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“What other man?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Did you get that?” yelled Christopher into his comms.
“I got it. We’re sending a team there now.”
As the SUV sped away, the small house in the cul-de-sac exploded with Polina Golubeva, incapacitated, inside. It would be determined that a gas explosion caused the house to blow, Polina so injured she was unable to escape.
“Fontenot. Fucking Fontenot,” growled Abe.
“They’re on their way to him. They’ve taken the chopper, so should be arriving in a few minutes.”
“He took a fucking brutal beating just to throw us off,” said Abe. Boarding the jet with Autumn at the stick, they headed home as fast as they could. By the time they landed, Luke and the others were already home and waiting for them.
“Well?”
“He wouldn’t say much,” said Luke. “He said that both he and Carr were in on it from the beginning but had different ideas of what should be done. The men that you saw at the safe house were just hired security made to look like agents. Your commander thought the request for you to be on the team was legit.
“Carr didn’t like the idea of turning Lyra over to Quetz or the uncle. Fontenot wanted the bounty, but he also wanted revenge for them killing his ex-wife. When we started asking him more questions, he declined, choosing death.
“His mother said he kept telling her how sorry he was and that he’d have to leave them for a while. She thought he was depressed. She even called here to see if Bree could come up and speak with him.”
“He knew we had her,” said Abe. “We told him we were keeping her safe.”
“He did, but tech reviewed his phone, laptop, and the parents. There was nothing there to indicate that he notified the others. Maybe he was holding that one in his pocket. I’m not sure. Abe, there’s one other thing. He was the man who stabbed you. He was hoping that you’d tell them where she was, but when he realized who you were, where you were going, he regretted it. You don’t remember, but he gave you the ride to the café. It was all part of the plan.” Abe just shook his head.
“But we can’t be sure that he didn’t tell Wolford or Quetz,” said Abe, staring at Luke. “Where is she? Where is Lyra?”
“Abe! Settle down, son. She’s safe with your mother at our cottage. Rory and Noah are on the front porch, and Noa and Merrick are in the house. Nobody is getting to her.”
Abe released a shaky, slow breath, nodding at his father. He took a seat, resting his head in his hands.
“Abe, if he had told Quetz or Wolford, we would have spotted them in this area. I think he realized that he was in over his head. He killed Carr, not the others.”
“Jesus, this is fucked up,” said Abe.
“Your commander sent men to look at your apartment. It appeared someone had been inside, but nothing was stolen or disturbed. They’ve moved all of your belongings to a storage facility,” said Code. “He also said that your retirement papers have been submitted.”
“I didn’t fill those out?” he frowned.
“Abe,” laughed Luke. “You’ve been in longer than any SEAL I know, other than maybe Ian. Come home, brother. It’s time, and you were seriously distracted, brother.”
“Well, I can’t deny that,” he smirked.
“We have to find Quetz and Wolford, and we need to find them soon. Wolford loses everything if he doesn’t turn Lyra over to Quetz. Quetz can survive without him, but not easily. He’ll want to make sure his connections to the other cartel members stay in good graces.”
“I think we have a lead,” said Hiro. “We’ve been helping Homeland and Border Control on the influx of migrants racing toward our border. Our technology has been tracking their paths and where they’re coming in from. We’ve also been able to stop a few semis loaded with people. It slowed the last few weeks, but no one could figure out why.”
“Why is that bad?” asked Hex.
“Normally, it wouldn’t be. But what we’ve seen is the migrants turning and going back the way they came. Then yesterday, we saw this.”
The image on the screen was disturbing. Waves of men, and only men, making their way toward the river. Border guards stared at the masses of men, wondering what they were going to be able to do to prevent this from happening. Many carried weapons, some homemade machetes or knives.
“Watch,” said Hiro. “There. That man is Quetz. He’s right out in front, yelling at them. At least, that’s what it looks like. But I don’t think he’s yelling in the sense of anger. I think he’s giving them marching orders. I think he’s telling them that they’re at war with the U.S.”
“Fuck me,” said Abe.
