One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [127]
“Have you lost your mind? Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Cut the shit. You were the only one who knew where we were meeting. You fed me that bullshit story about Ethan, then laid out the trap. I want to know why.”
“Pike, Ethan is dead.”
Kurt waited for me to say something, but his tone threw me off. He didn’t sound like he was playing a role. When I didn’t say anything, he continued.
“His whole family is dead. His older girl ...”
“Emily.”
“Yeah, Emily, was tortured to death. Both her eyes were punctured and four fingers were cut off from her right hand. Ethan himself was missing an ear and had all of the skin flayed from both of his thighs. The wife and other daughter were tied up and shot in the back of the head. This wasn’t random. It had something to do with what you talked to him about.”
What he said left me speechless. I tried to process it but couldn’t.
“Pike? You still there?”
I refocused. “That’s still just a story from you. I don’t know it’s true. All I know is that only one person on earth knew where I was going, and I walked into an ambush.”
“There’s another explanation. Either your phone or my phone is being monitored.”
I considered this. “You still want to meet?”
“Yeah. Name the place.”
“Meet me in ten minutes at the last place we saw Billy Donatelli. You aren’t there in ten minutes I’m gone. You come to that place, alone. If you’re still a warrior, you’ll feel a set of crosshairs on your skull. If I see anything strange at all, anybody attempting to set up a long-range shot or ambush, I’m not going to just leave. I’m going to let you get in position and then blow your head off. After you’re dead, I’ll leave. Is that understood?”
“Yes. It’s understood. I’ll be there. Don’t turn the maintenance guy into the bogeyman.”
I pulled into our destination, parking the car and hanging up the phone.
Jennifer looked around, confused. “What are we doing at Arlington National Cemetery? Where’s the last place you and Kurt saw Billy?”
“Here. I was his troop sergeant major, Kurt was the commander of the Unit. He died in Iraq in 2004.”
77
Kurt hung up the phone, realizing that Pike had picked the perfect meeting location. One, the reference to Billy was something that only he and Pike would know. Two, it was close enough to the Taskforce—only a mile as the crow flies—that Pike could force a very short timeline, thereby preventing Kurt from setting up any type of trap if he was so inclined. Three, Billy’s grave would be in the middle of a vast expanse of white stones, no cover or concealment anywhere to hide a hit team. Four, the reservation was blanketed by patrols of either National Park rangers or military police, all investigating anything out of the ordinary in an attempt to prevent vandalism to the hallowed ground. Fifth, and perhaps most important, the location was sacred to both Pike and Kurt, and Billy’s headstone would send a message that some things were worth more than whatever politics Pike believed Kurt was involved in.
Kurt grinned in spite of himself, wondering how long it had taken Pike to think of it. He’s still the best under pressure.
He hit the timer of his watch and set out at a trot to his car, yelling at the duty officer that he would be back in an hour.
LUCAS AND HIS TEAM HEARD THE ENTIRE EXCHANGE at the Crystal City office. Lucas knew there was no way to figure out where both of these guys last saw the man named Billy Donatelli. He would have to rely on the beacon embedded in Kurt’s pager. One thing was for certain: With two men in the hospital for a cracked skull and broken ribs, and two failed attempts, he wasn’t going to launch out of here at the first opportunity. Pike had proven that he could thwart even well-laid plans. Now that he knew he was being hunted, he would be treated like the threat he posed. Should’ve pushed Standish on the collateral damage. Should’ve used a car bomb.
I STOOD STILL, looking but not seeing the cross