“My hands?”
“I have a situation that I need your help with, Hammer.”
“My help?”
Evangeline crawled back to the window.
Hammer’s commander sounded like Trudy did when she wanted her to do something she didn’t want to do.
“I’ve found myself in a delicate situation that I need your cooperation with.”
“Peyton.”
“Yes.”
“You’ll get no help with me to cover that shit maneuver you made me a part of. I invited you to stay at my home while your wife and kids went to visit her dying father and you were supposed to be looking for a new home closer to base. Instead, you were using your free time to make a young, impressionable girl fall in love with you. Not only did you take advantage of Peyton, but her family trusted you. They thought you were a good guy because you were my friend. Hell, I didn’t want to believe it myself. How could you have been so fucking stupid?”
Evangeline didn’t understand most of what Hammer was saying but could hear the anger in his voice.
“When I came back from overseas and found out that her aunt had thrown her out because she was pregnant and refused tell them who the father was, you fucking lied to my fucking face that it wasn’t you.
“I told you then I was going to find her. You might be good at intel, but Jonas is better. You should have okayed him for the team. Jonas doesn’t investigate his commanding officers. It might have taken us more time than I wanted it to because you made damn sure that secret was hidden, but she was still close enough for you to use whenever you managed to sneak away.
“Peyton might be over eighteen now, but you can still be brought up on ethical violations. I have enough proof to make sure you won’t get away with it. I promised you a chance to resign before I reported you, because I didn’t want you replaced on the mission to get Evangeline out. The teams worked too hard preparing for it and, as much as I hate you, I wasn’t going to have that little girl’s safety jeopardized. If you think you can change my mind now that it’s over, you can fuck off. I intend on calling the director when I go back inside—”
“I don’t think that would be in your best interest.”
Evangeline scooted closer to the wall under the window, becoming afraid and not knowing why.
“Move, Cooper, or I’ll move you myself.”
She started shivering at how angry Hammer sounded.
“Watch how you talk to me. I sent the team back to headquarters; it’s just the two of us now. I might have trained you, but I can take you out anytime I want to, and no one would question me about why I did it.”
“Try it.”
She wanted to stop listening but was too afraid to move away.
“Hammer, hear me out before you make a mistake you’re going to regret.”
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life but turning you in for getting an underaged girl pregnant won’t be one of them.”
“Not even to save that little girl you’ve been protecting for the last two weeks? Not even to protect Peyton and Rae?”
Rocking back and forth on her bottom as she wound her arms around her knees again, Evangeline knew they were talking about her. She became even more frightened when Hammer didn’t answer the mean man’s question.
“No? Then you’re signing the death warrant of that child and every man on the team, including us.”
“You’re full of shit. You’re just trying to save your own ass.”
“Am I? You’re one of four men on earth who knows who we’re protecting Evangeline from. Do you really think President Patterson will lift a hand to save any of our lives if he has any doubts that he could be connected to her disappearance? Even all the agencies at his disposal wouldn’t be able to keep Patterson alive. Not only would he throw us under the bus, he would be behind the steering wheel. He did what he could do to save her life, but taking a bullet? He’d hand over each name before that would happen, and you know I’m telling the fucking truth where that’s concerned. Even taking him out of the equation, do you think any of us would stand a chance drawing another breath if they find out we have her or where she is?”
“We would be protected if it were found out.”
“By whom? Our team wouldn’t be able to help—we’d become the targets. Who’s left to help? The government—including the president—and the whole world knows what power Allerton holds. He has diplomatic immunity for any crimes he commits in the United States and he owns homes and businesses around the globe. The only reason that child is still breathing is because Garrick went over the director’s head and asked his father to pull strings to get a private meeting with the president. If Garrick’s father and the president hadn’t been college roommates, we wouldn’t be here having this conversation. And, if Allerton finds out Evangeline is still alive, Garrick’s life won’t be worth shit. None of us even knew of Evangeline’s existence until Garrick stuck his neck out to break cover to save her.”