Page 65 of Renegade

“That’s him. All those guys were assigned to the base at one time or another. You’d probably seen them around over the years. They all rotated in and out, none of them staying more than a few months. Lance Bishop and John Mendez were there the longest, along with Damon Thorne.”

My blood ran cold as my fists tightened on the wheel. I swerved, nearly hitting another car as I drove up the freeway on-ramp to the Northbound 405 Freeway. “Wait. Damon Thorne? He’s a part of this?”

“No, I—I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to imply that Thorne was a part of all this bullshit. He was never involved with the cell,” Sutter said.

“Thecell?” I roared. “They call themselves a fucking cell?”

Anger pulsed through my veins as he laughed bitterly. “Yeah, can you believe that shit?”

I shook my head and when I glanced over, he was frowning. “What?” I spat out.

“I heard you tell Mathis to call Thorne, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Damon’s been working with us to figure out what the hell is going on here. I take it you didn’t know that?”

He shook his head. “No, I swear it…and for the record, I always liked Thorne. He was a stand-up guy and to tell you the truth, when these guys found me out there, I was almost praying he was a part of it.”

Theyfound him out there.I didn’t ask for any details even though I was dying to know how they’d found him whenwehadn’t been able to. There’d be time for that. “Why’d you hope Thorne was a part of their cell?” The word sounded bitter on my tongue.

He sighed. “Because I think…no, IknowDamon would have put a stop to what was happening. He never would have let them—”

“What?”

He shook his head. “It’s not important. I’ll…get to it.”

“Okay.” I didn’t want to think about what he’d been about to say. “You mentioned someone named Mendez. He was a part of the group?” I asked.

“Yes. He’s…JohnwasDaniel’s father.” He looked in the sideview mirror again before finally sitting up, blowing out a long breath. “Listen, you said you and your friends at the ATF have put a lot of things together and I get that, but listen, Trigg.”

I glanced over at him. “Mendez tried to kill Daniel and Niloufar. I was barely able to get them out of the country to Karachi on a C-130 at the last minute. They still claim to know where they are, but I’m beginning to doubt it. After Pakistan, I got them to Paris. I’ve moved them every few months since then, keeping ahead of them, but I know they somehow traced the letter Daniel wrote to Vonne. I heard them talking about it which is how I learned the boy mailed it anyway. He was probably thinking Vonne could help…that all of you could help. They would’ve killed Vonne to shut him up if he acted on the knowledge. Thank God they didn’t. You have to believe me when I tell you they’re dangerous, Trigg. The fucker planned on killing his own son and to tie up loose ends, Niloufar too.” The plea was back in his voice and, though, I was still angry with him, my heart broke a little. If he was telling me the truth about all of this, then he really had been through hell.

“What about the uncle he talked about in the letter?”

“Uncle?”

“In the letter Daniel sent Vonne, he said something about him immigrating to Paris with his mother and uncle.”

“Oh, that,” John said, smiling ruefully. “He was talking about me. He always called me uncle and I let him. It was easier for him to believe that we were somehow related and that we’d immigrated legally in case anyone at school or anyone on thestreet ever asked him who he lived with. In case you haven’t noticed, kids aren’t so good at telling the truth all the time, even if they mean to. His mother told him I traveled for business. Telling him the truth could’ve put them in even more danger. Please believe me when I tell you, these fuckers are killers.”

“I believe they’re dangerous, John.” I reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this all out. Don’t worry. The people I have in my corner…they’re decent, capable, and honorable, one and all.” I didn’t know what they’d done to Sutter, but I drove faster, anxious to get to Glendale to make him tell us everything. I didn’t fully trust him yet and as much as I didn’t want to know what they’d done to make him join them in the beginning, I couldn’t believe everything he’d told me…not yet.

When we got to Glendale, I parked in the lot outside the Federal building, locking my gun inside the glovebox. I slid my keys into my pocket and waited for John to walk around to my side of the truck before heading toward the front of the building. I was surprised to see Raven standing outside the entrance; waiting for me. He was scrolling through his phone. I swallowed hard, feeling my throat tighten. I thought about how he was going to react to John just casually showing up when we’d both assumed he was hunting us. The minute Raven figured out who he was, I prayed things wouldn’t get ugly. The second he looked up, the look on his face confirmed my worst fears.

His smile died away as he recognized John and shock turned to rage as he pulled his gun, pointing it right at him. John stopped dead in his tracks beside me as Raven leveled it directly at center mass, the way I’d taught him. I took a second to admire how fast his reaction had been, but I stopped at the same time, calling out his name.

“Raven! Put down the gun.”

“That’s—that’s John Sutter!”

“Raven…put down the gun,” I said, trying to sound calm as I reassured him. “He’s unarmed.”

I felt John move before glancing at him out of the corner of my eye as he slowly raised his hands. “I’m not armed, Mathis!” he called out.

“Show me!” Raven shouted again, holding the Glock with both hands the way I’d taught him, keeping it steady, his face showing no fear as he glared at him. “Now!”

“Raven—”

“Prove to me that you’re unarmed or I’m going to put a bullet through your heart.”

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