by Dale Mayer
“It’s okay, you didn’t know. They look tons alike.” Mia sniffled back her tears, her heart aching with the continuous shocks, but relief was the primary one. “He showed up a few months ago.” She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “They’ve been estranged for decades.”
“And he just showed up out of the blue?”
“Yeah, at first Dad didn’t know what to do.” She sniffed again and gently lay the blanket back over the body. “Dad is going to be so upset.”
“Where is Gordon?” Hawk asked.
“He should be at home. He has been most of the time since the accident. Especially if Gerry was here.”
“What accident? And was Gerry working for your father?”
Both Eva and Mia glanced over at him then at each other. Mia groaned. “You don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Dad was in a car accident a few months ago. He’s in a wheelchair. The doctors say he’s going to get better eventually, but right now he’s having trouble with mobility, so he’s confined to a wheelchair until he’s stronger.”
Hawk’s gaze searched her face then dropped to the body on the floor.
“I wonder if the bullet was meant for your father or your uncle?”
She stared at him and shook her head. She pulled out her phone and called her father, her gaze on her uncle, her heart not sure how to react after the shock, the relief and now back to panic. The phone was picked up and before anyone could answer, she jumped in with, “Dad, you there?”
“I’m here,” he answered. “How was the caving?”
She closed her eyes, tears collecting in the corners as his warm caring voice filled her ears and her heart. “It was okay. But there’s something I have to tell you.”
“Oh, what’s that?”
“It’s Uncle Gerry. He’s been shot.”
She heard her father suck in his breath hard. Then a half cough. “What? How? Are you sure?”
“He’s been shot in the head.”
“Damn it. Where?” His voice fumed in a mixture of pain and anger.
“I’m in your office staring down at him now. Eva’s brother Hawk, found him.”
“Hawk’s in town?” His voice regained some strength as he registered Hawk’s name.
“Yes, he’s called the authorities but they haven’t arrived yet.” No surprise there.
“Apparently a cache of weapons was found in one of the caves.” Her father muttered. “Gerry mentioned something about bombs and chemicals this morning when I talked to him.”
“After the ambulance comes to collect him, I’ll take you down to the hospital so you can see him.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I’d appreciate that.”
Hearing the roughness in his voice, she felt her own tears burn her eyes all over again as she said good-bye. She turned to the others staring at her and shrugged. “He needs to say good-bye.”
Hawk nodded once. She turned her back on him and clasped her hands around her knees and rocked in place. With Eva’s arm wrapped around her, she sat in silence.
Unlike Hawk. Who paced.
Mia looked over at Eva. “How long has he been here?”
“He got into town just an hour ago. I was expecting him today, just not when.”
“He’s on days off?”
“Yeah.” Mia grinned. “Five days.”
“Nice.” She studied him covertly. She’d heard about the arrogant, so damn sexy SEALs.
She had nothing against men. Even loved a few. But some were just more than others.
Hawk was one of those.
More. Everything. More presence. More male. More power.
But he was a SEAL. The ultimate of warriors. So not for her.
She’d never felt like she was enough. Could ever be enough. So she’d never entered the race. Why would she? She hated to fail and it was a given she’d fail that one.
*
It wasn’t Gordon. Shit. How could he have made that mistake? Hawk had to take another look. See what he’d missed. Moving the women to the other side, Hawk crouched down, pulled the blanket back and studied the dead man’s features.
Mia spoke behind him. “They’ve got an uncanny resemblance. Maybe because they were Irish twins.”
Glancing at her, he realized she was sitting with her back to the body. She didn’t have to see it.
He frowned, trying to dredge up an explanation for that phrase. “Irish twins.” Then got it. Both boys had been born in the same year. And according to what he was seeing, they both looked close enough alike to be real twins.
Speaking of brothers…
Swede. He quickly texted Swede and let him know about the mix up.
His phone rang only minutes after he’d sent it.
“What the hell is going on there, buddy?” Swede sounded exasperated and worried at the same time.
“Damned if I know. Apparently Gordon had a bad accident, and his brother came back into his life after decades of not being there. And now six weeks later he’s dead, sporting a bullet that might have been meant for him or for Gordon, and on top of that, apparently someone locally found a cache of guns, bomb making equip-ment and possibly chemical weapons. I don’t know where or why or how. And damn it, so far I haven’t been able to get any authorities to come to the crime scene or investigate because of it. All units are supposedly involved with finding and cataloging the weapons’ cache and tracking down the owner.” His frustration ate at him. “Apparently, a murder is a secondary priority.”
Swede swore heavily and in several languages. The man was well read and proficient in four. “I’m still coming. So are the others. It’s not official, obviously, but some shit is going on.”
“I know. There’s something else.” With an arm motion he caught Mia’s attention and motioned to the wall and the gun case. When the color leached from her face, he knew things were going to get worse. “Swede, Gordon’s stock of guns has been stolen as well. I need to talk to him. Get a full list.”
