Page 37 of Dark Reunion

CHAPTER 14

DEAN

Night in the compound was never silent. Generators grumbled, the dogs prowled, guards spoke in low bursts of Spanish over radios that hissed and crackled. Dean had learned to count those noises like a priest counting the beads on a rosary. When something didn’t fit…the wrong voice at the wrong hour, a dog too loud, it put him on high alert.

Tonight, every sound was too loud, too close.

As Dean, Ricco, and Matteo slipped out a back door of the house, Dean looked around at the deep shadows. “Where are we meeting him?”

“Warehouse, outskirts of Santa Lucia. Two hours. He’ll only bring one man.” Ricco’s voice dipped. “You’re out of your mind, cabrón. If Carlos gets even a whisper of this⁠—”

“He won’t.” Dean marched for the massive building that housed all the Righteous equipment. “And if he does, I’ll deal with it.”

“As long as Matteo can get us out the back gate without being seen, then we will be fine,” Dean stated.

“I can get us out. It is always the same one to six guys that come and go as they please. They do it so much that no one pays attention anymore. The Hummers only ever go in and out the back entrance. The drivers never have to show their faces, and they never book to leave or arrive. Mr. Keene said it had to be that way to protect the identity of his men while they’re doing jobs for Carlos.”

“They have to be working for money. Keene has corrupted the whole system, but at least it works in our favor,” Dean said as they slipped into the dark building, and once he was sure no one was around, he opened the large bay door.

Six of the vehicles were lined up in a row and he walked to the one in the lead.

“Here’s hoping that all my accesses still work.” He touched the door panel. “Access code Yankee, Alfa, Sierra, Mike, India, November, Echo, Two, Nine, Six, One.”

Dean waited a breath for the beep and sighed with relief when the door unlocked. “Hello Sexy,” he greeted the vehicle, and Ricco looked at him.

“Hello Sir,” the Hummer responded.

“Do you know how to drive this thing?” Ricco asked as he looked at the Hummer in shock. That look never got old.

If there was one thing Dean knew how to drive, it was the special equipped Hummers.

He smiled at Ricco. “Did my father not tell you what I’ve been doing the last fourteen years? I am one of the American ghosts. Welcome to the inside,” Dean smiled, gripping Ricco’s shoulder.

Dean climbed in behind the steering wheel, while Matteo got in the passenger seat and Ricco climbed into back. Being back inside the beautiful beast again made him smile.

He touched the controls and the mounted laptop opened and turned on. “Sexy, show me all the human heat signatures on the compound.”

“Yes, Sir.” The antenna whirred to life, and the front windshield lit up with a map of the property, showing everyone moving around it.

“Wow,” Ricco gasped from the back.

“That’s nothing, you wait until you see what she can do. Sexy, I need you to map out the fastest route to Santa Lucia staying off all main roads.”

The windshield shifted, and a huge map with a dotted red line appeared. “Here is the fastest route avoiding all roads, and potential enemies in the area. Arrival time, one hour and thirty-six minutes.”

Dean looked at Matteo and then Ricco. “This is your last chance to bail. I understand if you want to.”

“I’m in this until the end.”

“You’re crazy, but I’m with you,” Ricco agreed.

“Well, alright then. Let’s get moving, we want to be back before sunrise.”

Dean engaged the Hummer’s auto-drive, ignoring Ricco’s unease from the back seat as he pulled up the Righteous database to catch up on intel. Now that he knew Carlos was the one pulling the strings, the patterns stood out, clear and deliberate, things he never would’ve seen before. Missions designed to eliminate enemies under the guise of making the world a safer place.

Looking through the Alvarez files revealed an interesting tidbit that explained why Carlos hadn’t simply stormed the castle and destroyed the family. Alvarez had political ties to the American government.

It also became clear that Trev didn’t log the mission to extract Maeve, so he definitely did it off the books. It meant Trev had figured out that something wasn’t adding up and didn’t trust the organization.