Chaos_The Dogs of War, a Lost and Found Series Spinoff

by J. M. Madden

  Aiden looked at Fontana. “You’re okay with doing this?”

  “Yeah,” he sighed. “Maybe it’ll go easier if we call it a debriefing.”

  They could only hope.

  Chapter Seventeen

  They wandered for about forty-five minutes before Shannon called Aiden’s name and guided him to a small, quiet room at the very end of the corridor. Inside, Duncan sat at a small table with a yellow notepad in front of him, and a pen. A digital camera had been set up on a tripod in one corner.

  Angela gave him a big grin before he crossed the threshold. “I’ll be waiting right here for you.”

  For a moment he could only stare down into her eyes, shaken by the support he saw there. He didn’t understand how she could give of herself so completely like that. Some of his anxiety about what was to come eased off a bit. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and let her wrap her arms around him for a moment, before turning for the room.

  By the time he was done with the interview, he was more impressed with Duncan Wilde than he’d ever been. The man was a problem solver and tactician, asking questions so pointed that Aiden was forced to think about the situation half a dozen different ways. He second-guessed every move he’d made since he’d signed up for the Spartan Project, but in the end he was more firm in his own mind that he had done what needed to be done. Duncan didn’t gloss over what had happened at the hospital or with the men Aiden had been forced to kill. And he didn’t gloss over the small part that Lost and Found Investigative Service had played.

  Aiden walked out of the interview room feeling like he’d been run over by a truck. Mentally, emotionally, he was whipped. He’d tried to stay objective as he’d described the conditions in the camp and what had been done to them, and who had died and how, but it had been hard. Duncan hadn’t pushed him, though, at least not more than was needed. If the pause dragged on too long, Duncan would rephrase the question, giving him time to formulate his answer.

  As he walked out of the interview room, Angela moved forward and wrapped her arms around him again. Even Fontana reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, something that he didn’t normally do. Damn. He must really look like shit.

  Duncan walked out behind him and took a moment to look into Aiden’s eyes. “Was I too hard on you?”

  “No, sir, of course not. But you have to understand, I normally say about ten words every three days. The past few days have been a little busier than normal.”

  Duncan laughed and clapped his bicep a couple of times. “I understand. Sorry to tax you. Mr. Fontana, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Duncan headed down the hallway toward his office, the limp a little more pronounced than this morning. It had apparently been hard on him as well.

  As the two men headed into the interview room fifteen minutes later, Aiden hoped he’d done the brunt of the work for Fontana.

  Angela led him into the long rec room a few doors down. There had been a couple of men in here working out earlier, but they’d apparently headed to whatever assignments they had. The two of them settled onto the couch and Aiden pulled her close. His shields had taken a beating this morning, and it was a balm to be in her calm, cool aura, if it could be called that. Before he knew it his eyes had drifted shut and his head tilted back against the cushion.

  “Maybe when all this is done you could take me on a date.”

  Jerking his head up, he looked down at her, stunned at the direction of her thoughts. Then he grinned. It was nice to be surprised occasionally. “I would love to take you on a date,” he admitted. “I can’t even remember the last time I actually did that. Just went out like a normal person.”

  Turning toward him, lifting one thigh against his, she quirked a brow. “It doesn’t have to be fancy or anything. Maybe we could go to the gun range and get some dinner afterward.”

  He frowned at her. “It’s been a while but I’ve never known a woman who wanted to go to the range like that.”

  “Then you haven’t known the right women,” she said pertly, her blue eyes glimmering with humor.

  Aiden chuckled and shook his head. “If that’s your version of a date I’m totally in. I think I’d like to play with your toys, though. You have some cool stuff.”

  “You ought to see what my dad has,” Angela told him, sotto voce.

  The thought of meeting Angela’s father made him want to curl in on himself. And it made him wonder what she wanted out of their relationship.

  Fuck, did he really just think ‘relationship’? It was ridiculous to believe that they could make anything work out of the mess they were in.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked, sitting up.

  “I’m thinking that … I wish I had your positive outlook. We may not even make it through today, let alone a week or a month. I would love to take you on a date but I have to be realistic, too. The men that they’ve been sending after us have been getting better and better. I have backup now that Fontana is here, but if they moved in with a team and weren’t worried about exposure, we would be done for. I think they’re getting more desperate, which is why the attacks are coming more often. I’ll be honest with you Angel, I don’t give us good odds for getting out of this alive.”

  One side of her mouth tipped up in a slight smile. “You called me Angel. I don’t normally appreciate endearments but I don’t mind that.”

  His brows went up. “After what I just told you, you focused in on the nickname?”

  She grinned at him and ran her fingers through his beard, pulling down the point. “Yes, because I refuse to think about it going any other way. We’re going to get through this. John is going to get the info off those drives and we’re going to kick the Collaborative’s collective ass. Then you’re going to take me on a date.”

  Aiden shook his head at her determination, but he wouldn’t have her any other way. “Okay. We’ll get through this and I’ll take you on your damn date. Then maybe we’ll talk about meeting your dad.”

