“How is Micah?”
His mother’s voice drew his attention from his food. After the argument about the house, he’d tried hard to keep his distance from Micah, but the pain in the man’s voice when he’d shared about Caleb had reached in and fisted a hand around his heart.
“Hurting.” He cleared his throat and shifted in his chair.
“It’s to be expected.” She sniffled. “Have you tried to talk to him?”
“He wants to sell the house.” The words came out rough.
She searched his eyes. “What do you want, Mijo?
“I don’t want to sell it, Mom.”
She held his gaze. “Sometimes, we need to let go.”
His mother was speaking from experience. They never found his dad’s body and his mother had held onto hope for years. It had taken her a long time to let go of his father. Maybe she was right.
Maybe it was time for him to let go.
Sometime later, after his mother had gone to bed, the insistent buzz of his cell phone hummed in his pocket.
“Can’t leave me alone for a few days? I just did you a favor.”
“I know,” Wolf answered. “Thank you for Netherlands.”
“What’s going on?”
“I found something.”
“Talk.” Alex stepped out onto the front porch of his mother’s house and closed and locked the door while his complete attention was on Wolf. The man stayed so far off the grid, he only came out on rare occasions.
When Caleb was abducted, it had been one of those occasions. Wolf had his fingers in more shit than Alex even knew about, and that was saying something since they’d served together. His friend was also his number one go-to guy when he needed something or someone located in the dark and deadly underground.
“An Albanian trafficker who goes by the name of Gashi is connected to Vladimir.” Wolf rattled off a clan name from a third world territory.
“How so?” He squeezed the phone and headed down the steps.
“I had my man tailing Gashi, a known trafficker in Southern California, in case something panned out about Caleb. He reported a few of the group talking when one of them mentioned Gashi and Vladimir in the same sentence.”
“Fuck.” The word came out more like a growl. He reached his car and slid behind the wheel.
The sound Wolf made let him know the man agreed with his expletive.
“Oh, hang on, I want to show you something.” He scrolled through his phone until he found the video clip and forwarded the email to Wolf. “I’m sending you a small clip from surveillance at LAX.”
Several moments went by.
“Fucking hell,” Wolf muttered.
“Recognize him?”
“Leonid Medved. I thought he was dead,” Wolf growled.
“I did too. My guess is that Petrov was picking Mez up to take to Vladimir.”
“So a meeting took place somewhere. Perhaps Gashi can shed some light,” Wolf suggested.
“We need to find Vladimir before he unleashes Mez,” he said.
“It’s probably already happened,” Wolf rasped.
“In which case, we’re fucked,” he growled.
“We’re not fucked until we know otherwise.”
“I know,” he sighed. Wolf understood his pain. The man had been the first person he’d called once they discovered Caleb was missing.
“Someone took Micah’s younger brother, Caleb.”
Dead silence fell.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Wolf snarled.
“No, I fucking wish I was,” Alex replied tiredly.
“What did the cops say?”
“They chalked it up to a teenage runaway, but then they’d gotten reports of a young teenage boy being snatched off the streets in a struggle near Caleb’s school.”
After a moment, Wolf responded.
“I’ll put every available person I have on finding him and bringing him home.”
True to his word, Wolf and his men combed the streets, focusing on a local gang made up of criminals and drug dealers. The gang was known for roughing up kids coming out of the high school. The gang members started disappearing and Alex suspected Wolf had a hand in that. Regardless, nothing ever panned out.
And while Wolf searched his way, he and Micah had searched every possible lead, but after another dead end, still no Caleb. And then Vladimir contacted Rossi for an exchange.
Once again, Alex called Wolf. The man had gone quiet.
“He’s a fucking dead man,” Wolf said, and Alex heard the pain in the man’s voice.
“We need to find him first.”
“How the fuck did they know that Caleb was related to a Phoenix operative?”
“I don’t know, Wolf. I fucking don’t know.”
Wolf said nothing, but Wolf had a plan, of that Alex had no doubt.
“We’re getting him back whatever it takes,” Wolf returned after a moment, the man’s voice was fierce.
“Wait,” he said before Wolf could hang up. There was silence. “I feel like I’m missing something,” Alex said, because Wolf was acting like he knew Caleb.
“I met him,” Wolf said quietly into the silence.
“What? When?” Alex wracked his brain for a time Wolf could have possibly met Caleb.
“I was in the States for a while and I stopped by your place.”
“Where was I?”
“You and Lash were both out. Caleb didn’t say where, he just gave me shit about asking.” Wolf gave a soft grunt.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Caleb was pretty independent even at seventeen.”
“And a smart mouth,” Wolf grumbled.
“He’s very opinionated.” His mouth curved up at the memory.
“That he is.”
“We can’t lose him.” The words came out sounding like he’d swallowed gravel and he rubbed at his chest.
“We’ll find him,” Wolf promised.
“Yeah.” He pressed his lips together.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“What? Sorry.” He glanced out the driver’s window at the light drizzle that began darkening the dry street.
