“What happened?” Raid asked quietly.
“Sanchez’s wife and daughter got caught in the cross fire. God, she was just a little girl. Holding the doll she’d been given as a birthday present. There was blood everywhere. God, I can still see them in my dreams, my nightmares.”
“Jesus. I’m sorry, Dad. That’s a big burden to carry around all these years,” Ryker said.
“Sanchez and his son got away, in the chaos and my horror over the wife and daughter being caught in the cross fire. My priority was trying to get them help, and Sanchez and his son escaped.
“We cleaned up best we could. Collected the information needed to dismantle his operation and rounded up a lot of the key players in his business. He had a hand in a lot of different pots. Drugs. Arms trafficking. God, he even had a lucrative human trafficking operation going. Selling young girls into sexual slavery to the highest bidder.”
Raid made a sound of disgust.
“I thought . . .” Eddie took a deep breath. “Years went by and I thought I’d put it behind me. I retired after that debacle. I just couldn’t do it any longer. You children were born and your mother and I were happy. And then . . .”
He choked off, emotion knotting his throat as tears gathered in his vision.
“Sanchez waited, biding his time, planning his revenge. He was responsible for your mother’s death and he wasted no time in letting me know he was taking an eye for an eye. A wife for a wife.”
“What the f**k?” Ryker demanded. “And you never told us? You just let him get away with that? Killing our mother?”
“No,” Eddie said quietly. “No, I didn’t. I called Guy.”
“Hancock?” Raid asked in a puzzled tone.
Eddie sighed. “There’s a lot you don’t know about Guy. He joined the military, followed in my footsteps in more than one way. He belonged to a group that was buried so deep that according to military records, they were all killed in action. They no longer existed. They weren’t supposed to have any ties to the outside world. They lived, breathed and ate their missions. But he kept me in the loop. He wasn’t supposed to, which is why I never let on to you or Eden. All you knew was that he was serving and off the grid. And it’s why we never see him. I hear from him sporadically. He never tells me much, just that he’s okay from time to time. He’s made a lot of enemies over the years and now the government has cut ties and likely has orders to eliminate him if he ever surfaces.”
“So you contacted him after Mom died. Why?” Ryker demanded.
“Because I wanted revenge,” Eddie said in a low voice. “I wanted to go after the bastard and make him pay for what he took from me. For what he took from all of us.”
“Jesus,” Raid breathed. “And? Did you? Did you find him?”
Eddie was silent a long moment before finally nodding. “Guy went after him. He didn’t want me involved. I gave him all the intel I had. I called in a lot of favors to get the information he needed.”
“So he killed him,” Ryker said bluntly.
Again Eddie nodded.
“Christ, Dad. And you didn’t think we deserved to know all of this sooner? And why tell us now? What’s going on?” Raid demanded.
Eddie paled, suddenly feeling years older. The weight of a lifetime of regret settled like a ton of bricks on his shoulders and his heart.
He reached up to the mantel and picked up the photos and the note he’d received. With shaking hands, he shoved them toward his sons, simply waiting for them to look them over and draw their own conclusions.
“Holy f**k,” Ryker exploded. “Eden is being threatened?”
“His son,” Eddie said in a strained voice. “It has to be the son. We weren’t able to find him. Just Raul. But his son would want revenge because not only did he lose his mother and sister but then Guy took out his father and now he’s looking for revenge. By hitting me where he knows he’d hurt me the most. Through Eden.”
“Son of a bitch,” Raid swore. “What the hell are we going to do? Where is Eden now? What are we going to do? She’s not safe even for a minute. What if he’s already found her? What if he’s going after her as we speak?”
“It’s why I called you both to come. I spoke to Eden earlier today. She seemed fine. I don’t want to scare her. I don’t even want her to know all of this. It would upset her. But we have to close ranks around her. Tighten security. What we have now isn’t going to cut it. These people are ruthless. They have resources beyond our imaginings. She isn’t safe. We have to figure out a way to make sure she’s safe at all times.”
Ryker went silent a long moment, his expression thoughtful. “I know people who could help us. It’s what they do. They’re all ex-military. I served with two of the brothers. Nathan and Joe Kelly. They got out when I did. That last mission that went all to hell. Some of us didn’t make it back. Joe was injured and Nathan and another teammate were held prisoner for months in the mountains of Afghanistan. But their brothers run a special ops group. Some of it’s private sector, but they also do a lot of government contract work. Jobs that no one else can or will do. Hostage recovery, rescue, protection. You name it, they do it. And they’re damn good. Nathan and Joe work with them now as does Swanny, the other guy I served with. We could call them in. They owe me a favor.”
“How good?” Raid asked bluntly. “Because good isn’t good enough. Not when it comes to keeping Eden safe. We need the f**king best.”