Broken Arrow (Guarded Secrets Series Book 5)

by Sara Schoen

  Broken Arrow

  Guarded Secrets, Book Five

  Sara Schoen

  Dedication

  “There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of humans, are created, strengthened and maintained.” – Winston Churchill

  Family is everything in this world. It’s where we find out strength and support system. We learn the importance of family at a young age and sometimes we get to add to it.

  In honor of that, this work dedicated to my CIRA crew: my family, Taylor, Avery, Will, Sharp Shooters, beta readers, avid readers, along with previous characters of mine who helped me build a world that means so much to me. It’s been one wild ride, but it’s been worth it with you guys by my side. You have encouraged me, helped me, supported me, and strengthened me on this journey. I’m happy to see it’s finally finished and this series has a home in all our hearts.

  Without any of you, this series couldn’t have gone on after being canceled by the pervious publisher. So, this book, and the entire series, is dedicated to each and every one of you.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 1

  “How did Mark Avery know all of this about our people?” Sharp Shooter questioned as he threw down the files we brought back from the headquarters in Washington. We were evacuated last, looked over for our injuries, and then immediately sent to Sharp Shooter. He wanted answers and I couldn’t blame him. The whole thing had blown up in our faces, but I didn’t want to think about how much worse it could have been if they had been prepared for us.

  Sharp Shooter’s office became eerily silent, all chatter and noise ended as we waited for him to react to what we had found. There were files on each person in the room, starting with Jackson and his family before CIRA, the Combat Intelligence and Reconnaissance Agency, recruited him and he became Renegade. I was next with two files. One from when I changed my name to become a Ricker, but thankfully, had little information on the Ricker family. It seems Mark’s interest was only with the Night family, the family I had lost, not that he left a clue to why that was in the files or anywhere in his office. Camo had a file with even less information in it. He hadn’t even written down when she had been recruited to CIRA as he had the others, only that she had vanished from Sandtown until a photo of her in Georgia showed up at the end of the file.

  Why hadn’t he noted it? Was it no longer important to him? If not, then what was the purpose of them?

  That’s how Camden knew who Camo was even after she disguised herself. Mark had figured out she was Tessa. Camden hadn’t seen her and known who it was, someone had told him. Someone like Mark.

  “Spit Fire,” Sharp Shooter called, gaining her attention as she looked over her own file. “Is there anything else from Camden’s interrogation you’re not sharing with us or have you finally come clean about it all?” The anger and disappointment rang clear in his words, and even if they didn’t, his glare would have been enough to make it clear.

  “Yes, I’ve come clean about everything I know.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Sharp Shooter asked, glaring her down as if he was challenging her to lie to him again. She had managed to keep her mission a secret long enough to force Sharp Shooter’s hand in dealing with the last remnants of the Cardoza Cartel. Her lie had caused the deaths of hundreds of good agents, but also ended the cartel for good. “Because last time I asked you that question you withheld very important information and went off on your own.” His gaze shifted to me momentarily. “Like someone else I know, and got into a lot of trouble for it. Isn’t that right?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Spit Fire replied, unaffected by Sharp Shooter’s snide comment. Her eyes and voice remained level. “You know everything now. Camden knew Camo was Tessa from Sandtown. How? I’m not sure. He didn’t elaborate before I shot him. He did tell me he planned to kill the leaders of our team, Demon and Whip Lash, which was halfway successful,” her voice dipped slightly.

  She had seen his body after the fight and I knew she blamed herself for his death and every agent who died during the raid. She probably would for the rest of her life even though the agents knew what could happen when they were sent in and accepted their fate in exchange to save others. It wouldn’t make her feel any better about it. I could see it in the dark circles under her eyes, their sunken hollowness when she saw the injured agents.

  “Then he would kill you, Sharp Shooter. He wanted the agency gone, and with my stepfather involved I can only guess what they were after.”

  “What’s your best guess?” I asked, leaning across the long table in Sharp Shooter’s office. “What do you think he was up to? Why did he have our files? Why does he only care about us and no one else in CIRA?”

  “Night Stripe, I can’t answer that. I don’t know him.” Spit Fire sighed. She looked down at her hands for a moment before glancing at each person in the room, taking in the few who had survived and glancing at the empty seats of who should be there. A lot of agents were still in hospitals across the country getting medical attention, the less severe cases were here, but even they hadn’t been released to active duty yet.

  Because so many were in hospitals, we were the only agents available. We went from thousands of agents down to five in a couple of hours. Some injured, others dead, and even more missing or unaccounted for. Sharp Shooter had ordered us to recover for two weeks, separately and away from CIRA. Jackson and I went to visit the Rickers and his sister, I wasn’t sure what Camo and Spit Fire did, but I knew they weren’t allowed at CIRA while all efforts were focused on the injured agents. Though I had a feeling our temporary leave was to give Sharp Shooter time to plan funerals and locate who he could, dead or alive. I sighed heavily, the thought was almost too much to bare because I still hadn’t managed to hear anything about Fire Fox. I just prayed he was at a hospital somewhere and had been found in the chaos.

