TWO DAYS LATER
Mom is driving me home from the hospital, and Luca’s coming with me to look after me once I’m settled. Although I’m more capable of doing things than Luca is at this moment, but I appease him and let him think he’s taking care of me because I’m a good girlfriend and it’s my job. Smiling as I grip onto Luca’s hand in the back seat, I stare out the window at the cars passing by and think about my utterly amazing life. I have this boyfriend, who would literally injure himself to protect me from assholes. I have the best job in the world, and I have friends and family who will do anything for me. Shaking my head, I turn to look at Luca who’s looking at me and grinning wide.
“What are you smiling about?” he asks.
I nuzzle into his side and sigh. “I’m just happy. Thank you for coming home with me today. I know you should be at The Agency, probably being dealt with by Jack for handling Brandon, but knowing you’ve spent your time with me instead means a lot.”
He shakes his head bringing his hand up to caress my cheek. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else…” His eyes dart around behind me as we pull up at a set of lights and his brows crease. “Is that Molly’s car?” he asks, and I turn to see her car parked outside of a bar.
While that wouldn’t normally be strange, it’s ten o’clock in the morning.
“Umm… I think so.”
“Can we pull over?” he asks, and Mom’s already pulling down the side street by the bar.
The car pulls into a park and Luca wastes no time jumping out of the car. “Mom, wait here,” I tell her and she rolls her eyes and smiles.
“Yes dear,” she answers sarcastically as I file out to meet Luca on the footpath. He’s not using his elbow crutch anymore as he’s trying to walk on his own, and he’s managing with a slight limp, but I reach out grabbing his free hand while we walk into the bar together in search of Molly. We pass her car on the way in, and I can’t help but notice a bunch of luggage in the back seat. And Daisy’s lying down in the front passenger seat asleep and curled up looking cute as hell for a dog that could rip your arm off. Raising my brow as we walk in, she’s seated at the bar, glass in front of her drowning her sorrows. Luca looks to me, and I wince, as we stride up and take a seat either side of her.
She looks from me to Luca and then down to her glass as she weakly smiles. “Should have known some secret agents would find me,” she murmurs, and I furrow my brows at her saddened tone.
Luca taps the bar, ordering a drink from the bartender. “Well, we couldn’t let you get drunk and continue drinking on your own like a loser.”
Molly doesn’t even crack a smile, just takes a long sip of her drink in front of her that looks a lot like some kind of vodka mix.
Clearing my throat, I turn to her and reach out placing my hand on hers. “Molly… the bags in your car?”
She turns to me and weakly smiles. “I’m going away for a little while.”
Luca sits up taller and shakes his head. “What? Why?”
Molly looks at Luca and tilts her head. “Just gotta clear my head.”
“Have you told Lily?” Luca asks.
Lily will be devastated if her best friend leaves town without her saying anything.
Molly shakes her head. “Luca, please don’t say anything until I’m gone. Leaving is hard enough without adding in goodbyes.”
Luca shakes his head, sadness washing over his face. I know he and Molly have always had a strained relationship, but I also know he wouldn’t want her to leave. “Well, you’ve been drinking. So, I don’t think it’s advisable you drive, Molly.”
She finally smiles. “I think I’ll be fine.”
Luca slumps into his seat. “Where are you going?”
Molly looks back to her drink taking another sip. “Anywhere.”
My heart sinks as I think of not having Molly around, then I think of the one person who this will really affect other than Lily. “We’ll miss you…” I tell her. “I know someone who’ll miss you a lot more than us…” I wiggle my brows. “His name starts with N and rhymes with mower.”
Luca raises his brow like he’s completely surprised by this revelation. But I spend a hell of a lot of time with his teammate working on the tech side of the SO7, so Noah has talked to me about Molly.
“You… and Noah?” Luca scoffs.
