would change.

“You think we don’t all want the same thing? You think I haven’t thought of heading down to that base and blowing the fuck away? But we still don’t know everything. Until we have all the info we hold the line. We’ve already started. Just yesterday we were making strides. Let’s get what we need before we go in blind or we’re all fucked.”

I heard every word coming out of his mouth, but I was done. It’s all I could do since we got back from Law’s a few weeks ago not to go Rambo on their asses. Seeing her in that fucking flesh book had upped the stakes big time, but this, this shit said they didn’t give a fuck and for some fucked up reason they thought we did. And so far we’ve been letting them get away with it.

Either they had no idea what we really were, which because of the secrecy surrounding our missions could be true. Or they thought they had the clout to back their plays. Either way they were about to see what I’m really made of.

“I’m beginning to think Lyon has the right idea.” He didn’t want to wait around with his thumb up his ass either. It hadn’t been confirmed but we all pretty much knew he’d offed the Porters’ son for fucking with his woman. I for one wouldn’t be too broken up if he offed the rest of the family since they all seemed to be twisted fucks.

“Don’t let’s all go crazy now.” I didn’t think that I could possibly find humor in anything in this situation, but Lo’s reaction to Lyon is downright hilarious. Our fearless leader for all his bravado is a by the book tyrant. Someone like Lyon who sincerely doesn’t give a fuck and seems more like a throwback to the Wild West than a Hell’s Angel, was a bit much for him to handle. Though it was obvious he had lots of respect for the other man.

“You said they were from out of town, where exactly?” I needed that string to tug on to see if maybe I could learn exactly who gave the order for this particular job. Either they knew she was mine and was coming at me, or they knew she was the old man’s kid. It was obvious from the way the asshole had been throttling her that they had been there to kill, so it wasn’t a snatch and run for their other sick fucking purposes.

“Virginia.” Quinn dropped the word into the silence.

“Langley?” My gut gave a lurch at the unconfirmed thought. Because of who we were and the shit we’d seen and done while in service to our country, I knew the fucking spooks were dirtier than half the leaders of most third world countries, and those fucks are entrenched in filth.

Behind, beneath and beyond every drug trafficking, human trafficking ring, and some of your more high collar crimes, the fucking spooks could be found lurking. “We don’t know that for sure and we haven’t had time to check it out as yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised.” Con sounded way too cool so I knew he was about to pop his leash any minute now too.

“If the fucking spooks are part of this, which I’m pretty sure we all knew was coming, then we’d better up our fucking game.” I think subconsciously we all knew that an operation this big, with all these pockets, had to have something like the agency behind it. Especially since it would appear that some very high-ranking military personnel were involved.

It was the only thing that made sense. The shit had been going on for years and no one had ever heard so much as a whisper about it. The more we uncovered the more shit we stepped in. But Lo was right, there were still a lot of unanswered questions, and we all know those can lead to a shitload of problems.

So far the enemy seemed to have all the answers, while we were walking blind. I don’t like those odds. “Why the fuck are they scraping the bottom of the barrel? Don’t they have enough enlisted men to do their dirty work without hiring ex-cons?”

“We sure those IDs are legit Quinn?”

“Yep, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a cover. I’ll know more once I do a deep search.”

“Mancini. Somehow I think he might be able to get us those answers.” Logan folded his arms and looked back towards the water where Ty and I had left the bodies.

“I’ll get the prints off the IDs, did you toss the bodies Cord?”

“Yeah, they weren’t carrying anything else on them, which now that I think of it is passing strange. Who the fuck goes to do a job with their ID on them?”

“Not unless they’re fuck stupid. I’m done this is it. They keep coming after our women for some fucked up reason. Why not us? No one has made a move against us so far. So I gotta wonder just what the fuck is going on here anyway.”

Zak it seems had come to the same realization I had. We’d looked into the old man, had even started looking back at some of our old Ops. We’ve never harmed women or children so if the Fox was the one running this show, he could not be after us because we’d hurt one of his or some fuck.

If the man we’d come to know was out for blood, he would’ve come after us on his turf. But then again how well can you really know a cowardly fuck that hides behind his people?

“So you’re saying the one common denominator here is the girls. Why?”

“I don’t get it either Dev, it makes no sense. How could they know we were gonna come here and settle down? How could they know Susie was gonna be mine? She was in that book long before we met.”

“Yes, but she was the only one of ours that was in there. They never came after Dani and Gaby until after they hooked up with us.”

“That’s true Connor, and Khalil went after Vanessa when she was in the service, but only after her and I had hooked up.”

“Don’t forget Law’s and Creed’s, and now we know they went after Khalil as well.” Logan reminded us of something we’d overlooked.

