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Swearing, Rowe shoved out of his chair and paced to the far side of the room. He ran his hands through his hair, tightening his fingers on the strands as thoughts zipped through his brain. None of them were good.
It all made sense as to why Erik was so hot to get rid of Chris and the rest of his team. Dave had been recognized once. In his mind, the only people left from the Army who might recognize Dave or even Joseph from that mission were the members of Noah’s team. They were the last ones to interact with the fallen soldiers. They were the only ones left who might be able to figure out the truth because they were on the ground there and walked away.
A truth that Erik was desperate to keep buried if he wanted to retain his under-the-table contracts with the intelligence community.
“Johnson is out of control,” Rowe grumbled. “His own brother turned up dead last night and so did Joseph Cates. The last two survivors of the Afghanistan ambush were murdered. I don’t know if Erik pulled the trigger, but I’m willing to bet that he at least gave the order. He’s not going to stop until Noah and JB Alexander, the last member of Noah’s team, are dead.”
“I agree,” Cal said solemnly.
Rowe paced back to where Cal was sitting and stopped right in front of him, hands propped on his hips. “I’m not letting that happen.” His hard voice was barely above a whisper. “I don’t give a shit if the CIA, FBI, and NSA are protecting this asshole. He’s dead before he can lay a finger on Noah.”
“Yeah, we figured you’d feel that way.”
Rowe jerked a half-step backward and stared at his old friend, who just chuckled.
“What?” Cal said with a smirk. “You think you could breeze into this town and remain under the radar? Especially after that bullshit with the motel?”
“I didn’t start that shit!”
“Never said you did.” Cal shook his head and Rowe hated to admit that he was feeling off-balance. They’d been careful when they rolled into Alexandria. They kept a low profile, didn’t leave behind prints, and avoided surveillance cameras. But apparently he was missing some of the cameras, and there were more people watching them than Clayborne. Of course, the men from Clayborne were so clumsy and obvious, he just stopped looking after he spotted them.
“But you have to remember that this close to DC, there are more eyes watching than in your little town of Cincinnati.”
Rowe clenched his teeth at the mocking tone Cal used when he talked about Rowe’s home. He loved his city. Sure, it wasn’t as cosmopolitan as some of the bigger cities, and maybe she still harbored too many prejudices, but she was growing and learning and his. Cal had a point, though. Security was always going to be tighter around DC.
“Let’s just say that there’d be a lot of people who would be very grateful if their Erik Johnson and Clayborne problem just…went away. Quietly. No questions asked.”
“Fuck me,” Rowe groaned and stomped away from Cal and his laughter. “I told you three years ago that I had no interest in doing any more little jobs for the intelligence community.”
“And yet here you are…doing a job for us. Weren’t even smart enough to arrange for payment either.”
Rowe swung back, eyes narrowed on the old general. “Someone somewhere is gonna owe me a damn big favor when this is over.”
Cal nodded. “I have a feeling that you’re going to be able to call in a few if you need them. I’ll even get you names and private numbers when this is over.”
Lifting his hand, Rowe scratched his jaw as a plan started to form in his brain. Oh, this is going to be fun. “Can you get me a little C4?”
“Ward, I said quietly. C4 isn’t quiet.”
He rolled his eyes and flashed his most charming smile. “We’ll make it look like an accident. And no one will get hurt.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“I don’t have to. I’m going to take care of this little pest problem the military and intelligence community has developed.”
Cal sighed and nodded. “Thank you, and I am sorry that you and Noah have gotten dragged into this. It shouldn’t be your mess to clean up.”
“No, it shouldn’t, but I’ve made my fair share of messes in life. I’ve gotten pretty good at cleaning them up.”
Reaching into his pocket, Rowe pulled out his cell phone. He shot a quick text to Noah, telling him to swing back to pick him up when he could. They needed to start making some plans to dismantle Clayborne and take down Erik Johnson.Chapter SeventeenIt felt like a wave of humidity had swept into Virginia overnight. The sun beat down on the Jeep, turning it into a metal sauna. Noah flipped the air-conditioning on high as they left Rowe and headed to Sally Perkins’s house. His mind was on his conversation with Rowe, and he tightened his fingers on the steering wheel when he thought of the other conversation they desperately needed to have. He just didn’t know how to go about bringing it up. Rowe had hurt him when he’d decided not to include him in the conversation with Cal, but in a way, he understood. Rowe had known the man better, but he couldn’t help but feel Rowe was still hiding parts of his life from him and he hated that.
