Hard to Come By Read Online Free PDF

and weaker muscle tone of his thigh made it harder to hold his position. But at least he still had a life. Seven of his best friends—his brothers—no longer had that privilege. In his thoughts and the ink on his body, he included the Colonel in that number, because once Frank Merritt had almost been like the father Marz had never known. That counted for something, even if Merritt had thrown it all away.
    Anger and disappointment weighed on Marz’s chest as it always did when he thought about what Merritt had done. Marz couldn’t understand how their commander could’ve cared so little for his team when each of them would’ve laid their lives down for the man in a heartbeat. Sometimes, Merritt’s betrayal felt a whole lot like being discarded by his parents all over again.
    He blew out a long breath.
    Still, any way Marz sliced and diced it, he’d been one of the lucky SOBs. So he’d found a way to screwing his head on straight about his leg. He hadn’t yet achieved the same level of Zen about his fallen friends. Probably never would.
    But some justice would go a long way toward helping. And his gut told him Garza was key to a shot at that.
    Finally, timers shut out the front lights around eleven, and the inside went dark just before midnight. Beckett’s camera confirmed that Emilie was asleep by showing her in one nonmoving position.
    “Ready?” Beckett asked, rising to his feet.
    “Let’s do it,” Marz said, using the tree to steady himself as he got up, a helluva lot less gracefully than his friend. And damn if he didn’t feel the impact of everysingle minute of sitting on the ground in the joints and muscles of his lower half. Pins and needles were like fire in his right leg. It was entirely possible that an eighty-five-year-old had temporarily inhabited his thirty-four-year-old body.
    “Okay?” Beckett asked, half looking like he wanted to help but not sure if he should.
    “Good as gold,” Marz said, gritting his teeth as he put his weight on his stump. “Let’s go.”
    They took off at a low run across the yard, Beckett toward the side of the house and Marz toward the Toyota. Well, Marz sorta hobbled. But under the cover of darkness, it hardly mattered. He’d still get the job done. While Beckett hard wired a listening device onto the exterior landline to the telephone, Marz planted a tracking device connected to an app on his phone under the rear bumper of the car.
    If this wasn’t enough to get what they needed, Marz might have to find a way to get hold of Emilie’s cell phone. Do a quick install of some spyware and bam! One-stop shopping for pretty much any kind of surveillance he could want as long as the phone remained on. Hopefully, they could get what they needed without having to go that route. They were already dancing pretty far on the wrong side of the law.
    Marz met Beckett back in the shadows of the tree line within two minutes, where they settled in for the night. They kept watch together for another hour, and then they took turns sleeping and standing watch until day broke five hours later.
    When morning came, Marz was almost disappointed. Not that he’d expected Garza to drive up to his sister’s house, hold his arms out, and say, “Here I am!” But they needed intel on the guy, and Emilie Garza was themost direct route to it. And they didn’t have time to be patient.
    Beckett shifted and his eyes opened, immediately alert and awake. “Hey,” he said to Marz.
    “Hey. She’s up but otherwise it’s quiet,” Marz said, nodding toward the house. “Also, Charlie texted. That phone number was Garza’s mother’s house over in Northern Virginia.”
    “Which we already had,” Beckett said gruffly.
    The guy sounded as frustrated as Marz had felt when the message came through. “Yep.”
    “My gut’s telling me waiting for a call or visit from Garza is gonna take too long,” Beckett said.
    Marz sighed. “I was thinking the same thing.”
    Beckett took a long pull from a