Scarred Sunrise: A Fortis Security Novel Book 10 (Fortis Security Series)

by Maddie Wade

  Zack must have sensed his awkwardness because he moved on. “Smithy, would you like to give us an update on what’s going on at the compound?”

  “Yeah, sure.” He sat forward the knot of tension in his gut finally easing as he fell into a place where he felt safe. “So, since I spoke to you last a few big developments have occurred. We’ve seen a steady increase in new soldiers coming in, but I don’t think they were all ex-military. Some definitely were, although I think they weren’t as experienced, more likely a couple of years in and not Spec Ops. I think the others were possibly ex-street kids or addicts.”

  “That makes sense, nobody would notice homeless people missing, and if they are addicts, they would be easier for her to control.” Roz leaned in nodding as she spoke.

  “Exactly. I’d say there are around five hundred soldiers now at that compound. I know she has one other bunker where she is, but I still don’t have a location.” Smithy blew out a breath. “That’s not all. I heard she has a new lab, where she’s manufacturing both of the drugs, the control drug and the annihilation drug. My bet is she’s in the same place because she will want to oversee it all. I also heard from two men who were sent to the compound yesterday that she plans to put the drug into a pipeline, but that isn’t confirmed and was something I overheard.”

  “It makes sense, though.” Zin tapped a pen on the desk as he spoke. “If you get the drug into the water system or some other pipeline, then it will disseminate easily without any way to stop it.”

  “I need to speak to Meg about that. From what I understand of the annihilation drug, it won’t disperse in water properly, but will in air or gas.” Smithy frowned as he thought about the implications of that and what it might mean.

  “Will, draw up a list of all possible pipelines that might work for this kind of thing. Work with Meg if she has time.”

  “She doesn’t.” Daniel folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “She’s already working eighteen hour days. Can Lucy do it?” He glanced at Lucy, who had her hand resting on her baby bump.

  “Yeah, I can do that as long as Will provides the strawberry pencils.” She offered a smile, and Will laughed.

  Drew leaned back in his chair and took a swig of his bottled water. “I can help with that, too.”

  “Fine.”

  “Dane, Daniel, you work on finding out where these soldiers are coming from. Look into missing persons and speak to your contact at the MOD see if there are any soldiers listed as missing, or worse, whole units. She’ll probably try and cover it as missing in action, so check the middle eastern deployments.”

  Zack turned to Kanan and Smithy admired how he could just take a situation and coordinate all the moving parts. It was what made Zack a great leader, and having worked under him he’d seen it first-hand before Fortis was ever born.

  “K, can you do some digging and find possible locations where her lab and compound might be?”

  “Sure.”

  “Zenobi can help with that. Pax is good with that sort of thing.” Roz took out her phone and typed a message.

  “I actually have a better idea.”

  All eyes turned to him when he spoke, waiting patiently as if what he said mattered. It hit him then; they never looked at him as if he were the man who’d betrayed them or the man who was about to go off the deep end any second. To these people, he had as much value now as he’d ever had. He was the one who’d lost faith in himself and for a good reason, but they never had.

  He swallowed to force the lump in his throat down and then coughed to disguise the emotion. “When Ice, Simon, and Stoner rescued me last night, Nazareli was there.”

  “Yes, we saw that, and?” Zack’s eyes were razor-focused on him.

  “She let me go. She could’ve stopped me, those dogs would’ve torn us to shreds, but she let me go. I asked her to come with us, but she wouldn’t.” He shook his head as he relived the exchange in is head. “It was as if she wanted to but couldn’t.”

  “You think Rhea is forcing her or using the drug on her?”

  “No, nothing like that. Fuck, I’m not sure what it was, but I got the impression she had another agenda.”

  “You think we could turn her?” Jace cocked his head as he studied him.

  Smithy shrugged. “Maybe, I think we need to have a chat with her and see what we can glean from it.”

