Forsaken Duty (Red Team #9)(84)

“Santo kidnapped her, his own granddaughter,” Owen said.

“He had a choice to surrender her as a tithe or have his entire family slaughtered. He and the Omni assassin they sent fought. It was that guy who cut her up. The threat hung over the Dawsons the entire time Ace was inside. It’s why he eventually went in full-time himself. He could only teach her to fight; he couldn’t change her path. I don’t know if the threat still exists, but she and Greer seemed to have backed them off. And now that the tide is turning against the Omnis, their focus has moved elsewhere.”

The line went silent, but Owen knew Jax hadn’t hung up.

“I told Addy you were bad. I kept her from you.” There was a pause on the line. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t mean jack shit, but I needed to say it.”

Owen held his cell phone to his forehead briefly, then said. “I’m just glad you finally got her out. Let’s just focus on that.”

“The FBI found the girl’s family. Addy’s doppelg?nger. They found her family.”

“Good. So where is Roberta now that she doesn’t have the senator to manipulate?”

“Not here. My dad said he didn’t know where she was, but your dad said everyone’s heading to Wyoming, including him. Everyone’s heading to the WKB compound. I gotta tell you they aren’t coming in to negotiate a peace plan with you guys. They’re going so they can draw you there and take you out. The game’s over.”

“No, it’s not. We have the Ratcliffs. The human modifications the Omnis were developing have multiple uses and have been widely distributed. We didn’t figure it out or shut it down in time. It has the potential to change the world order and even become a mass-extinction event.”

“Like the Georgia Guidestones talk about.”

“Yeah. That and a hundred other conspiracy theories about the end of modern civilization. We found reference to their desires for a mass kill-off of the human population in some of the papers we’ve uncovered. This technology makes that possible. Did your dad say where my son was?”

“No. I don’t think he knew. I’m on my way out there.”

“Right. Then we’ll see you in hell.” Owen dropped the connection. The room was quiet. At last, they knew who King was.

“We can’t make the mistake of thinking we’re only dealing with meathead gang-bangers,” Kit said. “Angel has already encountered their altered warriors.”

“They’re strong and certainly focused, but they seem separated from their instincts,” Angel said. “It’s like they’re hopped up on crack. We fight smarter than they do. I’m not worried about them.”

“Why converge on the WKB compound?” Blade asked.

“Because they’ve been cultivating the bikers as their soldiers,” Max said. “It’s remote. It’s defensible. And there are multiple ways out if a retreat becomes necessary.”

“We’ve been monitoring the compound since I refreshed our eyes out there,” Max said. “Nothing’s been going on other than it’s slowly emptying out. I warned Pete to get his guys outta there. The fewer there are, the fewer we’ll have to kill. Lion’s been out there with the boys. He’s checked in, but hasn’t had anything to report.”

“Are we sure what’s going to happen is going down there?” Rocco asked. “You certain we can trust Jax?”

“No, I’m not,” Owen said.

“We need a battle plan,” Blade said. “We have to get ourselves in position before this shit goes down.”

“And we need coverage here,” Kit said.

Owen agreed. “Let’s take this discussion to the bunker. Blade, get your dad over here. I want him brought up to speed.”





26





Owen took a detour to his wing before heading down to the bunker. He hoped Addy was still awake. He wasn’t sure how she would take the news—about her dad or about Edwards being King.

A light was on in the sitting room. She was on the couch, reading. When she saw him, she smiled. He didn’t return it.

“What is it?” she asked.

He knelt in front of her. “I have some news. About your dad. And about King.”

“Okay. What about my dad?”

“Jax went to question him about a few things. Turns out Roberta did in fact murder your mother so she could take her place.”

“Oh, my God. Did my dad know?”

“Not at first, but he did eventually. He knew before you were married. Your brother told us he’d been working with the FBI to identify the girl who was killed in the train wreck. They found her family.”

“Those poor people. At least they have closure now. They must have always wondered.”

“It appears Roberta was a bigamist. She was already married when she married your father.”

Addy’s eyes got big. Owen wished there was an easy way to say what he had to, but there wasn’t. “Honey, she was married to Edwards.”

“The whole time?”

Owen nodded. “Only her name wasn’t Roberta, it was Annie Roberts. And her husband’s name is Cecil Edwards King.”

Addy gasped, then covered her mouth. “Cecil’s King?”