CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Wait, you know that he’s selling the weapons? Why haven’t you stopped him?” asked Eric.

“Listen, you boys know how this works. To get to an officer, a high-ranking officer, with as many friends as he has, takes a lot of evidence. I tried to get the POTUS involved but that wasn’t any help at all. What it did was put a target on my back.”

“Is he being protected by someone?” asked Luke.

“He is, and I know it’s more than one person, but I don’t think it’s necessarily someone here in the U.S. I think it’s someone overseas who has ties to people here or people that owe favors.”

“Everyone owes favors,” said Hex.

“Not all of you,” said the Admiral, staring at their faces. “It’s how I knew that I could trust all of you and come to you with this. You don’t owe anyone.”

“What about you, Admiral? Who do you owe?” asked Luke with a keen gaze.

The man was quiet for a long time, just staring at the faces across the table from him. He nodded, pursing his lips.

“I owe a few favors,” he said, nodding. “You don’t get where I am without owing someone. But it’s nothing that I’m ashamed of, not now anyway. I was lucky enough to be given opportunities when I needed them.”

“Which means someone will want a favor for that sooner or later,” said Hex.

“I’m afraid so, and I’ll have to manage that when the time comes. So far, I’ve been very lucky that no one wants the favors returned. Life in Washington isn’t like it is here or anywhere else, for that matter. Being a United States Navy SEAL was the greatest honor of my lifetime, second only to being a father and husband. This,” he said, waving at his uniform, “this is only an extension of that time, and I’m glad that I can continue to serve in some capacity.”

“Why exactly are you here, sir? I mean, what is it you want our help with?” asked Luke. “It’s very clear that he’s causing chaos by staging these public shootings. We’ve been monitoring the internet and chat sites and know he’s planning more, but there’s nothing definitive to pin it on him.”

“I know that,” he nodded. “Those are disturbing, no doubt. Brockman has vested interests in almost every weapons manufacturer in the U.S., with the obvious exception of yours.”

“We’re aware,” said Eric, crossing his arms.

“He wants to make sure that if an American wants a weapon, he has one. Legal or not. In fact, he wants to create war on American soil.”

“What did you say?” asked Hex.

“He wants to create war on American soil by dividing the nation on every front. He’s selling weapons overseas to a few arms dealers, who are then coming to the U.S. and selling the weapons illegally here. I’ve suspected it for almost a year now but haven’t been able to pin it on him or prove a damn thing.”

“Where are these weapons coming from? How are they being paid for?” asked Eric.

“Until last week, he was in charge of the distribution of weapons and weapons contracts. I removed those privileges, which means I’m now on his shortlist.”

“Do you have protection?” asked Luke.

“I’m good, Luke. Thank you. He knew where the weapons were going, who was getting them, how many, everything. He arranged for them to be stolen, sent overseas to the distributor, who then got them back here to his local dealers to sell to citizens or anyone that wanted them.”

“Why haven’t you just taken out a contract on him?” asked Luke.

“That would be the easy solution,” nodded Harris. “Unfortunately, it’s never that easy.”

“Why? Why isn’t it that easy?” asked Luke. AJ stepped into the room, breathing heavily, staring at the others.

“AJ? Are you okay? Did you run here?” smirked Hex. AJ pointed at Harris, and the man knew. He knew just how good these men really were.

“It isn’t easy because Brockman is his wife’s brother.” Stepping into the room behind AJ were Garr, Sebastian, Leif, and Alistair.

“Your fucking brother-in-law tried to kill my fiancée,” said Garr. “I don’t give a shit if that upsets you or your wife. I’m going to kill him.”

“Garr,” said Luke, holding up a hand. “We deserve an explanation, Isaac.” The man said nothing, looking as if he were searching for the right words. He could hear one of the men behind him pecking away at the keys on his tablet.

“You owe him a favor,” said AJ, staring at the man. All eyes turned to AJ, then slowly back to Isaac. “You owe him a favor.”

“I owe him a favor,” he said solemnly. “He took the blame for something I did a long time ago. I’ve promised that I won’t kill him or pursue this further. I didn’t promise I wouldn’t involve all of you.”

“So, you want us to do your dirty work?” said Garr. “Fuck that. Grow some balls and handle that shit yourself, or I will.”

“I’m glad you offered,” said Isaac.