He shook his head as he set the photograph down. “How have you managed to put this kind of operation together all by yourself?”
She gave him a cautious look. “Someone gave me a headstart.”
“What do you mean? Does someone else know about any of this?”
God, he hoped not. It was already bad enough that she was involved. He didn’t want to have to report back to Lucan or Commander Chase that he would be bringing in more than one problem for them to contain.
Devony got up and walked over to the painting of her mother that hung on the wall. She removed the framed portrait, revealing the steel front of a safe built into the wall.
“Apparently, my father had been working on a lot of this information the last time he was here in Boston. I discovered it . . . after,” she said, opening the door and retrieving more files from inside. She came back and passed them to Rafe. “I don’t think he told anyone what he was working on. He wrote all of his notes by hand, which means he didn’t trust that it would be secure anywhere in electronic form.”
“Not even on JUSTIS computers?”
“Maybe especially not there.”
Rafe leafed through the pages of boldly scrawled notes and sketched diagrams Roland Winters had left behind when he died. Among the papers were handwritten logs of container shipments arriving and leaving from various Boston ports. A number of new and unfamiliar names made appearances in the notes, along with that of Judah LaSalle.
And on the port logs was more than one reference to a company called Crowe Industries.
Rafe’s blood seethed when he saw it. He knew that name well. The business tycoon who owned the firm, Reginald Crowe, had been ubiquitous around the globe for decades, his name on everything from lavish international hotels to major corporations.
Earlier this year, Crowe had shocked the world when he’d masterminded what would have been a mass murder of epic proportions at a gathering of countless Breed and human dignitaries. If Crowe had had his way, the peace summit would have been the match that lit a horrific war.
The Order had killed Crowe that night, but not before he had announced to the public at large that he was part of a terrorist cabal calling themselves Opus Nostrum.
The Order had been chasing the elusive organization ever since.
Not to mention another powerful adversary who had arisen in recent months as well.
“Some of your father’s notes are dated almost two years ago,” Rafe said as Devony sat down beside him once more. “If he had his eyes on Crowe Industries at that time, then whether he realized it or not, he must have been getting damn close to Opus too.”
She nodded, but there was a sorrow behind her eyes. “All my father ever wanted was a lasting peace in the world. My entire family was committed to that cause. They pledged their lives to it when they joined JUSTIS.”
Rafe frowned, reflecting on the fact that she had lost not only her father in the London headquarters bombing, but her mother and brother as well. Although Devony was obviously a natural in covert fieldwork and intelligence gathering, he knew a sense of profound relief that she hadn’t followed in the family’s footsteps or she might have also been among the casualties that night.
“I take it you didn’t share their interest in law enforcement?”
She gave him a disagreeing look. “Yes, I did. I wanted to join JUSTIS more than anything. My parents refused to consider it. To make them happy, I agreed to pursue music instead.”
Rafe couldn’t stop himself from reaching up to touch her cheek. “I’m very glad you did.”
She blinked and bit her bottom lip. His gaze followed that sweetly innocent reaction, arousal gripping him in an even firmer hold. A growl built deep in the back of his throat, a warning not only to himself but to her.
He drew his hand away, his molars clenched tight to combat the swelling of his fangs. “I don’t think your father or anyone else in your family would be happy to know you’ve picked up the torch he left behind. You should go back to music, Devony.”
And he should go back to focusing on his own personal mission to bring down Opus and everyone loyal to their cause.
“I can’t go back to my old life. It never really suited me to begin with. This is my life now.”
Rafe exhaled sharply. “Subterfuge and killing? Risking your life and God knows what else by embedding yourself with scum like Cruz?”
“If that’s what it takes, then yes.”
“What will you do if you succeed in finding a link to Opus or any of its members?”
“I will kill them.” No hesitation in her clear voice. Only cold and steady resolve. “I will finish this for my father. For my mother and Harrison, too. I need to finish this for myself.”
Shit. Rafe stared at her, knowing there was nothing he could say to dissuade her. Then again, he didn’t need to dissuade her. All it would take was one call to the Order and she would be removed to someplace safe until this was over.
