Chapter 44
Brie
Monday. Eleven a.m. team meeting. I sat cross-legged on our bed, with Will and Rav taking the desk chairs.
My laptop sat on the desk, angled so all three of us could see the screen.
The meeting started with flight questions: How soon could they get the three of us out of Mnemis, and where could our private jet land to take us home?
Blue Haven Cay’s airstrip wouldn’t be available for days. The hurricane had moved on, but the winds were still at tropical storm levels, so the cleanup crew hadn’t arrived yet.
Will, Rav, and I were still trapped underground. The door to Little Haven remained locked, but we’d been given access to a secure Wi-Fi channel based on our relationship with Gideon.
My head still ached. Not the sharp pain from last night, but a dull throb no painkiller had been able to touch. Every time I moved too quickly, the headache flared. But I was still alive.
Mnemis leadership had put out a message about the Code Silver last night, advised of the lone gunman, and we all had a moment of silence for the guards who were killed.
A statement was made apologizing to Ken and Ronnie for sweeping them up in the chaos, but there was no mention of me, Will, or Rav.
At breakfast this morning, people had stared.
Either the techs who saw Lark and me, or some of the Mnemis guards who were on duty last night, likely shared their stories, and the rumor mill had ensured that people knew far more than the official statement said.
Many side-eye looks and whispered conversations stopped when we walked past. Will had positioned himself between me and most of the room without making it obvious, but I’d noticed.
I noticed everything he did now.
Like how he’d shifted his chair closer to the bed where I was sitting.
It wasn’t just about our new relationship status.
Will kept catching my eye all morning, that subtle check-in he did when he was assessing whether I was okay.
The way he’d insisted on getting me extra coffee this morning.
How he’d suggested we use my laptop instead of his, giving me something familiar to focus on.
He wasn’t wrong to be concerned. Someone had dropped their tray in the cafeteria, and I’d almost screamed. The light reflected off someone else’s butter knife, and for a split second, they were Lark brandishing his knife.
But I was holding it together. I had to.
The Halifax boardroom looked the same as always—Mum at the head of the conference table, Scarlett to her left, Malcolm beside her, Emmett across from them. Drew called in from Washington, where he’d been monitoring everything with Gideon.
“The Pendragon team is still here,” Rav was saying. “Based on my conversations with them, it sounds as though Fenix has been after the Greek Fire formula for some time. Several of the hackers and other researchers Pendragon has found may have been connected with Fenix.”
Lark had told me the universe was predictable. Maybe he was right. Maybe we should have expected Fenix to show up here, after all.
“I’ve also been working with them to clear the building.
Explosives sweep first, then body recovery.
” Rav provided updates like this after plenty of missions, but there was something different this time.
I’d seen the part of him most of us never had.
The man he’d become when he left after high school, and before he returned as a brooding veteran.
“Mnemis has protocols for staff deaths, but this has been excessive. They and Pendragon are coordinating with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, who should be arriving in a few hours to review footage and take over the investigation.”
Scarlett nodded. “How extensive was the damage?”
“Significant,” I said. “Half the server cluster where Lark planted the explosives was destroyed. The blast also damaged some adjacent racks and took out a significant amount of networking equipment. A lot of power was out, too.”
“But you got what we needed before that happened.” For the first time in months, maybe years, Mum smiled. Not the controlled mask she usually wore, but a genuine sign of happiness.
After our job to rescue Emmett in the spring, something had changed in her. But after the job in Monaco, when we learned the truth about Dad, it was as if the floodgates had opened. We were getting our mother back—a version of her we hadn’t seen since Dad’s arrest.
I nodded, organizing my thoughts in the way she’d taught me. Facts first, analysis second, emotional reactions buried until I was alone later. “I prioritized the files about Dad so everything I found was uploaded successfully.”
“I’ve only started going through them,” said Mum, “but from what I’ve seen so far, it’s going to fill in a lot of gaps.
I’m hopeful we can withdraw Joseph’s guilty plea.
If we can prove he made it under duress…
” She trailed off, but the wheels were turning.
Twenty years of careful investigation, and we’d finally given her the missing pieces.
“And I successfully deleted the blackmail photos they have of Scarlett.”
“Thanks for that,” my sister said.
“What about the Fenix intelligence?” Emmett had also changed since his kidnapping and beatings. But when it came to Fenix, his voice carried more of an edge since August, when they’d taken his girlfriend.
Emmett wouldn’t ever forget that.
And maybe I wouldn’t ever forget what happened to me last night, either.
“We only recovered part of the Meridian server data before the explosion knocked it out. Ashley’s working on resolving the corruption and solving the encryption.
I’ll be able to help more once we’re out of here.
But we did chat long enough this morning to conclude the email about the money transfer into Dad’s account was from Enzo.
That gives us an email address to tie to him, which may help piece more things together. ”
“I’m working on a plan with another party about next steps,” Evelyn added.
“Details?” asked Scarlett.
“We’ll discuss when I’m certain.” Another secret. Another need-to-know limitation. Six months ago, that would have frustrated me. But I was learning to accept that some information had to stay compartmentalized. Mum knew what she was doing.
