by Maddie Wade
“I need a couple of favours.” Zack started and Will just sat still and looked, so Zack continued. “I want the security around Fortis notched up so high that if an ant takes a piss, we hear it. I want two perimeters set, alarms and cameras on both. I want all operators to use the buddy system you used on the French trip, including their family members and anyone associated with us and I want to know where everyone is at all times on the GPS.” Zack finished.
“No problem most of that is already done, I just need to test the code on the buddy program so that I can add family members to the system.
Will had invented a buddy system that accessed any technology that used a Wi-Fi signal. It allowed Fortis to track them in real time on a GPS map and identify where they were. It also allowed if they were wearing the watches, for Fortis to track their heart rates, blood pressure and give the team a snapshot of their health at the time. So, if an operator were injured, they would know. It was like having an invisible buddy having their back. Unfortunately, it was new, and Will had only finished checking for bugs in the system the previous week. He had gone to France to work with some people he knew who had designed the watches for them.
“Okay get everyone trained up on them this afternoon and get them wearing them. I want to see it up and running by tonight,” Zack said.
“Sure, anything else?” Will said as he went to stand.
“Yes,” Zack said, and Will stopped his eyes going to Zack’s.
“What do you need?”
“I need everything you can find on Ava Drake,” he said, and for a second he felt guilty but then remembered he had the safety and security of every member of Fortis to look out for not just hers.
Will looked surprised, “You think she has something to hide?” Will asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Not sure but it has come to my attention that she has things going on that we didn’t know about, like the fact she has a son,” Zack said unhappily.
“Okay, anything else?”
“No, just don’t let anyone know what you’re doing,” he said.
Will stood and went to the door, “No problem I will have a report by tonight.”
“Thanks,” Zack said. He watched Will close the door and stood. Time to go find out what his recruits were up to.
Zack walked past the conference room and saw Ava, head bent deep in concentration. Her gorgeous auburn hair held back in a bun. His hands itched to let her hair loose. She had always worn her hair down when he knew her, even at work. Now though it was always in some severe style. Except at Dane and Lauren’s Christmas party then it had been down, and he had seen her laugh again; just not when she knew he was around. That woman sure could hold a grudge. Pushing his thoughts away, he went to join Daniel by the climbing wall.
Zack watched as a fit young man he knew to be twenty-four and ex-army climbed the wall with ease and finesse. Then he watched a young woman who he knew was also twenty-four climb the wall. She also had speed and agility. He could see why Daniel had singled them out. Their scores on all the tests were through the roof. Daniel was just worried as there seemed to be animosity between them and that would not do. He needed every member of his team ready to take a bullet for the other and the kind of ill-feeling these two had meant that Zack had to choose.
He observed them for a few more minutes and then turned to Daniel, “What do you think?”
“I think she has something to prove and he has issues working with women. I’ve noticed a few times that the harder she tries, the worse he is. I have heard talk that he is talking trash about her sleeping with other recruits to get ahead.”
“Is she?” Zack asked.
“No, she keeps to herself. This guy just has issues with a woman doing a ‘mans’ job,” he said and laughed as he made air quotes.
Zack thought for a minute. “Get Lucy in here the next time they spar, I want the girl,” he said indicating the young woman, “to spar with you and him with Lucy.” Zack flicked a finger towards the man now running the assault course. “Tell Luce not to hold back, and you don’t either. I will make myself available to observe and then decide.”
Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “Sure thing,” He paused before asking, “Is Paige in danger?” Daniel turned to Zack and looked him in the eye.
Zack held his gaze. He had an immense amount of respect for Daniel always had, and the way he had conducted himself since his wife Claire had been shot in cold blood was a credit to his inner strength. The fact that Daniel was now a father and mother to their two-year-old daughter was even moreawe-inspiring. Zack did not intend to lie to him. The answer was though, that he didn’t know for sure. Zack put his hands on his hips and dropped his eyes for a second. The intensity and fear in Daniel’s eyes for his daughter was tangible.
