Page 31 of Ground Zero

“Thanks, buddy.” He turns to Nik and Justin. “Dirk Sam and I are old friends from flight school, and Siri and his wife, Piper, were college roommates.”

They nod, and Dirk steps back. I introduce the others to Nik and Justin.

“Mike Franks, MF’er or MotherFucker. He answers to both. Master of all things.”

Mike nods.

“Jack Black, Black Hammer, demolitions.”

Hardcore jokes. “Let’s hope we don’t need your skills.”

Jack smirks, knowing they are more needed than not, but simply answers, “You never know.”

“Jocko Malone, K9 handler.”

Jocko gives a head nod and speaks directly to Hardcore. “Angel was a good student.”

“Did you bring Lucifer?”

“He is waiting in the car.”

Nik says, “He is welcome here too.”

Jocko steps out, and we watch in silence as he opens the door and his solid black Belgian Malinois leaps out. To say that Lucifer is intense is an understatement. The dog has serious skills.

When Jocko opens the door, Lucifer walks in with him and sits at his side, staring up at him.

Hardcore laughs, “Lucifer suits him.”

Jocko chuckles and looks down at his boy, “Let’s just say that if he could ‘hooyah,’ he would.”

Just then, the door opens, and a blonde woman with a big white bandage on her head walks in. She must be Hardcore’s sister. There is no mistaking the likeness. She ignores all of us and speaks directly to him. The urgency in her voice overrides her rudeness. Her wife is gone. Nothing else matters.

“Bee was kidnapped. She was taken by at least two men.”

Hardcore walks over to her and puts his arms around her. “I know. Don’t worry. We’re going to find her.”

They hold each other for a moment, then she steps back and surveys who else is in the room. She doesn’t say anything but nods her gratitude.

Hardcore touches her shoulder, and she looks back at him. “Siri is missing too.”

“What? Oh my god! No!” Her face crumples with her emotions, and Hardcore’s reflects her anguish.

I step forward, needing to get their emotions under control. “Sit down, Ann. We do not need you to fall out. Time is crucial. Let’s go back to what happened at your house.”

Hardcore takes the chair Justin pushes to him, and Ann sits in it. He offers another, but Hardcore shakes his head. He stands next to her instead.

Ann takes a deep breath and starts. “Bee has been acting really weird lately.”

“Drugs?” Jack asks.

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe.” She looks out the window. “We’ve been fighting nonstop over stupid shit, so it is possible.”

“We went to bed. Something woke me up. I don’t know what. Bee was not in bed. She has started smoking again, so I thought she was probably outside on the front porch having a cigarette. I got up to look out the window to see if she was out there. I saw her on her phone. Then I saw a man dressed in black hit her on the back of the head. She fell, but he caught her and carried her into the woods. I grabbed my phone and my gun from the nightstand. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain and dropped to my knees. When I came to, I was disoriented. I still had my phone, but my gun was gone. I called my brother, then passed out again. I woke up in the hospital.” She shakes her head. “What the fuck!”

Chapter 16

Crockett

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