Mercenary Trust (8 page)

In contrast, Cece was struggling, trying to fight back
but being woefully unable to do anything except make her captors angry. A
twig-like woman could only do so much against masked assailants wearing combat
gear from head to toe. Nick ran forward, bursting from where he was to try to
catch up with Cece and her assailants. He skidded above a car, covering the
lower half of his face with his shirt, and then running up to one of the men
who was aiming his rifle right at Daniel like some sort of descending plague.
Just as the man turned to aim his rifle at Nick, he swerved to the right to
avoid being aimed at and swiftly kicked the man over the side of the head,
making him fall to the ground. Daniel tried to look at what was happening, but
it was all so quick. A slam of the heel of Nick’s palm into the man’s chest,
and it was only when the attacker realized he wasn’t going to win, even though
he had a gun, that the fight ended and he half-ran, half-dragged his body into
the van that Nick even stopped.

The door to the van was closed, and as the sound of
skidding tires echoed in Daniel’s mind, he watched as the smoke dissipated, and
the only thing that remained of what happened were the two canisters of smoke
slowly coming to a halt, and the already-used grenade in front of their car.

The sun slowly set in the horizon, and the bright red
rays of light were just enough to highlight the chaos that was ensuing all
around them.

Whoever was doing this was definitely not subtle, and
they definitely didn’t care about the chaos that was ensuing. There were people
running around the street, into buildings just to get out of the way,
especially after they’d heard the gunshot from earlier.

Daniel wouldn’t be surprised if this made the nightly
news, or a local news bulletin.

One thing stood out in Daniel’s brain, however, and it
was a doozy.

He’d just borne witness to his best friend getting
kidnapped.

Holy shit.

Chapter Six

When Nick burst through the doors of the brownstone,
it seemed everyone was already in panic mode. There was a flurry of activity.
Part of it was because of the man standing in the middle of the kitchen with
his hands behind his back, and part of it was because it seemed like the
kitchen had turned into some kind of miniature base of operations. It was a far
cry from the idyllic scene of this morning.

There was a single person with his own laptop, a
tablet to his side, and a headset he was wearing, whispering loudly into the
microphone and shaking his head. He also had a shock of bright pink hair, the
kind that was very noticeably
artificial considering he looked like a baby. Frost was in one end of
the room, talking loudly into his phone. Guillory had a tablet he was tapping
on, presumably trying to help. Lockhart was obviously
trying to look busy, but wasn’t really doing anything.
Nick saw satellite imagery plastered on one of the screens.

Captain James Hennessey was an observant man. Quiet,
with a silent charisma that let people gravitate around him, the captain was a
man of few words, but plenty of action. Those steely blue eyes had seen a lot
in his day. Even though he was only in his mid-forties, he’d seen a lot of crap
in the world, things that made people sometimes lose their faith in humanity.
The stress of the job seemed like it had aged him a little bit, giving him a
sprinkling of salt-and-pepper in his hair.

He’d fought his way from a mere grunt up to where he
was now, and he had the battle scars to prove it. James Hennessey was a large
man, and in a room filled with the men of the unit, he still stood out with his
imposing presence. That strength of character, along with his own combat
capabilities and sheer professionalism, was why he now directly supervised Unit
Alpha and served to liaise with whatever government agency needed the Unit’s
help at the time.

Nick’s hand grasped Daniel’s tightly as they walked.
After what had just happened, the young man was quiet. Very quiet.

Considering how much he’d talked earlier, Nick was
taking Daniel’s silence as a bad thing.

“
Castillo,” James called out. “Glad you could make it. Where’s Dr.
Savard?”

“
Bad news, Captain. She was taken. She took the flash drive with her when
we were exiting their apartment. I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you sooner.” Nick
did, however, pull out the flash drive from his pocket. “This is the flash
drive.”

James shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. You did
the right thing getting the civilians out. It’s unfortunate that she’s been
taken, but we’ll do our best to find her.”

The captain then motioned for the man on his laptop,
who stood up lazily and ambled toward them, holding up his hand to get the
flash drive. “This is Evan Turner. He’s an expert in IT and your comm guy for
this mission.”

