Nate slung the rifle onto one shoulder, carried the shotgun, and walked into Pops’s trailer with Grady. Grady had been waiting for Nate with a thermos of coffee and croissants at the truck he’d left near the boat landing the day before. He’d no idea where Grady had come up with the pastries, but Nate was grateful.
He stopped when he saw the room. The couch had been pushed aside, and someone had set up a folding table covered in maps. Jimmy and Garza stood shoulder to shoulder, heads down over the maps. Zack was nearby, talking to Pete.
Ty, Vane, and Cain were with Pops next to another table filled with weapons. Kells looked like he was having a heated argument with Calum until Luke came out of the kitchen with two coffee mugs and gave them each one. Alex Mitchell hung out in a corner.
Garza noticed Nate first, then Calum and Kells turned toward him. Like falling dominoes, Nate’s men stopped their conversations to stare at him.
“Son,” Grady said with a hand on Nate’s shoulder, “tell them what’s been going on.”
Suddenly, being in the POW camp with Fletcher Ames seemed far more appealing. When had Nate become such a damn coward? Or maybe it wasn’t cowardice. Maybe Sarah was right. Maybe it was his fear of not being able to protect those he loved.
He cleared his throat. “Sarah is gone. I think Etienne Marigny has taken her.”
“Where?” Pete asked.
Nate propped the shotgun near the door and gave the rifle to Grady. “I don’t know.”
A low murmuring filled the room until Garza said, “Nate, your Saint Michael medal was found on a banker’s body yesterday in Charleston. You’re a suspect in that murder.”
Of course I am. “I didn’t kill anyone. Fletcher Ames, the lead torturer in the POW camp, stole my medal years ago.” Nate took the offered water bottle from Luke. “I’ve been with Sarah since Friday.”
“Except Sarah isn’t here.” Garza scratched the back of his neck. “And you don’t know where she is?”
Nate stared at the white ceiling. “No.”
“Also,” Calum said while texting, “Maurice filed assault charges against you.”
Of course he did. “Least of my worries.”
“Still,” Calum said, finishing his text, “I’ve put another lawyer from my firm on your case. If I take it, there may be a conflict of interest. Because you hit me too.”
Kells put his coffee on the table. “I had an interesting meeting with a Detective Hugh Waring in Charleston. Did you know Sarah had you investigated?”
“Sir.” Nate coughed because his throat was closing up. “Sarah didn’t betray us.”
“Then what the fuck happened.” Kells’s words, spoken in the harshest tone Nate had ever heard, ricocheted around the room. The sentence wasn’t a question. It was an order.
After finishing his water, he told them almost everything that’d happened since he’d stolen the diary. He left out the private events between him and Sarah but ended with “Sarah used the diary and a copy of Othello to solve the cipher.”
Ty stepped forward, hands fisted. “Which means Jack is a dead man.”
Nate held up a hand. “Not if we save Sarah and trade the cipher to the Prince in exchange for lifting the bounty on Jack’s head.”
“Except,” Kells said, “you don’t know if the Prince will agree to that, and Sarah is gone. You’re sure she didn’t leave on her own?”
“Yes. She left a handkerchief.” Nate yanked it out of his back pocket. “She never would’ve left it behind.”
Garza’s cell phone rang, and he excused himself to go to the kitchen.
“What’s this?” Vane picked up the paper that had fallen out of his pocket.
Fuck. Nate reached for it, but Vane had read it.
“It says that Sarah left you to save her father.”
Nate yanked it out of Vane’s hands. “It’s not true.”
Kells held out his palm. After a long moment, Nate gave it to him. “I know Sarah. She’d never betray us.”
“She solved the cipher when she knew Jack’s life was on the line,” Kells said.
“She solved the cipher for leverage.” Nate’s voice reeked of frustration, and he took a few deep breaths to control his heart rate.
“Why are you defending this woman?” Vane frowned. “Are you fucking her?”
Nate threw Vane into the wall, one arm pressed on his windpipe. “Apologize.”
It took both Pete and Zack to drag Nate off Vane.
Vane moved away, rubbing his neck. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Don’t ever talk about her that way again.” Nate knocked off the other men. “She didn’t leave me. She was taken.”
“Did she cut your hair?” Kells asked.
Figures that was the thing Kells would be concerned about. “I asked her to.”
“Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeez, Nate,” Pete said. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“What was he thinking with?” Vane added.
Nate moved again until Zack got in his face, both hands on Nate’s chest. “I believe you, brother.”
Vane scoffed while the other men murmured. Cain and Ty wouldn’t look at Nate. Jimmy, Pops, Calum, and Grady were off to the side, not saying anything, as if they knew this wasn’t their fight. Luke just watched everyone. As did Alex.
“No.” Kells came out with a flat statement. “We’re not saving Sarah.”