Zack looked up and told the truth, “Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t want to say yes in case you send her away for nothing, especially after what you have both been through. But the truth is she could be. You’ve seen how unscrupulous they are. They wouldn’t think twice about using a child. Look what they did to Noah.”
Daniel nodded, “Understood. I’ll make the arrangements to send her to my parents.” He turned away, and Zack watched his jaw go hard.
“I’m sorry Dan,” he said and slapped Daniel on the shoulder.
Daniel angled his neck to look at Zack, “Don’t be, this wasn’t you’re doing. But we are going to be the ones to end this.” Zack wasn’t sure if it was a promise or a statement of fact, but he was glad that he wasn’t the one who had crossed the man at his side. The anger and rage emanating from him was palpable. Then just like that he let it go, and the air around them seemed lighter.
“Right. I’ll set a session up for these two later this week,” Daniel said, and Zack nodded as he walked towards the two recruits.
Zack watched him handle them and knew that the training would help Daniel heal. He needed something to give him focus. Tearing those motherfucking Divine Watchers a new asshole wouldn’t hurt either.
Zack walked back to his office and studiously ignored the woman in the conference room as he did. He did not see her bent over the table with her sweet ass in the air. No, he absolutely did not.
Chapter Eighteen
Jace had spent most of the previous day at Eidolon with Dane and Jack. The leads on his friends were sketchy at best. Some Intel coming in was indicating they were all dead. Some said that they were alive and being held. They had gotten a lead while they were there though but it hadn’t been good news. The bodies of two men matching the description of two of his unit had come in. The bodies had been found in wasteland down in Surrey.
Jack was having them identified by DNA, and if a positive match were made, they would be brought back to Eidolon for a full autopsy. Jace had figuratively held his breath until he’d heard that neither matched Smithy’s description. He knew that that could be a bad thing especially considering what they had done to him. He just didn’t want to believe his friend was dead.
He and Dane had spent the rest of the day following what Jack did have. The location of Surrey kept coming up, and they had been cross-referencing every name they had against any large facilities in the area. The problem was the area was vast, and they had no idea what size the facility they were looking for was. They had guessed large, but as fucking shitty luck would have it, hundreds of businesses had large facilities in Surrey.
It was only late last night after brainstorming with Dane, Zack, and Daniel that they had hit upon the idea that whomever had his men and was conducting the experiments would need lots of medical equipment. So they had gotten Will to hack into Redcast and had found a subsidiary that supplied medical equipment to private hospitals.
Will was digging deeper, but Jace would bet his left nut that it would lead them to the right place. They just had to wait. He fucking hated waiting. The fact that Megan was still in that place fucked him off. The fact that the woman he loved was risking her life to bring these bastards down and
get her sister back scared the fucking life out of him.
He was currently headed to grab breakfast for the team from the bus station café. He had offered after Luce had given him big eyes and begged him for coffee doughnuts from the bakery on Broad Street. It hadn’t taken long for everyone to jump on the band waggon then. He didn’t mind really, everyone was working their balls off to get this threat eradicated, and he was happy to do his bit.
The bacon rolls were now in his passenger foot well, and the smell was like heaven. He’d put Lucy’s twelve coffee doughnuts in the back seat and was making his way back through Hereford traffic. Fucking traffic in this town was shit. Why the fuck they didn’t get a bypass was beyond him.
Watching the pavement as he sat he noticed a woman who resembled his Luce slightly. She was dressed in typical office attire. Skirt, high heels, blouse, fancy looking bag, not that he’d have a fucking clue about bags. Shoes he had studied because Luce loved them, bags not so much.
What struck him was how the woman and his Luce could look so similar, they’d be about the same age too. One went to work and typed and did shit on computers like spreadsheets and stuff and the other, the one he loved like she was his next breath, went to work and killed bad guys and had shootouts.
