Hunter

Chapter Thirty Seven

"You got those drives?" Banks asked, causing Declan to shift his weight in his chair.

"They're secure in an undisclosed location." Hunter confirmed.

Banks pushed out a hard breath and readied himself to speak.

"Kenzie didn't know what she was taking. There's no way she could have known. But I couldn't convince my dad of that. Hell, half that shit was in code anyway. It's not like she would have been able to use it even if she did understand what she had taken."

"What's on the drives that's got your old man so worked up?" Slater asked.

"Everything." Banks said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Elaborate." Marcus growled.

"Elite Tactical has never really made ethics a top priority. My dad used to throw in the occasional dirty money maker job along with his government sanctioned missions. He was mostly legit with a few side gigs that were off the books and dirty as hell. About six or seven years ago is when shit got real bad. My uncle partnered up with my dad and introduced him to a handful of contacts who were willing to dish out illegal side jobs to Elite Tactical that had massive payouts. After he realized how lucrative it was to sell intel to the highest bidder or assassinate dignitaries, my dad was hooked. He went completely dark and dropped every agency tie until he was only pulling underground ops for hire."

"Mercenaries." Kincaid said, giving them the proper title.

"Those drives...What Kenzie took...Hunter she took it all. Dad's laundry list of corrupt government agency employees who were feeding him jobs, assets who were being bribed, enlisted men who were willing to commit treason for payout, locations of stash houses, safe houses and drop sites...everything."

Hunter raked his palm down his hand, with a full understanding of what Kenzie had taken, shocked to his core that she had been walking around with that kind of intel and was still alive.

"Holy fuck." Pierce mumbled under his breath.

"And Miles thinks she turned that information over to me and I'm somehow using it against him." Hunter said, trying to put the pieces together.

"Our little meet up in Kenya convinced him of that. Created a whole scenario in his mind that you used his assets against him just to spite him."

"Arrogant fuck." Hunter muttered.

"What tipped you off that he was coming after Kenzie?" Caleb asked.

Banks made eye contact with the man sitting to his left before he spoke.

"Eli here got wind that Jack was putting together a team to hunt her down." Banks said.

"Got wind?" Slater asked, in a skeptical tone, folding his arms over his chest.

Eli straightened in his chair and looked directly at Slater, then at Hunter as he spoke.

"I was selected to head the team." Eli said unapologetically as he stated the facts.

Eli's words put Hunter on edge and every man in the room seemed to focus their full attention on Eli, assessing him from head to toe.

"Well you either flipped on your fearless leader or you fucking suck at your job." Austin taunted.

"He came straight to me once Jack approached him with the job specs." Banks added.

I don't fucking like this.

"Did it ever occur to you that he may have wanted you to walk him straight to her?" Hunter asked with a lethal tone as he glared at Eli.

"Listen, you can cuff me and lock me up in a cell. Hell fly Kenzie out of the country and change her fucking name. All I know is I wasn't gonna kill Banks' sister...That's not who I am or what I'm about and it sent me over the edge. I'm done with Elite Tactical. I'm done with Miles Gryffon." Eli said coldly.