Finding the Way Back: A Stealth Ops Novel

by Sahin, Brittney

  He couldn’t get the words out, so he nodded.

  The doctor pulled the curtain to the side to reveal Adriana in bed. The steady electronic beats from the heart monitor and BP machine off to her side were reassuring. But the sight of them, and the IV . . . it was still too much. The breathing tube, which she would’ve had during surgery had been removed. That was a good sign.

  He was on the verge of sinking to his knees, but he had to remain strong. He could get through this because she was okay. She got shot, but he didn’t lose her the way her father had lost his wife.

  He cupped his mouth, tears forming in his eyes as he approached the bed.

  The face paint had been wiped off, although some traces were still at her hairline.

  She looked like she was peacefully sleeping, not like a bullet had ripped through her that morning.

  Her lashes fluttered a little.

  Her right arm was wrapped in gauze where the first bullet had grazed her.

  An hour ago, when Doctor Frank exited the OR with a smile, Knox had broken down with relief, his coffee splashing over the rim of the cup as he struggled to stand from his chair. He actually needed to lean against Liam for a moment.

  “She’s not going anywhere,” Liam had whispered.

  Knox’s gaze floated to the doctor. “And she’s going to be fine?” He’d asked the question about five thousand times since they’d first spoken.

  “She was very lucky. We only had to repair part of her small bowel. We’ll keep an eye out for infections, but other than that, no major damage.”

  It could’ve gone so much differently. He’d run through a checklist of all the major issues resulting from a gunshot wound to the abdomen while he’d been in the waiting room, and this was one of the best-case scenarios. Thank God.

  “I’ll give you some space.” He left the room, and Knox moved to her side and reached for her hand, holding it between his palms.

  “I got you,” he said and closed his eyes. “Always.”

  “I know,” she answered, her voice scratchy, but she was talking . . . and . . .

  He brought his forehead to hers. “I’m so—”

  “Don’t apologize,” she said softly. And after a few seconds, she added, “I’ll withhold sex from you.” Her voice was low and sleepy.

  But how the hell was she joking after waking up from anesthesia? Only Adriana.

  “Addy.” He lifted his head to find her beautiful green eyes focused on him, but it was brief. The drugs pulled at her lids, and she closed them again.

  “I promised you no one would die,” she said. “See, I kept my word.”

  “What the hell am I going to do with you, woman?” He smoothed the back of his hand over her forehead and gently kissed her lips.

  Tears hit his cheeks again.

  “I saw my mom,” she whispered after a few minutes passed.

  “I saw the star, too.” He kept hold of her hand, sitting at her bedside.

  “No. I saw her.” She blinked until her gaze was focused on him, and she whispered, “She wanted me to find my way back to you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  It’d been twenty-eight hours since the love of his life had taken a bullet.

  Twenty-one hours since she’d woken up from surgery.

  And now an hour and a half since she’d forced him to go shower and change his clothes before he was allowed to come back.

  He hadn’t wanted to leave her side—prepared not to move a damn muscle. But she hadn’t given him a choice. She even pulled her pouty lips and puppy dog eyes out on him. Morphine helped her pain, but it didn’t dent her personality one bit.

  He did feel better about showering and cleaning the filth of what happened off him, though.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked once he was back at her side.

  “Like I’ve been shot.”

  Of course. This woman. His everything would smile and joke.

  “What do you have there?” Her eyes moved to his hand.

  He held an iPad between them. “I downloaded some of your favorite movies for you to watch while you’re here.”

  “Oh?” Her smile carried to her eyes, a sexiness to her tone when she’d dropped that little word, too.

  He set the iPad on the rolling cart by the bed and reached for her hand. “Not Ghost, though. I’m thinking I won’t be watching that movie anytime soon.”

  “But it’s so good.” Her speech was barely affected by all the pain meds he was sure the nurses were pumping into her. For the most part, you’d never think the woman had been shot if she weren’t in a bed connected to IVs. “How about, You had me at hello?”