“’
Sup.” Evan nodded his head, gave a little salute to Nick, adjusted his
thick-framed glasses, and went right back to his computer while opening up a
can of soda and slurping quite loudly. He pushed the little gadget into his
computer. “Yes, I know that, but if you want to get the password to the server,
you—” He shook his head and tapped on a button on his headset before throwing
it aside. “Idiot.”

The captain rolled his eyes. “He’s not one of our guys,
that’s for sure,” James muttered underneath his breath.

Nick stifled a grin and placed his arms behind his
back, standing at ease. It was a force of habit. After all, the man in front of
him was his commanding officer. “If at all possible, I’d like to be the one to
take on that mission. Maybe I can take Lockhart and Guillory with me. With your
leave, of course.”

James crossed his arms, grimly regarding Nick. Those
eyes flickered, and Nick could tell James was probably thinking a million
thoughts a minute. “Understood,” he said after a few moments. “I can see why
back-up would be necessary. We don’t know exactly what we’re up against. I’ll
tell Lockhart to postpone his mission so you can have both him and Frost on
standby just in case.”

“
Thank you, Captain.” Nick said. The corners of James’s lips quirked
upwards in a half-grin.

“
You’re welcome, Castillo. I’m sure Lockhart will be cashing in on that
favor for his mission as soon as things wind down. We’re committing quite a bit
of resources on this. You can imagine why.”

Nick nodded. He definitely could. Incidents like this
happened regularly enough that there was even a protocol about it. When shit
hit the fan, Nick knew it was time to get serious.

Daniel, however, with his lack of knowledge, finally
turned up from staring at his navel in what Nick could only guess was a mixture
of shock and panic, and uttered a soft, weak, “Why is this, exactly?”

It made Nick slowly turn back towards Daniel and place
a hand against his lower back.

Daniel turned back up to Nick and gave a slight smile.
Shit.
Nick had forgotten Daniel was a
civilian. He hadn’t been debriefed, he hadn’t been talked to or calmed down,
and in the past hour since sunset, Daniel had been very, very quiet.

“
Ah. You must be Daniel Walsh. I’m Captain Jack Hennessey.” Jack extended
his arm, grabbed Daniel’s hand and shook it firmly. “I apologize for the
whirlwind of activity here. But going back to your question, being Dr. Savard’s
best friend, has she never told you about her father?”

Daniel blinked. “Well, she’s told me he’s a Senator.
They don’t have the best of relationships, though.”

“
Well, it’s true. Dr. Savard is the daughter of Senator
Savard,
who is not only a
prominent member of the Senate, but a very vocal person who has a lot of pull
with the media.”

“
I suppose that’s where Cece gets her headstrong nature from,” Daniel
muttered underneath his breath, but then he turned to Captain Hennessey and
nodded. “But please, go on.”
“
If any of the news outlets caught a whiff of something
like this happening to his daughter, there’s the distinct possibility this
might all become a media circus. Not to mention the fact that Dr. Savard is the
only one who has caught sight of a very pivotal, potentially damning piece of
evidence against Langham and Durr, and you have a very volatile case.”

“
You mean the flash drive,” Daniel said. Captain Hennessey nodded. “What
exactly is up with that company?”

“
I’m afraid that’s classified information, Daniel. But all I can tell you
is that there are things that go on among its leadership that really shouldn’t
be going on,” Captain Jack replied, frowning. “I know it can be a little bit
difficult to figure out what’s right or left right now, but I hope you’ll trust
us for now, and trust that what we’re doing is to keep you safe.”

Daniel absently turned to look at Nick, who returned
the gaze with a questioning expression of his own. “Then Nick’s not just an
ex-Marine, is he?”

“
No, I’m not,” Nick said almost as soon as the captain turned toward him.

“
Technically, Nick used to be a part of the Marines, yes. But he also
happens to be a part of Unit Alpha. I guess you could call them mercenaries,”
the captain said, gesturing to the entire room and the men around, some of whom
raised a hand in awkward greeting to Daniel.

It would have been more impressive if they weren’t
standing in the middle of a kitchen, and there was an empty pool right behind
the large, full-wall windows that showed the entirety of the backyard. Also,
maybe if they were in camo, or Kevlar, and not just casual wear.

A moment of silence passed them by. The captain was
still offering that ever-polite smile to the both of them. Daniel didn’t look
like he knew what to make of this information. His eyes were darting side to
side and his face was scrunched up like he’d just smelled a bad fart.

