Puppetmaster (Coastal Fury Book 8)

by Matt Lincoln

  Ramsey sighed, tapping one manicured nail against the surface of her desk. “Do you have any recommendations for us down here?”

  “Keep doing what you’re doing,” Farr advised. “I’ll give you another call after the mission is complete with an update. If needed, I can send down reinforcements. I’m hoping we can handle it up here, though.”

  “Could you send reinforcements now?” she asked, sounding more and more agitated as the call continued.

  “No,” he stated matter-of-factly. “If I gather a team now, by the time they get to you, the situation may very well be handled. All I can tell you right now is to keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t let Holm go home.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it,” Ramsey muttered. “Okay, thank you, Donald. I’ll hear from you soon?”

  “You’ll hear from me soon,” he confirmed. A loud click announced his departure as the line disconnected. Ramsey stood up straight and looked back at us.

  “What’s the plan for today?” she asked quietly.

  Muñoz spoke up first. “We can’t do much today. Clyde is working on some evidence we found, and I have one of the women down in Cyber working on the laptop. We’re at a standstill.”

  “Good,” Ramsey muttered. It struck me as odd that she would be glad for a case to be at a standstill, but I also knew she had a lot on her mind. None of us were sure of the extent of what we were dealing with, and the fear was that we were about to be in way over our heads.

  After a beat of silence, she looked back up at Birn. “Take the rest of the day off. Go home, take Holm with you, and stay there. Hole up in the living room and play video games, nap, order takeout, do whatever you want to do. I’ll call you if I hear anything more.”

  “What about me?” Muñoz asked expectantly.

  Ramsey turned to look at her. “If you don’t mind, I’d like you to stay here. If anything new comes up on your case, you can handle it immediately. If I hear any updates on Holm’s situation, I’ll have you here to help.”

  Muñoz nodded. As much as I was sure she wanted to go home too, she wouldn’t argue. Muñoz was a dedicated agent, and she would do whatever she needed to do in order to get the job done.

  “Alright, roomie,” Birn announced, clapping me on the shoulder. “Let’s head home. I have stuff in the fridge for sandwiches for lunch, and we’ll order Chinese food tonight.”

  I nodded grimly. Chinese food did sound like a great idea, though I wasn’t sure how big my appetite would be later. My stomach was already in knots.

  “I’m leaving the bakery stuff here,” I pointed out to the two women as I gestured toward my desk. “Help yourselves.”

  Birn shot me an annoyed look before pushing his way past me and yanking an apple turnover out of the box.

  “I’m leaving most of the bakery stuff here,” I amended. Muñoz and Ramsey both giggled at Birn’s maneuver, but he simply took a large bite and shrugged.

  “I hadn’t eaten breakfast,” he managed to sputter around a mouthful of turnover.

  “Come on, roomie,” I teased as I walked past him to head down to the garage. “Let’s go hang out at home and let the women do all the work. Birn snorted and hurried after me. I heard the two women laughing after us.

  “I’m not worried!” Muñoz shouted. “You’ll make this up to us twofold once this is over!” Ramsey laughed harder, and I looked back at Birn.

  “Why do I feel like we just dug our own graves?” I muttered under my breath.

  “You dug your own grave,” Birn stated simply. “Don’t rope me into this.”

  I chuckled as we headed down to the garage together. When we stepped into the cold, concrete space, I gazed longingly at my Lancer in the corner as I walked away from it and slid into the passenger seat of Birn’s Charger. When we drove back out into the morning sunlight, I closed my eyes and tried to allow the sun’s warm rays to wash away my stress and my worry. I kept them shut for several blocks, willing the knot to loosen in my stomach, but having no luck.

  My eyes were closed when Birn entered the intersection. I never saw the truck barreling toward us.