  “Jerry Maguire?” He gently pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, noticing her ears bare. She almost always had her earrings on, the ones he’d given her. The nurses must’ve taken them off for surgery. “Yeah.” He smiled and pulled his hand back. “Downloaded.”

  “Ever After?” She perked a brow.

  “What’s that?” He cocked his head to the side.

  “It’s a version of Cinderella. How could you not remember that’s a favorite of mine?”

  He reached for the tablet and swiped at the screen to unlock it. He pulled up the movies, and some of the color in her cheeks returned when she spotted Ever After.

  “You.”

  “Of course I didn’t forget. I know everything about you.” He released the iPad and scooted closer to the bed, his heart still hurting at the sight of her in it.

  It should’ve been him in that bed, but she had the heart of a saint, and she’d given her vest to a kid at the chance Nina’s daughter could get hurt.

  “Actually, I take that back, I didn’t know about the vibrator.” His lips twitched into a teasing grin. “We still haven’t talked about that.”

  She sucked her bottom lip inward. “About that.”

  “You were joking?” He leaned closer, his mouth hovering near hers.

  “No, I was very serious.” Her lips tipped into a smile. “But I didn’t have you to satisfy me, so, what’d you expect?”

  “Good point.” He kissed her softly, not wanting to jostle her in the slightest and cause her pain. “My parents and your dad should be here soon.”

  Since Knox had jacked his dad’s plane, Secret Service had to secure another private jet, so it was taking them longer to get there.

  “Is it safe for your parents to travel with Glenn out there?”

  She was lying in a hospital bed after having undergone surgery to repair a bullet wound, and yet, she was still worrying about others.

  “Glenn only targeted my mom to protect his own secrets. He has no reason to risk going after her now that the truth is out there.”

  “But it’s not. The truth isn’t out there yet. Will your mom have to tell the press? And what does that mean for you? For Bravo?”

  A question mark still hung over the fate of the teams, and he didn’t want to think about that right now. “Don’t stress about that, okay?”

  “Easier said than done.” Her eyes thinned. “If you’re hurting, it hurts me, too.”

  “I—”

  “Hey, sorry to interrupt.”

  Knox turned to see Luke standing in the doorway.

  “I have news. Can I steal you for a moment?” Guilt still shadowed Luke’s eyes. He’d apologized a dozen times since the infil of the compound. Even Roman had said a million sorrys as if he was somehow responsible for what happened to Adriana.

  But how could Knox be mad at anyone on his team? Ultimately, it’d been Adriana’s decision, and he had to accept she was willing to do whatever necessary for her country. Same as him. It hurt like hell to think about her risking her life, but he loved her too much to stand in her way.

  “I’d like to hear,” Adriana said, trying to sit up a bit.

  “You sure you’re up for it?” Luke came closer to the bed. “So sorry again for what happened,” he said. “Knox was right, and I—”

  “No. I was where I should’ve been.” H
er brows stitched together. “You men love to take the blame for everything and hold the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

  Luke peered at Knox, and a smile skirted his lips as he pointed a finger Adriana’s way. “Damn, if she’s this tough while on morphine, I can’t imagine what she’s like without the meds.”

  “Tell me about it,” he said, knowing full well she’d be swatting his arm if she hadn’t been shot yesterday.

  “So, good news or bad?” Knox redirected his focus to Luke, whose face was giving nothing away as he stood on the other side of the bed.

  “We got word from Quinn. With the militia taken down, and Nina pulling through surgery without a problem—it must’ve scared Leslie. She confessed. I don’t know if her story is bullshit or not until we can verify some of the details, but she said Nina came to her three months ago with a bunch of Polaroids.”

  “What’d the pictures show?” she asked.

  “They were taken within a week of the death of Nina’s parents. Apparently, Nina recognized Leslie and your mom in the photos and accused Leslie of killing her parents to hide something.”