“So it’s our women, ‘Our’ women, but why? We never killed any women or children when we went after that fuck, so what’s he up to?” I can’t believe we missed it. All this time we thought the only reason the girls had been in danger was because of their association with us. That it was my brothers and I they were really after. But what if they were the targets all along? And if so, why?

“Why would The Fox go after women? If this thing was about us running him to ground and destroying his operation, why not just try to destroy us, why them? This doesn’t sit right. We’re missing something I just don’t know what the fuck that can be. But I’m no longer willing to sit around trying to figure it out while they take shots at us.”

“Okay, the embezzlement thing with Dani’s firm, we’re agreed that was a separate issue.”

“Or a coincidence Logan. I didn’t know her and she wasn’t that close to the commander. If what Cord is saying is true, then they knew that Susie was the commander’s kid. How they know is yet to be seen, but they know.”

“And what? They’re trying to kill our women because we went after Khalil? That still makes no sense.”

“Well Dev, we’re just gonna have to connect the dots because that’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

The more we stood there trying to figure shit out, the more I wanted to go be with my woman. I needed to feel her next to me, to reassure myself that she was okay. I hadn’t even had a chance to look at her neck, fuck. Just as I was about to leave Lo’s phone rang.

CORD

***

“I
see you left us a little present, next time the girl won’t be so lucky.” Lo had the speaker on so I heard that fuck loud and clear. “Cord…” I held my hand up to stop him from saying anything else. My temper was up a few notches and there was no outlet. That’s a dangerous fucking thing.

“You have the trace on?” He nodded yes and followed as I headed for the commander’s place. “Let’s see who our caller is.” The fucking call hadn’t been long enough, no trace and the voice didn’t sound familiar.

“I’m taking point on this one Lo, I’m not gonna argue with you about it.” My phone rang this time before all hell could break loose. “Yeah.” Lo was still giving me the look that meant this wasn’t over but for once I was willing to bear his wrath.

“This is Susie and Davie’s mother, where are my children, what happened to them?” I barely bit back the words of anger that burned a hole in my tongue. “They’re here, with me.”

“Why, I thought I made it clear that I wanted them home with me.”

“Really, where were you when your daughter was almost strangled in her fucking bed? You wanted them home but couldn’t even spare one night of your busy fucking life?” The others moved forward, each man ready to cut me off, but the shit needed to be said.

“Give me the phone brother.” My hands shook in anger as Con took the phone out of my hand. I walked away because I had no interest in anything she had to say. Con got off the phone a few minutes later with a heavy sigh. “Cord…”

“She’s not going back there.”

“For fuck sake Cord they’re her kids.”

“I really don’t give a fuck Lo, and the first one to get in my way on this is gonna land on their ass.”

“Okay-okay, let’s throttle back everyone and remember we’re all on the same team.” Zak stepped in between us.

“I know you’re not gonna let her go back and she’s of age but what about the boy? He’s still under his mother’s care.” Lo posed the question that I was sure we all already knew the answer to. He was the old man’s blood, no way any of us were gonna put him in danger.

“He stays.”

“And the mother?” He lifted his brow at me.

“She has a lot of explaining to do, but either way they’re not going back there.”

“I told her there was a situation but that the kids are okay and we’ll keep them here for now. I made it sound like a break-in. She’s naturally upset, and I offered to come get her and keep her here if she was afraid to stay in the house, but she said she has a place to go. She’s one strange woman. I thought for sure she’d put up more of a fight, but she just said to keep the kids safe and hung up the phone.” Cord shook his head as he passed the phone back to me.

We’d been trying for weeks to pin her down to get some answers but she kept evading us. We all knew the kind of man the CO was and there was no way he would’ve left his kids unprotected and unclaimed.

So far none of the notes we found had said much of anything about the situation, except for that one entry where he mentioned a suspicion that the two kids might be his. I wasn’t sure how that shit worked since they were a few years apart, and I’m thinking if she pulled it off once how in the fuck had she fooled the CO twice?

No one could come up with an explanation for that one, and we still haven’t told them that the man they knew and loved as a friend was actually their dad. We’re still waiting for the right time to make that play.

In all the time her kids have been coming over she never once set foot over here to see what kind of people we were and we’d seen her a total of two times. Granted Susie was of legal age, barely, but still. That shit gave me the impression that she was neglectful at best and I didn’t even want to think about the worse.

“If she cared she’d have been there tonight.”

“Cord, you can’t blame her for having a life.”

“I give a fuck about her life. I want some answers. I’m tired of feeling like a puppet on a fucking string, dancing to the beat of someone else’s drum. Since we settled here shit has been fucked up. Now this, this shit has crossed the fucking line once too often. I’m gonna do what I gotta do to keep her safe, no one is getting near her again, I’ll level this fuck first.”

I guess he knew I’d reached my limit because all I got was the ‘look’. My brothers and I have the utmost respect for one another, especially Lo. He led our Ops when we were deployed and never once led us wrong.

