Famous last words.
Apollo shot Beckett a quick glance before sliding his gaze across both Falcon and Digger. “This thing has to be an inside job. No way it’s anything else.”
“I agree.” Beckett nodded.
“Oh, yeah,” Falcon joined in. “I’d bet my next paycheck this shit was orchestrated by someone on the inside.”
“Or multiple someones,” Digger concurred with a rumble.
Shadow’s confident voice came through the intercom speaker once more. “Owens and I are both on the same page, as well. In fact, our insightful boss has already been in contact with his peeps at the DOJ, and from what I’ve been told, Rahal’s entire staff is being rounded up as we speak.”
“My money’s on either a solo job or a partnership,” Beckett added with a shrug.
“Afraid too many cooks would ruin the sauce?” Shadow, who was still very much listening, took a stab at his reasoning.
“Exactly,” Digger grumbled. “Either way, the timing’s too fucking perfect for it to be anything else.”
Continuing along the same subject line, Shadow further shared her thoughts on the matter.
“The synchronicity of the events is what convinced Owens in the first place. I mean, I get that being in the constant spotlight has to get old, and I’m sure people in Rahal’s same kind of massively elevated financial position probably get sick and tired of never having a moment of true peace and quiet. But this guy’s the tenth richest man in the world. A brilliant businessman, by all accounts. And y’all know I amtotallyagainst victim shaming, but seriously…what the heck was Rahal thinking?”
“You’re not wrong.” Apollo was quick to back her up. “The guy purposely put himself into a situation where he’s completelyaloneon four hundred thirty acres of rolling woodland and white, sandy beaches…in the middle of the fucking ocean, no less. And every single one of his sixty-eight-person staff became aware of the man’s vulnerability the second he announced their impromptu time off, giving any one of them the perfect opportunity to waltz right onto Rahal’s estate and squeeze every penny they can from the guy.”
“Some people think money makes you bulletproof.” Beckett shrugged. “The more they have, the more invincible they become.”
He and his teammates had seen the same sort of unaware, presumptuous entitlement far too many times to count.
“And in reality”—Falcon piggybacked off Beckett’s point—“every additional dollar they gain only makes them that much more of a target for greedy, heartless dickheads like the ones holding Rahal hostage.”
“Someone will talk.” Beckett circled the conversation back to their suspicions as to how the hell these guys pulled off such a big job so quickly. “People who work as closely together as they do…someone either knows who’s behind it, or they’ll be quick to suspect.”
“Well, let’s just hope these jerks haven’t taken things beyond using scare tactics to get what they want,” Shadow hoped aloud. “My equipment is as good as it gets. I should know; I’m the one who built it. But a heat signature only guarantees a pulse, you know? There’s no telling what kind of condition you’ll find Rahal in once he’s located. And one of the signatures I’m picking up inside the residence has been stationary since I first tapped in, which means?—”
“Bastards probably have Rahal secured,” Falcon presumed.
Not that they expected otherwise.
“The most important thing is the guy’s still alive when we get to him,” Beckett reminded everyone. “I’ll deal with whateverelse needs done when our guy’s safe and the targets have been neutralized.”
As a Marine Raider, he’d been given the opportunity to study up on field medical procedures on the off chance the corpsman accompanying the mission got injured…or worse. Now he used that same training and experience to serve as the field medic for Tac-Ops.
“Copy that,” Shadow acknowledged from…wherever in the world the secretive woman called home.
Bucket list item added: Figure out Shadow’s true identity and meet her face-to-face.
“Okay, gentlemen.” She began wrapping things up. “It’s about that time, so I’m going to sign off for now. We’ll reconnect once you make it to the target’s location, but don’t worry. I’ll be with you the whole time.”
“Thanks, Shadow,” Falcon offered on behalf of the entire team.
“Good luck. We’ll talk again soon.”
The line went dead, and Beckett and the others immediately began preparing for their approach. With their seatbelts fastened and their focus shifted to the job, the team members grew silent as they mentally readied themselves for what they were about to face.
He understood fully the willingness to risk one’s life in order to save another’s. It was what he and his teammates did on a regular basis.
But for a person to be so infested with greed they’re driven to not only risk their own lives, but also hold a man hostage—doing God only knows what to the poor man while they’re at it—for the sole purpose of stealing whatever they could…
That was something Beckett would never understand.