Marcus

Chapter Thirty Seven

 Marcus ~

Waiting for Caroline's radio signal was torture, but Marcus left Diesel with Cooper to listen for any distress signals while he gave Hunter an update on the current situation on a secured line out of Cooper's earshot. 

"He did what?" Hunter bit out.

"Yeah and I'm starting to get the feeling that there's something a lot bigger going on here. Caroline said he was talking shit about not only me, but you and the rest of Knight Security. Any idea what that's about?" Marcus asked.

"Not a fucking clue, but I'll look into it."

"No need." Nate said, joining the conversation.

"Sir does the name Morrison mean anything to you?" Nate asked Hunter, while Marcus and the rest of Charlie Team listened in.

"Eli Morrison? What does that fuckbag have to do with anything?" Hunter spat.

"Well that fuckbag was in cahoots with Fox for years, but Fox was smart enough to cover his tracks and Morrison wasn't."

"Fuck." Hunter grumbled.

Marcus exchanged confused looks with Viper as they waited for someone to fill them in.

"Our fearless leader here, helped get Morrison court martialed and dishonorably discharged. He's currently doing time, mostly based on eye witness counts from Hunter and his team."

"Care to elaborate Sir?" Marcus asked, wanting more details.

Hunter let out an irritated sigh, but gave Marcus the details he wanted and needed to better understand the gravity of the situation.

"Morrison was buying and selling intel to terrorist groups who paid top dollar for it. He was shipping home cases of blood money and valuables on top of having shit wired to untraceable accounts in the Cayman islands. One of my teammates caught wind of it during an assignment and blew the whole thing wide open. I knew he was working others, but Morrison was a selfish sloppy bastard who was too arrogant to try and cover his tracks. He would gather intel from one group and write up reports on it as if he were doing his job, then turn around and sell that intel to their enemies for top dollar. I had no idea Fox was in on all that bullshit." Hunter grumbled.

"And you think he's still in business?" Viper asked.

"He's gotta be, I mean it makes sense right? Fox is using Caroline to get intel, then selling it to the highest bidder and making money hand over fist...he doesn't give a shit about Caroline and he doesn't give a shit about his country...he gives a shit about his money and who's gonna earn it for him once his best honey trap up and leaves." Nate said.

Greed was the one outlier that could turn the most honorable men into monsters and Marcus had no doubt that Fox's bank account was what was fueling his sudden mood swings when it came to Caroline, but one part didn't make sense - Why hand her over to Hashim if she lined his bank account with blood money?

"So why set her up? Why set a trap for her and hand her over to Hashim?" Marcus asked.

"Tying up a loose end?" Lainey asked. "Caroline would know every bit of intel he'd ever sold, correct? Maybe he's trying to silence her for good so she doesn't have the opportunity to put these pieces together on her own here in California."

"She's right, having me and Caroline in close proximity to each other probably lit a fire under his ass." Hunter added. "He must have known we'd put the pieces together eventually."

"Which means she's in a whole lot more trouble than we thought." Marcus said, running his hand through his hair.

If a man like Fox wants someone dead, they are in a world of trouble, especial here on his turf. Shit, how can I keep Caroline safe?

"Listen, the only way we can get Caroline out of this is to gather as much evidence as we can. Hearsay won't be good enough, we need something solid and tangible to take over Fox's head and end this shit for good." Hunter said.

"Lainey and I are all over it." Nate added, giving Marcus a boost of confidence.

"Let me know when you've got enough, we'll lay low until then." Marcus said, ending the call and returning to Cooper and Diesel as quickly as possible.

Marcus stood with Cooper and the rest of Charlie team as they stared helplessly at the radio, waiting for Caroline to call in the all clear and signal that she was on her way back to base.

Five minutes until Caroline's scheduled radio check.

Cooper seemed just as nervous and concerned as the rest of the team, but Marcus wasn't sure if he could be trusted yet, so Cooper needed to be kept in the dark. Faking concern to manipulate the emotions of the team to make him seem trustworthy was definitely a skillset that a high ranking CIA officer possessed and Marcus was acutely aware of that fact at all times.

"Anything?" Marcus asked at the two minute mark.

"Nothing." Cooper confirmed.

Worst case scenarios started to flood Marcus' thoughts, displaying images of her being ambushed and taken captive or tortured within an inch of her life for information, or just for pure enjoyment. The intense thoughts started to take over and Marcus shook his head, trying to physically remove the images from his brain. 

She's good at what she does Marcus, even if we have to go get her, she's going to fight like hell until help arrives. Calm your ass down and focus. 

The silence in the room grew thick, making it more and more difficult to breathe as they reached the designated call time.

Alright here we go. Come on, Red. Let me hear that sweet voice. 

Marcus watched the second hand tick across the face of the clock and perked his ears waiting for the static voices on the radio, but there was nothing but silence.

Shit, shit, shit.

Cooper dropped his head in his hands and everyone shifted uncomfortably where they stood as another minute passed. 

"Turn up the volume on that radio." Viper ordered, prompting immediate action from Cooper. 

Still, nothing but silence. 

Four minutes past the designated call time. Fuck. 

Marcus braced his weight on the table and closed his eyes, willing Caroline to pick up that damn radio, desperate for any change in sound that would indicate that she was okay. 

The white noise of the transmitter was grating on his ears, coming in and out as it lost and gained signal. The transmitter clicked once as if someone were about to relay a message, but there wasn't a voice, no sound at all. 

Lifting his head, Marcus leaned forward with his ears perked waiting to hear his Caroline's sweet voice, but it never came. Just the clicking of the radio as it was being engaged and disengaged over and over. Every man in the room listened intently, but no voices escaped from the radio. 

Three rapid clicks of the radio caught Marcus' attention and he whipped his head around the room to see if he was the only one who had picked up on it. 

"You hear that?" Marcus said to Viper. 

"I sure as shit did." 

Everyone stilled and listened before they all came to the same terrifying conclusion.

Caroline is sending us a silent SOS over the radio.