“Who is the vice president of the United States, looking to be president,” Charlotte explained. “Levi has thrived under the current president, and we expect he’ll continue if his father-in-law wins. He’s moved into the upper echelons of the CIA. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up heading the Agency.”
Eve had a notepad out, a pen in her well-manicured hand. “Solo, do you have thoughts about Levi’s past? I’ve got a full dossier on him, but you’ve known him for a long time.”
“Yes. Most of my adult life. We met when we were both in training. Power has always been very important to Levi.” Kim had her hands around the mug like she needed the warmth. “He grew up in a wealthy family, but his parents weren’t all that interested in him. I think they were a bit like mine. Unfortunately, his father’s wealth was wiped out during a financial crisis. Levi was in college at the time, studying political science. He wanted to go into politics, but without cash it wasn’t going to happen. Levi didn’t want to be a mayor or a state representative. He wanted to go to the top and fast. He still had a lot of connections, including some at the Agency.”
“He was never really an operative.” It was one of the many things that rankled Beck. “They never put him in the field, but he quickly was given the lead to use operatives and teams. In this case, it was my brother’s Force Recon team.”
“I know we did a deep dive on this back in the day, but I need a refresher,” Li admitted. “It’s been years, and I don’t think we had much to go on back then.”
“Well, in my defense, the whole team was supposed to have died.” Tag started passing around folders with the original report in them. “Solo, did you hide the other team members around the globe somewhere?”
Kim’s grip tightened. “No, they died in a firefight.”
“I wouldn’t call it that. It was more like an ambush.” Ezra’s eyes were on the table in front of him. “Most of us didn’t get a shot off.”
“What was the purpose of the op?” Tag asked. “And why was Solo in charge?”
“Beck, I think we should talk about this in private first,” Ezra said quietly.
“There’s no need to.” He’d avoided his brother’s mea culpa for days. He intended to do this on his time. “Everyone’s read the reports.”
“Okay.” Ezra sat up and folded his hands together on the table in front of him. “In order to understand that particular mission, you need to understand how I got there.”
“No, we don’t.” Frustration welled. He didn’t want to hear his brother’s sad story. “You liked drugs and you got recruited by a guy who liked to make money off drugs. We got it.”
Kim sighed. “And that reaction is exactly why he couldn’t come to you. You were always so judgmental. It’s why I couldn’t tell you. Ezra, there’s no point in going over this. I’ll explain the op.”
Shit. The last thing he needed was for Kim to decide he hadn’t changed. “I’m sorry. I’m angry with him and I’m not being reasonable. Ezra, if you want to talk about this privately, we can go to my office.”
“You were right. He has a leash now.” Li had leaned over and whispered to Tag.
“No, it’s fine. It’s best I get it all out there,” Ezra said. “I had a minor injury after a mission. I was my team’s medic. The truth was I wasn’t all that brilliant in battle with a gun, but I was excellent at saving soldiers. I often think if I hadn’t found my way into medic training, I would have left the Navy pretty early on.”
“I thought he was a Marine.” Liam opened the folder in front of him.
Tag tried to pass him a pair of reading glasses. “The Marines get their medics from the Navy. Avery says you have to wear these or you get a headache.”
“Fuck you, Tag.” But Li took the glasses. “I’m only wearing them because my darling thinks I look good in them.”
“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