Chase raked his hand through his long hair, appearing as frustrated as we all felt. “Yeah, but as you might imagine, we’ve had an uphill battle and with Worthington on the take, it’s only going to get steeper.”
“We need to get a copy of this hit list.”
Maverick was right.
“I think we need to go under the assumption Worthington made the list.” Gabriel was serious.
“I suggest you consider taking Valentina and Bella to the safehouse I mentioned. We’ll handle this from here.”
While I appreciated Chase’s suggestion and willingness to get his hands dirty, that wasn’t going to happen. “Not a chance in hell.”
Chase chuckled. “I figured you’d say that.”
“Are we really talking about doing this? And I’m not entirely certain what this is.” Kendrick was stating what we’d all been thinking. Although I had my answer.
I wanted Jacob Jones to suffer.
Admitting it even to myself wasn’t as difficult as I’d suspected.
“We’re here to finalize the creation of Raven Intel.” Chase locked eyes with each one of us before continuing.
“I’d love to take down the attorney general, if possible,” Gabriel admitted.
We were certainly all in agreement with that. “I have some ideas on how to do that,” I told him.
“Let me show you what I’ve managed to put together so far. Then you tell me where we’re going with this.” Chase was more excited than some kid in a candy store.
“Why not,” Kendrick said. “All we have to lose is our careers.”
“And our morals,” Gabriel added.
“I don’t know about you, but I lost those years ago.” Maverick had the same grin on his face as he had the night before. He was loving this.
Over the next thirty minutes, he proceeded to talk about the communications and security equipment he’d amassed, and his ability to access information about almost anyone in the world. In addition, he’d briefly spoken privately to several people he believed were experts in their respective fields. He also presented pictures of the safehouse he’d mentioned to me.
“In addition, I know a guy I apprehended while early in my career,” Chase concluded. “Mikey Carnovich was undoubtedlythe best thief I’ve ever hunted. He was responsible for stealing millions of dollars of priceless art and jewelry during his illustrious career. After serving his time, he became a consultant for a couple corporations then was lured by the government as an expertise on building security.”
I laughed. “Just in case we need training on breaking and entering?” I asked.
“Exactly. What about your buddy you serve with in the Marines? What was his name, Jack Barker? Wasn’t he an explosives expert?”
Nodding, I finished off my drink. “Yes. He certainly knows his shit.”
“You see what I’m getting at,” Chase threw out. “We all know people who are experts in different industries who hold specialized skills.”
“How are we going to keep them from turning our activities into the authorities?” Kendrick lifted his eyebrows.
“We all have a common need. Justice.” My answer might seem simplistic, but of the people Chase had mentioned, including Jack, we’d shared conversations much like the one from two nights before.
“I also have a safehouse we can use,” Gabriel offered. “Much like yours, Chase, not fancy but off the grid in the mountains of North Carolina. Plus, one of my exes is a former spy who speaks several languages and is currently teaching at the FBI Academy.”
Maverick laughed. “You old dog, you. And here I thought we knew everything about each other.”
“Not everything,” I offered.
“Having a linguist ex-spy on board would be great,” Chase teased. “Let’s just be clear. If we agree formally to do this, there is no turning back. In the eyes of the law, we will be considered criminals. Any day our form of justice could catch up to us.”
“That means extra caution including hiding our identities online and in person,” Maverick said. “I’ve done a lot of research in my books on how assailants and spies are so successful.”
