“Why does he keep burning them?” Micah rubbed at his temple.
“Mez burns victims he’s physically abused and tortured to cover his tracks,” Wolf said quietly from nearby. The man glanced over and then away.
“What?” Micah asked when Wolf paused.
“If Mez doesn’t know we have a map, he probably staged this fire to draw us here.”
His head jerked up and he looked quickly around. Was Mez out there watching them?
“I doubt he’s anywhere near here,” Frost said, having approached along with Seth and Quick.
“If Mez gets out of the States, there’ll be no catching him,” Quick growled.
“He’s not the type to run,” Wolf said.
“We’ll see,” Quick said and moved on.
Micah caught and held Alex’s gaze, the cold making a cloud of his breath.
“We’ll get the bodies back and tested,” Alex said “If none of them are Caleb, we keep looking.”
Micah nodded and turned to look out over the landscape. They had no intention of giving up the search. Now the question remained, If Caleb was alive, how long could he last?
“Where are you Caleb?” he whispered.
Micah
After two days, the weather abated enough that Chief Rossi called in the big guns and sent in a Blackhawk military helicopter with a team.
The chopper blew wind and snow when it landed and three men got out.
“I heard you needed a ride.” A tall and muscled good looking man who seemed to be in charge stepped forward. “I’m looking for Roscoe Burns?”
“I’m Roscoe Burns.” Their lieutenant stepped up and shook the man’s hand.
“Captain Elijah Cobalt of the United States Army.” The man returned the hand shake and gestured to the two men behind him.
“That’s Lieutenant River Seeger and that’s Sergeant Diesel Gannon.”
“River,” the dark-haired man introduced himself and stepped forward and shook Roscoe’s hand. Diesel was a hulk standing behind Captain Cobalt and gave them a nod.
“Any relation to Logan Cobalt?” Roscoe asked Elijah curiously.
“Logan is my older brother.” Elijah smiled at Roscoe curiously.
“Your brother is giving me and my family a place to live while we get our home built. I owe him a wealth of gratitude,” Roscoe said.
Micah gazed at Elijah, he could see the resemblance between Logan and the big, tall, dark-haired man.
“That sounds like Logan,” Elijah chuckled and then turned to Alex.
“Captain Hendrix.” Elijah nodded. “It’s been a long time.”
“It’s been a few years,” Alex said and shook Elijah’s hand.
While the group around them—minus Wolf because the man disappeared—looked surprised, Micah wasn’t fazed by active military knowing Alex. The man had been heavily involved in top secret missions.
Elijah gave them a nod and then turned to his men. “Let’s clear them out,” the man gave the order.
The men didn’t linger after that, the eight survivors and three victims were loaded up and transported back to Fairbanks.
The chopper and Elijah’s team returned for everyone and the suspect, except Wolf.
“Where is he?” Micah stopped and glanced around.
“He’ll be fine,” Alex said. Micah darted the man a quick, skeptical glance.
“Trust me. Wolf will be fine,” Alex repeated.
He squinted at the man. “Do you know where he is?”
“If I know Wolf, he’s going to keep looking,” Alex murmured.
Micah nodded. “I’m grateful.” He studied Alex for a moment. “He’s a good friend to you.”
“He is, one of the best. I’ve known him since the war. We did one tour together in black ops. He disappeared a year before I got out and we didn’t reconnect until he surfaced a few years ago. I’ve been wanting to introduce you two, but it just never happened.”
Alex took his hand and pulled him toward the waiting chopper.
The Blackhawk dropped them off at the local airport and they headed inside. It took some finagling on Chief Rossi’s part, but eventually, he got them seats on a commercial flight home.
“I wonder what Rossi will want to do now that Vladimir is dead?” he murmured and dropped into one of the airport chairs.
“He’ll want us to keep hunting Mez. We just need to debrief, get the results, and regroup,” Alex said.