  “But Leslie wasn’t part of my mom’s team,” Knox said, still not quite following.

  “No, but she was having an affair with Glenn. They’ve been involved on and off for forty-two years. Since Nina’s mom was following Glenn, she also caught their affair on camera.”

  “Is that what Leslie wanted to hide?” An affair was better than espionage, he supposed. “Was Nina right about anything?”

  “Nina’s mom had tried to blackmail Glenn back then with the photos. She knew the Americans were on to her as a traitor, so she spied on Glenn to find something to use against him.”

  “So, did Glenn kill Nina’s parents?” Adriana asked, her voice soft.

  “Leslie claims she has no idea if Glenn’s to blame for that, and she said she didn’t ask questions back then. The whole ‘ignorance is bliss’ thing. A day after Nina’s mom attempted to blackmail Glenn, though, she and her husband died.” Luke folded his arms. “Nina went to Leslie with the pictures, threatening to expose the affair and share her theory about her parents’ death, so Leslie went to Glenn for help.”

  “And when my mom suggested she should go public about everything—disclose that she was CIA and a member of a covert group—Glenn realized both Nina and my mom could jeopardize his secrets.” Son of a bitch. And all that time they’d been having him over to family dinners. He wanted to puke.

  “So, Nina goes to Leslie, Leslie goes to Glenn, and Glenn pulls their former team together. When he realized Kathleen might reveal the skeletons in their closets, he scrambled to enact a plan,” Adriana said.

  “Manipulating Nina into thinking my mom staged her parents’ deaths.”

  “Will people find out the truth about the covert group?” Adriana asked.

  “Leslie knows Glenn was CIA, so it appears she made the assumption that everyone else in those photos was as well. She never mentioned to the Feds that Glenn or your mom were part of an off-the-books group, though. So, as far as I can tell, the only information that may leak to the press is that your mom was CIA,” Luke explained. “I don’t know if we can trust Leslie or not, but damned if I’m glad she’s not going to be vice president of our country, regardless. She announced her withdrawal fifteen minutes ago outside the FBI office with Director Mendez alongside her.”

  Mendez had called Knox to personally apologize that morning, and Knox had a feeling it’d been at President Rydell’s insistence. Maybe in a few years, Quinn would take over his job.

  “The press must be going crazy over this.” Knox stood and tucked his hands into the back of his jeans pockets.

  Luke jerked a thumb over his shoulder and smiled at Knox and Adriana. “Sounds like your folks are here judging by all the commotion.” He peeked out into the hall. “You ready to see them?”

  “Yeah,” Adriana said with a smile.

  A few moments later, Secret Service escorted Knox’s parents and Adriana’s father into the room. Her dad pulled Knox in for a tight hug before quickly letting go to get to Adriana.

  Knox’s dad motioned for him to join him in the hall.

  “You didn’t . . . did you?” he overheard Adriana ask her father, probably worried her near-death incident pushed him over the edge to drink.

  “Still have my chip,” he responded, but his voice broke in the process. Relief. Worry. Fear. Hell, all of the above, probably moved through him at the sight of his daughter in that bed.

  “You holding up okay, Son?” His dad was dressed more casually than he’d seen him lately. Jeans and a navy button-down. Even the sleeves were rolled to the elbows.

  Knox glanced at Rodriguez a few paces back before redirecting his focus on his father. “Yeah, she’s okay, so I’m okay.”

  He braced a hand over Knox’s shoulder. “That was a brave thing doing what you did. A little foolish since you could’ve ended up in jail for it, too, but brave, nevertheless. Not that I’d expect anything different from you.”

  Knox shifted his attention to the room, and to his mother standing alongside Adriana in one of her typical pantsuits. “You don’t think Mom knew what Glenn did back then, do you?” A sinking feeling hit his stomach when he looked back at his dad.

