The Life - Rebirth (The Life 4)

“Yeah, this is kinda hard for me because we don’t do this. It’s against our creed. But I think he may be about to put himself in danger.”

“Start from the beginning!” He did!

He told us about first meeting the kid online through ANONYMOUS, how they came to be fast friends even though they’ve never met. Then he went on to tell the story of the day the kid let slip that he’d come from not so good beginnings. That story had every man in the room sitting up.

“I think he found him, and I think he plans to kill him and…. himself.”

“What makes you think that?”

“It’s no one thing I can pinpoint, just a combination of things I’ve put together over the years. To understand that, you’d have to understand the kid, the things he’s into.”

“Like what?”

“Sun Tzu, Confucius, The Prince Machiavelli. He has this code of honor that reminds me of you, Lyon. But if you know those men, especially the first two, then you’d know that his code of honor is not like the West.”

“I get what you’re saying, but you’re not telling me why you think this kid is in danger at this time.”

“As I said, he found him. I didn’t realize it at the time when he asked me to look into this woman and admitted that she was tied into his…. I hate calling him his father, so from here on out, he’s the UnSub.”

“Fair enough!”

“This woman, Luna Fratelli, is into some bad stuff. I had all intentions of bringing you in when I had all the pieces put together, but he asked me not to involve anyone else until he was ready.”

“I got all the information I’m going to get on this, so he gave me the go-ahead today to let you see what I’ve been working on. But in that conversation, he let slip that he was going to Sicily to handle it, handle her, while we get the women and children out from where they’ve been taken.”

“The thing is, none of the victims are in Sicily, or even Europe for that matter. They’ve been scattered throughout Asia and the Middle East. What’s more, with his level of expertise, he doesn’t need to leave his bedroom to bring down the ones responsible, so I can only guess that he’s going to finish everything.”

I had to think for a while if what he said made sense, but at the end of the day, I don’t know this kid, Track does, and if he thinks the kid is in danger, who am I to argue?

“You think he deserves saving?” Of course, Lyon would ask that question.

“Yes, I do.”

“And you said he’s in New Hampshire? When is he leaving?”

“What’re you thinking, Colt?”

“How many flights leaving New Hampshire for Sicily?”

“I’m almost certain his family owns a private jet; no flight plan needed.”

“Yeah, but he still needs to contact ground control, tower to tower.”

“I’m on it.” Track got up to go to one of the computers in the war room, which is what we’d taken to calling our office.

“I’ll just hack into their system and do a run for the next couple of weeks until we get a hit. What if he leaves out of a different air space?”

“Don’t borrow trouble. Just in case, I think I’ll have a chat with your friend.”

“Mancini!”

“Not to worry, I’m not going to ask you to betray a friend; I’ll find him myself.” I saw the relief on the kid’s face and knew I’d made the right call.

“That might be kinda hard, though; he’s good, like really good.”

“I got that; I’m better.” I ignored the groans from my compatriots.

“I don’t think you understand; I think he’s one of the best in the organization.”

“It’s not an organization, but I guess you can call it that.”

“What do you know about ANONYMOUS.”

“I am ANONYMOUS.”

“What?”

“Did you think I just drew your name out of a hat?”

“I don’t understand. ANONYMOUS isn’t any one person.”

“I know, but it had to start somewhere, with someone.”

“I don’t know what you two are talking about with this spook shit, but what’re we doing? Are we going to Sicily? Because Kat would lose her shit and give me a list a mile long. She’s still salty about the wedding dress debacle.”

“It’s not England.”

“It’s Europe; I dare you to tell any one of those annoying ass women out there that we’re going to Palermo but can’t swing by London to get whatever the hell they just can’t live without.”

“It is a three-hour flight, less if we go private.”

“Tyler, who’s bitch made now, you sap?”

“I’m just saying, Colt, we can swing by and get the dress.”

“Can we get back to what we’re doing here?” These two can go off on a tangent better than a cranky toddler. “Track, do what you’re doing, and I’ll try to find your friend.”