All of Phoenix sat or stood near him and Alex, like a band of brothers-in-arms protecting each other. It brought a burn to his throat. He lifted a hand to rub at his eyebrow and then wrapped his fingers tightly around the strap of his pack and stood as their flight was called to board.
There were more people affected then only Caleb. There were eight survivors that would soon be reunited with family members. Even the deceased would be given some kind of closure.
He took a window seat next to Seth and Frost and gazed out the window. Some relatives may never be contacted because some of the victims were runaways or throwaways and already living on the streets when they were taken.
“I’ll be in touch,” Quick said once the plane landed at San Francisco International Airport.
The man gripped his hand hard and then turned and shook Alex’s outstretched hand.
“Thank you.” Micah tried to convey with his voice how much Quick’s help meant to him.
“You’re welcome.”
“We’re even now,” he insisted.
“I suspect we are,” Quick responded with a slow nod.
Reaching headquarters, Micah headed with the rest of the team through the back door. After dumping his gear, he made his way down the hallway and toward the situation room where the debriefing was to take place in just minutes.
He found Alex leaning against the wall near the conference room.
Rossi rounded the corner and Micah held the chief’s gaze.
“None of the DNA is Caleb’s,” the chief said.
He let out a hard breath he was holding and rubbed a hand shakily at his mouth. From beside him, Alex nodded at the chief.
“I need a minute, Lash,” Rossi murmured, jerked his head, and walked down the hallway.
He nodded and glanced at Alex before slowly walking after Rossi. The man’s shoulders were tense when he finally stopped at the far end of the hallway away from prying ears.
Rossi said nothing for several moments and then he spoke in a low, hard voice.
“I hold myself responsible.” Rossi said.
Micah opened his mouth, but Rossi held up his hand. “Be quiet,” the chief snapped and Micah closed his mouth. “I hold myself responsible, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t fire you if you ever go off like that on your own again.” The chief’s hard gaze held his.
Micah’s heart pounded in his chest. “I won’t.”
“You make sure that you don’t because next time, I won’t be able to do shit when the Secretary wants you written up.”
“Yes sir, I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Me too. I started this shroud of secrecy.”
“But I kept it going,” he admitted.
“You did.” The chief’s voice was hard. “Trust me, the last thing I want is to reprimand you, but you going it alone is over or you’re out.”
“Understood.”
“Good man,” Rossi clamped him on the shoulder.
Alex
Alex took a seat in the back of the room and let out a slow, quiet breath. The room was quiet; sadness hung over it with the only sound an occasional cough. The door to the right opened and Rossi stepped inside followed by Micah.
Alex couldn’t look away from Micah. There was a vulnerability to the man that hadn’t been there prior to Alaska and it called on every protective instinct in him not to lift Micah into his arms and spirit him away. Which was stupid because it was his overprotective nature that had caused the rift between them in the first place.
Micah took the seat next to him in the back
.
Stefano moved from the back of the room to the front of the room and Rossi closed the door and stood off to the side.
“I want to tell you all what an outstanding job you’ve done.” Stefano began. “Eliminating Vladimir has freed up our families from persecution. Shutting down his business locations has gone a long way toward the fight against human trafficking. Terminating Petrov and Gashi cemented the fact that they will no longer continue their filthy work. This is a huge success.” The man ruffled and rearranged some papers in his hands. “We have the results of the DNA tests back. Families are being notified. Rossi notified Micah that none of the results are Caleb.”
Alex ran a hand over his chin. While it gave him hope, they were still no closer to finding Caleb. Nor were they any closer to finding Mez.
Other than sit down next to him, Micah hadn’t said a word. The man hadn’t even sat next to him on the plane. For some reason, Micah was keeping his distance no matter how much he showed the man he was there for him.
Chief Rossi stood and moved to the front of the room, bringing his mind back to the meeting.
“I obtained the video surveillance of the prison where Gustov was killed. The visitor portion is missing as well as any feed leading into the room where Gustov was tortured,” Rossi said.
