“How big is this thing? There can’t be that many people in a bayou,” frowned Samson.
“Probably ten to twenty thousand people up and down the bayou,” said Garr.
“Are you shitting me? That’s a lot of people in one place, and if there are hundreds on boats, think of the damage they could do,” said Samson.
“Yeah, and most of them belong to us,” frowned Luke. “AJ? Can I assume that you’re checking flights, trains, buses, any modes of transportation to find our sibling duo?”
“You can assume that,” he nodded, tapping on his tablet. “I say we get back to Belle Fleur.”
“Let’s go,” said Luke.
“Wait,” said Cam. “I think Hex and I need to speak to a few people here to see if we can find out more information. We’ll spend some time at the Pentagon, jump over to the DOD, and hopefully, get into the POTUS. We’ll meet you all back home.”
“Alright,” nodded Luke. “Don’t stay more than twenty-four hours. We need to get this shit wrapped up before Christmas, or Grandma will never forgive us.”
“You’re worried about an old woman?” frowned Samson.
“Brother, don’t ever let her hear you say that,” laughed Garr.
Samson spoke briefly to several of Admiral Harris’s colleagues at the Pentagon to warn them that Brockman might try to reach out and form some sort of alliance. None had heard from him yet but assured him and the VG team that they wouldn’t be helping him in any way.
“Luke, we have an attempted mass shooting in a mall in Pennsylvania,” said AJ, walking toward him with the tablet.
“Attempted?”
“Four soldiers home on leave tackled the two shooters, stripping them of their weapons. No one was injured. The weapons were semi-automatic weapons with their serial numbers scratched off.”
“Sounds like Brockman’s work,” frowned Eric. “At least no one was hurt this time.”
“This time,” said Samson. “What about next time? We know that this is going to happen again. It’s not like Brockman to just quit. He’s relentless.”
“What do you mean?” asked Luke.
“If he wanted something from Admiral Harris, he didn’t let up. He would constantly barrage him with voicemail messages, text messages, e-mail, all of it.”
“About what?” asked Garr with a suspicious glance.
“Anything. Everything. The most recent was giving our assistance to the people around the Black Sea. It’s a hotbed of terrorist activity right now, and Brockman wanted us to send our weapons to them. Admiral Harris refused.”
“Black Sea,” repeated Garr. “He’s sending weapons into Eastern Europe, Russia, those areas, and that’s how he’s getting them back here. They’re masters at it, and they’ve been doing it for years.”
“But Admiral Harris refused,” said Samson. “He repeated his refusal numerous times in all of the messages.”
“That might be,” said Eric, “but with him dead, Brockman could claim that he had changed his mind and was feeling guilty. Anything that happens at this point, he could declare was Harris’s idea, not his, and Harris’s own wife would back all of that up.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t,” said Samson.
Garr stared at the man, then at his teammates.
“You’re next,” said Garr. “He’s going to come for you to prevent anyone from knowing what was happening behind the scenes. You’re the person that would know all those details.”
“Damn,” muttered Samson. “It’s alright. I can hide out at my family’s cabin in Wisconsin.”
“No,” said Garr. “You’re staying with us. We can be sure you’re protected, and he won’t know where you are.”
“I’m not worried about that. I can defend myself. I’m worried about all of you and your families.” The men smiled at him, shaking their heads with a smirk. “Is that funny?”
“No, brother. It’s not funny. It just says that you might be one step closer to VG, and you didn’t even know it.”