  “The tracker you have in your arm tracked to Ireland. I think that’s the best place to start looking for the compound and Nazareli.” Zack turned to Alex. “Can Lopez help us out? If Will can use the drones over the locations on the tracker, can Lopez pick up the pipelines?”

  Alex gave a short nod, his jaw hard with his hatred for the Divine Watchers.

  “Good, then we can put a small team together to pick up Nazareli. Perhaps, Zin and Nate. The smaller, the better.”

  “We all good?”

  Lucy shook her head. “No, the one thing that is bothering me the most is the identity of Winslow’s husband. I can’t help thinking this is vital information and somehow we’re missing it.”

  “Do you want to work on that instead as Lopez has the pipelines?”

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  “Right, now let’s de-brief from last night and get to work.”

  Chapter 7

  “Hey, Meg.”

  Lizzie kissed her sister on the cheek as she walked in the back door of the lab at the Cunningham estate where her sister worked. Meg turned and offered her a beaming smile. Meg was beautiful inside and out, her heart so big despite the upbringing she’d had with Rhea Winslow.

  Lizzie peered at her closely, concern gathering for her baby sister as she saw the dark circles under her eyes. “You okay? You look tired.”

  Meg sighed. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m so close to having the vaccine for this annihilation drug. I just need to run some more tests, but the results are looking more promising than ever.”

  “So why the long face?”

  “Because the drug she’s using on the men is so strong it’s leaving them with long term side effects.”

  Lizzie felt her heart beat faster. “Is there something wrong with Smithy?” She may have walked away from him to keep her heart safe, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care. Ty would always have a part of her, a big piece. She hadn’t seen him in a week and had worked hard not to ask about him or be any place they may run into each other. It hadn’t been easy, old habits were hard to break, and with him, it was so complex she couldn’t even put into words what she felt for him.

  Meg shook her head quickly. “No, he’s fine, better than fine actually. He looks good.”

  Lizzie didn’t want to hear about how well he was doing when she was nursing a broken heart. “Oh, okay.”

  The hurt must have been evident in her voice because Meg touched her arm. “I meant he looks healthy.”

  Lizzie shook her head and smiled. “It’s fine. I want him to be happy and healthy. I guess it just makes me sad that it’s not with me.” Her good mood left her like a deflated balloon. “I guess I was the problem all along.”

  “I think you’re selling yourself short. Just wait and see, I think there’s hope yet.”

  Lizzie didn’t want to go down that road; she’d hoped too many times before and been disappointed. “How about you take this blood, and then we grab the kids and get a burger?” Meg looked unsure, so Lizzie needled, knowing her sister needed it as much as she did. “Pleeease?”

  Meg laughed and threw her hands up. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Now give me that arm.”

  Lizzie smiled, holding out her arm so Meg could draw blood. The break-through in the vaccine had come from her blood, and she was happy to donate as much as was needed to get the results that could save millions.

  Daniel insisted on coming with them, not happy with Meg being out without a bodyguard with Winslow still on the loose. Lizzie didn’t mind; she liked the man her sister was with, and she loved how much he adored her and their kids. Paige and Mateo
were chatting away happily, but her son still shot her surreptitious glances when he thought she wasn’t looking. Even after all this time, he was still afraid she’d disappear and leave him again. The guilt she felt over that was unwarranted. Nevertheless, it was still there—would always be there.

  “Liz.”

  She shook the thoughts away realising from his tone that Daniel had called her name a few times. “Sorry?”

  He smiled, and Liz could see why Meg had fallen for him. He was gorgeous but more than that, he showed how he felt to those he cared about. His arm was around Meg as he held his youngest daughter against his chest.

  “I asked if you knew anything about Peyton Lawson?”

  The question surprised Lizzie and she blinked. “A little. Mara knows her better than I do. She helped me with a few things after the kidnapping. Why?”

  “Smithy is seeing her.”