  She grinned and leaned up to kiss him. “You’ve got a deal.”

  They settled back into the couch. Angela wrapped her arm across his chest and tucked her head beneath his chin. Aiden could have gone to sleep right there, till she shifted, her breasts smooshing against the side of his chest. Then he was thinking other bed thoughts. She was such a delicious handful.

  “If we had even a hope of privacy I would take care of this for you,” she whispered, brushing her hand across his erection. “You know Fontana will be out any minute, though.”

  Yeah, she was right.

  Just a few minutes later Fontana exited the interview room, his eyes haunted. Aiden immediately went to him and though he knew Fontana didn’t generally appreciate physical touch, he looked like he needed the contact. Aiden pulled him tight and was shocked when Fontana leaned into him for the barest moment.

  Thanks, Will. I need a drink.

  Pushing away, he headed for the rec room, leaving the three of them in the hallway.

  Duncan looked just as worn out as Fontana, with lines bracketing his mouth and a tightness around his eyes. He gave Aiden a slow look. “I have a lot of admiration for what you boys have survived. And I understand why…” he paused. “Well, I understand. We’ll leave it at that. And you have my promise right now that Lost and Found will do everything in its power to help you. If there are men still over there, we need to get them out.”

  Throat tight, Aiden took the hand held out to him and they shook on the promise.

  “I think we have some serious planning ahead of us. Let’s go see what Palmer’s figured out.”

  John was hunched over his desk, clattering on a computer keyboard. Aiden’s brows quirked. He thought he’d had a decent setup, but damn. There were three twenty-seven inch monitors arrayed along the desktop as well as several modems humming beneath the desk. John glanced at them when they entered, then went back to typing.

  “When will Wulfe be here?” he demanded. “I need the fourth stick drive.�
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  “We’re not sure. He sent out a message that we needed to meet this week, but he didn’t say exactly when. I’m expecting him any time.”

  John rocked back in his chair. “As soon as you get that drive I can decrypt it. I know how to circumvent the proprietary program.”

  “How did you do that?”

  “I haven’t done it yet, but I know how. To break it down Barney style, I’m gonna trick it.”

  Aiden laughed. “Barney style? I haven’t heard that for a while. I’m not a child, though. You can use big words and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to follow along.”

  John’s dark face broke into a grin. “Well, you know, you did pick Navy rather than Marines so I wasn’t sure.”

  Reaching out, he slapped his brother’s offered hand, then pounded his knuckles as they laughed. Abruptly, his life drew into ultra-sharp focus. If this was the only moment he got with his brother, he wanted to remember it forever.

  For the first time he could feel John’s emotions as well, and he was just as focused on their interaction. And sad at the loss of time. But there was determination there too. To do a good job and not fuck anything up.

  John explained to him exactly what he planned on doing as soon as he got the disk. Angela disappeared at some point and Duncan took a seat across from John’s desk. Aiden knew it wasn’t polite to exclude them from the conversation but he was fascinated with what his brother was doing.

  Duncan smiled to himself as he watched the two men together. It was so obvious now that they were brothers. He was a little disgusted with himself that he hadn’t noticed it sooner, great investigator that he was.

  It was obvious they both had a passion for computers. John could put a man to sleep talking computer jargon. Duncan knew enough to run a laptop, but he certainly couldn’t dismantle one then put it back together and make it dance like John could.

  He glanced at his watch. It was well past lunchtime and he needed a few minutes alone to decompress. Standing, he walked to the doorway, the yellow pad he’d used for the interviews in his hand. He was going to tell the men he was leaving but there was no way to catch a break in their conversation. So he left.

  When he entered the waiting room he found Shannon at her desk swiping away tears as she transcribed the audio tape of the interviews. He didn’t know if she’d gotten done with Aiden’s yet. They’d both had heart-wrenching stories, but Fontana… fuck…

  When she looked up and moved to take off her headphones he waved her to keep going. What she was doing was more important than anything he could ask of her, so he headed into his office. He crossed to his desk and sank into his chair, releasing a heavy sigh. Those young men had been through so much.

  Where did they even begin? He felt like since they’d brought the issue to LNF, they were now involved. He definitely felt he had a strong interest in protecting any military that might still be involved in the research.

  Drawing out a fresh notepad, he set it beside the one he’d used a while ago. He’d scribbled impressions down, things that the men hadn’t been able to or willing to say, and he wanted to lay out his thoughts before they faded.

  It took him the better part of an hour to rewrite everything he’d scribbled. Then he took each point and fleshed it out a bit. By the time he was done, his hand was cramping and several sheets of the notepad were full. These notes he would type himself, and keep in a completely different location than the transcribed tapes Shannon was using. The digital video had already been uploaded to the cloud storage the company used.

  They were creating an evidence trail and he wanted to be completely positive that what they were doing was correct.

  Who would they take it to? He knew some high-ranking people in Washington, but he’d always taken their acquaintance with a grain of salt. No one in that city was completely trustworthy, especially when there was Silverstone Collaborative money floating around.

