“Not what. Who,” Trev replies. “You remember Ronan?”
“Irish bastard with a serious attitude problem? Yeah. I was stuck in the van with him for almost three hours in Caracas while the rest of your team breached the prison. What’s he got to do with anything?”
Dani grins. “He went and fell in love with the only woman—onlyperson—on earth whose skills might be a match for Wren’s.”
“Holy shit. And…she’s available?” I cast a quick glance at my laptop. I’m not bad with tech. Better than most field officers—courtesy of being theonlyone stationed in Venezuela for the past ten years—but I can’t hack traffic cameras, and the only facial recognition I have access to is no better than a child’s toy.
“No guarantees, but she just wrapped up a couple big cases with Second Sight, and Ronan took her to Maine for a long weekend. They got back last night.” Trevor nods at Dani, and she pulls out her phone, her fingers flying over the screen.
“How long until she gets back to you?” I ask.
Dani waves the phone at me. “About as long as it took you to ask the question. I’ll send her your phone number. Be prepared though. She’s intense.”
“I can handle intense.” It takes all the energy I have left not to stare at the wall separating my apartment from Domina’s. “It’s the unknown that scares the shit out of me.”
Dani leans closer. “The unknown? Or Domina? Because I know that look. You have feelings for her.”
Shit.
She presses a kiss to Trevor’s cheek. “Talk some sense into him, okay?” As she moves out of view, she calls, “It was good to see you again, Leo. I’ll send Zephyr your number now.”
“Let me guess,” I say. “That ‘sense’ has something to do with me going to apologize to Domina?”
“Maybe.” Trevor settles back on the couch. “Or at least trusting her.”
Trust. The last time I trusted someone—besides Trevor—I ended up losing an eye.
“Look,” he says, exhaustion in his tone, “you don’t think I get it? Gil was my best fucking friend. And he betrayed all of us. Gave you up to the Loma Collectivo, tortured Austin, and would have killed me too given half the chance.” With a slow shake of his head, he adds, “You know, after you and Ry’s team pulled me out of La Crypta, Dax reamed my ass for not telling him I’d grown up with Austin, Dani, and Gil.”
“He did?” I reach for my mug, needing the rich scent of the coffee to keep me here in the present. The mission to save Trevor brought back a shit-ton of memories—none of them good.
“‘When you get back,’” Trevor drawls, in what I assume is a spot-on impression of his boss, Dax Holloway, “‘we’re goin’ to have a little talk about why you never told us you grew up best friends with the head of JSOC.’” His eyes unfocus, and he’s not in Boston anymore. He’s in that safehouse an hour outside of Caracas. Or worse. Back in that tiny cell in La Crypta. “The man didn’t care about financing the rescue mission. Or anyone risking their lives to get me out of there. He only cared that I didn’t trust him.”
“Trust has never been my strong suit. You know that. Trust almost got me killed.”
Trevor’s laugh shakes the phone. “No shit.”
“Eight days, Trev. Sleep deprivation. Only enough food and water to keep me alive. I can stillfeelthe blade that took my eye. I trusted Gil with my life, and he did his damnedest to take it from me.” My hand spasms, and I’m suddenly so tired, it’s hard to focus. “Domina thought she was just ‘a job.’ If I want to make it through this, that’s exactly what she has to be.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Leo
Zephyr isas good as Dani’s word. I have her encrypted mobile number before I end my call with Trevor. He tried to convince me to go talk to Domina, but I’m not ready. Not now—maybe not ever.
So I set up my tablet on the small dining table and pop in an earbud.
The video call connects, and a woman with bright teal hair, a sparkling eyebrow piercing, and a steaming mug twice the size of mine stares at me. “So, you and Trevor go way back?” she asks.
“We used to have the same boss.” He and Dani trust this woman, but twenty-two years of hiding who I am can’t be erased overnight. Even if she could probably find out all my secrets in under an hour. “And I know…uh…Ronan.”
She arches her brows. “How?”
“Last year we spent some time in a van together down in Venezuela. It wasn’t fun. I had to listen to him complain the whole damn time about being ‘backup.’”
A wry grin curves her lips. “That sounds like him.” Zephyr tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and takes a sip from her mug. “Dani said you needed help identifying some idiots who were dumb enough to be caught on camera?”
“Can’t be sure they were following us, but I have at least three shots of each of them. Want me to email them to you?”