  Chapter 27: Ethan

  I felt Tessa’s eyes following me as I stumbled bleary-eyed around the kitchen in an attempt to get a pot of coffee brewing. Every time I glanced back at her, she blushed a bit. Damn, she was adorable. I wanted today’s mission to be successful, and I wanted it with every fiber of my being. Still, I knew that once our mission was complete, we’d be heading back to Miami, and I still wanted more time with her. I was beginning to suspect that I’d always feel that way.

  Loud footsteps on the stairs announced Header’s arrival, and when he rounded the corner into the kitchen a moment later, his infectious grin came along with him.

  “Good morning,” he sang, looking pointedly at me. When I shot him a quizzical look, he merely shook his head. “Did you really think sneaking away so early last night wasn’t going to get noticed?”

  This time, Tessa really blushed. I shook my head dismissively and turned back to the coffee maker, which was finally set up.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I muttered adamantly. Header turned to Tessa and winked at her before reaching over my head to grab a coffee mug out of the cabinet.

  “Okay,” he conceded before suddenly shifting gears. “Anyway, I convinced my guy to meet us up here.”

  “Your guy?” I searched the recesses of my brain for some forgotten scrap of conversation that would remind me who Header’s guy was, but I came up empty. “Who’s your guy?”

  “My gun guy,” he said matter-of-factly as if everyone had such a thing. “More accurately, my firearms provider.”

  “Naturally,” I muttered as I grabbed a mug for myself. “Who else?”

  “That’s right,” he agreed cheerfully. “Who else would I call?”

  “Well, did you call him for a reason?” I stared at the coffee maker impatiently, as if I could somehow make it brew faster.

  “Did I…? Marston, do you know me at all?” Header clutched his chest in mock offense. “I’m appalled that you have to ask.”

  I burst out into laughter at his reaction. He was right, after all. This was Jake Header, and we were about to march blindly into an epic mission.

  “We have Farr, though,” I pointed out. “He can provide the weapons and the gear. Why do we need someone different?”

  “Not different,” he amended. “Better. Farr’s stash is adequate, sure. My connections are more fun, though.” The playful twinkle in his eyes had me laughing again.

  “You want to have fun?” I clarified. “That’s what this is about?”

  “Why not?” he chuckled.

  The coffee maker beeped, and I let out a sigh of relief as I quickly poured myself a cup and passed the carafe along to Header.

  “I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around your cavalier attitude,” I shrugged. I looked over at him pointedly, and when he met my gaze, he paused his movements. “This is Holm we’re talking about.”

  Header’s stance softened as he put the carafe down and turned to face me head-on.

  “Make no mistake, brother,” he replied sternly. “I may be trying to inject a bit of humor and fun into this situation, but I am in no way making light of it or not taking this seriously. These firearms aren’t simply more exciting. They’re also remarkably easy to use, with scopes and other additions that will make our shots more accurate. You’ll have fun shooting them, but you’ll also be a better shot, which is pretty damn important.”

  I nodded in concession. “That’s a fair point.”

  “Isn’t it?” Header beamed at me, and I rolled my eyes in response.

  As I wandered over to the dining room table to sit beside Tessa, a loud rapping sounded from the front door. I heard the door swing open and turned just in time to see Farr come into the house with a large brown paper bag. He rushed over to the table and set the bag down, and the aroma of warm bread wafted out of the open top.

  “What
is all this?” Bonnie asked, but I was already peering inside.

  “Bagels!” I shouted gleefully. Breakfast was going to be one of my next items to tackle, but now I didn’t have to worry about it.

  “There should be cream cheese in there, too,” Farr pointed out.

  We all gathered around the dining room table, and there was a flurry of activity as everyone reached into the bags and dug out a bagel of their choice. Once we were all situated in our seats around the table, Farr walked over to the head of the table and looked over all of us.

  “I have the boat waiting for us,” he announced. “My buddy Howie will take you into the Hamptons on it, and then you can sneak off and do what you do best.”

  There were a few cheers from Warner and Bonnie at the news.

  Farr continued. “We need to discuss firepower and protection.”

  “No need,” Header responded after stealing a glance in my direction. “I have a guy.”