Swede groaned. “Well, you never could make it easy, could you?”
Hawk snorted. “Not me. I came here for some R&R. A real holiday. Some family time.”
“Well, it looks like you found it, SEAL style.” And he rang off. So damn true.
Good mood restored, Hawk put his phone away to see Mia hunched over as if in pain.
He ran to her side. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and gamely tried to straighten. “It’s just too much,” she whispered. “I’ve heard very little about the weapons’ cache.” She shook her head. “But what I have heard is not good. And now that Dad’s guns have been stolen, well it just adds to the whole mess.”
“Have you got any idea whose weapons’ cache they found?”
“No. It wasn’t too far away from where I was today. I’ve been in the general area before as we all have, yet none of us could have imagined such a stash.”
“Did you say chemical weapons, too?” Eva asked in a small voice. “Why?”
He didn’t answer. There was no good answer. Weapons like that could be an end of the world type of preparation, someone wanting to have weapons against the alien invasion or worse, terrorists planning an attack on American soil.
And from the look on the women’s faces, he suspected that they understood the dangers themselves.
A vehicle drove into the parking lot. He straightened and peered out the window. Finally the damn sheriff.
Hawk walked out to meet him.
“Well, if it isn’t our little SEAL guy all grown up.”
As a teenager he’d had one goal in life, that was to join the Navy and become a SEAL. He’d faced plenty of mockery then too. That he’d made it wouldn’t give him kudos here. Too many were living out broken dreams and didn’t want to know of those who reached theirs.
Whatever.
He knew who he was. It might have taken him some time, but he’d gotten there.
Mia stepped forward. “Sheriff McKay.”
He spat
out a wad of chew off to the side. Good thing. Hawk would have gotten in his face if that had been in Mia’s direction. Hawk had no patience for those with a lack of respect.
Mia however appeared to have no idea she was supposed to be treated better.
“My uncle has been murdered,” she said in a controlled tone.
“I suggest you let us make that kind of determination,” the sheriff said, shifting his belt more comfortably around his hips. “We’re the law here.”
His gaze sharpened, locked on Hawk’s face. “You staying?”
“For a while.” But he refused to say more. In fact, he was about to contact his commander and fill him in on the situation. Someone needed to – this guy didn’t look like he gave a shit.
Chapter 4
Now with the sheriff there, Mia felt free to leave. She drove home to her father’s house. About halfway there, she remembered the shell casing she’d seen in the cave. Were the two incidences related? She should have taken a better look while there. Only hadn’t thought at the time it was something to be worried about. She hadn’t even said anything about it to the others. Would it have made a difference if she had? She didn’t know.
What the heck was going on? The fact that her father’s guns were all missing worried her more. Dad kept the other firearms and ammunition at his home. She’d mentioned that to the sheriff and he’d had a fit over it. The sheriff sent a deputy to her father to question him about them. Hell, as if the whole country didn’t keep their own stash. Her father just kept more than most. But all his paperwork was in order.
And if the deputy had gone as instructed, where was his vehicle? He should be there by now. She parked and walked up to the front door of the big old log cabin. It had been in the family for generations. “Dad?”
Silence. She pushed open the front door. “Dad, you in here?”
No answer. “Dad, where are you?”
Racing through the house, she checked all the rooms. There was no sign of him.
She pulled out her phone.
“Eva, he’s not here.”
She listened to her friend’s shocked exclamation. “Where could he be?”
“I have no idea.” She walked around the perimeter of the house. There were multiple outbuildings and six months ago he’d have been in any one of them. But now in his condition…not likely. All the doors were closed so far.
“Any sign of him.”
“No.” And she was scared. Like really scared. “Eva?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“The other guns are missing.”
“From where?”
Mia stood outside her father’s locked and guarded storehouse. All stock from the store came here until needed. Always. And the double doors were open, the lights off. But even she could see the empty gun cabinet.
“This is really bad news,” she said quietly. She heard a noise behind her.
“Hang on, we’re coming there,” Eva cried. “Ten minutes.”
“It’s too late,” Mia said softly, her heart halting at the stranger in front of her only to race ahead again at the gun barrel pointed right at her.
“I’m already captured.”
“Get off the damn phone. And get over behind your father.” The stranger motioned to the back of the building. She couldn’t see anything. “How the hell am I going to get him down the damn mountain if he can’t walk?”
“He’s been in a bad accident,” she said, her voice cracking as she walked slowly in the direction he pointed. Please let her father be okay. “He can’t walk very far.”
“Well, he’d better be able to or else. I’m going to just have to pop him one too. I won’t leave any witnesses behind.” The gun barrel lifted. “Now get your ass over there.”
She swallowed hard and took several more steps closer. As her eyes adjusted to the shadows, she could see the gunman, his face in the shadows still, a pistol in one hand and a rifle under his other arm. Shit. She quickly pocketed her phone. But as she slipped it away, she clicked on the speaker button so Eva could still hear the conversation. In a cool voice, she asked, “Where’s my father?”
