“No, sir,” Hutch agreed. “I’m not going anywhere but downstairs to where that motherfucker is probably eating breakfast. I intend to lop off his dick and shove it down his throat.”
Theo nodded in agreement. “He sold out Ace. He sold out Murdoch. I don’t know why, and I don’t give a shit. He needs to be brought to justice. One way or another.”
Ten looked at his men. “Do you understand what this means? What you’re giving up? They won’t let this go lightly. We’ll be disavowed if we go after this man. He’s probably the very one who’s influencing the director to call us back. You don’t understand how bad this could get.”
“I’m in. So’s Case and so’s Mike and Boomer,” Theo said.
Hutch nodded. “I’m in and we’ve got Bear and Deke, too. They’re waiting to come over if we need them. Screw the Agency, Ten. We’re your team. We follow you. And hell, if it worked for the damn A-Team, I figure it’s good enough for me. Disavow me.”
They weren’t alone. Ten wasn’t alone.
He stepped forward and put his hand out, reaching for Theo, who grasped it. Theo shook Ten’s hand and then Ten hauled him in for a hug. They did the manly back beating thing and then Ten turned and brought Hutch in for the same.
He took a deep breath when he stepped back and he looked over at Phoebe. “All right, sister. He’s your man. This is your op. What do you want to do?”
“Erin, I need you to sweet talk Kamdar into lending us one of his men. There’s no way we get close to the senator, but I think Albertson knows everything he does. We need to get him up here and we need to find out what he knows.” She steeled herself. “By any means necessary.”
“Thank god.” Erin started for the door. “I’ll have that fucker up here before you know. Please let me do irreparable harm to his man parts. It’s been a long time.”
Theo practically stumbled, trying to run after her. “I’ll just go and make sure she doesn’t need backup.”
Ten stared after him. “That is the single dumbest boy I’ve ever met. Did he not hear her talk about man parts?”
Hutch sank back into his chair. “The course of true love never did run smooth, boss. I’ve got a list of properties in the UAE owned by al Fareed Oil and its many, many subsidiaries. Adam’s trying to pull them up on CCTV, but there’s a lot of blind spots.”
She looked over Hutch’s shoulder. It was a long list. “Dismiss the large buildings. I need something small and possibly deserted. He works in private.” And she was going to have to work the same way. “Simon, could you please set up a room where we can meet with the senator’s aide?”
Simon stood up and adjusted his tie. “Of course. We’ll use the back bedroom. Have Kamdar’s guards keep the cleaning staff out.” He started to walk away and then turned. “Give me your list of questions, Phoebe. Write it down. You won’t be involved in this.”
“I will.”
Ten shook his head. “No. Simon and I will take care of it.” He stepped up and put his hands on her shoulders. “You don’t understand how this can affect you. Murdoch does and he would be the first person to beg one of us to save you from this.”
“Phoebe, I can’t allow it,” Simon explained. “I know what my partner would want and I know what he would do for me. This isn’t some game. This is torture and pain, and if there was any other way, I would take it because it’s not what humans should do to one another.”
“He’s right. This is a sacrifice you don’t have to make.” Ten’s face turned grave. “I took these sins on my soul a long time ago. I’m not going to let you do it. Hell, I wouldn’t let Murdoch do it and Simon, you can be in the room, but I’ll handle the actual questioning.”
“Ten…” Simon began.
Ten shook his head. “You haven’t done this before. You have to be able to go home to your wife and sleep at night, brother. Hell, I don’t sleep at all anyway.”
She could see this was a losing battle. “I’ll listen in and feed you questions if you really think I can’t handle it.”
Ten frowned. “I know you can, but I don’t want you to see me like that. Can you understand?”
She hugged her brother and wondered how much he’d sacrificed over the years. He was giving up his career, possibly his freedom, for her and Jesse. “I do. I love you, Tennessee.”
He nodded and he and Simon went back to set up the room.
Phoebe sat and did the one thing she didn’t want to do. She waited.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Phoebe stared at the clock. Four hours twenty-two minutes. How much had he been forced to endure already? What had he been through in the hours she’d been sitting in this hotel room?
“Stop thinking about it.” Erin’s head fell back with a groan. She was sitting on the couch, the same place she’d sunk into an hour and a half before.