Page 33 of Forgiving His Past (Eagle’s Nest Securities #5)
“As sure as I’ve ever been about anything in my life.” When the other man, along with Logan and Chase, appeared to be less than convinced, Van barely controlled his broiling temper. “I’m telling you, less than an hour ago, that asshole pointed his fucking gun at my head.”
“Hold up,” Chase jumped back in. “I thought you said the guys who were with Webb were in suits, and?—”
“They were.” Van cut him off, raking a frustrated hand through his head.
He hadn’t so much as questioned who they were.
“I didn’t even think to question who they were.
I just assumed they were government employees assigned to Webb’s detail, and let them take Kam away without doing a damn thing to stop them. ”
I’m sorry, Kam. So fucking sorry.
He had to work to control his breathing.
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Logan continued denying what they were all beginning to see as the truth. “Webb wouldn’t work with a guy like that. Not him. No way.”
Though he hated it, Van didn’t have time to be gentle. So he met his friend’s troubled gaze and said, “Face it, brother. Webb’s dirty. You can deny it all you want, but you’re only wasting your time.”
“No.” Logan shook his head again. “Webb said that?—”
“He fucking lied! Don’t you get it, Logan?
I mean, look at the damn evidence! The man has a known killer on his payroll, for fuck’s sake.
I get that the guy was friends with your dad and that he helped out your mom after the funeral and all that.
But the fact is, that man”—he pointed to the image on the screen—“is working with Webb, and it sure as hell isn’t as an agent assigned to protective detail. ”
As he said those words, the totality of the situation fully began to sink in. And that’s when Van really started to panic because…
“We have to find her.” They had to. “We have to hurry the hell up and figure out where he’s taking Kam.”
His teammates grew quiet as they looked back at him with empathetic stares.
“It’s okay, Van,” Chase began. “We’ll figure out where Webb took your girl, and we’ll bring her back safe and sound.”
“How?” He was suddenly finding it hard to breathe. “How are we going to?—”
“The marina has security cams, right?” Lucky asked.
Van felt his head bob in a wooden nod as he worked to remain calm and not totally lose his shit. “They’re all over down there.”
“All over is good. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” Van hollered after the other man.
Lucky stopped just shy of exiting the conference room. “To my office,” he quickly explained. “It’ll be faster from my desktop. Trust me, Van.” Their gazes locked up tight. “I’ve got this.”
He dipped his chin, knowing if anyone could figure out where Webb took Kam, it would be Lucky.
“What can we do?”
Van turned to where the other three men still stood. His heart hurt for Logan, because from the look on the man’s face, it was clear he was coming to grips with knowing a man he once thought of as a hero was anything but.
Unfortunately, that was a conversation that would have to come at a later time. For now…
“We need to get ready for war. ”
Two hours later…
“You good?” Van stood inside Logan’s office doorway, hoping like hell his friendship with the man hadn’t been permanently damaged.
The former SEAL lifted his head from where it had been resting in his hands. With his elbows still firmly placed on his large desk, Logan motioned for him to come in.
“Honestly?” Logan asked as Van shut the door behind him. “I don’t know.”
“I really am sorry,” he said sincerely. “I know you probably don’t believe me, but I didn’t want to be right. Not about this.”
“I know you didn’t. And as long as we’re being honest with each other, I know I’ve been blind where Webb’s concerned. It’s just…the guy’s like family, you know?”
He did.
If anyone ever tried convincing him that one of his teammates was dirty, Van would choke them the hell out. So yeah, he got it. And he felt for his friend. But the facts were just that, and right now, what mattered was finding Kam and bringing her back home.
Home.
Seattle wasn’t her home. Not yet anyway. But as soon as they found her and he knew that she was okay, Van planned to have that particular conversation the first chance he got.
Was it fast? Hell yeah, it was. Did he care?
Not a fucking bit.
Kam was his. Plain and simple. Even if she didn’t know it yet.
Taking one of the empty chairs facing Logan’s desk, Van plopped his ass down with a heavy as hell sigh. He felt so lost, and he didn’t know what to do next.
