“The news was spread that she’d died. It was a big deal all over that part of the world for a while until things died down.”
“Right about the time he’d called me, I had met a woman. She was everything I ever wanted and thought I could never have.” He swallowed hard here and the look in his eyes, was almost heartbreaking.
“Turns out I was right, but not for the reasons I believed. She got pregnant, had a daughter, the most beautiful little girl you ever saw.”
“I loved her more than my own life and was going to marry her mother and give her the family she deserved.”
“But after I helped Mustafa things changed. He called me one day about six months later. Khalil’s father had found out what I had done.”
“I don’t know how but he did. Ever since then there was a mark on my back. The old king warned me what could happen. He told me anything I held dear would be in jeopardy.”
“So I had to give up my dream of having a family of my own. I had to leave the woman of my heart, even though two years later she gave me a son.”
He stopped and took a deep breath before staring back into the camera. “Our relationship had to be kept hidden. Something she never quite understood because I was never able to tell her the reasons why.”
“That would be Davey and Susie’s mother. Knowing you and knowing him, you’ve already met my son. Tell them I loved them, tell them I beg their forgiveness, but denying them was the only way I could keep them safe.”
“I left everything to you because I trust you; I built you. I chose each and every one of you, because you were throwaways. I thought it was kismet I guess. Your families didn’t want you and I couldn’t claim mine. But I did grow to love you, each of you, for the man you are.”
“I’ve been proud of you every step of the way and this is why I’ve done the things I have. I left you the land, but I did not forget my children.”
“This portrait holds a lot of secrets. I can only hope that it didn’t take you too long to find it and that our enemies haven’t finished the job they started.”
“I suspected a little over a year ago that Khalil was actively trying to find the girl. He had tried before but didn’t have the resources back then, he didn’t have the help he needed so his reach didn’t extend to the states.”
As you know I’ve spent years trying to rid the world of that fucking blight, but the slippery fuck always found a way to elude me.”
“Then after I retired the locals started coming to me with suspicions of something going on down by the water. It never entered my mind that it could be him. But once I started digging I knew in my gut that he was spitting in my face with his shit.”
“Once I started tracing the activities down on the water and it lead me to the general it didn’t take long for me to realize that he was on the take, that he was in fact working with The Desert Fox.”
“I knew my old team, and anyone I worked with was in danger, that’s why I called you in that last time. I know the general called you up to keep you away the fuck.”
“He was someone I once considered a friend, so I didn’t handle that very well. The sense of betrayal kinda threw me off.”
“As you know I’ve had my foot in Khalil’s ass forever, not only because I didn’t want him to get the girl, but because he is a genuine first grade asshole.”
“I never found out how his father knew about my part in taking the baby, and it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he never gets his hands on her.”
“I’m depending on you to make sure she stays safe. It’s obvious that they caught up with me if you’re seeing this. It’s my fault, I lost my head and confronted the general. Asshole!”
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t die of natural causes so if that’s the shit they’re selling don’t buy it. The general’s specialty is heart attacks, if that’s what you were told, don’t believe it; and don’t trust the general whatever you do.”
Mancini and the others were taking it all in and I personally was trying not to lose my shit. I didn’t know which I wanted to do first. Go find the general and put one in his head. Or go find this girl wherever she was.
“Now for my kids. If you look closely at the bottom of this painting you will find something there. You’ll need ultra violet lighting to see the writing.”
“It’s the numbers to my offshore accounts. There should be twenty million there plus interest. No I wasn’t on the take you fucks, but the navy paid me well and Mustafa was also very kind though I begged him not to, and most of it I invested.”
“That money is to be divided between my kids. You make sure they’re okay, that they’re safe. And their mother…there’s a box in the safe in my office. You’ll know the code to get in, no one else knows it.”
He looked pointedly at the camera and my brothers and I got the message. It was another one of our secret codes.
“The contents belong to her. Thank you boys for everything you’ve done over the years and hey, don’t be too damn hardheaded to ask for help if you need it, just be careful who you turn to. Call Justice and Law, I think by the time the dust settles they’re gonna have a dog in this fight.”
“I’m not gonna say too much here just in case it falls into the wrong hands, but I know you’ll piece it all together. He’s gonna come after you, and maybe anyone else we’ve ever worked with. As I’m making this I’ve only reached the tip of the iceberg.”
“I did as much as I can thus far but this thing keeps getting bigger and bigger. Watch your six boys, my money’s on you. Kick his ass for me will you. I’ll see you boys on the other side; be happy.”
The screen went dark and he was gone. No one spoke for the longest time and then Mancini broke the silence. “Looks like we have some work to do.”
My brothers didn’t speak nor did I. Lyon was the one to finally break the silence. “How did my kid get caught up in this? I don’t know any of these people.”
“Yeah we already established that your connection is the senator, which means the general. Whatever Khalil is doing he’s using this trafficking shit as a front.”
