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 pu**y 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 f**k 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 f**k 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.