Chapter 20

Just choked on a carrot stick. See, this is why I don’t eat healthy. Cupcakes don’t try to kill me while eating them.

-E-mail from Sway to Hancock

Hancock

The moment I stepped down from the plane, men that I knew were my brother’s friends surrounded me. His team, as well as another team that knew him almost as well.

Some of them I recognized, some of them I didn’t.

“Fucking uncanny,” one of them said.

I turned to survey that man.

He was on the shorter side— well, at least compared to my six-foot-three height—and sporting a scar on his face that made him look like he had a permanent scowl.

“What is?” I questioned him.

“The resemblance.” He gestured at my face. “Look exactly like him.”

“We’re identical twins,” I pointed out.

The man’s face kicked up into his version of a grin—which admittedly wasn’t much of a grin due to the scar—and offered his hand to me. “Tim Teague.”

“Hancock Peters,” I offered him the same.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said.

I nodded.

“These men at my back, from left to right, are Park, Crassus, Jimmy and Tucker.” He pointed at the four men directly behind him. “We’re glad you’re here.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“I hope I can help.”

“Your face has already helped,” he told me. “Now we just gotta get you out of those civilian clothes.”

I looked down at my jeans and t-shirt, and then up at the tan cargo pants and brown shirt that the rest of them were wearing, and nodded.

“Okay.”

We began walking, and I started looking around while I raised one arm to wipe the sweat already pouring down my face.

It didn’t escape my knowledge that I was being watched.

It was decided that I’d come into this specific airport because it was the same one that my brother had been taken from on his way back home.

The airport was also in an area overrun by infidels who thought it was their job to scare every person who tried to come through their turf.

“Don’t worry about them,” the one who was introduced as Tucker threw his arm around my shoulder. “It’s good that they’re seeing you here. Gotta give them a good show, though.”

I elbowed Tucker off my shoulders.

“That’s what I was told,” I muttered. “But you have some body odor that’s really rank, and I’d rather not have it that close to my face.”

Tucker laughed, loud and deep.

“You remind me of him,” he sobered. “That was something your brother would say.”

I shrugged.

“I just hope I can help, and we can get him out,” I murmured. “And I only have two weeks to accomplish this, according to Leslie.”

“Who?” Tucker asked, opening the door to a Jeep that looked like it had seen better days.

I slid inside, sandwiched in by Tucker and Crassus, and said, “Leslie Corvallis.”

“Corvallis’ name is Leslie?”

That was from Park, who was driving.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “Has been for the last fifty-seven years, too.”

Crassus snorted.

“He’s gone nine and a half years without telling us that little tidbit. He said we didn’t need to know.” His lips twisted into a maniacal smile. “I can’t wait to tell him I know. Maybe I’ll just use it as I address him next time.”

“And maybe he’ll knock that stupid smile off your face,” Jimmy muttered as he looked out the window.

I found my first smile since I got off the plane.

“Yeah, that’s Leslie for you,” I confirmed. “Though Hannibal’s known it all this time. Why didn’t you just ask him?”

“Hannibal was sworn to secrecy. Said he would run the risk of losing his balls if he told us.”

“Hmmm,” I muttered. “That sounds like it’d be enough of a reason for him not to tell.”

“And what is he going to do to you when he finds out you told us?” Tucker asked, looking over at me.

“Not a damn thing if he wants to keep his season tickets.”

The group chuckled all around me, and I turned my head to stare out the window.

It was like I was in a different world.

There was absolutely nothing but sand.

Sand for as far as the eye could see.

“Usually, we would have to worry about IEDs. But we had the road swept before we came and it’s clean. We’re free to drive right up to our base,” Tucker commented when he saw me looking.

“Do you have any clue where Hannibal is yet?” I ignored the way the word ‘IED’ tore through me, making my hair stand on end.

I hated that my brother was over there doing that. I was proud as hell of him for doing it, but I didn’t understand why he was doing it. Why did he feel the need to be here? He had enough money, and even if he didn’t, he could go back to the farm and be a stubborn ass like my other brothers as they worked off the land.

Land that they had no clue I’d bought out from under them—which was going to go over like a bag of snakes shoved up their asses.

“We’re still fairly firm on the weapons manufacturer,” Tucker murmured, looking out the window himself this time.

“Why is it such a big deal for him to be there…other than him being a fucking American?” I asked. “Isn’t this guy from America?”