“Oh he’s there. Now move or I’ll gun you down where you stand.” He gave a shrug. “Don’t matter to me.”
“What do you want?”
“My cache back.”
Double shit. This was the madman with the cave full of weapons.
“I need them.”
“What does that have to do with my father?”
“Your father has more weapons.” The gunman laughed. “And I’ve got orders to fill. Weapons to make. If they aren’t completed then people are going to be mighty unhappy with me. I can’t have that.”
“You’re making weapons for other people?” she asked in horror. “What kind of weapons?”
“Weapons that will blow a hole in the Empire State Building for one.” And he laughed. “You really want a bullet where you’re standing, don’t you?”
Inside, she suddenly remembered who the first person Eva would tell of her predicament. Hawk. The SEAL. Feeling better, she smiled at the gunmen, smirking inside as his gaze narrowed. Then she caught sight of her father, lying in a crumpled heap behind him.
“Dad.” She raced toward him. “I hope you rot in hell for this,” she called behind her.
“Ha, that’s a guarantee,” he said. “Besides, he wouldn’t tell me where the other guns and the ammunition I need for the weapons from the store are.”
“How did you know he had any here?”
“Easy, his shifty brother was supposed to get them for me before. But he welshed on his deal. Typical. Never did trust him.”
She didn’t know what to think. Gerry had betrayed her father. From the look on her father’s face, his eyes open and pained, that was exactly what had happened. Damn him to hell after all.
So much for wanting a reconciliation with his brother.
Gerry had come to steal from him. And had ended up dead.
*
Hawk stared at his sister for a nanosecond after she relayed the message. He had his phone out, his mind moving at lightening speed as his fingers dialed Mason. With a narrow glance at the sheriff’s deputy who’d been redirected to handle the scene at the general store, he stepped outside and walked to his Jeep.
Mason answered in a lazy drawling voice that told Hawk more than words could that all was good in his friend’s life. Too bad he was going to disturb that lovely interlude. But they had trouble.
When he started to explain, Mason got serious fast. While he relayed the message about the bombs, chemical warfare for clients, Mason made plans. When he mentioned the Empire State building, Mason was already moving. “We haven’t been called in on this one, you know that.”
“I do. But I can’t leave. This is my sister, my hometown. From what I can see from the nonexistent law en-forcement, no one is going to be called in to handle this.”
“You said the military were called?”
“No, I said the people on the streets were expecting them. So far there is nothing. I need confirmation the military are on their way, plus I need to go after Mia and her father.”
“Of course you do.” But Mason’s voice was distant, already working the big picture. “How many of the squad are there or on the way?”
Hawk hesitated. “Swede for sure. I haven’t called the rest.”
“I think it’s time you did. I’ll call you back.”
Hawk grinned. Now that was more like it. By the time he’d called his team and caught them up on the events, they were all in. God he loved them.
“From the look on your face, I’m assuming something is good news?” Eva said from beside him, hope in her voice.
“Not sure yet, but just talking to the guys, yeah, that’s always good news.”
“Are we going to Mia’s place?”
“I am. You’re going inside, tell the sheriff about your conversation with me.”
She frowned. “I want to come with you.”
He snagged her into a big hug and held her close. Then released her. “Not happening and you know it. This is what I do.”
“You don’t have weapons or your team,” she protested. “You can’t go up against men with a truck load of weapons.”
“Truckload?” he stared at his sister. “Maybe you should clue me in here a little more as to just what Gordon has going on?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know much, but he had a new shipment brought in for the upcoming hunting season.”
“Right.” And mighty good timing. Then again, for a man who had a cache of weapons, hunting rifles weren’t going to be of much interest. Unless he was desperate and they were readily available.
The deputy came back outside then. Hawk stood on the edge of the Jeep and asked him point blank when the army was arriving. The deputy shook his head. “Won’t be any coming. The sheriff says he’s handling it.”
Hawk nodded, but inside…
What bullshit. He pulled his Jeep out of the lot and ripped down the main street. Handle it my ass. That sheriff wasn’t going to handle anything. This wasn’t something he could keep under wraps – at least not for long. Unless this was more misinformation.
Surely all this wouldn’t be over something minor – would it?
No. Gerry’s death said something so much bigger was going on.
Chapter 5
Mia crouched beside her father. He’d slipped into unconsciousness, his color wax, his body lying at an awkward angle. “Dad, can you hear me?”
“I only hit him over the head,” he gunman said. “He dropped instantly but was conscious so he’s not badly hurt.”
“He hasn’t been well. He was in a car accident a few months ago.”
“It don’t matter much,” he paused, then added in a hard voice. “I’m either going to put a bullet in him, or he’s going to get up and walk out of here. I can’t be leaving witnesses.”
She closed her eyes. Damn it. She squeezed her father’s hand and caught back her gasp when he squeezed back. So very lightly but it was a definite attempt to let her know he was there.
