by Donna Grant
She didn’t know he’d been the one to find her that day in the woods. Callie didn’t like feeling defeated—or being reminded of it.
It was because of his mom and Callie that Wyatt had begun his quest to save others. It eventually brought him to Delta Force. The counter-terrorism unit worked hard to dismantle and bring down extremists.
“You’re staring,” Callie said without looking up from the keyboard.
“I’m thinking.”
She shot him a wry look. “About what?”
“The information Cullen and Mia gave us last night.”
Callie sat back in the chair and lowered her hands to her lap. “Russians and Americans working together in a secret organization that wants to take over the world. It’s been on my mind, as well. At least Orrin is free.”
“We’ve not heard from him.”
She flattened her lips. “Orrin and Yuri are gone. One of Yuri’s men told Cullen that they left together. Are you suggesting the man lied?”
Wyatt knew he hadn’t because that man was an undercover agent for the CIA who had once been with Delta Force—Maks Petrov.
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I know Delta Force works closely with the CIA.”
“Your point?”
“My point is that I think you know more than you’re telling me.”
“So?”
She rolled her eyes and made a sound in the back of her throat. “You may not care about Orrin, but I do. He’s the father I never had. If you know something, then tell me.”
There was no reason for him not to tell his brothers or Callie about Maks, other than he was so used to keeping secrets that it became difficult to reveal anything.
To anyone.
“I know you know something,” she said as she pushed back the chair and stood. “I heard you on the phone last night. We’re supposed to trust each other so we can stay ahead of the Saints. You know, the group after us, the ones who killed your aunt and uncle, those who tried to kill us at the ranch? But you’re making it difficult.”
He blew out a breath because he knew she was right. “The man Cullen and Mia spoke with in Virginia is Maks Petrov. He was part of my team before he went to work undercover for the CIA. In Russia,” he added.
Callie blinked, unfazed by Wyatt’s revelation. “Is Maks Russian?”
“His father was Russian.”
“Did Maks lie about Orrin?”
“Major General Markovic and Orrin left the warehouse together. Yuri’s men, including Maks, helped them escape.”
She stood there for a moment before she closed the distance and slapped him. Fury burned in her eyes. “How dare you keep that from us. Or was it just me?”
“All of you.”
Her nostrils flared in anger as she continued to glare. “You’re a cold bastard, Wyatt Loughman.”
She turned on her heel and walked out the front door. He knew exactly what he was, but too many years had passed for him to suddenly change his entire way of life.
He walked out the back door to do another perimeter check and give Callie time to calm down. There had been no sign of anyone nosing around, fortunately. He and Callie traded off going into town, but it was only a matter of time before the Saints found them. Melvin spotting Callie was a bad sign.
Wyatt wondered if she knew that two more of her kin were facing jail time in Dallas for identity theft. Though it was probably better if he didn’t bring up her kin since it was such a sore subject, and she was already pissed at him.
He rubbed his cheek where it still stung from her slap. He’d deserved it. The sad part was that he hadn’t even realized he should’ve told everyone about Maks until she’d brought it up.
The life he led made him shut down his emotions, but the truth was, every bit of love, hope, and happiness died the day his mother had—when he’d learned just how horrible human beings truly were.
Cold, he most definitely was. How else could he get through each day? Being with Callie was a particular type of torment. No matter how much fate piled on her, she kept a hold of hope with an iron grip.
She was stronger than he could ever think to be, and she didn’t even know it. He’d tried to tell her once, long ago, but like usual, the words had locked in his throat.
Every day he fought against terrorists targeting innocents with suicide bombings. Every radical he brought down was cause for celebration, but he simply moved on to the next. It was a never-ending war.
Now, he was in the middle of another one—a new one that changed all the rules. And this time, his brothers and Callie had been brought into it with him.
Who were these people running this secret organization? It was no mystery that these clandestine organizations wanted power and world domination. The fact that the Saints were willing to have a bioweapon created told him how serious they were.
Though the bio-agent was safely locked away on the base at the ranch with Owen and Natalie, there was still a chance that the Russian scientist could create more.
It was why Wyatt had calls in to his contacts, because the scientist, Dr. Konrad Jankovic, had defected to the U.S. and was even now in D.C. Wyatt needed to get to Jankovic and put an end to the mad scientist before more of the weapon could be made.
At least he didn’t have to look for his father any longer. If Orrin had freed himself, then he had his own agenda.
Wyatt blew out a breath. At night, he heard Callie pacing in the lone bedroom she occupied. He saw the searches she did on the computer for anything pertaining to Orrin or a man fitting his description. He knew of the texts exchanged between her and Natalie.
What he’d never tell her was that he agreed to search for Orrin because of her. Too many years of hating Orrin for his mother’s murder made it impossible for him to want to help his father in any way.
He felt Callie’s presence before he heard her. Standing still, he waited for her to join him as he looked out over the back of the property.
“I’m sorry,” she said tightly.
