“It’s my job.” Darius chuckled. “Anyway, I only got hold of two of them who remember anything of value.”
“And?”
“Here’s the thing: Alice and Charlie Nagel only saw the foster kids as paychecks. They treated those kids like crap. But Patch, their biological baby, was treated like a prince. That baby got everything. He might have only been an infant, but they all knew he was special, and they were gnats. Alice went as far as making homemade baby food and clothing for Patch, but the other kids, they were lucky if they got clothes plucked from dumpsters, and the same went for food sometimes.”
“Jesus, that’s horrible… and that was his birth mother? His adoptive mother’s sister? I wonder if she knew?” Sadly, there wasn’t anyone left to ask. Patch never felt unloved or unwanted. His aunt and uncle, who became the only parents he ever knew, adored him. They treated him no differently than Hannah. And his sister returned home to help raise him the second their parents died. “This is like a bad horror movie.”
“I know,” Darius agreed. “From what I can tell, Gunner had an okay childhood from the time he was adopted, but his parents were strict. Maybe a little too strict based on the trouble he gotinto. I’m not done doing that deep dive, but I’ve spoken to a few people who’ve said that the Watsons were tough on Gunner. Demanded he be the best and the smartest. When he wasn’t, he was punished.”
“What do you mean by punished? Was he beaten?”
“I don’t believe it was like that, but more mental abuse. His soccer coach said his dad was every coach’s worst nightmare. Always belittling Gunner from the sidelines. Yelling at him, comparing him to other kids who were better or working harder. That kind of bullshit. Add that to the kind of start he had the first eleven years, and it’s a recipe for disaster.”
“But it’s not an excuse for leaving good men to die or putting a hit out on me.”
“No, ma’am, it’s not.”
She hated being called ma’am, but she wasn’t about to say anything to Darius. Besides, most men in the military used the term. It was a form of respect, and correcting men like Darius would only be considered a slap in the face.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“Only Remy and Gerard are heading in your direction via the waterway system to collect those two idiots. Not exactly sure what they plan on doing with them just yet. But they’ll discuss it with you all. Probably turn them over to someone we know and trust in the DoD.”
“Stone and Cross are on their way too.”
“Good. We need a plan moving forward.”
She rubbed her temples. “I don’t know whom I can trust in my network. I want to believe West isn’t in on this. He’s always been a decent man. Levelheaded. Men before the mission kind of thing. Vance is a little more mission-oriented, but I can’t get over the fact that he could be playing both sides.”
“I hear you and I respect that, but I’ve learned over the years to trust three things. My gut, my instincts, and data. All three tellme that Vance played both sides of this for years. But he did so in order to get the job done for the country. He’s totally misguided in that. However, he never intended for it to be a money-making thing, and I did look into his finances. The man doesn’t have any accounts linked to any offshore banks. No weird investments. I’m still digging, but there’s nothing so far.” Darius held up his hand. “Yes, I’m running those same checks on West, Gunner, and everyone else on your team. Everyone except West and Hale has hinky income and money trails that make me believe they're on the take.”
“That really doesn’t make me feel any better.”
A splash of water followed by the faint hum of a two-stroke filled the air. “Someone’s coming. I’d best be on my way. We’ll touch base later.”
“Watch your back.”
The screen went dead. She set the computer on the porch, rose, and ducked her head inside. “We’ve got company.” She snagged the rifle and made a beeline for the brush. Just because Darius said friendlies were on their way, didn’t mean shit. Someone put a hit on her, and until that went away, she was on high alert.
CHAPTER 12
Patch crouched downbehind the bald cypress tree, eyeing the murky water. He was getting sick and tired of doing this shit, especially in the bayou, a place he’d learned to call home. It wasn’t much, and most would lose their mind out here. But for Patch, it was serene. It had given him the space and distance he’d needed to heal not only his broken body, but his fractured heart. He’d spent nearly a year living in that tiny two-room shack. A year living on the fringe of civilization, teetering between falling into the abyss and pulling himself back into being human.
Not having the choice to exist had done something to his ability to connect with anyone other than his team. Of course, having lost Hannah put him in the headspace that he hadn’t cared. But once Savvy had called, informing them they had the choice, that they could come out of the shadows, something inside him shifted. It wasn’t so much that he’d wanted to live in the real world again. It was simply that it was possible. That maybe someday he could see Savvy again.
However, he chose to continue to live out his days in the swamp.
That changed the day Savvy called for help and he went to the rescue.
Now, he’d live anywhere, including the Sunshine State, which he hated, if it meant he could be with Savvy and he didn’t have to constantly fight off fucking intruders.
Two skiffs came into view. He sighed in relief when he spotted Remy and Gerard in one and Cross and Stone in the other. “All clear,” he said.
McGuire, Riven, and Savvy came out from their hiding spots.
Patch set his rifle down and jogged toward the small dock, catching the line Gerard tossed in his direction. “Thanks for coming.”
“Anytime,” Gerard said. “But we’re not staying. We’ve got a chopper waiting to transport Locke and Mendoza to our Montana office. Hank has an old friend who used to be a general. Lois Snow.”
