Ian was 65 when we lost him, one of our tours led to us burning an old friend of his but sometimes friends can be bought at a price and we were days behind him. He was hired to kill Ian as a means to get to us.
"Kill those close to them and make them suffer." We took the time to honor him properly with a wake before we headed out. This time, Mama was out for blood and Chase was step for step.
He was like a grandfather to us. And our rage was built on every soul we'd laid to rest.
Patrick Fowler: He got out of the service a long time ago, honorable discharge. They went way back, served together in their twenties but lost touch around fourty-five because Ian was still moving around.
Years, tours and time separated them. We went after him and found him at his home in Peoria, Illinois. He was terminal… someone had stolen his identity and had Ian killed. We had the bastard inside a week
But the trail went cold ….
It was another platoon buddy of theirs who was brought up on multiple charges including murder. He was being pressed to find us and the way to do that was to lure us back to Killarney.
The thought was to take us out there but somebody dropped the ball because, as irony would have it, they stopped at Chase's for a quick bite; and one too many shots of Ian's collection bought us time to catch on to the fact that we needed to refocus and come back around.
We regrouped, did some digging to find that the real culprit was named Devin Murdock and yes. He served with Patrick and Ian. But, some bad people recruited him early on to work as a mole which eventually led to his stint in a military prison; he was sentenced to 30 years and did most of that until some insiders made him a deal.
We had a bounty on our heads and if he could get us to show up, they'd let him out. As far as we could tell, they honored the deal and he was released two days before we got there. What luck .. he's in the wind again but, what didn't make sense is that I was getting information that had him heading in two different directions.
Now, to find out which one was true and why we were getting two locations for him. The team we had working for us was top notch and they rarely had inconsistencies in their Intel. So, were we dealing with our own mole who was trying to throw us off while putting us in the line of fire or was Mr. Murdock just that talented?
Initially we figured it was an old inmate, crooked guard, someone from the prison helping him elude us. Always seemingly just steps behind, we split up and started following both paths. Chase took half the team while I took the others. Both having efficient specialists that would help us close in. But, even with their expertise we couldn't catch up.
"Chase, we're headed to Detroit. A hotel attendant said he came through a week ago talking about family there. We know that's not why he's going, but we need to follow it. There's something there we need to find."
"Yeah, We got the same thing here headed to Michigan now. We're going towards Ann Arbor. What the hell's going on, Megan?"
"I don't know, but be careful and let me know what you guys find."
When we reached Detroit we found a warehouse that had been cleaned out in a hurry…. I was starting to take this cat and mouse game personally.
Damn it. Always 3 steps ahead. No viable leads on who would be helping him. No family there in Michigan. I was getting burned out.
Chase came up empty, too. . .
Patrick was being taken off life support the following week on Wednesday. To be buried on Saturday.
"Megan." "What'cha got"
"Three months ago Devin sent a letter to Patrick from prison … sent it to a safety deposit box retrieved by Patrick's caretaker."
"What's it say?"
"See you soon old friend."
"Chase… we're circling back to Peoria. We think he went to see Patrick.
"My teams gonna stay here, we might've found something."
As soon as we got there, we went to Fowler's place. Nothing.
"Wait. Burner phone.The man can barely breathe for himself."
Damn it. Devin promised to take care of Patrick's final wishes. And after he did, he assumed his identity long enough to sell us out, then dropped it. He's good. Gotta give him that.
He had definitely been there… we pressed the caretaker
Daniel Todd. To my surprise, he gave us nothing. We ran it. Todd was a second cousin to Devin Murdock.. "Still doesn't explain Ann Arbor."
Chase called. "We got him."
"What?" "No. He's in Peoria."
"Megan…" "check your phone. I just sent you confirmation."
A picture of a man who looked just like Devin Murdock. But how? We just spoke to the mortuary. He left here 30 minutes ago.
After about 72 hours of interrogation Chase called again. "It's his twin."
"What? Ho--?"
"They were army brats growing up, he was adopted at birth.. Devin tracked him down and enlisted him for help. Devin's adoptive Name is Banks."
That explains a lot but now our target is gone again. Probably hunting us as we speak. The one thing we did learn early on is that it never hurts to study your opponent, especially if they're steps ahead.
Chase and I sent out decoys, one went back to Maine, Where Murdock was locked up and the other stayed behind in Detroit, both were using our personal credit accounts to leave false paper trails.
"Chase. Get to Detroit, he's headed for Erin. You gotta get there asap.
We decided to use his brother as insurance to bring Devin to us, but he proved to be a disposable asset. Damn.
He got to Erin just as Chase and I did and killed her in front of us. I woke up on the floor of the warehouse. A phone beside me rang..
"Hello?"