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Horse.”
    Nick led the way inside, closing and locking the door before gesturing to a blonde woman with baby and blonde haired girl near Al’s age next to her with a well-mannered mutt in her arms. The girl stared at me as if I were an ogre on a day hike from under my bridge.
    “This is my wife Rachel, baby son Quinn, daughter Jean, and my beer drinking buddy, Deke the dog.” Nick then gestured at our mugs while latching onto Lucas and Clint. “Lucas Blake trained me and Clint Dostiene here after I left Delta and Clint left from wherever the hell he came from. The big guy is John Harding. I’ve shown you some of his UFC fights. The guy next to him is Denny Strobert, CIA assistant director.”
    Nick took Lynn’s hand, pulling her forward. “Rach, Jean… this is Lynn, Clint’s wife.”
    Lynn of course melted from her cold blooded persona to the killer mommy she now was as she greeted Jean and Rachel while ogling young Quinn. “He’s adorable.” Out came the iPhone with a parade of pics featuring her son, Clint Jr for Nick’s ladies to see. It was a good greeting.
    Nick’s Jean latched onto Lynn’s arm. “Dad told me Mr. Strobert says you are the deadliest woman he’s ever seen with a knife. Dad taught me a lot about knives. Can I show you after your meeting?”
    Lynn’s eyes brightened. “Sure kid, I’d love to see what you can do.”
    “My tag is Viper,” Jean told her proudly.
    “Mine’s Cruella Deville. You can call me Crue, Viper.”
    “That is so cool!”
    “Denny told us all how you and your Mom met Nick. Very scary.”
    “Yeah… Dad had to kill a bunch of wankers that were set on killing us.”
    “Jean!” Rachel tugged on Jean’s hair while Crue enjoyed the exchange.
    “I’ll tell you about the raid when Clint dragged John’s team along to get me out of a drug cartel’s clutches in Mexico while you’re showing me your knife handling.”
    “No… you won’t,” Clint said.
    “Damn censors,” Lynn whispered loudly to Jean. “I’ll give you a toned down version later, Viper.”
    “Okay, Crue. I hope my friend Sonny comes over soon to meet you.”
    We followed Nick to his deck. The vista that morning combined a misting fog and streaming sunlight with small clear areas of ocean, houses and mottled sky. Nick’s table, set with coffee cups, finger pastries, and thermal coffee urns looked very inviting. Nick sat down with Deke the dog lying at his side. A tall lean black man and a slightly under six foot Middle Eastern man stood to shake our hands.
    “Gus Nason and John Groves… meet John Harding, Denny Strobert, Lucas Blake, Clint Dostiene, and Lynn Dostiene.”
    “We feel like we know you all because of the videos Muerto’s been exchanging with Lucas,” Gus said. “The interrogation videos get Muerto sexually aroused so we have to limit his time with them.”
    After we all enjoyed Gus’s zinger while seating and serving ourselves, John Groves spoke rather hesitantly to Lynn. “We are very interested in your new interrogation technique with the acupuncture pins, Lynn. That is amazing. There are no marks and the results are incredible.”
    “We stick with that one now,” Lynn told him. “It’s boring as hell but going old school is messy. I love the one you guys do with the scalpel and bleach.”
    “Muerto only does that one when we can escape the cleaning usually,” John replied. “I am like you in that I need only show the video now as Lucas has explained you do.”
    “I have to see your chamber of horrors,” Lynn said with enthusiasm. “Where the heck do you have that place?”
    “It is near my house in Carmel Valley. I hope you will have time for me to show it to you. It may be possible to bring this man, Gilani, there. We shall find out everything he knows.”
    “I like it,” Lynn declared. “Step up, Den. Let’s get the details ironed out. Time’s a wastin’.”
    Denny explained our suspicions about Gilani. We also suspected he imported an Isis cell into