by Donna Grant
Callie thought she might be sick.
“We’ve been hunting those same fuckers ever since,” Wyatt stated angrily.
“How would they even know where you are?”
His eyes swung to her. “My guess is that the Saints don’t include just Americans and Russians. I’m beginning to think it’s a whole lot bigger.”
“You think they’d work with other terrorists?”
“Who else wants to take out so many?”
She looked back at the bombing. “These are the people coming for us?”
“Yes.”
When Wyatt returned his eyes to the computer, she closed the laptop and stood, facing him. “You were doing your job.”
“To stop innocents from being killed.”
“There will always be innocents who lose their lives. Just as there are those who deserve death and escape it.”
“Not these men. Not any longer.”
It excited her to see this deadly side of him. The alpha baring his fangs and issuing a growl of fury. Wyatt’s gold eyes were alight with determination.
She knew that anyone foolish enough to get in his way would die—painfully. The last thread holding back Wyatt’s true nature had been snapped in half.
He didn’t have the nickname Denali, which meant The Great One in Sanskrit, because he sat on the sidelines. Wyatt earned his spot on Delta Force and moved into a leadership role because of the vicious, savage way he fought.
He gave no quarter as he sniffed out his opponents. He was merciless to those who bullied the innocent, ruthless in bringing the perpetrators to justice. He was an avenging angel for those who needed him.
With his eyes trained on her, he took a step closer. “I’m going to kill the bastards once and for all. Here. Now.”
The Saints were growing in numbers by the second, and she feared there was much more they didn’t know. But now they knew who was coming. It didn’t matter when because they could prepare.
Orrin had given them that.
This fight went beyond the bioweapon. This was a battle for the freedom of the entire world. And right now, the only one standing between a secret killer organization and the rest of the world was Wyatt.
She smiled at him. “And I’ll be standing right beside you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
He was as prepared as he was going to get. Wyatt had set traps that would alert him and Callie if anyone approached—while doing damage to the trespassers.
There were pistols, rifles, ammunition, and knives in every room of the small cabin, as well as stashed around the property.
But it wasn’t enough.
He hid in the woods, letting the dark surround him as he became one with nature. It was his time to sort through all the information he and Callie had gotten over the last couple of days and combine it with facts from his encounter with the Russians.
The multiple run-ins he’d had with the terrorist group in Syria made him wish that Callie were elsewhere. The terrorists were the type of people who would like nothing more than to get their hands on her.
He didn’t let her know about his trepidation. Callie was inside the house, still trying to determine what the hacker had found when they’d entered her computer. Though she didn’t say it, he knew she suspected the Saints.
Cullen had warned that their reach was long. Wyatt had been thinking of the clandestine group ever since his father had sent the warning.
Callie confirmed that the picture and newspaper article hadn’t come from Orrin based on the ISPs. There was a small possibility that the terrorist group was responsible, but as he’d listened to Callie talk of how quickly and elegantly the hacker had gotten into her computer, the more he suspected the Saints.
If it hadn’t been for Natalie grabbing the wrong papers by mistake while she was still working at the Russian Embassy in Dallas, they wouldn’t even know about the Saints. Owen and Natalie had survived several clashes with the Saints, but that didn’t mean they were safe.
Wyatt ran a hand down his face. It had begun with just the Russians. He thought it was in retaliation for his father’s theft of the bioweapon. However, once Cullen was in Delaware with Mia, they’d learned the Saints included Americans and Columbians, as well.
And now, Syrians.
Wyatt thought back to a rumor he’d heard almost ten years earlier about an alliance between people from all over the world. Supposedly, they met to combat global warming. Since he was in the middle of combat, the climate wasn’t exactly first on his mind, and he’d quickly forgotten about it.
That rumor got him wondering. Associations came together every day for any number of reasons. Some small, some as large as the United Nations, and some even more sizable than that.
A coalition like the Saints would take years to build to its current scale, but he was beginning to suspect the group was much bigger than any of them anticipated.
He thought back to the attacks at the ranch, at Natalie’s house, and in Dallas. The Russians had taken center stage. Why?
To draw them off the scent of who was really behind it all?
If it hadn’t been for Yuri Markovic, they wouldn’t even know of America’s involvement. It sickened Wyatt to know that his own country—the nation he’d fought for, had been wounded for, and had been prepared to die for—was involved in such a group.
Maks would’ve revealed the truth when he was able. As it was, their conversation on the phone the previous night had shed more light on things.
Things that made Wyatt extremely uneasy because Maks was unsettled enough to disappear from the CIA for a while. Nothing alarmed Maks, so when he said he thought there were Saints within the CIA … Wyatt listened.
Maks verified that the Russian government was comprised almost entirely of Saints and that they had worked their way through all levels of the American government, as well.
It was easy to see why the Saints had such an extensive reach seemingly everywhere. It was another reason why Wyatt wished to remain where they were. At least here, he and Callie had a chance.
