Page 29 of ELITE Justice
“I take it you know him?” Quin asked Gwen as she locked the front door.
“Yes.” Her voice was clipped.
Quin slid a look at Jonathan who gave an almost imperceptible nod. He’d had the same impression the first time he’d seen Kane. His opinion hadn’t improved much, only his understanding of the man’s predicament had eased Jonathan’s fears for Gwen’s safety.
Kane emerged with a mop and bucket and started in the far corner of the diner where chairs sat upside down on top of the tables. Jonathan glimpsed Luis moving around the kitchen shutting down.
Gwen refocused the men on their previous conversation. “So where do you think they intend to attack? Perhaps I can help. I know this area pretty well and after all my years in the Army, I can think like a terrorist.”
She grabbed her computer from under the counter and sat down on her usual stool. After pulling up a map of the area, the men moved in close. Jonathan took the stool on one side of her, Quin on the other. Alex chose to stand looking over her shoulder.
“So, what are the possibilities?” she asked.
For the next fifteen minutes, they discussed each site Homeland had identified.
“It’ll be the new American Airlines towers,” a deep voice from behind the group claimed.
Everyone turned and stared at Kane.
“And how the fuck would you know that?” Quin’s tone was filled with accusation.
Griffin grabbed the front of Kane’s plaid shirt and pulled him to within an inch of his face. “What do you know about terro—”
Kane swept out his leg and had Griffin on the tiled floor, his large body immovable, a knife at his neck, before he could finish his question. “I’ve killed more fucking terrorists than you’ve ever seen. You know nothing about me.”
“Let him up, Kane,” Gwen ordered in a calm voice. “He is not your enemy. He’s one of the good guys.”
No one moved.
“Kane,” Jonathan said as casually as he could. “Meet Griffin Mitchel. He’s the manager of the Guardian Security center in Miami. And a former SEAL…like you.”
Kane seemed to leap backward three feet, quickly folding his knife away. He shoved up his long sleeve exposing the three-toed tracks. “Team Four.” He extended his hand to Griffin. “I’m sorry, brother.”
Griffin took his hand and stood. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”
Kane smiled. “No, you shouldn’t have.”
Alex stepped over to the two former SEALs who were still sizing up each other cautiously. “Alex Wolf.” He held out his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to see you, again, sir,” Kane all but stood at attention. At Alex’s questioning look, Kane glanced at Quin then held his gaze on Jonathan. “After I met Jonathan earlier in the week, I checked him out…and your company.”
His attention went to Alex. “When I saw your picture, I recognized you. Guatemala. You were the task force commander. I was the electronics technician for the Navy SEAL contingent, so far down the chain of command I’m sure you don’t remember me.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t.” Alex looked him over again. “What happened?”
Kane sneered then looked to Gwen. She nodded and he returned his gaze to Alex. “Gwen can explain it better, she was there. The bottom line is my unit all caught a bug in the mountains in northern Afghanistan. It about killed us. Some got over it in two weeks, others it took nearly a month, and left all of us weak as babies. Me, well, it attacked my pancreas and left me with type 1 diabetes.”
Kane now looked into the eyes of the other men and took a deep breath. “When I got home, I’d lost over forty pounds and needed shots every few hours.” His lips drew a tight line. “I guess my wife forgot the part of our vows,in sickness and in health. She left me within a week. I lost my house, my truck, and my wife while waiting for my VA benefits to kick in.” One end of his mouth cocked up. “I really miss my truck.”
Gwen swatted his shoulder. “Not your wife?”
“Nah.” Kane shrugged. “I think she’d been fucking around on me. After she left, I found a bunch of voicemails that pretty much confirmed it for me. She was really quick with divorce papers.”
Quin asked, “So is that when you two hooked up?”
Gwen quickly corrected any assumptions. “I found Kane on the streets while trying to give away some of the leftover food one night.” She threw an arm around him. “I’ve been trying to convince him to use some of those other VA benefits he has, but he’s just a hard-headed squid.”
“Frog,” He corrected. “Like anything they can do is going to help me.” He scowled. “Job counseling. How’s that going to work? I don’t have a phone or an address. Second tent on the left in the third row under Interstate 45? No. The city closed that encampment down back in May and just expected the three hundred people living there—men, women, and kids, so goddamned many hungry kids—to magically find somewhere else to live. I have nowhere to go.” Frustration emanated in emotional waves off him. “And what am I going to do? I haven’t found a Machine Gunners local union hall to register my skill set. And then there’s the problem of the insulin that I have to inject every day to make sure my body absorbs enough sugar to function. If I get low, I get slow. Thank Christ the VA gives it to me because I sure as shit couldn’t afford it,” He shook his head and stared across the black and white checkered floor. “I have to finish mopping.”
