Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Gray skies hid the afternoon sun, the promise of rain hanging in the air as Tierney jumped out of Buck’s truck, headed for the main office. It had been five days since Pike’s death, and the uneasy quiet scratched at her resolve.
Buck held open the door, palming the small of her back as he ushered her inside, the casual contact grounding the jumpy roll of her stomach.
She still couldn’t believe she’d taken that leap — moved beyond friends.
But she had to admit, it felt right. Like a puzzle piece that just slid into place.
No fanfare. No fuss, just the perfect fit.
She walked into the main room, handing out the coffee order they’d picked up at the local café. A job Wade usually undertook, but the man was running late, and Buck’s teammates needed the caffeine fix to keep pushing through.
Sloane thanked Tierney, moaning as she took a long sip. “Jesus, where has this been all my life? I think I’m in love.”
Nick frowned as he grabbed his own cup. “I’m literally standing right here.”
Sloane looked over at him, batted her eyelashes. “I know.”
Nick shook his head, nudging Buck. “See? That’s what life’s like with an operative. And Tierney’s MI6. I suggest you sleep in Kevlar.”
Buck waved it off. “I think you’re enjoying all this a bit too much, buddy.”
“Like you didn’t tease us. Besides, we’re family. We’re supposed to make things awkward.”
“Mission accomplished.” Smiling, he walked over to Tierney, slipping in next to her.
Tierney leaned back, Buck’s arm draped over the edge of her chair, his thigh touching hers.
Not that he hadn’t done that before, but since they’d fallen into bed together, he rarely strayed more than a few feet away.
Of course, knowing she might have a bounty on her head had jacked up his protective instincts — had them dialed up to eleven.
But it was more than that. As if touching her, however casually, eased his demons, too.
She shifted until her shoulder rested against his chest, watching his teammates work, wondering if she’d ever truly be free.
Her hand drifted to her pocket. Avery had met her the morning after the hunt, handed her Pike’s lighter, then walked off, leaving Tierney with that matte black Zippo weighing her down.
She’d turned it over, traced the outline of the scythe, then hidden it away, afraid it might take on a life of its own.
That just having it would summon more than just his ghost.
The metal cooled her skin as she wrapped her fingers around it, held it in her palm. She flipped the lid open, staring at the ignition before rolling the wheel…
Snick-clink.
She inhaled, the flint sparking before it flashed into a wavering yellow flame, a punch of heat radiating off the tiny blaze.
It flickered, casting a mini-shadow on the table, reminding her of all the times Grieves had used it during her time there.
How it had become an extension of his hold over her.
Buck’s hand landed atop hers before he closed the lid, killed the flame. “Pike’s dead, sweetheart. You’re not. You won.”
She stared at the lighter. “Why would Pike take this? It was Grieves’ thing, not his.”
“Maybe that’s why. In essence, he became the other man, took over his company. Maybe he wanted something tangible to link them together — audible proof he was in charge in case any of Grieves’ men thought about double crossing him. Either way, he can’t hurt you anymore.”
She smoothed her thumb over the engraving, again, then handed it to Buck. “You should hold onto it.”
He curled his fingers around hers. “You keep it. In fact, I think you should use it. A visual reminder that despite the odds, you walked out of the fire.” He leaned closer. “Twice.”
He closed the distance, planted a soft kiss on her mouth when Sloane cleared her throat.
Tierney snapped her gaze to the other woman, cheeks warming when Sloane grinned at them.
She hit a key, activated the main monitor. “If you two are back with the rest of us, I finally cracked that last firewall.”
Buck perked up. “You’ve found who sold Tierney’s recon team to Pike?”
“Not exactly, but I’ve narrowed it down to only three possible options.
” She launched three profiles onto the screen.
“Meet our contenders. First up is MI6 senior supervising officer Malcolm Whitmore. Whitmore approved Tierney’s one-year appointment to Interpol and had direct access to mission specs and would have known about the last-minute change to her team’s routing that day. ”
Tierney stood, moved closer to the monitor. “I hadn’t talked to Whitmore in six months. Why would he sell out my team?”
“Unsure, but he retired four months after the ambush while under investigation for financial anomalies. He’s now consulting with a private security firm out of London.”
