Page 40 of The Flame of Carson (Blackout Security Inc. #3)

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G age stood on Stacey’s back deck with a cup of coffee. She was currently in her office on a phone conference with the New York office about the schedule for the upcoming year. His phone buzzed in his pocket. “Carson.”

“Just giving you a heads up, Ethan’s wife is on her way. ” One of the watchers out front said.

“Thanks, I’ll go wait for her.” Gage grinned and hung up.

Chuckling, he headed back inside. He had figured that Krista would be stopping by at some point and had warned Ethan about that the day before.

Moving back inside, he headed for the front porch to wait.

He had been sitting there maybe ten minutes when Krista’s car pulled into the drive behind his truck.

Gage stood and walked toward her, seeing the glow that he noticed on most pregnant women.

Krista was not showing yet, but then again, she was only about three months along.

“Hey Krista.”

“Hey Gage. Where’s Stace? She, okay?”

Gage leaned down and kissed her cheek before slipping his arm around her shoulder, “She’s fine. She’s on a conference call, so you have my company until it’s over. I think it may be a little bit.”

“Then you and I can catch up.” Krista smiled.

“Congratulations by the way. I haven’t been able to tell you myself. I know Ethan is over the moon.”

“Is he ever. He tried to tell me not to come over, but I just told him, pregnant or not I would still lay his ass out if he tried to keep me from checking on my best friend.”

Gage laughed as he steered her to the kitchen. “And you would too, I have no doubt. Want something to drink? We got coffee, water, OJ...”

“Orange juice would be perfect. Have had to cut back the coffee. I’m only allowed three cups a day which sucks for me.” Krista answered, pouting a little.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to handle that. Hell, I go through about two pots of coffee a day.” Gage agreed, handing her a glass of orange juice.

“Thanks. Gage, I want the truth. How are you and Stacey doing? I mean really doing.” Krista sighed.

Gage leaned over the island where she sat and rested on his forearms. “Kris, I’m not going to lie, I’m worried and so is she.

We’re both worried about something happening to each other more than anything.

It’s one thing when it’s some random psycho, but when said psycho also has the military training that Anderson has.

..that’s a whole different game altogether.

You can only anticipate so far with someone like that. ”

“Ethan didn’t tell me much about this except he was in the same unit you were in before you went to MARSOC. The last two days he’s been on the phone with Major McCandles and someone for the DOD.” Krista said.

“I’m not surprised. I have a feeling, now that we know who this is, he’s going to be getting reinforcement from the Corps. Or trying to get it. Last thing any of us want or need are civilian casualties here.” Gage smirked.

Before Krista could speak, Stacey walked in, having heard the conversation. “Like Gage said Kris, we are both worried. Other than that, though, we’re good.”

Krista stood and hugged Stacey. “I’m worried for you both and just glad that you’re all right after what happened yesterday.”

“Believe me, I am too. Luckily, I didn’t wake up in too much pain this morning. At least nothing a couple of Aleve didn’t take care of.” Stacey replied.

“Good. Now, that we got the serious shit out of the way, we can have a good visit before my check-up.” Krista stated, causing the three to laugh.

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T ony slammed on the brakes as he pulled into Blackout. He and Eli hopped out of the truck and rushed inside. “You called Ethan already, right?”

“Yeah, he was calling the others. Except for Gage anyway. He wants Gage and Stacey to stay put but Gage knows something up, just not what.” Tony answered when the elevator doors closed.

“While you were calling Ethan, I called Harker and Fortner. They said they’ll get things rolling but to hold until they talked to Ethan.” Eli explained.

Tony nodded. His mind was already running a million miles an hour.

If what he and Eli stumbled upon was right, they didn’t have much time.

A small eternity later, the elevator opened, and the two men went thundering down the hall to Ethan’s office.

They found the rest of Alpha team already there along with what Tony would guess were either MP’s or C.I.D. agents from the Navy.

“Tony, Eli, what do you have?” Ethan demanded, slipping into boss mode.

“Eli and I were doing cross referencing and by sheer dumb luck came across a series of encrypted messages. After more fancy geek work, we cracked it. The messages are between Anderson and an unidentified male. He only calls him “brother.” Tony started.

