But she’d had no clue what true horror was until she’d seen what was inside that innocuous round building somewhere near the Chad border. Humans used up and tossed away like old rags.
She pressed a hand over her mouth as her stomach twisted again and curled up tighter on the bunk. She wished she hadn’t stayed in the war room. Wished she hadn’t seen what was on those screens. She’d take her old version of horror back any day of the week.
She’d been so naive. So wrapped up in her upper-middle-class bubble. She had seen the ravages of war and famine and disease on TV, but always at the comfortable distance of half a world away. Like everyone else, she’d shake her head and say, “That’s so horrible,” and maybe throw some money at a charity when she had the chance. But this time there was no comfortable distance. She was just down there with those people who were dying by the thousands of war and starvation and at the hands of greedy people who saw them only as paychecks. She may have even spoken to someone who loved one of those torn-apart bodies.
She started to shake and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Didn’t help.
A soft knock sounded at the door before it opened a crack.
Sami poked her head in. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. What was the point of trying to put on a brave face? Sami was just as pale and shaky, but she hadn’t vomited like Leah had. She’d actually handled it surprisingly well. Maybe that steel constitution came with practice.
Oh God. Did they see carnage like this often enough to get used to it? She simultaneously didn’t want to know the answer and had to ask. “Do you—the team, I mean—do you deal with this all the time?”
“Someone has to. Nobody else was going to look for those missing people.” Sami exhaled softly and stepped into the room. “It’s not usually that bad, though. That was next-level evil.”
Leah sat up. “You know that evil exists, what it’s capable of, and yet you hunt it down?”
Sami lifted a shoulder. “Like I said, someone has to. Hunting it down is the only way to make sure it doesn’t spread.”
Leah shook her head. “I hated HORNET.”
“Nobody blames you. From where you were standing, it looked like we were responsible for your husband dying. I was there that day.”
No. She was so young.
“My first training mission with the team,” she explained and tucked a purple lock of hair behind her ear. “There wasn’t supposed to be any live fire. We had paintball guns. And everything went perfectly until men with real guns stormed the hotel and started killing people. You should know Danny was a hero. He helped save a lot of people that day, including me.”
“Thank you for that.”
Sami smiled sadly. “There’s something you should see.”
Leah stood and followed her through the plane. When she realized Sami was leading her back to the war room, she stopped in her tracks.
“It’s okay.” Sami caught her hand, gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I promise you won’t see anything terrible.”
She reluctantly let Sami pull her into the room and over to one of the screens. They were all blank now, but Leah could still see the blood and death as if it was burned into each screen.
Sami put her earbud in. “Eric? Hey, hon. Turn your body cam back on. Leah needs to see this.”
One of the screens came to shaky life. At first, Leah couldn’t make out what was happening. There was a lot of movement, snippets of ground and trees. But then Harvard stopped moving and the camera focused. Up ahead was Marcus, walking toward the gate of Josue’s church, a filthy man leaning heavily on him. The gates burst open and Abel shot out as if propelled by a gun. He threw himself at the man and, sobbing, the two sank to the muddy ground. Josue ran out next and scooped them both up in his arms, his face turned to the sky in thanks.
“Is that…” Her voice caught. “Abel’s father?”
Sami nodded. “They found him after you stopped watching. I figured you’d want to at least see the reunion.”
“I appreciate it.”
“I may be overstepping here, but…” She pointed to the screen. “That team? They’re heroes. They reunite people and they put their lives and sometimes sanity on the line to do it. You need to know they did everything humanly possible to make sure Danny got home to you—it just wasn’t enough.”
“I know. I don’t hate them anymore.”
“But you don’t trust us yet?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s okay. I get it.”
Leah turned back to the screen and watched a few more families reunite. “Did they find Cabot?” Even as she asked it, she already knew the answer.
“No. He wasn’t with the prisoners. All that fresh blood…” She trailed off. “I think we were too late.”
“Everything humanly possible,” Leah echoed her earlier words.
“Yeah, but not enough,” Sami finished. “It sucks. I hate when we can’t save people.”
Leah nodded toward the screen. “You saved those people.”
Sami followed her gaze and gave a genuine smile. “We did. You helped.”
Leah winced. “I really didn’t. All I did was nearly get killed a bunch of times and destroyed the flash drive. It’s our only lead now.”
Sami waved a hand. “Nah, no worries. Nothing electronic is ever completely destroyed. We’ll still get Volkov and whoever else is involved in the organ trade. It’s only a matter of time until we piece the data back together. Eric and I plan to work on it as soon as we get back to our computer lab at home.”
Home.
Oh my God. They were going home. Was this nightmare finally over? She glanced over at the screen and saw Marcus turn to say something to Harvard. And he smiled. There he was, covered from head to toe in red mud, his curls damp with rain and sweat, a rifle hanging across his back, and he was smiling as he watched Abel’s and Josue’s reunion with their loved one. It was a real smile, too, the kind that crinkled his eyes and flashed his charming dimples and reminded her so much of Regina. She hadn’t seen a smile like that from him since before Danny died.