  “You have a guy?” Farr spat. “What the hell does that mean?”

  Header went on to explain who his guy was and why he was important to our mission. When he wrapped it up, Farr stood there with an impressed look on his face.

  “So, you have a guy,” Farr conceded. “Where is he?”

  Header shrugged nonchalantly. “He should be here very soon. I already called the front gate to let them know that I’m expecting a… delivery.”

  “Excellent.” Farr clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together as he moved around to the side of the table. “Now, let me get one of these bagels.”

  We all laughed as he picked out his perfect bagel and got settled in one of the empty seats. I looked around the table and took a moment to absorb everyone’s good spirits. Later this evening, things would become much more serious, but for now, we were all happy. I just hoped that we all came out the other side unscathed and just as happy as we were right now.

  I was on my last couple of bites of food when we all heard another knock at the door. This time, no one barged in, and Header got up and strode over to answer the door.

  “What’s up, man?” he asked as they went in for a hug, clapping each other on the back before pulling back to look at each other. “Long time, no see!”

  “You ain’t kidding,” the man chuckled. He stepped into the house and saw all of us gathered around the table. “You’re not alone.”

  Once he had stopped to take a look at us, I was able to better assess his appearance. The man had a full beard and dark brown hair combed back off his face. His dark jeans were faded and worn in spots, and his thick flannel shirt was a bit pulled from a lot of use. His light brown eyes seemed friendly yet cautious, and I recognized the steel in his gaze. He was one of us. He was former military.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Header assured him, ushering the man inside. “They’re cool.”

  “How cool?” the man asked warily.

  “They all know about Wraith,” Header pointed out. “A few of them have even been on Wraith for a mission.”

  “Wow.” The man nodded sincerely. “So, they’re pretty cool.”

  “Yes, they’re pretty cool,” Header said with a chuckle.

  Wraith was Header’s less-than-legal super-secret stealth boat. When Tessa had first laid eyes on it, her presence did not thrill Header, and he even insisted she leave her camera behind. Header did have trust issues, although to be fair, if I had an illegal stealth boat, I’d probably be worried about the wrong people seeing it, too. The fact that this bearded man knew about Wraith told me everything I needed to know about his level of trustworthiness.

  “Everyone, this is Paul. Paul, this is everyone.” Once Header had made the official introduction, we all introduced ourselves individually. Once Paul had made his rounds, he clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously.

  “So, who is getting weap’d up?” he asked, grinning mischievously.

  “I am,” Header began. “I also want Marston completely set up. Everyone else needs safety gear, armor, and protective equipment.”

  “Marston is playing offense, and everyone else is playing defense?” Paul asked incredulously. When Header nodded in confirmation, Paul shook his head.

  “No,” he muttered. “What are you doing? You need more bodies.”

  “This is what we have,” Header argued.

  “We do have backup,” Farr interjected. “They supply themselves with their own firearms, ammunition, and protective gear. They will stay back unless called upon.”

  “If you have a big enough forward team, you won’t need the backup,” Paul advised. “Anyone worth their salt knows that.”

  Farr’s eyes widened at the unintended insult. An awkward silence filled the room as Header held up his hands to stop Paul from speaking further.

  “Paul,” Header warned, “I don’t think Farr wanted to lay his life out on the table when he introduced himself.”

  “I didn’t,” Farr snapped. “I’m retired.”

  Paul looked over at Farr for a moment, his eyebrows stitched together in confusion. I watched his forehead smooth out, and his eyes widen as recognition kicked in.

  “Oh,” he muttered, his face falling as he realized the insult he’d just tossed Farr’s way. “Fleet Admiral Donald Farr. I hadn’t made the connection. I am so genuinely sorry.”

  “Retired,” Farr quipped. “It’s fine, it’s forgotten. Next time though, before you judge the way I handle my operations, you should have all of the facts of this case.”

  “Yes, sir,” Paul nodded. “I’m sorry, sir. I know the basics. I know this is personal. The point I was arriving at was that, if Header allows it, I’d like to assist.”