Molly cringes, shaking her head. “Nah, he’ll be fine…” She looks to Luca. “You make sure he is.” The threat is harsh, more like the normal Molly we’re used to, but I’m still confused as to what the hell is going on. Molly takes one last sip of her drink and stands up. “Tell Lily I love her, and I’ll let her know how I’m doing so they don’t freak out, as per usual. And you, Luca… I might hate you… but look after yourself and more importantly, look after Everly,” she says, her eyes glistening with the real threat of tears. She turns, walking out of the bar without looking back. I watch her as she strides off, no hesitation, no fear, going off into the world and I wonder what has her running scared.
And how the hell am I going to tell Noah?
Luca grabs her glass of vodka from the bar and brings it to his lips, I furrow my brows wondering what on earth he’s doing when he takes a giant sip, downing the rest of her drink. I roll my eyes when he places the glass back down on the bar. “Huh…”
“What?” I ask.
He screws up his face and looks toward the door where Molly exited. “It was water.”
“I get the feeling that this is not going to be good,” I say nervously. “Lily is going to be completely shattered. And Noah…”
“Yeah, I think we should drive over to Kace’s house and talk to them, they might be able to find her and stop her, just in case she’s planning on doing something stupid.”
My skin riddles with goosebumps and I nod, as we stand up from the seat and race out the bar to see Molly gone and with it the hope that Molly is okay.
Mom drives us to Kace’s home, then leaves. Kace can drive me home, or I can stay at Luca’s tonight if I need to, but for now, we need to discuss Molly with Kace and Lily. We rush up the stairs and arrive at the front door. Luca doesn’t bother knocking, just walks straight through and I wince, but follow him in as we enter and head out toward the kitchen.
Kace has Lily up on the kitchen bench, and they’re kissing like mad when we walk in, and I quickly look away when Kace groans and Lily giggles as they pull apart. “By all means, barge on in,” Kace grumps out, and Luca shakes his head.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have some big news,” Luca divulges.
Kace lifts Lily from the bench, and she straightens out her dress.
“Oh my God, are you getting married?” Lily asks, her eyes lighting up like she’s beyond excited.
My body tingles, and I’m not sure why as Luca stiffens beside me. “What? No…” He looks at me raising his brow, a sly smirk spreading on his face. I tense up as he shakes his head like he’s ridding a thought from his mind as he looks back to Lily and takes a breath. “No. Not getting married. Unfortunately, this is not the good type of news. Have you heard from Molly? ‘Cause we just had a run in with her.”
Lily frowns and shakes her head. “No, I haven’t. And by run in you mean?”
Luca lets go of me and walks up to Lily taking her hand in his, as Kace looks to me raising his brow. “Molly’s left town. I don’t know where she’s going, or when she’s coming back, but we saw her in a bar, and she appeared… strange. I’m worried about her.”
Lily’s eyes flood with tears as she looks to Kace and takes a deep breath.
“Go. Call her,” he instructs, and Lily breaks free and rushes off to call Molly.
Kace turns to Luca and throws his hands in the air. “What the hell’s going on?” he asks, and Luca shrugs as my cell starts to ring. I pull it out from my pocket and look at the caller ID, as Luca looks to me.
I screw up my face and sigh. “It’s Reid… I should get it.”
Luca and Kace both nod knowing even though I’m technically on sick leave, and even though there’s trouble brewing with Molly, the SO9 is continuing to gather intel on Kenzi, and we still need to find her.
I swipe to answer the call. “Reid, is everything okay?” I ask without a simple hello.
“I wouldn’t usually call you in this soon after an injury, but shit’s getting heated and we need you,” he says bluntly in return.
Slumping my shoulders, I nod and look over to Kace. “It’s fine, I’ll come in. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Luca looks at me, his eyes hard as Kace nods knowing this needs to be done. Kace walks off probably to find Lily to tell her we’re leaving, and to make sure she’s all right leaving me with a pissed off looking Luca.
