Dead Drop (The Guild #2)(12)
I didn’t blame him. He knew I’d fallen for the enemy, and I couldn’t even deny it. He held her responsible for Mauricio’s death, even though it was that venomous prick Leon who’d shot our friend.
That fight that we’d orchestrated in the kitchen after I “freed” Danny from the dungeon was all too real, despite my best intentions. I’d seen the way she looked at him in terror, and I’d lost it.
“You want a beer, boss?” Jae asked, getting up from his chair. I almost refused, but I needed to start working on mending things with my team, so I nodded as I sat in an empty chair. Danny would return to me, and this time, she wouldn’t get away. My team needed to accept that reality sooner or later.
I took a gulp of the cold beer Jae handed to me and kicked out my legs to get comfortable.
“Project Remus,” I said after a painfully awkward silence. My obsession with Danny DeLuna had created too much strain between us, but I couldn’t stop. “Where are we up to on pinpointing the remaining clinics?”
Moana cleared her throat, then started filling me in on the most recent research, the shit I had been too preoccupied to really pay attention to in the last month or so. She delivered the information in a calm, emotionless voice, but I knew better. We all did.
This secret project that our team was engaged in, this investigation into the Guild’s Project Remus, it was for her. Because the Guild had tricked her, used her, and broken her heart. We would do everything possible to ensure it never happened to anyone else.
To our advantage, someone else seemed to be working toward the same goal as us. Albeit probably for different reasons. At least one out of every three Guild employees we tracked down who were associated with the baby experiments was already dead. Recently dead.
If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the Guild was attempting to clean up their own mess.
“What about Ares business?” Cyryl asked when Mo was done with her update. “After that mess in Brussels, have we heard any whispers in the network about the setup?”
Eli was the one to respond, shaking his head. “No. Or nothing bad. The ambush was leaked, but so was our retaliation on the snitch. If anything, it has only solidified Ares’s reputation as someone not to be crossed.”
“Does anyone know the Guild was involved?” I asked, tapping my foot with irritation. That fucker had brought a grenade launcher to that ambush.
Eli shook his head. “Not that I’m aware. Mo, have you heard anything from our contact on the inside?”
My sister scowled. “Not since that message a couple weeks ago with the address for Kai. I’ve reached out but haven’t got a response.”
“Well, it’s a good thing Kai is so hard at work on flipping another asset for us to use, isn’t it?” Sam sneered, shooting me a hard glare. “That is what you’re doing, isn’t it, boss? You plan to leverage that white-haired bitch for inside access so we can finish this mission once and for all?”
If Sam thought he was the one calling the shots around here, he was severely mistaken. I met his gaze with a cold stare and arched a brow.
“You sound like you don’t want to do this anymore, Sam,” I commented in a calm voice. “Are you quitting the team? If you’ve had enough, no one is forcing you to stay.”
Sam paled instantly, his eyes flicking to Mo. Her brow was tight, but she was keeping a lid on her emotions otherwise.
“No, of course not,” he murmured with a sigh. “Sorry, Mo. Of course I’m not quitting. You deserve closure, we’ll see this through to the end.” He reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing her fingers with reassurance. “Finding and punishing those sick fucks behind Remus is the only thing keeping me going these days. Mauricio would never forgive me if I walked away.”
“What is the plan for Danny, boss?” Jae asked cautiously. “You’re trying to lure her back here… for what?”
My expression closed over. “None of your fucking business, Jae.” I pushed my chair back from the table, the legs scraping loudly across the floor. Before I could say anything more, the lights flickered off and on again.
I tensed, my senses all on alert. My whole team remained dead silent, too, all of us frozen while we listened for any kind of suspicious activity in the house.
When nothing else happened, Eli gave a small grunt. “Probably just the wind, boss.”
It was windy outside, but not at a power-fault level of wind. A moment later, the lights cut out again, but this time didn’t turn back on.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Alarms?”
“Undisturbed,” Eli replied, checking the app on his phone. “Could just be a fuse.”
My skin was prickling with apprehension, but I nodded. We were on an island. If the power outage was caused by someone breaking in…
“I’ll check the fuse box,” Cyryl offered, already on his way out of the kitchen. Jae followed close behind with a gun already in hand, and I motioned to Sam and Eli.
“Check the surveillance cameras,” I told them. “Make sure no one else is on this island right now. Go!”
My men raced out of the room to do as they were told, and Mo gave me a flat glare.
“Make sure no one is on the island?” she repeated with heavy sarcasm. “Or make sure no one gets off the island this time?”