“What the hell?” Storm rumbled.
“My thoughts exactly.” The chief continued. “It was erased. The FBI discovered the video was tampered with, but they aren’t sure by whom.”
“Someone had to have seen something,” Wild interjected.
“That’s true. We just need to find that person. We think a guard might have been bribed,” Rossi agreed.
“You think Mez killed Gustov?” Wild asked.
“It’s a possibility.”
Alex looked down at his boots. He seriously doubted Mez could pull off something like that, but he suddenly had a very good idea of who could.
“Excuse me, sir?”
Alex glanced at Micah when he spoke.
“Yes, Lash?”
“Can you check all of the DNA we’ve collected from various sites and see if there’s a Sara Miller or Sara Hughes listed?”
“Miller?”
“Yes…Jagger Miller’s little sister. Or her name might be Sara Hughes. Since Jagger Miller is really Wyatt Hughes…” Micah’s voice trailed off.
Alex frowned and crossed his arms. Jagger Miller had a sister? Had that sister been taken by Vladimir? Had Vladimir taken Sara Miller for revenge or something else? Why had Micah felt he needed to keep it a secret? Jesus, he had more questions than answers and had to wonder why the hell Micah had held that back from him and the team.
“We can do that. Yes.” Rossi studied Micah for a long moment. “Care to share how you acquired that information?”
Micah looked down at his hands for a moment. “Jagger told me in Colorado about his sister…and when I was in Alaska… Jagger helped me.”
Alex clenched his jaw.
“Helped you?” Rossi frowned.
“Yes, in the room where I killed Vladimir,” Micah added in a rush and glanced at him again.
He didn’t respond, he couldn’t. The level of Micah’s secrecy held him mute.
“We didn’t see him,” Storm scowled.
“No, he left after killing the men who shot me full of drugs,” Micah replied quietly.
“Why didn’t you say something?” came from Allison this time.
“I’m telling you now,” Micah stated.
“You don’t need to keep secrets from us!” Seth snapped. “We’re your team, your unit, your friends. You’re supposed to want to tell us all this shit.”
“Seth…” Frost spoke this time.
“No! I’m sick of it.” Seth shoved off Frost’s hand. “Stop fucking acting like a one man show. Because as your friend, I gotta tell you, you suck at it.”
“Seth,” This time Alex couldn’t stop the warning. “Stop it.” He held the man’s gaze across the room. After a moment, Seth sat back down in his chair and angrily crossed his arms.
“I know,” Micah said quietly from his side. “I’m sorry. I’m trying. It’s difficult for me.” Micah glanced around the room and then said quietly, “My mother and her string of men were crystal meth users. That’s why she lost custody of me and my little brother. I was sixteen, Caleb was three by the time we were rescued. It’s not an excuse, but I got the brunt of it. Not trusting a fucking soul was how I survived those years.”
“I’m sorry,” Seth whispered fiercely and jumped to his feet to hug Micah tightly.
“I’m sorry too,” Micah said and hugged Seth. “Just know that I am trying.”
Alex waited for the man to bolt. Micah surprised the hell out of him when the man gazed around the room. “My alone days are over. I promise, I’m done keeping you out.” From his peripheral vision, he could see Micah looking at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look over.
The room went quiet.
“Fair enough,” Stefano murmured and the rest of the room quietly agreed. He heard Micah release a shaky breath.
“Is Miller undercover?” Rossi’s question brought everyone’s attention back to Micah’s question.
“I believe so, sir. In Colorado, he said we shared a common interest and when I asked him what agency, he said he was rogue. Maybe AWOL from an agency? I don’t know. All I know is Jagger has also lost a loved one to these sick bastards.”
A low murmur erupted over the room and after several moments, Stefano called out, “Settle down people. Reggie, find that DNA report.”
Reggie, who sat at one of the front tables, started tapping away at the keyboard.
“Ever going to look at me?” Micah whispered.