“See you soon, Everly. And for the record… I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks, Reid, I’ll see you soon.” Hanging up the cell, I look to Luca and slump my body. “I know what you’re going to say, and I’m going to stop you before you say it. I’m fine. I can handle going back to work. It was only a concussion, Luca. I’m not a piece of glass that can break easily. I need to go back so I can find Kenzi. Okay?”
He raises his brow walking up to me taking my hands in his. “I was going to say… I’m coming with you, and I don’t want you to tell me not to come in, because I’m not a fragile piece of glass either, but… it’s so much sexier when you say it all angry like that.”
I giggle and lean in pressing my lips to his in a tender kiss. The warmth flows through me igniting my soul, and I love that we’re in a good place right now. We pull back just as Kace comes back in, he smiles at us and tilts his head toward the door. “Shall we go?”
I nod. “Did Lily get a hold of Molly?”
He nods. “Yeah, they’re talking now.”
My shoulders relax, and I feel better knowing whatever’s going on, at least Lily can help Molly with it, and she won’t do anything stupid.
“Okay, let’s go.” Kace leads us out to his truck, and we all slide in. The ignition roaring to life as he takes off toward the museum. Kace and Luca are in the front, and I’m in the rear while we all wonder what’s going down with the SO9 that they need me back so quickly.
“Perhaps they have located Kenzi…” I state, and Kace shrugs.
“I’m guessing if they have then they want you to know about it. Have you check intel to confirm it, so they can move ahead with the extraction,” Kace replies.
“I wonder how Axel’s coping with all of this? He’s been so quiet lately. I know he wants Kenzi back, and with how things played out last time I wonder if his head is truly in the game now?” I ask and Kace and Luca both shrug.
“The thing about Axel is he’s hotheaded about the people he loves, and whether he tries to deny it to us or not, we know he loves Kenzi. Or at least the Kenzi he knew. He would die for her if he had to, and that makes him dangerous on this mission, as we’ve already seen previously. He’s a liability. But he might also be the only thing that can bring Kenzi back to our side. Snap her around. If… she can be brought back from the grip of Rix.”
“I just hope everyone comes out of this okay. So far, Luca’s been hurt. People have died in the sand dunes. Who else has to suffer for this girl?” I ask, and Luca looks back to me and sighs.
“The thing is, Snowdrop, she’s not just a girl. She’s not just Axel’s girl. She’s a biochemist, and possibly aiding in the construction of super weapons. Now, if she has, she could very well be the only person who can help us disarm said superweapons. Biochem isn’t easy. It’s not just some bomb you can turn off by pulling wires out. It’s chemicals. It’s antidotes. It’s fucking medical. We might need her to combat the very thing she’s possibly been making. So, I get why you have an aversion to her, I do. But, we need her, for more than one reason.”
Sighing, I nod and sink into my seat. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. I only want good people around us, you know?” Luca weakly smiles at me as Kace exhales.
“I think with Kenzi, maybe she’s been led astray. Obviously, we don’t know her, but Axel does, and if he says she isn’t this bad person she’s supposedly looking like, then maybe we need to trust that there’s more at play here than meets the eye.”
“You’re always so levelheaded, Kace,” I say, and Luca snorts.
“Not always. Don’t worry… sometimes he can be a dick.”
Kace chuckles punching Luca in the arm as Luca laughs while we continue the short drive to the museum.
Once we make it inside The Agency, we head up to our level, and as we walk in all the eyes of the room shift to Luca and me as we step in holding hands. But I don’t care, I figure I’ll make a fucking statement. I lean up on my toes and plant a kiss on Luca’s lips in front of everyone. Luca tenses beside me, but kisses me back as a round of cheering echoes through the room and Kace chuckles beside us. I grin against Luca’s lips, and he pulls back looking into my eyes and smiles.
“What was that for?” he asks.
“Just letting everyone know,” I tell him.
“Well, I for one am glad they all know you’re mine.”