There was a moment of silence. “So, my man was able to apprehend two of Gashi’s men, He’s going to hold the pair until you can get there. You know…to question them.”
Alex’s phone pinged and he looked at it.
“I sent you his photo.”
He studied the photo, memorizing Gashi’s face. “Tell your guy I’m on my way,” he said. “I’ll see if I can get the location of that meeting between Vladimir and Mez from this Gashi guy.” He’d carve the information out of the fucker.
There was a long pause. “Make him talk,” Wolf growled.
“I will.”
“Oh, and Fear?”
“Yeah?”
“Try not to make too big of a mess,” Wolf said quietly.
“I’m not making any promises.”
Micah
Reaching his room, he noticed Seth waiting for him. He stepped up to open the door and Seth shoved him playfully. He rolled his eyes and threw open the door. Seth followed him inside.
What’s up?” He tossed his wallet and keys on the dresser.
“Fear’s worried about you.”
He shook his head, pressing his lips together.
“You’re an idiot.” Seth snorted and plopped down on his bed.
Micah gave his best friend a glare.
“I’m worried about you too.”
When he said nothing, Seth continued. “We all are.”
He toed off his shoes. There was nothing he could say to ease his friend, but regardless, he tried.
“I’m close, Seth, I can feel it.”
Seth hugged him and then sat on the bed.
He’d met Seth about the time the man had moved from the computer room to the field. They’d hit it off and during a mission together, they’d become good friends.
Seth bumped his shoe against the bed and then scooted back
to lean on his hands.
“Hey,” Wild greeted from the doorway.
“Come in,” Lash said as he waved Wild in.
Wild tucked his hands into his pockets and stepped inside. “I made spaghetti, are you hungry?”
“I am!” Seth sat up and rubbed his hands together.
Micah smiled and Wild laughed, and then Wild sobered.
“Stupid question, but are you okay?”
Micah gave the man a slight nod. “Yeah. Better since telling you guys.”
“Good.” Wild nodded. “I’m here. Hell, we’re all here if you need to talk.”
“Thank you,” Micah whispered. He fiercely meant it and he hugged Wild.
“Okay, well, I need to go and make sure Storm doesn’t eat all the food,” Wild said with a quick smile and left.
“We are here for you.” Seth reiterated what Wild said.
“I know.” Micah sighed and dropped down to sit.
All of Phoenix had been there for him for years and still to this day, he knew he could count on each of them. One thing he’d never regretted was joining Phoenix a year after his medical discharge. He’d been unsure of what to do with the rest of his life and had been approached.
Micah suspected that Alex had called Frost, but he never did find out because instead of Frost approaching him, Phoenix had sent a stranger. A man by the name of Stefano Esposito told him about a remarkable unit who needed his help. He’d joined the team and made some really damned good friends through the years. He’d even tried numerous times to get Alex to join after the man left the Army, but Alex always refused. Maybe now it was for the best.
“So talk to me about you and Fear.”
“There is no me and Fear.” He gnashed his teeth. “Not anymore.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Micah rubbed a hand down his face and opened his mouth. Seth held up his hand when he went to argue.
“You’ve known Fear since you went into the army. You were what, twenty?” Seth asked.
“Yeah.”
“That’s twelve years,” Seth said.
He gave a small smile. Damn, time flew. There had been a time when he and Alex had been inseparable. Micah suspected that Alex had pulled some strings to get them in the same unit when he finally deployed. For four years, they’d served side by side. Alex became his brother-in-arms and confidant all rolled into one massively sexy and deadly package. After the first year, they’d become lovers, and he never doubted they’d be together forever. But life had had other plans.
“We weren’t together the whole time. I was twenty-eight and Alex was thirty-four by the time we moved in together.”
“And here you are four years later! Thirty-two, ya old man,” Seth said cheekily.
“Jeez, thanks.”
Seth grinned and then sobered.
“I want to know one thing.”
“What’s that,” He swallowed and looked away.
“Why you two broke up.”
“I told you.”
Seth shook his head. “No. You told me you broke up, but you never told me why. And I never pressed you because I could see you were hurting.”
“I can’t live with him,” he said flatly.
“Is it because of what happened to Caleb?” Seth was perceptive, but that wasn’t all of it.
“It started before that. We were having a rough patch. Alex pissed me off and we had a huge blow out.”
“What about?”
He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. “About Caleb.”
Seth looked stunned. “Fear didn’t want Caleb to live with you?”
“No, nothing like that. He was just trying to control everything.” He clenched his teeth.
“Everything, like…?”
“Like, what school Caleb should go to, if we should pick a bigger house, if we should move closer to his mom, when she lived just down the street! It was just stupid stuff!” he finished with an irritated huff.
“You know what it sounds like?” Seth said gently.
“What?”
“He probably just wanted to be included.”
“Fuck, you suck.” He scowled at his friend.
“Truth hurts.” Seth smirked.
He sighed, gazing down at his hands, and whispered, “We worked it out. Alex and I have always been like that.”
