He eyed Sam and Garrett suspiciously as he opened the fridge and took out the orange juice.
“If I interrupted violence, by all means I’ll step back. Always nice to see bloodshed first thing in the a.m.”
“Rusty sold Rachel out,” Sam said bluntly. “It’s all over the paper.”
Donovan frowned, shut the fridge and walked over to pick up the paper. As he read, his frown deepened.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Yeah,” Garrett said.
“What’s that you’re holding?” Sam asked Donovan, noticing for the first time the papers in Donovan’s left hand.
Donovan glanced down as if he’d forgotten them.
“An email I printed off. Possible job. I know we said we were laying off for a while, until things are good here with Rachel, and Cole and Dolphin have had time to heal.”
“But?” Sam asked. “I hear a definite but in there.”
Donovan flushed guiltily. “I might have told them we’d take it anyway.”
“What the fuck?” Garrett’s face went red and his cheeks puffed out as if it was all he could do not to explode. “Am I the only dumbass who still thinks this is a partnership around here?”
Sam held up a hand before Garrett went completely apeshit. Guilt ate at him. Garrett would have a coronary if he knew what Sam had ordered Rio to do and that Sam would be going back to South America.
“Okay, tell us, Van. What’s the gig and why did you already agree to it?”
“It’s a kid,” Donovan said painfully. “An abduction case. Parents are frantic. No ransom demand. Cops have exhausted all leads. Wife is convinced it’s her ex-husband, an avenue the cops have pursued but hit a dead-end. The ex lives out of the country, so she wants someone to whom that wouldn’t pose a problem.”
Sam blew his breath out in a long exhale as he and Garrett exchanged resigned looks. If it involved a kid, Donovan was a goner. No way he would have turned it down.
“Okay Van, you need to give us details and then you need to tell me how the hell we’re going to swing this.”
Donovan leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest, the papers still held tight in his hand. “Rio is free. He hasn’t pulled a mission in a while if you don’t count the pussy recon mission we sent him on. Steele’s still giving him shit over that.”
Sam shook his head. “Rio and his team can’t do this.”
Garrett swung around. “Why the hell not?”
Sam ignored him. “Half of Steele’s team is out of commission for the next little while, and I still don’t think it’s a good idea for us all to leave when Ethan and Rachel are going to need all the support they can get, particularly after this morning’s little news story.”
Donovan plopped down on the stool across the bar and put his elbows up on the counter.
“Okay, I can take P.J., Renshaw and Baker. You and Garrett can stay here and look in on Cole and Dolphin.”
Sam looked at Garrett, who didn’t look entirely happy with the setup, but then that was Garrett. He didn’t like anything he hadn’t been in on and planned from the start. And Garrett was still staring holes through Sam, which told him they weren’t done with the Rio issue.
“Let me see the email,” Garrett grunted.
The corner of Donovan’s lip curled, but he kept the grin off his face, which was good since it just would have pissed Garrett off more.
As Garrett read, he let out a curse. “Christ, the kid’s only four years old. You neglected to mention that the ex is a convicted child molester.”
Donovan shrugged. “Whether he is or isn’t, I’d still want to go in after the kid. The mother is out of her mind. Her current husband adopted the daughter. He’s raised her since she was an infant. He’s destroyed by the fact no one can help them. We’re their last resort. I couldn’t tell them no.”
“You know where he’s holed up, Van?” Sam asked.
“I have a good idea. Did some digging. Hacked into his finances. He’s living it up in some shithole in Mexico. We can go in. He’ll never know what hit him. I figure we can get the kid and be back in forty-eight hours tops.”
“Looks like you better give Steele a call and let him know what’s going down. He’ll want to go. Make it clear he’s out of commission for a while. It’ll piss him off that you’re taking his team, but he’ll get over it. You’ll need time to get geared up, get the intel you need and get your men together. You don’t go in blind, Van. You wait until we have all the information and then you go.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it. If you two are finished mothering me, I’ll go make some calls while you go over and tear a strip off of Rusty’s hide. Just sorry I’ll miss it.”
Sam watched his brother walk out of the kitchen, the papers clenched tightly in his hand.
“Van.”
Donovan stopped and turned, his eyebrow lifted in question.
“Put it away, okay? I’ll pull the plug on this in a nanosecond if I think your head’s not on straight.”
Donovan’s lip curled in distrust. “I don’t tell you how to deal with your shit, Sam. Back off. Steele and I can handle this in our sleep.”
“Fair enough.”
Sam turned to Garrett after Donovan had left. “You going to call Ethan or am I?”
“Neither of us is calling him yet. Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on with Rio,” Garrett said.
“He’s busy,” Sam said shortly.
“Yeah? With what?”
Sam blew out his breath. “Goddamn it, Garrett.”
“Don’t bullshit me,” Garrett snapped. “What the hell is it with you and Van making unilateral decisions around here?”
“I sent him back into Colombia,” Sam said tightly. “I’m meeting him in a couple of days and we’re going in after those bastards. I want information, and I don’t care how we get it.”
Garrett’s eyes glittered with anger. “You sent him back. Without telling me. You’re going back. Without me. Anything else you’re doing without me, Sam?”
“Cut the crap, Garrett. This is precisely why I didn’t tell you. You’d get all pissed off and you’d want to go in with us.”
“Goddamn right I would!”
Garrett stood and slapped his hands on the table.
“This isn’t just your family, Sam. You aren’t the lone patriarch of the clan. I get it. You want to protect everyone and take responsibility like a good soldier. Well guess what? That’s not the way it works. We’re a team. Remember? We live and die by the team. Your words. Not mine. Or do you think those rules only apply to everyone else but not you?”
“I made a decision. I stick by it.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you decided. If you think I’m going to let you go on some half-cocked revenge mission, you’re out of your mind.”
Sam also stood and he got into Garrett’s face. “We need information, Garrett. We need to know why the hell they kept Rachel a goddamn prisoner and treated her like an animal for a year!”
Garrett snarled and didn’t back down. They stood nose to nose, each glaring holes in the other.
“I don’t dispute we need information. You like to throw around that word without giving any yourself. Think, Sam. Use your goddamn head for a minute. You go off to South America and don’t tell us shit. You get blown to shit. What the hell am I supposed to tell Mom and Dad? What the hell am I supposed to do when I don’t even know where to look for you? This is stupid and you know it or you wouldn’t be hiding it from me.”
“It’s revenge. It’s messy. It’s not honorable, and I can’t ask you or anyone else in this family to do what I have to do,” Sam seethed.
“Always Captain fucking America,” Garrett said mockingly. “What about Ethan and what he has to do? Rachel is his wife. Why are you fighting his battles for him?”