I lean up chastely kissing him again. “Good, now go. I have work to do.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He salutes me as he and Kace walk off to their desks, and I head to the meeting room where I know Reid and the SO9 are currently located. I head through the vestibule, sliding my ID card through the reader and scanning my iris. I step into the room where the meeting is in full swing.
Reid’s at the head of the table and I round the corner to see Zeb and the rest of the team. Then, at the end of the table, is Brandon. I stop on the spot, my mouth open wide as Reid stops his briefing and looks to me.
I shake my head glaring at Reid. “What the hell is he…” I point to Brandon with a sneer, “… doing in here?”
Reid places the folder he’s holding to the desk as he looks at me sympathetically. “The Board looked over the footage from the gym, and they said it appeared not to be purposeful or go against our Code of Conduct—” I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off. “But he has been given a strict warning, and is on a working probation, Everly.”
Taking a deep lungful of air to try and calm my nerves, I don’t dare look down at Brandon to give him the satisfaction of letting him know how utterly pissed off I am about this. I also make a mental note not to tell Luca about this until our mission is over. He will go ballistic.
Reid picks the file back up, gesturing for me to take a seat next to where he’s standing. So, I slide into it which also happens to be next to Zeb, thankfully, and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
Brandon may have tried to hurt me purposefully, but I won’t let him get in the way of my work. No way.
“As I was saying… we’ve had intel come through that informs us Kenzi, Hendrix, Gibbs, and other major players will be at this location within the half hour.” He looks to Zeb who clicks on something on a tablet he’s using, and a map comes up on the screen behind Reid, with the location mapped out as Rockafella Mansion in Rock Creek.
Furrowing my brows I immediately think, Something doesn’t add up.
Why would all the major players from this faction of the Sinclair Syndicate, all be in the same place at the same time?
And how were we able to get this information?
Shaking my head I raise my hand. “Wait! This doesn’t feel right. I think we need to call Jack in to discuss this,” I advise.
“Jack is tending to Camilla, little lady. She lost her shit and killed a guard.” The way he talks in a strangely calm and almost amused way is alarming to me. I don’t know whether it’s because he’s still pissed at me about what happened because Luca handed his ass to him on a platter, or whether he’s playing mind games with me right now, but he’s definitely getting under my skin. And not in a good way.
“I hate to disagree with you, Everly, but we have to take this opportunity, and it is time sensitive. If we want to act, we have to act now, and we can’t wait for authority from Jack. We have no idea how long he’s going to be dealing with Camilla, and we have no idea how long all the heads of the Syndicate will be at the mansion.”
I shake my head. “Reid, listen… for all of those big players to be in the same place at one time, and for us to find out about it, means only one of two things. The intel is wrong. Or… it’s a trap.”
Zeb stiffens beside me, and I can tell he’s listening, but Reid shakes his head and slams his fist onto the table, a resounding bang echoing through the room making me jump. “Damn it, Everly, we have the chance to get Kenzi right now. She’s right here, in our grasp. We have to take it. If you’re not in, then we will have to find someone who is.”
My chest tightens, and my stomach sinks. I need to be here, to see what happens. I can’t let this mission go ahead without me. I need to know Kenzi is recovered without her being harmed.
Fuck!
“I’m in, Reid.”
He nods looking relieved. “Good, let’s suit up. We move out in five.”
“I’ll get my equipment,” I say and turn heading for the door. I race through it, and without hesitation, I head for the one person I know will help me right now. I just hope like hell Luca isn’t with him. As I approach the desk, I’m relieved Luca’s not around as Kace glances up to see me rushing toward him. He furrows his brows as I push forward to his desk. He stands up and reaches out grabbing my arms as I approach him. He pulls me to the side away from everyone, and I shake my head.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” he asks knowing something’s up before I’ve even had a chance to say anything.