  “But if I had to guess, and I mean this is just a shot in the dark,” Spit Fire said, the tension in her voice was unmistakable. It sounded like she had a gut feeling to what had been going on, and from her tone of voice and the fear, which shined for a brief moment in her eyes, this wasn’t good news. “I’d say we have a mole in CIRA, someone who isn’t here for whatever reason they claim. They were recruited with Mark’s help, and whoever it is told him and Camden everything.” Stunned silence filled the room. I had trouble breathing. Camo looked like she had taken a punch straight to the gut. Renegade seemed like he was ready for a fight. Sandstorm didn’t react, remaining as stoic as usual, but seemed to be in deep thought as he nodded in agreement, while Sharp Shooter waited impatiently for Spit Fire to finish. “I’d also say that whoever it is, is very close to us, because the files only have information on this team. There’s no other CIRA agents, not even the mentors of those on this team, except small sections in a larger f
ile. They know about us, work with us, and they’ve been lying to us for a very long time.”

  I slumped into my seat, slowly drifting below the table. I couldn’t decide whether to be furious, upset, or betrayed. Mark Avery had picked Renegade, Camo, and me for something. We may never know why and that didn’t sit right with me. Though, neither did someone I knew, someone I trusted with my life and thought of as family giving our enemy information on us.

  “The only good note, is whoever it is didn’t have all the information so we can use that to our advantage.” Sharp Shooter placed his hands on the table and leaned forward a bit to make sure we knew he was serious. He only did it when we had to swallow whatever news he was about to give us and take it without complaining. Usually it meant someone had died, but this time, it was because CIRA was in danger. “Whoever it is didn’t know Sandstorm was an agent, which means they probably don’t know you two are related.” His gaze moved from me to Sandstorm, who nodded again. A man of few words as always. Time doesn’t change everyone I guess. “Mark either didn’t have all the information or didn’t share it. We have to figure out what Mark knew that our double agent doesn’t. Until then, we lie to everyone, including each other if need be.”

  “What do you mean?” Camo questioned, suddenly standing up. “You want us to lie to each other? What good will that do? All we are doing is making it so we can’t trust anyone anymore!”

  “That’s the point, Camo,” Sharp Shooter replied, motioning for her to sit down so he could continue. She unwillingly took her seat and crossed her arms in small protest of the plan. We didn’t want to lie to each other, we wanted to trust everyone in CIRA, but now I wasn’t sure we could. “We can’t trust anyone anymore. Outside of this room, where I know for sure everyone is true to the agency, you mention nothing of what really happened. If we communicate outside of this room, something could slip out and we lose our chance to find out who is a part of Mark’s team. We will play this our way, and we will find out who did this and why.”

  “And if we don’t?” Spit Fire asked. “What then? We just keep it to ourselves?”

  “We will figure it out when it gets there. For now, we wait and see who knows something we don’t announce. We say Mark Avery is alive, but in holding and we draw them out. I want answers, and the only way to get them without this agent disappearing is to pretend they have another way out then just running away. Let them run to Mark and right where we want them.”

  “But why would anyone work with Mark or the Cardoza Cartel for that matter?” Renegade questioned. “It doesn’t make any sense. What would they get out of it?”

  “Their life,” Camo replied, the haunted tone of her words sending a shiver up my spine. “That’s why they did everything...” Everyone turned to Camo, waiting for an explanation, but she seemed too lost in her own mind to answer right away.

  “Camo, what are you talking about?” I asked, lightly touching her shoulder and bringing her back to the conversation at hand.

  She turned to me, eyes red from holding back her tears and her lip quivering as she fought the urge to cry. “Don’t you see? The only reason an agent would work with someone from the Cardoza Cartel was if they were in it before. The cartel brainwashed them as they did me, except the mole never snapped out of it. They were recruited and they used their knowledge to their advantage, that’s how the Cardozas always seemed one step ahead of us except when we kept the missions a secret. They had insider information. We were ready for another attack on Sandtown before you showed up.” She pointed to me, a look of understanding coming across her face. “Someone must have told them you were coming. The cartel didn’t figure out who Renegade was until Sharp Shooter announced that we were going in to finish them off. Harley,” she paused momentarily, stumbling over her words in the rush to get them out. “I mean Mark, knew about the inner workings of CIRA and who was leading us because someone in CIRA told him. Someone from the cartel is in here, and they won’t leave without a fight. They won’t just run away; they’ll finish what they started.”

  “Then we will find them and get rid of them before they can. They picked the wrong team to mess with because we don’t give up and we don’t back down,” I said with a soft smile, hoping to cheer her up a little bit, but all I saw was the distress in her eyes. “We’ll find them.”

