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Ben shook his head, his perfect recall coming into play. “They were funding terrorist organizations, but they weren’t the terrorists. Her father had aspirations to hold political office, and the terrorist organizations were supposed to give him an in by shaking up the current governmental structure. It turned out the daughter wasn’t innocent like Gish first thought. She was more of the father’s right hand. But the son—”

Jackson snapped his fingers, snapping out of his daze as the puzzle pieces started falling into place. “Gish turned the son, who was more interested in playing the cello in the symphony than overthrowing a government. He leveraged the son to get the Agency to organize an extraction and to let him go when the mission was over. The father. Do you remember his name?”

Ben never forgot anything he heard, saw or read. It was a gift which served him well as a grifter, but in this case, there weren’t details to remember. “English never told us. All he said was he left on a high note. He closed his last case and walked away. He didn’t tell us where they were when all this went down. I don’t think it ever occurred to us to ask. You don’t think it’s related to this now?”

Jackson nodded. “I do. It fits. Gish took his son. He’s coming after Gish’s daughter. I’m not sure how he would know about Reagan because Gish cut all ties to them, but my gut says this is the lead we need to chase.”

He pulled his phone out and dialed Easton’s number. His body shuddered with nervous energy as he waited. As he started to think his brother would never answer, the call connected.

“How the hell did you know—”

“Tell me you’re questioning Garth,” Jackson interrupted.

“I was. But—”

“You need to ask him about Gish’s last case. We need the name of the guy he was trying to take down. If he was as close to Garth and Deb as they claimed, he could have told them about the case.”

“Jackson, will you stop talking long enough to listen to me?” Easton all but shouted into the phone, but it was sufficient in getting his brother’s attention.

“What?”

“We have a problem. I was questioning Garth about Gish. He answered my questions about Gish’s CIA handler, but when I started asking him about Traci and Reagan, he got fidgety. He wouldn’t respond to me or his sitter. He slumped over his chair and would have fallen if I hadn’t caught him. Garth had a heart attack. He’s in surgery having a double bypass. And I’m probably going to be arrested for causing his heart attack, if Deb has anything to say about it.”

Jackson met Ben’s questioning gaze. “You’ve got to be shitting me. What the hell, East?”

“I didn’t cause it. I’ll straighten things out here, but you guys need to dig into Gish’s handler. When I asked Garth about him, he told me he thought English hated the guy. Deb failed to share that when we talked to her, so there’s got to be something there.”

“I think it’s connected to Gish’s last case with the CIA.” Jackson explained his theory while Ben waited impatiently nearby. Ben was only hearing one side of the conversation, and Jackson could almost feel his frustration at having to wait to find out the other side.

“I’ll do my best, but I wouldn’t hold your breath,” Easton told him. “Deb is mad. She’s not going to want to say anything to me after I went behind her back to talk to Garth. We need a plan B just in case.”

“Keep me posted.” Jackson ended the call, ready to head back to the shack when Ben stopped him.

“What about Dunlap’s partner? You don’t think we should track his connection to this since Reagan saw him back at the bar?”

“I do, but I think the more leads we can chase down and rule out all at once, the less time we waste. And we’ve wasted plenty trying to get ahead of this guy.”

“And if we figure out who put Gish in the hospital? What then?”

Jackson held his brother’s stare, understanding passing between them. “We take him down. We focus on Gish’s healing. Everything goes back to normal.”

“Jackson! Ben!”

The shout had the brothers jerking their heads to see Luke waving to get their attention from several yards away. They were already running toward Luke when he shouted the reason for his sudden appearance.

“It’s Reagan. She’s gone.”

Chapter Eighteen

Reagan found Alex waiting outside English’s room, and she raised her hands to sign to him in broken American Sign Language. Though she wasn’t sure she had all of the signs correct, she was satisfied that Alex understood.

“Don’t call him. Not yet. I need a minute. Please.”

Reagan had never run away a day in her life…until English and his boys appeared out of the blue. Now, not only had she run away twice, she’d run both times to English’s hospital room. The boys were going to be livid to find out she’d slipped away from them. Though she hoped Alex would respect her wishes, she wouldn’t be surprised if his first call was to alert Jackson to her whereabouts.

Alex nodded and motioned for her to slip inside. Reagan hesitated.

“Where’s Becky?” She spoke this time, keeping her voice low so as not to be overheard. “I want to be alone with him.”