“I was just in a briefing with the SO9. First of all, Brandon is still here. He hasn’t been put on leave—”
“What? Are you kidding—”
“That’s not all, Kace,” I interrupt. “The team have a location. Apparently, all the heads of the Sinclair Syndicate are going to be there, and the SO9 are heading in to take them down. But it doesn’t feel right, Kace. I know in my gut this is a setup.”
He nods. “What do you want me to do?”
“Grab the Seven and be close by. Just in case something happens.”
He lets go of my arms and runs his hand through his hair. “You could lose your job for this, Everly.”
Shaking my head, I look into his eyes pleading with mine. “I don’t care, Kace. People’s lives are at stake here. Reid and Zeb have been good to me.”
Kace looks around the room and then back to me with a nod. “Send whatever info you have to Noah. We’ll find somewhere close by to wait. If the mission is a success, then this never happened. If shit hits the fan, we’ll try and stop the spray.”
My chest fills with relief. I reach forward and take Kace into my arms embracing him tightly. His arms wrap around me, and he hugs me back before I quickly break away from him and take a deep breath. “Thank you.” I turn and race to my desk to grab my equipment, and then head back to the mission room, to set up the earpieces, body cameras, and other technical gear that will be important for this mission.
Zeb steps up to me as I set up his body camera and I smile at him. “You look after yourself out there, you hear me?” I tell him, and he chuckles.
“Me? I’m the master of this shit. I might be the smallest of the SO9, but that just makes me faster. Not to mention better looking,” he quips, and I chuckle.
“Well, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend on this team. So, you make sure you come back in one piece—”
“I take offense to that,” Reid interrupts stepping up behind his brother, and I weakly smile at him.
Zeb chuckles as I finish putting on his body camera, and he winks at me and turns walking over to the other side of the room leaving me with Reid.
I sigh and pick up another camera and start to strap it to Reid’s chest as he looks down at me. “I’m sorry, Everly. I shouldn’t have lost it at you before. I’m just… angry. Not at you, at this whole situation.”
I raise my brow in confusion, and he continues, “Brandon shouldn’t be here after what he did. I don’t want him on my team. But somehow, someway, he’s pulling strings up high, and even Jack can’t get him dismissed. It’s fucking bullshit. But that’s not an excuse for me to go bashing on tables in front of you. You deserve better than that.”
I smile and attach the camera then move my hand to grab his arm and give it a tender squeeze. “Just so you know… you’re my friend, too. So you come back in one piece as well. Okay?”
He nods and taps his camera. “I’ll have a guardian angel watching my every move.” He winks at me and then turns to face the room. “Right team, let’s head out.”
Everyone grabs their gear, and I take a deep breath hating that I’m going to be sitting this one out alone in here. Normally, I’d have Jack by my side, but this time I’m running it solo, and it scares the hell out of me. I don’t even have Noah to turn to because he’s going to be out there hiding in wait.
But I can do this. And I have a team on standby to help with the communications, tracking, and surveillance which needs to be done while I’m watching my team. Problem is, I will have no idea what the hell is happening with the SO7 if things do indeed go south.
Sitting back in the darkroom, I watch the body cams while listening to the audio over the speakers. It’s dark, but their night vision is on, and I can see everything clearly as I watch on the many screens in front of me. They’re stealthily making their way through the forestry surrounding the mansion. My adrenaline is spiking as they approach, weapons at the ready.
But it’s all too calm, too quiet. If this mansion is supposedly housing hostiles and top-level authorities, then why the hell isn’t there protection outside the mansion?
Surely, there would be guards protecting the perimeter.
This feels off.
Just like I thought.
Reid gestures for them to approach, and I want to scream at them to retreat, but I can’t, it’s too late as the front door bursts wide open and the lower level windows shatter. Men in dark clothing cascade out of the mansion flooding the area, hurtling toward the SO9, guns drawn.
Reid’s camera turns upward. I see a glimpse of what he does. “Kenzi’s upstairs,” Reid calls out as I see her signaling to the men below to rush forward.
