Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

B eckham

Rage.

It was a conflicting emotion. It was harmful yet could keep a person going even in the worst of times. I'd experienced anger so many times in my life I certainly couldn't count them, including when I'd lost a deal or determined someone had betrayed me, but what had occurred on this blissful day in my mind could have been stopped.

If only I'd been doing my job.

What I knew at this moment was that I needed to attempt to keep my cool or I'd be doing nothing more than wasting my time.

And Kenya had no time to lose.

My bones creaked from sensing it.

I stormed up the beach, taking a dry weapon from Camden's hand. He often knew what I needed before I did. As a brigade of men led me to another section of the beach, far removed from any guests who hadn't followed orders by heading inside, it dawned on me that right now, I was calm.

Maybe too much so for the murderous thoughts running through my mind. I'd sent my brothers and father back to the house to ensure everyone was safe. Yet the entire Brotherhood was behind me, both Camden and Jeff by my side. Meanwhile James and his entire team were in the process of restoring the communications system while determining what had been overlooked by every single person in my employ that I'd considered experts.

While in the back of my mind I wanted to lash out at all those who'd dropped the ball, I also realized the Death Squad were truly powerful individuals capable of anything.

Only they had no idea what revenge we held in store for them.

But the last thing I would do was to put my wife's life in jeopardy.

At least any more so than I already had.

Dimitri Pokolov was a masterful soldier in his own right. Between what I'd learned from Kenya about her brother and the methods of training the young man had endured and the limited information on the great big web, I had a fairly accurate picture of the man.

Still, that didn't take away the fact he'd managed to confront her.

He'd found a single weakness that I should have locked down.

The fucker was down on the sand, several of my soldiers with weapons keeping him there. I didn't hesitate, taking long strides in his direction. Camden had been right. Two more inches and her shot would have ended her brother's life.

Wincing, he still managed to grin up at me, acting as if nothing bothered him.

I tried to keep from blowing his head off, crouching down beside him instead. "Where are they taking her?"

"I don't know shit."

"Bullshit. I know who you are, Dimitri. And I know exactly who you're working with. I suggest you learn to cooperate, or your death is going to be extremely painful. We're talking about your sister here."

His reaction was to spit blood all over my already soiled white dinner jacket. I took a deep breath, squinting from the midday sun. Without hesitation, I cracked the hard titanium of my weapon against his face. While it was satisfying hearing bones crunch, it meant shit to me at this point.

"We're going to try this once again. She is your sister, your blood. They will kill her and you know that."

"So what? She abandoned the family. She deserves to die."

"Breathe," Camden hissed from behind me.

Breathe. It was about all I could do at this point other than fume. I pressed my hand on his gaping wound, enjoying the sharp cry he issued. When he cursed in Russian, I huffed. "I don't speak your language, you fuck. So what is it you want to tell me?" What he didn't know might prove to work to my advantage.

He laughed. Another moment of fun and games. "You'll never find her."

"Oh, I assure you I will. Let me venture a guess. Your daddy is holed up with the latest Kool-Aid–drinking idiots in some mountain compound I'd say in Virginia somewhere. Close enough to the White House and the Pentagon while being completely and totally off the grid. I know who the next great president of the newly formed Utopia is slated to be. My cousin. David Kennedy. What a perfect name, eh? Only here's the thing. We know all about your plans, the names of everyone in the upper echelon of this magnificently stupid organization. They've all been warned. But my favorite part about this entire scheme is what's coming."

I laughed almost as if I was going insane. Just a quick glance into his eyes allowed me to know I'd piqued his interest. And I might have guessed correctly, at least to a point. But where the fuck was a location hidden away?

"It doesn't matter," he barked out through blood.

"Maybe not but I assure you that once the entire world hears of what's going on, the members might need to think twice about showing their faces." I stood quickly, glancing at a couple of my men. "Feed him to the sharks, boys. That's what he deserves."

I was no psychic, nor could I read minds but I knew when a man was about to face death, he very often did one of two things. He pleaded for his life or just the opposite, spouting off shit that would happen.

In this case, I only hoped it was the latter.

I turned away purposely, the man already cursing in his native language as he was dragged to his feet.

" Tam, kuda ona idet, ty yeye nikogda ne naydesh'. Po krayney mere, yey udastsya umeret' v svoikh lyubimykh gorakh Shenandoa ."

While I wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of the man for wishing his own sister dead, I resisted even turning around. But a smile crossed my face. While I'd known better than to think the fucker would give up an exact location, he'd given me enough and in truth, I already had an idea of where the main compound was since the possibility had come to me seconds before.

A solid half mile below the surface of the earth.

Camden followed me, noticing a smile on my face. "What the hell did the fucker say? How the hell are we supposed to make heads or tails of fucking Russian?"

I waited, enjoying the view as my men dumped him on one of my smaller boats, prepared to feed him to the fishies. "You forget I know Russian, my friend, something my father had insisted on. He said it was the language of our world. And Dimitri obviously had no clue two Russians are in the Brotherhood. That's good news all the way around. The Death Squad doesn't know the members of the alliance."

Maxim joined my side, folding his massive arms across his chest. I could tell he was eager to hear what I had to say.

"What the fuck did he say?" Camden pressed.

"He said, and I quote, ‘Where she's going, you'll never find her. At least she gets to die in her beloved Shenandoah mountains.'"

Camden yanked his head back as Constantine and Gabriel moved closer. Constantine was grinning. "Well, shit. There's an old Army base in the western regions of Virginia. If my memory serves me right about the Marines…" He glanced toward Camden.

My former Marine turned assassin half laughed. "There's an old underground facility that only those in the highest ranks of the Pentagon knew about. It was another even more secure facility on standby to be used for the members of the White House. Well equipped, state of the art, and full of enough communications equipment, food, and weapons to last for a few years."

"What the fuck?" Jeff asked, joining the party.

"Budget cuts. The facility was closed but not dismantled." I remember Pops telling me about it a long time ago. He'd mused that one day it would be used for evil purposes. How right the man was. Maybe he was the one in our family with psychic powers.

"Gentlemen," Constantine stated. "I think we're going on a trip."

"I'll have James notify every member of law enforcement on standby. We'll make certain and include them on our great discovery session," I said, still enjoying watching the boat riding the waves as it was steered into deeper water.

"Once we're closing in, our personal beasts will be released."

I glanced at Constantine after his remark, shifting my attention to Gabriel. For all practical purposes, we should consider today a lucky day.

But nothing in my mind could be further from the truth.

I would burn down the entire world until I had my wife back in my arms.

"Lock ‘em and load ‘em, boys. It's hunting season."