down at it as he gave orders to his men to move out. “Holy shit, how could I have missed it?”
I raced around the table and grabbed Savannah and hugged her so hard I nearly knocked her off her feet. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”
I grabbed my laptop, and we both ran up to the house. “John,” I called as we raced into the living room.
“Out on the deck,” Abigail said as she pointed to the door.
All the guys were around the firepit with cigars and brandy and looked up in surprise as we burst through the door.
“We got it. We figured it out. Look!” I opened my laptop and showed them the YouTube video once again, only this time I pointed at the object in the leader’s hand. “He must have written the codes down. Nick Stewart always wrote everything down.”
“That’s suicide.” John moved to see the screen better. “How sure are you?”
“I would bet my career on it.” I just knew in my heart I was right.
“That’s good enough for me.” Cole granted me a small but worried smile.
“What an asshole thing to do.” Mark shook his head.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Cole muttered in disbelief.
“What a way to lose such good men. There’s protocol and training put in place for a reason,” John said as he pulled me onto his lap. “Thank you for figuring this out.” He kissed me.
“Actually, it was Savannah who made the connection.”
“It was all right there, Sloane. It just took a fresh set of eyes to see it.”
“Regardless of who found what, we have the answer now. Good job, girls. I’m taking this to Frank.” Cole had his phone to his ear as he hurried inside.
“Score one for the girls,” Savannah cheered with her hands in the air.
“Yeah, it’s always bittersweet when you learn the answers and it’s not what you want to hear. I know that Chamness will take this hard, but at least the remaining members of North Rock will get some closure and rest easier tonight.” I reached for John, and he wrapped his arms around me as his lips found my neck.
Chapter Twenty-Three
John
I glanced at my watch then went back to reading the news on the iPad. I had fifteen minutes before we gathered downstairs to discuss how the last mission went and to hear what Frank had to say about Washington’s reaction to what we had discovered.
My phone buzzed on the counter, and I glanced at the screen.
Huh.
“Black,” I answered.
“Hey, man.” Brick took a moment to inhale. “Got a second?”
“I do.” I turned off the iPad and replaced it in its docking station.
“Your team that you had in Mexico, are they still there?”
“No.” I leaned against the counter, curious where the conversation was heading.
“Shit, okay.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s nuthin’, but you know I was following the Stripe Backs. After we hopped the border from Texas, they stopped to meet some guys in suits. I didn’t recognize any of them, but one had a nasty scar on his forehead.” He made a disgusted noise. “The meeting took forever, so I hunkered down and had a few too many shots of whiskey.” He took another drag of what I assumed was his joint. “Suddenly, some men decked out in masks and black military pants came in, took a seat, and started talking to them.”
“As in feds?”
“What feds do you know would walk into a house with a bunch a lowlifes, pull up a chair, share a drink, and chat?”
I smirked. He was right on that one.
“One thing led to another, and someone starting shouting. When I jumped back up to look, bullets were flying.”
“Shit.” I’d been there, and I knew how things could change in a blink of an eye. “Anyone make it out alive?”
“One did for sure.” He paused. “I didn’t stick around to find out about the rest. The Stripe Backs’ pres bolted, and I followed. He was my mark, so, yeah, I moved on to stay on his ass.”
“Right.” I nodded, understanding that statement, and brushed a hand through my hair. “Well, I can assure you our brother team is not there right now. We pulled the rest and are waiting to rebuild and relocate.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” He lowered his voice. Despite the life Brick lived, he had a good heart, and from what I understood from Mike, he was a damn good friend to his guys and to Tess. “Never easy to lose a family member.”