Page 77 of Rescuing Erin

“Fuck no! That rat didn’t have the clout to play with the big boys. Stephan Perkins.”

“Vice President Perkins?” Declan inquired.

None of us were fond of the vice president. He was a yes man. Why Tom ever chose him as a running mate I’d never understand. They were opposites—polar opposites to be exact. Perkins is interested in power, Tom is not. With his second term coming to an end, and the oval office up for grabs, Perkins was running. He was pushing his own agenda hard, even going against some of Tom’s policies. Seems Perkins was pulling out all the stops on his bid for the Oval Office.

“One more reason not to like the man,” I announced. “But it’s not all that surprising.”

“No, but what it is, is Perkins, Greenwold, and eight other men all belonging to Omni, own shares in Militrix, parent company to several smaller companies. One being—”

“Camio-Telecomm,” I interrupted Zane.

“That’s illegal,” Declan added.

“Sure as fuck is, but considering Tex had to dig to find the intel, I’d say no one else knows.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “And the other 229 million? Where’s that?”

“Earmarked for a transoceanic cabling in the Gulf of Bahrain. The scope of work follows the King Fahd Causeway.”

“Sea mines?” Declan surmised.

“Don’t know. Don’t fucking care at the moment. I’m more concerned with Perkins and Greenwold’s ties to the Omni and how they fit into the Angel program. I don’t think Tom knows how deep this runs.”

“What time is he due back?” I checked my watch. Tom should be landing at Camp David any minute now.

“He said his meeting should run about three hours.”

“He’s gonna go thermonuclear when he finds out.”

“That’s a goddamn understatement.”

Zane’s phone rang, and his brows pulled together as he studied the number.

“Goddamn telemarketers and their unknown numbers.” He moved to reject the call but at the last minute answered. “What?”

There was a pause before Zane’s body went rigid, and his face went white. Declan must’ve seen the look as well because he jumped out of his seat and ran to the door. After a sharp whistle and a hand gesture, he ran back into the room.

“Repeat that?” Zane requested and placed the phone on speaker.

“I repeat,” Tex’s voice boomed throughout the room, “we’ve lost contact with the pilot.”

“Where?”

“I sent the coordinates to your phone. Wolf and his team are on the tarmac. ETA five hours. Rocco and his team are in Virginia training and en route. Ghost and the rest of the guys are in the air, they’ll be here in three hours.”

“Who else knows?”

“Gerard. President’s orders are no one else is to be notified.”

“Orders? He fucking knew?”

“He had his suspicions and left instructions regarding who was to be called in. Just you four teams, he doesn’t trust anyone else.”

“Fuck! Goddamn it!” Zane stopped and looked at the ceiling before grabbing a pen and paper off the table. “Codes and mission specifics?”

“Color of the day, white. Password, sparrow. Countersign, red. Mission name, marriage. They’ve got ten minutes on you, Zane. Stay dangerous.”

Tex disconnected, and the room was silent.