“What the hell does he have to do with this?” McGuire slammed his fist on the desk. “We haven’t seen him or spoken to him in eight years. He moved up the ranks and was replaced. God, that mission was so fucked up. Gunner was… I don’t know what he was. At one time, I thought we were tight, then everything went to hell. And on that mission. I can’t even describe what happened. It was like things were fine, then they weren’t. Patch was all of a sudden… just gone. It was like he vanished.”
“Not exactly what happened.” Patch ran his fingers through his hair. “People got injured. Civilians. Military personnel. I did what I was trained to do. I tried to save them. Next thing I knew, I was on the wrong side of the line, staring at the enemy, no friendlies anywhere in sight, and my comms had gone dark.”
“It was fucked up and Gunner… Jesus… it felt like he left you behind,” McGuire muttered.
She nodded because she didn’t disagree, but back then, she hadn’t had the clearance she did now. She wasn’t the face of the 73, she was simply an operative. She hadn’t known the facts. The details of the mission. If she had, she wouldn’t have worked so closely with him—or at least that’s what she told herself. “He shifted over to the 73 right after I did, but then someone, I’m not sure who, might have been West, who was the director of the 73 at the time, or it could’ve been someone in the DoD, plucked him from us about two months after I was named the director of the 73. That said, I’ve heard rumblings of him being part of Black Ledger.” She tapped her temple. “I’ve got names, dates, ops, all stored up here. Is there any way I can have another meeting withDarius? One without the rest of the team. I know that’s shitty, but?—”
“Not shitty, sis,” McGuire said. “I’ve kept them in the dark about some of what I knew about the 73, you, and even rumblings of Black Ledger. Maybe someday I’ll come clean about some of this stuff, but they’ve been through some shit. That last mission, it wasn’t the 73, so I don’t feel the need to go blubbering about it right now. And Stone and Cross weren’t on the two missions with us with Gunner, so I’m good with keeping it under wraps for now.”
“You’ve got me worried that a couple other missions I did with either the Green Berets or Delta Force that came under the 73 that went to shit were sabotaged by some rogue agent now,” Patch said. “Could someone be after me? Could we have part of this wrong?”
“Might as well have Darius look into it. Especially since Gunner’s name was tossed out there and we both know he’s not your biggest fan,” McGuire said. “You both have to be thinking the same thing I am.”
“That Black Ledger wants Division 73 gone, or at least blamed for certain things so it can continue running whatever bullshit it’s doing. Manipulating ops, organizations, and tipping the power scales to suit its agenda.” Patch eased into the chair, taking her hand. “Whoever it is, knows the players inside the 73. Knows how it’s run. Knows the leadership. How the teams are formed.”
“And knows my sister is the face, even though that’s supposed to be a well-kept secret. They know how she operates.” McGuire ran his fingers across his jaw.
“Worse, they know I made you all ghosts, which means they know I’m here,” she said softly. “If they offered that contract on my head, they fed them that intel, but I never said where I burned you to. The bayou could mean just about anywhere incertain parts of Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana. I made sure I was vague in that. I always am. The fewer people who know, the better, and I was the only one who knew of your location.”
“Who inside of the 73 knew we were alive?”
“Me, Vance, West, and Hale,” she said. “My entire career with the 73 has been with Vance and West. Hale came to me about six years ago. He’s solid. And his dying words werethey knew.”
“As in the enemy knew you were coming.” McGuire nodded.
“Or maybe it was someone who knew something else.” Patch squeezed her hand tighter, as if to hang on for dear life. “Maybe it was a warning. Maybe it was to say that the rest of the team knew, and they ambushed him. Maybe they killed him because they knew you were onto… something bigger… something they didn’t want you near.”
“That’s a stretch,” she said softly. “But Hale did know I was looking wider than Jenkins. However, no one else on the team did.”
“It’s interesting that there is a hit out on the entire team.” McGuire leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Since you did a sweep with Booker of the area, that tells me that whoever this is, they must have the bodies, and once they kill my sister, which we won’t let happen, but for the sake of argument, let’s play that one out.” He cleared his throat. “Once they collect Savvy, the spin she’s talking about will end the 73.”
“That will close the books on many of our shadow programs,” Savvy said. “It will cause Congress to look at those more closely, but it will also allow something like Black Ledger to fester because we won’t have something like the 73 to do the dirty work—legitimately.”
“What a clusterfuck.” McGuire rubbed his temples. “I’ve never been so happy to be out of the military.”
“You and me both, brother. But we need a plan, because I can’t keep Savvy safe if I’m constantly dodging bullets from hitmen I don’t understand and I can’t see coming.” Patch held up his hand. “I know what I said about bringing trouble to my door, but I’m rethinking that plan.”
“No. We kind of need to do that, but not until we know more, and that means giving Darius, his team, and Riven a little more time.” McGuire sighed. “How do you feel about going back to that shack you used to live in a few months ago?”
Patch groaned. “If I had to, sure, but Savvy’s gonna hate it. All I got is a saggy double bed and gator meat for food.”
“Ew, gross.” Savvy stared at him. “You seriously ate an alligator?”
“He wrestled them himself. I’m shocked he didn’t die.” McGuire chuckled. “Grab some supplies and head upriver. Make sure you bring comms and stay in touch. And whatever you do, don’t get into it with old man Rodney. He damn near shot your head off when we first got here.”
“Rodney and I are best buddies these days.” Patch grinned.
“Take the boat. I’ll drive the ATV up there later today. We’ll regroup over snake for dinner.” McGuire winked at Savvy.
“Like hell.” She stood. “You better bring me something decent to eat, or I’ll feed you both to whatever lives in that swamp.” She grabbed Patch by the shirt. “Let’s go before I beat my brother senseless.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Patch paused at the door. “Oh, and McGuire?”
“What?”
“I’ll take good care of your?—”
“Don’t even say it.” McGuire wadded up some paper and tossed it at Patch’s head.
