Page 19 of Gator

“Monica Benitez-Cortez,” said Hex. “Studied immigration law, practiced for a while in Texas and New Mexico, then ran for congress. She’s served four terms. Nothing remarkable in her history. Married, three children that are all grown and in college. Her husband died five years ago of an apparent home invasion, so she has the sympathy vote.”

“Doesn’t it seem odd to have an immigration lawyer against a former spec ops guy, and Hanz is somewhere in the middle of this?” asked Gator.

“Oh, fuck yea,” laughed Luke. “It’s more than odd. If I had to guess, there’s a connection somewhere, and this bullshit leads to all of them. I’m just not sure where. We need to find out from Bodwick everything he has on both candidates. We also need to know if there are any connections between either of them and Hanz and his friends.”

“I’ll go see if I can get some time with him,” said Cam, walking out the door.

“I’ll come with,” said Hex, following him out the door.

They heard someone stir and saw Dylan poke her head up from the sofa. Riley sat on the edge of the coffee table, smiling at her.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Foolish. I never faint. How long was I out?”

“Not long,” smiled Jane. “Would you like to talk now?”

“I think I’ve done enough talking for one day,” she smiled. “I want to help you with this, but just know I wasn’t really home all that much except for holidays. Hanz kept me at boarding school as much as possible, and I guess I know why now.”

“The thing about memories,” said Suzette, “is we never know when something will strike us and push forth a memory from childhood. I know that Ashley and the team have been using sleep therapy and hypnosis to help bring about memories. Maybe that’s something you could try.”

“Maybe,” she frowned. “I never met any of those men directly again, not that I can remember. I remember the voice that night, though. He did have a Spanish or Mexican accent. But he also said, ‘these men can’t be found, and they can’t be killed.’ He obviously tried to kill you all before.”

“He definitely did,” said Luke. “My SEAL team rescued two American college students from his compound, and then we blew the entire thing. When I think about it now, it was stupid. We knew that wasn’t his main house, so it didn’t matter to him at all. We got the women out, and he sent men after us, but it didn’t matter.”

There was a knock at the door, and Gator opened it, grinning at Jak. He was standing with another man.

“Hey, brother, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to come by and officially introduce you all to Ham. Ham? These are my cousins, Luke Robicheaux and Ian Dougall, and that’s Eric Bongard. And those three beautiful women are part of our medical team. My aunts, Suzette, Riley, and Jane.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” said Ham. “I can’t believe I’m actually here.”

“You came highly recommended, Ham. Your record is impeccable, and Jak said you were the best commander he’d ever had. I take all that as a positive. Did you get a cottage assignment?”

“Oh, yea,” he nodded. “Some little, tiny white-haired woman showed me a sort of cool old round building.”

“Those are garçonnières,” smirked Suzette. “We have eight on the property, but they were used to house guests or, more importantly, male guests who might be courting the ladies of the property. Now, we use them for some of our bachelors. I wonder why she didn’t put you out at the island mansion.”

“Oh, she said something about the triplets needing space,” frowned Ham.

“Oh, shit,” muttered Luke. “Uh, Ham, I want to apologize now for my grandmother. She gets an idea in her head, and she runs with it. Patrick and Christopher are coming home for part of the holidays and I think Sadie is coming as well.”

“Sadie?” repeated Ham. He turned to look at Jak. “Is this the same Sadie your grandmother mentioned in Haiti?”

“Uh, yea. Look, just be nice to everyone, and it will be fine. If things get heated, just let me know, and I’ll get her to back off a bit,” smirked Jak.

“Well, we’re glad to have you here,” said Luke.

“I think I heard you guys talking about Ruiz,” said Ham. They all nodded. “I’ve had a few encounters with him as well. He’s getting old now, and his kids are dead, killed by a rival cartel. I’m surprised he’s not looking for his replacement.”

“Do you know anything about Metzger, Romanescu, Messina, or Xi?” asked Gator.

“Xi, for sure. He’s been in the underground of China and Taiwan for decades. Everyone believes he’s fighting for Taiwan to maintain its independence from China, but beneath the surface, he’s trying to make sure China takes over.”

“You’re gonna come in handy,” smirked Eric. He turned to look at Dylan and smiled. “You think you can eat something now? We have a lot more to discuss.”

“I can eat,” she grinned. “But remember, you hired me to do the cooking, and sooner or later, I’m going to have to do just that.” Gator nodded, kissing her cheek.

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