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But inside that bubble, Natches had to face the knowledge that he wasn’t just betraying a monster. He also had to confront that last glimmer of hope, that the monster had a soul.
Monsters didn’t have souls though, Natches assured himself as the meeting with his cousins and Alex Jansen drew to a close.
Not for the first time, he found himself amazed at Chaya’s knowledge, and her ability to find workable solutions to the problems that were going to face them when it came to executing the plan they had conceived.
Illegal wiretapping was nothing new, and Cranston wasn’t above using it to make certain a plan was coming together. A call had been made to Dayle Mackay by one of the men watching the Mackay cousins, informing him of the division between Natches and his cousins over an old picture, evidence against a citizen of Somerset in the stolen missiles case, and Natches’s refusal to give the authorities pertinent information where that citizen was concerned.
And Dayle had been interested.
Natches listened to the other man’s voice on the digital recording Alex had slipped in to him. The smug certainty in Dayle’s voice—that, finally, blood had thickened in Natches’s veins and become more substantial than water.
He turned his back on his cousins as the recording played, kept his expression calm. This wasn’t a Mackay he was going after; it was just another monster. Just as it had been in the Marines. It wasn’t a person. It was a target, nothing more.
“Moving the Nauti Dreams was also noted,” Alex told them all softly and switched to the recording of another call. Natches’s phone call to another marina and the arrangement of transportation for his houseboat was given as well. With each call, Dayle became more confident, more certain that his son and cousins were finally making the split he had been waiting on.
“That’s my boy,” Dayle mused softly, smugly. “I knew it wouldn’t take long. ”
“What about the woman? The agent with him?” the voice on the other end questioned him. Daniel Reynolds was one of the men in the photo, one of the fanatical leaders of the future revolution.
“Women are easy to get rid of,” Dayle snorted. “An accident, a few little drugs popped into her drink, and she does the bar on a Saturday night. Natches’ll drop her. ”
“She’s still an agent. ”
“And she doesn’t have the information he has,” Dayle pointed out. “No doubt, that relationship will terminate soon enough, on its own. I’ll call him soon. ”
“Are you certain about this?” the other voice pushed determinedly. “We can’t afford to mess up. ”
Dayle laughed at the question. “Trust me, Daniel, I know my son. I knew it was just a matter of time. The boy’s a killer. He was a killer in the Marines, and he’ll always be a killer. That kind of cold only adheres to its own kind. He’ll come in. ”
“Very well,” Daniel agreed. “Arrange the meeting and contact us when you’ve finished. ”
The sound of the recorder disengaging flipped a switch in his mind. Cold. Hard. Yeah, he was a killer. He turned slowly to meet his cousins’ eyes.
“Chaya, do you still have those files?” He knew she did.
“They’re upstairs in my case. ” She moved for the staircase but not before she cast him a suspicious look.
As she disappeared upstairs he looked at his family. His cousins and the man he called friend.
“This might not go as easy as she thinks it will,” he told them quietly. “If anything happens to me, you take care of her and my child. ” He looked to Dawg and Rowdy. “Give him what Uncle Ray always gave me, and make it stick. ”
Dawg and Rowdy glanced at each other.
“Man, this is going to be a walk in the park,” Dawg protested. “Alex has point, your woman has your wire, DHS in the van, and me and Rowdy in place. Nothing’s going to happen. ” Dawg’s gaze sharpened. “Unless you do something dumb. You gonna do some-thin’ dumb, Natches?”
Natches’s lips quirked at the question. “Have I ever done things any other way, cousin?”
“Hell. ”
“He’s going to do things right, or he’ll find me standing beside him. ”
Natches jerked around, frowning at Chaya, who didn’t have those files in her hand. But her hand was propped on her hip and her expression was something just this side of pissed off.
“Isn’t that right, Natches?”
He inclined his head smoothly. “I’ll play by the plan,” he promised her.
But he knew Dayle. And he knew Dayle would never play by any kind of rules. This was it and he knew it. When he walked out of that meeting, one way or the other, it was going to be over.