Tension eased out of her. She hadn’t even realized she’d been one giant bundle of nerves until her shoulders relaxed. If Marcus was smiling, he was okay. They were both okay, and they were going home.
Maybe the nightmare wasn’t completely over, but this horrendous chapter of it was closed.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Los Angeles, California
The team flew to Italy, where they met with Tucker Quentin to debrief. Tuc wanted to know every detail. He was particularly interested in Volkov the elder’s involvement. Was it all Dmitry or was Evgeni also involved?
Who the fuck knew?
But, after all was said and done, Tuc didn’t really seem to care. He ordered Rex to call in his usual team of bounty hunters. They were going after Evgeni Volkov.
It was the longest debriefing of Marcus’s career but once it was accomplished, they were dismissed. Whatever happened from here on out, HORNET’s part in the mission was done.
Marcus didn’t remember the plane ride home. By the time he sat down he was so exhausted he plummeted into sleep and didn’t resurface until the jet started its descent in the States.
He groggily lifted his head and blinked at the twinkling lights out the window. He recognized that skyline.
Not just the States.
Home.
His and Leah’s home.
He glanced over at her. She was still curled up in the seat next to him, sound asleep. Christ, she was too pale, and dark circles of exhaustion sagged under her closed eyes. He hated the red welts around her wrists and bruises on her skin.
He smoothed a hand lightly over her hair. “You’re home now. You’re safe.”
She didn’t even twit
ch an eyelid. She was out.
As carefully as he could, he edged past her seat. The Nest was comfortable, with big leather seats that reclined, but his muscles ached from sitting in one position for too long. There was a crick in his neck that twinged every time he turned his head to the left. Dammit. He should’ve claimed one of the bunks first thing, but he hadn’t expected to fall asleep when he sat down. Now, because Leah had stayed with him, she would be sore from sleeping in the chair instead of a bed.
He rolled his neck and shoulders a few times, trying to work out the kinks as he followed the sound of voices to the war room. He found Lanie, Jesse, Jean-Luc, and Seth sitting around the long, glossy table. Harvard and Sami were huddled together around one of the computers at the other end of the room. Only two missing were Ian and Tank, but that wasn’t a shock. Ian wasn’t a social creature.
Everyone must have gathered here to relax instead of in the main room to keep from waking him and Leah. He appreciated it.
“Hey, it’s Rip Van Winkle!” Jean-Luc toasted him with a mug of coffee when he appeared in the doorway. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“Going on…” Jean-Luc mimed checking a nonexistent watch. “Fourteen hours.”
“Shit.” No wonder it felt like he had cobwebs in his head instead of a brain. He rubbed a hand over his hair and found it in a mess of knots. He should just shave it all off, because that was going to be a bitch to untangle. The curse of curls.
Yawning, he stepped into the room and nodded toward the coffeepot warming on the sideboard along one wall. “Give me some of that, would ya?”
Jean-Luc obligingly got up and poured him a mug.
When the first sip hit his stomach, he realized how empty it was and grabbed one of the donuts from the box on the table. It was prepackaged and no longer fresh, but damn, it tasted good. He finished in a couple bites and snagged another. He motioned vaguely toward the front of the plane with the donut before taking a bite.
“Why are we in L.A.?” He’d expected to land in Wyoming at HORNET HQ.
Lanie exchanged a glance with the others. They all had a you tell him look on their faces.
Jesus. They had bad news. The bite of donut he’d just swallowed hit his stomach like lead. He set it and the mug of coffee down. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Lanie assured quickly. “Tuc just doesn’t think this is over yet, so we’ve been ordered to stick close to Leah.”
“He thinks Volkov will send someone after her again,” he translated, reading the meaning between her carefully chosen words.
“We don’t know but we’re taking precautions.”
“This is bullshit. I told her she was safe.”
“And we’re hanging out to make sure she is. That’s all.”
“She needs to get back to her normal life. Her kids need it. Having a bunch of armed guards around isn’t normal. Not to mention, it’s conspicuous as hell.”
“What do you suggest then?” Lanie asked, all patience. “Are you comfortable leaving her unprotected?”
With Volkov and Dr. Denisova still free? Fuck, no. “I’ll stay with her.” The words popped out of his mouth before he had a chance to second-guess the idea.
“I figured as much.” She offered a placating smile. “But we’re still keeping watch—at a distance. Better safe than sorry.”
She was right. He knew it, and yet the thought that Leah and the kids still needed twenty-four-hour protection still pissed him off. Leah thought this was over. She’d said as much when they boarded the plane back in Italy. She’d been happy and relaxed and more like the carefree Leah he’d known before last year. He’d liked seeing her that way. Thought he’d see more of her quick, sun-bright smiles when they got home, and now this.