  Lizzie felt the burger she’d eaten turn to lead in her belly. “Seeing her?” She was going to be sick.

  “Jesus, Lizzie, not like that. Fuck, you’ve gone green, don’t puke.” Meg thrust a glass of water at her while shooting Daniel a glare. “What? I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Be clear, Daniel. Use your words.” The smirk he shot her as he leaned in to whisper in her ear made Meg blush and pulled Lizzie back from the edge of losing her lunch.

  “What he means is Smithy has been seeing her in a professional capacity.”

  “Really?”

  Lizzie pulled back, shocked to hear he was finally getting the help he needed but pleased. Peyton was good at what she did and would be able to help Smithy get back on track, although she knew his problems had started way before the Divine Watchers got hold of him.

  “Yep.” Meg popped a fry in her mouth and chewed. “He started seeing her the day after he got back and has had a few sessions already.”

  “That’s good.”

  Lizzie wanted to know more, to devour every bit of information about the man she loved, but she had to stop herself. He didn’t want her, how many times did he have to say it before she got it through to her head. Except her head wasn’t the problem, her heart was.

  “How about after this we go to Ludlow and have a walk around the Castle?” Daniel said loud enough for Mateo and Paige to hear.

  A chorus of yes’s followed, and Lizzie smiled at the look of joy on her son’s face. He was what mattered most, his happiness, not her own. Love for him filled her and squeezed a tight warmth into her heart when he smiled at her.

  At eleven, he was still affectionate towards her, and she knew that it wouldn’t be long before she started to lose him, especially when he started senior school in September. For now, though, he was content to let her hug him and still be her little boy.

  Meg tipped her head back to look at Daniel. “Do you have time?”

  “I always have time for my girls.”

  Lizzie loved that her sister had that, but it was hard not to let the pain of seeing it affect her. She’d done everything in her power to love Marco, but how could you give your heart to one man when it already belonged to another?

  As they wandered around the Castle and the picturesque village of Ludlow, with its black and white homes and cute street market, she found herself relaxing and enjoying the moment. Passing a stall selling homemade chutneys, she stopped to buy a couple for her dad.

  “Mum, can we get these for Katarina?”

  Lizzie cocked her head at Mateo’s question as she looked over at the wooden beaded bracelets on the stall next to them. Mateo had always been a sweet boy, but this was different, and the blush that stole over his innocent cheeks made her cough to cover the smile hovering on her lips. “We sure can, buddy. Have you seen one you like?”

  A frown married his handsome face as he gave it careful consideration. He pointed at a yellow wooden bracelet with blue, glass beads. “This one.”

  “Nice choice, buddy.” Lizzie went to take her purse from her bag but stopped when her son laid a hand on her arm.

  “I want to buy it with my pocket money.”

  “Okay.”

  Lizzie stepped back a little and let her son handle the entire transaction on his own. Gifted with precious moments like these, it was hard to be down, especially when she’d once thought she’d never see him again.

  With a sigh of exhaustion, Lizzie sat back in her favourite chair and tipped the glass of Merlot to her lips. Today had been a funny one with mixed emotions, but ultimately it had ended well. Mateo had his first crush, although he couldn’t have a picked a more dangerous girl for it with Roz as her mother. Her father had travelled to see some friends from his fishing club, the first trip since his heart attack, and Smithy was getting the help he needed.

  Massaging her thigh where it ached from all the walking, she leaned back against the cushion. Her physical therapy was a constant work in progress, the damage done to her pelvis so extensive it was a wonder she’d survived. Picking up her phone, she sent a text to Mara to see if she had space for her this week.

  Realising it was probably too late for a reply, she put the phone down next to her and flicked the TV on. As her phone rang beside her, she smiled and answered without checking the caller ID. “Hello.”

  “Liz?”

  Lizzie sat up straighter, not recognising the voice as a shiver of fear wormed its way down her spine. “Yes,” she said slowly, standing and going to check the front door was locked.