Eli took over, “The messages go back nearly five years as best as we can tell. Looks like they started around two years after Anderson was discharged. That’s when they started planning this.

We haven’t finished going through all of the messages, but it was the ones exchanged last night and this morning that caught our attention. ”

Tony handed Ethan the printed transcripts.

He studied his boss and friend. Ethan read the messages exchanged.

His Spidey sense was screaming now. His head jerked up and locked eyes with Tony and Eli.

The expression on both men’s faces told him all he needed to know.

“Eli, have to you told Harker and Fortner?”

“They’re waiting for your call Ethan.” Eli nodded.

“Tony, you, and Eli go get whatever gear you think you guys will need. I’ll call Harker, Fortner and then Wilson. Maybe we can get a bit of help from the Austin PD. Move!” Ethan ordered.

“Ethan, talk to us. What did they find?” Grant demanded.

“See for yourself.” Ethan said, handing the pages to Grant, then faced his guys. “You two call McCandles. Tell him to be on standby and I’ll be calling in half an hour.”

Grant held the papers so the others could gather around and read them.

Ander26: My risk was worth it. My targets are now sequestered, and Blackout is scrambling.

SmokSCRN4: Good job brother. Are you ready for phase 2?

Ander26: Yes brother. Everything is set for tomorrow night. The guard changes at 1900. I will move in from the rear as they are occupied out front. My targets will not see me till it’s too late. Shall I grab them both or just her?

SmokSCRN4: Just her. We will use her to guarantee compliance from not only Carson, but Blackout as well. Soon, brother, we both will get what we want. Keep me updated.

Ander26: Copy that. Happy hunting to you. Will update shortly.

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S tacey wrapped her arms around her as she paced the library.

Three hours ago, she and Gage had been swept up by two men that identified themselves as MP’s, which Ethan told them were coming.

Ten minutes after they arrived, she and Gage were driven to a safe house where Harker and Fortner met them.

Now, it was her, Gage and the two MPs in the house.

“Stacey, babe, what is it?” Gage asked, moving to her side.

“I don’t know Gage. I can’t shake the feeling that something is off.” Stacey answered.

“Off? What do you mean? Ethan as well as Cain and Jimmy verified these guys and...”

“No, it’s not the MP’s or even the safe house. The situation, I guess. I mean, Tony and Elias just stumble across those messages and what happens? You and I are suddenly plucked from my house and locked away. Does that seem right to you?”

Gage frowned, as he thought over what Stacey had just said.

He also applied what he remembered about Anderson and what was in the information that Ethan had shared the day before.

Pieces slid around in his mind. He recalled that Anderson was exceptionally good at slight-of-hand back in the day.

Several times he had seen how Anderson would deflect blame and confuse those in charge, but since he could never prove it, he had told only McCandles.

“Oh shit! It’s a set up.” Gage breathed.

Stacey opened her mouth to speak when she and Gage heard a loud crash. They spun toward the living room where the MPs were posted. “Stop right there! Hands up Anderson!”

“Freeze!”

A series of muffled shots were heard and the tale-tale signs of two bodies hitting the floor.

Without a word, Gage gripped Stacey’s left hand and silently pulled them toward French doors of the library.

He had just opened one when his world went black.

The last thing he registered was Stacey crying out his name.

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“F uck.” Ethan hissed seeing the front door of the safe house kicked in. He and the rest of his team moved silently inside. He spotted the two MP’s laying unmoving in the living room. Both had bullet holes in their foreheads. “Gage! Stacey!”

“Ethan! In here!” Harker called from the library.

Ethan and the rest ran in to find Fortner and Harker helping Gage sit up slowly. Ethan and Lance kneeled in front of him. “Gage, talk to me.”

“It was a set up Ethan.” Gage groaned rubbing the back of his head.

Stacey and I were in here and she said something felt off.

I started thinking about what I knew about Anderson, and I realized what she meant.

We heard a crash, the MP’s yelling for Anderson to freeze.

I turned to grab Stacey and get out but then everything went black. Where’s...”

“Gage, Stacey’s not here.” Grant answered carefully.

“He’s got her.” Gage breathed, a million emotions running through him. “We must find her. Figure out where he took her.” he stated, getting to his feet.

“Sir, we found this on the back porch table.” One of Harker and Fortner’s agents said, handing over a small square envelope.