Out on the road, they didn’t know who was friend or foe, or who they could trust. Not to mention, it would be simple for the Saints to track them.
Not that Wyatt thought they could remain hidden much longer. No, he fully expected the Saints to make an appearance very soon. The difference was that he was prepared to make a stand at the cabin.
And anyone who came their way was an enemy.
His head swung to the house. There was a single light on in the dining area where Callie still worked. The blinds were closed, preventing him from getting a glimpse of her.
It was nearing two in the morning when he made his way back to the cabin. He silently entered the house, locking the back door behind him. After checking the front of the house, he walked to Callie.
There was a half-empty glass of wine beside her as she searched lines of code that gave him a headache just looking at it. Her brow was furrowed, and lines of strain bracketed her mouth.
He didn’t want to startle her, so he walked on one of the floorboards that creaked.
“I heard you come in the back,” Callie said without looking at him. She motioned with her head to the gun that rested beside the laptop. “I keep it close.”
Wyatt made his way to the table and pulled out a chair to sit. “Have you found anything?”
“Yes, and I’m pissed off.” She shoved the laptop away and dropped her head back as she stared at the ceiling. “They’re smart. And patient.”
He didn’t need to ask to know she spoke of the Saints. “What happened?”
“I found where they entered my server over a week ago. They’ve just been sitting there, waiting. And I didn’t know it.”
“You can’t blame yourself.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “But I do. Everyone has their jobs. This is mine, and I failed. Because I didn’t check my server before trying to hack Hewett’s system, they were able to easily get into my computer and look around at everything.”
>
“What did they find?”
“Well, nothing really,” she said with a scrunch of her face.
He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s what they could’ve found had I not moved everything to a triple-secure server.”
“Meaning?” he urged.
She blew out a breath. “I made a map of everywhere we’ve encountered the Saints. I added in Natalie and Mia, as well. I then layered the map of all the missions Orrin has taken over the last five years to see if there was a pattern.”
“I gather there was.”
“Yes. But that’s just the start of what I’ve been doing.”
He listened as she went through the numerous ways she’d been compiling information on the Saints. Her work would rival that of any intelligence organization. It was no wonder Orrin had recruited her to work for Whitehorse.
“I took the names of the Saints Mia and Cullen killed at the warehouse. I made a tier of names. Right now, the slots are mostly blank until we find out who is in what position, but we had to have a place to start.”
“That we did,” he said, awestruck at her resourcefulness.
And reminded of the many reasons he’d always found her so damn captivating.
Unlike most of the girls around his hometown, Callie hadn’t hidden her intelligence. She worked it, using it to her advantage in school and in life.
Rarely had he witnessed someone with the kind of drive and determination that rode Callie. He saw it because the same emotions goaded him daily. Maybe that’s what had drawn him to her.
No, that wasn’t it. He knew what it was—her infectious laugh.
She took a sip of her wine. “I should know better. I’ll be checking often from now on, but I think the Saints got what they wanted.”
“To startle me,” he said. “I’ve been hunting the terrotist group for years. I have no problem facing them.”
“Well, I do because it won’t be just the terrorists. The Saints will be with them.”
Wyatt frowned as a thought took root. It wasn’t mere coincidence that Callie’s family was in town. Even though the Reeds did conduct their business all over the state of Texas, Austin wasn’t a town they ventured to much at all, unlike Dallas.
“What is it?” Callie asked.
He didn’t want to tell her of his thoughts since he knew how upset she became at the mention of her kin, so he kept his musings to himself. “Just piecing it all together.”
“You and me both.”
“Were you ever able to read Hewett’s coded emails?” he asked to change the subject.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been a little busy protecting our information and stuff.”
“Well, when you get to it…” he said as he rose, hiding his smile.
“Are you kidding me? You act as if I’ve not been doing anything. Oh. The nerve,” she mumbled.
He walked to the kitchen. Even after all the years apart, it was still easy for him to incite such a reaction from her. He only did it because he liked to see her spike of anger. It made her blue eyes glitter.
Wyatt grabbed a bag of sunflower seeds and stretched out on the couch. There was a rifle beneath the sofa, and a 9mm strapped to his leg.
Without a word, Callie rose and stormed off to the bathroom. She slammed the door, but it caught on a bathmat and left a crack. There was the squeak of knobs as she turned on the faucets. A second later, the sound of water coming out of the showerhead could be heard.
From his angle on the sofa, he saw through the crack in the door into the bathroom mirror, which gave him a direct view of Callie. His mouth went dry when she began to take off her clothes.
Her back was to the mirror, but that didn’t stop his blood from heating and rushing straight to his cock. She turned slightly, and he saw the swell of the outside of one breast.
He knew the weight of them, knew how sensitive her nipples were. He knew the feel of her silky skin. He knew … everything about her.
He was jerked out of his memories when she entered the shower and yanked the curtain closed. Wyatt closed his eyes and slowly brought his body back under control.
His time with Callie was over. Even if he wanted to start it back up again, he’d burned that bridge epically. Besides, she no longer looked at him with interest.