Nate turned his attention to his boss. “Because she went to Hugh Waring for help? She did it because you were having her followed. Having us followed.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You can bend the rules to protect us, but I can’t to protect Sarah?” Nate waved a hand in disgust. “Jack can accuse me of something I didn’t do? What kind of hypocritical bullshit is that?”
A deep, resonating silence bomb dropped on the room. The only thing Nate could hear was his own pounding heart. The only thing he could see were Kells’s furious eyes and flared nostrils.
Yeah. Nate had told Kells off in front of the other men. But Nate hadn’t been the only one keeping secrets to protect those he loved. Hell. Kells was the king of secrets, and Nate was sick of there being different rules for him and his men. And, right now, Nate didn’t have the time to deal with this emotional shit. He needed to find Sarah.
“We have a problem,” Garza said, returning from the kitchen. “Or maybe it’s a good thing. I’m not sure.” He put his phone away and scanned the room. “Whoa. What happened?”
“Nothing.” Kells faced Garza. “What’s wrong?”
“Just got a call from Detective Elliot.”
“Jeez,” Pete said. “Don’t you two ever sleep?”
“I could say the same thing about you and your men.” Garza focused on Kells again. “Homicide’s been called down to the Savannah River front. Those two Russians from the club the other night? Dead. With puncture holes through the neck.”
“Fuck,” Pete muttered.
“That’s not all,” Garza continued. “Two more Russians were just found dead in Charleston. Same cause of death.”
The men spoke at once until Kells crossed his arms. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Nate said as calmly as possible, “the Fianna killed them with a retractable blade called a misericord. It slips in through the neck and takes out the brainstem. Or under the arm to pierce the heart.”
“It’s a close quarters weapon,” Pete said. “It’s quiet and not as messy as a gunshot or knife.”
“You think the Fianna stole those MANPADs?” Zack asked.
Garza glanced at Jimmy. They both shrugged.
“When will you dipshits learn?” Alex’s deep voice came from the corner where he stood with his arms crossed, sardonic stare up and running. “This isn’t about weapons. Nate’s girlfriend is right. This is about leverage. The missiles were never the end for Remiel. It was the power they represented.”
Vane sneered at Alex. “You don’t think Remiel would use them?”
“Uh, no.” Alex might as well have said duh. “Remiel has no interest in mass murder. It’s not personal enough. He’d rather torture the one person he holds a grudge against than take down an airliner full of strangers.” Alex stared at Kells who looked away. “The missiles are also a form of currency. Need ten .50 cal machine guns? Trade a missile. Need a chicken sandwich from a fast-food joint? Trade a missile.” Alex stared at the front door behind Nate’s shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Cassio?”
Nate and the rest of his men turned to see a man emerge from the shadows and fill the doorway. He wore jeans and a motorcycle jacket.
“Indeed, Master Mitchell.” Cassio hit his chest with a fist and bowed his head. “Gentlemen. I bring greetings from my Prince on this desperate night.”
The tic above Nate’s eye kicked in. Pete, Garza, Calum, Jimmy, Pops, and Grady had seen a Fianna warrior two weeks ago. But the others hadn’t. From their wide eyes and open mouths, they appeared shocked. Except for Kells and Alex, who did not react.
So much for Nate’s pledge not to discuss the Fianna with his men. At least this revelation had been the Prince’s doing, not Nate’s.
Since no one said anything, Nate took charge. “I believe Etienne has Sarah.”
Cassio nodded. “He’s trading her to the Prince tonight.”
“Why?”
“She solved the cipher, did she not? Your own words admitted this.”
Cassio had snuck up on them and listened in? So much for their improved operational security. “Why is Etienne trading her? I thought Remiel wanted the cipher.”
“He does.” Cassio’s attention landed on Kells. “Sometimes loyalties change. Since Etienne seeks asylum with the Prince, he needs to offer something in return.”
Kells moved until he stood next to Nate. “Etienne is trading Sarah for asylum?”
“Indeed,” Cassio said. “Except the Prince prefers another.” Cassio nodded to Nate. “I’m to escort you. We should leave now.”
“Wait,” Kells said in a sharp voice that cut through the bullshit. “Why does the Prince want Nate?”
Chills went down Nate’s spine. “Now that Sarah has solved the cipher, the Prince is offering an exchange.”
Kells got into Cassio’s face, putting himself between Nate and the warrior. “What does that mean?”
“’Tis the only way to put the world to rights.”
Kells looked at Nate. “Explain.”
“Sarah solved the cipher. Jack’s life is forfeit unless I trade mine for his.”
Kells paled. “The Prince wants to execute you?”
“No.” Cassio’s denial resonated. “’Tis a trade of service for life.”
It took a minute for Kells to speak. “The Prince is recruiting Nate? You want me to give up one of my men?”
Cassio hit his chest with his fist. “Aye.”
