Page 25 of Wounded Hearts

Chapter 13

They had just piledinto the conference room and sat down when Zack got a call from Kanan. “Anything?”

Drew watched as Zack went rigid and his eyes flew to him and then to Dane and Lauren. Dread settled like a lead weight in his gut as he listened with rapt attention to the one-sided conversation. He felt Mara squeeze his hand in silent support as she sensed the sudden tension radiating from him.

“Are you sure? … Okay send it over and erase it. I don’t want anyone else getting hold of this… I’ll get Will on it now.” Zack’s gaze flew to Will who was already opening his laptop. “And, K, get Smithy here asap.” Zack hung up the phone and dropped his head for a split second as if he was getting himself together. Nobody said a word as they waited for him to speak.

Zack looked up and then at Dane. “Call Daniel and get the whole team here asap. We have a situation. I’ll call Jack and see if he can come in too.”

Drew immediately knew that whatever had happened, it was serious. Jack ran Eidolon, a secret black ops group that didn’t exist on paper. In reality, they did the jobs the government wanted done that nobody could ever hear about and took their orders directly from the Queen herself. Only a handful of people outside of this room knew about them. Will was Jack’s brother and co-owner, and Jace was their cousin, those relationships meant Fortis had access to Eidolon and the team whenever they could manage it.

Zack looked at him again and then Lauren. “I’m sorry to say it, but it seems the woman Mara encountered is Rhea Winslow.”

Drew withdrew his hand from the warm comfort of Mara’s at those words. He’d known it was something like this as soon as he saw Zack’s face. She was back, and once again people he cared about were getting hurt. He felt Mara slide her hand back into his and hold on tight. He glanced at the hand and then at her and she smiled and held tighter making it clear she wasn’t letting him let go.

“I’ll fucking kill her if she comes anywhere near my babies.” Lauren stood and paced as she spat the words. Dane snagged her hand and pulled her close, burying his head in her belly. She held him, running her hands through his hair, the pair of them comforting each other as he spoke to her quietly.

The door slammed open and Zin and Jace walked in before the calls were made. “Celeste said you needed us.” Zin looked around as he spoke, his tone weary as he looked for the threat.

Dane kissed Lauren and she left, saying she’d call Colin and check on the kids at the house.

Dane turned to Zack. “We need to make sure the kids are safe.”

“I’ll have Jack send a few men over until we can assess the situation and put measures in place. Might be best to take them to the estate for now.” Zack quickly took charge. “Call the rest of the team and get them here. Then we need to put out heads together and find out what she wants and why.”

“Should I go?” Mara asked softly watching the team spin into action around them.

Ava kissed Zack and then followed Lauren, obviously wanting to be with her own kids.

Lizzie, who had been sitting beside Roz and Lauren, was silent. It wasn’t normal for non-team members to be in a meeting, but they had been with Mara when the letter was left, and Lizzie was definitely entitled to stay after everything Rhea Winslow had put her through.

“That’s what set off his PTSD,” she said quietly. Drew flashed a glance at her and knew exactly what she was talking about. “At the house, it was her. I would bet my life on it.”

Drew nodded. “I agree. We need to get the security footage from the night of the party and have it checked.” He turned to Mara. “If I show you a picture, could you identify this woman?”

She nodded confidently. “Yes, of course.”

Zack pushed a laptop towards him, and Drew logged on and found what he was looking for. Loading the image of his aunt he spun it to face Mara. “Is this her?”

Mara looked at it, then back at him. “Yes, that’s the woman. Who is she?”

Drew looked to Zack as his team lead for permission to tell Mara the truth. Zack was watching Mara, his face intent, his arms crossed and nodded his assent.

“Her name is Rhea Winslow. She’s my aunt and probably the evilest and dangerous person on the planet right now.”

“I don’t understand.”

Drew wasn’t sure how to explain the evil that Winslow was. It was almost too fantastical to believe but he had to try. “Rhea Winslow is my father’s estranged sister. She went missing years ago, long before either Lauren or I were born. Then she popped up as the leader of a cult organisation known as the Divine Watchers.”

“Is that why the letter was signed the Divine One?”

Drew frowned. He hadn’t read the note and Mara hadn’t mentioned that in her retelling. “Yes, it is. Just under two years ago we foiled her plot to poison millions of people which would have killed over half the population. With the world about to be in tatters, she’d engineered soldiers in place to move in and take control.” Drew saw the shock on Mara’s features and knew it was a lot to process.

“But if you defeated her why is she back and what does she want with me?”

Drew took her hand gently. “I don’t know, but I promise you we’ll find out.”

Mara nodded and her clear eyes met his, trust that he’d do what he said echoed there.