“How was shopping? Whoa, what’s all this?” Razor asked when he opened the back of the SUV.

“Most of it is Zary’s, but I bought a few things and so did Aine.”

Razor unloaded the packages onto a luggage cart. “Gunner called while you were out. He said we’re going to spend Christmas at his mother’s house instead of on the island.”

“Did he say why?”

“Space. His mother’s place is a lot bigger. In fact, this will be our last night here. We’ll move over there tomorrow. Which bears the question, why did you bring all of Zary’s purchases here anyway?”

“To wrap it all tomorrow. She was going to come here—”

“Slow down, Avarie,” he said, pulling her into a hug. “We have this room reserved for another three nights. I just thought you might want to spend the extra time with Zary.”

“Is his mother sure about us staying there?”

“Wait until you see this place. Oh, and your mom and my mom are already there. I guess I should’ve told you that first.”

“We did see it,” said Aine. “When we dropped Zary and Odette off. We just didn’t go inside.”

“Then you know it’s like a luxury hotel.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Positive. It’ll be great. You two head to the suite. I’ll have the bellman help me bring the sleigh full of presents up there.”

“Are you okay?” Ava asked her sister.

“I’ll be fine. It isn’t like I’ve ever had a boyfriend at Christmas. This year is just like all the others.”

“You still have a boyfriend; he just can’t spend Christmas with you.”

“Do I? I don’t even know at this point.”

Ava knew Aine was heartbroken that she hadn’t heard anything from Striker since Thanksgiving. When she’d asked Tabon about it, all he said was that wherever he was, he was in deep.

“Can you ask Doc?”

“I did, sweetheart,” he’d said. “There’s nothing I can tell you.”

That meant he knew, but she shouldn’t ask any more questions.

“I wish I could wave a magic wand and get him here, sweetie,” she told Aine.

“Me too. But, Ava, can we stop talking about it?”

“Of course.” She looked at her phone and saw that Odette was calling. “Hi,” she answered.

“Change of plans. Did you unload the car yet?”

“Tabon is doing that right now.”

“Stop him. You’re coming here tonight. We’ll just put everything in the guest house.”

“He said we were going to stay here one more night.”

“Gunner just told me to tell you that he’s calling Razor now.”

She said goodbye, hung up, and went to look for her sister. She found her in the suite’s second bedroom, crying, and lay down next to her.

“I wish I had something I could say that would make you feel better.”

“I’m just feeling sorry for myself.”

“I’ll be right back,” Ava said when she heard a knock at the door. She hoped they didn’t get all the way up here with the packages already.

“We’re here!” screamed Tara and Penelope when she opened the door.

“Oh my gosh. Wow! What are you doing here? Wait. I mean, I’m so glad you’re here.”

Aine came out of the bedroom and ran up to hug their friends. “I’m so happy to see you both.”

“Come in.” Ava moved aside and waved the girls into the suite.

“How long are you staying?” Aine asked, noticing their bags like Ava had.

“We’re here for Christmas! Didn’t—”

“Surprise!” said Tabon, walking in behind them and over to Ava. “I thought they might help cheer up Aine,” he whispered.

“I love you so much,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Are they like this all the time?” she heard Penelope say to Aine, but she didn’t hear her sister’s response.

“I’m going to head over to the house and give you ladies some time alone,” Tabon said before kissing her cheek.

“I don’t know how to thank you for doing this,” she said, kissing his lips.

“I have a few ideas.” Tabon looked over at her sister and their friends. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Oh. What about…I mean, where will they stay?”

“Headed there to figure it out. Worst case, they’ll stay here.”

Razor was on his way down to the SUV when his phone rang. He looked at the screen and saw Doc was calling.

“Tell me you’re calling with good news.”

“The opposite, I’m afraid. Still no word.”

“Shit. This is bad.”

“I agree.”

“Can we go in and look?”

“That’s one of the reasons I’m calling. We need to put a team together.”

“Who are you thinking?”

“Dutch and Onyx. There are a couple of volunteers from the company too.”

“Who?”

“Messick and Jacks. Ever heard of them?”

“Ranger Messick started out in counterterrorism. Graduated from Syracuse’s INSCT program. Diesel Jacks is a language savant. Speaks twelve at last count. Went to Cornell; almost immediate post-grad recruitment. Both were on Striker’s core team.”

“You’re like a damn computer.”

“Want height and weight too?”

“No, thanks.”

“You sure about sending Dutch in?”

“He came to me.”

“Roger that. What else do you need from me?”

“I need you to look after Alegria. I know you have a lot going on right now, but she won’t come here.”

“You’ve asked?”

“No, but my gut tells me she won’t.”

“Where is she now?”

“She and Dutch are traveling. My understanding is they’ll arrive sometime tonight.”

“Does she know he’s deploying?”

“Negative.”

“Shit.”

“Sorry, Raze.”

“Don’t be. I got this.”

Instead of getting the SUV, Razor called his wife. “We have a situation.”

“What’s going on?”

“Can you go somewhere that Aine can’t hear you?”

“Sure. Give me a sec.” Ava went into the en-suite bathroom in their room and closed the door. “Okay. I can talk.”

“K19 is sending in a team…shit, Ava, you can’t say any of this to Aine. Do you promise me you won’t?”

She took a deep breath. “I won’t, Tabon, I promise.”

“Striker and Mantis are MIA.”

“Okay.”

“Dutch and Onyx are leading a team in, and that means Alegria is going to need our help.”

“Tell me what I can do.”

“Isn’t one of the girls planning to become a PA.”

“Pen, and she already is.”

“Perfect. I need to think this through, but I’ll get back to you in a few. Stay where you are.”

“Tabon?”

“Yeah, sweetheart.”

“You’re sending a team in. That means Striker is still alive, right?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

Ava looked in the mirror and took several deep breaths. What she was about to do would be the hardest thing she’d ever done. She was going to have to lie to her twin, repeatedly. Some would be out-and-out lies and others would be lies of omission. She just prayed that Aine didn’t catch on to either.

Alegria wasn’t exactly a girly-girl, which meant convincing her to hang out with Ava’s best friends wasn’t going to be an easy sell. But, she was part of the K19 team, and as such, they had to give her the support she needed, even if she didn’t want it.

“How many bedrooms in the guest house?” Razor asked Gunner.

“Three. Why?”

“Who’s staying in it?”

“For Christ’s sake—why?”

Razor pulled Gunner outside. “There’s a team goin’ in after Striker and Mantis. Dutch is on it. He and Alegria are on their way here, and he’s shipping out tonight.”

Gunner scrubbed his face with his hand. “Let me think what my mother said. I’m pretty sure she had Dutch and Alegria penciled in. And Odette.”

“Can we move your sister?”

“Nice, Raze. Why? Princess Alegria needs her privacy?”

“Penelope and Tara are here.”

“What did you bring them in for, moral support?”

Razor looked out at the bay.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“Aine is my sister-in-law, and she’s f’ing miserable, and it’s Christmas.”

Gunner put his hands on his hips. “I don’t even recognize us anymore.”

“Me either.”

“Okay. Let me see where we can stick my sister.”

“Wait. Did you say it had three bedrooms?”

“Now what?”

“Well, Aine.”

“One of the bedrooms has two twin beds in it. Which means Odette can stay in the main house in the room Aine was slated for.”

“See? That wasn’t so bad.”

Gunner walked away, muttering, but Razor didn’t care. His mission was accomplished, at least the first part of it.