Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“Avery’s the one who needs glasses.” That quip earned Tag a wifely smack against his big bicep. “So while Ezra would have started out in the Navy, and technically wasn’t ever a Marine, he served with a Marine unit.”
“He was an honorary Marine. He passed his test and got his pin.” Somehow he felt the need to defend Ezra. Not that he didn’t like the Navy. He didn’t care either way, but it had meant something that his brother got that pin.
“He’s talking about my Fleet Marine Force pin,” Ezra explained. “It’s a test you take to prove you know what you need to know about the Marine Corps. I was my unit’s corpsman, what you call a medic. What that means is I was a Marine right until someone got hurt and then I was a doc. And I loved that. I thought about going to medical school after I got out, but that was pretty unrealistic for me.”
“Why?” He’d never once heard that Ezra wanted to do anything but be in the military. He’d gone in because their parents hadn’t had the money to send him to college, but he’d seemed happy there. How much had he missed? How much had Ezra hidden down deep?
“It costs a lot to get through medical school even with the military aid, and honestly, I don’t know that I’m smart enough. I certainly didn’t believe it back then.”
“You were always smart.”
“Not compared to my brother,” Ezra said. “Anyway, to make a long story short, I got hooked on pain meds after my injury. I think it was a combination of things that included a deep depression I went into after my father died.”
Beck had to shake his head. “You never seemed depressed.”
“The drugs will do that to you,” Ezra allowed. “Uhm, I’m pretty sure during that last year you never saw me when I wasn’t high. I was excellent at hiding it, though I know some of the guys in the unit I was in at the time suspected I had a problem. I got called in by my CO one day and I thought I was going to get in serious trouble. Instead that man on the tape was there and he offered me a place in what he called a special unit.”
“Just so we’re clear,” Eve began, “you’re talking about Levi Green. He was the man who recruited you onto the unit you were in when the incident took place.”
“Yes. I saw him the once and then one other time during the six months I was with that unit. I didn’t talk to him much. He talked to my CO much more. I also wasn’t given his name. That alone let me know we were working for the Agency,” Ezra explained. “But I trusted them. My two favorite people in the world were agents.”
Beck didn’t want to think about what his brother’s words were doing to him. He wasn’t going to forgive Ezra. He didn’t have to. He didn’t have to forgive the people who had done him wrong. He could understand it in Kim’s case, but he would still be married if Ezra hadn’t played his games.
Wouldn’t he? Then there was the issue of Levi Green picking Ezra Fain for his “special” unit. “He picked you specifically?”
Ezra nodded. “Yes. He said he’d been looking for the right corpsman to fill the last spot. I took it because I thought I might be able to hide my problems. I got on that team and realized I didn’t have to hide at all.”
“Because they were all corrupt in one way or another.” Tag was looking down at the file in front of him. “Levi put together a group he could manipulate if he had to. Every man on the team had issues. Did Levi supply you with drugs?”
His brother’s jaw tightened. “Someone did. I think we can probably bet it was him.”
“I’ve got Theo working on finding out if Levi had any other special teams,” Tag explained.
“I think he did.” Kim glanced Tag’s way, a serious expression on her face. “I think he had one in each branch of the military. He bragged about it to me once and told me his units would take him far. Most of us work with whoever is in the area, but Levi would move his own teams around the globe if he had to.”
She’d never told him that. Suspicion was an old friend, and he felt it brush up his spine. Why wouldn’t she have told him?
She turned his way as though she could read his mind. “I wasn’t aware of this until after our divorce.” She went back to speaking to Tag. “And obviously, we were working for the same agency during the time with the Lost Boys.”
“You were a good agent.” Tag looked almost sympathetic. “I truly understand the walls you had to put up. You were walking a very fine line, and I appreciate everything you did for us during that time. Charlie told you about the office, right?”