“Someone ratted you out, and my team suspects you’re on the island. I volunteered to go, so you’d remain safe.”
“Who?” Jack asked sharply.
“I don’t know. I was on guard duty at the time outside of the building. Why don’t you put down that gun so we can talk?”
“Talk about what?”
“You getting the hell off this island. Is Gray Tower coming to just rescue you, or are they planning a full assault of the island? There are things you need to know, or your whole rescue team will be put in jeopardy.”
Jack laughed and said, “Like hell I’m going to tell you anything. I will tell you that you have some balls for asking, though.”
Nate sighed.
He didn’t want it to come to this, but it was the only way to convince Jack that he would do anything to help them, even though it was a huge conflict of interest to his team’s mission.
Nate took a hand and hit the latch on his helmet, losing his heads-up display as it flickered off. He peeled off the helmet and felt the cool sea breeze hit his face for the first time. There was built-in cooling to the suit, but for some reason, it felt good to breathe real air, not the filtered shit through the helmet.
He let the helmet drop to the sand, and allowed his eyes adjust to the new light. Jack and his woman stared at him, both looking confused.
Nate let out a long breath before saying, “My name is Nathan Slade. I’m…Logan’s brother.”
“Holy fucking shit,” was all Jack could say.
Chapter 18
Alex had gotten up early to check on the data analysts. She had only gotten a few hours of sleep, but it was at least something. Checking her tablet, she noticed that she had a message from Jade Larsen, one of their top analysts. She had been a recruit from the CIA and was highly effective at her job. If she had something, then it was important.
Rubbing her eyes, she took one more swig of her coffee before leaving her office. She hadn’t even bothered doing her hair or putting on anything remotely professional. This morning she was rocking yoga pants and a long-sleeved cotton shirt. That’s how tired she was.
She walked to an elevator and went up to Sublevel 2 of Gray Tower HQ, which housed a lot of offices, including Jade’s workspace. When Alex got to a large open space where desks were clustered together with large dual monitors on each, she waved at Jade, who was busy typing away.
Jade happened to be one of the most beautiful and exotic persons Alex had ever met. She was part Chinese and part Scandinavian, giving her cheekbones that Alex would kill for. Her hair was dyed blonde, but she kept her roots a natural brown. Meanwhile, Jade’s brown eyes looked mysterious.
“What do you have for me?” Alex asked, pushing down a bit of jealousy.
“I came across a bunch of encrypted files and was running a program to try and decrypt it,” Jade said. “Then, I did some digging in the data dump and found out that the key was being stored within some of the other files. Is this amateur hour or what?
“Anyhow, what I opened was freaking crazy, so I called you up. Take a look.”
Alex examined Jade’s monitors, where several schematics of something were placed in organized tiles. She was staring at some sort of armor as well as files that contained program coding.
What was this? She wondered.
“Do you know what we’re looking at here?” Alex asked her.
“It appears to be combat armor, heavily modified with a ton of computer automated features. It’s crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Alex thought for a moment, and then it dawned on her.
No, it couldn’t be, she thought. Miles was going to shit a brick.
“Did you say combat armor with computer automation—like software?” She asked in disbelief.
“That’s what it looks like,” Jade said with a shrug. “These are just the overview specs. I’d have to dig to see more.”
Alex heaved out a sigh and said, “Send this immediately to me and Miles. Everything that you have. I have to go see him right now.”
“What’s wrong?” Jade asked, looking confused.
“I think I know what’s happening on Faraway Cay, and Jack and Kat are in more trouble than anyone realized.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Miles was working overtime, trying to make sure the assault on Faraway Cay would go well. He owed it to Jack and Katherina that they successfully rescued the both of them and eliminated the threat.
He was studying tactical plans that Logan had submitted when Alex busted into his office. That was odd as Alex always messaged him beforehand or at least knocked.
“What’s wrong?” Miles asked.
“Check your messages, Miles. Now. This can’t wait.”
Miles immediately went to them. His chest tightened when he realized what he was looking at.
“That’s my armor!” He exclaimed.
“I know,” Alex told him.
Miles continued to scan the files. The more he flipped through, the angrier he got.
“Why would Orson still have these?” He wondered out loud. “And why…”
He trailed off as he noticed modifications to the design. What he saw worried him greatly.
“What the hell is this?” He asked.
There looked to be an intravenous drug drip attached to the back of the neck of the person who wore the armor as well as some modifications to the overall design to the helmet. The more he looked, the more disgusted he got.
“Is there a chance that Carr had these on hand when you both were working on the armor?” Alex asked.
Miles shook his head.
“Not with these modifications. He’s been working on it after we parted ways.”
“Can he do that?”
“No. When I sold my company, the armor prototype was sold with it. He doesn’t have the rights to it unless he bought it somehow. More likely, he kept the designs and started tinkering with them.”
“Why?”
“To make money maybe?”
Then, Miles froze, thinking back to Jack’s report of the Faraway Cay situation. Hadn’t he mentioned men in black armor?