In fact, each time her gaze landed on him, it was with annoyance or distaste. Apparently, he’d been right fifteen years earlier when he’d told her he was nothing more than an infatuation.
It was too bad he couldn’t say the same for himself. Distance didn’t matter because Callie was never far from his thoughts.
He’d tried to lie to himself for a time and say it was because she was like a sister, but that didn’t really explain why he kept tabs on her family to make sure they kept away from her.
Three years ago, he’d returned to Texas when he learned they were going to blackmail her into returning to the family. He’d actually been at the Reed house when Callie drove up.
She never knew he was there, and she never would. He’d said his piece to the Reeds, reminding them of his promise from years earlier. The family had promptly left her alone after that. Only when Wyatt was sure that they intended to uphold their end of the bargain did he return to his team.
A sister. He snorted. No, he’d always lusted after Callie.
And he always would.
CHAPTER FIVE
Wyatt waited until he was far from the cabin with the sun just coming over the horizon before he dialed a number and put his cell phone to his ear as it began to ring. When the call connected, there was nothing but silence on the other end of the secure line. He quickly stated his team designation. “Apollo, checking in.”
“Hold the line,” came the terse, female reply.
He didn’t have to wait long before a gruff voice quickly asked, “Wyatt? What the hell happened?”
“I wish I could tell you, Bobby.” Wyatt blew out a breath. “Suffice it to say that I’m all right.”
Bobby, another Texan, snorted loudly. “I know that voice. I’ve been friends with you and fighting beside you long enough to know that the shit has hit the fan.”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“It must be important for you not to share with me.”
Wyatt grimaced. He and Bobby had been to Hell and back together. There wasn’t much Bobby didn’t know. Wyatt considered him a friend—not something he did often—but he wasn’t sure who was a Saint and who wasn’t.
“Well, fuck me,” Bobby grumbled as the silence lengthened. “Are you returning to the unit?”
Wyatt glanced at the house where Callie was already back at work on her computer. “I plan on it.”
“That’s good enough for me. But you didn’t call on the secure line to shoot the shit. What can I do for you?”
It was on the tip of Wyatt’s tongue to ask Bobby to locate Orrin. It would ease Callie’s mind and allow her to focus on other things, but there was another pressing matter that had him contacting Bobby.
“This call is twofold,” Wyatt said.
“I’ll do what I can. You know that. I owe you.”
That was Bobby’s normal response ever since Wyatt had pulled him from a Humvee that had been hit by an IED. That improvised explosive device had killed two other men. “That debt has been paid.”
“Never, my friend,” Bobby argued.
Wyatt might be stubborn at times, but Bobby took it to the next level as he well knew. “Melvin Reed.”
“The Reeds again, huh?” Bobby asked.
“I know he’s in Austin. I need to know his exact whereabouts.”
“I’m searching his cell phone. Got it, now getting the coordinates and sending to your secure email. That was easy. What’s next?”
Wyatt closed his eyes, debating with himself some more about whether to let Bobby and the others know about the terrorists. Their unit had collided with them many times, but they’d yet to eradicate the terrori
sts from this world.
“Wyatt?” Bobby pressed.
Releasing a long breath, he said, “I can’t go into detail on the how or the why, but I was warned that I’m being targeted. By our favorite bad guys.”
“Where are you?” Bobby demanded furiously.
“No.”
Bobby kept talking. “I know you’re in Texas somewhere. I can have our entire unit there in twelve hours.”
“No,” Wyatt said again.
“Why the fuck not?” Bobby challenged. “It might take a while since you aren’t on your usual cell, but I can keep you talking and get a trace on you. I don’t want you fighting these sons of bitches alone.”
Wyatt squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Bobby, please.”
“There has to be a reas—. Holy shit. You don’t trust me.”
Wyatt knew his friend would come to that conclusion. They were too good at their jobs not to. “If I could explain it, you’d understand. I can’t trust anyone.”
“Yet you called in.”
“I’m off the grid. I have no other choice.”
“Not far enough if Ahmadi and his group can find you,” Bobby pointed out.
Wyatt dropped his arm. “I told you about Ahmadi so you and the others are warned in case they come for any of you.”
“You don’t believe that. You think they’re targeting you specifically,” Bobby said.
“I do.”
“This all points back to you being yanked from our mission. I can’t get anyone to tell me anything, and now that I have you on the phone, you won’t fill me in either.”
“I wish I could. I really do.”
Bobby blew out a breath. “And I want to help. I’m not liking this conundrum, Wyatt.”
“Me either.”
“Ahmadi and his men will come at you hard. They’ll take out anyone near you.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be here if you change your mind,” Bobby said.
Wyatt knew he was blessed to have such a friend. And he hoped Bobby had nothing to do with the Saints, because he’d really hate to have to kill his friend. “Thanks.”
He disconnected the call and logged into his email through his phone to see the coordinates for Melvin Reed. It was time he had a little talk with Callie’s cousin.
