Cruz ignored her question. “And what were you going to do once she showed up?”
Captain Jones pressed his lips together. “To be honest, I was weighing my options. However, you arrived. All the others are…unconscious?”
“Indisposed.” Cruz had managed to take out any of the other guards with Atlas’s help, leaving them zip tied and unconscious.
“How many men?”
Interesting question. Still, Cruz had a feeling Lyn’s stepfather was a man of many layers. Time to give him the chance to peel back a few. “One outside. Two at the top of the stairs. The sergeant outside the door and our friend here.”
A sharp bark and a growl had Cruz down on one knee, turning his weapon to the door. A man stumbled through the doorframe with seventy-five pounds of Belgian Malinois on his back.
Cruz charged forward a second time, engaging with the newcomer. The other man had no chance and was shortly on the floor, unconscious.
“Atlas!” Lyn sounded so happy. God, he was glad she could still be happy.
Atlas stood panting, his left shoulder laid open by a bullet graze and trickling blood down his foreleg. But the big dog was looking at Cruz, waiting to be released from his last command given out in the hallway. Bewaken. Guard.
Cruz jerked his head in Lyn’s direction. “Okay.”
Atlas broke his stance immediately and bounded over to Lyn, licking tears off her face. She flinched and Atlas whined softly.
Cruz got a good look at the side of her face and anger burned through him until the edges of his peripheral vision started to darken. There was a horribly spectacular bruise developing across her cheekbone up to her temple. It had to be painful if even Atlas’s gentle touch hurt her.
“I’ll be making sure the man who hit her will never do it again,” Captain Jones said quietly, calm, cold. Very cold.
“You want to tell us what you’re doing here, Captain?” Cruz asked. He still hadn’t holstered his weapon. The captain hadn’t asked him to, either. That made Cruz more certain there was a lot more going on here.
Captain Jones nodded. “I’ll be making a phone call shortly to have them taken into custody. The two of you should leave.”
“Not the question I asked.”
“As I said to Lyn earlier, the less you know, the better,” Captain Jones countered.
Cruz shook his head.
The two of them glared at each other.
Captain Jones sighed. “This is a covert investigation. I became aware of this group a short while ago when I was approached with the opportunity to join as a business partner. However, my concern was the recruitment plan. Several soldiers seemed to be a part of the planning process under duress.”
“You could say that.” Cruz didn’t bother keeping the growl out of his voice. He wasn’t active duty anymore; insubordination wasn’t an issue.
“Your friend, Calhoun, had put in for a transfer. It was denied. When he died and his dog was sent back here, I was asked to intercept. Instead, I made sure the dog got to where Calhoun wanted him to go.” Captain Jones shrugged. “It’s easier to flush out the true intents of people if you let them act on their plans for a certain amount of time. I sent Lyn so I’d know when you were getting too involved. I’ve needed time to identify all the people involved, not just those most directly visible. If you forced my partner to move too quickly, it would have been unfortunate.”
“For you?” Lyn was on her knees, her arms wrapped loosely around Atlas’s shoulders. Her bravado was good but she needed the comfort of Atlas’s strength to hold on to for the moment.
Cruz desperately wanted to go to her, hold her, and check every inch of her for any other hurt.
“Organizations like this are like patches of weeds.” Captain Jones’s voice took on a patronizing tone. The man really let Lyn get under his skin. “It takes time to determine how far the roots have spread and determine the best way to cut them out. Otherwise, they just pop back up someplace else. When I conduct an investigation of this magnitude, I don’t just pull up the visible weeds. I root up every runner and eliminate the issue.”
Bastards like these people would always be around. Cruz didn’t envy the Captain a job like that.
“I still need to learn more about my…business partner and his potential investors.” Captain Jones took out his phone.
“You mean you’re still working with this man, whoever he is.” Lyn didn’t bother to hide her disgust.
“His business plan has serious ethical issues.” Captain Jones raised an eyebrow at her. “Currently, there’s no proof tying him to all of this besides my word. The best I would be able to manage with any accusation at this time would be a dishonorable discharge. He’d still be free to move forward with his plans, albeit under a certain amount of scrutiny from the US government. That, however, is insufficient.”