“Either that or it’s just plain revenge. They took something of his, now he’s taking something of theirs. I’m not sure what the general and the others are getting out of this, but I think we all know there’s a lot of money in that trafficking shit.”
At least Logan seemed to be following the tread of this whole mess. I was still stuck on seeing the old man again.
“So his old team didn’t know what they were getting into. What does that mean? Did he tell them anything at all?”
“I’m pretty sure he must’ve given them a heads-up when he realized which way this thing was heading. The question is, why out of all of them was Samson the only one who kept his daughter so well hidden? Did he know more than the others maybe?” Law threw that question out there.
“Maybe he knew enough to know that Khalil would come after her eventually?” Justice who hadn’t said much of anything since we left the states was finally heard from.
Pretty soon we were all trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. We knew more now than we did an hour ago but there was no denying there was still a shit load we didn’t know.
“Any ideas on where we start to look for this woman? Would there be anything else back at the compound?”
“Maybe Samson knows something. He did say there were things he couldn’t say to us tonight. And we’re supposed to call him once his daughter was safe.” Speaking of which.
“I’ll be right back.” I’d been gone for more than an hour. The women and children had all gone to bed and the place was quiet and still.
All I could think of was her waking up in a strange place alone. I needed to find out what her dad had said to her before we showed up, and then I needed to call and let him know she was okay.
Those feelings hit me again as soon as I walked into the room. That gut punch feeling that made me weak in the knees.
She was still asl
eep, huddled under the covers when I checked on her. I stood over her watching her sleep for a few minutes before turning away. I closed the door softly behind me and left.
I left a little something behind that would alert me once she woke up and had to be satisfied with that for now.
Back at the mansion someone had already set up a board with all that we knew so far. In the middle was the unknown woman that Khalil was apparently after.
Surrounding her were the names of the men who’d served on the CO’s team and their daughters. Each of the women in the book had been added as well.
It was easy to follow the trail and see that they all had some connection to someone the old man had either worked with or commanded in the last twenty years.
We didn’t need much more to make it clear that this was indeed a vendetta against him. But it was the organization that it took that was surprising. This shit had to be in the works for a long fucking time.
Things got a little confusing once we added the general and the other politicians to the equation. Where the fuck did they fit in?
34
Devon
We were at that shit for hours. Piecing shit together, moving things around to come up with the answers.
Once we found the right thread and began to tug, it became easier to connect the dots and the picture that was painted was not a pretty one.
“So here, twenty years ago, Khalil was still a kid, but his old man started the search for the girl. It looks like they didn’t know who exactly had taken her, so it took them some time to whittle it down to the commander.”
We’d only got this far because of Mancini and his connections who he’d called for some information going back all those years.
It was tedious work because we had to follow the general going back twenty years and then moving forward again to see when exactly his path had crossed with Khalil’s.
Once we found the connection it wasn’t hard to pull in the politicians and see their part in the whole filthy mess.
“It was all about money for them. I wonder, did they know who the fuck this guy was when they got into bed with him? I mean, we armed this fuck!” It was safe to say I was beyond pissed.
“This is why I never joined up. No disrespect to anyone in this room, you’ve all proven to be men of honor, but this shit right here, makes me want to fuck some shit up.”
Everyone nodded at Lyon’s words. Though I could make the argument that there was a hell of a lot that makes him homicidal, he had a point.
“I hear you Colton, and this isn’t the worse of it. This just happens to be the thing we got caught up in, but these men, once they lose their way, you’d be surprised at the shit they get into.”
Mancini kept studying the board as he spoke, while the rest of us military men tried to make sense of what the hell we were looking at.
It was hard for me so I was sure it was the same for the others, to fathom selling out our country. But the evidence was right in front of us.
The Desert Fox had set off a shit storm spanning at least the last ten years in order to find this girl. She would’ve been ten back then.
“You know what’s missing? Nowhere does it show what her old man has been doing in the meantime to make sure she’s never found. But I think it’s safe to say that he has been doing something.”
I looked to Lo for confirmation that he agreed with my analysis. “I’m sure you’re right Dev, but what does that mean? Are we supposed to go to him and ask him where the hell he has her stashed?”
“It might not come to that. Let me make a few calls and see what I learn.” No one questioned whether Mancini had that kind of reach, by now it was obvious that he did.
“I have one question. Do I have to wait until you’ve taken care of this Fox guy before I break the senator’s neck?”
Lyon was serious as fuck when he said that and it took the whole room to talk his ass down. “You know we can’t condone you going after a sitting senator Lyon. You’ve already taken care of his brother and sister in law…”
“Logan, brother, I don’t need you or anyone else to condone shit. When it comes to my kids and my woman everybody’s fucked.”
“His family didn’t have a connection to this guy, he did. And if I find out that your ex-president had anything to do with my daughter’s name being in that book personally, he’s fucked too.”
“Don’t waste your breath Lo, I’ll talk to him.” Law shut Logan down when he started to answer Lyon’s threat.
