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“Do you ever use a sentence without cursing?”
“You’re an asshole, Tanner Hogan.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“There’s no way in hell that’s ever gonna happen!”
“Wanna bet?”
“What the devil is going on here?” Jared’s voice boomed over the cacophony of voices bombarding them from the steel and glass operation center they just entered.
The six other figures stood silently and turned to look at them. None of them spoke up to explain their turbulent behavior. Paxton’s team made no secret of their annoyance with the Cobras. It was obvious. They were just like their leader— overloaded with testosterone and braggadocio. It was a dangerous mix of male ego and chemistry that got many killed in action.
“Well, I’ll have you know that—"
Kezlin swallowed her words at the piercing glance from Jared. It was well-known that she was a maverick but knew better than to try to one-up her older brother.
“I expect you to act like professionals. This bickering is going to stop right now. If you want to rip into each other, do it on your own time.” He glared at all six of them.
“I want an after-action report, Brock.”
The stern reproach in his voice had an immediate effect on everyone, which didn’t come as a surprise to Paxton. The operation always came first and the commander of the Cobras never relaxed until he had confirmation that everything had gone according to plan.
“Marco Boneiro, the Don of the family and his eldest son, Luca, have disappeared. Someone must have tipped them off that the house had been hit. We have the two younger sons secured in the interrogation room. Apart from two soldiers who managed to escape, everyone who was on the premises is locked up under guard at Cobra House.”
“Cobra House?” Paxton looked at Jared. She was having difficulty wrapping her head around Brock’s report. It seemed there was more at stake than she’d originally been told.
“We have a couple of secure locations across the city,” he said as he input a keystroke that transformed the massive flat screen monitor in front of him. The wall flickered to life as it lit up an array of several windows with various overhead views of the mansion they’d just raided. “It’s very quiet there. Is our team still on site?”
“Yeah. They're in surveillance mode. We’re hoping that those who escaped will return if they believe it’s safe,” Cruz said as he slumped in the chair behind a massive, glass panel. He wiped a hand over the surface and the smooth desktop morphed into what looked like the cockpit of a spacecraft.
“Jesus!” Jordan gushed as she looked on transfixed by the impressive display. She glanced at Paxton with shining eyes. When it came to computer technology, Jordan was a geek.
“You’vegotto get me one of these!”
“Sure, hon. A done deal if our benefactors were the National Security Agency,” Paxton said, in a dry voice.
Jared, entertained by the brief exchange, didn’t take the bait. The days of subcontracting for any of the intelligence agencies were long gone. Getting a top security clearance was as rare as hen’s teeth. Very few people were able to withstand a thorough vetting to be allowed to operate at such a high level. Having influential contacts to pull strings to open locked doors was always useful. That the Cobras were even considered was a badge of honor. They offered their services where it was needed and only accepted jobs from the government that adhered to their moral code of conduct. The days they acted on command whether they agreed with what was required of them were over. Their fees weren’t cheap but with a hundred percent success rate, everyone who was anyone knew there were no negotiating terms. It was take it or leave it. Now, they were on President Anderson’s speed dial, attending to many covert ops under his orders, with the understanding that should they be caught, they would be on their own. So far, the operations had been for noble causes. Jared hadn’t needed to refuse any assignment. He trusted it would never come to that either. They had been working with the FBI and U.S. Treasury agents over the past five years to try and dismantle The Commission of the American Mafia. It had been an easy decision at the time to join forces with them since Jared had a personal reason to see Marco Boneiro locked up for good.
The Red Reign PI Agency had unknowingly stepped on part of their surveillance and stake outs over the past three months as some of their cases coincided with leads they had been following. Their presence at the Boneiro property came at the worst possible time and threatened the entire covert operation into the Boneiro family being exposed. Years of work potentially flushed down the drain.
Now, they would have to regroup and change tactics.
“How’s the little girl?” Brock might have been all butter fingers with Courtney after the raid but his concern for her welfare was genuine.
“Courtney is very happy to be back home. For a six-year-old she’s very resilient.” Paxton frowned. “I hope Senator Wilson and his wife take my advice and get her into therapy. It might only have been two days since she was kidnapped but it must have been harrowing to be locked in a room in a strange house filled with what she referred to as bullies.”
“Brock, Tanner, let’s go. It’s time to get those bastards to talk. I want Marco Boneiro.” Jared’s jaw turned rigid. “Kidnapping an innocent child isn’t the Mafia’s usual modus operandi, especially to blackmail a senator in changing his vote on the new rough diamond importation bill. I smell a rat.”
“Hold on. The Mafia? What do they have to do with Courtney’s kidnapping?” Paxton held up her hand as Jared glanced at her. “Don’t bother telling me it’s classified. Senator Wilson appointed us to track his daughter. The least you can do is tell us what hornet's nest we stumbled into.”
The sound of her toe tapping impatiently drew his eyes to her small feet.
“For that matter, Commander Bates, just what were you doing there in the first place? It was our job but from Wilson’s reaction to seeing you when we dropped off his daughter, he seemed relieved to discover that you were there.” She frowned. “Now that I think about it, he didn’t seem surprised at all. Just what the fuck is going on?”
“Of course Wilson was relieved to see me. He knew of our involvement in a case that would place us on hand to immediately extract his daughter. You weren’t tasked with that; only to track where she was.” Jared looked at Cruz. “Make sure the recovery of Wilson’s daughter stays out of the media. If Boneiro doesn’t know his sons have fucked up, this might be our best chance at keeping our surveillance of him under wraps.” He gestured toward a door at the front of the room. “There’s a kitchen through there with a stacked fridge. Help yourself to something to eat.”
“Where are you going?” Paxton blew up and stomped after him. “Jared Bates, get back here. I’m talking to— don’t you dare close that door. You creepy bastard!” She slammed her fist against the steel door sliding closed behind him. She spun around to pin Cruz with a piercing look.
