The Protector’s Mark (Reynolds Recoveries #6)

Chapter 1

Brooke

I adjusted my scarf higher around my neck. It was one of my favorites—light silk painted in bright pink and red abstract flowers. It was a fashion statement, so no one ever asked me to take it off, and no one ever saw what was underneath.

“You good?” Percival asked as his hand landed on the front door of Reynolds Recoveries.

Was I good?

Six years of silence from the man I’d thought I had a future with.

Five since I’d drunk-dialed him and left the most humiliating voicemail of my life.

And not even one week since my team had received a report that he was inside the Mnemis data center, using an alias and trying to steal the Greek Fire research.

“I’m fine.” Except I wasn’t. I’d thought I could handle seeing him again—especially if he were a traitor—but I’d been so wrong. “Let’s get it over with.”

“We won’t be in here long.” Percival’s tone was gentler than usual. He’d been with us when the shit hit the fan. “You’ve got this.”

You are Brooke fucking McAllister. You did your PhD while hunting for chemical weapons in Syria. You volunteered for Iraq. You can handle seeing your fucking ex.

I straightened my shoulders and stepped through the door, forcing confidence into each step. “I know.”

The reception area was warm and inviting. A petite woman greeted us, checked our IDs, and led us through the open workspace. Reynolds Recoveries resembled any legitimate business from the outside—rows of desks, friendly chatter, people typing at their computers.

It was the perfect front for their covert operations.

The receptionist led us toward a glass-walled conference room where eight members of their team were gathered. She pushed the door open, and the conversation inside stopped. “The representatives from Pendragon.”

“Thank you for coming.” A stunning woman with white-blond hair stood, offering a firm handshake and the sort of fake smile intelligence operatives cultivated. “I’m Evelyn Reynolds.”

As Percival and I moved into the room, the world compressed around me. My body registered Rav’s presence, sending a swarm of butterflies swirling around my stomach. Six years hadn’t changed his magnetic pull.

“You’ve met Will, Brie, and Rav at Mnemis,” Evelyn continued, gesturing to the others. “This is Scarlett, our operations lead; Malcolm, investigations; Drew, intelligence analyst; Ashley, software support; and Jayce, infiltration expert.”

I nodded to each in turn. Once she finished, I took over. “I’m Brooke McAllister, biochemical weapons analyst with Pendragon Security.”

“And I’m Damian Percy, security specialist,” said my teammate.

“But everyone still calls you Percival?” Rav’s deep voice burrowed inside me, threatening to push memories to the surface.

“That they do.” He took a seat, leaving the one across from Rav empty. “Can’t seem to escape it.”

Scarlett glanced at Evelyn, then at me. “A biochemical weapons expert and a security specialist?”

Evelyn sat at the head of the conference table. “They’ll be taking point on the Fenix threat moving forward.”

“Fenix isn’t our primary target.” Percival had clearly noticed the tight lips and folded arms around the table and was playing the diplomat. The Reynolds team was not impressed with us taking over.

“Anyone with access to the Greek Fire formula is.” I took my seat and pulled out my laptop as I spoke. Don’t look at Rav.

Brie shuddered almost imperceptibly. She’d been through hell only days ago—a hell it would take her time to heal from. “I thought you said the formula was incomplete?”

“It was.” But incomplete enough? Had I left too much inside that was accurate? “But even incomplete research into this compound is too dangerous.”

Brie frowned. She was the one who’d bypassed the security protocols my team had put in place and transferred the formula out of the facility. As far as she’d known, she was simply saving her own life from a madman.

The truth was far darker.

I continued, “The U.S. government ensured pieces of the research were available on a server inside Mnemis as bait for anyone who knew about it or had a portion of it already completed. Our team has been chasing down hackers trying to grab the data remotely for three years. They’d get in, the data looked close enough to what they needed, and then they’d waste time troubleshooting the download, allowing us to take them into custody. ”

“Until The Fenix Group infiltrated our team, and Lark carried out his suicide mission,” Percival said, and Brie’s gaze slid toward her lap. “Since it appears you’ve been tangling with them for some time, we’re here for whatever details you can provide to help us track them down.”

Will stood from his seat and came to stand behind Brie. “What I still don’t understand is how Lark was working with your team but didn’t know the data was incomplete.”

“He wasn’t working with us,” I almost snapped.

How had he gotten past the layers required to join Pendragon?

How many dead ends had we hit in the six months since he’d joined my team?

He’d obviously tipped off the hacker we’d been after in Warsaw, since that bastard had slipped through our fingers. “But we are going to fix this.”

“You should have destroyed the files at Mnemis instead of leaving them there.” Rav finally looked up from the tablet he’d been staring at since we arrived.

His dark brown eyes met mine for a fraction of a second, sending the butterflies up into my throat. His gaze shifted to Percival, but the heat stayed with me.

Rav’s black hair was shorter than it had been in Afghanistan, when he’d worn it and his beard longer to fit in better with the locals.

