Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
JUST OUTSIDE JUáREZ, MEXICO – SEVENTEEN HOURS LATER
“We can take it from here. We appreciate your help,” Martín said, reaching to shake Carter’s hand as Sydney unstrapped her vest.
Their mission was declared a success after four hours of fighting. The Falcon Falls team came through unscathed, and there were only minor wounds for some of the men on Martín’s and Mason Matthews’s teams. Nothing a little rest and some stitches wouldn’t fix.
“Are you sure you don’t want us to hang around?” Sydney asked Martín. “You’re planning to hit another one of their locations soon. We can go with you.”
Martín shook his head. “We have the cartel scrambling. Running scared. We cut off the head of the snake tonight, and yes, someone else will take over by tomorrow. It will be an endless fight. But it’s my people’s fight.” He nodded at Sydney. “And it is a fight we will win. You have done enough for us, and we thank you.”
“I’d be happy to roll out with you tomorrow,” Carter offered while Sydney looked around at the desert landscape. Their military-style tents were scattered around a wide area that served as their headquarters for the op. It reminded her of the time she’d spent in Afghanistan forever ago.
“And if we need you, we’ll call.” Martín patted Carter on the shoulder. “You have other work to handle now if I’m not mistaken.”
Right . The secrets they’d discovered “The Guarded One” had protected back at his estate in Chile.
Sydney abruptly turned around at the sound of voices arguing. Mya stood between Oliver and Mason, her arms outstretched, keeping them apart. Oh jeez. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Martín smiled and tipped his head goodbye as she hurried toward Mya for an assist.
“Would you two stop it?” Mya yelled just as Sydney arrived at their team’s camp area.
“What’s going on?” Sydney grabbed Oliver’s arm and yanked him farther away from Mason. “We’re supposed to be on the same side.”
Mya had lowered her arms when Sydney arrived, but quickly reached out and slapped a palm against Mason’s chest when he took a threatening step toward Oliver. “Stop it. It wasn’t his fault.”
“I don’t care if you were drugged. You stuck your tongue in her mouth,” Mason snarled at Oliver. “You shouldn’t have ever touched her.”
How the hell did Mason find out about that? Damn, word traveled fast.
“I’m not yours,” Mya reminded Mason.
“You’re sure as hell more mine than his,” Mason seethed. Oliver cocked his head and clenched his jaw, but before he could launch into a rebuttal, Sydney jumped in.
“We were all drugged at the time, Mason. It was out of our control,” she provided, hoping to defuse the situation. “Look, we just handed the cartel a major loss and screwed up their trafficking routes. We had a major win tonight. Can we focus on that?”
“No,” Mason and Oliver rasped simultaneously, their eyes locked. Ready to do battle.
“Mya told me she’s considering joining your team, but let me make myself very clear,” Mason began, his voice eerily calm. “Not fucking happening.”
“Not your choice,” Mya snapped. “And I can freelance for the both of you.”
“Falcon Falls,” Mason muttered. “What the fuck kind of a name is that?”
“At least we have a name. You all call yourselves The Agency. Ripping off the CIA, huh? How original,” Oliver shot back.
A love triangle. Perfect.
“Our name makes sense,” Oliver defended. “Our headquarters is hidden by a waterfall, and there are, well, falcons flying around . . .” Oliver trailed off and Sydney half expected him to end the statement with a childish so there! She and Mya traded a smirk and bit back a laugh. At least some of the tension melted away.
“Bottom line, this is my life. I’ll work where I want. Kiss who I want. And you both can just kiss my ass if you think you can tell me what to do.” Mya lowered her palm from Mason’s chest and eased herself to Sydney’s side, no longer standing between the men. “If you want to fight each other, then fight. I’m done.”
Mason’s shoulders sagged, and when Oliver’s resistance seemed to falter, Sydney let go of his arm.
“I’m sorry,” Mason said with a sigh. “I’m still a bit worked up that you lied to me about why you went to Tulum in the first place. You nearly died.”
“You really had no clue what she was up to?” Oliver asked, seemingly shocked by this fact.
“I trusted her.” Mason held his palms open. “You really think you can juggle the two of us?”
Mya folded her arms. “You mean work with both Falcon and your team ? I’m not juggling two men.”
