Page 59 of Flash and Bang

Jarrett was grateful he had such an amazing partner. The last thing he wanted to do was to have Thayne witness the exchange he knew was coming with his father. He waited for Thayne to shut the door and then dialed his father’s number. He heard it go through the switching stations, similar to when he called Declan. When his father answered, Jarrett swallowed hard.

“Daddy?”

“Jarrett? That you, boy?”

“It’s me. Long time no talk,” Jarrett said. The butterflies in his stomach swarmed as he heard the deep voice he hadn’t spoken to in a very long time. “Is this a secure line?”

“You know it is, boy. I gotta say, I’m surprised to hear from you.”

“I wouldn’t have called, but I need you to get a message to Declan Jensen and I’m worried someoneis listening in on him.” For all Jarrett knew, by making this call, he was signing Declan’s death warrant right along with his own. If his father was the one listening in and the one behind the attempts on his life, this could be the last call Jarrett ever made. Whoever was trying to kill them had been attempting to make it look like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or that it was an accident until now. Even the bomb in his Jeep could have been blamed on the Freedom Brigade’s revenge attempt. Jarrett knew the next time the wet works team went after him, it might be the last time.

“How’s Jensen involved with you?” his father asked quietly.

“You probably know I’m an ATF agent now,” Jarrett said flatly.

“I know a lot about you, Jarrett. I know you’re tangled up with some very bad folks out there and I know you nearly got yourself killed down at the border.”

Jarrett didn’t know why he was surprised. The CIA had been involved in the raid outside of Tecate, so of course his father would be aware that he was there even if he didn’t have eyes and ears on him already. “I asked Fox to look into who gave the kill order on me. I’m hesitant to call him back in case he’sbeing watched, but I have to make sure I warn him that someone tried again. It’s all I can do since I might have endangered him by calling him to begin with.”

“Why didn’t you call me directly?” his father asked.

Jarrett didn’t really know how to answer that. He could be honest with him or he could lie, but then again, if he was marked for death, it didn’t make a difference whether his father knew he suspected him or not. “I think you should know why,” he said quietly.

His father paused for a moment. “You think I ordered a wet team to take care of my own son? Is that what you think of me, Jarrett?” His words were tinged with disgust.

Jarrett swallowed hard. “It crossed my mind a time or ten.”

“Listen hard, Jarrett, because I’m only gonna say this once,” his father began. “For the last year, I’ve been working like hell to keep you alive. Someone wants you dead, boy, but it ain’t me. This goes higher up than this office and I’ve been working my ass off to figure out who it is and why anyone thinks that killing my son is worth the hell that’s gonna rain down on them if they succeed.” His father’s voicevibrated with rage. “Declan came to me as soon as you talked to him. I immediately put a protective detail on him, Jarrett. He’ll be fine. Next time you want to find something out, you come directly to me, you understand?”

Jarrett sniffed. “We’re not on speaking terms or did you forget that?”

“That was your choice, Jarrett, not mine.”

Jarrett could hear the growl in his father’s voice. “You told me that I had to be a man and I knew what you meant by that. You were always clear on how you felt about me being gay.”

“I never pretended to understand that, Jarrett. It doesn’t mean I ordered your murder. When I told you to be a man, it was because of what you chose to do after getting out of the Corps, not because you’re gay, Jarrett. I raised an honorable man. I didn’t raise a mercenary.”

Jarrett swallowed hard, thinking back on the last time he’d seen his father and his brothers. The fight they’d had really had nothing to do with him being gay. He’d just come back from the Mid-East where he’d been part of a paramilitary mission and his father had confronted him about his involvement, telling him that if he was going to put his life on the line, he’d be much better off serving his country inthe Marine Corps than taking jobs with dubious partners.

Jarrett’s heart had been blackened by the time he left the Marines. The truth was, after the mission in Gaza City, the last thing he could do was to take orders from the same men who’d wiped out that little girl, knowing she and her infant brother would be in that compound, only to later go on television and denounce the tragedy when they’d been the ones to order it in the first place. Jarrett hated hypocrites worse than anyone. He’d been washed out and sick of following the orders of leaders with no soul so he’d thrown in with sociopaths instead. At least they were honest about who and what they were.

“I was proud to serve my country all those years. Gaza City changed all that,” Jarrett said bitterly.

His father was silent for several beats. “I’m sorry about that, boy. I thought that was poorly done but it wasn’t me that ordered the air strike.”

“Same thing. It was the IDF and Mossad. The CIA was in bed with the Israelis on that mission and you know they could have stopped the strike and waited for me and my spotter to finish the job.”

“I don’t want to argue with you, boy. That decision came from the higher-ups and things gowrong on missions all the time. You of all people should know that.”

“Look, if you say it wasn’t you, fine. I just wanted to get a message to Declan and I didn’t want to call him. If he’s being watched, the last thing I wanted to do is to put him in even more danger, especially after yesterday.”

“I just got word on that. You went over a mountain with your partner… Wolfe?”

“We were pushed off the shoulder of the road by an SUV with government plates. Your briefing left that out?” Jarrett was agitated. He knew that his father tracked him and would know about the accident but to pretend he didn’t know the team who’d tried to kill him and the man he loved was ridiculous.

His father stayed silent for quite a while. “How do you know they were government, Jarrett?” His voice was thick with an emotion Jarrett rarely heard.

“It had to be CIA or at the very least a rogue faction. Someone’s been tracking my movements and no one would have a reason to have me under surveillance but them. Nothing else makes sense.” He stopped for a second, wondering if it could even be possible that his father didn’t know. “You reallydidn’t hear about it?” Jarrett asked, incredulously.