Chapter Five

 

Chase watched them from the bar, keeping his head down and shielded from recognition with a large straw hat. He’d been nursing his beer for close to an hour now, watching the body language between his former brother in arms and the heir to the Tovar empire.

For days he’d been getting in information from Grey regarding RJ’s life since he disappeared from special forces. From what they could tell, he completely disappeared from existence almost four years ago. Then after a few months of being gone, the recycled version of RJ, Rodrigo Jimenez appeared in Colombia, and has been a resident of the country and a trusted confidant of Pedro Tovar ever since.

They found an obviously concocted digital footprint on the web which gave a brief history of Rodrigo’s life. On paper he looked legit. A poor boy of a single mom who worked too much and was hardly ever home to raise her son. They found a paper trail showing that he grew up on the gang riddled streets of Houston, eventually being kicked out of several schools until he finally made his way up in a competing cartel’s Houston organization.

It was that made up scenario and reputation that earned him a seat in the Tovar operation. Though how he rose so quickly to be one of Tovar’s most trusted advisors was still to be determined.

Every contact that The Omega Team had at the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, The National Security Agency, the CIA, and the FBI all told them the same thing, that RJ Hancock was a deserter, that he had not been selected for any secret missions, and he was not working undercover for the United States in any capacity.

It was a lie that both he and Grey had considered was due to plausible deniability. Neither of them fully trusting the higher ups within the organizations of their country. They loved their country, would do anything for their country, including giving their own life. But, neither of the two men were foolish enough to believe that their country told them everything. The entire reasoning behind classified information was to protect missions and the people who ran them. And regardless of Grey’s or his own service to their country, he doubted that they were very high on the need to know list.

As much as Chase knew RJ and he was finally able to make sense out of what happened, he was growing uneasy by the behaviors he saw taking place between Monica Tovar and Tovar’s right hand man.

There was something there between them. It wasn’t obvious. Nothing on the surface to show that there was anything more than a bodyguard protecting his package. But, Chase saw something there and he knew there was only one way to find out.

The time to do it was now.

“Rodrigo? Rodrigo Jimenez is that you?”

For a brief moment RJ hesitated. It wasn’t long enough that anyone else might’ve noticed, but Chase knowing him far too well, caught instantly.

“Yes, how are you, old friend?”

“Doing good. Good. Who’s your friend here?” Chase asked. Knowing that how he introduced Monica Tovar would be a big indication of their relationship.

“Monica.” She held out her hand to him.

“Ahh… Monica. It is a pleasure. You’re quite beautiful. I hope he tells you that often.” Chase flirted, hoping to garner some sort of a reaction from RJ.

She blushed by his compliment. “Thank you, that’s very sweet. How do you two know each other?”

“We went to school together a long time ago.” RJ answered.

“Oh, back in Houston?”

“Yes.” Chase nodded. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has.”

“Listen, I won’t keep you two. I was just heading out, but had to stop and say hi.”

“It was nice to meet you.” Monica smiled.

“I’ll walk you out.” RJ turned toward Monica. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Once again Chase saw mixed messages with RJ’s mannerisms. His body language said he was her guard, but his eyes and the way he looked at her said something more.

Both of the men walked silently out to the parking lot. Neither of them saying a word to one another as they were sure they were out of earshot and no one could hear them.

“What in the hell are you doing here, Edwards?” RJ asked.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing, Hancock. Or should I say Jimenez?”

“Don’t do this.”

“Look man, I don’t know what you’re doing here, or why everyone thinks you went AWOL, but Grey and I aren’t buying it –.”

“Grey? Holden? What in the fuck does he have to do with this?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Well, I’m on borrowed time here so maybe you could give me the abridged version?”

“Grey’s running a civilian contracting business. I work for him. We have a case, well, it’s more than a case to me, but we’re trying to take down Tovar and protect a woman he’s trying to kill.”

“Don’t tell me… Senator Powers daughter?”

“Yeah. How’d you know –.”

“Dumb question, Edwards. Who in the fuck do you think I see every damn day? Tovar, man. He wants Chloe Powers deader than dead. He’s obsessed.”

“Yeah, well I’m not about ready to let that happen. Ever!”

“Oh shit. Don’t tell me… you’re involved with her, aren’t you?”

“More than involved.”

“What the fuck is it with Tovar and the women in your life?”

Chase glared at him. “Can we stay on point here?”

“Sorry. Look, I’ve been working on this for years now. I was close. So fucking close to the end, then that woman, your woman, fucked everything up. And everything’s gone to shit.”

“Yeah, sorry her getting assaulted and defending herself is an inconvenience to you, man.” Chase shook his head.

“Fuck. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Look, I’m just juggling a lot right now.”

“Like that hottie in the restaurant?”

“It’s not like that. She’s Tovar’s daughter. He wants me watching her.”

“You can say it’s not like that all you want. But, I see the way she looks at you and I see the way you look at her. I haven’t seen you in years man, and you’ve been with Tovar this whole time. So, you might want to be careful.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Tovar, man. If you start fucking around with his daughter he’s not going to take too kindly to it. Especially not if he finds out who you are.”

“Well, he’s not going to find out. Because you’re not going to blow my fucking cover, right?”

“You know I wouldn’t do that.”

RJ ran his fingers through his hair and cursed under his breath. “So, why are you here? What do you want?”

“We, Grey and I, wanted to see if we were right. We suspected you may be undercover and we’re relieved to see that you are. I came here to verify that information. But, I also came here for a favor.”

“Of course, you did. And I bet I can guess what it is.”

“Chloe. I need your guarantee that if you hear anything about a plan to come after her that you tip us off first.”

“Fuck!”

“You know I don’t want anything bad to happen to any civilian. Especially those who are innocent. But, you’re asking me to put my entire mission in jeopardy.”

Chase looked him square in the face. “She’s important to me, RJ. More important than my own revenge for Tovar’s involvement in 9/11.”

Shaking his head, RJ reluctantly agreed. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to this, but, if it comes to me sacrificing my mission to keep your woman safe, then I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, brother.”

“You owe me, man.”

“I know.”

“Look, I’ve got to get back inside before she starts getting suspicious.”

“Okay, we’ll be in touch. Here’s our number in case you need any backup. For anything, RJ.”

“Thanks.”

“And be careful. If I see how you look at her, others are going to start to notice too.”

“Fuck!” RJ waved him off and went back inside.

Chase sent a text to Grey: Met up. Confirmation. Rudolph is in play.