Nick didn’t want things to come out this way, but
what’s done was done. He would have tried to ease Daniel into it first.

Or maybe Daniel would never have found out about it
until Nick was actually sure they wanted to be together. As it stood, they’d
had one date, and a poor one at that. One where they were being shot at.

Funny how an amazing date could go south so very, very
quickly.

“
I see,” Daniel said, although it was clear that with the way his face
was scrunched up, Nick knew he probably had about a thousand other questions
racing through his mind right now. “Not that I know what this all means, but
I’m thankful for the explanation, anyway.”

“
I think it’s best if someone explains things to you. Castillo should be
able to debrief you,” the captain said as he turned to Nick. “Why don’t you
bring him up to your room?”

Nick’s eyes widened. “Uh, roger.”

“
That’s a little bit too private, I think,” Daniel said, frowning
slightly and shifting from one foot to the other. “But I guess. If it helps me
make sense of everything happening.”

“
Take some time to rest. I’m aware your mother lives nearby. If it gives
you more peace of mind, you can stay there until this all dies down. We can set
up a sentry around the perimeter there to make sure nothing happens to you just
in case,” James answered. “I’ll be assigning Nick to keep you safe until he
needs to be deployed.”

“
Is
something likely to happen to me?” Daniel asked. The confusion seemed to
give way to more panic, and Daniel took a deep breath. Nick started to rub
concentric circles around the young man’s lower back.

“
I can’t say for sure,” the captain replied, frowning. “And I know that’s
not a good answer to have, but it’s the best one I can give you. We honestly
don’t know whether or not any action will be taken against you. All we know for
sure is that it’s a distinct possibility.”

Daniel nodded absently yet again. Nick didn’t know if
the man was taking all this information well, or if he was stuck inside his own
thoughts. It was probably the latter.

“
Okay, well, we’ll notify you if anything changes,” James said.
“Castillo, I’ll leave Mr. Walsh’s care to you.”

Nick nodded. Turning to Daniel, who was back to
staring at his navel, Nick took a deep breath and settled his hand on Daniel’s
lower back once more. “Come with me.”

Daniel did follow, but he felt more like a robot than
he did a person at that moment. Quietly, lifelessly, he followed Nick up the
stairs and towards his room at the end of the second floor hallway. Nick guided
Daniel into the room and towards the only place they could really sit down,
which was his bed. He then patted the space beside him for the smaller man to
follow.

How was he going to start this? There were a million
things Nick wanted to say, but he didn’t know which one was the best one to
lead with.

“
Nice room,” Daniel said mirthlessly, as he looked around. Nick would
have disagreed. Aside from the closet filled with clothes and the bed, the room
was sparse. It didn’t have many decorations. It didn’t really even have much of
a personality except empty.

“
Thanks,” Nick replied. “It’s still a work in progress.”

Daniel nodded. Nick continued to fish for the right
thing to say. The silence in the room felt deafening.

“
Is Cece going to be okay?” Daniel said after a few moments. His voice
quavered slightly as he finally looked up into Nick’s eyes, and Nick could see
the emotions finally
bubbling on the surface. “I told her, but I didn’t try hard enough. I
told her this was going to come back and bite her in the ass. I should have slapped
that flash drive out of her hand!”

Daniel’s voice was becoming more and more panicked.
Nick had to place both his hands on either one of the smaller male’s shoulders.
“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, we both know she would have done whatever she wanted.
This was just a bad situation for her overall. She meddled in something she
wasn’t supposed to, and there are people out there who legitimately want to
hurt others for their own gain. None of this is your fault.”

“
No, but if I tried harder—”

“
Then what?” Nick asked, slowly drawing his hands up to either one of
Daniel’s cheeks, drawing him in until their foreheads touched. His voice became
just the slightest whisper. “What did you expect would happen?”

“
I don’t know,” Daniel said after a few moments, shaking his head. His
lips quivered. His voice started to shake a little bit, and he closed his eyes.
“I really don’t know, but … but things wouldn’t turn out this way, for sure.”

“
There’s not much you could have done to help her, Daniel. You know how
she is better than we do. Do you think any amount of talking would have gotten
her to stop whatever she was doing?”

Daniel shook his head. Nick sighed and slowly entwined
his fingers with Daniel’s once more.