MERCILESS

by Christy Reece

  Sitting in one of the seats in the back of the plane, Jules got an uninterrupted view of Ash talking in a low tone with Xavier Quinn, who was on one of the sofas at the front. She couldn’t hear what the two men were saying, but judging by their grim expressions, it wasn’t pleasant.

  Several moments later, Ash walked down the aisle toward her. With a heavy sigh, he dropped down into the seat across from her. “Eve called. Gideon’s out of surgery. He lost a lot of blood, but thankfully the bullet missed his femoral artery. They repaired the damage, but it’s going to be a few months before he’s fully operational again.”

  “Thank God for that. It could have been so much worse.” When he didn’t answer, Jules couldn’t keep from saying, “You know what happened wasn’t your fault.”

  Those amazing eyes cut over to her, and for the first time in hours, she saw something besides sorrow in them. Fury flared, pure and bright. Her comment had definitely pissed him off.

  “And just whose fault is it?”

  “How about Dalca’s for being such a slug and trying to use a human being as a shield? Or the woman who thought pulling a gun on her husband in a room full of people was a good idea?”

  “Doesn’t negate my responsibility. I should have anticipated and—”

  “Anticipated is one thing. Being able to predict the future is something else.”

  “Predicting human behavior is my job. Desperate people act in irrational ways. It was my op, my responsibility. Period.”

  Arguing would do no good. He was set on taking this on his own shoulders.

  “What’s going to happen to Dalca?”

  “That’s up to the Romanian authorities. The intel Eve obtained should give them what they need to put him away. If not…” He shrugged. “Eve’s cover is blown, so we’re probably out of it either way.”

  “She could have saved her cover…explained away her concern for Gideon as compassion for a stranger.”

  “Possibly. Yeah, probably. She’s my best deep-cover operative. She could’ve pulled it off.”

  “Then why—”

  “She and Gideon go back several years. The speed of his recovery might hinge on having her close by.”

  “You care about your people.”

  “Hell yeah, I care. Bullets and death have the ability to either bring people together or separate them forever. There’s not an OZ employee I wouldn’t die for, and every one of them would do the same. It’s how we survive.” He sent her a searing look. “You good with that?”

  Was she good with possibly giving up her life for a virtual stranger? Yes, she was. That question had been asked and answered a long time ago.

  “I am.”

  His nod of approval meant something to her. They had both started out with different lives, but fate, or whoever was in charge of hellish situations, had put them at odds with a normal life. Both of them had survived the only way they knew how.

  “So what’s next on OZ’s agenda?”

  “We’ll regroup, then start on our next assignment.”

  “I need to go home for a few days. Take care of some personal business.”

  “Understood. You’ll need to report to the company doctor a week from Monday. I’ll text you the details.”

  “Doctor?”

  “For a complete physical. You look to be in good health, but I don’t take on operatives without knowing that for sure.”

  That made sense. Being an OZ operative would likely be physically grueling.

  “All right. And then—”

  “Then you’ll be taken to a secure training facility. Put through the standard tests. Shooting, physicality, hand-to-hand. It’s a rough two days, but it’ll tell us what we need to know. Better yet, it’ll show you what we expect.”

  Jules swallowed. She hadn’t assumed she could just walk onto the team without proving herself, but this seemed extreme.

  “You look surprised.”

  “I am. A little.”

  “Today’s op was a low-key one. We don’t get many like that. When you’ve got a submachine gun going at you or an RPG headed your way, you’ll appreciate being in top physical condition.”

  “Makes sense. What else?”

  “After you’ve completed your tests and I’ve seen the results, I’ll contact you with where to go for your implant.”

  “My what?”

  “Tracker. OZ operatives work deep cover. My people don’t check in with me unless they have intel or require assistance, but I need to know where they are at all times.” He waited a half second and then added, “You got a problem with that, OZ might not be the best fit for you after all.”

  Even though what he said made sense, it was difficult to agree to such an invasion of privacy. Everyone, even OZ operatives, had a right to a private life, didn’t they?

  “You won’t be the first person to balk at the requirement. No hard feelings if you want to back out.”

  Backing out was not an option. She had to have this job.

  “I will agree to the tracker, but I don’t have to like it.”

  A small smile twitched at his mouth. “I’m sure there will be several things you won’t like.”

  “And you don’t care, do you?”

  “As we discussed, I don’t have a lot of rules, but the ones I do have are set in granite.”

  “Your way or the highway.”

  “You get dead or go missing, it’s on me. I don’t like it when that happens, so yeah, my way or nothing.”

  A saner part of her told her to protest more. He might be the leader of OZ and her new boss, but the autocratic attitude could get old fast. But she could also understand his reasons. OZ operatives operated in the most dangerous parts of the world. If an operative disappeared, being able to find them quickly could be the difference between life and death.

  “What happens to the people who leave OZ? I’m assuming the tracker can be easily removed?”

  “It can and it is. But if you have it removed while you’re an OZ operative, you’re out permanently.”

  “Understood. What else do I need to do?”

