Striker (K19 Security Solutions Book 6)

by Heather Slade

  “How high up does this go, Trap?”

  “I can’t answer that.”

  Striker’s level of anger rose to the equivalent of Monk’s.

  “Three of our team are critically injured. One is dead. I want to know who’s responsible.”

  Trap shook his head. “I’m sorry, Striker.”

  “Why was our plane in the air in the first place? No one from K19 authorized Onyx’s flight plan. No one pulled the trigger on that part of the mission. I want to know who did, when, and why.”

  When Trap shook his head again, Striker pushed past him and got off the plane, hoping Razor would keep Monk from ripping into the pilot. The only way Striker could stop himself from doing the same thing was to put as much distance as he could between him and the man who knew the answers to his questions, but was refusing to share them.

  As he paced inside the private area of the terminal, questions repeated in his head.

  Why would the CIA want K19 in Colombia? Particularly since the men in question had only recently left the agency. Someone on the plane was working for the opposition. That was the only logical answer. Or, someone on the K19 team that stayed on the ground was. Who, though? As Striker ran through the list of partners and employees, no one made sense.

  Striker raised his head; Trap was standing just inside the doorway.

  “Whose side were they on?”

  “The wrong one.”

  “Who shot down the fucking plane?”

  “Not our side.”

  “Tell me, Trap, whose side am I on?”

  “Ours.”

  “Who was it? Tell me right fucking now.”

  “Corazón.”

  “Who was she working for?”

  “Santos.”

  Striker sat down and put his head in his hands. “Why did Jimenéz call Razor to confirm I was on that plane?”

  “Corazón wanted him to believe you were in order to arrange a meeting between the ambassador, Lehrer, and Ghafor. He was on our side.”

  “What about the mole? Who knew I was on my way to Colombia? Who killed Juan Carlos?”

  “I can’t answer that.”

  “Meaning the agency was behind it. There never was a fucking mole.”

  Trap didn’t respond.

  “Corazón wanted Jimenez to believe I was on my way so she could arrange to have all the players in the same room at the same time.”

  “That’s right.”

  “She’s an assassin.”

  Trap nodded his head. “She was.”

  “She was the fatality.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Piece it together for me.”

  “We believe she was able to convince Onyx that they had the go-ahead to deploy.”

  Striker nodded. Of course he hadn’t questioned her; they were in a relationship.

  “Once they were in the air, Corazón intercepted the messages coming in from your team. K19 wasn’t the only one trying to reach Onyx to divert. We were too.”

  “And in the midst of it, the plane went down.”

  Trap looked out the window. “It’s all hypothetical, Striker.”

  He pictured the scene in his head. Onyx must’ve somehow figured out Corazón was intercepting the messages and then knew she’d lied to him. Maybe he even realized she was working for the other side. His guess was that once Corazón realized he was on to her, she tried to kill him. Or vice versa. They wouldn’t know the whole story until Onyx was able to tell it.

  As his conversation with Trap transpired, one by one, the K19 team members who had been on the plane, filed into the terminal’s waiting area.

  “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this,” said Dutch. “Corazón and Onyx were tight.”

  Striker looked out on the tarmac; another plane was taxiing in.

  Trap saw it too. “The rest of your team has arrived.”

  Striker waited for Doc, Gunner, and Mercer to come inside before briefing them on what he’d learned from Trap about the downed aircraft.

  “A minute?” Trap asked Striker, who followed the man out of the waiting room and back out onto the tarmac.

  “As I’m sure you can understand, I cannot brief your entire team on the rest of what I told you earlier.”

  Striker nodded. “I can.”

  “I’m officially telling you not to.”

  “I don’t give a shit.”

  “I’ll ask this, then. Keep it to as much of a minimum as you can until this finishes playing out.”

  “Are you asking me to sit on my hands while a civil war wages in this country?”

  “I am.”

  “I need to get my people the fuck out of here.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “We need to read Doc in.”

  Trap shook his head. “You read Doc in. What you know is conjuncture at this point.”

  —:—

  Aine knew something was very wrong when Merrigan and Saylor came into the room.

  “Penelope,” she began. “Would you mind going next door for a few minutes?”

  Their friend nodded and rose, meeting Aine’s eyes questioningly as she left.

  Merrigan looked from her to Ava and then to Quinn and Saylor. “Striker, Razor, Mercer, and Monk, as well as the rest of the team that left from here yesterday, have all arrived safely in Colombia.”

  Aine blinked away the tears that threatened; it looked as though Ava and Quinn were doing the same.

  “I have been informed that the missing aircraft was located by DEA agents near the Venezuelan border.”

  Ava gasped and covered her face with her hands. Merrigan put her hand on her shoulder.

  “All we know now is that the plane went down. There were three survivors, who were taken by medevac to a hospital in Magdalena, the closest city in Colombia.”

  “You said there were three survivors, which means the fourth didn’t make it,” said Quinn, whose face had gone white.

