Chapter Six Ryder #2
“That ‘one day’ chance was shot to hell once I found out you were pregnant with Jeff’s baby, don’t you think?
” I lifted my chin, closing my eyes, hating to think about the past, but she was the one sucking me back into it.
“Just tell me something: Was the pregnancy why you asked to break up? Or was the ‘we should only be friends’ reason legit?”
“I didn’t know about the baby when we broke up. I couldn’t forgive myself for cheating, and I told myself if we were meant to be together, I’d never have done that, so ...”
I expected to feel something at her words. Anger. Sadness. Resentment or regret. Instead, I felt nothing. “I was on an op for you in North Korea, risking my neck for recon work while you were fucking him in our bed.” Okay, maybe I felt something: betrayal.
Lainey had been my team’s liaison with Homeland Security whenever we worked ops for them, but after our split, I’d requested that someone else do it until I adjusted to the breakup. The director stepped in himself.
Damn Director Hernandez for letting her come to me like this with a case, knowing I didn’t want to work with her. Lainey had probably held something over his head as leverage to make this meeting happen.
And yeah, maybe I had assumed one day we’d be friends again and could work together.
That we could put the past behind us since we’d been friends before dating.
That was, until I found out she’d cheated on me and was pregnant with Jeff’s baby.
My ride-or-die-in-boot-camp friend. That fucking friend. His betrayal stung far more than hers.
“It shouldn’t have happened—not while you and I were still dating. But that doesn’t change the fact I still want what we agreed to. To be cordial and work together. Maybe you can forgive Jeff one day, too. I know he’d like that.”
Are you crazy? “Not happening.”
“We really were better suited as friends, and you know that. We should’ve stayed that way instead of becoming a couple. Admit it, you never really loved me. You didn’t fight for me when I told you we should go back to being only friends, and that was before you knew the truth about—”
Yeah, don’t finish that sentence. Not a good idea. I forced myself to look at her, my shoulders lurching forward at the sight of my hard-ass ex’s eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“It’s the hormones.” She pulled a tissue from her purse and blotted under her eyes, and I did my best not to cave at the sight of her becoming emotional.
I waited for her to pull herself together, which didn’t take long, and I considered her words.
I’d known Lainey for years. Hell, we’d moved in together as friends while I’d still been active duty.
Only when I left the military did we start dating.
But was she right? Did I not love her? Was that why I kept finding excuse after excuse to wait to propose, even though I’d purchased the ring and had it hidden in my gun safe?
I never had the urge to kill for her. Protect her, yes.
As a friend and a good human being, sure.
But here I was, wanting to tie Ezra down to a table and run an electric saw through his body, to remove each limb one at a time, because of a stranger.
A woman I couldn’t stop thinking about despite her rejection.
“I’m not that forgiving,” I said, not quite as decisively as the answer deserved. “So no, I’m not taking a mission from you. I’ll pass. Find another team.” I almost offered up a few other security-company names, including Hudson’s since he was in town, but I kept my mouth shut.
“Well, it has to be you. Or, at least, I think you’ll want it to be when you hear what I have to say.” She urged me to take the folder again as I tried to stubbornly stand my ground and not accept it. “You’re one of the best trackers out there. I need your help. Please.”
“No,” I gritted out, hoping the driver would pull over soon so I could get out.
“The director told me what happened last weekend on your op with DHS. You know, the reason you’re in DC now?”
Her words had me slowly lifting my gaze to meet her green eyes. “We gift wrapped the target package for you to send a Delta or Devgru team to handle the terrorists. So if that’s a thank-you, you’re welcome, and we’re done here.”
“There’s been a new development unrelated to that terrorist cell but connected to your op in Miami, and that’s why I’m pushing through this awkward conversation and confronting you now.”
That had my attention and a chill cracking down my spine. Just tell me Ezra’s now my target. Please, God, tell me that much. “What is it?” I reluctantly took the folder.
She lifted her chin, eyes on the file. “There’s a woman we need you to help track down for us, and I believe you two already met.”
I closed my eyes as shock bolstered through me so fast I barely had time to play catch-up and understand what she’d said. Anna. The accountant. The woman in red. The reason I haven’t slept in days. S. “Go on.”
“The director mentioned you saved Ezra’s accountant from the party that night.
We didn’t think it was relevant, not until we were pulled into a meeting this morning with the FBI and DEA.
They combined resources two weeks ago to create a task force to get to the bottom of who’s running this new criminal enterprise.
They believe the Sokolovs aren’t at the top of the food chain, and they’re only answering to someone else.
As of today, DHS is now part of the task force to find out who’s in charge. ”
“Considering we abducted a guy at Ezra’s party who was working with a terrorist cell, it’s safe to say this group is doing more than selling drugs,” I grunted. “But get to the point about Anna.” She was all I cared to hear more about right now.
She ignored my sharp tone and continued, “Our DEA contact revealed they had two people on the inside with the Sokolovs. Neither knew about the other. They weren’t supposed to, at least. One man, Lev Markovich, they forced to turn or serve time, and his body washed up on shore last night.
” She paused to let that sink in, and I waited for her to continue, my pulse flying.
“We also found out that accountant you saved was deeply embedded in the organization, and she’s missing. ”
I finally opened my eyes at that. Now it made sense.
Her name, her fake social media, even her reason for taking off.
That was why she was being dragged to the yacht or boathouse, and also why she couldn’t risk opening up to me.
I didn’t blame her. Someone may have fucked her over and exposed her identity.
She didn’t know who to trust. “So, Ezra found out last weekend they were both working for the DEA.”
“Looks that way.” She eyed the file. “Anna Cruz’s real name is Seraphina Torres.”
Seraphina. A name I hadn’t come up with, but it was perfect for her.
I stared at Lainey, trying to digest this. I was already doing the job they were trying to hire me for. “Was Seraphina an undercover DEA agent, or someone they forced to work for them like they did with Lev?”
“Not an agent or someone they turned. It’s complicated, but yes, she worked indirectly for the DEA.”
Indirectly? Complicated? I needed more than that.
“So,” she went on, setting a hand over her stomach, a reminder of what she and Jeff had done, “unless you’re secretly keeping this woman hidden after you rescued her, we’re hoping you can find out what the hell happened to her and why she never made contact with her handler afterward.
You know, before she winds up dead, too.
” Eyes narrowing on me, she asked, “Now that you’re familiar with the target, are you in, or do you want me to reach out to someone else? ”
Assigned by my ex to find the woman of my dreams.
What fucking luck.
I finally opened the file, and this time, without hesitation, declared, “I’m in.”