“I’ll tell her in the morning,” he said after he realized they were all staring at him, waiting for a response. “Let’s give her tonight, okay?”
Thankfully, they agreed. They also agreed to hang back once the plane landed so he could take her home without the reminder that she may still be in danger. He owed them one for that.
Since neither he nor Leah had bags, getting through the airport to the rental lot was a fairly quick process. Quentin Enterprises had a standing order with one of the big rental companies, and they didn’t give him any hassle about not having ID or looking like he’d just been dragged through a war zone. He just gave them his employee number, the clerk confirmed it with the company, and they were off in a shiny black Toyota Corolla.
Leah stared out the passenger window for a long time. “Can I borrow your phone?” Leah asked suddenly. “I don’t know where I lost mine. I’ll need to get another one…” She trailed off, shook her head. “Being back here reminds me of everything I need to do. I hope no clients tried to call while I was away.”
Marcus handed her his phone. “Keep it. I have more at home. Harvard can transfer your number over.”
“Thank you,” she said with a soft sigh of relief and dialed her voicemail.
Marcus struggled not to listen in, but the volume was loud enough that he heard a man’s voice in the first message. And the second. And the third. Fourth. Fifth. On and on.
His hands tightened on the wheel as something he didn’t want to name curled around his heart. Something that felt an awful lot like jealousy. He couldn’t be jealous. He had no right when it came to her.
After deleting the last voicemail, she groaned and pressed the phone to her forehead.
He slid her a glance and tried to sound casual. “Client?”
“No. Thankfully.” She frowned down at the phone. “That was Rick O’Keane. Remember him?”
That snake of jealousy loosened, but only by a fraction. “Danny’s partner. The guy who replaced me when I left the FBI.”
She nodded. “He’s been checking in on us since Danny died.”
All these months, Rick had been doing what should’ve been his job. He should be glad for it. He didn’t know the guy—Rick had transferred to the L.A. field office after he left—but he didn’t like that insistent string of voicemails. They had sounded nagging. Demanding, even. “Is it usual for him to call so often?”
“No. He usually checks in only a couple times a month.”
“So why all the messages?”
Leah lifted a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “I did call him right after Alexander Cabot saved me in Malibu. I was scared and didn’t know who to turn to, but then remembered Cabot told me not to trust anybody except you and HORNET, so I hung up before Rick answered. When I didn’t reply to his first voicemail, I think he got worried. I’ll have to call him back.”
“Tomorrow’s soon enough,” Marcus said. He rubbed at his chest to ease the band of tightness there, but the discomfort remained.
Leah looked out the window again, watched the city pass. “It feels weird to be back.”
“Culture shock.”
“You can get that coming home?”
“It happens. Especially after…” He hesitated. Should he bring it up or pretend none of it happened? Which would make her more comfortable? He had no idea. “After seeing a radically different way of life.”
She snorted a laugh. “That was a delicate way to put it.”
He lifted his hands off the wheel in a shrug. “I don’t know what to say. If I should talk about what we saw in CAR or not.”
She shifted in the seat to face him. “Do you need to talk about it?”
“I…” Didn’t want to. But he was starting to learn that holding it in, letting it fester like an open wound, was not a good idea either. “It was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Harvard found some computers in the building they used for the surgeries, and Jean-Luc is working on translating all of the data, but it was—” He broke off and tightened his hands on the wheel. “He said one of the documents was
a menu. A list of all the organs and blood types and…of who would be willing to pay.”
She hugged herself. “Oh my God. All those missing people…”
“That doctor”—he spat the word—“carved them up so Volkov could sell their organs to the highest bidder. We think that’s what Alexander Cabot wanted Danny to stop.”
“Do you think Cabot’s dead? Sami seemed to think so.”
Marcus hated the kick in the gut that accompanied that question. “There was no sign of him. It’s likely they killed him, carved him up like all the others.”
He’d so wanted to rescue Cabot. He’d wanted to ask what Cabot had told Danny and if Danny had been investigating. If that investigation could have anything to do with what happened to Danny.
But now he would never know.
“Hey.” Leah gripped his forearm hard enough to make him glance her way. When he did, she offered a sad smile and eased her grip to a light caress. “Marcus, I’m horrified by what happened to Cabot, too. He saved my life. I hate that we couldn’t save his, but Sami said something that stuck with me. Sometimes it’s just not humanly possible to save someone. Like Danny.”
He drew a sharp breath. “Leah, we tried—”
“I know. I know. It’s okay.” She said nothing for a handful of heartbeats, obviously trying to rein in her emotions. She still hadn’t removed her hand from his arm, and the heat of her skin against his was sending all kinds of electricity zinging through his bloodstream.
Finally, she released a long sigh. “Instead of dwelling on the ones who couldn’t be saved, we should think of all of the people you brought home to their families. Abel has his dad back. Josue has his brother. You and HORNET did that, and I don’t think anyone else would have bothered. I get it now. Why Danny wanted to be part of the team. He always wanted to help people.”
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