Page 10 of Game of Love
Then I remembered what happened.
Someone had hit me with what I could only imagine was a metal bar. I remembered the force of the impact. It was like being hit with a baseball bat but harder.
Someone hit me.
Who?
Who the fuck was it?
And… my hands were bound behind me. Not with rope but metal.Handcuffs?
I moved them and saw I was right. Handcuffs signaled cops.
How had the cops found me?
A door creaked open and footsteps sounded on the concrete floor.
I rolled my head to the side.
Who I saw coming toward me made my blood drain from my body and I stilled against the chair.
Ethan Ranger. My old captain.
How the hell had he found me? And, after so many years.
I straightened and he simply stared back. Stared at me through his good eye. He wore a black patch over the other. It made it difficult to assess his expression.
“How did you find me?” I asked. I knew I hadn’t slipped up. There was no way. I’d been too careful.
“I expected a better greeting, Agent Cage,” he answered.
“That’s not me anymore. How did you find me. It’s been five years.”
Five years…Jesus.
It sounded so weird saying it. I couldn’t believe so much time had passed.
“Yes it has been five years and I would have believed you were dead if I hadn’t reconnoitered a call between you and Bernard Perabo.”
Reconnoitered… so he spied.
Yes, that would do the trick and fucking find me.
When I was listed as living, I used to be was a part of the SMF— Special Missions Force. They were a secret intelligence agency who answered to the CIA.
They were one of those sectors who existed to get shit done when it hit the fan. The kind of shit the government would deny if you were caught.
Ethan had been the captain of my unit and was one of the senior leaders of the agency. Looked like he still was from the authoritative vibe he was exuding.
“Don’t worry, Bernard got his chip and the money is already in your account. I didn’t screw with that part,” Ethan spoke, cutting into my thoughts. “Xander, I need you for a black op mission. That is why I’m here.”
I started laughing, not because what he’d said was funny. I laughed without humor and with a crude edge because I couldn’t believe he’d had to come seek me out. A dead man.
“You need me?What? Nobody else qualified in the SMF?” I balked. This was a man I’d respected and I didn’t mean to be so abrasive. It was just that I didn’t have time for anything that would deviate from my plans.
“Xander, the short answer is no. There is no one else qualified to do the job I need. I’ve believed for a long time that you were alive and I’ve been looking for you. Your body was never found. There was whispers of Bernard working with The Shadow on the underground and I hoped it was you. Something has happened and you are possibly our only hope to contain the situation before it gets out of hand. It’s not just a national threat. It’s global.”
I may have been out of the game for years, but hearing something was a global threat sent a shiver down my spine.