When she’d told him what happened with Zin on the way back from seeing Billy Gates, he’d thought he was having a coronary. The fact that she could have been shot, or been in an horrific car accident, or hurt by that asshole who grabbed her, made him want to maim and kill people. How dare they touch a hair on her precious head.
The fact that Zin made her take the lead made him want to smash the Russian in the face and yet he wouldn’t change it for the world. He was incredibly proud of the woman she was. A woman who could hold her own and more against anyone. A woman who didn’t need saving but could save herself and then probably save you. He loved that woman.
It didn’t mean he didn’t want to protect her; he did because he loved her and that was normal. No self-respecting man could watch the woman he wanted to spend his life with in danger and not want to step between her and that danger. He would in that situation - it was who he was. But when he heard about it after the least he could do was be proud and say well done you kicked ass. Plus, it was sexy as fuck to think about it; he just didn’t want to see it.
He pulled into Fortis and noticed a car he didn’t recognise. It instantly had his senses going on alert. He checked his phone for any messages but had none, so had to assume it was all okay. Grabbing the bag of bacon butties and the box of doughnuts, he walked to the entrance and shouldered his way in trying not to drop anything.
He immediately noticed that Liam was seated on the end of Celeste’s desk. His body was angled towards her, and he was clearly giving her the banter. Samson was growling low in his throat, but Celeste had a hand on his head that was keeping him from making Liam into dog breakfast.
They both looked up as Jace came through. Celeste smiled, and Liam jumped to his feet and grinned. As he did Jace got the loudest thoughts coming through his brain. The momentary lapse in his blocking made him stumble.
Liam reached out to steady him as he reached for his head as pain shot through his temple. “You alright me old mucka?” Liam asked.
Jace shook his head and blocked Liam’s thoughts. He looked into the man’s face and realised he didn’t need to be a mind reader to see that Liam had the weight of the world on his shoulders and the grief was pouring off him. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine thanks,” Jace replied. “You here to see Zack?”
Liam nodded “Yes, I was just trying to convince lovely Celeste to let me show her a good time, but alas she rejects me and breaks my heart,” He said with an exaggerated sigh, holding his hand over his heart and causing Celeste to giggle.
Jace turned towards the inner door as Zin came through. He looked at a giggly Celeste, and a grinning Liam and his face went hard and thunderous. Jace watched him shoot Liam a deadly look and Celeste a furious one.
“Zack’s ready and in the conference room,” he barked at Liam who just stood, shot Celeste a salute, and followed Zin. Jace passed Celeste a bacon butty and followed the two silent men.
They all entered the conference room, and Zack got up to shake Liam’s hand, as did Nate. The three talked quietly for a few minutes and then Nate dropped his head, shaking it in denial. He grabbed a visibly shaken Liam by the shoulder and squeezed as Jace and everyone else watched.
He looked away giving them privacy and went to sit by Lucy. He threw the bag of bacon butties on the table and placed the coffee doughnuts in front of Lucy. Everyone dove in and started chatting amongst themselves.
“For you,” he said to Lucy and dropped a kiss on her cheek.
She turned towards him and hooked him around the neck, “Best boyfriend ever,” she said and kissed him hard on the mouth. Jace smiled and then looked back to Zack as he and Nate came back towards the table. Both men sat, with Liam sitting beside Nate.
Zack tapped the table to get everyone to shut up. “Quiet everyone,” he held up his hand and waited as the room instantly went silent. “As you all know Liam was a big help to us on the kidnap case with Noah and Skye. You will also know that Ambrose was injured in the attack on Nates home. It is with great sadness that Liam has just told me that Ambrose passed away this morning from his injuries.” Murmurs started up around the room with everyone passing on their condolences. Jace felt Lucy lean her body towards him slightly. He reached out and under the table grasped her hand. He squeezed it gently, and she tilted her head to him and offered a small smile of thanks. He could see the slight sheen of tears in her eyes, and it gutted him. His Luce felt everything so hard. It was just one of the reasons he loved her. It was also the reason she carried so much pain with her.
