Page 25 of Renegade

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me as he drove. “What did your team think happened to him then?”

He shrugged his big, broad shoulders. “We thought the storm had buried him in the desert.” He sighed. “None of us wanted to believe he’d been captured and even if he had—and by some miracle—the terrorists decided to keep him alive, we figured he would have been given back in a prisoner exchange at some point. They do that with high-value prisoners. We just held out hope that he wouldn’t be summarily executed, though, it wouldhave made for great TV on Al Jazeera. But most of all, we hoped they wouldn’t figure out what kind of Marine they had. John had a wealth of intelligence about missions we were carrying out in those days.

“We all knew John was built to resist torture. Recon training is good. Maybe that was the reason the CIA grabbed him once they found out he was missing. It’s also possible that they found him first. It was a big base of operations. We had several CIA operatives on base. Who knows, Maybe those assholes launched their own mission to find him the second they realized he was lost. We were all too distracted with trying to find John ourselves.” He sighed again. “I guess we all just hoped he died choking on sand.”

“How awful.” I reached over and took his hand, holding onto it as he drove. “I can’t imagine what you went through.”

“We mourned him, Raven.”

I was silent but jumped when he suddenly pounded the steering wheel with a closed fist.

“What’s wrong?” I shivered as alarm flooded my veins.

“If he’s been with the CIA all this time, why didn’t he reach out?” His words sounded tortured as he turned to me. “We were his brothers, Raven, and we mourned him.”

I could hear the pain in his voice as he spoke. “Miguel…maybe he couldn’t. Maybe they’re holding something over his head. Those CIA guys sound like total assholes. You said so yourself. Maybe he had no choice.” He shot me an agonized glance before looking back at the road. I’d seen tears glistening in his eyes. It was terrible and I just wanted to shake this John Sutter asshole. I wanted to ask him why he’d put Miguel and all the others through hell. Miguel was right. Now, though, something else was on my mind. I hesitated but finally asked.

“Um…Miguel…the phone he gave you…do you really think it’s booby-trapped? I can put it in the glove compartment,” I offered. I didn’t even want to touch the thing in case the man hadn’t been lying about it being some kind of a bomb.

Miguel’s lips turned up in the tiniest of smiles as he glanced over at me. “He was probably lying about that. Most burners aren’t encrypted but his theatrics added another piece to me thinking he was CIA. Why bother otherwise? But if it makes you feel any better, Raven, here you are.”

I watched him dig into his pocket and pull the phone out. I took it from him gingerly, half expecting that the stupid thing would blow up in my hand if I jostled it. It looked just like an average, old school 90s flip phone, one of those cheap ones my favorite spies like Jack Bauer from 24 used on the show. I wished I had Bubble Wrap to wrap it up but then I mentally chastised myself for being an idiot, as if popping plastic could protect us from an exploding phone.

After locking it away in the glove box, I got quiet, letting him drive. I could almost hear the gears turning in his brain. He was working something out but whatever it was, he didn’t want to talk about it yet. He sat broodily beside me but after a few minutes, he turned and looked at me.

“Where does your friend, McCallahan live?”

“I—I don’t know,” I stuttered.

Miguel glanced over. “He’s ATF now, but when we were caught up in that job to catch Howell Jr. a few months back, he mentioned he had an affiliation with the CIA. If he still has contacts over there, I need to talk to him.”

I slowly nodded, pursing my lips. It was a good idea. I trusted Mac the same way I trusted Jarrett and Thayne. They wereallgood men and if it was humanly possible, I knew Mac would helpMiguel find the answers he needed. I checked the clock on the dashboard.

“Okay, well…it’s the middle of the day which means he’s probably still at the ATF office. I think it’s out in Glendale.” I pulled out my phone. “Let me see if I have his number.” I started scrolling. I didn’t have McCallahan listed in my contacts, but I had Thayne and Jarrett’s number. I hit the button, calling them.

“Hello?”

“Hi…ah…Thayne?”

“Mathis?” the voice drawled.

“Oh, this must be Jarrett. It’s Raven Mathis.”

He chuckled. “I just said that,” Jarrett replied, sounding relaxed and…smiling? “What can I do for ya? Thayne’s in the restroom, but I’ll tell him you called.”

“No…ah…sorry, Jarrett. I-I wanted to see if you have Mac’s number.” I glanced at Miguel who was driving, but I sensed that he was listening to my stuttering intently.

“I’ve got his number but he’s standin’ right next to me. You wanna talk to him?”

My heartrate sped up. “Yes, please…thank you, Jarrett.”

“No problem, kid.”

Kid. I hmphed as he passed the phone to Mac.

“This is Mac McCallahan,” the voice said.

“Hey, Mac…this is Raven Mathis.”

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