As if sensing this, she blocked his escape route. “You hold everyone at arm’s length, and the whole team knows that’smyjob. And even I’m more involved.”
Staring down at her, he heard the echo of Sinner’s words interwoven with hers. It was apparent that they’d discussed Ash distancing himself from the team.
That knot spread from his shoulders to his ribcage. “I hear you, Opal.”
Before he gave her another opening, he strode out of the surveillance room and continued past the war room without even glancing in to see how Ellory was holding up.
Opal might have only given him a few tidbits about her, but she’d dumped a hell of a lot more on him than facts.
He didn’t just have food for thought—he had a whole goddamn banquet.
He wasn’t hungry for knowledge about the woman who was taking up too much space in his head.
He wanted a taste of her sweet lips instead.
* * * * *
Ellory had built her career on flying under the radar. When the debrief began, she understood that invisibility was gone.
The way the entire Blackout team was gawking at her made her feel like she was in high school again, standing against the gymnasium wall, the last to be picked for a team.
Con stood in front of the screens, expression carved in stone. But inside, she was a wreck waiting for what came next.
He didn’t need to point out the footage from Ash’s body cam—they’d all see the moment go down in 4K HD.
The moment when the guy burst through the door and aimed a gun at her. And she did nothing.
She twisted her fingers together under the table, forcing her expression into a neutral one that anyone looking on—namely Angelo Ash—would have no reason to question.
The camera was angled at the office door. Though there was no sound, she knew right about now was when she and Ash would hear the key in the lock.
The camera shifted angles as Ash swung toward her. She saw herself, as she looked to Ash, shock crossing her face before his big hand filled the frame, urging her back.
The door opened. The man entered.
Her lungs were scorched from holding her breath so long, and she let it out in a controlled rush.
Dante replayed the moment in slow motion. The man’s mouth moved, but again, there was no audio. Then Dante isolated the clip and enhanced the sound.
“The Accountant.”
The words seemed to resonate around the war room, as loud as any bomb blast. Hot stares pierced her like shrapnel.
She didn’t breathe as the footage froze on the man’s face, and for a second she imagined she recognized him—some case, some deposition room—but the image yielded nothing. She’d never seen him before.
She felt it before she looked up.
Ash’s stare.
It pressed against the side of her face like heat from a nearby flame.
Mason leaned forward in his chair. “How does he know you?”
Ellory forced her hands to remain still in her lap. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him.”
Ash’s voice cut across the table. “I’m certain it wasn’t her LinkedIn profile.”
A few snorts broke the tension, brief and low. The joke was dry enough to pass as nothing, but Ellory didn’t move. She sat upright, spine straight, hands folded, eyes forward.