  “As I said, we don’t know all the details,” Merrigan answered, reaching out for Quinn with her free hand.

  “Who was on the plane?” asked Razor’s sister.

  “Montano ‘Onyx’ Yáñez, Sofia ‘Corazón’ Descanso, Landry ‘Tackle’ Sorenson, and Knox ‘Halo’ Clarkson.”

  Merrigan said each name slowly, as if to honor all four of them since they didn’t know who had survived and who had not.

  Aine stopped fighting her tears and wept openly. Ava came and sat by her side, crying as hard as she was.

  “Striker, Razor, and Monk are being transported to Magdalena now. We’ll know more once they’ve arrived.”

  Saylor came and sat on the other side of Ava, and Quinn moved closer to Merrigan.

  “Where are my father and Mercer?” asked Quinn.

  “They, along with Gunner, will soon be on their way to the hospital as well.”

  Ava sat up. “Where is Zary?”

  “She was napping with the baby,” answered Saylor. “We thought it best to let her sleep.”

  “We’ll tell her,” offered Ava, looking at Aine, who nodded.

  Merrigan stood. “If there are no further questions, I need to get back down to the office.”

  Ava scooted over so they were all as close as they could get on the sofa, and held her hand out to Quinn. “Come sit with us,” she said.

  “Are we hurting you?” Quinn asked Aine after she sat down.

  “I’m okay,” Aine answered. The truth was, she couldn’t feel much of anything outside of the boulder-sized dread that sat in her stomach.

  Someone whom the K19 team had worked with, admired, loved even, had died. In an excruciating way, it drove home how fragile the life they led could be because of the work they did.

  “I need to tell my mom,” said Saylor, standing. “Do any of you need anything before I go next door?”

  Aine shook her head. “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “What do we do now?” Ava asked.

  “We wait,” answered Quinn.

/>   27

  Aine sat on the sofa with Griffin and watched as the evening news reported on the assassination of Colombia’s President Petro Santos, who in recent weeks, had been linked to the Cali drug cartel.

  Carlos “Mao” Deodar, leader of that cartel, had also been assassinated on the same day. While he was killed in a different part of Colombia, it was believed the two deaths were related.

  The country where Griffin had been only two weeks before, was in utter chaos. Santos’ second in command was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder when his role in the president’s death was discovered.

  An emergency election was called, in which former President Juan Marquez was predicted to be re-elected. If so, it was expected that he’d take office immediately and restore normalcy to the embattled nation.

  There was no mention, in this broadcast or any other, of the plane that went down in the Colombian National Forest, nor of the death in that crash.

  Griffin told her very little, other than that Onyx had been taken to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, as soon as he was stabilized enough to be transported. He remained in a coma still, which was why he and Aine had returned to his McLean, Virginia, condo and would stay there until his teammate’s condition improved.

  Both Tackle and Halo, who had also been taken to the same hospital, with head injuries and several broken bones, had been released from medical care after three days.

  The two had met with Griffin almost every day since she and Griffin had arrived in McLean, as had Monk, whom he’d said was also in town, waiting for Onyx to come out of his coma.

  Ava and Tabon had gone back to Yachats a few days after the team returned from Colombia; Zary and Gunner were living on his island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay; and Quinn and Mercer had moved into their new house in Paso Robles, which had been miraculously completed in weeks rather than months.

  Penelope said that when she returned to New York after Thanksgiving, Tara had moved out of their shared Manhattan apartment and left no forwarding address or contact information.

  Aine worried about Tara every day, to the point that Griffin had stepped in and told her he’d do everything he could to locate her friend. A few days later, he told her that Halo had agreed to find her, and as soon as he heard something, Aine would be the first to know.

  She’d asked about paying him, but Griffin immediately shot her down and refused to discuss how his teammate was being compensated for finding her friend.

  As hard as it had been to tell him, she’d confessed that she believed Tara had taken his aunt’s bracelet, and that she was devastated she’d lost something so precious to him. His response had been that there wasn’t anything as precious to him as she was, and he’d get her another bracelet.

  “Are you okay?” she asked when Griffin leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

  He sat back against the sofa and put his arm around her shoulders.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be in Yachats for Christmas?” he asked.

  “Is that where you’ll be?”

  “You know I can’t leave until Onyx wakes up. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

  “Then, no, I wouldn’t rather be in Yachats.” It wasn’t the first time he’d asked, and she doubted it would be the last. “I want to be wherever you are whenever I can be,” she told him now and every other time.

  “What time is your appointment tomorrow?”

  “I can go in anytime since it’s just a blood draw.”

  Griffin rested his hand on her belly as though by doing so, everything would turn out okay.

  While the doctor in California had told her to wait six weeks before getting certain tests done, the doctor she had seen here at the hospital for her post-surgery checkup, told her she didn’t see the need to postpone the testing.

  Two days ago, she’d gone in for her first round of fertility tests. The numbers reported from that round would be considered baseline, and the numbers from tomorrow’s blood draw would indicate how well her reproductive system was functioning.

