Crown of souls, p.13
Crown of Souls, page 13
“But he didn’t want that life for you.” Tox could relate. He didn’t want it for anyone else, either.
Jared snorted. “He’s been my hero all my life.”
It was strange. Tox’s father had wanted him in the military. He really didn’t care where he went as long as it was out of the house. Tox had been a royal pain in the backside. When Tox joined the Army, his dad said it’d be good for him. Maybe it’d teach him discipline. There was a small piece of the young Tox that wanted to be like his father—a political powerhouse. But there was a bigger part that just wanted to thumb his nose at his old man.
“Your father saw combat. Knew what it meant, what it does to the soul.”
Jared’s brown eyes struck him. “Have you? Seen combat, I mean.”
“Yeah,” Tox said with a tight breath. “Jared, no matter what the argument was about, you know your father loved you. Right?”
“Yeah, sure.” Another lazy shrug. “I just—our last words were angry. Then I said I wanted a soda so I could leave. When I came back . . .”
Tox couldn’t even remember the last words he’d spoken to his father. This kid was seriously well adjusted. Better than Tox had expected after finding his father dead and having gone silent. He wasn’t being silent now.
“He came out of the woods, right there,” Jared muttered.
Tox frowned. “Who?”
“The shooter.”
His pulse misfired. “You saw him?”
The muscles in the kid’s faced worked hard to keep a bevy of emotions at bay. “When I saw . . . when the blood . . .”
Startled at the comment, wrecked at what the boy couldn’t come out and say, Tox moved forward. “You don’t have to talk about this, son.”
“Yeah.” He swiped beneath his eyes, voice cracking. “I do.” He shifted, eyeing Tox. “He said you’d come.”
“Your dad?”
Jared shook his head, brown hair dangling over his brow.
Alec. Cold snapped through Tox’s veins. He twitched, angry. This . . . this was crossing the line. “He talked to you. That’s how you knew who I was.”
Jared nodded. “I ran when I realized Dad was dead. Ran right into him as he came out of the bushes.”
“Son of—” He bit off the curse. Wanted to punch something—no, someone. Alec. “Jared, I’m—”
Tears streamed down the kid’s face. “He said you knew Dad, that you’d come.” He held out his hand. On his palm lay a medallion. “He said to give this to you when you came.”
Fury coursing through him, Tox braced himself and met the boy’s gaze with an apologetic shake of his head. Instead of taking the medallion, he grabbed the kid’s arm, pulled him into a hug, and held him. Staggered through a breath. Then another. Sorry, McKenna. “I’m sorry, Jared. He had no right . . .”
Jared’s tears broke free.
Tox’s thoughts ricocheted between anger and grief. Disbelief and . . . he didn’t know what. When the boy’s shoulders shook, Tox crushed him tighter. Too far, Alec. Too far. “I will find him.”
The boy clung to him, sobs wracking his frame. Voices and shouts came from the path. Rushed up behind them.
“Jared!” his mother shrieked. “Jared, are you okay?”
Tox turned and urged the boy into his mother’s arms, slipping the medallion from Jared’s hand and loading his expression with a hefty dose of apology and sympathy. Once Mrs. McKenna took her son into her arms, she gave Tox a look, then headed back up the path.
Tox watched. Forced himself to memorize that picture. For McKenna’s sake. So he would never forget what Alec had done. He had to stop him before he . . .
Before he what?
Crossed a line?
Done.
Killed?
Too many times.
Tox stomped down the path to the car, the others trailing him and talking quietly.
“What happened?” Iliescu asked as he fell into step beside him.
“Too much.” Tox tugged out his phone, then dialed Thor. “We’re heading out.”
“Almost there,” Thor said, stepping out of the brush. Probably just like Alec had yesterday morning.
“Tox.”
He skated a look at the deputy director but kept moving toward the SUVs.
“What happened with the kid?” Iliescu demanded.
