Page 30 of Tango

“Okay,” Cole held up his hands, knowing where this was headed, “clearly there’s tension and shit needs to come out. But tonight isn’t the—”

Keith interrupted him. “I have a lot of questions.” He sat forward in his seat, and Cole backed off. “I’d like to start with you.” He swung around to glare at Frank. “For tonight, we set our ranks aside. Man to man. Can we do that?”

“Fine.” Frank tilted his head, ready for the storm that brewed.

“Cole?”

“Agreed.” He gave a tight nod and looked at all of us, who also agreed.

“Frank, I’ve trusted you with my life. We all have, but I can’t believe you knew Paul had my wife in his custody all that time and you never told me.”

“You know I can’t share an informant’s information. You know—”

“The only thing I know, Frank, is that I could have spoken to my wife one last time before those savages drilled a hole in her stomach.”

“I had no idea that things would go the way they did.”

“And I get that, but you took that moment from me. We are and aren’t part of the U.S. military. It depends on who’s asking, but we’ve bent the rules before. We’ve crossed over lines in all walks of life to get what we needed done. I just don’t know why you couldn’t’ve crossed that one for me.”

The only sound that could be heard was the snap of the fire as we waited for Frank to speak. He looked stricken.

“I just couldn’t risk it.” His face fell for a moment. Then he looked around as if to see who was listening. “She made a conscious decision to step out on her protection, Keith. Lexi knew the consequences. We did everything in our power to protect her. We all did. I wanted to bring her home. You know that. Paul did his job and did it well. It took a lot for him to take on what he did. To risk blowing his cover just wasn’t something I was willing to do.”

“On that note—” Paul tried to jump in.

“Not yet, brother. I’m not done, but you’re next.” I could see Keith tried hard to curb his anger. “He was doing his job well?” Keith said each word slowly as his voice rose. Cole was right. Emotions were entirely too raw, but maybe this needed to happen. I just hoped it didn’t cause any damage. I took a quick glance at Moore as he watched the two men intently.

“You have no idea what that man has done for all of you!” Frank yelled, his voice full of pent-up anger. He stood, his fists balled tight, and Keith matched his stance.

“Easy, boys. Leave ’em be,” Cole said as Paul and Mike stood. Cole shook his head and motioned for them to sit down.

“Mike,” Frank looked over, “do you think Plan B at the border happened without Paul? Who do you think made sure there were no other casualties when you needed an escape?” Mike’s face dropped, and he looked at Paul.

Cole shot a look at his father, who seemed to be processing that news as well. Clearly, Frank had kept that a secret all these years.

“And John,” Frank continued, “who do you think was crazy enough to let you jump on the back of their semi-truck at the gas station when you and Brick were under heavy fire?”

“Holy shit,” John covered his mouth, “I looked right at you.”

“And showed me your American patch.” Paul nodded like he remembered it well.

“How did I not know it was you?”

“You were kind of running for your life and dodging bullets. You might have had your mind elsewhere.”

“Well, I appreciate the lift.” John smirked and shook his head like he couldn’t believe it and waved for Frank to go on.

“And Ty,” Frank whirled to look at me, “who pulled you backward when the explosion went off in the house?” He pointed at Paul, and I stared in disbelief. Shit, that was crazy to wrap my head around.

“He’s been running alongside all of you this entire time. Look, I’m sorry for what happened to Lexi, Keith.” Frank stepped closer to him. “My God, man, she was one of the family. You have no idea how sorry I am, but I did this for all of you.” When Keith drew in a deep breath, Frank sighed heavily. “Be pissed, toss your shit at me, but I was only trying to do my job. I tried to make a change from the inside out, and up until what happened with Lexi, it was working.”

“It’s still working,” Paul added. “Give me a few days and I’ll prove it.”

The pent-up anger seemed to die down some after the air cleared a little more between them. I was still unsure how to feel. I guessed it would take some time for me.

My head was shot after that. I must have glanced at Ivy’s window a hundred times that night. I wanted to go to her so badly, but I also knew I needed to be a part of this. The ups and downs of Shadows were what had formed them into such a tight-knit group. Me and Moore being there was necessary if we wanted to be part of the family. I rubbed my eyes and forced my brain to focus. Things seemed to settle a bit more. Paul and Frank began to talk quietly. John stood and began to talk to Keith and Mark.

“Beckett,” Cole called over the light chatter of the others, “you ship out at ten-hundred. Go be with your girl.”

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