Malone. Captain Jeremy Malone formerly of the U.S. Army Green Berets, to be precise.”
Stunned silence echoed in the room. The team knew he had been Army but he’d never been allowed to state his real name. None of them had.
“Wraith isn’t the only walking dead among us,” he babbled, just wanting to get this part over with. “Though the Army declared my death instead of SBG.”
Wraith’s eyes softened and she reached for his hand, squeezing it.
He appreciated her support.
“I can’t say much about how I met Michelle other than it was during my last classified mission. She was a student at the University of California and originally hailed from Laurel, Delaware.”
With a butterfly tattoo on her hip.
He knew better than to admit that small tidbit with this bunch.
For too many heartbeats, no one said a word.
“Wow. Okay. Thanks for the trust in us, Cappy.”
Romeo finally broke the silence.
“I’m stunned, since you’ve been—”
“A hardass about us breaking SBG’s rule surrounding our former lives,” Talon cut in, his mouth tilted in a quirk. “Boy Scout, you bucking one of SBG’s sacred commandments makes me kinda proud.”
Cappy rolled his eyes. “I know. I know. Clean Slate policy. Never reveal your true name or where you came from, blah, blah, blah.”
“This Michelle must have made quite an impression on you if you can recall all those details,”
Magician stated in that tone women had that oozed suspicion and sincerity.
An image of Michelle’s swollen and bruised face attempting to smile as she feebly said, “Cappy for short,” rose in his mind. He never told a soul he had chosen his codename based on that memory, that show of strength when anyone else in the world would’ve given up. Most thought it was derived from his former rank, and he didn’t feel the need to correct them. Made an impression? They had no idea.
“Let’s just say the circumstances surrounding the meeting are something I’ll never forget.”
“Still, six years is a long time,” Ted said, clacking on his keyboard.
Most days, it feels like yesterday
. Cappy pushed the vivid image of Michelle’s broken body from his mind. No sense in revealing that part of the story. “Ted, I’ll need a full legend for Jeremy Malone. I want to use the private security company owner story.”
Ted blinked. “Uh, sure.”
Cappy continued, “Romeo and Magician, you have your full alias kits?”
“Yeah. We always carry all of them. In this case, Special Agents Raymond Stiles and Sonya White can leave Kentucky and head north,”
Romeo answered.
“You never said why we had to find her first,”
Magician stated.
Cappy didn’t have much more than a gut feeling, so he just shrugged for those in the room. “Let’s just say I don’t think we have the whole story. When I last met Michelle, I never would’ve associated the word
murderer
with her. Something’s not right.”
“So the Senator’s simple directive just got complicated,” Grady summed up.
Chapter 7
Dismay coursed through Michelle as she watched the scenery outside the taxi’s window turn seedier and seedier. Excellent. If she got mugged, her day would be complete.
Knowing it would only be a matter of time before her car was spotted, she had ditched it in the only place she could think of. A car dealership. Neatly tucking it in with the thirty other cars waiting to be serviced, she then caught a bus to the farthest stop on the route, Greenwood, a small town south of Indianapolis. From there, the only place she could think to tell the Middle Eastern cab driver was a strip club. On TV, those places never had cameras and the employees didn’t bother remembering faces.
Now she wished she had thought of something else. Drawing knowledge on how to go on the run from Hollywood was definitely not the way to survive.
The cabbie slowed and entered a parking lot in desperate need of repair. Neon tubes in pastel colors advertised the beer they served proudly and
Stunned silence echoed in the room. The team knew he had been Army but he’d never been allowed to state his real name. None of them had.
“Wraith isn’t the only walking dead among us,” he babbled, just wanting to get this part over with. “Though the Army declared my death instead of SBG.”
Wraith’s eyes softened and she reached for his hand, squeezing it.
He appreciated her support.
“I can’t say much about how I met Michelle other than it was during my last classified mission. She was a student at the University of California and originally hailed from Laurel, Delaware.”
With a butterfly tattoo on her hip.
He knew better than to admit that small tidbit with this bunch.
For too many heartbeats, no one said a word.
“Wow. Okay. Thanks for the trust in us, Cappy.”
Romeo finally broke the silence.
“I’m stunned, since you’ve been—”
“A hardass about us breaking SBG’s rule surrounding our former lives,” Talon cut in, his mouth tilted in a quirk. “Boy Scout, you bucking one of SBG’s sacred commandments makes me kinda proud.”
Cappy rolled his eyes. “I know. I know. Clean Slate policy. Never reveal your true name or where you came from, blah, blah, blah.”
“This Michelle must have made quite an impression on you if you can recall all those details,”
Magician stated in that tone women had that oozed suspicion and sincerity.
An image of Michelle’s swollen and bruised face attempting to smile as she feebly said, “Cappy for short,” rose in his mind. He never told a soul he had chosen his codename based on that memory, that show of strength when anyone else in the world would’ve given up. Most thought it was derived from his former rank, and he didn’t feel the need to correct them. Made an impression? They had no idea.
“Let’s just say the circumstances surrounding the meeting are something I’ll never forget.”
“Still, six years is a long time,” Ted said, clacking on his keyboard.
Most days, it feels like yesterday
. Cappy pushed the vivid image of Michelle’s broken body from his mind. No sense in revealing that part of the story. “Ted, I’ll need a full legend for Jeremy Malone. I want to use the private security company owner story.”
Ted blinked. “Uh, sure.”
Cappy continued, “Romeo and Magician, you have your full alias kits?”
“Yeah. We always carry all of them. In this case, Special Agents Raymond Stiles and Sonya White can leave Kentucky and head north,”
Romeo answered.
“You never said why we had to find her first,”
Magician stated.
Cappy didn’t have much more than a gut feeling, so he just shrugged for those in the room. “Let’s just say I don’t think we have the whole story. When I last met Michelle, I never would’ve associated the word
murderer
with her. Something’s not right.”
“So the Senator’s simple directive just got complicated,” Grady summed up.
Chapter 7
Dismay coursed through Michelle as she watched the scenery outside the taxi’s window turn seedier and seedier. Excellent. If she got mugged, her day would be complete.
Knowing it would only be a matter of time before her car was spotted, she had ditched it in the only place she could think of. A car dealership. Neatly tucking it in with the thirty other cars waiting to be serviced, she then caught a bus to the farthest stop on the route, Greenwood, a small town south of Indianapolis. From there, the only place she could think to tell the Middle Eastern cab driver was a strip club. On TV, those places never had cameras and the employees didn’t bother remembering faces.
Now she wished she had thought of something else. Drawing knowledge on how to go on the run from Hollywood was definitely not the way to survive.
The cabbie slowed and entered a parking lot in desperate need of repair. Neon tubes in pastel colors advertised the beer they served proudly and
Similar Books