  His father’s gaze lowered to the floor as if contemplating the question. He’d only learned the truth about his wife, and so, maybe he had concerns, too. But when his focus gathered to Knox’s face, a look of confidence returned in his eyes. “No. She says she had no idea Glenn murdered those people and framed the Russians, and so, I believe her.”

  “I know, and I believe her, too.” But . . . “People keep lying. People we trust. I feel like every time I turn around someone from the inside is betraying—”

  “Don’t let the one percent dictate how you look at the rest.” He cocked his head. “Most people are good. Focus on that.” He patted his shoulder twice.

  “If the truth comes out about Mom, what will happen?” He leaned against the wall. The area was empty save for Secret Service. They must’ve cleared the hall for his father’s visit.

  “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  “Dad, um, what are your thoughts about a group, like the one Mom was a part of?” Like mine? “Is it a risk, is it dangerous to even allow them to exist . . . operate off the books like that? People in power like Glenn, they—”

  “Do you trust your buddies?” His forehead creased. A touch of concern dipped into his eyes, but it was brief. “Would they ever turn their backs on you? On this country?” His dad pinned him with a serious look, one he used to give him when he was a teen being lectured for doing something his dad had deemed irresponsible.

  Knox straightened. “No, sir. They’re nothing like Glenn,” he said with conviction.

  He extended a hand. “Then we’re good.”

  We’re good? He took hold of his hand and performed the handshake his father taught him at a young age. Firm grip, confident demeanor, eye contact. And then his dad pulled him in for a hug.

  He stayed out in the hall and took a few seconds to gather his thoughts after his dad went into Adriana’s room.

  “I guess the president should’ve put your people in charge.” Rodriguez approached. “You planning on telling me where Aaron Todd is now?” His lips crooked at the edges.

  “What made you finally shave your mustache?” he commented instead.

  “Don’t deflect.”

  But shit, he’d almost forgotten about Aaron. “What makes you think we know his location?”

  “Someone had to have given you insight into that compound. Hell, the place was rigged with IEDs.”

  So, it was true. “He’s at his neighbor Judy’s house. She lives across the street from him,” he admitted. “He had nothing to do with this.”

  “My job is to protect Isaiah and Kathleen Bennett from all credible threats. Aaron’s not one of them. But I still have no idea how you manage to color so far outsi
de the lines without getting cuffs slapped on your wrists.” He produced something from his pocket. “But I have a feeling I’ll never find out.” With that, he sidestepped Knox and entered the room.

  Knox followed after him, curious what he was planning on saying to Adriana.

  “I think you forgot something back in Atlanta.” Rodriguez stood firm in his suit. His shoulders pinned back in a straight line. He extended Adriana her commission book. “What do you say? You want your job back?”

  Knox walked farther into the room, and Adriana’s eyes met his before lowering to the commission book.

  “As long as I’m never assigned to protect the next POTUS.” Her eyes winged to Knox’s dad. “No offense, but I’m in love with your son, and that could pose some problems.”

  He loved her so damn much. Always had.

  His dad looked back at Knox and smiled. Not a politician smile. A real one. “Can’t have the son of a president jumping in front of a bullet for his detail, now can we?”

  “You planning on getting shot at again, Dad?” Knox cocked a brow.

  “Let’s hope not, but I do plan on winning.” His dad held his eyes for a beat. “And then after that, I’m thinking there might be something you and I have to talk about.”

  * * *

  Two days later

  “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said you should all fly under the radar for a while,” President Rydell said over the phone in the conference room the guys had hijacked at the hospital. But when the commander in chief requests the room, even from a distance, you give him the damn room.

  “Not how we normally roll, sir,” A.J. responded.

  “But nice work, gentlemen. I should’ve never doubted you for a second,” Rydell added.

  “At what point did you doubt us?” Finn scoffed, and Chris tossed a paper airplane he’d made at his face from across the table.

  “With Lyle having to choose a new VP candidate, and your mom announcing to the world she was once a spy, I have no idea what will happen come November,” Rydell said, ignoring Finn’s words.