“Yes,” Tim chimed in from the front seat. “If he’s authorized to be there. This isn’t the embassy. This is a private residence. The compound has its own security detail that are there twenty-four seven. The owner also isn’t in on this in any way.”

“Then why do you think my brother is there?” I pushed.

“Because all our sources are saying he is,” he cleared his throat. “And until we’re proven otherwise, that’s where we’re going to keep our eyes trained.”

I sensed the subject was closed.

I also sensed that if I pushed it, he not only wasn’t going to answer, he would also likely get a little ticked off.

And I didn’t want to piss the guy off.

Regardless of my thoughts about myself, I knew I wasn’t trained, nor skilled, enough to be here on my own. I may be in good shape. I may know a lot of things…but none of those things would keep me alive in this place.

Sure, I’d give it a good run, but this was a foreign country. This place was completely and utterly new to me, and I was at the mercy of these men.

“You know, I was really looking forward to watching you play ball tonight,” Park said for the first time. “I wanted to see how you played against the girl’s brother.”

A smile turned up the corner of my mouth.

“I’d have blown his ass out of the water, and kissed his sister while he watched,” I grinned and turned to stare at the man. “How do you know about her?”

“Everyone knows about her,” Crassus pointed out. “The whole freakin’ world watches y’all. Sees y’all. Loves y’all.”

That made my heart happy, despite knowing that the world knew about me. I hated being in the public spotlight.

“ESPN has this new ‘Sway and Parts’ watch that they air during the newscast before the sports recap for the day,” Tucker added in.

I shook my head.

“That’s crazy,” I mumbled. “How did I not know that?”

Probably because I was too busy fucking my woman to watch a report on Sports Center about us.

“They asked Sway’s brother his opinion on y’all dating, and he said that he had no problem with the hook up. That you seemed like a good guy, and that you were her favorite player since you showed up in the majors. He said that it was only a matter of time,” Tucker continued.

That was news to me. Not that Sway had a weird sort of obsession with me, but that her brother approved.

“We’re here,” Park said as he pulled up in front of an old apartment building that looked to be about eight hundred years old.

But it was nicer than all of the other buildings surrounding it, so I guessed that was something.

“Home sweet home,” Tucker grunted as he pushed through the door to what I guessed was the apartment the men were using as their headquarters for the mission.

A very small apartment that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks.

See, I wasn’t the cleanest of people, but at least I knew how to throw away a fucking empty beer bottle.

These men, though, seemed to be decorating the room with their empties.

“Don’t look so disgusted,” Tucker grinned. “You’ll get used to it, rich boy.”

I laughed.

“This has nothing to do with my being rich, as you put it, and everything to do with the fact that there’s Cheetos dust all over the couch and the arm rest where you’re sitting.” I pointed to the offending materials.

“Hmm, would you look at that,” Tucker said as he took a seat in the cheese dust. “Game’s on.”

My eyes flew to the TV.

“How do you get this?” I asked.

He pointed to a large antenna that was on the balcony, and I hummed in understanding.

“State of the art stuff, thanks to your god-daddy,” Tim grunted as he walked to the fridge that was only about ten paces behind the couch, cracked the door and came back out with a beer in his fist.

“That’s nice of him, I guess,” I murmured, taking a seat in a recliner that looked like something most people would be throwing out. “He’s like that, though.” I looked around. “So, what do we do now?”

Tucker picked up a remote and hit the red button, and another TV came on next to the game. One that was showing about twenty different camera angles on a gated house. “Now we wait.”

***

It took one week, three days, and eight hours of constantly watching the TV, parading myself around in town, and expressing my general annoyance at the situation before something finally happened.

I’d missed seven games, six of which my team had lost, and I was beyond irritated.

A, because I was missing the games and I hated that we were losing them. And B, because the catcher who’d taken my place while I was ‘injured’ was now trying to take Sway as well.

I’d watched her, time after time, go out on the field when the stupid little fucker acted like he was hurt.

I was now contemplating his death.

I also realized that this kid was a little asshole who needed to be put in his place, that’s for damn sure.

He was cocky. He was a shitty batter, and he was going to be getting his ass kicked the moment I got back.

I wanted to go home. The rage inside my chest each time I saw Sway get flirted with by that little cock sucker was enough to cause me heart palpitations.

I wanted my brother home.

I wanted to take a hot goddamned shower that lasted longer than thirty seconds.

I wanted a fucking cheeseburger.

And most of all, I wanted Sway.

The good thing was that later that night, everything in our entire fucking plan seemed to work out perfectly…mostly.