Page 27 of Flash and Bang
“Thanks for calling us,” Thayne replied. “Our boss called right after you did.”
“Just so you understand in a little more detail what’s happening here,” Terraciano began, “The CIA has had their eyes and ears on these smugglers who have been bringing fireworks up over the border, very close to where we are now. It wasn’t until just last week that the Bureau was able to connect a militiaoperating out of the Victorville area with this group. We’ve been trying to infiltrate the militia for over eight months without success.”
“This is the militia you were referring to earlier?” Thayne asked.
“Yes. One and the same,” Terraciano said.
“Does this militia have a name?” Jarrett asked.
“Yes, they call themselves the Freedom Brigade and they have close ties with the Aryan Nation,” Snow replied.
“Of course they do,” Jarrett huffed. Thayne glanced at his partner to find him sneering. “I fuckin’ hate white supremacists and racist anarchists.”
“Well, you have the racist thing right. We believe the shooter in the San Bernardino slayings a few months ago may have been a follower of the Brigade at least online. Reverend James never shows his face but you can hear him talking over images of Freedom Brigade rallies using a voice changer but we can’t find evidence of where the rallies take place or who this guy is.”
“I thought the guy who killed those folks in San Bernardino was a radical Islamist. Why would he be following a right-wing nut bag like this ReverendJames?” Thayne asked in surprise.
“He was Muslim. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a whole lot of parallels between radical Islam and white supremacists. A nut bag is a nut bag. I don’t think it matters what religion or God they bow down to. They’re all out to murder anyone who gets in the way of their fundamentalist religious beliefs, whether it be white racists or Islamic radicals. We’re afraid they’re going to try to outdo each other with planned attacks on civilians. They’re all dangerous and they all share a common belief that taking out as many opposed to their wild ideology is the way to go, whether by suicide bomb, race war, or massacre like what happened down in Orlando,” Snow said. “If the Reverend James and his Freedom Brigade gets a hold of these fireworks, the black powder in them can be removed to make bombs or even if they don’t turn them into bombs, detonating fireworks in a large quantity would behave just like a bomb.”
“And the purchase of black powder in large enough quantities to make several bombs is closely regulated since 9/11 the same way fertilizer purchases have been since even before that,” Jarrett concluded.
“That’s exactly right,” Terraciano said.
“Not to mention the fact that if they created “accidents” at Fourth of July shows, a whole hell ofa lot of soft targets would get hit. Tons of people could die if the militia gets a hold of these.”
Jarrett turned to look at Thayne. “We need to find out whether anyone on the Mason’s crew or connected with the Chinatown explosion have ties to this militia.”
Thayne nodded. “Most definitely. After we’re done here, I’ll get Darcy and Connor to work on that.” He turned to find Snow and Terraciano staring at them. “We’ll let the FBI know whether what we find out of course. The ATF expects the same.”
“I agree. It would be helpful to know if this militia is connected to what’s going on with the fireworks incidents somehow.”
“Who’s the supplier?” Jarrett asked.
“Good question. You probably know that nothing illegal happens in Mexico on any large scale unless the cartels are involved, but those questions will be answered in more detail at the operation briefing in a few minutes. Now, if you’ll join us over here, we have maps of the drop-off point. We can show you how we plan to stop the transfer of cargo to the militia,” Special Agent Terraciano said, waving a hand at a long folding table that had been set up with camping lanterns. Several men stood around it.
Thayne and Jarrett followed the FBI agents over to the table and he felt a rush of adrenaline the same way he had just before he’d called in the ATF when they’d busted Mills Lang and his organization. Thayne could only pray that today went as well and that he and Jarrett would come out of it alive and without injury. Thayne reached up and touched his slightly crooked nose, a result of having it slammed down into the concrete floor of the warehouse where they busted the gun runner, Mills Lang. As they walked up to the table, several men who had been studying the maps looked up. Jarrett suddenly halted in his tracks. Thayne turned back to find his lover standing there staring at someone as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Adael Dayan? What the hell are you doin’ here?” The question came out in Jarrett’s thick drawl which Thayne rarely heard.
“Jarrett! I heard you’d be here. I hope you know it made me even more determined to come along,” a handsome dark-haired man said in a deep heavily accented voice. Thayne couldn’t place the accent.Israeli maybe?It was similar to a Middle Eastern accent but different. Thayne watched as the two men embraced very hard and with a roll of his stomach, he realized mere colleagues didn’t greet each other like that. There had been something morebetween them.
“What the hell is Mossad doing at the Mexican border?” Jarrett whispered, low enough that only Thayne had heard.
“I’m here in a totally unofficial capacity, Jarrett,” the man said. “I’ve been working with our friends in the CIA to track down a man who is responsible for building bombs that blew up several restaurants and nightclubs on the West Bank over the last few years. The CIA’s intelligence led them here and I asked to come along as an extra gun, should they need one.” The man suddenly looked up to find Thayne standing close. “I’m sorry, Jarrett. I shouldn’t be discussing things so openly… you know how Langley is about these things.”
Thayne’s mood darkened even further as Jarrett turned to find him standing there. He smiled and held out his hand. “Adael, this is my partner in the ATF, Thayne Wolfe.” Jarrett gestured for Thayne to come closer. “Thayne, come meet an old friend.” Thayne forced his feet to move forward. “Thayne, this is Adael Dayan. He’s affiliated with Mossad’s counter-terrorism unit.”
“So nice to meet Jarrett’s partner,” Dayan said, shaking Thayne’s hand. The man was obscenely handsome, younger than they were, with a deepwidow’s peak, curly mahogany-colored hair, and dark brown eyes that sparkled with intelligence.
Jealousy fluttered in Thayne’s gut and he hated it. “It’s nice to meet you,” Thayne said. He glanced over at Jarrett and opened his mouth to say something when Snow spoke up.
“We’re going to start the briefing now.”
Thayne dropped Adael’s hand and walked over to the tables the FBI had set up, leaving Jarrett and the Mossad operative to follow. At the moment, Thayne didn’t want to know anything more about Jarrett. He was sick of his secret past, whatever it was. He was sick that he’d never know who his partner really was. And he was sick that he hadn’t realized how deeply he cared about Jarrett until meeting Adael Dayan. What kind of lover had he been to Jarrett if he couldn’t admit, even to himself, that the man was a huge part of his life? Why hadn’t he been willing to accept all of Jarrett, his past included? Perhaps it was because he knew that Jarrett didn’t like his own past a hell of a lot. The truth was, Thayne knew very little about his handsome partner and because of security clearances and other real-world bullshit, he probably never would.Dammit!
Thayne could hear Jarrett and Dayanconversing quietly as they walked behind him and when Jarrett stepped up beside him at the table, he glanced down at him. Jarrett stared at him with his ice-blue eyes and then leaned down where he could whisper into his ear. “Is everything all right, Thayne?”
Thayne swallowed hard and glanced up at his taller partner as his stomach did another flip-flop. Jarrett’s damned expression showed genuine concern and Thayne suddenly felt even more like a heel. He reached out and patted Jarrett’s forearm.