What was he supposed to say? They all had a bloodlust, a thirst for Alec’s body in a bag. If he told them, it’d feed the frenzy.
“Tox!” Ram caught his arm, spun him around.
Instinct drew up Tox’s fist.
Ram’s eyebrows winged up.
Reeling it in, Tox tucked his chin. “Alec talked to him.”
“The kid?” Ram asked, his tone absurdly even, as if he knew Tox was on edge. He probably did.
He handed over the medallion. “Killed the dad, then went to the boy. Gave him this. Said I’d be coming.”
Ram turned it back to front, inspecting it.
“It’s a challenge coin,” Cell muttered.
“From our unit—the Spartan helmet with a scar and lightning bolt.” Tox swiped the back of his hand along his mouth, ignoring the grief and concern from Haven.
“Dude, that?” Cell said, pointing to the coin. “That is whack.”
“He carved his symbol into it.” Ram angled the coin, showing the men the crown etched into the back.
Just as he’s carved me into this nightmare.
“And this is the guy you just want to bring back? The guy you said you understand?” Cell demanded.
“This guy”—Tox tapped the coin—“could be each one of us. Has done what everyone here has done.” His heart thudded. “So yeah—I want him brought back. Alive.”
“I say double-tap him and leave him in the dirt.”
“Is that what you’d do to me?”
“If you went all Silence of the Lambs psycho like him?” Cell’s face contorted in a mix of rage and incredulity. “Heck yeah.”
Shock pushed the breath back down his throat. Tox considered Cell. Saw that he was dead serious. Then Thor—same. Maangi looked penitent but serious.
Nodding, Tox struggled to breathe around the storm raging in his chest. “Noted.” He strode to the vehicles, slid into the front passenger seat, and rode back to the city in silence. Though he was with his men and Haven, he was alone.
In his thoughts.
In his beliefs.
In his fears.
14
— DAY 17 —
WASHINGTON, DC
The storm in Cole had hit catastrophic levels.
They’d been doing so well the last few months, dating and figuring each other out. But this whole nightmare with Alec turned the world—and Cole—upside down. After the team’s visit to the McKenna property, he’d given her a quick kiss, said he’d call, then vanished.
Being far too skilled at reading deception, Haven knew he didn’t intend to call. She got it. He needed space to work through recent events. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done that. She’d often given him the room to do it.
This time, it felt . . . different. And he didn’t have Chiji to bat him into line with a kali stick or a well-placed remonstration.
Haven licked the cookie dough off her thumb, then slid the sheet into the oven. She set the timer and washed her hands. Her roommate, Emilie, had gone to California to visit her family for the week. A nice respite for Haven, but perhaps a little too quiet. She headed to the TV and turned on recorded episodes of her favorite show to smooth the tension from her shoulders.
As she sank into the sofa, sighing in relief at being off her feet, she glanced at her phone. Why she thought Cole might’ve called in the last two minutes, she didn’t know. She squinted at the TV, trying to get back into the show, and her doorbell rang.
“Seriously?” she groused, then pushed off the cushions and hit the pause button. “You couldn’t ring the bell while I was still on my feet?”
A quick glance out the front window and the sight of a black Lexus stopped her. What was he doing here? She unlocked the door and swung it open. “Levi. What—” The question fell away when she saw the people behind him. “Robbie. Deputy Director.”
“Can we come in?” Robbie was already pushing into the townhome.
“Um, sure.” She forced a smile for the deputy director and Levi. Though she knew what folded arms meant at times like this, she couldn’t resist. “Sorry you missed dinner. Chocolate chip cookies are baking.”
“We only need a minute,” Iliescu said. “And I am sorry for the unannounced visit. We thought it better this way.”
“What was better this way?” Irritation skittered up her spine, especially that Levi was involved.
“Why don’t you have a seat?” Robbie planted herself on the sofa. As if this were her home.
