Page 29 of Renegade

“And he hasn’t been in contact with you again?” Thayne asked.

I looked at his serious face and shook my head. “No, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized there may be a different scenario which would explain both his disappearance and his sudden reappearance.”

“You think the CIA nabbed him,” Jarrett said. The furious growl in his voice was evident and I realized that a Marine Corps sniper would have come into contact with a hell of a lot of CIA operatives during the course of his military service.

“I’m not sure but it’s definitely a possibility,” I replied grimly.

“More than a possibility,” Mac said. “If you were operating out of the base I think you were at, then I’d bet there were more than a few CIA operatives on base. They no doubt helped your Recon unit with intelligence before missions.”

I nodded. “There were several.”

“Thought so,” Mac said. “Did any of them accompany you out to the site of Sutter’s disappearance to help search?”

I cocked my head, frowning. I hadn’t thought about what the CIA was doing. “Not that I know of, but I wasn’t paying attention to their activities in the aftermath of John’s disappearance, but it’s entirely possible that they were. My sole focus at the time was trying to figure out where the hell my brother was before it was too late.”

“They would’ve been looking for him too,” Jarrett said. “As your Force Recon’s team leader, he would’ve had a wealth of intelligence in his noggin’.” He tapped the side of his head. “The CIA wouldn’t want any of that in the hands of the enemy and I’m sorry to say, I don’t care how well you’re trained, things slip out when you’re bein’ tortured.” Jarrett turned to look at Thayne and just for a second; I was sure I saw something profound pass between the men. It was puzzling but when Jarrett looked back at me, his expression was relaxed.

“Jarrett’s right,” Mac said, drawing my attention back to the conversation. “I’m still skeptical it was the CIA, though. How long ago did Sutter disappear?”

“Eleven years ago.”

“And he’s never been in touch…with anyone on the team?”

“Sutter’s replacement was KIA out there not too long after he joined the team to round out our six guys,” I said, ticking off their numbers on my fingers. “Two of the guys are still active-duty Recon and aren’t around to ask. One other guy retired back to his Iowa farm. I haven’t spoken to him since I spotted John, and the last guy is here in L.A.”

“I assume you haven’t talked to him about this?” Mac asked.

I shook my head. “No, but I will.” I glanced at Raven who was watching me closely, before looking back at Mac. “I just wanted some answers first. Their parting wasn’t amicable and he won’t take Sutter’s return well. He was our medic, the same guy who patched up Raven after he got…injured.” I’d never told any of these law enforcement officers that Raven had gotten shot during the Gemma Monroe job, only that he’d been hurt enough to require a medic. Since I hadn’t known any of them other than Cassidy Ryan and Mike Williams, my detective friends at the LAPD, I hadn’t wanted to tell them the extent of Raven’s injuries. I hadn’t wanted to take the risk that one of them might unintentionally make trouble for us.

“Sutter had been shot in the thigh a couple of weeks before the mission where he was lost in the sandstorm. He really shouldn’t have been out there with us and Vonne told him so. When Sutter ordered him to keep his mouth shut about how bad he was, Vonne didn’t take it well.”

“Of course,” Jarrett drawled. “I get that. He didn’t want to be sidelined or leave his team in hostile territory without him.”

I felt a wave of relief flood through me. He understood. When I saw Mac nod, I realized that of course, he did too. The Green Beret would’ve been part of a team as well.

“Is there any other reason why you think the CIA picked him up?” Mac asked.

“During our attempts at recovering the ruby Miguel told you about, a man accosted us this morning,” Raven blurted. “He thinks he might be a CIA operative.”

I frowned at him before Thayne’s words brought my attention back to the other three.

“What do you mean he accosted you?” Thayne asked.

“We went to talk to the man responsible for the security at the mansion where our client lives. She thinks it was stolen from her husband’s safe, so we went to speak to her head of security. He has an office in Westwood. When we were leaving, a man stepped out of the shadows in the stairwell, pointed a gun at us, and threatened us. I have no idea how long he’s been following us. He told us he knows we’re trying to recover the ruby and wants us to give it to him. He knew all about the case.”

Jarrett whistled. “Must be some ruby.”

“It’s a rare pigeon’s blood ruby that the owner and her lawyer value at around two million dollars,” Raven said. “The wife was supposed to inherit it since it’s part of the estate, and we were hired to recover it.”

“And you’re sure the man who threatened you was CIA?” Mac asked.

I exchanged a glance with Raven before turning back to them. “I can’t be sure but yeah, he had the look of an operative. I’ve seen enough of them to know.” I stopped myself from elaborating further, not wanting to describe his vacant, deadeyes. The man in front of me was warm and kind, even though he also was FBI but connections with the CIA. I had no doubt, Mac had done things under orders that’d make my hair stand on end, but I could tell that his nature was pure and decent.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can find out if you give me the date and the coordinates of where you last saw Sutter,” Mac said. “I’m on permanent assignment with the FBI here in the states, so I don’t have a lot of CIA duties, but I do have access to classified intelligence which my team doesn’t.” He glanced at Thayne and Jarrett before looking back at me.

“Thank you, Mac,” I said. “That’ll really help.”

“If Mac can’t help, you can ask my daddy,” Jarrett said, smiling as he clapped Mac on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. “He’ll be willin’ to help and even though he’s retired, he still has friends in very high places.”

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