Fuck, some of their fights had been knockdown, heated words that usually started with his snapping and snarling until Alex quietly crowded him until the heat turned into something far better than fighting. He swallowed hard and squeezed his hands tightly.
“We worked it out,” he repeated on a whisper. “We always do. You know?” He glanced up at Seth and his friend nodded. “But then…Caleb was abducted.”
“What happened between you two after that?”
He sighed and looked down at his hands. “Alex became more overbearing. I didn’t think that was even possible, but it happened.” He paused, and then his voice grew quieter. “He became utterly consumed with finding Caleb. He’d make decisions and I wouldn’t even know about it until afterwards. He said he was protecting me. Eventually, things fell apart.”
Seth eyed him. “So, what did you do?”
What could he say? That he’d been riddled with grief over his brother’s disappearance to his fucking soul? That it suddenly felt like Alex stopped being there for him? So he’d started picking at Alex like a festering wound—something he wasn’t proud of—to try and get a reaction. Until he couldn’t take it anymore, packed his shit, and walked out.
“I left.”
“And Fear?”
“He tried talking me out of it, but I couldn’t stay. I had more important things to handle than his guilt over something he couldn’t prevent.”
“Damn… I had no idea any of that was going on. None of us did,” Seth said softly.
“You know me, Seth. I’m a very private person. If I don’t need to say something, I usually don’t.”
“I know, and I’m sorry that happened to you both.”
He nodded and they stayed quiet for a while.
“I’m so afraid, Seth,” he admitted with difficulty around the sudden knot in his throat, “that maybe I won’t find Caleb alive. That Vladimir killed him and my searching is all in vain.” Standing abruptly, he moved then, pacing the room, feeling the walls closing in.
“Don’t go there.” Seth stood just as abruptly and caught his arm.
Micah tensed, holding his breath.
“We don’t go there until we know otherwise. You hear me?” Seth demanded, shaking him.
His head tilted back, he blinked up at the ceiling, and all he could do was whisper, “I hear you.”
But time was running out. Hell, time could be completely out and he wouldn’t even know it.
Eight of the nine hours passed in a blink and Micah went prowling the bunker in search of Alex. After his talk with Seth, things were weighing heavily on his mind.
To be fair, he hadn’t told Seth everything. While Alex had become controlling because he couldn’t change a situation that was really beyond his ability, Micah had become volatile, outspoken, and even cruel. Numerous times, his temper got the better of him and the more he took his anger and fear out on Alex, the more their relationship suffered. And while they’d been together helping out Phoenix when Alex was here, they really hadn’t talked because after the break up, he’d spent months avoiding anything remotely sounding like conversation with the man.
Asking Alex to sell the house had been the closest he’d come to saying more than a few words to the guy since last August. He needed to actually try and get some things settled. And now when he wanted to do it, he couldn’t find him!
He stopped and listened, trying to hear the man’s deep, commanding voice, but there was nothing. The tall, watchful soldier was missing.
“Where the hell are you, Alex?” he muttered beneath his breath.
In a last ditched effort, he headed to the upstairs office area, hoping Alex was spe
aking to the chief or commander. No such luck. The door to Stefano’s office was slightly ajar as if someone had pushed it shut but it didn’t latch. With a sigh of frustration, Micah pushed the door slightly open. Maybe Stefano knew where Alex had gone.
Stefano was on the phone. “The Washington burn site was pretty gruesome.”
There was a pause. Micah was just about ready to turn away when he heard a familiar name.
“I agree, it stinks of Vladimir’s work.” Another pause and Stefano sighed.
“The DNA I received was a negative match.”
Micah pushed at the door and it swung all the way open. He narrowed his eyes at the older man sitting behind the desk.
“What DNA?” he demanded.
“Rossi, I’ll call you back,” Stefano said into the phone and then disconnected the call.
Micah stalked across the room. “Answer me!”
“Have a seat and I will.” Stefano pointed at a chair and stayed silent until Micah dropped into one.
“We recently received DNA tests on twenty-four victims collected by Russian authorities at a burn site last year.”
“Last year… before Caleb?”
“Yes, it was.” Stefano sighed and continued. “And more recently, we discovered burned bodies from a site in Washington.”
His hand came up to cover his mouth. “Washington? Were any of them?” His voice cracked.
“No, nothing matches Caleb.” Stefano said, frowning at him. “You know I would have told you that,” the man chastised him.
Stefano closed his laptop and folded his hands.
“Why wasn’t I told about any of this?” He felt sick.
“If you picked up your phone or called to check in, you’d know about the Washington site. As for Russia, we only got the results last week.” Stefano studied him.
“I did check in!” he said fiercely, and then at Stefano’s look, he added, “Okay, by text, but I did check in and I did send you that video clip of the airport.”
“You didn’t answer or return my calls! Sending text messages to Roscoe and a video clip to me and Rossi doesn’t give us much opportunity to fill you in!” Stefano’s voice rose, reminding him of all the calls he’d dodged.
Micah gnashed his teeth and Stefano continued.
Destruction Page 5