Blood Line (A Tom Rollins Thriller Book 1) by Paul Heatley (book recommendations based on other books .txt) 📗

There is a woman standing close to him, eyes wide. There are two children, two little girls. They all look at Tom.

He leaves, runs back to his car. He’s going to have to ditch it as soon as he can. For now, it will get him away from here.

71

On the outside, Eric is cool. He’s calm. He’s collected. Doesn’t look any different to how he usually does.

Inside, he is in recovery mode. He’s back in Dallas, cleaning up the mess Jake has left behind.

It’s for the best Jake is dead. Eric can fix things easier this way, especially with Senator Seth Goldberg pressing for an investigation into what has happened. The dead bodies of the mercenaries have been recovered, and their tattoos discovered to be rub-on fakes. Yet they have no known identities, no known accomplices, no connections. Goldberg can read between the lines. No doubt he has been told about the fake ink.

Eric is in his office. He sent agents to the warehouse to retrieve the bodies of Jake and the others. It didn’t take him long to work out where they were. He already had the story planned out in his head – brave agents attempting to stop these mysterious domestic terrorists, gunned down in the line of duty.

He had them move Ben Fitzgerald’s body, too. Took it from his home, cleaned up to eliminate any sign of his dying there, and transferred his body to the warehouse. Made sure to spread his blood around a little. Another dead hero.

Eric can spin this, all of it. He can make it work.

Carly Hogan’s whereabouts, however, remain a mystery. No doubt she’s dead. It’s possible they’ll never find her body. They don’t have the first idea where to look. Eric won’t be able to cover for her disappearance, but he won’t have to. He’s as in the dark as everyone else as to what has happened to her.

The amount of explosives found in the back of the van has caught a lot of people’s attention. The potential destruction it could have caused.

Now everyone is looking for the mystery man who saved the day. His face was caught on multiple cameras, on many phones, yet he still managed to slip away. People want to know who he is, what he was doing there. They want to know his name. Goldberg, in a press conference, was careful not to call the man a hero, but Eric could tell he wanted to. Could tell he wanted to fawn and gush over the man who saved his life and the lives of his family and so many others in the vicinity.

They’ll know his name soon enough. Eric already does. Jake knew it, too, before he was killed.

Tom Rollins.

Eric has to try to find him now before anyone else does. He’s put the word out among his agents – the ones he can trust, his men – to keep their ears to the ground, to watch out for indications of him. No doubt he’s out of the area by now. Has likely left the state, too.

Now, Eric waits for Gerry Davies to arrive at his office.

When he does, he looks sick. Pale. Holds his stomach like it’s giving him trouble.

“You don’t look well, Mr. Davies,” Eric says, holding out a hand and motioning for him to take a seat.

Gerry clears his throat. “Stress, I think,” he says.

“Oh my. Well, I certainly hope it passes soon.”

“Me too,” Gerry says, looking like he’s trying not to throw up.

“Let’s get down to business, shall we?” Eric clasps his hands on the desk, smiles at Gerry. “I’ve heard good things about your work, Mr. Davies. Jake spoke very highly of you.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Gerry says. “I was sorry to hear of his death. I just, I wish there were something I could have done …”

“You did all you could, Mr. Davies. Try not to beat yourself up. Without your assistance, Jake would not have known about Ben. He and the others would not have been able to follow him to the warehouse, to try to help him.”

“It didn’t help anything, though,” Gerry says. “They’re all dead.”

“If anyone’s to blame for that, Mr. Davies, it’s Agent Ben Fitzgerald. If he’d come to Jake sooner himself, this could have all been averted. Jake and his men had to play catch-up. It put them at a severe disadvantage, and all because of Ben’s rampant paranoia.”

“Do you know who it was Agent Hogan was talking to yet?”

Eric shakes his head. “Unfortunately we don’t, but I’m sure with your assistance, we’ll be able to get to the bottom of this mystery soon enough.”

“Does anyone know where she is?”

Eric shakes her head. “No. And Ben didn’t say anything?”

“No. But I have a bad feeling …”

“I’m sure we share it.”

Gerry purses his lips, nods solemnly.

“Anyway, I haven’t called you here today to discuss what has happened. I’ve brought you here today to talk about the future, and what we’re going to do about it.”

“How do you mean?”

“Our unknown benefactor is still out there, Mr. Davies,” Eric says, raising his eyebrows. “The man who saved the day. The man who Senator Seth Goldberg is so high on, so desperate to shake the hand of. Off the bat, I don’t suppose Ben ever told you his name?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“I thought not. To be honest, I was hopeful he had, and you had chosen to keep it to yourself for the time being, but I can see now, looking at you, talking like this, that you’re telling the truth. You don’t know.”

“I wish I did.”

“As do I, and that’s why you’re here. You’re going to find him for me.”

Gerry blinks. “I am?”

“Indeed. Like I already told you, Mr. Davies, I’ve heard good things about your work, your prowess. I want you to get back to your desk, your computer, and find this man for me. Don’t worry, I’ll accompany you. We’re going to find our mysterious stranger together.”

“Huh-how can I do that?”

“Everyone agrees, it was as