Page 31 of Mitch

Mitch saw the sweat bead on Gunner’s brow from the lights on the car. Decker was right; he was hiding something.

Jack grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him against the car, causing Gunner to wince from the injuries he’d sustained. “Lie to me one more time, mother fucker,” Jack nodded to his face, “and this will be the least of your problems.”

Mitch couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Jack lose his cool.

Gunner’s face reddened, but he didn’t attempt to fight back. “I can’t tell you. Just tell Will to look into Miqdaad al-Sabir.”

Jack dropped him like he was on fire. His boss looked shocked, distraught even. “How do you know that name?”

“How do you think?”

Jack paced away, brushing his hand over his face. “He’s dead. We killed him on our first Eidolon op.”

Mitch remembered it all too well; it had been his first visit to Parwan Province in Afghanistan, also known as the Sandbox and Bagram Airbase.

They’d landed late at night and joined a Seal Team to take down the high ranking Taliban leader Miqdaad al-Sabir. The op had been a success with the Seal Team providing support as it was an unsanctioned mission. Nobody ever knew Eidolon were involved. It had been clean and quick, with only their target and his men killed in the raid.

Jack whirled to face Gunner, who was observing him. “He’s dead.”

“Yes, but his son Samir isn’t, and he took over last year when he turned twenty and is more vicious than his father ever was.”

Waggs crossed his arms, angling his eyes at Gunner. “What has any of this got to do with the Palace or Osbourne?”

“You think Osbourne is working with Samir?” Jack asked.

Gunner nodded slowly. “I have to provide security for Osbourne on a trip to Germany next month where he’s meeting with him. Then I can confirm and also find out who his partner is as he’s the one facilitating it.”

“I’ll have Will look into Samir al-Sabir.” Jack fixed his eyes on Gunner. “But if you hold anything more back from me, then this arrangement is over, and you can kiss seeing your sister again goodbye.” Jack left the threat hanging in the warm night air.

Gunner straightened, his jaw hardening. “Don’t pull that on me, Jack. We both know harming innocents isn’t how you operate.”

“Maybe I’ll make an exception this time.”

Mitch knew he wouldn’t, that wasn’t Jack and certainly not him, but Gunner was a loose cannon and he was getting himself in deeper than he should be, and it could cost him his life.

“If they figure out you’re playing them, they’ll kill you.” Mitch knew people like that; the chances were they’d kill him anyway once they were finished with him.

Gunner glanced at him with a shrug. “So be it.” Then he turned to Jack. “You know why I kept this quiet until I was sure.” With those words, he got in the car with a muffled groan of pain, reminding them of the beating he’d taken to get this information. “I’ll be in touch.”

The tires crunched on the dry earth as the headlights swung around before disappearing into the night.

“I want a meeting at 0800 to debrief.” Jack turned to Alex. “Arrange for Blake, Reid, and Liam to be included on a video link.” Jack was already walking away as he gave the command.

Mitch didn’t like the feeling in the pit of his gut; it had always served him well in the past to listen to it, and now it was screaming something was wrong. He just didn’t know if it was to do with Gunner or Autumn.