  “The physical, skill tests, and the tracker are the biggest issues. The rest we can discuss when you come back.”

  “I’ll need to find a place to live close to headquarters.”

  “Closest town is about five miles away. You can stay at the op center as long as you need. We have apartments there.”

  That would help with the transition, but she definitely would need her own place and space.

  “Hmm. Awkward question, but where is OZ headquarters?”

  Humor briefly eased his harsh expression. “Montana. I’ll send you a map.”

  She nodded. She’d been to Montana on a case once, but that was pretty much all she knew of the state. She’d do some research once she got the location.

  “With Gideon out and Jazz on modified assignments, you’ll need to hit the ground running when you get back.”

  Jules nodded, but something was bothering her. “You and your team have accepted me awfully easily. I didn’t think it would be this smooth.”

  “It’s not, so don’t take it for granted. I trust Kate more than anyone else in the world. If she says you’re legit, you are. And your reputation for getting the job done is impressive. You’re a good fit for OZ.”

  Before she could bask in his approval, he added, “We still have a problem, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re keeping something from me. You’ve got secrets…everybody does. I’ve got no problem with that as long as they don’t affect the team.”

  He went to his feet and then looked down at her, his expression icy once again. “If those secrets ever put my people or a mission in jeopardy, you’ll regret it with your last breath. Understand?”

  “The last thing I would do is hurt you or this team, Ash,” Jules said quietly.

  With a curt nod, he turned and headed back to the front of the plane.

  When he was several feet away, Jule
s blew out a long, ragged breath. It wasn’t every day that one received a death threat from an employer, but she knew that was exactly what he’d meant.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Montana

  OZ Headquarters

  Ash sat at his desk and reviewed the job requests. Since OZ operated under the radar, all of the requests had been vetted and validated. The team had been back from Romania for over a week, but he held back on choosing the next op. Not only did his people need some downtime, they were a couple of operatives short.

  When he’d started Option Zero, he’d had two major goals. First, he would choose only the jobs that interested him. And second, he would choose the ones that appeared hopeless. A lot of different agencies and organizations assisted people throughout the world, but few focused on the situations that looked hopeless or impossible. He understood that. People helped where they could do the most good. But what about the others? The ones that seemed doomed to failure? The jobs that no one else wanted were the ones he wanted. Why? Because he and his people knew all about helplessness and hopelessness. They’d been there, done that, and had the scars to prove it. This was where they could make a difference.

  Creating OZ had saved him. After he’d lost Meg, he’d lost himself. Hadn’t cared about anyone or anything. He might’ve stayed that way if it hadn’t been for Kate. He was already out of the FBI by then, spending most of his time so filled with hatred, he was surprised it hadn’t smothered him.

  Kate had been dealing with her own issues. She had chased a serial killer for years and ended up leaving the Agency before he had been caught. On her way out, she had recommended Ash to take the lead on the case. In a roundabout way, that had led to Meg’s death.

  Not that he didn’t feel the full weight of Meg’s death on his own shoulders. John Leland Clark had been the most evil and vile kind of human being, killing without remorse across the western United States and enjoying every moment of his far-reaching fame. But in the end, Clark had been used as a weapon for someone else’s evil agenda.

  Ash had gotten his man. That was one thing that Asher Drake could say about himself. He damn well had gotten his man. But at what cost?

  There was no denying that he and Meg had been struggling. After Colombia and then Syria, he hadn’t been the same man. Even though he’d fought many battles while in the Marines, he’d always known what he was fighting for and that he’d had a whole country backing him. In the jungles of Colombia and then the desert of Syria, it had been all about survival.

  Returning home hadn’t brought the peace he sought. He was justifiably angry, and not being able to get any answers only made things worse. Meg had expected the man she married to return to her, and instead she’d gotten a damaged and bitter one. She’d done her best. He gave her all the credit for trying. And for a while, in his first few years with the FBI, things had seemed to be back on track. Even though he hadn’t gotten the answers he sought, he had been doing his best to look toward the future. All of that had changed when he’d turned on the television one day to see a woman running for political office. That woman was Nora Turner. After searching for years, trying to solve the mystery of what had gone down in Colombia, he discovered that one of the people who’d been there was an up and coming politician.

  Seeing Turner had reopened wounds that had never completely healed. Confronting her had been a mistake. She had denied everything, of course, and Ash had ended up looking like a crazed maniac. The FBI had taken a dim view of one of their agents accusing a popular politician of treasonous acts and murder.

  Everything had begun a downward spiral. Meg’s death at the hands of a serial killer had been the final and most brutal blow to his dream of a happy, peaceful existence.

  Convicted of the murder of twenty-seven people, Clark was now rotting in a prison cell in Colorado. In Ash’s mind, he had killed twenty-eight. The one victim who had managed to escape him had committed suicide several months after her rescue. Without a doubt, Clark was directly responsible for her suicide.

  The bastard was on death row, but Ash hoped his execution never happened. Death was too good for the monster. Better that the scum live to a ripe old age, withering away. Maybe it wasn’t a just sentence, but as there was no fitting punishment for what Clark had done, it would have to do.