Something was off. And it brought Haven’s Irish side to bear, made her want to rebel. Instead, she perched on the edge of the armchair and motioned to the oven as an excuse. “Timer will go off soon.”
Her nerves rattled, she could only think of one reason they were all here. It had to be Cole. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask if he was okay. He wasn’t. She’d known that when he drove off last night. “Has the team left yet?”
Robbie and Iliescu looked at each other.
And there it was—her confirmation that things were wrong. With Cole.
“Soon,” Iliescu said.
Haven nodded. They wouldn’t talk details, not in an unsecure setting. So that they told her this . . .
The timer blared from the kitchen, giving her an escape to think. “Excuse me.” She hurried to the oven, removed the cookies, and set them on the granite countertop. If she left them on the pan, they’d overcook.
But then, she felt overcooked by the tension that had just walked into her townhome. They were here. It was about Cole. No other viable scenarios presented themselves. But standing in here thinking wouldn’t get her answers.
Abandoning the cookies, she turned off the oven and returned. “Okay, just give it to me. I know this is about Cole.”
“I think the visit to the McKenna home shook him up pretty badly, seeing the family and talking to the kid,” Robbie said with a sigh.
Haven nodded. “I agree.” His stoic façade had turned to granite there.
“Can you explain what you know?” Iliescu asked.
Oddly, Levi was silent. He sat with his elbows on his knees, his expression all concern and worry. Which in turn worried her.
“What I know? I don’t know anything you don’t.” It was mostly true. “Really, just tell me. I can’t take this beating around the bush.”
“Kasey,” Robbie said with a soft, maternal tone, “Tox has formally requested you be removed from the team.”
The words slapped her. Breath trapped in her lungs, Haven stared at her boss. Yet somehow her heart was thundering. In pain. In hurt. He’d requested she be removed? Her eyes burned. An ache bloomed in her breast, yearning that he’d trust her, include her instead of shutting her out.
Well. She swallowed, looking down. She wasn’t surprised, not really. “He’s afraid I’ll get hurt.”
The director nodded. “He said as much—that Alec would make good on his threat at the restaurant.”
Haven closed her eyes to the grief, to the truth that Cole hadn’t even talked to her about this. That he’d just made the decision. That was why he wouldn’t talk to her, return her calls or texts. The coward.
“Kase?” Levi shifted forward, laying a hand over hers.
No matter what Cole had done, she didn’t want Levi trying to wedge in. She shifted her hand, but her shoulders sagged. It made sense. All of it. His retreating. His concern. The danger was real. This wasn’t just a silly protective instinct. Legitimate concern existed.
But he hadn’t talked to her about it. He’d just . . . decided.
Levi insisted on touching her again. “Kasey, you okay?” His light blue eyes probed hers.
“So I’m off the team.” She looked at Robbie and Director Iliescu, feeling the burn at the back of her throat and her eyes.
“No.”
She started at the deputy director’s firm, snapped reply. “I’m not?”
“Well,” he said, with a cockeyed nod, “we’ll leave that decision up to you, but that’s why we’re here.”
“Russell wants you off the team,” Robbie said, “and yes—because he’s concerned for your safety.”
“Okay . . .”
“But we’re concerned for his safety.”
Haven snorted.
“His mental safety.”
“Mental?” What were they saying? “Cole’s not crazy.”
“No, but we think this situation with Alec King is impeding his ability to act with the decisiveness we need from him,” Iliescu said. “There is no operator better suited to pursue King. We need Tox in this hunt. We need his entire skillset. But he’s shaken and fighting us on the end goal. We’ve all seen his anger, his reaction to this.”
The conversation had shifted from his asking for her removal to his “instability.” Haven had a bad feeling about where this conversation was heading.
“Why do you think Russell is reacting so strongly?” Robbie asked.
The question was a tactic to draw Haven in, get her to empathize and side with their purpose. “Cole sees himself in Alec.”
“I think it goes further than that,” Iliescu said. “I think Russell sees himself as no different than King.”