  Farr raised an eyebrow at Paul. “I don’t know you from Adam. Why should I trust you?”

  “Because he knows about Wraith,” I pointed out, speaking up for the first time since our introduction. “I trust Header with my life. If Header trusts this man with that big of a secret, that’s good enough for me.”

  Header gave me a small yet grateful smile and then turned to gauge Farr’s reaction.

  “Fine,” Farr asserted. “We can use all the help we can get.”

  Paul nodded. “I’ll call my guy Jay. He’s cool. He’s good.”

  “I don’t know Jay,” Header said warily.

  “You will,” Paul assured him. “Jay Miller is a good man.”

  “Jay Miller?” Farr’s tone indicated recognition.

  “Yes, sir,” Paul nodded. “You know him?”

  “I do,” Farr confirmed. He turned to Header. “Miller is good. We’ll take him.”

  “Okay,” Header agreed. “Let’s do this.”

  “Help me unload the truck,” Paul suggested to Header. “I’ll call Miller and have him meet us here.”

  Header and Paul headed out the door, and after several trips back and forth, they managed to transform the living room into a large makeshift armory.

  “What do you think?” Paul grinned, taking in my raised eyebrows.

  “We need to be friends,” I chuckled as I weaved in and out of the supplies. There was a lot to choose from here, and I could see now why Header had been so excited earlier, despite the serious occasion.

  “You can get first dibs,” Paul offered, crossing his arms and propping himself up against the living room doorframe. Beside him, Tessa’s notepaper map was taped up on the wall, all but forgotten for the time being.

  “Well, I’ll definitely take this AR,” I muttered, running a hand over the Daniel Defense sitting on the coffee table.

  “That’s a solid choice,” Paul nodded from the doorway. Header walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder.

  “Well, now I need to find something cooler than yours,” he chuckled as he wandered off.

  Ordinarily, I’d be fighting him for the best equipment, but as cool as all of this stuff was, current events preoccupied my mind with current events too much to allow myself to focus on anything else. I knew the AR I chose would work perfectly for me, and that’s about
as much thought as I wanted to give to the topic.

  After we had picked out our sidearms and protective gear, we set it all aside to wait for Jay to arrive. Farr announced that he was heading out for a couple of hours and demanded that we be ready by three in the afternoon. Header and I opted to help Paul bring the rest of the unused equipment back out to his truck in the meantime. Paul claimed that he knew exactly what Jay would need when he arrived, so we set the firearms and gear aside for him while we worked.

  By the time it was all done, it was about time for lunch. I collapsed onto the couch in the living room and let out a long breath, torn between putting food in my stomach and getting off my feet for a bit before the evening kicked in. The couch was much more tempting than the kitchen, so I decided that staying put was the better option for the moment. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander far away from this case, but yet another knock at the door jarred me from my thoughts. Before I could push myself off the couch, Tessa skipped over to answer the door.

  After a brief exchange in the doorway, Tessa came back with her arms overburdened with brown paper bags.

  “What did you do?” I chuckled, pushing myself off the couch and following her to the dining room table. She pulled out a handful of aluminum trays, and I could smell the warm aroma of chicken and pasta.

  “I got us some Italian food,” she informed me as she laid everything out. “If Uncle Donald wants you all ready to go by three, then this is probably the last meal you’re eating before your mission. I want to make sure you’re well-fed.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured, slipping my arm around her waist and pulling her close. I kissed her gently on the forehead before looking down at her. “Thank you for looking out for me. I know it sucks that you’re stuck here for your own safety, but selfishly, I’m glad you’re here.”

  Tessa smiled softly up at me. “You know, I had an opportunity to leave.”

  “You did?” I pulled back a little in order to get a better look at her face.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “Uncle Donald offered me an overseas assignment until all of this blows over. The only catch was that I couldn’t come back until he allowed it. If this case takes a lot longer than anticipated, I could be stuck overseas with no way back home.”