“Did you just quote Spider-Man?” Byte asked Hunter.
“No.”
“But wasn’t that what Uncle Ben—don’t get me started on that poor decision—told Peter Parker about his powers?”
“No. Marvel didn’t make this saying up.”
“Oh, I know,” Kyle said. “It was Superman. Clark Kent’s father said the same thing, or something close to it.”
“No. This notorious saying doesn’t come from Spider-Man nor Superman or any other fictional character,” Hunter dismissively said.
“Then where did it come from, nerdy-mac-nerd?” Byte teased.
“I’m not sure who said it first, but I know Winston Churchill did, as did Theodore Roosevelt, and his brother, Franklin.”
“Nerd,” Kyle repeated.
“Not a nerd, just educated beyond comic books.”
“Like I said, nerd.” Kyle chuckled.
And for the first time in two days, Hunter joined his brother in laughter. He knew for some people, they cried or laughed when in danger, but that had never been the case with him, at least not until that very moment.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
“Well, that went great,” Aria said after the two Higgins men left.
“It was a cluster-muster, if you ask me,” Seven replied.
“Let’s get back to the Black Spades, and how you guys were involved. This doesn’t typically fit your MO, plus it’s in San Antonio. I’d think ECP would be involved,” Dax stated.
“It’s been a joint effort,” Ivy began. “We were tracking the influx of tainted marijuana, which led us to the MC. ECP had a couple of their people go in undercover. Together, we found a link in South America, which ECP pursued. We turned over everything we had and left the club to ECP. Unfortunately, they had some personnel issues, and we had an operative who needed to leave the city, so we were drawn back in. We discovered another undercover operative was involved. ATF Agent Skylar Hines has been working alongside the club’s enforcer.”
“The same enforcer who killed their president,” Dax surmised.
“Yes.”
“She’s playing all of us, including the MC,” Byte challenged.
“You’re saying she’s corrupt?” Dax asked.
“I’m saying she’s not clean. Even ECP said she’s too involved with the MC to not be emotionally attached. Besides, she was there when we were taken,” Byte added.
“And she was also the one who put Hunter and Kyle on the bus,” Ivy reminded her.
“So what? So she didn’t kill them. That doesn’t mean she’s clean,” Byte said.
“It also doesn’t say she’s dirty,” Dax replied.
“Whatever. I know what I saw. You can’t trust anyone with the ATF. They are nothing but a bunch of snakes and vipers,” Byte snarled.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on Byte. There was a lot of venom that laced Byte’s observation.
“I can check on what we know about her, but I’m leery about contacting the agency, especially if she was complicit in kidnapping and murder,” Dax offered.
“Oh, she’s complicit, alright,” Byte replied.
Again, Ivy knew there was more to Byte’s accusations. It would come out eventually, but if Byte didn’t confide in her and Justin by the following day, they would push the subject.