CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Ace, Code, talk to us. Were any of these men reported missing?" asked Ghost. "I damn sure don't remember any reports of a hundred and twenty men gone missing. And what about the rest of their teams?"

"The men were allegedly assigned to do recon on a potential terrorist threat in the area. When none of the men returned, they were reported as MIA, then reported as believed dead. Funerals were held, wreaths laid, the whole damn thing. The bastard even submitted for posthumous medals for all of them.

"Search parties were sent out. There was even a television special about ‘the lost one-twenty.' He made a big show of going after the alleged terrorists and destroying their compound, killing all of them. Later, the locals said they weren't terrorists at all, but a kind of local militia that helped to protect the small villages."

"Jesus, he got away with this shit for years," said Gaspar.

"Him and his brother," said Ace. "Let's not forget he wasn't alone. But this is where it gets really sticky. Whoever let those two move into positions of authority obviously didn't check their backgrounds very well. Their father, Colonel Lucifer Kaplan, I shit you not, Lucifer was his name. Anyway, Lucifer lived up to his name. No matter where he went, he either took over control of brothels or built one himself, and his favorite thing to do was to allow his clients to beat the women.

"Lucifer made friends with every enemy of the state. Every single one believing they had something in common in their tastes. We're talking about Hitler-like beasts," said Code. "These men were the worst humanity had to offer, and he took advantage of it. Calling in favors for cash, property, weapons, drugs, anything."

"Why don't we know this man's name?" asked Miller.

"It was wiped from the books," said Michael. Michael Bodwick, former Navy SEAL, POTUS, and member of REAPER, RP, and now Gray Wolf.

"Welcome home, asshole. You've been gone too long. How are you?" smiled Nine, hugging his old friend.

"We're good, and we can catch up later. This situation? Not good. Lucifer Kaplan was wiped from the books for a reason. He was the greatest embarrassment and mistake made by our nation, possibly ever. He didn't just get favors from our enemies. He sold them weapons, secrets, and people."

"People? He sold our men to them?" growled Rafe.

"Men and women. He didn't believe women should serve, even in a nursing or medic capacity. If he didn't like you, if he couldn't manipulate you, he sold you to the greatest enemies we knew. By the time someone had actually blown the whistle on this bastard, there was so much damage done we had to start all over again on weapons programs, space programs, and so much more. He set us back decades."

"Fuck me. How did this asshole get away with this for so long?" asked Ian.

"He had something on everyone, brother. Even the president. Fortunately, a group got together and went after him, beating him at his own game. They bought favors from his frienemies, and they sold him out. He was quietly removed from command and executed.

"Before he died, he took great delight in telling them that if he were killed, the whereabouts of hundreds of POWs would be lost forever. Most of them thought he was bullshitting. After his execution, an aide found paper maps with circled bodies of land. They sent teams out and searched but found nothing except bones. Wherever he moved them last, no one knew. I'm sure those men are long gone, unfortunately."

"Shit! Fuck, shit, damn, son-of-a-bitch!" yelled Jean.

Everyone turned to stare at him, his brothers filled with the most concern for their normally calm, quiet, and controlled sibling.

"Jean, we'll find Levi Kaplan. He won't get away with any of this, mon frére," said Miller, hugging his brother.

"Someone let their father get away with all of it," growled Jean. "They let him, and then they allowed his sons to become military officers. Who the fuck let that happen? Who missed that memo?"

"When Lucifer was executed, they purged his records from existence. There is nothing that can be found on him in military or government records. The fact that Ace and Code found those records is a fucking miracle," said Michael.

"Actually, it was Victoria. Again," smirked Ace. "She wrote a program that was able to glean deleted information from encrypted files."

The men all stared at Ace and Code, frowning like they did when they didn't understand something.

"Think of it like the old pencil trick. Someone writes something on a notepad and tears the sheet away. You come in, shade it, and now you see what was written. Victoria was able to do something like that, sort of, for electronic communications."

"How far back?" frowned Ghost.

"All the way back to the existence of paper records that were scanned. Almost seventy-five years," said Ace. "We have them all in a locked vault of our own."

"Nice to know we have that little piece of ammo if needed. But how do we find Levi? Where is his current command located?" asked Nine.

"He resigned command yesterday," said Ace. "Cited health concerns and noted that his brother had died in a terrible boating accident. Not terrible enough if you ask me, but whatever the bastard wants to believe is fine."

"Hi," said Calvin, knocking on the doorframe. "Mama Irene told us to come in with these." He was carrying plates of cookies and sandwiches, some notably missing from the tops of the stacks. The others just grinned at him.

"Come on in, Calvin. We're talking about Levi Kaplan," smirked Ghost.

"Oh, my favorite person," frowned Damon.

"First, how was your visit with the medical team?" asked Gaspar.

"I'll say it again. Y'all have some kind of magic here. Your staff is beautiful, and I'm man enough to say even the men are beautiful. They're intelligent, kind, and thorough. We're all doing okay. Better than we thought. No problems with cholesterol or blood sugars, as you can imagine. Our diets didn't lend themselves to those issues. We're underweight, but I doubt that will last long staying here.

"Miss Londyn, she's one of the best dentists I've ever known. Pulled a few teeth, filled some others, and I'm already feeling amazing."

"Same," nodded the other two men.

"We're glad to hear it. I hate to ask this, but can you tell us what you know about Levi?" asked Ian.

"He was the worst of the two. One of the islands we were sent to when he first took us still had men that his father had placed there. They died off pretty quick, but those poor bastards had been tortured. Limbs cut off for trying to escape. Tongues cut out. It was barbaric. One of our own was doing it to us, doing it to them, and forcing us all to live in squalor and filth.

"We all agreed that at least Levi and Lawrence didn't have the balls to kill off an American soldier right away. They'd rather let us die off slowly. At least Lawrence wouldn't. Levi, he was different. He took part in all of it. Especially the girls. I think his daddy trained him with the same techniques they used on the girls. He didn't cry. He didn't yell. He felt no pain, but he damn sure enjoyed giving it." He took a breath and then gave an expectant look at the men, unsure if he should continue or not.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" asked Jean. Damon stared at the big man and shook his head.

"No, sir, you are not."