The call concluded with discussions about logistics and timelines. Mum talked about coordinating with legal contacts. Drew told us Gideon was planning a trip to the Bahamas to assess the damage from Lark’s explosions and check on the resort after the hurricane.
When the screen went dark, Rav stood and rolled his shoulders. “I should check in with the Pendragon team. See if they need anything else.”
“Rav?” I looked up at him.
Something flickered behind his eyes.
Maybe that was what I was looking for. “Will mentioned you worked with one of the men on the Pendragon team, but that there was something between you and the woman.”
“Brooke.” The muscles in his jaw flexed. “We’ve crossed paths before.”
“Professionally?”
“What’s your real question, Brie?”
“Is she the woman you told me about?” I studied his face, searching for a crack.
In his room last night, before Pendragon, Lark, and my world almost shattered, he’d helped me understand that avoiding risk was sometimes another way of guaranteeing loss.
“The one you said you regretted not taking a chance with?”
He picked up the laptop he’d brought, staring at it for a moment before snapping it shut. “It’s complicated.”
“Most things that are worthwhile are.” I kept my voice gentle.
Rav had been there for me when I needed someone to talk sense into me about Will.
He’d picked up a gun, strapped body armor on, and charged in to save me and Will.
The least I could do was encourage him to face the fears he had shared with me.
He was quiet for a long moment. “I was assigned as part of a security detail for the research team she was part of.”
“What kind of research was it?”
“The kind that puts you in the middle of a war zone because the work is too important to wait for peace.” His gaze shifted to the door, and for a second, I was sure he was about to leave. “Some stories don’t have happy endings, Brie.”
“But lots do?”
“Not mine, I’m afraid.” He touched my shoulder, gave me a sad smile, and left, closing the door with a little too much force. I stared at the door, half of me wanting to chase after him until he had the same realization I had. But what did I know about wartime romances?
“That was… interesting?” Will closed my laptop and came to sit next to me on the bed. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and I nestled in close. “What do you want to do now?”
“I can’t go to The Bridge and work. Can’t help Ashley while we’re still here, and I worry someone’s monitoring our connection.”
“Meeting’s done.” He used his knuckles to tilt my face. “It’s not lunchtime yet.”
A pulse started between my thighs. “Whatever shall we do?”
“I think—”
A knock on the door interrupted him. Will and I exchanged glances—we weren’t expecting anyone.
Will went to the door and opened it, revealing Ronnie, who looked harried and exhausted. His long braid had strands escaping around his face, and there were dark smudges on his hands and cheek.
“There you are,” he said.
“Nowhere else to go right now,” Will replied, and I stifled a laugh.
“Good, because I need a hand.” Ronnie stepped into the room, gesturing broadly.
“Look, I don’t care you turned out to be some kind of spy or whatever.
You’re still the best tech I’ve worked with in years, and I’ve got more broken servers than I can handle.
Half our infrastructure is slag, corporate’s breathing down our necks about restoration timelines, and I’ve got too many junior techs with soft hands who won’t go near the incident site. ”
“It’s hardly half.” Will released the door and followed Ronnie in. “Plus, I’m not actually a Mnemis employee, Ronnie.”
“Don’t care. I need someone who knows what they’re doing, and you’ve proved you can handle the work. If anyone—Moss included—gives me grief about using outside help, I’ll remind them about hauling me in for questioning and then tell them exactly where they can shove their objections.”
Will’s entire demeanor changed. His shoulders straightened, and some of the tension that had been radiating from him since last night started to ease.
He needed this—needed to be useful, to fix things instead of just thinking about all the ways things had gone wrong.
I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to me. “You should go.”
“Bug.” He leaned down, looking me square in the eyes. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ll be fine.” Could I handle being by myself?
With all the insanity swirling around my brain?
Maybe? Maybe I’d visit Rav and harass him some more.
Or head to the spa Claire had raved about on my first day.
If this morning’s breakfast was any indication, many people weren’t coming out of their rooms unless they were on shift, so perhaps there would be cancellation spots available.
“Go help Ronnie. Using your hands will make you feel better.”
Will grinned and moved closer, his hot breath brushing the shell of my ear as he whispered, “I have better things to use my hands on than servers.”
I shoved him back and swatted at him with the pillow. “Get out of here before Ronnie changes his mind about wanting your help.”
Will dodged the pillow, then gave me a quick peck on the cheek before turning to Ronnie. “Sorry, but I’m not leaving Brie’s side for the foreseeable future.”
“Fuck,” Ronnie muttered. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
Will walked him to the door, then returned to crouch in front of me. “Are you trying to get rid of me already?”
Guilt swirled around my chest—he loved working in the data center, and he was giving that up for me—but gratitude pushed it aside. Because honestly? I did need him. “What I really need is a nap. I’m sorry if you had other plans, but—”
“Say no more.” He stood, kissed me on the temple, and pulled back the covers. “Just promise I can hold you through it.”
“I can’t think of anything I want more.”