I thought it best to get us back on track before this disintegrated into a screaming match between those two.
Lo has a core of loyalty that runs deep and a huge part of that loyalty is to his country. Until he knows everything and how it all came about, he won’t commit to anything.
Especially when it comes to taking out men that were part of our country’s leadership. I have to say I’m with Lyon on this one though. These fuckers need to die no matter how or why they got caught up in this shit.
“I’m with Colton. This isn’t your garden-variety fuck up, this is some sick shit. They almost had Kelly Lo.” Quinn paced the room and looked back at the screen where the CO had been.
“What if it had been Gaby, which we now know could’ve been a possibility. The only reason she wasn’t in that book is because you hadn’t met her yet.” Lo flexed his shoulders but held his peace.
“But whomever you’d chosen would’ve ended up in his crosshairs. You can’t tell me that doesn’t fuck with you.”
Quinn was pissed and rightfully so, but now was not the time to lose it. “What are we going to do about the ones who were already taken?” It burned my ass that there were young girls and women who’d already fallen prey to this shit.
“Thorpe, that’s what he specializes in. If they’re out there, he’ll find them. As to the senator, Thorpe already dealt with one of those maybe he would know where to start looking.”
“How long ago was this?”
“A couple years ago, why don’t I give him a call?” He didn’t wait for an answer but called Thorpe right away.
We all listened in as he gave him the bare bones and there was no surprise when he mentioned some names that we had already heard before.
“If they’re being held domestically Blade and Jake might be of help there, I’ll get my team to look overseas. I’ll let you know what we come up with if anything. If you get anymore just shoot it to me. Are the SEALs there?”
“We’re here.” Logan answered him on the speaker. “Can one of you explain to your admiral that I don’t take orders from him? The man’s a pain in the ass.”
“Why what’s he doing?”
“Well for starters, he and his motley crew seem to think that all that’s needed is to kill everyone and anything that moves. This is a very delicate situation we’re dealing with here, we can’t just go blow shit up for fuck sake.”
“Why don’t you give them something to do? Let them help you out?”
“Because I don’t work with unknowns.” Another hard ass.
“We’ll take care of it Thorpe, and thanks again.” He hung up after Lo’s words. “Quinn deal with your father in law.”
“What the fuck, you’re in charge Lo that’s your deal.” I found my first laugh since we got back from Cali and that little exchange seemed to lighten the mood a bit.
“Okay, so Thorpe’s taking care of the ones who were already taken, we have the others secure. All we need to do now is find this woman and then take care of Khalil. Does that sound about right?” I asked the room at large.
“Mancini when are you going to make that call?” He checked his watch. “They’re seven hours ahead so it’s what, ten in the morning? I say we get some rest and come back at it in a few. I’ll make the call then.”
We all agreed and the men got to their feet to leave. Mancini pressed some buttons and the board slid into the casing on the wall and disappeared.
“Just in case the girls should find their way in here.” No
t sure how they would do that seeing as how the shit has more security than Fort Knox, but he was right. These women are resourceful if nothing else.
As the rest of us headed back to the cottages leaving Lyon and Mancini in the mansion, the tension was heavy.
“You know they killed your CO right?” Ah damn Law, not now.
“The rest of you really think I don’t want to end these fucks? But what happens if we go after them before we get those girls back? Did any of you think of that?”
That’s why he’s our fearless leader, because he thinks about shit like that. Me, I say we go take his fucking head and let Lyon loose on the senator. As for the fuck up, that might be a little harder.
“I hear you Lo, but after we’ve taken care of them he’s done.”
“Tyler!”
“No Logan, fuck that. We heard it from the old man’s mouth. There’s no more second-guessing. He’s fucked.” Ty stormed off in the direction of his cottage.
“Connor!” Logan gritted out the name.
“Yeah I got him. But you know he has that other crazy fuck singing the same tune. I’ma need combat pay.”
Con went after Tyler and caught up with him. “We can’t go off half cocked here brothers. This isn’t some redneck brigade in the fucking hills. We’re talking about a senator and a three star general not to mention an ex-president.”
“I’ll try to rein Lyon in later, but I gotta tell you, if we don’t do something soon he’s liable to pop his fucking leash. I told you when we first brought him in.”
“Yeah you told me but I didn’t know the fuck was a renegade. And he and Tyler seem to be cut from the same fucking bolt of cloth. It’s a wonder either one of ‘em lasted this long as hot headed as they are.”
“Lyon’s not hotheaded, he might seem to be, but that is one methodical fuck. Personally I think Mancini is the one we gotta watch.”
Everyone looked at Justice who was nodding his head. “Think about it. Lyon and Ty might have the anger, but neither of them have the resources this guy has.”
“I’ve been checking out his setup here, and this motherfucker is the real deal. And we all know he has no affiliation with anything as far as we can tell.”
SEAL Team Seven Books 6&7 Quinn and Devon Page 23