“We have to find her, Logan,” he muttered. “Webb told me he had some White House thing tonight he had to get back to. But?—”
“There’s no such event on the schedule tonight,” Logan cut him off with even more of the disturbing truth. “I already put a call into a contact at the Pentagon. If there’s something going on involving SECNAV, he would know.”
“What made you call?”
“I was looking into Webb’s flight schedule. I thought we could catch up to him wherever he was going to land. But…”
“But?”
“Webb’s schedule was mysteriously left open-ended, which means no one—not even the Pentagon—knows when he plans to return.”
When Logan’s stare met his once more, the poor man appeared hollow and heavy. As if he were mourning the loss of someone very near and dear to his heart.
That’s because he is.
“I keep telling myself there has to be an explanation,” Logan mumbled. “That there’s a perfectly good reason Webb would associate himself with a guy like Felix James. But?—”
“There’s only one reason someone gets into bed with a man like that.”
“I know.” The other man nodded. “Question now is why? And what does any of this have to do with what the attack on our team three years ago? Or Kam, for that matter?”
“No idea.” Van pulled in a deep breath. “But I won’t stop until we figure it out.”
“This might help.”
He and Logan swung their attention to the man who’d just entered without so much as a knock. With his tablet in his hands and a wide, toothy smile, Lucky announced proudly, “I got ’em!”
Minutes later, they were all gathered back inside the conference room, listening carefully as Lucky shared all he’d found .
“Okay, so we already got a positive I.D. on Felix James.” He used his tablet to put the man’s image on the big screen mounted to the wall behind him.
“I accessed the marina’s parking lot cameras and voila.
” Another man’s face joined James’s. “The other man with Webb is Mitchell Caldwell. And like James, the guy has a laundry list of criminal charges and run-ins with the law.”
“Okay…” Van studied the two men’s faces he recognized from when he and Kam had been at the marina. “Any connection to the guy from the boat?”
“As a matter of fact…” Lucky added another picture to the screen. “Damon Young did time for assault a few years back. His cellmate was none other than Felix James.”
“That son of a bitch.” Van ground his teeth together so tightly, he thought they might crumble free from his jaw.
Chase blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. He looked to no one in particular when he asked, “Are we really saying Webb hired Young and whoever the guy he was with to take out Van and Kam?”
“Sure as hell looks like it.” Archer nodded. His dark eyes found Van’s, letting him know he had his back.
They all did. Even Logan. And since he’d declared Kam to be his…
They’ll do whatever it takes to save her from whatever the hell this is.
“Okay…” Van trailed. “So we have the who, but we still don’t know where they took her or why Webb wants her dead.”
“And you, apparently,” Chase pointed out unnecessarily.
Actually Van was pretty damn sure Webb wanted them all wiped clean from the map. But like he’d just mentioned, he didn’t have the faintest clue as to why.
“We may not have the motive yet, but I think I just found the where.”
All eyes in the room turned Lucky’s way, and Van’s heart kicked against his ribs as he waited to hear what the other man had to say.
“I was able to use the marina’s security cameras to close in on the SUV’s plates. From there, I traced the vehicle to a local government rental agency located across town.”
Those tiny tendrils of hope Van had been feeling moments before bloomed into full-on belief. “Please tell me you were able to get into the vehicle’s GPS system.”
“Got it in one, big guy.” Lucky smiled widely. With a tap of his tablet, a different picture filled the mounted screen above. “It’s a piece of land about fifteen miles north of the city.”
“He’s still here?” Van turned and started for the door. “What the hell are we waiting for?”
“Uh…” Chase paused. “Shouldn’t we have at least a tiny part of a plan?”
Normally, he’d say yes, but they were running out of time. If they didn’t catch Webb in the act, they may not ever be able to prove he was the one responsible for so much heartache and death.
“We can plan on the way,” Van decided for the team. And then, knowing this was their one and only chance, he told them, “Gear up, boys. We’re going hunting.”