  “If the numbers are discouraging this month, we’ll continue to test for at least four months to see if there is any change,” the doctor told her and Griffin when they met in her office after her check-up.

  —:—

  Striker opened the door when he saw the mail carrier walk up three days after Aine had completed her first full round of fertility testing.

  “I have a certified letter for Griffin Ellis,” the man said.

  “That’s me.” He already had his ID out and handed it over before signing the green card.

  What was inside the envelope he held in his hand, would determine his fate along with Aine’s and the children they may or may not have one day.

  He took the unopened envelope inside and set it on the kitchen counter.

  “It came?” Aine asked when she walked up beside him.

  Striker sighed and rolled his shoulders. “It did.”

  “Are you sure you want to wait?”

  “Your appointment with Dr. Fredrickson is in two days. She agreed that if we had my results back prior to that, we’d discuss both then.”

  “I know. I’m just saying that if you don’t want to wait, I’m okay with it.”

  “Do you want me to open it today?”

  Aine shook her head. “They’re your results, Griffin.”

  “Then we’ll wait together.”

  Striker dropped Aine off at the hospital entrance and went to park the car. A winter storm had blanketed the DC area in snow, which meant it would be a white Christmas, but it also meant the temperatures were frigid. He checked his pocket to be sure he remembered the envelope that contained his DNA results.

  They’d talked late into the night about how they’d handle whichever scenario was given to them at today’s appointment. While he’d expected Aine to become emotional about it, he was far more so than she was.

  He took a deep breath, said a silent prayer, and got out of the car. The prayer wasn’t for him; it was for the beautiful, brave woman who waited inside for him. The one who made him promise that, regardless of the news they received, they’d face life’s celebrations and challenges together.

  When he walked through the door and saw her waiting, he took another deep breath. How could someone as wondrously perfect as Aine have fallen in love with him? He took her hand in his and walked over to the elevator.

  “It’ll be okay, Griffin,” she said once the door closed behind them and they rode to the third floor alone.

  “That’s what you keep telling me.” He leaned down and kissed her. “You know I love you.”

  “I do.” She winked.

  They were early for their appointment, so they sat and waited ten long minutes before Aine’s name was called.

  “Dr. Fredrickson will be right with you,” said the nurse who led them into an office rather than an exam room.

  “Hello,” the doctor said, coming in and closing the door behind her. “It’s nice to see you both,” she added before shaking their hands.

  She sat down and opened a folder that sat on the desk. “Did you receive your results?” she asked, looking at Striker.

  “I did,” he answered, handing her the unopened envelope.

  Epilogue

  “Tabon, they’re here!” shouted Ava, coming to the front door and throwing her arms around Aine.

  “Good to see you,” Aine heard him say to Griffin while she and Ava continued to hug each other.

  “I can’t go this long without seeing you ever again. Do you understand me?” Ava said with tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe it’s only been five months. It seems more like five years.”

  It had been difficult to be away from her twin for Christmas, especially for the first time, but they’d managed by having video calls almost daily.

  “Where’s Sam?”

  “Right here,” said their mother, bringing her grandson over to see his aunt.

  Aine’s eyes filled with
tears. “He’s gotten so big.” She’d been worried Sam wouldn’t remember her, but he went right to her and put his little arms around her neck, slobbering on her cheek. “I think he remembers me,” she murmured.

  “Of course he does,” said Ava, slugging her.

  “Come inside,” said Razor. “Ava’s got quite a spread prepared.”

  “That looks like enough to feed thirty people!” Aine gasped when she saw all the serving dishes full of food.

  “I hope so,” answered her sister, pointing to the sign that was hanging behind them.

  Oh, Babies!

  Coming soon!

  The McNamara-Ellis Twins!

  Aine’s eyes filled with tears. She looked at Griffin, who was beaming back at her.

  “Am I ever happy that it’s you two having twins,” said Tabon, shaking Griffin’s hand.

  “Twins run in our family, sweetheart. There’s nothing to say we won’t have our own set someday,” Ava said to her husband.

  Tabon put his hand on his wife’s belly. “This is just one though, right?”

  “You’ve been at all the ultrasounds with me. If there were two in here, you’d know.” Ava looked out the window. “Quinn and Mercer are here!” she shouted.

  “They are?” asked Aine, turning around to see them driving in.

  “Everyone is coming,” said Ava, holding both of her hands. “We’re all so happy for you and Griffin.”

  Ava looked at Aine’s hand. “Hey—where’s the ring?”

  “My fingers are too fat, so I wear it here.” She showed her sister the diamond and garnet ring she wore on a chain around her neck.

  “It’s gorgeous!” gasped Ava. “You did good,” she said, turning toward Griffin.

  —:—

  “Can I get you a beer?” asked Razor.

  “Please,” Striker answered, following him into the kitchen.

  “Congratulations again,” he said, clinking his bottle against the one he’d handed Striker. “When’s the big day?”