  His phone beeped and he realized it had been beeping for a while, intermittently, at the corner of his desk. When he opened the home screen, the smiling face of his daughter beamed at him. She was only two months old so he assumed she was just passing gas and Alex had caught her doing it at the perfect time, but it didn’t matter. She was a beautiful little thing, reddish brown hair a halo around her face. Duncan could see Alex in the shape of her eyes and nose, but he couldn’t see what he had passed on to her yet. Maybe just her ability to pass gas, he thought with an internal laugh.

  Beautiful, as always. Guess who’s here? he typed.

  Just got done with a bath because someone spit up all over herself. Who’s there?

  Our wandering homeless man.

  Almost immediately the phone rang in his hand, as he’d expected it to.

  “Are you serious?”

  Alex’s normally smooth, alto voice had lifted several octaves.

  “Yes, and he has an incredible story to tell. It needs to wait until I get home, though. I don’t want to chance repeating it on here.”

  She huffed a little. “Okay. Does he look all right?”

  “Yes,” Duncan said firmly. “He looks like he’s actually been eating. He and John are talking right now.”

  “Aw, good. They need each other.” There was a sound like the baby sneezed.

  “Oh, goodness,” Alex singsonged. “Bless you!”

  Duncan smiled. He could imagine the look on Alex’s face right now as she looked down at their miracle daughter. Alex had been a beautiful woman before, but pregnancy and the glow of motherhood had given her face and body a maturity that fit her well. She kept complaining about the lingering baby weight, but Duncan thought her perfect.

  “I’ll be home in a little while and we’ll talk.”

  “Okay. I love you, darling.”

  “I love you too, Alex. See you in a bit.”

  When he hung up, he could feel the way she had energized him. Just those few short minutes of conversation had renewed him and chased away the depressing feelings he’d been fighting after the interviews.

  After everything he had dealt with today, he was extra thankful for everything she did for him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  They left the Lost and Found offices as cautiously as they had arrived. Angela drove again but their pace wasn’t as frenetic this time. Aiden gave her instructions on where to turn when, but he didn’t think she needed them. She knew how to keep them out of trouble, and her head swiveled just as much as theirs did.

  By the time they backed into the warehouse, Aiden was ready to be done with the day. Even though it had been needed, it had also been traumatic and even more difficult than he’d imagined. He’d had to relive things that he’d much rather have left behind. If he could walk in and just go curl up on the bed, he would, but there were a few things he needed to do. He would check the email first. If Wulfe hadn’t checked in, maybe Aiden should. No, the man had told them he’d be here this week, and they hadn’t felt anything to indicate otherwise.

  When he got to the living quarters he crossed to the computer console. Nothing had happened while they’d been gone.

  Fontana limped to the couch and sank down, digging a pair of earbuds from the depths of a black backpack. He had been especially quiet since they’d left LNF and Aiden wondered what exactly had happened in his interview. He didn’t think their experiences were that much different, but going by Duncan’s reaction they must have been. The most disturbing part was that he was connected so closely that he should have known if there was anything devastating bothering his friend.

  His buddy didn’t give him a chance to question him. Stretching out, Fontana crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. Obviously he didn’t want to talk about anything.

  It was only a little after two in the afternoon, but he felt like they needed to lie down and get what rest they could. Angela seemed to be moving in that direction as well. Crossing to the computer console, he made sure all of the alarms were set and ready, then he headed to the bedroom with her. They ea
ch took turns in the bathroom, then dropped their jeans and climbed into bed. Angela did some kind of under-t-shirt maneuver, then flung her bra toward the jeans pile.

  As they sank to the mattress it was as natural as breathing to open his arms to hold her. Nestling her head into the crook of his arm, she sprawled across him, an arm over his chest and a leg over his thigh. He realized he loved being weighted down by her.

  His sleep was not smooth. Dreams plagued him, flashes of pain and blood and laughing men wielding needles and guns as he ran through the jungle. Typical. Then a soft hand would rouse him enough for them to wisp away. It was surreal sleeping with her because he was so used to constantly being on guard, but eventually he fell into a truly exhausted, recuperative sleep, secure that she would have his back.

  They slept for a couple of hours and he woke feeling more refreshed than he could remember feeling in a long time. But something was bothering him. It took him a while to realize that Fontana was struggling with something. He glanced at Angela. She had roused with him and was watching him carefully, though she hadn’t sat up. “What’s going on?” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “Fontana, I think.”

  When he went out into the warehouse, his buddy was still on the couch but he was tense, like he was being pummeled from all directions. He lifted a hand in the air, reaching, then Aiden felt it.

  “Fontana, wake up. We have to move.”

  Aiden stopped in the middle of the room and closed his eyes, spreading out his senses. The warehouse was secure but if he reached he could feel something coming toward the city.

  Wulfe?

  ‘Bout damn time, American. You’re not listening.

  Aiden would have laughed if he didn’t hear the exasperation in the German’s mental voice. I’m here now. Where are you?

  About sixty miles away, according to the GPS. I have guests, though, and they are like annoying little dogs. I’ve used all of my tricks. I need back up.