The room erupted. Male voices all spoke at once with panicked questions until Kells raised a hand. The room went quiet, and he said, “No.”
“’Tis not a request.” Cassio looked at Nate. “Ready, my lord.”
Kells grabbed Nate’s arm. “You don’t have to do this.”
Not only did he need to do this, he had the sickening realization that this had been the Prince’s plan all along. “I’m protecting those I love.”
Kells tightened his hold. “We just need time to figure this out.”
“If I don’t do this, we all die.” Nate stared directly at his friends, at his brothers, then Kells. He needed them to understand the new threat to their unit, to their lives. “Now that the Prince has allowed you to see Cassio…speaking means death. For all of us.”
“Indeed,” Cassio added.
“Wait.” Vane shook his head. “If you don’t return to the prison hospital, do we go to prison?”
Kells ran his hands over his head and closed his eyes. It was the closest Nate had ever come to seeing Kells lose control. “I don’t know.”
“’Tis time.” Cassio’s order made everyone turn to him. “Saint Michael awaits.”
“What about Nate’s second?” Alex hadn’t moved from his corner, but his voice dispelled some of the tension. “A potential Fianna recruit is allowed to bring a second to a parlay with a warrior.”
Cassio pointed at Calum. “All weapons stay behind. We leave now.”
“Calum stays here.” Nate handed Kells his and Sarah’s pistols and the two knives he carried in his boots. Then he followed Cassio outside.
Kells followed. “Nate—”
“Colonel.” Cassio pointed into the darkness. It was hard to see, but after a moment, when his eyes adjusted, Nate saw outlines of men around the yard. Cassio whistled, and the men hit their chests and bowed their heads in unison. There were at least four, probably more.
Kells took Nate’s arm in a strong grip that made him wince. “You don’t need to do this.”
“I need to fix what I messed up five years ago.”
“How is this going to do that?”
Nate disengaged his arm and looked away. He couldn’t bear to see the pain in Kells’s eyes or in the gazes of the other men in the room. “By protecting those I love.”
* * *
Zack was freaked out. And considering what it took to freak out Green Berets, they were in serious shit. He’d never believed the Fianna existed. Then when he’d learned they did exist, he hadn’t absorbed the truth until now. Not only were the Fianna really real, they’d made themselves known and were taking Nate away.
Fuck. That. Zack watched Nate from the window. Zack wasn’t sure how to help, but one thing he knew was that this wasn’t going to end with Nate becoming a part of the Prince’s fucking Fianna army.
Zack blinked. Were those men outside the trailer, hidden within the shadows?
Cassio whistled, and the men hit their chests with their fists and bowed their heads in unison. Then Cassio and Nate walked away.
Calum met Zack at the window. “I should’ve gone with him.”
“No.” Zack gripped Calum’s shoulder. “Nate needs to face these monsters on his own.” Unfortunately, it’d taken weeks for Zack to comprehend that Nate’s demons weren’t just in his head. They walked the earth and had been haunting him since his release from prison. “Nate needs to take back control. He needs to find himself again.”
Kells came inside, his face paler than Zack had ever seen it. Even more than the night when they’d gotten the news about Nate’s and Jack’s teams being ambushed. All of the men in the room remained silent. The only sound was from the clock ticking on the wall.
“Sir?” Zack asked. “What are we going to do?”
Kells looked at Grady. “What did Cassio mean by Saint Michael awaits?”
Grady smoothed a hand over a map on the table. “Saint Michael is the tomb in the center of the cemetery.”
Pops added, “It’s the fixed point on Capel land. In the dark, it’s a good hour’s hike.”
Kells focused on his men. “We’re going to that cemetery to save Nate.”
“And the warriors outside?” Vane asked.
“Diversion,” Zack said, coming over to the map table. “We’ll set a diversion, and three of us—me, Pete, and Ty—will escape and head to the cemetery.”
“You’ll get lost,” Grady said. “There’s no moon and no GPS.”
Right. “Then we navigate the old-fashioned way.”
“That’s not enough men,” Kells said. “You’ve no idea what you’re walking into.”
“The Fianna are watching us.” Zack loaded up a nine-mil on the table in the corner. Pete and Ty joined him. Luckily, Pops and Grady had extra weapons and ammo they were willing to lend. “We’ll leave most of the men here so the Fianna won’t know we’re gone.”
“We won’t have any comms,” Pete said. “The SAT phones are shit. And forget cells.”
Zack wanted to throw something. Instead he slammed the clip into the gun and loaded a bullet in the chamber. “Not long ago, soldiers managed without tech and comms. I’m sure we can figure this out.” He shoved the gun in his jacket pocket. “If we don’t, we lose Nate forever.” Zack caught Kells’s nod, and that was all the go-ahead necessary. “Who’s in?”
Every man raised his hand.
“Good.” Zack studied the map again. “Time to make some noise.”