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B ellamy glanced at the map and simultaneously swatted a bug. And not just any bug. Damn thing was half the size of his fist. He flipping hated this country. Not because he had anything against it or the people who lived here because honestly he didn’t. There was nothing inherently wrong with Colombia. However, all he could think about was what happened and how he’d failed.

Tucker yelped. More like she tried to catch one of the massive insects in her mouth. Bellamy wondered if he should have brought Roxy on this mission. But Roxy was getting old. She was a good dog. But the last time they’d been in Colombia, she hadn’t performed well.

Hell, that was an understatement.

Besides, he had no idea what they were looking for and Tate hadn’t said much in his encrypted bullshit.

Just that Bellamy would know it when he saw it.

What on earth did that mean?

Well, Tucker could find drugs, explosives, and people. She was a damn good dog and she needed the practice. Only, he had no idea what this mission was all about and that pissed him off.

“It’s hotter than balls out,” Cooper said. His dog Whiskey sat at his side, waiting for a command.

“How far are we from the treasure?” Rusty asked. His dog, Soda, stuck her nose up in the air, sniffing at something.

“About two clicks.” Bellamy pointed down the trail. He glanced over his shoulder. They had hiked eight from where the bird had landed in the middle of freaking nowhere in a country that had changed Bellamy forever. Colombia broke his heart and stole his soul.

“I wish we knew what we were walking into,” Ethan mumbled. He wasn’t complaining. That wasn’t his style. But he did tend to get moody when he was hot and dealing with mosquitoes the size of a rat’s ass.

“According to my dad, Tate was working on a drug cartel operation not far from these parts.” Bellamy tugged at Tucker’s leash. She heeled, walking right along his side. As long as she knew she was working, she’d behave. Otherwise, who knew what she might do. And that was a problem. “But they also heard grumblings of a human trafficking ring as well. It came across my mom’s desk through the Feds a while ago. Just something for her to be on the lookout for.”

“Maybe we’ve got a bunch of kids here.” Rusty slapped the side of his neck. “Jesus. These things are bigger and suck more blood than I remember.”

“If we’ve got kids being held here, we’re going to need a bigger bird,” Ethan said. “But I guess we’ll deal with one problem at a time.” He swatted his hand, smacking his shoulder. “Crap. I missed that one.”

“Waylen’s intel didn’t suggest our asset was human, much less alive.” A litany of possible things ran through Bellamy’s mind.

But there was only one thing he hoped for.

Either she was alive or he’d find clues as to what really happened to Octavia. But why did he and his team have to come to Colombia to collect it? There were SEAL teams in the area. He knew this because they were his backup. His lifeline.

They trudged forward, dogs at their sides, weapons at the ready. Only one thing made sense. Tate found something that needed the kind of care the government couldn’t handle, but an organization like the Brotherhood Protectors could. Hopefully, that meant he knew something about what had happened five years ago and it was all connected .

Wishful thinking, but Bellamy had to believe in something. It was the only thing that kept him from going crazy all these years.

He felt a little bad leaving Blake back at the chopper. But she was ex-Coast Guard and she’d seen some stuff in her day. She was the wife of a fellow Brotherhood Protector and a seasoned pro. A damn good pilot too. She’d radio if she needed backup.

Or if she saw anything coming their way.

And the SEALs weren’t all that far. He hoped.

“Any chance this is a training exercise?” Rusty posed it as a question, but his sarcastic chuckle meant something else.

They had been with the Brotherhood Protectors for over a year. Their training period as agents for the organization was long past. However, their dogs could always use a good exercise.

But they didn’t need to be dropped in the middle of a hostile territory for that and Hawk wouldn’t do that to them anyway.

Tate was dead. Whatever happened to him—whatever he was working on—both Hawk and Hank deemed it worthy of their attention. Even if they didn’t, Bellamy would stick his nose in where it didn’t belong. He and Tate might not see eye to eye on many things—including Claudius—but Tate was good people. A good agent.

And then there was Nova .

Bellamy had met the up-and-coming star of the DEA. The pride and joy of Tate.

Even Bellamy’s parents thought she was the cat’s meow, though she was a little rough around the edges, to quote his mother.

But that didn’t stop his mom from trying to fix him up with Nova a few years back. Talk about strange encounters. He couldn’t call it a date because he’d been cornered when he’d met his parents in Virginia while they’d been there on business. They shoved Nova in his direction with a couple of mugs of coffee and a box of doughnuts.

Things went downhill from there.

The only things they had in common were Tate and the fact that neither one of them knew how to carry a conversation.

Although, he hadn’t wanted to, so he did what he did best.

Nothing.

Silence had always been his best friend outside of Cooper, Rusty, Ethan, and the dogs. Or cats. That species had grown on him now that he had a few of them running around his house. They were cute, cuddly, and didn’t take up the whole damn bed.

Octavia would find that amusing.

Except they had a horrible habit of playing at two in the morning. And they particularly liked jumping on his face .