  “We need to figure out some stuff first,” Sandstorm said, speaking up for the first time this meeting. “We don’t know who it is, why they did it, why Mark chose them, or how any of us add into this. There’s too much we don’t know to start interrogating people who are supposed to be our friends, our family.”

  “So, what do you recommend?” I asked curiously, hearing the hesitation in his voice. Whatever his plan was, even he wasn’t a fan of it.

  “We make two teams, one to track down the mole and the other to figure out what Mark’s grand plan was because I’m worried it’s still in effect.” He glanced toward Spit Fire, who returned his intense gaze before nodding in agreement. “If Spit Fire and Camo are right and they try to finish what they started, now is the perfect time to track down Demon and Sharp Shooter, then finish off CIRA for good. We have to split up if we want to figure it out before more agents die. Unless you want to start planning funerals and mass recruitments for the new headquarters of the Cardoza Cartel.”

  Chapter 2

  Walking through CIRA’s hallways, I felt haunted by the lack of agents rushing around. Usually they were so crowded with agents running back and forth I could barely make my way through, but now, it was like a ghost town. Some of the agents had been moved from the hospitals and back to CIRA to finish treatment, and the ones who had been here originally were on bed rest for another week. I had taken the duty to help with some of them, well more like told, but I accepted the job either way. I needed to stay busy or I’d drive myself crazy until Sandstorm and Sharp Shooter worked out a plan for what to do.

  “Night Stripe!”

  I rolled my eyes, but managed to stifle the groan threating to escape my lips. I knew his voice anywhere and for some reason because I was helping the agents who were injured he thought I was his personal slave. Why couldn’t he have been the one to die in the battle instead of Whip Lash? I flinched as the thought crossed my mind. I wouldn’t wish any agent dead, even Raider. Though he had come close a few times to letting my fleeting thought come true. He knew how to push my buttons.

  “Raider, you’re not supposed to be out of bed yet. You have another few days of rest before you can do anything. Why are you here?” I turned to see him wobbling down the hall, using the wall to support his weight. He had taken a few bad hits and a bullet went through his leg. Thankfully, his back hadn’t been as damaged as we originally thought and it healed up nicely, but as always, he was too impatient to get better and was just making it harder on himself in the long run. No wonder the hospital staff wanted him out. He’s too much trouble.

  “I can’t be in there anymore. What does Sharp Shooter have you doing while I’m on bed rest?”

  “Helping other people on bed rest. You’re not the only one. So, get back to bed and let me do my job,” I ordered, pointing him in the right direction.

  “That’s it? What about the other agents? What about the ones we couldn’t find? There are still people unaccounted for from what I’ve heard. Why aren’t you doing anything for them?” Anger jabbed at me with each word he spoke. Raider was typically an angry person, but this was different. He was hurting and taking it out on me.

  “Who are you looking for? I’ll see what I can find out if you stay in bed and leave me alone while I do it.”

  He seemed thoughtful for a moment before he reluctantly agreed. “I’m looking for Valkyrie. I don’t want to explain why, and I don’t want to hear you guess why or ask questions. Just find her and I’ll stay in bed and out of your way.”

  “Sounds perfect to me.” I smiled sweetly, causing him to roll his eyes before turning around. I thought I had finally gotten rid of him before he called to
me again.

  “Also, Night Stripe, you can’t lie to me. I know you’re doing something else other than just helping the agents here. I don’t know what it is, but do me a favor,” he stopped, forcing me to turn back and look at him. His eyes were dark and serious, his posture rigid, not with pain but with rage, and his free hand was clenched into a fist. “Find the bastard who almost got us all killed, and then let me deal with them. I got a few things to tell them before they rot in Hell.”

  I fought back the urge to tell him I didn’t know what he meant. Raider knew something, but it wasn’t about the mole. “Don’t worry, Mark Avery is already taken care of. We have him in holding and Sharp Shooter will deal with him.” The lie had left my lips so smoothly, I would have believed myself. It was getting too easy to lie, even to my friends.

  “Good. Let me know when he’s dead.” He walked off with a dismissive wave and I didn’t know whether to be relieved or wonder where he would go when I couldn’t keep an eye on him.

  Sharp Shooter had forced us to keep quiet on what happened, which only made me paranoid about whoever I talked to, especially people I had known the longest. My file had a lot of information on me, and while I was open with my story there were pieces I had only told close friends and closed company. No one else would know exactly what happened in Mexico or all the details of what happened with Ash Crest. I only shared the exact details with agents close to my team, but even that was a big pool of people and the others hadn’t been able to narrow it down. Their information is well-known in the agency except for Spit Fire, but she claimed most of the information had come from her stepfather and whoever spied on us had only passed along small pieces of information she chose to share.

  “It sucks, doesn’t it?” Camo questioned, stepping beside me with her arms crossed tightly over her chest as if to hold herself together. “I’ve been questioning everyone I’ve talked to. I don’t know who’s a friend anymore and I’m worried someone is eavesdropping on me all the time, waiting for me to slip up. I used to trust these people, but to know—”