A familiar voice answered. “Magnitude investigations.”

  “The hell?” Jack glanced at the phone to make sure he dialed the correct number. “Brandon?”

  “Jack?”

  “Yeah. What the hell kinda crap is Magnitude Investigations?”

  “Just trying it on for size.” Brandon laughed, but quickly stopped. “What’s going on? Why are you calling so early? Or, maybe late, wherever you are.”

  “I need you to check on Mia and Sean.”

  “What’s up?”

  “They may be in danger. An old associate found me, maybe set this whole thing in Montana up to get me here somehow. I’m not sure. But he says he has men in Costa Rica. I need you to check on them, and I need you to get me from here to there.”

  “I’m going too,” Reese said.

  Jack stared at her for a moment. “No, I can’t ask you to do that. This isn’t your battle.”

  “It involves you, so it is. Plus, the feds will be here tomorrow and I’ll be off to somewhere else.”

  “You reach out to me. I’ll come back to wherever you are.”

  “You know they aren’t going to let it be so easy this time.”

  “Make that travel plans for two,” Jack said.

  “I’ve got a helicopter that’ll be ready to go in thirty. That’ll get you to an airfield with a private jet to San Diego. From there, you’ll have new docs and transport to Costa Rica.”

  “Great, thanks Brandon.” Jack glanced down at Marcus’s lifeless body. “Also, going to text you a bunch of documents. I need you to get them in the hands of the right people. If they ask questions, ignore them. Everything they need should be there. And there’s a thumb drive. Send instructions on how to get that to you.”

  They ended the call and Jack walked to Ben. He’d seen him take the round that ended his life. There was nothing he could have done. Ben was supposed to wait outside. If he had, he might’ve perished. Or perhaps he’d have managed to stop Marcus’s men from entering. Jack let those thoughts fade. They weren’t what happened.

  His phone buzzed again. Brandon had sent the helicopter’s location.

  36

  Sitting in the medium jet Brandon had arranged for transport from San Diego to Costa Rica, Jack managed to still his mind. It might have been the first time in years he didn’t have a single thought. The peace and tranquility were disturbed by his ringing phone. He glanced at the screen. Brandon.

  “What’s up, Mr. Magnitude?”

  Brandon laughed. “Don’t worry, we’re not using that.”

  “You’re really gonna go through with this, huh? You’re own investigation agency.”

  “Why not? Look, we can talk about that later, including your role⁠—”

  “My role?”

  “—but first let me update you.” Brandon tapped on his keyboard. “Like I told you earlier, Sean and Mia are in a safe location. I was still worried that Marcus’s connections—they aren’t his men but he has some arrangement with these guys, though I doubt they’ll care if he’s dead—could reach them, so I pulled some strings and they’re detained for at least a week. Should give you plenty of time to get in, find them, and get out. I wouldn’t linger too long though. These guys will be pissed once they’re on the street again. I’m still working on their specific connection with Marcus.”

  “Can’t thank you enough.”

  “Don’t go sucking me off yet, pal,” Brandon said. “There may be more I don’t know about. This is all going what I got off of Marcus’s phone. You need to keep your guard up while down there. You might be walking into a hornet’s nest. Plus, there is a gonna be a shitload of fallout from this up here. Montana. D.C. Multiple agencies. I’m gonna do my best to keep your name out of this, but the Feds are gonna realize Reese is gone. How long you think before they piece it all together?”

  “Couple weeks to a couple months.” Jack laughed. “The way things are run these days, I’ll put my money on a couple of months.”

  Reese slipped into the seat across from Jack. She set two glasses of bourbon on the table, slid one across to Jack. He took a sip and let the warm liquid burn his throat.

  “This is still serious, buddy,” Brandon said.

  “I won’t relax until we are out of the country with Mia and Sean and his family. Speaking of, can you help with that?”

  “That’ll be easy. Get you out by boat, probably to South America for a bit, then back home.”

  “Home,” Jack said. “Where the hell is that?”

  “That’s for you to figure out,” Brandon said. “I gotta go.”

  Jack set his phone on the table. Reese reached across, took his hand in hers.

  “How’s the injuries?” Jack said.

  She pulled up her sleeve and showed him the wrap on her arm. “They got me patched up. Gave me some antibiotics. Guess I’m gonna live. You okay with that?”

  Jack shrugged. “I can keep you around for a while, I suppose.”

  She smiled, took a drink, leaned back. It had been years since they first met. More than a few years since Texas. Yet she looked the same. Youthful. Beautiful. But it was more than that. With her hand in his, he felt at peace.

  “I overheard some of your call,” she said.

  “I’m aware,” he said.

  “No place to call home anymore?” she said.

  Jack smiled. “I’m thinking it might just be wherever I am with you.”

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  The Jack Noble Series

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  Noble Beginnings

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  Thin Line

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  When Dead in Greece

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  Bear Logan Series

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  Mitch Tanner Series

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  Quarry (Coming Soon)

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  Scorched Earth

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  The Frost Killer (Coming Soon)

  Maddie Castle Series

  The Handler

  Tracking Justice

  Hunting Grounds (Coming Soon)

  Affliction Z Series

  Affliction Z: Patient Zero

  Affliction Z: Abandoned Hope

  Affliction Z: Descended in Blood

  Affliction Z : Fractured Part 1

  Affliction Z: Fractured Part 2 (Coming Soon)

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  About the Author

  L.T. RYAN is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling author of several mysteries and thrillers, including the Wall Street Journal bestselling Jack Noble and Rachel Hatch series. With over eight million books sold, when he's not penning his next adventure, L.T. enjoys traveling, hiking, riding his Peloton, and spending time with his wife, daughter and four dogs at their home in central Virginia.

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  L. T. Ryan, [Jack Noble 16] Never Look Back

 

 

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