18
“Hell no.” Merc shoved off the deep green wall of Cotter’s meeting room, his once relaxed pose now a stiff mask of fury.
Task Force Scorpion’s commander, Colonel Mack Grey, lifted his hands in the air. “Just hear me out.” Up until a few seconds ago, Merc respected and admired Grey. Now he was beginning to think his commander had lost his mind.
“I can't think of a single thing you could say that would make it okay for Caroline to leave the house so soon.” A round of murmurs filled the room, murmurs of agreement from his teammates.
Grey and Cotter had called them all into the conference room on the second floor for this last-minute meeting the next day. Hunter, Ranger, Riser, Aaron and Ethan all sat leaning back in black swivel chairs, while Merc, Hoyt and Jared stood along the back wall close to the exit. Tension rolled around the room thick like mud as each second passed.
Cotter tugged on his collar, looking distinctly uneasy and for good measure. Merc seriously considered strangling the man.
“You let her get to you. You let her guilt you into allowing her to leave the house, even when you know it’s not safe.”
“No -no, I swear, it’s not that,” Cotter stuttered.
“Really? I saw the way she looked at you when you suggested keeping her locked in this house. You caved. And you’ll lose your daughter because you’re too weak to do what’s right.”
Cotter’s ashen face peaked to a dull purple. His hand dropped from his tie and he stood tall. “I would lay down my life for Caroline. How dare you suggest otherwise?”
Merc felt the sneer curl his lip, knew he was being insubordinate, and didn’t give a flying fuck. “For the same reason you sold her out to a man old enough to be her grandfather.”
“I set up that marriage to protect her! General Rainier is one of the most powerful men I know!”
“Yet you underestimated J and now you want to do it again. Tell me, Senator, are you eager to lose her? Or maybe there’s something else… maybe you have some kind of connection with J that we don’t know about,” Merc didn’t hold back. He was done being politically correct.
Cotter’s lips opened and closed like a lost guppy. “You bastard! J stole everything from me! My wife. My other daughter. And now he nearly took Caroline, too. I want that man dead more than I want anything else in this world.”
“You’re sure showing it in a piss poor way.” Merc edged closer, daring Cotter to argue.
But Cotter failed to rally. His shoulders drooped and he stepped back, his enraged mask sliding slowly into that of the polished Senator. He eased a hand through his longish gray hair. “Remember in the hospital when I said I thought we could draw J out? Well, this is the plan.”
“Yes, I remember,” Merc muttered. “But I also remember you hiring us to protect your daughter, and we can't do that if she's out in the open.” Merc's voice rose with each word, knowing J could have any number of unknowns out there scouting the area just in case Caroline was allowed to leave the estate.
“Merc, zip your mouth for just a minute and listen to the whole plan before you make up your mind.” Grey's orders whipped across the room, and although every instinct in Merc screamed at him to disobey his commander, he fell in line. He'd hear out their plan and then he’d tell them no.
“Fine,” Merc said.
“The first part starts with Senator Cotter. He’s got an inside man in the press who has been dying to cover the story of Caroline's kidnapping. So far the reporter’s team has kept it completely under wraps, just a few snippets leaking here and there. He can call together a last-minute press conference and make an announcement on national TV.” Grey, dressed in his typical pull-over and jeans, glanced at Cotter.
Cotter gave him a weak nod and cleared his throat. “I’ll do it big, blasting it all over the papers that Caroline's home safe and sound. And because of some surprising new intel she's provided, we've been able to locate Mr. J. I'll say that we already have teams deployed.”
Merc felt the veins bulge in his temples. “You might as well paint a target on her back.”
Grey glared at him. “If you don’t shut it, I’ll kick you out of the room.”
Fuck. If there was any chance of this plan going through, Merc would be involved in every single aspect. He had to. The thought of any threats to Caroline made him want to put his fist through the wall.
Cotter cleared his throat and shifted nervously. “As I was saying, J will have no way of knowing that I'm lying about deploying teams, but it will get him moving. Then I'll make sure that my guy in the press makes it common knowledge we’re having a big welcome home celebration for Caroline at the end of the week.”
Grey said, “The day of the press conference, Merc, Aaron and Ethan will escort Caroline, Celine and Kate into town for a group date. We need to be visible and make it appear as though we’re unconcerned about an attack.”
Merc watched with smug satisfaction as Ethan’s and Aaron’s relaxed demeanor disappeared with the mention of their girlfriends’ names. Both Kate and Celine had been victims of J’s kidnapping at Caroline’s wedding. Ethan had managed to save Kate before they left the States, but the entire TF-S team had had to deploy to Afghanistan to track down Celine and Caroline. After nearly losing them, there was no way in hell Ethan or Aaron would allow their women to be put in danger.
Grey, a master at reading body language, held up his hand before anyone else spoke. “We will have control of the setting, picking a certain restaurant in a certain location and getting a security team in place before you arrive. Plus, all three of you dressed in plain clothes will be there as well. If we’re going to draw him out, we have to taunt him.”
“Don't you think he'll know it’s a trap?” Merc said. “Mr. J hasn’t lived as long as he has by being stupid.” He was crafty and dangerously intelligent. As much as Merc wanted a chance at revenge, hedidn’t want it to involve putting Caroline in danger. “It's too risky. Ethan, Aaron, back me up.”
Silence. The sound of Ethan scratching the back of his neck blasted like sandpaper on a chalkboard.
