Lauriver Chronicles

Chapter 28

"Okay, I've determined who my next target will be." Oliver said as he entered the barracks to find Tatsu and Laurel sparring, though considering the fact that Laurel was still standing, Oliver knew Tatsu was holding back, since she didn't want to push Laurel too hard too fast while Luke was standing in the middle of the computer hub while Abby was taking inventory of the medical bay.

"Who?" Luke asked.

"Ted Gaynor." Oliver said as Laurel and Tatsu paused their sparring.

"Your old CO?" Laurel asked in surprise, since she'd met Gaynor a few times while Oliver was gone, since he'd offered his condolences once, but she hadn't seen much of him since.

"Yeah, I always respected him when we were overseas, but I never really liked him and then I did some digging and found reports of this." Oliver said as Luke moved to the side to allow him to use the computers to pull up reports of armored vehicle robberies.

"Yeah, I saw the reports about these thefts on the news." Laurel said as she and Tatsu joined them.

"Look at the maneuvers they use." Oliver said as he played footage of one of the robberies.

"What are we looking at?" Abby asked, since she and Laurel were lost, but Oliver, Luke and Tatsu all exchanged looks, recognizing the maneuvers.

"Those are military tactics." Luke said and Oliver nodded.

"And Gaynor is the one who taught those exact tactics to me while I was enlisted." Oliver said.

"Why would Gaynor do this? He's a soldier, he should know better." Laurel said angrily and Oliver sighed.

"Ted developed a bit of a complex while we were overseas. He loved the power of the uniform and more importantly, the weapons. I'm guessing that coming home and being a bodyguard didn't give him that same feeling, so he decided to go rogue." Oliver said.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Luke asked.

"First we need to figure out what Gaynor's next target will be, since I already told him no when he tried to recruit me and he'd never believe that I changed my mind about this and even if John was in the fold, he idolized Gaynor and he'd never believe it until he saw proof with his own eyes." Oliver said.

"Well, luckily there's another veteran who'd be happy to help you out." Luke said, since like Oliver, he also did military service.

"Wait, you're a veteran?" Abby asked Luke, raising an eyebrow.

"Didn't want to just be stuck behind a desk my whole life. I enlisted in the military before going to MIT." Luke said.

"Are Laurel and I the only ones here who don't have any kind of military experience?" Abby asked, since Oliver and Luke were former soldiers and Tatsu had told them about being a former Argus agent.

"Apparently." Laurel said as Oliver pulled up Luke's army jacket on the computer and smiled.

"I think that Gaynor would be interested in hiring you, at least as a side hustle from your work at Queen Consolidated, if I give this to John, who then gives it to him, since I think that John at least is thinking about taking Gaynor's offer." Oliver said.

"Make the call and set it up. If I can get into Blackhawk, I can help you stay ahead of Gaynor and expose him before you take him down." Luke said.

"Are you sure? This will be dangerous work and if you say no, I won't hold it against you and we can find another way in." Oliver said, but Luke shook his head.

"I'm sure. This guy is a disgrace to the military. He needs to go down and I want to help do that." Luke said and Oliver nodded.

"Okay, I'll make the call and tell John that you're looking for some sidework." Oliver said.

"Great. The sooner we get that done, the sooner, we can expose Gaynor and take him down." Luke said and Oliver nodded, since while he was hesitant on sending Luke into the field right now, he also knew that this was their only option and he'd be shadowing them at all times in case things went south.