In the distance, Bellamy spied a makeshift hut. He raised his hand, making a fist, and stopped dead in his tracks.

His men froze.

As did their K9s.

He pointed to Cooper and waved to the far side of the hut.

Cooper nodded.

Bellamy motioned to Ethan to flank to the north and Rusty to flank to the south. He’d take the structure head-on.

No more words would need to be spoken. They’d been on similar missions before. Little to no intel. Get in. Get the asset. And get the out.

This wouldn’t be any different.

He crouched in the bushes twenty paces from the hut and waited for his men to be in place. This was the sweet spot with his team. They were neither complacent nor arrogant. They just were. They knew each other like they knew themselves. Perhaps better. They each had a role and no one needed to be reminded of what that was or how to do it.

They just did.

“All right, girl. Sniff. Tell me if there’s something I need to be worried about,” he whispered. Then he gave Tucker the hand signal and released her from the leash.

He watched in awe as his little pup—well, not so little at nearly one hundred pounds—lowered her body and her head, then zigzagged back and forth. All the other dogs did the same in their respective areas.

Tucker inched closer to the front of the hut, scratching and pawing at the ground.

Drugs.

Whiskey barked twice. Same with Soda and Mojo.

Person or people.

Crap.

Rusty, Ethan, and Cooper called their dogs back with a whistle. Bellamy gave a hand single to Tucker to remain right where she was.

The hut looked old, but there were fresh footprints in the wet path. They were small. Perhaps a size seven, women’s.

Interesting.

He raised his weapon. All three of his men came into view, their guns drawn while the dogs waited patiently for their next command.

Squinting through his scope, he quickly scanned the area for insurgents.

Nothing.

While his pulse raged, his breathing remained calm.

Just another day at the office.

He blinked, focusing on the blue tarp that was used for a makeshift door, when a woman suddenly burst through it, holding a rifle, pointing it right at his chest.

Tucker barked. Twice.

But remained still.

Good dog.

“Who are you?” an all-too-familiar voice rang out. It tickled his ears and prickled his memories of years past. His breath caught. His chest tightened as if someone wrapped their arms around him and squeezed with all their might.

“Jesus,” he mumbled, releasing his finger from the trigger. “Octavia?” The jungle could play tricks on a man. He knew this firsthand. But that happened after days of dehydration and an infection from a gunshot wound.

This was definitely not the case.

Nope.

He was well nourished and had a decent rest. At least what one could call sleep on the back of a military transport plane.

“No one here by that… that…” Her eyes went wide. Shock registered in her stunning blue eyes. Her lower lip quivered.

“Put the gun down, O. We’re not here to hurt you. We came here to get you.” Fucking A. Of all the things Bellamy expected to extract, she was not one of them.

He’d grieved their relationship.

And then her death .

He’d learned to cope with the realization that the only woman he’d ever loved, he’d never see again. And yet there she stood, with a flipping gun pointed at his heart.

Wasn’t that ironic?

“Nope. I’m not going to do that.” She adjusted her rifle to her shoulder, cocking her head, staring him down like a rabid dog. Or maybe a dead woman. Either one was appropriate right about now. “Leave. Or I will shoot you.”

He could tell Tucker to go lick her, because the dog knew how to do that on command. Octavia loved dogs. But she had complained that he loved them more than her sometimes.

Not true.

It was just that dogs were easier to understand than women.

Besides, he was afraid she might actually be frightened and pull the trigger.

He decided lowering his weapon might be the better option. He eyed his buddies, who held their ground, but he could tell by their dropped jaws they were as shocked as he was to see the dead rise again.

“I don’t think you’re going to kill the man Tate sent to come and bring you home.” He set his weapon at his feet and raised his hands. “Now, come on. Put the gun down. You know I would never hurt you.”

“No. You’d just leave me to die.” Slowly, the fight left her furrowed brow and she lowered her gun.

He’d deal with that statement later. Now was not the time. They had to hike back to the helicopter and get back to town.

“Give me the gun.” He inched forward and took her weapon, letting out a sigh of relief. “Come on out, boys. You all remember Octavia.”

She spun in a circle, flapping her arms like a crazy person.

He swallowed. The first thing he noticed was the nasty scar on her face. Not that she wasn’t still the most beautiful woman in the world, but a primal need to beat the crap out of the person who did that surged through his body.

So many questions.

Again, not the time.

“Well, look who rose from the dead.” Cooper was the first one to speak. “Long time no see.”

“Right back at you, Coop.” Octavia planted her hands on her hips. “Ethan. Rusty.” She nodded. “Looks like the gang’s all here.” She pointed to Tucker. “I thought you boys didn’t get into the K9 Pilot Program.”

Bellamy exchanged a glance with his buddies.

“And what would you know about that?” Rusty asked with a fair amount of disgust laced in each syllable .

“I might technically be dead, but I know things.” She glared.

“So, then you know we left the military and we’re not a part of that program,” Cooper said.