No. It couldn’t be.
Had someone made the prototype armor? Was it out in circulation right now? If that were the case, then his whole team was in danger.
But wait, weren’t the armored soldiers on the attacking side? This didn’t make any sense, unless…
“Alex,” he said, heaving a sigh. “You’ve known me for a while now. You’ve seen my whole life and my life’s work. I need a fresh pair of eyes. Why is my prototype armor potentially infiltrating an island in which my former colleague lives? He’s a person who originally worked on the armor with me, mind you.”
Alex shifted slightly. She was in clothing that didn’t feel like “Alex.” There was no suit. No skirt or dress pants. No anything, except a pair of yoga pants and a soft cotton shirt. The fact that she was so casual told him how tired she was.
“He sold the armor to someone,” Alex said. “They don’t want him to talk about it.”
That was his assumption as well, but it felt good hearing it from Alex.
“And, unfortunately Jack and Kat got caught up in this spat?” Miles suggested.
Alex shook her head and said, “It seems that way.”
“Well, this changes quite a bit then. We need to update the team. Now. If they are up against that armor, then the whole strategy needs revamped. Jack and Kat need to know as well.”
“I understand. I’ll will update everyone right away.”
Miles sighed, still in disbelief from what he had just learned. How could this be happening? The armor he had created was now about to go up against the people he loved.
He was about to start frantically sending out messages and commands to all the teams when Alex cleared her throat, an odd expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, concerned.
“Yeah, so your wife is here.”
Oh, what the hell,
Miles thought and began to panic.
✽ ✽ ✽
Lucas Mercado waved as a group of absolute badasses drove up in multiple vehicles. He didn’t know everyone at Gray Tower, but he recognized a few that he had previously worked with. Logan Slade was one of them as well as Mercer Cade. Gabe Marshall was noticeably absent.
They were at a small dock on Grand Bahama where Luke had a boat waiting for them to go to Faraway Cay. He had been lucky to have gotten it on such short notice. Flying was more of his thing, though he could handle a boat of this size just fine.
Logan came up and shook Luke’s hand.
“I see you’ve got the whole gang here,” Luke noted. “Well, except Gabe.”
“He’s on assignment somewhere else,” Logan told him.
Luke decided to leave it at that, considering the type of shit Gray Tower did. He doubted Logan would say more even if he asked.
There was a handful of other men. He did a quick count of twelve, and they were all carrying a ton of gear in black bags. Each were in black combat armor. He had to admit that Gray Tower knew how to send in a team.
Military shit had never been Luke’s deal. Sure, he knew how to handle himself, but he had never gotten to the level of training that these Gray Tower guys had. Luke was more the adventurer type. Hell, sometimes he even wore a fedora just to screw with people.
He had grown up in the states with his mom who was a mix of German and Italian. His dad had lived in Puerto Rico, and even though he had visited as often as he could, he still sucked at speaking Spanish, despite his heritage. The only plus was that he could blend in fairly well in some of the Central American countries he visited on a regular basis for deliveries.
This mission would be a little out of his comfort zone, but his only job was to get them to the island and then get them back. He wouldn’t be participating in the assault—or at least he hoped not.
Luke had been able to procure a boat used primarily for shuttling tourists to scuba diving and snorkeling sites as well as tours around the islands. He had to pay a shitload of cash to borrow it. Luckily, Miles Bryant was good for it. He’d get paid back plus his usual commission.
The Gray Tower group started loading up the boat with their gear. Luke wondered how they got it all past customs, but that was a question for another day.
Luke looked at Logan who was overseeing everything and said, “Once you are ready and we ship off, it’ll be about two hours given the speed of this boat and the distance away from the island. It might be a bit less if I push it. Is there anything else I need to know?”
Logan nodded and said, “We’ve got two inflatable boats that we’ll deploy once we’re in range of the island. I’m going on one with my team. Mercer will be on another. My priority is getting to where our assets are hunkered down. Mercer’s mission is to secure the pier enough for the boat to dock.”
He pointed to another man with dirty blonde hair and a beard that looked like it was growing out.
“That’s Ryan. His team will stay on the boat with you until it’s safe to dock. Then, they’ll be off to support Mercer’s team. You shouldn’t be in much danger, but I’m assuming you can handle yourself if the shit hits the fan?”
“You know I can, Logan,” Luke replied and grinned. “I might not be a military guy like you, but I can handle myself just fine.”
Logan laughed and said, “I figured as much, but it’s one of the things I’m required to go over with you before we set off.”
“Oh, boy. We’re going official now. I’m not sure if I can deal with that,” Luke joked.
“Eh, well. My boss would get mad if you got yourself hurt, and I at least didn’t warn you.”
Luke shrugged.
“I thought that was part of the job, but whatever you say.”
Logan held up a hand and picked up a phone. He listened for a moment, his expression growing dark even in the dim light of early dawn. After a few silent moments, he shook his head and started cussing.
“What’s wrong?” Luke asked, suddenly concerned.