  “This is Nazareli. I need to meet you.”

  Lizzie’s heart pounded faster, the beat almost in her throat as she walked up the stairs to the back door and made sure it was secure too.

  “Why me?”

  “Because you’re the only person I trust.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Meet me in two hours at the entrance to Haugh woods and come alone.”

  Lizzie needed to stall. “I can’t. I have my son with me.”

  “No you don’t. He’s with his father. Two hours, Liz.”

  A shiver passed over her as she realised someone had been watching her and knew she was alone. Without thinking, she dialled a number she knew well.

  Chapter 8

  Smithy picked up the book and read the title, The Key to Inner Peace. He sighed and chucked it on the couch beside him. He was all for making changes, the exercise and new diet was helping already but the book, he wasn’t so sure.

  Peyton had made changes to his entire life, not just offering him counselling for his issues. However, he hadn’t opened up about how he was feeling. He wanted to get better; it was just hard to tell someone how he felt, but they’d started with the easy stuff, like his childhood.

  At least he’d thought it was easy, but as he’d spoken about growing up with an alcoholic for a mother, he’d felt more and more conflicted about the past. Not knowing his father had been a big thing as a kid, wanting him to be a hero who rescued him from the hell of his everyday life. Then as he got older resentment surfaced for the man who’d abandoned him and broken his mother beyond repair.

  His phone ringing brought him away from the dark thoughts, and he snatched it from the coffee table, tingles of electricity buzzing through him when he saw Lizzie’s name.

  “Liz.”

  “Oh, thank goodness.”

  Smithy sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he let the warmth of her voice flow over him like a balm. “Liz, what’s wrong?” He stood, walking to the window at the front of his flat and looking out into the clear night sky, his muscles already tense as he waited for her to speak and tell him what was going on.

  “Nazareli called and she wants to meet me.”

  His neck began to prickle with the sense of looming danger. Moving to the kitchen counter, he grabbed his keys. “Where are you, sweetheart?”

  “I’m at home.”

  “Stay there, lock the doors, and wait for me. I’m on my way.”

  “She knows where Mateo is. She knows I’m on my own.”

  He could hear the fear for
her son in her voice. “Where is Colin?”

  “He went on a fishing trip.”

  Smithy cursed. Leaving her alone was fucking stupid and he and Dane would be having words about it, but first, he needed to get her safe. “Stay on the phone with me. I’m in the car.”

  “You best not be holding your phone.”

  Her stern voice and her caring even now made him smile. A real genuine smile in the face of a crisis. That was Lizzie, always putting everyone else first. “I’m hands-free.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  He took the roads fast, hating the fifteen-minute drive that separated them, his hands gripped the steering wheel as he wondered about Nazareli.

  “Tell me exactly what Nazareli said.”

  He heard muffled movements and could picture her sitting at the kitchen table in her home. It had been years since he’d been there, and then only for short periods when nobody was home. He realised now how much he’d held back from her even then and added it to the regrets he had mounting up.

  “Umm, she said she wanted to talk to me and when I said I couldn’t because I had Mateo with me, she called me out, saying she knew he was with his father tonight.”

  “Did she threaten you?” He felt anger bubbling up at the thought of anyone threatening this woman ever again.

  “No, nothing like that.” He could picture her shaking her head as she spoke. “She sounded kind of desperate. She said I was the only one she trusted, but I have no idea what that even means as we’ve never interacted with each other.”

  Smithy pulled into her father’s driveway, the headlights sweeping over the house.

  “I see you, let me get the door.”

  He rushed to the door as Lizzie pulled it open and seeing her was like breathing after being underwater. All his senses sharpened as he pushed through the door. The urge to take her in his arms had his hands itching. This woman was everything to him, and he’d been too chicken shit to fight for her, not once but twice. It would serve him right if she never gave him another chance, but he desperately hoped she did.