cursed when Aidan turned away, pacing as he spoke on the phone.
Julian placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder, drawing his attention. “He’s talking to a general,” Julian signed as he listened to Aidan. “…a mission he and Bull were on.”
Aidan finished the call and stood in front of Ben. “I’m going to need access to Bull’s laptop and printer.” Ben curtly nodded but refused to move. Aidan’s lips thinned. The man was stubborn, but so was he. That vein in Aidan’s temple pulsed but Ben refused to give in.
With a sigh that seemed to draw the energy from his entire body, Aidan glanced to the others. “What is said here stays here. No exceptions. And it’s not me you would have to deal with. Got it?”
Everyone nodded.
He looked to Ben. “If I talk too fast or you don’t understand something, you stop me. Okay?”
“I’ll interpret so you don’t miss anything,” Julian signed.
Ben nodded to Julian and then motioned with his hand for Aidan to continue.
“We had several missions where our goal was finding key players on a short list. We had code names for each of them. Viper was one. He was the target we secured on Bull’s last mission.”
Aidan waited for a few moments while Julian signed.
“Viper was careful. It took years and two different teams. We didn’t have much intel at the time, but the mission report listed Viper had a son and wife. I believe that’s what Bull was trying to tell us. That the man with the gun was Viper’s son.”
Ben thought back to the other random words. What about the other signs? He turned the phone to show Aidan his typed question.
“If it’s what I think it is, then this is a bigger problem.” Aidan glanced over at Julian, waiting for him to finish signing before he continued. “I think he was referring to that protection detail assignment before coming back home. The one in Chicago. When he told me about the roof takedown, he referred to the last man standing as Brown Shirt Guy. If that’s the case, then it means they’ve been trying to get to him for a while.”
Something wasn’t adding up. If Gabriel was part of a team, the same team Aidan had been on, why the hell was this such a surprise to Aidan, Gabriel’s team leader at the time.
Ben shook his head as he typed another note. Why him?
Aidan swallowed heavily as he read the note, something odd flashed in his hazel eyes. “That…I don’t know.”
Cal touched Ben’s shoulder but kept his attention on Aidan as he spoke. “You know who the guy is. Can’t you just find him?”
Aidan shook his head. “It’s not that easy. I need a face. Name. Something to get me going other than a father-son connection. I can find out about the guy from Chicago, but I need information if I’m going to tie that back to Viper’s son. If this guy learned anything from his father, he’ll know how to bury his tracks. The general I spoke to is trying to get me clearance, but I only know one guy who can get me whatever I need if it’s not in some government file.”
Julian stopped interpreting and frowned, looking at Aidan. “Dylan?” he asked, then fingerspelled the name so Ben could follow.
Aidan nodded. “He’s the only guy I know who can get through anything. But he’s going to be livid if I need him to do something that isn’t legit, especially if it risks his current job. He’s already pissed I asked Wall to come down. But I need Wall here in case I need a sharpshooter. I’m not going to trust anyone else to take a shot if Bull’s at risk. The team is on their way to pick up Jessie. As soon as I get clearance, I’m going to sic my Jess on that fucker like a tick. Between him and Dylan, they will find him.”
Ben’s head spun. It was too much information. Between lipreading and Julian’s interpretation, Ben felt he hadn’t missed anything, but he still didn’t feel as if he had all the missing pieces.
A touch to his shoulder stilled him. Aidan’s piercing hazel eyes stared back at him. There was understanding in that gaze and patience he didn’t often extend to others. “You’ve already met Jessie, my partner.”
Ben nodded as he tried to settle his nerves.
“His specialty is research. He can find the tiniest of details about people, but he needs more than a father’s old code name.