“We’ve got problems.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Miles waited nervously as the elevator made its way to the main floor of Gray Tower Headquarters. It hadn’t been that long ago that he would have been excited to see his wife again after so long. Unfortunately, she had come at the worst time. He had a huge issue to deal with, including getting Jack and Kat off Faraway Cay, while dealing with a group of individuals in his armor.
Why did she have to come now? And why this early? It was barely after six in the morning. There had to be some explanation. He didn’t even know that she had left her home in southern California.
Alex followed silently next to him. As his Administrative Assistant, she knew about a lot of the sordid details of his life. There were many at Gray Tower who didn’t even realize he was still married. Alex knew everything. Miles didn’t think himself the type that needed emotional support, but he was glad she was with him.
The elevator pulled up to the main floor, and they went out to the Atrium where the front desk was located. It was a beautiful area and had huge windows with a stunning view. They had finally finished all the cosmetic details of the headquarters, including décor and landscaping. His vision of this place had finally been realized.
Feeling anxious, Miles and Alex walked over to the front desk where a receptionist sat. At first, he didn’t see Candice. His eyes darted around the area until he saw her sitting on a couch off to the left of the desk.
Miles felt like his stomach had done a flip. It had been too long since he had seen his wife, and she was more beautiful than ever.
Her dark brown hair was worn straight past her shoulders, though she sometimes wore it natural. Her soft makeup complimented her brown skin. She was exquisite in every way. She was wearing a casual pair of gray slacks and a blouse that emphasized her amazing body.
He felt like a school boy. It had been so long since he had seen her. It had been even longer since he had been intimate with her.
“What are you doing here?” Miles asked.
“Well, you did say I could come by,” she said and smiled slightly.
“Sorry. I meant this early.”
Smooth, he thought. Real smooth.
“I should probably apologize for not calling you. I took a red eye and got in about an hour ago. There wasn’t really much to do, so I ended up here.”
“You are always welcome here,” Miles said, and he meant it. “There’s no need to apologize.”
Candice gazed around the Atrium and nodded. It had been the first time she had ever stepped foot in Gray Tower Headquarters.
“This place is beautiful. You’ve really done a lot here.”
“Thank you,” Miles replied, suddenly feeling sad.
He was happy that she was here, but her being here was a reminder of all the time they had lost. It was mostly his fault too.
“By the way,” Miles continued. “Candice, this is Alex, my Administrative Assistant.”
Candice eyed Alex for just a moment. One would have to be blind not to notice that Alex was gorgeous, but Miles knew that Candice wasn’t the jealous type. She knew where his loyalties were, even if they had been separated.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Alex said, shaking hands with Candice.
“Likewise,” Candice said.
“I would give you a tour, but we’re in a bit of a crisis right now,” Miles continued. “We have two people stranded that need extracted quickly.”
Candice nodded and said, “Yes, of course. It was kind of silly for me to think that I could show up when you’re so busy all the time.”
“I’m never too busy to see you,” Miles replied softly. “Come. This is your company too, whether you like it or not. Let me show you what’s going on. I’m not sure how much time you have here, but I can give you a tour when this is all over.”
“I have all the time in the world right now,” Candice said with a smile.
Chapter 19
Jack blinked at the man who had just claimed to be Logan’s long-lost brother. He had to admit that the resemblance was uncanny, but why the hell would he be here? Where the fuck had he been all these years?
“Holy fucking shit,” Jack exclaimed as he stared in disbelief.
Kat mumbled something inaudible. As one of Keira’s best friends, she knew all about Nathan.
The man who claimed to be Nathan Slade walked a bit closer. His black hair was cut extremely short. He had a slight growth of a beard that was just as long as his hair. His blue eyes seemed sincere. It was his facial structure that was a dead giveaway that he was Logan’s brother.
“Damn it!” Jack exclaimed. “How the hell did this happen? Where the fuck have you been? Do you know Logan has been worried sick about you? What the hell are you doing here, anyhow?”
“One thing at a time,” Nathan told him. “First off, how about you put that gun down?”
Taking a gamble, Jack slowly lowered his handgun. He doubted that he wouldn’t get shot—again—by his best friend’s brother, though you never knew.
“Second,” Nathan continued. “I have my reasons for staying away from Logan.”
Jack snorted and said, “Does it have to do with that combat armor you have on?”
“Something like that.”
“So, what the hell are you doing here, besides shooting up the place and killing innocent civilians?” Jack asked.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Nathan said and then paused for a moment. “Wait. What do you mean innocent civilians?”
“Well, there’s Kat here,” Jack said, nodding to her.
She was clutching his good arm now, obviously in distress and probably in shock too. Jack had to admit that he was having a hard time processing the fact that Logan’s brother belonged to some crazed mercenary group.
“And then there is a group of guests here, plus innocent employees, not to mention Orson Carr and his wife.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Carr is not innocent, but this is the first time I heard that his wife is here. You said guests as well?”
Troubled Paradise (Gray Tower Book 2) Page 16