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“You”—BreakingBenjamin
“You sure you’re doing okay, Chains?” Venom asked as we all sat at the table for church that afternoon.
“Hell, yeah. Thanks to Angel,” I said.
“We need to discuss what we stumbled into when we went down to Texas to help Voodoo’s brother-in-law.” Venom’s fingers thrummed on the dark wood. Kristoffer Halvorson was an NHL hockey player who played for the Austin Amurs with Kira’s brother Dmitry and her cousin Jericho. Kristoffer had run into some trouble when the father of his ol’ lady’s twins was killed and the assholes went after her—yeah, it was a crazy situation.
“I’m not so sure we need to get mixed up in that any more than we already did,” Raptor muttered.
“So we just let those motherfuckers kill a brother in arms because he found out about what they were up to?” I asked. Though I never knew him, I was special forces the last few years of my time in the army. If you couldn’t trust the guys in your team, who the fuckcouldyou trust? Shit.
“I’m not opposed to ensuring that the men responsible for taking out one of our nation’s elite like that are dealt with. Especially considering two of the guys are supposed to be people who had his back,” Voodoo murmured.
A chorus of “amen” rounded the room. With many of us being veterans, it struck a chord with us that Adam had been a victim of such betrayal.
“Adam had all the details on that thumb drive. He should’ve gone to his superiors and turned the info in to them instead of shipping the drive back to his baby mama,” Kicker said.
“Maybe, but he wasn’t sure who all he could trust. I believe he was waiting until he got back so he could go through his trusted chain of command. That’s only a guess, but it’s clear in the notes on the drive that he wasn’t sure who he could trust on that mission. He specifically said he was worried he might not make it back alive because he thought at least one of the guys knew he was onto them. That had to have been a shitty feeling,” I argued.
“So do we pass the drive on to the appropriate channels, or do we deal with this on our own?” Voodoo asked the question we were all thinking.
“I say we pass it on. We aren’t the world’s police,” muttered Squirrel.
“No, but we have taken it upon ourselves to ensure that the victims of the world get justice in situations where we don’t think the system will do it,” Angel added.
“True, but we’re usually getting paid to do it,” grumbled Squirrel.
“Then you don’t need to be a part of it,” I interjected as I shot to my feet.
“Easy, bro. This isn’t personal, but you’re making it that way,” he volleyed back as he also stood.
“Itisfucking personal. Adam didn’t deserve to be killed because some piece of shit motherfuckers were greedy. There isn’t anyone to step up for him. As far as the US and his family is concerned, he was killed in the line of duty. We know that’s utter bullshit. So how will the guilty parties be held accountable? Huh? If I have to do it on my own, I’ll take leave and hunt them down myself,” I ground out.
“Sit down!” Venom said as he banged his fist on the tabletop. Squirrel and I still glowered at one another, but we did as we were told.
“We’ll put it to the vote. But first, I need a show of hands that would be willing to take the job on even if it meant it was pro bono.” Venom looked each of us in the eye with a cocked brow. It was nearly imperceptible, but I could see his jaw ticking under his salt and pepper beard.
Voodoo, Angel, Raptor, Phoenix, Sabre, and I raised our hands. Following right behind us were Ghost and Blade.
“You know I’m in for all the tech help,” Facet piped in.
“So do we even need to put it to a vote if the majority are in?” Ghost asked before he chuckled.
Venom sighed. “Probably not, but we need to set some parameters and deadlines. We’ll need to narrow down the team. I want the plan ironed out in detail before anyone goes off half-cocked.”
“That sounds fair,” agreed Raptor. The rest of us nodded. Squirrel sighed as he shook his head. Fuck, he was pissing me off.
“Chains, I know you are one of the supporters of this, but you’ve been gone a lot, and we really need you at the ink shop.” Venom’s words irritated me a bit, because he was the one who sent me away for four goddamn months. Then he sent me on the mission to Texas for Voodoo’s brother-in-law and his friends. Not that I begrudged them the help, but now he was worried about the time I’d missed at the shop?
“Whatever you need, boss.”
We made tentative plans that would change depending on the intel Facet rounded up. Though I may not be hands-on with the mission, the tightness in my heart eased that we’d be serving up justice for Adam.
We were sitting at the large table in the kitchen having dinner when Madame Laveaux entered. All conversation ceased as everyone looked to her with curiosity in their gazes.
“It is done,” she said as she looked at me and Jasmine.
Voodoo, Kira, Angel, Korrie, Ghost, Venom, and Raptor were the only ones who knew what we were doing. At first, Angel was not on board, until Madame Laveaux told him it wasn’t his choice. I still wouldn’t say he was convinced—more like resigned.
