That was the original agreement when we’d let go of our fourth man last fall, but things had changed. Hence, the current recruitment-weekend disaster.
“You hate people.” I laughed, my breath ghosting before me. “But I agree with you.” I folded my arms, watching the candidates I knew we’d be cutting. Just like the other six we’d already axed in the last few days.
“So, who’s telling the White House?” Ryder asked, arms crossed like mine.
We all respected President Bennett, but we were irritated that he kept pushing us to expand. Now that we were working directly for him, running covert missions, we didn’t exactly have veto power.
“They’re sending someone here who willconvinceus they’re right and we’re wrong,” Ryder gritted out in an agitated voice.
“Gotta love when life-and-death decisions are made by guys in loafers who’ve never had a gun pointed at their head,” I said, on the same page of annoyance as our team leader.
“Tell me about it.” Ryder removed his glove to go for his buzzing phone. “It’s my sister.”
Was Audrey a mind reader? Did she know I’d been thinking about her not even a minute ago? I shifted my jacket sleeve up to check the time. “Is it normal for her to call you this early on a Saturday?”
“No, it’s not.” He set his glove aside and answered. “Hey, you okay?”
The uneasy, gut-sinking feeling that hit me—and Ryder, more than likely—must have also slammed into Reed, because he abruptly stood.
“But she’s fine? Chase?” Ryder dropped his forehead into his palm and exhaled. “They got away?”
Someone else had to be using Audrey’s phone. What the hell had happened?
Reed and I exchanged a quick look as that chill settled in deeper.
“No, of course. You did the right thing.” Another pause. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just don’t let her or—” Ryder was cut off. “No, I’m not telling you what to do, but I—” He let out a frustrated grunt, lifting his head. “Yeah, okay. Have her reach out when she wakes up.” He ended the call. “That was Trevor Sloane.”
Chase’s dad, right.He was a veteran, and he and Audrey had divorced seven or eight years ago. Audrey had mentioned back at Christmas that she’d moved from Virginia to Colorado so Chase could be closer to his dad. Other than that? I knew nothing about the man. I figured Ryderhad done his homework, but he hadn’t shared his findings, so I had to assume there weren’t any red flags.
“Someone broke into Audrey’s place last night,” Ryder said, finally revealing why Trevor had called, then lifted a hand like it might dismantle the nerves between us all.
I stood tall and at attention, ready for marching orders.
“Who’s our target?” Reed asked, beating me to it.
“No one yet.” Ryder pocketed his phone, his fingers dragging through his hair before he slipped his hand back into his glove. “Trevor was on his way over to Audrey’s to drop Chase off after the movies when it happened. He arrived just in time. Scared off whoever was there before they could ...”
He didn’t need to finish that sentence. I couldn’t stomach thinking about what someone might’ve done to a woman alone in her home. All that mattered was that it didn’t happen. She was okay.
“Trevor couldn’t chase after them without leaving her and my nephew alone,” Ryder added after a heavy pause. “The sheriff’s calling it a burglary.”
“But ...?” Reed cut in again before I could.
“Maybe it’s random. Maybe not. We’ve got to keep in mind who her ex is. Well ... both her exes. Trevor was a SEAL for twenty years. Maybe he racked up a few enemies in that time. And while Audrey doesn’t like to talk about Mitch, I went ahead and looked him up.” His mouth twisted, guilt tugging at the fact he’d gone behind her back.
I did my best to water down his worries over doing what any good brother would have done—not that I had a sibling. “Of course you checked. It’s what any of us would do.” I cleared my throat, waiting for his eyes. “What’d you find out?”
“Naval pilot for twenty-one years. Highly decorated. His files were heavily redacted, though, so something tells me he was doing a lot more than a routine supply run when his plane went down a year ago.” Ryder’s jaw flexed. “I hate that I wasn’t there for her at the funeral.”
“You didn’t know you had a sister,” I reminded him. The man loved to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, even when the weight didn’t belong to him.
“Anyway, uh, I’m hoping it really was just a break-in—and the assholes thought no one was home. So they took off the second they heard Trevor coming.” The side of his mouth hitched. “She didn’t even want me to know. Didn’t want me worrying. Thankfully, Trevor disagreed with her.”
“Stubborn, huh? Must run in the family.” I swallowed down the knot rising in my throat. “Where’s she staying now?”
“At his lodge. He owns a bed-and-breakfast with his sister. It’s why he moved out to Colorado after he retired. Their parents gave it to them after they retired. She tried running it by herself for a few years, but Audrey said she was struggling, and Trevor offered to step in under one condition.”
“He’d only move if his son came too?” I guessed.