Alex said nothing. He couldn’t even bring himself to look over and kept his face turned toward the front of the room. What the fuck did Micah want him to say anyway? It was a bit late to want his advice or opinion on any of it since Micah had decided to keep Miller’s part in all this to himself.
Reggie finished and turned the laptop to Rossi.
Rossi looked at the screen and then the unit. “The results conclude that a Sara Hughes is listed on the DNA report sent over from Russia. Her results are one of the twenty-four people Vladimir had killed in that warehouse last year. It says here that her parents were deceased. One brother, but they couldn’t locate him.”
“Probably because of the name difference,” Micah mumbled.
“So,” Alex finally spoke, keeping his gaze on Rossi. “How are we going to get this message to Jagger Miller that his little sister is dead?”
Micah’s breath hitched and Alex regretted his harsh words, but could do nothing to take them back.
“Reggie, how did that reverse number on Miller pan out?”
“It didn’t. He used a burner phone,” Reggie said.
The chief turned to Micah. “Micah, you think you can find Jagger Miller?”
“Probably not, but I can put the word out. He found me the last two times.”
“Do that, please. Okay, now it’s time to search for any remaining locations and survivors.” Rossi looked first at Micah and then at him. Alex held the chief’s gaze, the lines around the man’s eyes and mouth held deep grooves. “And Caleb is at the top of that list.”
“Vladimir may have given Caleb to Mez,” he said tightly.
The silence fell thick over the room. Micah sat frozen next to him. Alex didn’t know what else he could do for the man. Perhaps Jagger Miller could give Micah some answers.
“All right, Team. We search for Caleb and both Jagger Miller and Mez.” Stefano said. “Take any map or intel and comb through it until Micah hears from Miller.”
Roscoe spoke. “Stay in teams of three. Don’t go out alone. Keep your mics on and keep in contact, because we may need to quickly regroup.”
He stood and headed for the door.
“Alex, wait up.”
He ignored Micah and walked out.
Micah
�
��Alex?” When the man kept walking, Micah yelled, “Alex!” His heart in his throat.
“What?” Alex snapped and came back, getting right in his face. The others spilled out of the meeting and hurried down the hallway.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped over the lump in his throat.
“Sorry, why are you fucking sorry? This is you!” Alex waved his hand at him. “Your secretive self! Why the fuck would you be sorry now after all this time when keeping secrets and walking away comes naturally to you?”
Stunned, Micah couldn’t speak for a few seconds. Had Alex given up on them? Oh shit. Alex turned away. He grabbed the man’s arm, but dropped it when the man spun around on him.
“Tell me, tell me why you kept this from me.”
Micah wracked his brain for anything that would defuse Alex’s anger. “It was stupid and I don’t know why I did it.”
“I do,” Alex said, narrowing his eyes. “You said it earlier. You were raised by a drug addict. I get that it damaged you. What I don’t get is why you keep finding ways to damage us,” the man snapped and spun again, heading down the hallway.
“I don’t want to!” he yelled, and thank fuck Alex paused.
The soldier rubbed a hand at the back of his head. “What do you want from me?” Alex rasped, turning on him with narrowed eyes and pressed lips.
“Forgiveness.”
“For what?” Alex squinted at him.
“For walking away.”
“And then what? Let’s say I forgive you. Let’s just say I’ve already forgiven you. What now?” Alex crossed his arms. The sleeve of his tattoos flashed and the edge of the name Caleb etched into the underside of Alex’s lower forearm was clearly visible, his own name tattooed on the man’s other forearm in the same place brought a lump to his throat.
He made his feet move even though they felt like lead.
“I’m so sorry.” He kept walking until he reached Alex and then until his chest bumped against the man’s folded arms. Micah tipped his head back so he could see into Alex’s glittering gaze. “I’m not going to hold back anymore, Alex. I’m going to work harder at it. I swear. I’ll get help. I know there’s a way,” he said in a rush.
Destruction Page 20
