But Michael had a point. If this was about Michael’s brother, JT, Case would never allow him to go in alone. He wouldn’t ever let his partner walk into a situation without backup. Not if he could do something about it. “Watch Fain, please. I’ll take Hutch with me.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to wake him up, but I made sure his SIG is in working order. He’s been busy tending crops or something on his online game and hasn’t cleaned it in months. One of these days, that boy is going to grow up.”
Hutch was the perpetual manchild, but his heart was in the right place.
Hutch had been there that night. Hutch had watched Theo die. Case crossed into the bedroom where Hutch was laid out on one of the two double beds, his head covered with a pillow as though he was trying to keep out the sunlight.
Or invite someone to smother him.
Case picked up the pillow. “Hutchins, time to wake up. Get your lazy ass out of that bed right fucking now and back up your CO.”
Hutch damn near came off the bed, his eyes wild and his hands moving as though looking for his gun. “What the fuck?” He frowned. “You suck, Taggart. Where’s my gun?”
“Michael took it from you and cleaned it so now it’s shiny and ready for use on you. Never let a man take your piece. Not even when you’re fucking asleep. Let’s go. We have a job to do.”
Hutch yawned, seeming to regain his usual lackadaisical composure. “I’m going to need some coffee.”
Lucky for him, they were in Colombia.
Thirty minutes later, Case stood outside Old Town, the most popular part of the city with tourists. Surrounded by Las Murallas, thick stone walls that had once protected the city from invaders, the small district was filled to the brim with foreigners enjoying the day. The sky above was a clear crystal blue and he had to wonder if his brother was sitting somewhere, staring up at the sky and wondering why he’d been left behind.
“Fain seems pretty solid to me, boss,” Hutch said quietly. He carried his second cup of heavily sweetened coffee of the day. Case had noticed early on that Hutch had habits. Coffee, thick with cream and sugar in the morning, some kind of soda after noon. Never any alcohol. Not a beer or a shot of whiskey. “I ran his records and he was in the Marines for five years. Did four tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Served in Force Recon. One purple heart. Only child of Marie and Hank Fain of the great state of Iowa. One half brother from Marie’s first marriage, but I didn’t find much on him. The Fains ran a farm until they sold out to a big corporation and retired to Florida.”
It didn’t sit well. “How deep did you dig?”
Hutch sighed. “I’ve been awake for thirty minutes, boss. For the last couple of days finding the identities of our dead dudes and lady corpse was, according to you, my highest task in life.”
“I’m sure I didn’t put it that way.”
“No, you said something like figure it out or I’ll fire you. Which, might I point out, is a threat you never follow through on so now it’s a little like white noise. All I’m saying is I’m your lone tech guy. In the words of Scotty…” Hutch went into a bad Scottish accent. “I’m giving her all I can, Captain.”
He did get the point. “I can’t bring anyone else in. I need your best work, man.”
Hutch sobered. “You’ll have it, but I’m working with one hand tied behind my back. I don’t have Adam or Chelsea to run interference and some of the sites I’m pulling files from aren’t the easiest hacks in the world. Fain was up for recruitment into our old black ops team. I did find that paperwork. Will you at least let me try to contact Ten and ask why he didn’t make the cut? I’m not sure where he is, but I can probably find a number he might or might not be using right now. I can try the last one I had, but he likes to change things up.”
Case was definitely interested in why Fain hadn’t joined their CIA team. But he also knew getting Ten on the phone could take a while. “Yes. You can do that. Tell him I’m worried because Mia hired him. That’s all he needs to know right now. What did you find out about our would-be kidnappers?”
Down the street he could see the bank his brother had robbed. Case had studied the police reports. Theo and his team had been precise and professional. Like the other Gringos jobs. They’d gotten in, blown the safe, and gotten out with over a hundred grand in under three minutes. How long had Theo prepped for the job? He would have cased the place. He would have taken his time and learned the ins and outs of the building and the habits of the people around it.