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“Titus follows orders. Unlike some.”
“There’s more to life than always following orders, Captain.”
“You always have an answer for everything, don’t you? Even if it is garbage. You may’ve fooled Summers, but you never fooled me. Still don’t.”
That didn’t take long. Chase looked at his shoes and rubbed his cheek, partly to hide his expression, partly to relax his clenched jaw. He’d heard the phrase “swallow your pride,” but had never truly appreciated it until now.
“You’ll be happy to know,” tried Chase, “I don’t have all the answers. And I’m in a hell of a jam—”
“One even the slick Chase Weldon can’t talk his way out of?”
“It would seem not.”
“Thing is, you’re not my responsibility anymore. And I’m not buying whatever it is you’re selling,” said Wade, jutting his chin toward the road, “so why don’t you just go back the way you came.”
Chase was out of patience.
“You stubborn bastard. If there was anyone else on the face of the earth I could go to, any other option than standing here, hat in hand, withyou,don’t you think I would take it? But the plain truth is I need that big, strategic brain of yours. There’s none better. I wouldn’t be here if lives weren’t at stake, Captain.”
Wade stared at him hard for a moment, then looked off toward the tree line.
“I can’t help you, Weldon.”
“Come on, Captain…”
“No. Not anymore. Now shove off.”
Chase stood his ground, fists balled, trying to settle on one of the ten profanity-laced insults that bubbled in his throat. Instead, he produced an envelope from his pocket and held it up for Wade to see, then threw it on the ground.
“My number’s inside. In case you change your mind,coward.And pet your damn dog once in a while.”
CHAPTER 15
CHASE STOMPED ON the gas pedal—such was his fury at his old JSIVA commanding officer. No one could get under his skin more than Captain Townsend Wade. And he knew the feeling was mutual. His car fired twin geysers of dirt as it sped away from the ranch.
His phone rang, yanking him from his thoughts. It was Madison.
“I tried, Dad. Honest…”
Oh, no,thought Chase.What had he put his daughter through?“I’m so sorry, Mads…”
“I presented myself to perimeter security at the plant. I flash the Avalon ID badge you gave me and explain why I’m there. They usher me in to meet the plant’s chief security officer, who seems grateful for the help. And that’s when Avalon’s Big Security Cheese shows up.”
“Teague?”
“Yeah. He examines my badge, then asks me to follow him. He leads me past the wreckage…”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine, Dad. Everything in there, though? Ripped to shreds and scorched. There were some… dark stains, but for the most part the debris was cleaned up. But there were little cones and flags everywhere. To mark the, you know…”
“I know,” said Chase.The body parts.
“Then he walks me through a door and I’m outside again. ‘The grown-ups are handling it,’ he says, and slams the door shut. That’s when I realize I’ve just been escorted off the premises. And he never gave back my badge. I’m sorry, Dad.”
Damn.Gillen didn’t waste any time. Apparently, the first call from his golden phone had been to Teague.
Alex Teague and I are going to have a talk about his gruesome little tour when all this is done, thought Chase.
