“Isn’t it what the cat dragged in?” Katarina asked as Sam approached us.
“Does this body look like something a cat can drag in here?” Declan chuckled, squeezing my bicep through my suit jacket.
“Sam.” I held out a hand, but the old man pulled me into a fatherly embrace.
“It’s been too long, Gabriel,” he said after we parted. “Katarina’s up to par now.” He smiled at her. “She’s still a rookie when it comes to your knowledge though. I’m hoping you’ll take her under your wing again.” There was no mistaking the authority in that tone and I hadn’t even sat down yet.
Difference now, I was no longer accountable to them. I did my own thing. What that entailed required no one’s approval and no ‘need to know’ either. I snagged Katarina’s scowl and grinned, knowing she still had it in for me for leaving without a forwarding address.
“You’ve been off the grid for so long, I thought we’d never find you, man.” Declan flicked me a quick look through glazed eyes. I didn’t miss the sense of loss gathering there. “What gives?” I felt his desperation-laced anger despite the smile. “You lit out without so much as a goodbye,” his tone accusing.
“I don’t blame him,” Sam intervened. “Being betrayed by a government you respected and put your life on the line for, will make any man lose his shit.”
He was right, I’d worked my ass for a country that didn’t think twice about throwing me to the wolves. During the hearing held after the Colombian fuck up, I learned that certain government officials, involved in backdoor dealings with the cartel, had gone after the kids as a warning to their parents. Easton was recruited to see the task through. Still, they stood back and let me take the fall, leaving me to rot in a godforsaken prison in Colombia. Good thing I had skills or I wouldn’t be standing here right now.
Even when I returned, Sam tried convincing me it wasn’t the TRA’s doing. His collateral damage speech didn’t work for me. Done trusting a government fraught with crime and willing to use loyal soldiers to do their dirty work, I left the agency.
“Still.” Declan didn’t waver. “I’m your brother, surely I deserve some acknowledgment.” I sensed he was hurting and he had every right to be pissed off with me.
We’d been in foster care together for so long that I’d fought pretty much all his battles growing up. The most life-changing one happened when he was nine. Declan had gotten caught in the crossfire between two gangs that our foster father at the time, was involved in. Trying to force our father’s hand, the rival head had grabbed Declan and held a gun to his head. A wasted effort to get cooperation.
The motherfucker hadn’t even seen me coming and when he did, it was too late. I blew his head clean off with a pump-action I’d swiped off his own man. Then I turned it on our foster father, taking him out too and with it, his depravity. A brutal kill for a fourteen-year-old. Three weeks later, Special Ops Deputy CO, Sam Tanner, found Declan and I. Covered in blood from another kill and living in an abandoned building. Instead of taking us back to foster care, he brought us home. To his estate where, under the love of his wife, we’d become a real family and under Sam’s supervision, skilled in tactical warfare among other things.
Declan’s weakness wasn’t lost on me. I’d missed the fuck out of him too. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
Catching his neck in a light chokehold, I brought him into my body, holding him until I felt his tense shoulders relax. Sam gestured for Katarina to follow him, giving us some privacy. Knowing Declan better than anyone, if I hadn’t done that, he would’ve probably broken down, embarrassing himself. Although he was twenty-three, I was the one person he could be himself with, could cry if he wanted to and I knew my leaving had left him out of sorts. Still, he had no idea I’d watched his back.
“I never left you, Dec,” I said softly then released my hold on him.
He breathed in, pulling himself together. “You’re staying this time, aren’t you?”
“Let’s see what Sam has for me.” I didn’t affirm or deny his question and he knew better than to question me for more. He just nodded and I followed him to a chair at the table they’d be sitting around.
“Thanks for coming in, Gabe,” Sam began when we were all seated. I merely nodded, still uncertain why I was there. “This is Nathaniel Prescott, a biochemical engineer.” He gestured to the screen set up at the front of the room.
“He looks harmless,” Declan sniggered
Sam’s brow shot up, his stern expression quieting Declan. “He’s been classified as a potential risk, probable terrorist currently under investigation by both the FBI and CIA. He arrives on our shores next week. Katarina has the four one one on his personal information.”
She took over from Sam. “No accurate birth certificate. Believed to be in his late thirties but looks like he’s in his early twenties and he uses it to his advantage. Luring unsuspecting young girls to do his bidding.” Kat scowled, distaste lining her hard words. “American with Russian and British citizenship, so getting around is easy. Goes by the name Jake Steiner when he’s on American soil. When the Russian KGB disbanded one of its rogue agencies, some of the members established a new agency and Nathaniel’s been declared a successor to that organization. His forte, biochemical warfare, and human trafficking.”
“That’s two distinct extremes for one man,” Declan voiced my question and Sam nodded.
Leaning back in my seat, I studied the face of the man on the screen. “Why is he on the TRA radar if the FBI and CIA are investigating him.”
“There’s a mole,” Katarina replied, and my gaze snapped to her. “Someone’s been leaking information to Nathaniel.”
“How do we know that for sure.” Declan stood and walked over to the coffee machine.
“Need-to-know information with a deep-six outcome shared between the two agencies made its way into Russian hands via a coded message. We picked it up during a random search and rescue mission.”
“Random? How?” I frowned.
“Someone called in a favor,” Sam replied. “FBI knew we have free agents in Russia. One of their operatives went in to extract information and got herself caught in the process. Time was of the essence, and they needed someone capable on the ground.”
I accepted the coffee Declan handed me. “Successful?”
Sam nodded. “We were until she got back. Killed two days later.”
