Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(73)

It wasn’t Dante Robert should worry about. Anger rolled through Owen. Anger and guilt made a toxic cocktail in his gut. They’d been talking about him? He knew there had been questions about what had gone wrong with the Colorado op. Levi had seemed to know where they were at all times. They’d been careful about covering their tracks, but somehow Levi had shown up or sent his men in to show up at precisely the right times and in the right places.

They thought it was him. Of course they did.

“We weren’t the only ones who knew,” Ezra corrected. “Levi had a plant and so did the Agency.”

But Solo hadn’t known all their plans. She hadn’t been there every second of the day.

“Solo knew Jax was going into those woods,” Ezra continued.

“She didn’t know exactly where he was going,” Dante pointed out.

“Neither did Owen,” Robert said tightly.

“Ah, but he was there at the end. He made sure he was.” Dante sat back as though enjoying himself. “If I remember correctly, he was also the one who helped Jax put together his pack. It would have been easy to slip in a tracking device. He then could have retrieved it at the end.”

“I helped Jax, too.” Robert’s whole body had gone stiff and Ariel stood up behind him, her hand going to his shoulder. “You want to accuse me?”

“Ah, but you were far away at the end,” Dante crooned. “You weren’t in the two places where it would have been easy to cover your tracks. Owen was.”

“Owen is the only one of us who can fly a fucking helo.” Ezra’s voice had gone low.

It didn’t matter. He could point out the logic all day long, but the truth was he had betrayed them all and they would never forgive him.

“Yes, he’s excellent at using his resources.” Dante wasn’t giving up. “Now he’s going to use the good doctor to save himself. Rebecca Walsh was in on it. That’s why she’s hidden the box. We’ve looked for it everywhere. In her home and her office. She’s protected it because she’s going to use it. She’s not some innocent. She’s a bitch like her mentor, and Owen is going to ride her all the way home.”

He wasn’t sure what happened next. He saw red, a violent mist that shut out everything else. He went over to the table and had his hands around Dante’s throat in a heartbeat. It felt good. His throat was warm and muscular, but Owen had righteous anger on his side. He slammed Dante to the floor and held the man down as he started to choke the life out of him.

Yes, he was seeing red at the moment, but he wanted to see blue. He wanted that fucker’s face to turn blue.

Someone was yelling, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Dante’s mouth couldn’t spout shite about Becca again. He didn’t care what anyone said about him. He’d earned their scorn, their mistrust, but she hadn’t.

“Owen! Stop it,” Robert was saying.

“Owen, I need you to calm down.” Ariel knelt down beside him. Her voice was soothing. “You don’t want to kill Dante. Not really. I know who you are, Owen Shaw.”

No one knew who he was. He didn’t fucking know. He wanted to be the man Becca thought he was, the one she could count on.

Dante’s eyes had started to bulge and the fight he’d shown was slowing down, but Ezra had an arm around Owen’s neck. He managed to snap his head back, making hard contact with his boss’s chin and causing him to curse and let go. Pain flared but Owen didn’t let up.

“Owen, please,” Ariel implored. “If you do this, you can’t go back to her. If you do this, Ezra has to turn you over. Becca will be alone. She won’t have you to protect her.”

Those words seeped into his brain. They worked some kind of magic on his hands as he fell back, letting Dante go.

Dante coughed, but was on his feet in a heartbeat, trying to come after him.

Robert caught the other man. “No fucking way. You are going home. Now. I’ll have Tucker stop by your place to check on you.”

Dante looked savage as he stepped back. “Don’t bother. I can take care of myself. It’s obvious whose side you’re on, Robert.”

Ezra sighed as he got to his feet. “There are no sides, but it’s obvious we need to have some serious talks. Come on. I’ll take you back to your place. And Owen, you can’t tell Rebecca Walsh what we found out today. I want a couple of days for Phoebe to figure out what’s happening before you tell Walsh what we know. And that’s an order. I expect you to follow it.”

He shot Robert a look that plainly told him to take care of it from this end.

Owen didn’t know that he wanted to be taken care of, but Ariel had been right about one thing.

Becca needed him. He might have to protect her from his own team.

Except they weren’t his team.

“Owen, do you want to talk about it?” Ariel got to the floor, sitting down beside him.

“Man, you have to know we don’t think that of you,” Robert said.

Did he? Hell, if he was in their position, he might think it, too.

He forced himself to get up. “No, I’m fine. I’m going home. I have to take a shower. I have to pick up Becca soon.”

He walked away without looking back.





Chapter Thirteen