Sloane moved on to the second photo. “Suspect two is Isolde Moreau. She’s been with Interpol on and off for over a decade.
She acts as an anti-trafficking crime liaison, and no, the irony isn’t lost on anyone.
She had access to your team roster and your target packages.
Rumor has it, she might have indirect contact with black market shell channels and over the course of the past few years has developed a morally gray ideology.
” Sloane snorted. “She isn’t so sure if all trafficking is bad if it serves a greater purpose.
No one’s been able to prove anything, but she’s been on Internal Affair’s radar for over a year. ”
Tierney wrapped her arms around her ribs. “I remember her. She was cold, calculating, and seemed completely indifferent to whether assets got rescued or not.”
“The perfect mentality for a mole. Which brings us to our last contestant — Judson Ferris. CIA and JSOC liaison, Ferris handled all deconfliction and asset coordination for your joint mission with Nick’s crew.
He’s the one who advised both MI6 and Interpol of your death, and who denied Nick’s request to continue looking after their safehouse got overrun with mercenaries.
He had the means to alter mission reports and bury details and has been implicated in a ghost funding scheme to contractor shell companies, including one tied back to Grieves’ company, Grimm. He’s still running JSOC teams.”
Nick grunted. “The guy’s a weasel. Doesn’t give a shit about the men and women under his command, only whether the mission succeeds or not. I thought they’d booted him.”
Sloane sighed. “Charges of espionage had circulated, but anyone involved in bringing him down mysteriously disappeared. I’d say he’s pretty high on our list, but I’ll need more time.”
Tierney inched closer. “I want them picked apart.”
“Already on it. I’ve flagged their comms, their emails, anything that might contain an encrypted message. I’ll find which son of a bitch sold you out.”
Tierney’s stomach knotted. Three people she’d trusted, and one of them had killed her crew. Fundamentally changed her life. She looked at Sloane. “Thank you.”
Sloane smiled. “My pleasure.”
Buck sidled in beside Tierney. “You okay?”
She glanced at the photos, again. “Ask me again once I’ve destroyed whoever was behind it.”
Buck chuckled. “Nothing like a little bloodlust to bring out the operative in you. Should I invest in Kevlar boxers now, or…”
She swatted his chest. “If you’re nice, I might let you blow them up.”
“I love it when you talk dirty to me, sweetheart.” He glanced at his watch. “Where the hell is Wade?”
Bodie looked up from a file. “He’s been pushing the rehab hard since his final operation. Probably bullied the therapist into an extra set.”
Nick snorted. “Or he’s hitting on that new blonde tech at the clinic, again. The guy’s got a type.”
Buck nodded, but Tierney noticed the slight furrow in his brow. The way he slipped out his phone, shot Wade a text. She knocked his shoulder, arched a brow, but he waved it off, ushering her back to the seat when Avery and Greer breezed in, bringing a swirl of cool air with them.
Avery accepted the coffee Dalton offered her, taking a sip before exhaling, the lines under her eyes more pronounced than usual.
“I wanted to let you guys know that cyber traced Pike’s dark-web clients through the server Sloane hacked into, but they’d scattered the second Pike’s feed dropped.
And with the level of encryption, we might never uncover any names. ”
Bodie groaned. “Fantastic. I don’t suppose you have any good news?”
Avery raked her fingers through her hair, pulling some of the blonde mass out of the clip.
“Not sure it’s good, but… First, my Interpol contact in Washington confirmed all our hostages from Pike’s hunt were kidnapped during an aid mission to Colombia six weeks ago.
Interpol will be working with local authorities to clean up Pike’s bases.
Second, those bones we retrieved from the cave?
Our techs were able to get a useable DNA sample from them, and we’ve matched them to three, high-profile missing person cases out of Seattle and Los Angeles, all of which are a year old. ”
“Which matches the time frame Pike gave us for Grieves getting killed by a cartel and him taking possession of the company.”
She nodded. “And it gave closure to three families. Not necessarily the kind you want, but in the end, it beats not knowing.” She took another sip, handed the coffee back to Dalton.
“This isn’t over. We’ll keep digging. And Interpol has updated their records — will flag anything that looks like it could be connected to hunting rings…
” She paused when her phone rang, glancing at the screen before holding up a finger.
“Hold that thought, I need to take this.”