The Darkest Hour(38)

"Chill out, dude. What's got your panties in a knot this morning?"

Garrett scowled back at Sam, his eyebrows drawn into angry  thunderclouds. Oh yeah, Garrett was pissed. This went beyond his usual  grumpy-ass demeanor.

Garrett drew in several steadying breaths. Worried now, Sam shoved the bowl aside and reached for the paper.

"Spill for God's sake."

"Page three," Garrett seethed.

Sam thumbed over to the page in question and quickly scanned the  contents. He stopped when he saw the Kelly name splashed predominately  across the headline.

"Whoa."

"Yeah," Garrett said in disgust. "Read it."

Sam read through the article touting Rachel's miraculous return from the  dead. When he got to the part about the role KGI had played, his  fingers tightened until the edges of the paper crumpled in his fists.

"God damn."

"Keep reading," Garrett said grimly.

Nothing was left to chance. Rachel's drug addiction was mentioned, but  nowhere did it say the drugs were forced on her. Just that she battled  the effects of cocaine and heroin addiction. It was even suggested that  her memory loss wasn't real, that it was a ruse to incite sympathy.

Sam couldn't think beyond the rage building. "Who the fuck told them all this crap?"

Garrett snatched the paper and then stabbed a finger at part of the article. "Read!"

The words wobbled back and forth until Sam grabbed Garrett's wrist to  steady the paper. There in the article it cited a close family member as  the source.

"That's bullshit," Sam exploded. "No fucking way. There is no goddamn way one of us sold Rachel out like that."

He got up, knocking the stool over, and paced back and forth in the  kitchen, so furious he wanted to break something. He yanked his gaze  back to Garrett, who didn't look any happier.

"Who do you think did this?"

"It wasn't me. It sure as hell wasn't you. It wasn't Ma or Dad. It damn  sure wasn't Van, Nathan or Joe. Who does that leave? No one knows this  kind of shit. How the fuck would they know that much about KGI?"

"Sean does," Sam muttered.

The two brothers exchanged looks and both reached the same conclusion.

"No way he did it either," Garrett said. "He loves Ma and Dad. He's practically one of the family."

Sam stared at Garrett as sudden realization swept over him. "Rusty."

"Son of a bitch," Garrett swore. "I'll kill her. Mom can't save her ass this time."

"This'll hurt Ma," Sam said.

"What did the little bitch think she was doing?"

Sam sighed. "Rusty has seen Rachel as a threat from the beginning. She's  young and messed up and she resented the attention Rachel got when she  came home. I guess this is her way of taking her down a notch or two."

"She goes," Garrett said coldly. "No one betrays the family like this. I  don't care what Ma says. Once Dad finds out, he'll agree. Rachel will  be devastated when she sees this."

"I need to call Ethan. He'll need to know, and he'll want to confront Rusty with us."

Garrett nodded, his lips still a tight line of fury.

"Morning," Donovan called as he sauntered into the kitchen.

He eyed Sam and Garrett suspiciously as he opened the fridge and took out the orange juice.

"If I interrupted violence, by all means I'll step back. Always nice to see bloodshed first thing in the a.m."

"Rusty sold Rachel out," Sam said bluntly. "It's all over the paper."

Donovan frowned, shut the fridge and walked over to pick up the paper. As he read, his frown deepened.

"Son of a bitch."

"Yeah," Garrett said.

"What's that you're holding?" Sam asked Donovan, noticing for the first time the papers in Donovan's left hand.

Donovan glanced down as if he'd forgotten them.

"An email I printed off. Possible job. I know we said we were laying off  for a while, until things are good here with Rachel, and Cole and  Dolphin have had time to heal."                       
       
           



       

"But?" Sam asked. "I hear a definite but in there."

Donovan flushed guiltily. "I might have told them we'd take it anyway."

"What the fuck?" Garrett's face went red and his cheeks puffed out as if  it was all he could do not to explode. "Am I the only dumbass who still  thinks this is a partnership around here?"

