Page 116 of Stone
Hearing shouts, I knew the cavalry had arrived. As soon as I jumped to my feet, I was knocked aside by an assault rifle. Oh, hell, no. I twisted immediately, firing off four shots in rapid succession.
Kekoa, Akoni, and three other men had arrived, Kekoa picking off two more of the bastards with ease. As we cleaned up the rest, another strange sensation tore through me. I slowly turned toward Marine One, taking several deep breaths.
“Montre-toi.”
Show yourself.
It took a few minutes for a response.
Bradford had his hands up as he was led off the helicopter, almost falling as he jumped. The look on his face told me everything I didn’t know.
I’d been right about Matis. The kidnapping had been very personal.
Matis had his arm around Bradford’s neck, a weapon pointed at his head. There was no doubt the two secret servicemen and the pilot were dead.
I lowered my weapon, initially waiting as the two men headed in my direction. I nodded to Kekoa and the others to keep their distance. This was very personal.
“Dad,” Dani called as she burst from the trees.
I threw my arm out, praying to God she didn’t push the envelope.
“Matis Garnier. We finally meet,” I told him, cognizant Gray was coming up on my other side.
“Lieutenant Stone Bellows,” Matis said, his accent heavier than I’d heard on television. “Yes, it’s good to meet you. You are quite… formidable.”
I laughed and kept both hands on my weapon. “Just doing my job.”
“Yet you hate this man.”
“I hate a lot of people. Why don’t you tell me what you really want?” I quickly surveyed the situation. This was personal enough for Matis that I wasn’t certain that he cared if he got out of here alive.
“Why don’t I allow Vice President Vale to explain the reason for my hatred of him.”
I turned my full attention toward Bradford. His face was pale and he was sweating like a pig. “Go for it, Bradford. Maybe we can get to the bottom of why my father lied for you so you could continue carrying on with your corrupt agenda.”
“I have nothing to say.”
When Matis made the mistake of pointing his weapon at Dani, it was all I could do not to blow his brains out.
“I suggest you reconsider, or the sharks will enjoy a nice breakfast.” I took another step closer and directly in front of her. “Talk, Bradford, or I will allow our other guest to exact his revenge.”
I found it interesting that Gray wasn’t saying a word.
“Your father and I were close. We were young. In the prime of our lives. I was ready to graduate from law school. Georgetown. Your dad came up to celebrate with me. We went to a bar one night in DC and things got out of hand.” Bradford stopped talking and Matis pressed the barrel against his forehead.
“Go on,” I encouraged. “There are itchy trigger fingers in the crowd.”
“We got into a fight with a group of guys. They were older.”
“Why don’t you tell them why,” Matis hissed.
Bradford looked me in the eyes. “You don’t understand. I was already working for a congressman and my career was ahead of me. Carter was still floundering. But we were friends. Buddies. We were just celebrating. I had too much to drink. Carter tried to pull me free and this guy bumped into me. I thought it was on purpose.”
“Fucking keep talking,” I snarled.
“There were a group of foreign assholes taking up space at a bar. We didn’t like them. Correction. I didn’t like them. When the asshole bumped into me, I snapped.” Bradford suddenly wasn’t the bully he usually was.
“Keep going, old man,” Matis said through clenched teeth.