He glanced at her. “You were right. I should’ve told you.”
“You keep too many secrets.” Her head turned to him. “You’re not alone in this, you know. I’m here with you.”
“I usually have my team, so I’m not alone.”
She arched a brow. “You’ve always been alone. You made sure of that.”
It bothered him that she was right. No matter how much he tried to hide, she always saw everything—and called him out on it.
But being alone was what kept him going. “A habit that kept me from telling you about Maks.”
“A practice you need to break.”
“I’ll try to remember that in the future.”
She looked forward. “You were sent to find Orrin. Now that your father appears to no longer be kidnapped, I’m sure you could make an argument to return to duty.”
It was true, and something he’d thought about last night. Then he’d heard her moving about in the next room, and he’d forgotten all about it.
The problem was, staying with Callie meant he was constantly reminded of what they’d once had—and what he’d left behind. Yet he couldn’t seem to walk away from her now.
“Is that what you want?” he asked.
“You don’t want to be here. You made that clear at the ranch.”
He took a deep breath and released it. “The Russians went after Natalie for what she knew. The Saints ran Cullen and Mia off the road and down a mountain, nearly killing them. They’ll come for us next.”
“You’re staying to fight, then?”
“And to protect you.”
Blue eyes met his. “And Orrin?”
His father wasn’t a bad man, but Wyatt couldn’t forgive him. But this wasn’t about his feelings. This was about Callie and what she wanted. “We’ll find him.”
“The odds are stacked against us.”
He shrugged since it was nothing new. “That’s just how I l
ike it.”
CHAPTER THREE
Finally!
This was the Wyatt she’d been waiting to see since he’d arrived at the ranch a few weeks before. Callie knew from the reports Orrin had shared with her just how lethal a weapon Wyatt was.
Why had Wyatt been holding back with her? She was curious about his actions but relieved that he finally seemed to be set on the same course as her. She’d been about to give up.
“Should we leave?” she asked.
Wyatt’s gold gaze was sharp as he scanned their surroundings. “This defense is good. Traps are set for anyone who thinks to sneak up on us. We have the higher ground, as well.”
She looked down into the sloping valley below. The arid climate didn’t provide the tall trees or thick foliage she was used to, but it didn’t seem to faze Wyatt.
“Owen and Natalie are at the ranch protecting Ragnarok,” she said. “A weapon we don’t understand yet. Cullen and Mia are on the hunt for the scientist. We have no idea where Orrin is or if he needs us.”
“My father doesn’t need our help. And we’re going after Jankovic.”
She cut him a look. “Need I remind you of the doctor, Kate Donnelly? The one who Yuri kidnapped, who had to save Orrin.”
“I’m well aware of the doctor and how she helped Cullen and Mia.”
Callie took in a calming breath. “My point is that everyone seems to be doing something. We split up at the ranch to separate the Russians, but that was before we knew that our own country was involved in this. Let Mia and Cullen hunt the scientist. We should return to the ranch and join forces.”
“It won’t matter where we are. The sect is coming for us. I’m not going to bring them to the ranch with the possibility of them winning and finding Ragnarok.”
She opened her mouth to talk, but he quickly continued.
“I’ll also not meet up with either of my brothers to give the Saints a chance to take two of us out at once. The bastards are going to have to fight each of us.”
His gold eyes flashed dangerously, and she realized he’d been thinking about this from the very beginning. “So you want us to wait for them? Like sitting ducks.”
“We’ll draw them out, yes.”
“Cullen thought he and Mia had taken out two of the top men in that crazy organization, but that wasn’t the case. What makes you think we will?”
“I’m going to make sure of it.”
She scratched her eyebrow. “I’m all about confronting these wackos, but we got a taste of what they can do at the ranch. We had Cullen and Owen there for help. And before you ask, this has nothing to do with me thinking you can’t defend this area.”
“I think it does.”
“I believe you’ll do everything you can with what we have. But we have no idea how many they’ll send. Even with the high ground, it’ll only be a matter of time before we’re overrun.”
He faced her then. “What do you want to do?”
Callie slid her gaze to the house before turning around and looking at the area. If they left, the Saints—with their many supporters—could keep her and Wyatt on the run or corner them somewhere.
As much as she hated to admit it, Wyatt was right. This was the best place for them.
“I don’t like being on the defensive,” she said.
One side of his lips lifted slightly. “Defense has a tactical advantage.”
“I’ll get back to the computer then and see if I can come up with any information on those involved with the Saints.”
Wyatt followed her into the house. “Have you heard anything from DC?”
“As a matter of fact, I have,” she said as she sat down at the table and opened the emails. “Hewett continues to send encrypted messages, but I’m not opening them.”
“Why not? There could be information we need within them.” He placed a hand on the table near hers.
Her heart kicked up a notch whenever Wyatt was this close. It reminded her of hot summer nights and pleasure so intense she still dreamed about it, waking with his name on her lips and her body aching for him.
