Page 65 of Higher Notes

Sikes: My gut says he’s after money. Using the kid for extortion. Jason’s been in the news since Chaotic got signed.

Fuck…

Fizzbo: I’ll send another team in that direction. FYI, Dana and the twins are home and the alarm is set.

Thank fuck Fizzbo had eyes on that. I couldn’t get the plane’s wi-fi to load the camera app.

Me: Thank you. How many boots are on the ground?

Fizzbo: four with two more coming. School superintendent is on site, and the school is on emergency protocols. Students are only being released to registered parents and guardians to pick up. It’s chaotic but their own damn fault for not keeping a watchful eye. I’ll be surprised if there isn’t a lawsuit when all this is over.

We’d definitely suggest that to Dana. Why hadn’t the teachers on playground duty noticed Paul lurking along the fence line? Pure negligence.

“Gentlemen, please power down your cell phones and prepare for landing.”

As soon as we touched down, the belts were off, our coms were in our ears, and we grabbed our bags. When the door opened we burst out and Fizzbo came around the corner. His presence, which normally had me react in a formal military fashion, actually calmed my nerves today. Knowing he was here was a good thing. Fizzbo was known worldwide within our community for successful extraction missions both in and out of the military.

“Fizzbo,” Sikes and I shook his hand. “Thank you for being here.”

“Absolutely, this is about family.”

Fizzbo also considered us family. Sikes and I must’ve been damn good in a past life to have found so many people that cared about us and the ones we loved.

“I’ll brief you in the car.”

We slid into the back of the limo, I was sure this vehicle was selected for its ability to provide privacy. As soon as we were seated Fizzbo closed the divider between us and the driver.

“We’re working with the local authorities, and this is being treated as a kidnapping and child endangerment case.”

“But why?” Jason asked. “After all these years he’s never once reached out to see Gabe. Hell, he wasn’t even there when he was born.”

Fizzbo glanced at Sikes and me before he answered. “We believe it’s extortion.”

“Extortion? He knows we have no money.”

“Had,” Fizzbo corrected. “You’re a public figure now. Just signed a contract with a well-known management company and your debut CD hit gold. This is premeditated.”

“Fuck,” Jase ran a hand through his hair. “This is my fault.”

“No,” I squeezed his thigh. “This is one hundred percent on Paul. No one but him can take responsibility.”

“Exactly. The feedback Sarge and Frogman have received is Paul mumbled about the family having money and now and he was getting a piece of it.” While that hit hard and added to the charges the fucker was collecting, it didn’t make Fizzbo’s words any easier to swallow.

“Over my dead body.” Jason was pissed. “He’ll rot in hell where he belongs before I give that fucker a dime.”

“I like your attitude, son,” Fizzbo winked. “He’s wracking up charges with each passing moment. He’ll never see anything but the inside of a prison cell. The Social Sinners guards are on the hunt, minus Joey and Stoli’s. We have more than enough high-ranking former military experts on the ground plus local authorities. He will be found but he’s on the move.”

“Headed where?” Sikes asked through gritted teeth.

“Northeast.”

Fuck. Far too many wooded areas along the way for him to hide in. But he was indeed headed toward Mill Creek. Gotta give the man credit, he’d done his due diligence and now it was time for us to do ours. Come for my family and you’ve signed your own death certificate.

“Jason, we’re taking you home. Your mother needs you and it’s important we know you’re safe. Sikes, Snipe, I know you want to join the hunt but now that we’ve seen the direction he’s headed you need to stay with your family. Do you have your weapons on you?”

“Yes and plenty more locked in the safe.” We didn’t dare keep the guns out with kids in the house.

“Let’s pretend we don’t know where Snipe got his codename from.” That was Fizzbo’s way of giving a command without verbalizing it.

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