Suddenly, the gunfire starts and I jump in my seat. The night vision begins glaring and flashing in green strobes as I watch frantically trying to make out what’s happening to my team. Round after round of gunfire echoes through the sound system, as I try to gain a clearer picture, but all I see is camera glare as they all run as fast as they can. Their panting breaths echoing through the line as I stand up and pace the room trying to figure out what the hell to do.
But there’s nothing I can do.
“Spread out, get to the forest. There’s a mill through the clearing. Get there, and we can regroup,” Reid calls out through the flurry of fire, and I turn to see all their cameras running through what looks like dense bushland. The unmistakable sound of bullets whistling past them makes me feel sick as the pounding of heavy feet and crunching branches beneath them is clear and present. I chew on my bottom lip as I hear a shot followed by a loud grunting moan, and I tense up as I look to all the monitors seeing one of them slow down.
“I’m hit! But I’m okay. Keep going. I’ll meet you on the other side of the forest,” Mike calls out, and I screw up my face in annoyance. I haven’t gotten to know Mike a hell of a lot. But he’s part of this team, and a part of this team just got fucking shot.
I realize they’re heading right to where Kace and the Seven are meant to be waiting for them if things turned to shit. I wonder briefly if Kace will make his presence known, or if he’ll hold out to see if the shitstorm will blow out on a bigger scale.
Reid and the team finally make it to the mill. It looks tall and has a small inlet with a water break and a wheel that rotates, from the muddled pictures I’m viewing. Reid and the team slowly walk up to it, seeing as the gunfire from the mansion seems to have ebbed, and Rix’s men have retreated.
Which in itself is concerning.
Why the hell aren’t they following them?
What the hell is going on?
This is all too fucking weird!
“Mike, you okay?” Reid asks walking up to him and looks down at his arm. The camera shows me blood running down his sleeve.
“Just nicked my arm. I’ll be fine,” Mike relays back to Reid making me relax, but only marginally.
“Why have they fallen back?” Zeb asks the very question I’m wondering myself.
“I have no idea. Maybe their aim is to only defend Kenzi, not go on the attack. But I have no idea why,” Reid says as they all approach the mill. “But for now, we should bunker down in the mill while we come up with a plan B. Hopefully, they’re not all filing out of that fucking mansion, while we’re here chasing our fucking tails,” Reid calls out as they step up to the mill.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
It doesn’t feel right.
It’s all too easy.
I pick up the microphone to talk into Reid’s earpiece. It’s against protocol, but right now, I don’t give a shit.
“Reid, don’t go in the mill,” I yell down the line as he opens the door to the mill.
A whooshing sound rings through the air, and I look back to the screen to watch as Reid steps through the door, and a canister drops to the floor in front of him with a fog hazing up all around him. There’s a handful of darker green lights aimed right at his chest. But to him, they would be red. They’re laser targets.
My chest squeezes tight as every muscle in me clenches. I’m helpless to do anything, as I stand and wait for the moment of impact.
Reid turns faster than I’ve ever seen. “Go, go, go,” he yells, bolting away from the door as gunshots rain hellfire out of the mill.
I glance at the screen, gnawing on my bottom lip, watching all the cameras running out into the forest, but as he looks up more of Rix’s men are coming from every angle. It’s like they’re coming in from every side. Reid and the guys return fire, taking some of Rix’s men out, but they’re deeply outnumbered, and I have no idea how the hell they’re going to get out of this if Kace and the Seven don’t show up soon.
“Where the hell is Brandon?” I can vaguely make Reid yelling out through the gunfire.
“Maybe he’s down?” Mike yells back, as they both continue shooting at Rix’s men.
I know if Brandon was shot, he would have called out. He would have signaled for help. Something’s not right. Something’s going horribly wrong.
“Man down! Man down!” Reid calls out, and my body tenses tightly wondering which member of his team Reid has just watched fall.