When Day Breaks

CHAPTER 3

EDDIE stared at his two sons, unease gripping him by the balls. He was sweating. Even his hands were damp. His legendary cool under pressure had flat deserted him.

Ryker and Raid were staring at him expectantly, their expressions grim and worried. Raid had come from work, his shoulder harness still on, gun holstered. Ryker’s hair was still damp from a shower and it was obvious he’d thrown on the first thing he’d come across in his haste to answer Eddie’s summons.

“What’s going on, Dad?” Raid asked in a low voice.

Eddie wiped his palm down over his face. “It’s a long story. One I need to tell you from beginning to end so you understand what we’re dealing with.”

Ryker frowned and glanced over at his brother. No doubt they weren’t used to seeing their father in such a state of agitation. Eddie had never been anything but assured and confident.

“Sit,” Eddie commanded, gesturing toward the couch.

His two sons did as he directed and then looked expectantly at him, but he didn’t take a seat. He was too jittery, too gutted by what he had to tell his boys. How could he ever look any of his children in the eyes again once they knew the truth?

“You’re worrying me, Dad,” Ryker said in a grim tone.

Eddie closed his eyes and then ran a hand raggedly through his hair.

“Your mother’s death wasn’t an accident,” he said.

Shock registered on both his sons’ faces.

“I don’t understand,” Raid said, his tone as grim as Ryker’s had been moments earlier. “What the fuck are you saying, Dad? Did you just find this out? How the hell did you find this out anyway? And if her death wasn’t an accident . . .”

“Who killed her?” Ryker asked hoarsely.

The knot in Eddie’s stomach grew, clenching painfully. “It’s a long story, one that begins before you were born.”

“We’re listening,” Raid said tightly, his features drawn into a mask of pain and confusion. And worry.

Eddie finally slumped into one of the armchairs across from the couch where Raid and Ryker sat and bleakly stared at his sons.

“You both know I served in the military.”

They nodded, impatience simmering in Ryker’s eyes. He wanted his dad to get to the point.

“I served in a special ops group, one that didn’t officially exist. Our missions weren’t the usual run of the mill. We took on missions that were it discovered the U.S. had a hand in them, the fallout would have been messy. One particular mission took us three years to complete. Three long years of waiting and watching for the right opportunity. Raul Sanchez was our mission. Taking him down and dismantling his operation. Three years and two months into our operation, we caught a break. We got intel that he was going to be in a particular location for a family gathering. His daughter’s birthday. This was a man who was as slippery as an eel. More than one country’s military was after him. We just happened to get to him first.

“We set up surveillance on the compound where he was going to be. Everything went off without a hitch. But then the unthinkable happened. We believed his wife and daughter had already left in a car. We waited until they were clear of the compound and then we went in.”

He broke off, regret and guilt surging and pumping through his veins as if it had happened just yesterday. For years he’d lived with his mistake. A mistake his wife had paid for, his entire family had paid for. And now it would appear Eden would pay for it if he and his sons didn’t prevent it.

“A firefight broke out. Our entry wasn’t clean. A guard got lucky and deviated in his patrol, saw one of my men and all hell broke loose. I was leading the group of men tasked with taking out Sanchez. We burst into the study he was holed up in. He had two men with him and they drew on us. We had no choice but to return fire and . . .”

He scrubbed his hands over his face, tears burning his eyelids.

“What happened?” Raid asked quietly.

“Sanchez’s wife and daughter got caught in the cross fire. God, she was just a little girl. Holding the doll she’d been given as a birthday present. There was blood everywhere. God, I can still see them in my dreams, my nightmares.”

“Jesus. I’m sorry, Dad. That’s a big burden to carry around all these years,” Ryker said.

“Sanchez and his son got away, in the chaos and my horror over the wife and daughter being caught in the cross fire. My priority was trying to get them help, and Sanchez and his son escaped.

“We cleaned up best we could. Collected the information needed to dismantle his operation and rounded up a lot of the key players in his business. He had a hand in a lot of different pots. Drugs. Arms trafficking. God, he even had a lucrative human trafficking operation going. Selling young girls into sexual slavery to the highest bidder.”

Raid made a sound of disgust.

“I thought . . .” Eddie took a deep breath. “Years went by and I thought I’d put it behind me. I retired after that debacle. I just couldn’t do it any longer. You children were born and your mother and I were happy. And then . . .”

He choked off, emotion knotting his throat as tears gathered in his vision.

“Sanchez waited, biding his time, planning his revenge. He was responsible for your mother’s death and he wasted no time in letting me know he was taking an eye for an eye. A wife for a wife.”

“What the fuck?” Ryker demanded. “And you never told us? You just let him get away with that? Killing our mother?”

“No,” Eddie said quietly. “No, I didn’t. I called Guy.”

“Hancock?” Raid asked in a puzzled tone.