Sam held up a hand before Garrett went completely apeshit. Guilt ate at  him. Garrett would have a coronary if he knew what Sam had ordered Rio  to do and that Sam would be going back to South America.

"Okay, tell us, Van. What's the gig and why did you already agree to it?"

"It's a kid," Donovan said painfully. "An abduction case. Parents are  frantic. No ransom demand. Cops have exhausted all leads. Wife is  convinced it's her ex-husband, an avenue the cops have pursued but hit a  dead-end. The ex lives out of the country, so she wants someone to whom  that wouldn't pose a problem."

Sam blew his breath out in a long exhale as he and Garrett exchanged  resigned looks. If it involved a kid, Donovan was a goner. No way he  would have turned it down.

"Okay Van, you need to give us details and then you need to tell me how the hell we're going to swing this."

Donovan leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest,  the papers still held tight in his hand. "Rio is free. He hasn't pulled a  mission in a while if you don't count the pussy recon mission we sent  him on. Steele's still giving him shit over that."

Sam shook his head. "Rio and his team can't do this."

Garrett swung around. "Why the hell not?"

Sam ignored him. "Half of Steele's team is out of commission for the  next little while, and I still don't think it's a good idea for us all  to leave when Ethan and Rachel are going to need all the support they  can get, particularly after this morning's little news story."

Donovan plopped down on the stool across the bar and put his elbows up on the counter.

"Okay, I can take P.J., Renshaw and Baker. You and Garrett can stay here and look in on Cole and Dolphin."

Sam looked at Garrett, who didn't look entirely happy with the setup,  but then that was Garrett. He didn't like anything he hadn't been in on  and planned from the start. And Garrett was still staring holes through  Sam, which told him they weren't done with the Rio issue.

"Let me see the email," Garrett grunted.

The corner of Donovan's lip curled, but he kept the grin off his face,  which was good since it just would have pissed Garrett off more.

As Garrett read, he let out a curse. "Christ, the kid's only four years  old. You neglected to mention that the ex is a convicted child  molester."

Donovan shrugged. "Whether he is or isn't, I'd still want to go in after  the kid. The mother is out of her mind. Her current husband adopted the  daughter. He's raised her since she was an infant. He's destroyed by  the fact no one can help them. We're their last resort. I couldn't tell  them no."

"You know where he's holed up, Van?" Sam asked.

"I have a good idea. Did some digging. Hacked into his finances. He's  living it up in some shithole in Mexico. We can go in. He'll never know  what hit him. I figure we can get the kid and be back in forty-eight  hours tops."

"Looks like you better give Steele a call and let him know what's going  down. He'll want to go. Make it clear he's out of commission for a  while. It'll piss him off that you're taking his team, but he'll get  over it. You'll need time to get geared up, get the intel you need and  get your men together. You don't go in blind, Van. You wait until we  have all the information and then you go."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. If you two are finished mothering me, I'll go  make some calls while you go over and tear a strip off of Rusty's hide.  Just sorry I'll miss it."

Sam watched his brother walk out of the kitchen, the papers clenched tightly in his hand.

"Van."

Donovan stopped and turned, his eyebrow lifted in question.

"Put it away, okay? I'll pull the plug on this in a nanosecond if I think your head's not on straight."

Donovan's lip curled in distrust. "I don't tell you how to deal with  your shit, Sam. Back off. Steele and I can handle this in our sleep."

"Fair enough."

Sam turned to Garrett after Donovan had left. "You going to call Ethan or am I?"

"Neither of us is calling him yet. Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on with Rio," Garrett said.                       
       
           



       

"He's busy," Sam said shortly.

"Yeah? With what?"

Sam blew out his breath. "Goddamn it, Garrett."

"Don't bullshit me," Garrett snapped. "What the hell is it with you and Van making unilateral decisions around here?"