“Shit, that’s not what I meant.” Mason removed his ball cap and swiped a hand through his brown hair before fixing it back in place.
“You know me, man,” Oliver said, sounding less like a jealous boyfriend this time. “You can trust me. I’ll keep her safe when she works with us. And I’m assuming you’ll do the same.”
“Of course, I will,” Mason quickly responded. Sydney now felt like a “fourth wheel” in this situation, and if they weren’t going to slug each other, she’d retreat.
“I’ve got this,” Mya said, reading Sydney’s thoughts.
Sydney’s gaze flew to Gray and Jack talking next to a nearby tent. “Behave, boys,” she tossed out and headed toward her teammates just as Jack parted ways with Gray.
Since Martín didn’t need any further help, they’d most likely be flying Stateside within a matter of hours.
“Hey.” Sydney shoved her hands in her khaki pants pockets, and Gray startled her by leaning forward and brushing his thumb across her cheek.
“Blood.” He cleared his throat as he pulled his hand away.
“Not mine.”
“You okay? It was a long night.” Gray scratched the side of his head, his eyes shifting to look at something behind her, most likely the “love triangle” situation since they’d already started arguing again.
“I’m good. You?”
“As good as can be, I guess.” He forced a smile. “Have you, uh, talked to Beckett?”
Beckett. She let go of a deep breath. “I need to call him. Let him know we’re all safe. It’s still early though.”
“Pretty sure the time of day won’t matter to him.” Gray set a hand on her shoulder. “I’m happy for you. You know, if things happen for you two. Genuinely, I mean that.”
A fluttery sensation filled her stomach at his words. “Really?”
“Really.” He angled his head toward the tent. “Call him.” He let go of her shoulder and started Carter’s way.
Sydney hoped Gray wasn’t lying to himself about being happy for her. She still cared about him. They had history, and they worked well together at Falcon. They just weren’t a good fit as a couple.
Shoving away the nerves that tried to take hold once she’d made it to her tent, Sydney dialed Beckett’s new number, still wary since it wasn’t even six a.m. Sure enough, he picked up on the second ring.
“Sydney?” He sounded alert, but that was no surprise once she remembered Alabama was an hour ahead.
“Hey,” she whispered, unsure why tears were springing to her eyes. “We’re all okay. Mission success.”
He was quiet for a moment before a long, deep breath cut across the line. “I’m relieved to hear that. I was waiting to sleep until I heard from you.”
“You stayed up all night?”
“You think I could sleep with you going up against the cartel?”
You need to get used to me doing dangerous work. You can’t have sleepless nights every time I . . . “Well, we’re okay. You can sleep now,” she said instead of rambling off her thoughts. “How’s McKenna? Miles?”
“Miles warmed up to McKenna right away. And my parents are spoiling him rotten already.” He paused. “McKenna took the truth about her mom better than I thought. She’s tough.”
“Like father, like daughter.” Sydney cleared her throat. “I’m happy she’s okay. And are you okay?” Have you realized you need to grieve for Cora, even if you don’t want to? But she didn’t manage to get those words free either.
“I’ll be better when I see you again.”
She closed her eyes, her heartbeat quickening. “I don’t know when that will be,” she said. “I need to head home and see Levi. And you have a lot on your plate too.” Beckett’s silence had her worried he was misreading her, so she quickly added, “When things have settled down, will you call me?”
“Call?” was all he said, and there was a pinch of heartbreak in that one word. “I guess we did move pretty fast,” he added.
Sydney opened her eyes and set her free hand to her chest. “Everything, um”—she hesitated, searching for what to say when all she wanted to do was beg him to be with her—“happens for a reason. And if things are meant to be, they’ll be, right?” She was channeling Mya now. “ Destino, ” she said at the memory of the word Camila had used. “Fate.”
Beckett remained quiet for a few agonizing moments before saying, “I’m glad you’re all okay. And I guess if it’s fate, we’ll find our way back to each other.”
Tears began to glide down her cheeks at his words, at his unsettling tone that nearly gutted her. Screw distance. This man already meant too much to her to let something like that stand in the way. “I didn’t make myself clear,” she said, her voice nearly hoarse. Damn it, she didn’t want her walls up. To guard her heart. “I want you.” She sniffled. “And we will find our way back to each other.”