This one did.
Not because of the latest intel scrolling across the main screen about a terrorist responsible for killing thousands.
Because of Ellory.
Ash’s focus kept slipping, as if someone had nudged a compass inside his chest a few degrees off north. He hadn’t slept more than an hour at a stretch. Most of the night he’d lain flat on his back, sheets twisted around his legs, his body hard and restless as if he were twenty again and didn’t know what to do with the ache for a woman.
He’d tried breathing exercises. Tried those silly grounding ones that Ellory used too. Not even a cold shower helped.
When he finally drifted off near dawn, she’d followed him into his dreams.
Now she wasn’t even in the room, and that was the only possible way he could absorb the intel Con was laying out.
Ash folded his arms across his chest and forced his mind to lock in on the shell corporation leases. Some pointed to physical properties. Many were bogus trails meant to throw off anyone looking for Cipher.
Dante enlarged a map. “We’ve located two additional offices tied to the network and linked by the same financial handler. Both were funded from accounts that also paid for safety-deposit boxes.”
New maps appeared on the screen.
“Upstate New York.” Con pointed to one. “And one in Wyoming.”
“Wyoming,” Ash echoed.
Silence washed over the room. Wyoming wasn’t just a location on a map—it came with ties to Blackout.
Now Ash sat up in his spot.
“Who else is close?” Ash asked the room. “Sierra team?”
Con shook his head. “Out of range. We need someone closer.”
Mason straightened. “Get Denver on it.”
Mason and Denver had once been inseparable, or so Ash had been told. Then Denver sustained too many head injuries that sidelined him from Blackout.
The room held its breath.
Con nodded toward Dante. “Patch in Black Heart Security.”
The security agency in Wyoming was run by Denver Malone and his brothers. All ex-military and as good as any Ash had ever seen. They were also close enough to the property in question to do some surveillance for Charlie.
The map flickered, replaced by faces. Denver appeared first, broad shoulders taking up a large portion of the screen. Theo stood beside him, and a third brother that Ash didn’t know leaned into the frame from the other side.
Grins broke over the faces surrounding the war room table as they set eyes on their brother-in-arms again. Denver’s smile was as wide as the Wyoming sky.
“Charlie,” he drawled out. “Good to see y’all. You might know my brothers Theo and Carson.”
The two men wearing cowboy hats gave them nods of greeting but didn’t speak. Ash’s gaze snagged on Theo for a beat. He’d been within inches of recruiting Theo to the team. The guy had the grit, discipline and tactical skills required to make Blackout. Ultimately, Theo chose to stay on with his family’s security agency.
If he hadn’t, Ash wouldn’t be sitting here now, and suddenly he saw what an honor that was.
Con didn’t waste time. He laid out the intel about the properties before presenting his plan. “Two teams. Simultaneous entries. We don’t give Cipher time to relocate or reinforce.”
Denver didn’t miss a beat. “We’ll handle Wyoming.”
Looking at the men on the screen, Ash felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time…since before the op that went sideways and forced him to make the decision to leave his SEAL team and recruit for Blackout.
It was the thrill of belonging to something big. Something important.
