Page 38 of Escape into the Night

Caleb couldn't help his eye roll. He fluttered his fingers at the collection of photos Beau had deposited on the coffee table. “Sir. You sound entirely too relaxed for someone who is about to reveal how the CIA is framing us for crimes we didn't commit.”

“Mais, what can I say? I've been waiting for this opportunity to air all the dirty laundry.” He smirked and lifted his eyes to his friend. “What do you say, Terry? You want to do the honors.”

Again, a twitch of the eye. The pale, dark-haired tank of a man eyed Beau with a sneer. There was a quiet huff, a flash of a crinkle in his nose, and another longer exhale. For a man whohad yet to speak a single word, his face sure did a whole hell of a lot of talking.

Snickering, Beau leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Okay, okay. I'll do it. Let's start with introductions. Beau St. Pierre, former CIA Black Ops. My entire identity was off-the-books. One of them ghosts, wi? Easy to make disappear, which is exactly what they tried to do.”

He gestured to Terry with a small smile. “Enter, Thierry Martin Richelieu. You can call him Terry, though.”

“Ty.” Well, shit. Apparently the man could speak. Caleb’s brows nearly hit his hairline. The expression was a fairly unanimous one around the room.

“Right, that's what I said. Terry here, well… we were ordered to kill each other.” Beau turned in his seat and rested a palm on Ty’s chest. “Cher, get me a drink?”

Marvel of all marvels, the mute man acquiesced without even a single facial expression. If he weren't living this moment himself, Caleb would call bullshit on the entire strange spectacle.

“They put a hit on you both?” Connor shifted Theo’s body until they were both more comfortable on the sectional. Theo looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.

“Sort of. Terry, he’s former French Foreign Legion. Been working as a free agent lately. The way it went down was… CIA ordered me to take him out. They have a buddy in the German intelligence community who put the hit on me. When we stopped trying to kill each other long enough to compare notes, we realized something gone wrong along the way. We did some more digging, and here we are!” Beau waved jazz hands with a grin that was comical in the face of what he was saying.

Ever patient, Elias pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “So the CIA—our intelligence agency—is actively working with someone in the German government to have you botheliminated, and you believe that is related to what is happening to us?”

“Mais, frère, I know it is.” Beau rifled through the photos on the table to reveal snapshots Caleb hadn't seen yet. Adelaide and Chancellor Bahrenburg in Germany. Connor in the background. The second shot was a close-up of three men huddled off to the side. He stepped forward and squinted before swearing under his breath. Of course it was the punchable faces of the God damn Evans brothers, always with their hands in the pot.

“They been collecting fabricated evidence against all of ye for two years. I think, and this is an angle we been working for a minute now, they had plans. Big plans to play it like a global chess game and all you people kept messing with their curated playbook. Everything been carefully curated, slowly planted, ready for the right moment. When the time comes, when they make they move, you all get swept off the board with airtight cases against you. Espionage. Treason. Financial crimes. Assassination. You name it, they got receipts.”

“Dios mio,” Bella whispered, rocking forward to press her knuckles into her eyes. “This is loco.”

“But why? What is the reason?” Lily’s voice shook as her hand moved to rub small circles on Bell’s back.

“A coup.” Beau shrugged. He even had the audacity to grin as he accepted the drink Ty held out for him. Caleb's eyes narrowed.

“That's utter nonsense. Like, Project Runway Season Fourteen levels of bullshit.” Caleb ran a hand through his curls and scoffed.

Elias shook his head. “That’s—no. That’s insane. This is the United States. The CIA doesn't orchestrate coups on domestic soil—”

“Reckon they do, though,” Connor interjected, his arms subconsciously tightening around Theo’s body. “I were in theSituation Room enough to see shadows of it. Eli, you remember how eager the VP was to take over that night James had… y’know. Marshal Law, invoking the 25th. Shit, the Director of the CIA was right there quietly egging’em on.”

Beau pointed toward Connor and nodded his agreement. “Lover boy got it right. Ain’t gone be tanks in the street. They don't need that. All they need is to compromise the right people—install puppets in the right places—and when they ready to rock and roll, they gone manufacture a big scandal the likes of which ain’t never been seen. So big, so airtight, the public will be beggin’em to take control of the situation.”

“My mom?” Theo's voice was a barely audible whisper.

“Wi, mon ange.” Beau’s expression turned serious as he set down his drink with a hum. “Mn. She been compromised since the beginning. I'm certain of it. Don’t think she even realizes it, either.”

Caleb’s eyes snapped toward Elias. So many times, he’s heard his husband boggling over the peculiar, uncharacteristic actions of the woman he thought he knew. They’d spent countless nights talking through it, processing it, trying to find reason in actions that were utterly unreasonable. Elias’ face twisted, likely thinking the same thing as Caleb was. It made sense. It made a hell of a lot more sense than the alternative. She’d never been the villain in Elias’ story. She’d never been a woman likely to abandon her entire family and forgo her sense of morality and justice, until she suddenly was.

Taz, previously preoccupied with the pastries, suddenly broke the silence that had fallen over the room. “Well, fuck us sideways with a fucking baseball bat, I guess. A mole in the FBI. VP Evans. Speaker Evans. The highest general in the armed forces plus the German Chancellor. Oh, and let’s not forget the entire fucking CIA. While Addy sits around too fucking dumb to realize whatthe hell is going on. That tracks. Might as well just off myself now.”

Theo blurted, “Hey!”

Lily murmured, “Taz…”

Connor grunted.

Bella swore, “Mierda!”

Luke muttered, “Timothy.”

Not one to be left out of any group activity, Caleb lifted his palm heavenward and said, “Preach, baby!”

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