Page 1 of Tactically Acquired

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KNIGHT

I hadn’t been back on these streets since Kate had been taken. D.C. was not a place for a guy like me. Corrupt politicians and smarmy lawmakers all out for whatever they could get their hands on…that’s all I would ever see when I looked around the city. What once was a great city where the best of men stood now only held the remnants of what our forefathers hoped this country would one day strive to become.

I hated that I had any part in destroying their framework. Even in my desperate attempts to right the system, I was still responsible for shredding it. I could own up to that—could acknowledge the part I played, while for the greater good, was not what this nation stood for.

I kept to the shadows as I took the stairs two at a time until I reached the roof. As expected, Cash was in his nest just like he was the night before, and the night before that. I’d been watching him for days, waiting for him to make his move. Yet, he laid there, waiting and watching.

It wasn’t until last night that I finally got a glimpse of what he was so desperate to get eyes on.Our father. Michael Gage in the flesh, meeting with someone I couldn’t place. I dug last night,stretching my resources beyond the limits, calling in every favor I had to put a name with a face.

Yet, he was still a mystery.

But fucking Shadow knew who he was. Of course, he did. Shadow had his hands in everything. The question was, did Cash have anything to do with it? He was following him, but was he there for cover, or was he spying on his old man?

I wondered if he suspected that Michael was involved in The Syndicate. I didn’t know the old man very well, but I never would have guessed him to be capable of something like that, and I still wasn’t entirely certain that he was involved in any way. Kavanaugh didn’t seem too convinced either, and it was his father who was shot trying to relay the message.

“Still hanging out on rooftops?” I said as I walked up behind Cash.

He twitched slightly, the only sign that I had taken him by surprise. I got on my belly beside him, pulling out my scope to catch the show along with him. I knew Cash was eyeing me, wondering what the hell I was doing here, but I’d wait for him to actually say the words.

“Any idea who he’s meeting?” I asked.

“A contact.”

“No shit. What’s his name?”

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be on the fucking roof,” he muttered.

“Are you his cover?”

He didn’t answer right away, and after a moment, I glanced over at him, meeting his steely gaze.

“What exactly are you accusing me of?”

“Not a damn thing. Just wondering if you’re covering his ass or taking him out.”

His jaw clenched as his eyes shifted back to the scope on his rifle. “Is there a reason you’re here?”

“You mean, other than to piss you off?”

He sighed heavily. “Eva sent you.”

“Something like that.”

He was silent for a moment, but I knew it was coming. He couldn’t resist asking. I knew because I’d been there. I’d felt that gut-wrenching loneliness. He was pushing Eva away because he thought it was best for her, because he knew he was only going to make things worse for her until he could put this behind him.

How fucking long would that take?

“How is she?”

“She’s your wife,” I retorted. “I think you know the answer to that.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him blow out a breath, squeezing his eyes tight before getting a grip and returning to his job.

“She’s better off without me,” he muttered.

“I said that once, too.”

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