Jace looked at Liam who was steadfastly watching Zack. His face was a mask of cold composure, but Jace knew from the few seconds that he had heard, the man was cut deep by the loss of his friend.
Zack held up his hand for silence. “Liam has asked that he join us for the remainder of our fight against the Divine Watchers,” Zack said, and he made eye contact with every member of the team. “I have agreed and assured him that he will have our full co-operation.” Everyone around the room started nodding and murmuring their ascent.
Drew who was sitting next to Liam offered his hand, “Sorry for your loss mate,” he said quietly. Liam just dipped his head as others did the same. Jace let go of Lucy’s hand as she rose from her chair and knelt beside Liam’s. She laid her hand on top of the grieving man and said something softly. So softly Jace didn’t catch it.
Whatever it was made Liam smile though and then Lucy offered the man a big smile and stood., Sitting down next to Jace, she instantly reached for his hand again and threaded her fingers through his. No one said a thing about their PDA in the workplace.
“Zack how we gonna stop these bloody tossers?” she asked.
Zack looked at Lucy and rolled his eyes at her, “Well,” he replied addressing the whole room, “Will is following up the leads Sly and Dane got yesterday from Eidolon. You and Zin are to continue chasing down the Russian angle. Where are we on that?” Zack asked.
Lucy looked at Zin who nodded for her to take the floor. She stood and went to the laptop and brought up a grainy image. “We believe this is The Butcher. This is an image from Portsmouth docks last month. It’s hard to tell if it's him for definite, but I would say we are ninety percent sure. If that’s the case, then they have something big planned. Whether it is related to The Divine Watchers is another thing entirely, but my gut says it is and Zin agrees.”
“Do we have any more recent sightings?” Zack asked. Lucy shook her head.
“No nothing, wherever he is he’s keeping a low profile.”
“Okay, thanks, Lucy.”
Lucy sauntered back to her chair, “No problem, we’ll keep on it. The little prick has to raise his fugly head sometime.”
“Sly I want you and Nate to go and visit Felicity Lockwo
od today,” he said. “Drew I want you working with Daniel and the other recruits on the firing range today. I need you out as soon as possible. Dane, you and Liam liaise with Daniel and check that everyone is protected. Then run down the list of facilities based on what Will finds and narrow down which is the most likely to be used by sick pricks to keep prisoners and possibly patients.”
Dane and Liam nodded, “Sure no problem.”
Zack clapped his hands, “Right, let’s get going.” Everyone stood and started for the door with a few stopping to offer Liam their condolences.
Jace grabbed Lucy by the hand and dragged her out the door and down the corridor.
“Jace what are you doing?” she asked with a laugh. He opened the door to the weapons room and pushed her in. As soon as the door shut, he pushed her against it and kissed her. He kissed her until they were both panting and breathless.
“What was that for?” she asked gently as they stood just holding each other. He buried his head in her neck and drew in the scent that was exclusively Lucy. He could feel her heart beating against her ribs and his hands clenched on her midriff.
“Just don’t die, baby.” He said and dropped a light kiss on her nose.
“Jace,” she said in a soft, melty voice.
“I mean it. I couldn’t live without you so make sure that if anyone is getting an ass kicking it’s them. Or better yet stay in the car while Zin the badass kicks their asses.” He watched a frown go across her pretty face, and her eyes went squinty.
“I know you’re a badass babe, but I don’t love Zin so if he comes home with a black eye I won’t want to lose my shit.” He stroked her face with the back of his hand. She had a funny look in her eyes. It was soft and made his heart beat faster.
“You really love me!” she said, and he laughed
“Yes, Luce I really love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, and his heart soared. “Don’t you get dead either,” she laughed and slipped her arms around him and held him tight.