Page 77 of Kai
I couldn’t disagree with Goof’s assessment, and yet I queried Guzman with a lift of my eyebrows. “And you’re still here because…?”
“Exit instructions.” Guzman drew another swig that drained half his bottle.
My days with Cece were ending. I didn’t have a clear idea of where we stood, if I’d been able to break through her walls, or if she wanted more than sex from me. I wondered how it would go after we got back to Astor House. Or how it would not go at all if she stuck to her original beliefs. Seeing her around and not being able to touch her, kiss her…
It was gonna be one hellish bitch of a situation.
Cece would be safe at Astor House. She would be with her sisters. Returning her home had been my mission all along. I had to set aside my personal feelings and focus on what was best for her and what she wanted for herself.
“Keep talking.” I got up, grabbed a bottle from the table, and, standing behind Goof, undid the watertight zipper and refilled his water bladder.
“We’re here to coordinate your exfil,” Bozeman announced.
“Go on.” I tipped the bottle to get the last of the water out.
“The mercs continue to scour the area,” Guzman reported between feral bites. “They’re still searching at full throttle.”
“Dude.” It was my turn to do some eye-rolling. “I’mmonitoring. Tell me something I don’t know.”
Guzman tore open power bar number four, stuffed it whole in his mouth, and crushing it between his teeth, pointed at his lips. “We’re tracking the leader of this crew—”
“Booming Voice,” I put in, moving on to resupply Bozeman’s water. “The asshole with the cowboy hat. We’ve met. Is he a compatriot of yours?”
Guzman made a show of shivering. “Do you think every asshole that wears a Stetson comes from Texas?”
“No, but—”
“The merc you’ve christened Booming Voice is an American,” Bozeman interjected as he finished the last of his power bars. “He goes by several aliases, but his birth name is Jack Levine. He’s a former Marine, dishonorably discharged after a fiasco in the Middle East.”
I crushed the empty bottle between my hands and pitched it into the trashcan. “I hate it when a Marine goes bad.”
“All those skills go to the enemy,” Guzman agreed while I zipped and secured Granite’s water supply. “As you know, courtesy of Tracker Team, Xao Li has lost several top lieutenants. Levine seems to have shot up through the ranks. Moses has intercepted the NWO’s communication channels on the dark web.”
“No surprises there.” Mina Moses was Tracker Team’s cyber hunter in chief and one of the world’s best hackers. “What did she find out?”
“Levine is turning out to be a disappointment to his new boss,” Guzman adjusted his bulk to lean back on his chair. “The merc had an oopsie with a sex worker who turned up dead on the main island. Although the woman specialized in BDSM, she probably didn’t expect to be murdered. It appears he tortured her for days. They found her cuffed, spread-eagle, and badly cut, but the manner of death was strangulation.”
“Well, shit.” I muttered, although the news didn’t shock me. “The turd’s a serial killer.”
“The communications Moses intercepted revealed that Li is seriously pissed at Levine, not so much because of the woman’s horrific torture and death, but because the merc was careless and the police got involved. Li doesn’t like extra attention.”
“Word is, Levine won’t live long,” Bozeman added. “Moses reports that online records pertaining to Levine are evaporating as we speak, and that includes his bank accounts.”
“So, Li is getting ready to make Levine disappear,” I concluded, returning to my chair. “The merc is as desperate as he looks. The only way he could escape Li’s rage is to find Cece.”
“That’s the story in a nutshell.” Guzman popped some salt tablets into his mouth and took another swig from his bottle. “Desperation is a normal condition for Li’s staff. While you’re here, enjoying life in paradise, we’ve been busy trying to get to Levine. Dagger is determined to catch him alive, you know, before Li takes him out.”
“Levine would be an intel haul,” I mused, knuckling my chin. “Given his situation with Li, my guess is that Dagger thinks we could turn the merc.”
“See?” Guzman lifted his hand toward me. “He got it.”
“I like it.” I considered my boss’s plan. “We could use Levine to figure out Li’s whereabouts and complete the intel that has evaded us so far. You were able to tag his boat, so why is Levine still free, motoring all over the islands?”
“Are you calling us slackers?” Guzman pretended to be offended.
“On the contrary.” I smirked. “I know how good you are. So, what’s the problem?”
“The SOB guards himself well wherever he goes.” Goof’s face twisted in disgust. “He’s like Teflon. No one can stick withhim long enough to nab him. We know. We’ve tried.”