I’d never seen his jawline, but I’d felt it under my nails.

I’d run my fingers through that thick mass of hair he always brushed back, but that kept falling forward onto his forehead.

Focus on the task in front of you.

Except not directly in front of you. Stop focusing on Rav.

Percival put up his hands as if in surrender. “I’m with you, man.”

I’d petitioned our leadership to destroy the files for years. We should have wiped the formula from the face of the Earth instead of risking any of it falling into someone’s hands.

Why’d they think the bait idea was a good one?

Because it didn’t matter.

There were copies of the intact formula somewhere. Maybe the CDC. Maybe the CIA. Maybe in some secret lab hidden away on a remote island. Either way, the government wanted to ensure they had control of it, so using it as bait meant they could eliminate anyone else who knew it existed.

It was all about control.

“Why they kept it is above our pay grade.” Percival punctuated his words with his raised hands. “Fuck, the fact that Brooke had screwed with it was above my pay grade until three days ago. Lark’s too.”

But I had told Percival about it. He and I went too far back for me to keep the secret from him after he’d cursed about us leaving it in place for the tenth time.

“So what’s your plan when you locate Fenix?” Rav frowned and folded his arms, emphasizing the breadth of his chest and the size of his biceps.

You fit perfectly against that chest. You slept best when your head was right there, listening to his heart.

Percival said, “Our job is to secure it, find out if they shared it with anyone, and then secure that copy, too.”

“What’s your end goal, Evelyn?” Rav turned to his boss. “If they’re not eliminating Fenix, why are we staying put?”

“Rav.” Scarlett kept her focus on me, but shut him down all the same. Why did he fall quiet when she said his name? What was she to him?

And why did his question sit so uncomfortably in my stomach?

“If Evelyn says we’re cooperating, we’re cooperating.” Scarlett pointed at Brie. “Show them what we have so far.”

Will continued to stand behind Brie’s chair, not touching her, but clearly steadying her.

Brie pushed her glasses up. “We built a pattern model based on some communications we pulled off Fenix’s server in Mnemis.

We’re almost certain they’re consolidated in Naples, which meets some critical needs: proximity to medical supply chains, access to private labs where they can assemble the Greek Fire, plus a historically interesting city, which seems to matter to them. ”

Will leaned forward and tapped Brie’s tablet, causing the wall screen to light up with a heat map.

Dozens of large red circles appeared, alongside orange, yellow, and green dots.

“We’ve hacked into a few facilities, looking for any chemicals we could identify in their emails.

Liquid oxygen, phosphorus derivatives, and certain surfactants that show up in both industrial cleaners and experimental polymers.

If anyone buys those in quantity within our radius, we’ll get a ping. ”

If their models were to be truly useful, I’d have to share the genuine Greek Fire formula with them. That wouldn’t happen, but I could steer them in the right direction. “Add arsenic trichloride, chloroacetone, and vinyl chloride to your list.”

Brie nodded as she typed notes on her tablet using an external keyboard.

“They wouldn’t draw attention with a single order. They’ll stitch together a supply chain across multiple fronts. And make sure you’re tracking veterinarians, if you can.”

“Already considered the vet angle,” Brie said, still typing. “My team is training an AI to help with the search, so we won’t miss anything that could pass for normal.”

Percival glanced across the table, trying to see what was on her screen. “Can you forward whatever models you’ve created?”

“I’ll get on the changes.” The blond woman, whose arm was in a sling, stood. Ashley, was it? “We’ll send everything through secure channels—map overlays, purchase-tracking algorithms, any human intel that’s more than a rumor.”

“Thanks, Ash.” Brie gave a tight smile. “We’ll need as much as you can tell us about the Greek Fire and your operation to help us refine our search.”

I tracked the blond woman as she tucked her tablet under her arm and headed for the door. She walked behind Rav, and I forced myself not to look at him. He wasn’t looking at me, so why was it so hard to not look at him?

My fingers found their way to my scarf, as though I could hide myself from him. As though it mattered. So what if he saw what happened? He wouldn’t care, would he?

“We’ll provide everything we have on Fenix’s operation,” Evelyn said in response to something I’d missed.

Brie tapped her tablet, and the big screen shifted.

Will began discussing logistics—safe conversations about data transfers, security protocols, and confidentiality agreements.

I focused on the technical details, keeping my responses professional and concise.

Anything to maintain the fragile composure I’d built around myself.

Across the table, Rav watched Will’s presentation. Everyone else was doing the same, so why did it bother me that he’d only looked at me once? He was so calm, as if my presence didn’t faze him. At least in Mnemis, he’d reacted—it had been surprise, but at least it was an emotion.

The message was clear: whatever we’d been to each other, it was over.

You knew that six years ago, Brooke. Why did you think it would be different now?

Because we were on the same continent? In the same room?

It’s better this way, Brooke. Cleaner.

But the ache beneath my scars suggested otherwise.