  Losing Meg had been like losing himself all over again. They’d been childhood sweethearts and had planned to grow old together. Life and other shit had happened to derail that happiness, but it was all on Ash that Meg died. He had to live with that guilt, and for a very long time, he hadn’t wanted to live at all.

  Kate refused to give up on him. She was the one who came to him about Laurie, a four-year-old girl who was kidnapped from her home by her Afghani father and taken back to Afghanistan. The father was rumored to have ties to the Taliban. While both governments sympathized with the mother’s plight, little was being done about bringing her back home. Kate asked Ash to give it a try.

  After talking with the mother, seeing the love and fear she had for her child, Ash felt a determination he hadn’t felt in years. This, he could do. This, he could handle. In this, he could make a difference.

  The next day, he called the five people he trusted most—Xavier Quinn, Gideon Wright, Liam Stryker, Sean Donavan, and Nick Hawthorne—and told them what he planned. There was no hesitation. He had been through hell with these men. Ash knew them as well as he knew himself. He knew what their answers would be. All were in.

  Under the cover of night, they broke into the father’s house, rescued the girl, and returned her to her mother.

  Kate took care of arranging new names and a new life for the child and her mother. And Asher Drake had found a new purpose. Seeing the reunion between mother and daughter gave Ash the biggest sense of peace he’d felt since losing Meg. He had skills and he could use them—but only on his terms.

  Six years later, he was the leader of one of the most hated and respected organizations in the world. OZ didn’t exist, at least on paper. They worked under the cover of anonymity and free rein—as long as they didn’t get caught. If that ever happened, they would be tried and convicted, without support from any government.

  Receiving intel from multiple sources throughout the world enabled OZ to do things ordinary citizens could never accomplish. Ash didn’t take these things for granted. He knew they were living on borrowed time. Many had tried to take them down, and at some point someone would succeed. It was a price he was willing to pay.

  No OZ employee came on board without knowing that they could be killed or imprisoned on any op. And that was why he had created a team that would watch each other’s backs. No one else would.

  Hiring Jules Stone was a risk, but not only had Kate vouched for her, Ash instinctively trusted her. Yes, she had secrets, and he’d get to them eventually. Trust didn’t come easy for any of his people. They’d been hurt and broken just about as badly as anyone could be, but they had been able to reinvent themselves and turn their brokenness into a purpose.

  Jules had been hurt, too. He could see it in her eyes. At some point, she might share her pain with him. That would be her choice.

  The attraction between them was something he had no choice but to ignore. He couldn’t afford the distraction. Staying focused was how he made it through each day. Giving in to temptation was not only self-destructive, but also pointless. He would never fall in love again.

  Jules would be an asset to the team. Over the past week, she had passed her physical evaluation and operational skill tests without the slightest glitch. The reports he’d received were impressive. Plus, she had handled herself well in Romania. The op had turned sour in the blink of an eye, and she had rolled with the situation, reading Dalca correctly. The man had been in a panic, and while he’d shown himself to be dangerous by shooting Gideon, his number one priority was self-preservation. Dalca had really believed that Jules would shoot him. Hell, she’d been so convincing that Ash had almost believed it himself. But he’d seen the expre
ssion in her eyes, had read her intent. Everything had worked out in the best way possible.

  Except for Gideon.

  Ash shoved away from his desk and went to the window. The sky was the kind of blue that no man could re-create. The sun blazed down on majestic snowcapped mountains, offering peace and solace. He and Gideon had hiked those mountains, camped beneath the stars, and shared stories.

  If not for Gideon, Ash wasn’t sure he’d be alive today. He’d been there for him during his darkest moments after he’d lost Meg. He owed the man a lot. And even though Gideon would heal, it infuriated Ash that he’d been hurt in the first place. He placed his people above the op—always. He had to. If he didn’t, no one else would. Yeah, they put their lives on the line for others, but first and foremost, he took care of his people.

  And he had failed not once, but twice. They’d lost Nick Hawthorne, Hawke to his friends, several years ago. Not in the same way, but Ash still held himself responsible for that one, too. That op had gone south from the get-go, and by the end of the night, he’d had to say goodbye to one of his best operatives.

  Even though he lived with the knowledge that he or any of his people could be taken out on any op, it didn’t make the bitter pill of grief easier to swallow when it happened.

  Returning to his desk, Ash went back to the list of requests and dug in. Lost in the specifics of a particularly intriguing case, he didn’t come up for air until his phone buzzed. He glanced at the readout, and a slight smile played at his mouth.

  Pressing the answer icon, he put the call on speaker and leaned back in his chair. “Calling to check on your charge, Kate?”

  His friend laughed softly. “You know me too well, Ash. How’s she doing?”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t asked her yourself.”

  “I did, but she’s gone all closemouthed on me. Guess she took the ‘what happens at OZ stays at OZ’ seriously.”

  That was good to know. “She handled herself well on the first op.”