“That’s insane. King has killed. He’s murdering people.”
“Yes,” Iliescu said. “And that’s why we need you to go on this mission.”
“Me?” Haven pressed a hand to her chest, startled at the way they’d included her in this. “Why? I’m not an operator.”
“No, but you operate well with Russell. He listens to you.”
“Yes, because I’m his girlfriend—”
“No,” Robbie said. “No, Russell listened to your counsel before you two started dating. You’re balanced. You read people. You see through lies.”
“You see through his lies,” Levi said.
“‘His lies’?”
“To himself,” Levi clarified with upheld palms.
“I don’t understand.” They wanted her to help Tox see through lies, his own lies, but what did that have to do with his mission? “Wait.” Her heart had a head-on collision with the truth. “You’re afraid he’s going to join Alec.”
“We want you to be there for him. Let us know how he’s doing. If you see anything that concerns you—”
“You want me to spy on him?” Her shriek mirrored the one in her heart. “Absolutely not!”
“Haven, we need you there. He needs you there, even though he doesn’t think so.”
“For good reason—I was threatened by the man you’re sending him after.”
“And King found you here,” Iliescu said, his gaze steady. Boring through her justifications. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, but Alec King will not be put off by holding you stateside. In fact, keeping you on the move will make it harder for him to locate you. Russell knows this, if he’d think about it.”
Breathing became impossible. “I cannot believe you seriously think I would do this—betray him.”
“It’s not a betrayal,” Robbie said. “He asked for you to be removed, and I told him no, because you were—are—necessary.”
“But you want me to report on him. I won’t.” She heaved a breath. “I won’t do that to him.”
“I think you misunderstand,” the deputy director said, his expression washed of the former intensity. He glanced at Robbie, then Levi. “Nobody wants you to spy. We want you to be there. Monitor the situation as well as Tox. Do what you already do with him on a daily basis. He trusts you, listens to you. That’s all we need—a voice of reason.” He shifted to the edge of the sofa. “Ms. Cortes, I believe you’re the type of person who will do whatever it takes to protect those you love.”
She held his gaze. He was manipulating her.
“True?”
Swallowing around her unwillingness to be a pawn, she forced herself to speak. “True.”
“That’s all we’re asking. And I believe if you felt he was in trouble, you’d do whatever it took to help him, even if that meant communicating that concern to one of us.”
It was too easy. They’d switched tactics. But if she could go on this mission, if she could stay with Cole and not betray him . . . she wanted to go. She’d never been one to back down from danger or a threat. In fact, a threat, being manipulated—as they were trying to do here—seemed to slide a steel rod down her spine.
“Can we count on you?”
“I do not work well under manipulation, Deputy Director.” Her words were firm. “But I’ll go. Not for you. Or even for me.” Maybe that was only a half-truth. “But for Cole.”
Because she was concerned for him. Worried, honestly. This thing with Alec was tearing Cole up inside. And that, in turn, ate at her. But if he ever found out they’d asked this of her, even though she refused to spy, he would never forgive her.
— DAY 19 —
RESTON, VIRGINIA
Tox stormed into the newly minted SAARC headquarters. The clandestine center was tucked into the basement of an office building with a lot of foot traffic and enough distance from DC to have breathable air. He stalked to the command center, where he found Robbie Almstedt in the main hub, bending over a console. “If you’re convinced this is an artifact we’re dealing with, why haven’t you called in field experts?”
“What experts?” Robbie Almstedt asked as she straightened. “We don’t know what it is, so how do we determine who to call?”
Disgusted, Tox tossed the mission briefing on the table. “I hate this.”
“You and me both, Mr. Russell.” She came around the six-foot table and crossed her arms. “But we operate with the cards we’re dealt.”
“No, I hate this.” He slapped the brief, flipped it open, and pointed. “Why is she listed under personnel?”
Almstedt lifted her chin.
“I told you—”