“It feels like a disc of some kind.” Fortner commented.

“Let’s get to where Eli and I are set up. If he left further clues or instructions, everything we need to track him is there.” Tony spoke up.

Gage was the first to head for the door. He didn’t even cast a glance at the fallen MP’s. His mind was focused on one thing. Finding Stacey. He stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder as he stepped onto the front porch. Turning, he saw it was Grant.

“Gage, I know you’re worried about Stacey, but you’re also angry. You can’t have it both ways. I, as well as the others, know that you want in on getting her back, but if you can’t keep a level head, that won’t happen. You hear me?” Grant stated quietly.

“I hear you. You’re right. Look, I promise, by the time we get to Tony and Eli’s hole, I’ll be good. Well, as good as I can be, until I have Stacey back. Fair enough?” Gage replied.

“Ooh-rah.” Grant nodded, as the rest of the guys stepped outside.

Fifteen minutes later, Blackout, along with Fortner and Harker. were at Eli and Tony’s office at the Federal Building. As they drove over, Tony had called Elias and filled him in. When the group entered, they found Elias typing away at a keyboard and looking between two different screens.

“What have you got?” Ethan questioned as Tony sat beside Eli and slipped the disc from the envelope.

“Either Anderson is sloppy, or Stacey is just that smart. I’m tracking her cell phone. Or rather I was until about five minutes ago.” Eli smirked.

“Wait, she has her cell on her? I thought she left it at the house.” Gage frown in confusion.

“She left A cell phone at the house. Gage, she has two. Her personal and her work cell. I’m tracking her work cell. I lost the signal on I-35. They were heading North. Tony, what’s on the disc?” Eli reported.

“It’s an encrypted link. I’ve got the tracer on it now and once we click it; we should have more.” Tony answered.

“Do it.” Ethan ordered.

Tony clicked the link. The main screen went black.

Gage moved, so he was standing directly behind Tony and had an obscured view of the screen.

For nearly five minutes, nothing came through, then the screen flashed white and then Gage sucked in a breath.

He was staring at Stacey. She was bound to what appeared to be a metal folding chair, in what looked to be some kind of warehouse or factory.

He clenched his fists as Oscar Anderson stepped into frame behind Stacey.

“Hello Sergeant Carson.”

“Anderson.” Gage growled, assuming he couldn’t hear him.

Anderson laughed, “Glad to know you remember me after all this time.”

“The fuck?” Gage frowned, then saw Tony and Eli typing furiously and cursing under their breaths. “What the hell do you want Anderson?”

“Straight to the point. Very well, as much as I would like to draw this out, I guess we can cut the reunion. As for what I want. Simple. I want you to pay. Pay for what you stole from me and my brother.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Anderson. I didn’t steal shit from you or your so-called brother.” Gage argued, not taking his eyes off the screen and Stacey.

Stacey was seated, a rope or cord wrapped around her waist and her arms pinned to her side, where said rope or cord wound across her elbows.

He saw that she looked completely calm. That was his girl.

Calm under pressure. Gage also did not miss the anger he could see flashing in her eyes, as she too looked forward.

“You know what you did! What you stole from me! That was supposed to be MY position and YOU FUCKING TOOK IT FROM ME!”

“Or maybe because you’re a damned psycho.” Stacey mumbled.

“Stacey!” Gage roared when Anderson yanked her head back, causing her to grimace. “Leave her alone Anderson! I swear to God, I’ll kill you.” Gage growled.

Anderson released her hair and moved around her to stand in front of her, blocking Gage’s view of Stacey.

“Tell you what. You think you were the better Marine? That you deserved that spot in MARSOC, then prove it. I will text you an address. I don’t give a damn if you come alone or if you bring those fuckers, you call a team with you.

You and I will settle this for the last time.

If you don’t show up in the time frame given to you, it will be your bitch that pays the price. ”

“What are the terms? If you think I’m going into this blind you’re an idiot. I need to know Stacey will be unharmed. She’s not part of this Anderson. This is between you and me.” Gage demanded, his voice low and calm.

“Very well Carson. You arrive in time; you have my word that Stacey will remain unharmed. She will be...an observer. She will watch as I prove that I am the better Marine. She will watch as I kill you.”

“Fine. Where do I go?”