Eddie sighed. “There’s a lot you don’t know about Guy. He joined the military, followed in my footsteps in more than one way. He belonged to a group that was buried so deep that according to military records, they were all killed in action. They no longer existed. They weren’t supposed to have any ties to the outside world. They lived, breathed and ate their missions. But he kept me in the loop. He wasn’t supposed to, which is why I never let on to you or Eden. All you knew was that he was serving and off the grid. And it’s why we never see him. I hear from him sporadically. He never tells me much, just that he’s okay from time to time. He’s made a lot of enemies over the years and now the government has cut ties and likely has orders to eliminate him if he ever surfaces.”

“So you contacted him after Mom died. Why?” Ryker demanded.

“Because I wanted revenge,” Eddie said in a low voice. “I wanted to go after the bastard and make him pay for what he took from me. For what he took from all of us.”

“Jesus,” Raid breathed. “And? Did you? Did you find him?”

Eddie was silent a long moment before finally nodding. “Guy went after him. He didn’t want me involved. I gave him all the intel I had. I called in a lot of favors to get the information he needed.”

“So he killed him,” Ryker said bluntly.

Again Eddie nodded.

“Christ, Dad. And you didn’t think we deserved to know all of this sooner? And why tell us now? What’s going on?” Raid demanded.

Eddie paled, suddenly feeling years older. The weight of a lifetime of regret settled like a ton of bricks on his shoulders and his heart.

He reached up to the mantel and picked up the photos and the note he’d received. With shaking hands, he shoved them toward his sons, simply waiting for them to look them over and draw their own conclusions.

“Holy fuck,” Ryker exploded. “Eden is being threatened?”

“His son,” Eddie said in a strained voice. “It has to be the son. We weren’t able to find him. Just Raul. But his son would want revenge because not only did he lose his mother and sister but then Guy took out his father and now he’s looking for revenge. By hitting me where he knows he’d hurt me the most. Through Eden.”

“Son of a bitch,” Raid swore. “What the hell are we going to do? Where is Eden now? What are we going to do? She’s not safe even for a minute. What if he’s already found her? What if he’s going after her as we speak?”

“It’s why I called you both to come. I spoke to Eden earlier today. She seemed fine. I don’t want to scare her. I don’t even want her to know all of this. It would upset her. But we have to close ranks around her. Tighten security. What we have now isn’t going to cut it. These people are ruthless. They have resources beyond our imaginings. She isn’t safe. We have to figure out a way to make sure she’s safe at all times.”

Ryker went silent a long moment, his expression thoughtful. “I know people who could help us. It’s what they do. They’re all ex-military. I served with two of the brothers. Nathan and Joe Kelly. They got out when I did. That last mission that went all to hell. Some of us didn’t make it back. Joe was injured and Nathan and another teammate were held prisoner for months in the mountains of Afghanistan. But their brothers run a special ops group. Some of it’s private sector, but they also do a lot of government contract work. Jobs that no one else can or will do. Hostage recovery, rescue, protection. You name it, they do it. And they’re damn good. Nathan and Joe work with them now as does Swanny, the other guy I served with. We could call them in. They owe me a favor.”

“How good?” Raid asked bluntly. “Because good isn’t good enough. Not when it comes to keeping Eden safe. We need the fucking best.”

“I’ll call them. Set up a meeting immediately. We may need to fly out there so we can get the ball rolling sooner,” Ryker said grimly.

“You do that,” Eddie said. “I’m not losing Eden. Or you. Those bastards have taken enough from this family.”

The phone rang, interrupting the tense discussion. Eddie glanced down to see that it was Eden calling.

“Hey, baby girl,” he greeted, holding his hand to his sons.

“Daddy?”

At the tremble he heard in her voice, his blood went cold.

“Eden? What’s wrong? Are you all right? What’s happened?”

Raid and Ryker immediately came to attention, rushing over to stand closer so they could hear what was transpiring.

“There was a shooting,” she said, her voice wobbling precariously. “But I wanted you to know I was okay. I didn’t want you to hear about it on the news and worry.”

“What do you mean there was a shooting?” he roared.

“I don’t know anything yet, Daddy. The cops are coming to question me. David and Micah got me into the car and to the hotel. We’re staying in a different suite. Micah and David were concerned that this could be personal.”

Hell, Eddie knew it was personal. Son of a bitch, but he hadn’t expected it to start this soon. He’d only received the threat today. His blood chilled in his veins. But the timing was impeccable. Had the killer planned it this way? For Eddie to receive the threat just a short time before Eden was killed?

Helpless rage gripped his throat, squeezing until he could barely breathe. Raid wrenched the phone from his hand, ignoring his father’s immediate protest.

“Eden, this is Raid. Tell me where you are and we’ll catch the first flight out we can,” he said calmly.

There was a pause and then Raid said, “Okay, honey. Stay where David and Micah put you. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

He ended the call and handed his father back the phone, his eyes nearly black with rage.

“So it’s begun, then.”

Eddie could only nod, fear and fury waging war in his mind.

“Then let’s get the fuck out of here,” Ryker said tightly. “I’ll call Nathan and Joe on the way and have them meet us there if they can make it.”