“Callie?”
She inwardly shook herself. Damn him for affecting her so. “Mitch Hewett will know if I open the messages. Right now, he has no idea if I’m dead or alive. That gives us an advantage.”
“Not for long.”
“Any lead we can get is a good thing. Hewett is still suspected of betraying Orrin.”
Before Wyatt could answer, her computer dinged as an email came in. Callie frowned as she looked at the unknown sender. But it was the subject of the email that made her smile.
“What is it?” Wyatt asked.
She sat back. “It’s from Orrin. I taught him how to hack into a server and send me an email about a weather forecast for whatever city he was in.”
“This is DC weather.”
“Yep.” She had a difficult time thinking when she felt Wyatt’s fingers near her neck as his hand rested on the back of the chair.
He leaned closer to read the screen. “What if it is Hewett?”
“It could be Hewett trying to trick me. But it’s not.”
“Surely you can figure out a way to open it without the sender knowing in case it is Hewett.”
She looked up and met his gaze. There was such certainty there that she wanted to figure out a way to do it. “Yes.”
“I’ll leave you to it then.”
She closed her eyes as he walked away. She hated Wyatt being so close to her, but after he’d moved away, she missed him. Just as she’d missed him when he left for college.
Not that she had any sort of hold on him. Their brief time together ended well before he departed the ranch. He’d shown her just how little he thought of her during those months before he left.
A realist, she’d known there was no use holding onto hope when it came to Wyatt Loughman. Once he made a decision, there was no changing his mind in any capacity.
He was done with her. Had been done with her. Thankfully, she’d managed to put him out of her heart. That lovesick schoolgirl was long gone.
She looked at the computer, took a deep breath, and focused. Then she opened a new screen and began keying in a sequence of commands to help her get in the back door of the server so she could read the encrypted emails without leaving a trail. She knew the email was from Orrin, but at this point, they couldn’t be too careful.
In all the years she and Orrin had worked with Hewett, Callie had never felt the need to hack the system. Now, she wished she’d have worked at it earlier.
Every direction she took was cut off quickly. But she didn’t give up. She kept at it for another three hours before she realized someone was in her computer.
Shock, fear, and anger rose up in her all at once. She was the one who did the hacking—not who got hacked. Her fingers moved quickly to shut out the intruder. While she was writing the last bit of code, a picture popped up.
Just as she was about to move past it, the Americans in uniform caught her eye, causing her fingers to halt. The picture was from a newspaper and showed a desert village in what looked like the Middle East. There was one man in particular who snagged her attention. He was looking at something to the left with only a portion of his face visible. But she’d know him anywhere.
“Wyatt,” she murmured.
Another window popped up, showing a clipping from a Middle Eastern newspaper written in Arabic. Callie hesitated. Did she remove the intruder, the picture, and the article? Or did she find out what they wanted?
Her gaze returned to the picture of Wyatt. There was no way she could ignore this—whatever this was. Her decision made, she quickly translated the article to read that a terrorist group had attacked Syria in an attempt to target a Delta Force team who had captured their leader.
“Shit,” she murmured, her blood turning to ice.
She didn’t know who was sending this or why, but she wanted them out of her system. Callie redoubled her efforts to get to the coded message and block the
intruder. Once the trespasser was gone and new firewalls were up so no one else could get in, she put everything she had into accessing the back door to the server.
Since it was a government system, it was tightly monitored with all the latest security to keep hackers out. However, she had an advantage, a side door she’d learned about through a friend years ago.
Callie found the way in and immediately pulled up the latest email. Her excitement that confirmed it was indeed from Orrin was swiftly replaced by dread.
They’re coming for Wyatt.
Four words. That was all Orrin had sent. Not how he’d found out, or where he was. Just a warning.
“How’s it coming?” Wyatt asked from the kitchen doorway.
Callie looked up at him but couldn’t get any words past the lump in her throat. Something must have shown on her face because he was at her side immediately.
“Orrin sent this?” he asked. Then kept reading. “Who’s coming?”
With a click, she showed him the two pictures. If she thought he was closed off before, it was nothing compared to now. She could literally feel the wall that came down over his emotions as he looked at the computer.
“What happened?” she asked.
For long seconds, he was silent. Then he said, “We went to Syria to take out a radical group. There was a local man who gave us intelligence on the extremists and their location. It was through him that we found the leader.”
She saw Wyatt’s hands fist at his sides, his body taut with anger. “You got your man.”
“That photo of the bombing was taken by the same group of terrorists we thought we’d dismantled. My team was driving through the village on our way to the base to head home. The only one who knew our destination was the man who helped us to find the terrorists.”
“I see.”
He didn’t look away from the laptop. “No, you don’t. I lost three men that day. There were twenty killed in the village. My team found our informant hours later. He begged for his life, saying the extremists had threatened his family. So he told them where we’d be. And the terrorists then killed his entire family anyway. Including the dog.”
