Page 112 of Critical Doubt

"Yes."

She shook her head at his surprising optimism. "You want to save Vance, and Ryker wants to save his guys, but neither of you can do that. This has gone too far."

"What do you mean Ryker wants to save his guys?"

She frowned, realizing her mistake. "Never mind."

"Mason is involved, too? Damn. Are he and Vance working together?"

"I have no idea."

"Come on, Savannah. Tell me what's happening. Maybe I can help."

"All right, I'll tell you this much. Paul and Todd are not dead. They faked their deaths. And it looks like Ryker's former team decided to steal the weapons to take care of the families they were leaving behind."

Her father shook his head in amazement. "That is a crazy plan. You're telling me this team of Army Rangers, who I trained, stole the weapons?"

"Yes. They claim they're going to sell them back to Spear."

"I talked to Jepsen right before you came. There hasn't been a demand for payment."

"It's probably coming. Or…maybe the demand is going directly to Vance, if he's involved." She paused as the truth hit her. "That's it. It's all starting to make sense."

"Is it? What am I missing?"

"Ryker said they always thought that someone in intelligence set them up for their last mission ending in ambush. Maybe Vance was the one who did that. Mason or someone else figured it out. Perhaps the team doesn't want just the money. They want to make Vance pay. But can he get the cash out of Spear without anyone else knowing? Does he have that much power within the company?"

"He might not need to. His wife inherited a great deal of money right before she died, and then it went to Vance. He made three trips to the Cayman Islands in the past year."

"He has an offshore account? We have to find him. Where would he be if he's not at home?"

"He could be anywhere."

"I need to call this in. I'm sorry, but I can't protect him. We need to track his phone, his car, and find his location. If he's going to buy the weapons, and he was meeting a shady arms dealer this morning, then I think the only way he makes his money back is to sell the shipment to the enemy."

"Spear will take the hit, but not Vance," her father said grimly.

"Exactly."

"Do what you need to do. You're right. He's too far gone."

As she reached into her bag, she saw a shadow by the window. Instead of grabbing her phone, she pulled out her gun, tipping her head toward the window.

Her father immediately crossed the room, taking a gun out of the desk drawer.

They might be overreacting, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up, and her gut told her that Vance might have realized that her father was onto him. Her dad waved her back toward the hallway bedroom. She took a few steps into the hall, but she was more than ready to cover him.

The shadow shifted. And then the door blasted open. As a man in black burst into the room, her father jumped, bringing the butt of his gun down on the man's head.

Savannah started forward, freezing when the front door flew open with a violent noise. A second gunman entered, and as he took aim at her father, she shot him. He fell back in stunned surprise, the weapon falling from his hand.

She ran forward, grabbing his discarded gun, while her father disarmed the now unconscious man.

"Nice shot," he said, joining her. "Right in the shoulder. Not life-threatening. "

"We need him to talk." But the man wasn't talking. He was rolling around on the floor in pain. She hadn't seen either guy before, and she didn't know who they were attached to, but it was probably Vance.

Her father positioned himself over the gunman while she called 911, requesting an ambulance. Her next call was to Parisa. She gave her a brief recap and then hung up, moving next to her dad. "Help is on the way."

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