Cain's Blood by Geoffrey Girard Read Free Book Online Page A

had come out as easily as a breath. To not say it would have been as
absurd as if his own mother was no longer to be called “Mom.”
“ Old friends,” Stanforth corrected on the other end, a clear reminder to Castillo that the Defense Department’s relationship with
DSTI was protracted and still valued. “how’s it lookin’, kiddo?”
“fine, sir. On site at Jacobson’s home. A lot has already been removed,
however.” Castillo peered out the window toward the surveillance crew.
“Our friends, old or new, didn’t advise they were coming out here.”
“They’re panicked. Not surprising, though. This isn’t exactly routine for them. for any of us.”
“yes, sir.”
“I’ll get you a complete inventory of everything they took,” Stanforth
said. “And I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen twice.” The first sign of irritation skiffed his words. Despite his “not-surprising” patter, Stanforth
plainly felt screwed with. That wasn’t good for the eggheads at DSTI.
“Copy. request more men on this. Need a full team.”
“No can do. We’ve already got men checking out the various home
locations,” Stanforth said. “That’ll save you some footwork. If they find
anything, I’ll pass it on. The rest, the tough part, needs to be fast and
quiet, kiddo. That’s you. fox News goes apeshit when some drunk teenager gets lost in Aruba. What do you think they’d do with this?”
And if something goes wrong . . . tough shit, “kiddo.” You’re gone and this
never happened. Castillo considered the inherent threat in every special
ops mission: even in formal missions, if he’d gotten caught or failed in
a way that would have brought unwanted attention back home, Command could and would have denied all knowledge of his actions. And
this wasn’t even special ops anymore. uncle Sam’d run him out more
than a year ago. This was freelance. Moonlighting. Gun-for-hire. In the
end, they could erase Castillo as likely—and easily—as they’d write him
the check for his “consulting fees.”
But, Castillo reigned in his paranoia some: Is it really fair to doubt
Stanforth?
It was Colonel Stanforth, and Stanforth alone, who’d come back for
him in Iran. Gotten him out of that “jam” when most others would have
scrubbed the whole thing with a tidy M.I.A. and simply left him to suffer more torture and to eventually, if blessed, die. It was Stanforth who’d
called him back twenty-four hours ago. And it was Stanforth trusting him
now. Castillo knew he owed the man a hell of a lot more faith than what
he was giving him. Only problem was that Stanforth also knew it.
“There was a key,” Castillo said. “Jacobson left it at DSTI as some
kind of clue. Guy wants to get caught. Wants us to find something.”
“They know what it goes to yet?”
“A hidden storeroom,” Castillo said. “I’m standing outside it now.”
Stanforth laughed. “That’s why I called you.”
“What will they do with these kids once I find them? With Jacobson?”
“Just find them,” Stanforth replied. “DSTI has the kind of specialists and facilities to treat such minds. They’ll be provided for.”
“Not eliminated.”
“you have my word.”
Castillo knew he should let it drop. Just follow your orders . . . yet he
found himself speaking again: “Then what?” he pressed. “They vanish
forever? Spend the rest of their lives locked and medicated in some institution?” What in God’s name are you doing?
There was silence on the other end for too long. enough to let Castillo know he’d overstepped. he was forced to wait while Stanforth decided whether or not to discharge him again on the spot. “What would
the courts do with them?” the colonel finally said. “They’ve murdered a
dozen people. Look, Castillo, are you up to this job or not?”
Am I?
“yes, sir. Sorry.”
“unnecessary. I knew this would be a tough first assignment back.
especially with the kids. But you’re the best I got for