Page 64

I blinked. “You’re letting us go with you?”
“Don’t you want to come?” Miguel asked, frowning at me. “Because I’d just as soon have you here where you’ll be safe until we’re ready to leave for the airport.”
I frowned, pulling away to give him my best glare. His arm dropped. “Are you serious? Of course, I want to go if you’re going…pigheaded twat!”
Mike and Cassidy chuckled as Lincoln smiled.
“I’m going, Raven. I need my passport, clothes, and pills…and I need my weapon, which in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have. Trust me when I tell you, I’ll sleep on the plane.” He reached up and massaged his temple. “I just had no idea we were going…and so soon.”
“It’s gonna be a ten-hour flight because we have a stopover in Houston to pick up a specialized tac team made up of all former Spec. Ops soldiers and Marines,” Lincoln said, glancing at Mac who sat at a desk about twenty feet away. He had a phone receiver pressed to his ear and was writing something on a pad of paper. Lincoln nodded in his partner’s direction. “Mac has worked with their team before. He says they’re the best and that’s what we’ll need.”
I nodded, impressed. I loved that idea. “Well, I suppose if Miguel is insistent upon joining the rest of you trained Super soldiers, then being surrounded by a highly trained Special Ops team is best.”
Lincoln reached out and patted me on the shoulder. “Miguel will be fine. I already know he has the best training the Marine Corps offers and worked Recon for years in theater. The only reason he has a concussion is because of a guy who works for the FBI. Trust me, he’ll be safe surrounded by all that talent. Have a little faith.”
“I do, Lincoln. I just don’t have any faith in other people,” I said.
“You have faith in me and Mac over there.” Cassidy nodded in McCallahan’s direction. “And by the way, the title of Super soldier is fine for Mac, but you can call me Super SEAL, okay?”
I chuckled and smiled at my friend. When I turned to Miguel, he had a teasing glint in his eye and a single eyebrow was raised. “What?”
“You do know that calling a Marine a ‘soldier’ is amassiveno-no, right? Soldiers are in the Army.”
I patted his arm. “Yes, doofus. You’ve told me a million times. Sorry. I certainly didn’t mean to lump you into that category. I’ll just call you Super Jarhead. How’s that?”
Cassidy burst out laughing as Miguel’s expression morphed. He looked like he’d just bitten into a lemon which made me laugh.
“Anyway, Mike and I will meet you at the airport,” Cassidy said.
I looked at Mike. “You’re going too?”
“If my partner’s going, I’m going. The LAPD is just gonna have to do without my fine self for a few days.”
I smiled at the older man.
“Okay, then we gotta get you to the hotel. Come on, guys,” Lincoln said.
I nodded and took Miguel’s hand as we walked out of the bullpen with Lincoln, and Damon. Stopping at the elevators, Lincoln pushed the button, and we waited in silence. We all turned when the office door opened and Mac jogged up to us. “Sorry.”
“The guys are waiting for us?”
Mac nodded. “Yeah, all twelve will be waiting. How about satellite?”
“I talked to Mark,” Damon replied. “He’ll have SAT images for us by the time we get to Houston. That should give us the positioning of any other outbuildings on the property. I’m guessing that the place isn’t only a house but also has barracks separate from the main structure, along with other guesthouses and the like. We should have as many as thirty guys and DEA is bringing another thirty. How about Jarrett?”
“He and Sarah are meeting us in Houston,” Lincoln said.
“Thayne?”
“He’s in Arizona. He wanted to come but his auntie is down there, and she asked him for help on the ranch she used to own out there. The Native American tribe that borders the land wants a long-term lease on part of it near the main road to expand their reservation’s trading post. The new owner is willing but there’s some kind of negotiation that has to go on between the tribe, private property, the state of Arizona, and the Federal government who granted them the reservation lands to begin with. They’re meeting with lawyers to help smooth things over and I guess his aunt dug up documents pertinent to the property which aren’t on file with the city. Thayne went to help things go smoothly and be supportive of his aunt and the current owner of the ranch.”
“That sounds incredibly complicated,” Miguel said as the elevator car doors opened.
“Anything pertaining to reservation lands, private property, and the Federal government is complicated, even if it’s friendly and all parties agree,” Lincoln said as we all got into the elevator, punching the button for the parking garage.
“How long will you be at the hotel?” he asked. “We should be at LAX in an hour.”
“Not long,” I said. “I just need to pack us an overnight bag and Miguel needs his medication.”