Since coming home for the last time things had stayed pretty much the same, why mess with a good thing right? But we each had our own minds and could face whatever came on our own if need be. We liked the familiar feel of our little group; it works for us. But I have no problem what-so-fucking-ever breaking rank for her.

“I know one thing, if what you’re thinking is right, and it’s really the women they’re after, then we’ve got to take them all out because they’ll never stop. Not if Khalil is running the show.”

“I’m with Dev on that. We’ve got four pregnant women and a baby to take care of. If our women are being targeted it doesn’t matter the reason. We know enough to move I say we move.” That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard all night, trust it to be Con saying it. Ty hadn’t said much of anything still, and Zak and Quinn were still playing with their gadgets.

“Fine, but we still can’t go up against these fucks with our dicks in our hands. We need information and we can’t go through our usual channels because we don’t know who the fuck to trust except for the men in this room.” I should’ve known it wouldn’t take long for Logan to come around.

“Yeah, but now we have someone else that can get it for us and him we’ve all agreed we can trust.” Quinn waved his phone and we all knew whom he was talking about.

“Call him.” Lo gave the order and Quinn fired up the secure SAT phone. Mancini answered on the second ring. “Don’t you boys sleep? It’s like three in the morning over there.”

“You stateside?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Always the hardass, look we have a situation here. They went after Cord’s girl tonight. We got two names, supposed to be ex-cons but that’s looking kinda fishy.”

“You got prints, faces?”

“Both.”

“Send them through to this number I’ll call you back in five.” He rattled off a number and hung up.

“We wait.” I checked my watch. Three hours since this whole thing started. I wonder how my Gem is doing? Is she still scared? Shit, I didn’t tell her we were leaving the yard. I went to the window and looked up and over to my place.

Everything looked quiet over there so I guess she was okay. She’d know that I was trying to take care of shit, she’d understand. That didn’t make me feel any better about leaving her so soon after she’d had a scare.

The phone rang three minutes later. I grabbed it before anyone else could. “What you got?”

“Go to video.” I switched from audio and his face came on the screen. Who the fuck is dressed in formal wear at three in the fucking morning?

“You got this off the guys that came after your girl?”

“Yeah why?”

“And you’re sure these were the only prints on there?” I looked at Quinn for confirmation. “Yeah.”

“Oh shit. I was gonna put this off for another few days but it looks like I’m gonna have to make that trip sooner. I’ll be there in the morning, make that the next few hours since it’s already morning there.”

“Why what’s going on, who are they?”

“Special detail for the one you call the fuck up. He inherited them when he got voted out of sixteen hundred Pennsylvania.”

The room went dead quiet as we took it in. “What about the fake IDs, who are they?”

“They’ll be dead by now, I doubt they have anything to do with this. They were chosen because of who they were and because they were dispensable. You’re gonna need to call Masters and Summers in on this one. You boys gave them an assignment didn’t you?”

“How the fuck do you know that Mancini?” The fucker smirked, twisted fuck. “I know lots of things. Make the call, I’ll be there soon.” The screen went dark and he was gone.

“Well at least now we know who’s running things on this end. I wonder who made the first move, him or the Fox?”

“Does it matter Lo? A dirty fuck is a dirty fuck. What we need to decide is if we’re gonna kill this fucker or expose him.”

“Kill him, he’s not serving no fucking purpose, evil fuck.” Who didn’t know that that would be Ty’s answer?

“Tyler don’t you start. Cord you asked to take point on this one, what’s our next move?” That was Logan’s way of passing the torch. I’d asked for it, but I wasn’t sure that they’d all be on board for what I had in mind.

It’s one thing to destroy the enemy behind enemy lines, but we were talking about taking down an ex president, a state senator and a decorated general, and that was only the ones we knew of so far. I’m sure by the time we get to the bottom of this they will be even more high officials on the list.

“I want to find everyone involved and end them. I want the world to know what these men have done. But first, I want to find a way to get at their finances and use it to help out our brothers and sisters who don’t have a pot to piss in after sacrificing life and limb for their country.”

“Okay, we’re all tired now, and Cord you’ve been going back and forth to that window every minute for the last half hour. What say we come at this fresh in a couple hours? Mancini should be here by then. I’m not even gonna ask how that fuck knows where we live.”

We broke out and my brothers headed to my house to get their women. “It’s a given we don’t tell them about this. They’re gonna ask, but we play this shit down as best we can. No matter what, we shield them.” Lo said, as we got close.

“Agreed.” Each man agreed to keep things as they had been. Of course the women knew something was up. They’d been chased on the beach, one had been attacked and left damn near dead, and another had been kidnapped in the desert for the purpose of being raped by a madman. The only question was had they put it all together yet? Heaven help us when they do.