The Billionaire Soldier's Revenge

Chapter 9: Two Betrayals.

James heard the heavy boots coming from below. He pressed his ear to the cracked floor, counting footsteps the way John's memories taught him. There were four men, different from the ones before.

"This is team Beta to Phoenix Base," came a voice from downstairs.

"We are moving on to Mission B."

His stomach sank when he heard that. If John's memories served him right, that report meant this new set of soldiers weren't there to clean up bodies as he'd thought.

They were here for something much worse. James stayed still as two soldiers came up to his floor. Through half-closed eyes, he watched them scatter modified weapons around Evans' body to make it look like the man had been carrying terrorist gear.

Still playing dead, he felt rough hands take out his military radio and switch it with damaged enemy equipment.

"We don't have all night, soldier," the second operative said. This came after spreading fake intelligence papers near the destroyed laptop.

"The boss wants this wrapped up in less than ten minutes."

Anger flowed through him as he put the pieces together. Those papers, if his intuition was correct, were lies that would paint Evans as a traitor to his country. Thanks to this setup, the dead man's girlfriend in Ohio would remember him as a betrayer who sympathized with terrorists.

But not if James could do something about it.

He heard the leader with the detonation remote barking orders from downstairs. The man seemed angry that his team was taking more time to pull this off than expected. Based on his orders, the new plan became obvious: blow up the building and bury John Collins and his men in the process.

From John's military experience, if this were a standard operation with four operatives, there would be two guards at the exit while the other two planted evidence.

With a veteran soldier's instinct from John's muscle memory, James knew the best time to strike. When both soldiers nearby had their backs turned toward him, he quietly grabbed jagged shrapnel from the explosion.

The moment the closer soldier turned and bent over to make sure the terrorist equipment on James was well-positioned, he rose up like a ghost, plunging the shard into the man's throat before he could scream.

Hot blood sprayed out as the soldier collapsed into his arms. He caught the body quietly, gently laying it down while collecting the weapon.

Then the second soldier turned around.

"You're supposed to be..."

James quickly put a bullet in his leg. The man rolled on the ground, clutching his knee while biting his lower lip, trying his best not to scream so the other guys wouldn't come running.

But they came anyway, and as they climbed the stairs, James pressed himself against the wall beside the doorway.

As the first one stepped past the doorframe, he put a bullet in his head. The second soldier noticed this and tried turning away for a different approach, but James immediately took another clean headshot before he could turn completely.

Now it was just the leader left.

"Beta team, report. What is your status?"

James almost smiled, knowing through John's memories that the leader would have no choice but to check what happened, as protocol demanded.

As he appeared in the doorway, the man raised his weapon, scanning the room now full of bodies. He stared at Evans for a while, then flashed the light on the scattered papers on the floor, now stained with blood.

When the flashlight landed on James, he went pale for a moment.

That was his mistake, as it gave James enough time to place the rifle on his chest.

"How are you still alive?" he asked.

"Team Alpha made a big mistake. They don't deserve that title."

As the leader tried to slowly reach his trigger, James shot him in the shoulder, and the force spun him around until he dropped to his knees and lost control of his weapon.

"That was another mistake," James said as he pressed his rifle barrel against the man's forehead.

"And that mistake will cost your life if I don't get answers."

The leader held onto his bleeding shoulder, breathing hard as James waited for his response.

"Answers? Are you joking, Collins?"

"You know the drill. When you cross the wrong people, ask the wrong questions, or get too involved, then you disappear. That's the game, man!"

James pushed the barrel against the man's skull.

"Tell me everything you know about Phoenix Group, everything I haven't been told. Who is paying them?"

The leader's frightened face became amused, holding back a bitter laugh.

"What makes you think I know? If I had that information, don't you think they would have killed me first?"

John's rage welled up inside him; he was just one step away from putting a bullet in this man's head. But for his sake, James remained stoic, curious to know more so he could make things right.

"My men are dead because someone wants us to be silent. Each of them had families and loved ones, two of them had kids waiting for them to come back."

"Thanks to you, those little ones will grow up without fathers. If my memories are true, then you have a young son and a teenage daughter waiting back at your home in Pennsylvania.

Their names are Rick and Dinah, if I remember correctly, and as much as I hate you, I don't want them to grieve your death as well."

"So I'm going to ask one more time. Who paid Phoenix Group?"

The leader shook his head, not having time to wonder how the quiet James Collins knew so much.

"This is much bigger than Phoenix. We are just the cleanup crew. I swear!"

James gave a loud sigh, looking tired of the conversation already.

"Then tell me who signs your paychecks."

The leader briefly looked at the Sergeant's eyes and could see no sympathy. The only thing stopping this man from killing him was his level head, not mercy.

So after a few seconds of silence, he finally broke.

"Phoenix Group was given a contract, one with a lot of zeros. It came from an investment firm based in Manhattan that was used as an alibi for private military funding from the government."

"What company?" asked James.

"This is insane, Sergeant! What are you planning to do with this info? Are you crazy?"

James pressed the gun harder.

"The name."

The leader thought about it for a few seconds before giving the answer James had been waiting for.

"Harrison Industries."

Now the real confusion began. James felt like he was falling into panic mode until he pulled the trigger, causing the leader's head to snap back right before his body fell to the ground in a spreading pool of blood.

On the surface this wasn't enough info to jump to conclusions, but for James, his intuition was clear.

"Charlie Harrison, you son of a bitch."

Whether it was by remembrance or a direct correlation in his mind, even he wasn't sure. All he knew was that there was work to be done.

He had to go home.