“But a different one. A better one.” Ethan puffed out his chest proudly.

“And you’ve got better dogs this time. Or at least they seem to be doing what you trained them to do,” she said.

“What does that mean?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, I’d like to know the answer to that question.” Cooper glared.

So did Bellamy, but he didn’t want to stand here all day and get into a pissing match over it. One thing he knew for sure about Octavia, when she got something in her head, she stuck with it.

One of the many reasons she’d broken up with him in the first place.

That, and Eric.

“We can get into all that once we get back to town. Or better yet, Stateside and debrief,” Bellamy said.

“I’m not going anywhere with you fellas until we have a few things straight.” She folded her arms and tapped her toe.

“Christ, you haven’t changed,” Bellamy muttered. It was no way to talk to a woman who had been dead for the last five years, and his mother would surely have his hide, but damn, she could be a stubborn chick.

“First.” She waggled her finger. “No one can know I’m in the States, much less alive.”

“We know,” all four men said. If words could express an eye roll, then they all did it.

“Especially Eric,” she said.

Bellamy balled his fist. He wasn’t a fighting man, but no one would blame him if he threw the first punch when it came to that asshole.

“Also, my father can’t know. At least not right away. Not until whoever it is you all work for now figures out if he’s in on this shit, being used, or blackmailed. And I believe now he’s most likely in the dark. But I’m not really sure. I was up half the night reading what little Tate left for me and most of it doesn’t make sense.”

Bellamy held up his hand. Not to shut her up, but the rest of his men. When she got going, you might as well let her get it off her chest or you’d never hear the end of it.

“Third. A secret protection detail has to be arranged for my dad. Tate was adamant about that.” She arched a brow.

“That’s already in place.” Bellamy let out a very long breath. “Are we done with the demands?”

“Finally. We need to call Nova Martin before we head back to the US. ”

“How do you know Agent Martin?” Cooper asked.

“Doesn’t matter.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “There are drugs inside that hut. Not a lot. No idea how they got there. I don’t believe Tate left them for me.”

“The dogs indicated drugs,” Ethan said. “I’ll check it out.” He ducked his head into the hut and two minutes later came back holding a small bag. “Looks like we got some cocaine.” He arched a brow. “We can’t leave it out here.”

“Nope. We can’t.” Bellamy let out a long breath. “Tell me, O. When was the last time you spoke to Nova? And don’t lie to me. You know how much that pisses me off.” He had a million more questions about why Octavia even knew Nova, or how long Nova knew Octavia was alive.

But he’d deal with that later.

If he said anything now, he’d for sure say the wrong thing.

“Yesterday. She’s the one who gave me the packet of intel and the directions to get here.” Octavia narrowed her stare. Never good. “But I don’t have her number. I always communicated with Tate. Only Tate. He thought it was best to keep her on the fringe. Only bringing her around in case something happened to him.”

“I’ve got her number,” Bellamy admitted. While their coffee date had been a disaster, and they never went on another, he did take her number.

Not because he was interested.

“Why do you still have her number?” Cooper cocked his head and puffed out his chest. “I’m the one who actually took her on real dates. Not coffee and doughnuts in a lobby of a federal building.”

“I’m the one who set you up.” Bellamy sighed. “And you’re the one who said it got too hard with never being in the same place.”

“Not exactly what happened.”

Bellamy wiggled his finger. “I’m not having this conversation with you again.”

“Nova said she was headed to the States. But she didn’t know when,” Octavia said.

“We should roll.” Ethan pointed toward the path. “We’ve got all the drugs. We can call her once we get to town and she can instruct us on what she wants us to do.”

“Just one more thing before we get going.” Bellamy really shouldn’t. It wasn’t very gentlemanly, but he couldn’t resist. He turned and pointed to his K9. “Tucker. Release and lick the lady.”

“Huh. What?” Octavia blinked.

“Better brace yourself,” Cooper said, then bent over, clutched his knees, and full-on belly laughed.

Rusty and Ethan followed.

Tucker sprinted toward Octavia with her tail wagging in the air and her butt going back and forth like an out-of-control missile. It was too funny.

Bellamy grinned as Tucker skidded to a stop but not in time. She knocked Octavia on her ass. Tucker pressed her paws on Octavia’s chest and slobbered all over her face.

“Oh my God. Get this adorable mutt off me.” Even Octavia giggled. She reached up and gave the dog’s ears a good scratch.

“That’s enough, Tucker. Come.” Bellamy snagged his leash and hooked it on his dog’s collar. “Good girl. Yeah, that’s my sweet girl.” He waved his hand. “Get your stuff and let’s haul ass.”

Octavia took Rusty’s hand and did her best to wipe the mud and dirt off her clothing, but it wasn’t worth it. She was covered in it from what looked like years of hard living.

That turned a playful moment into a sucker punch to the gut.

She raced inside her little hut and grabbed her backpack.

“Give me that.” He reached for it.

“I can carry my own, thank you.” She glanced up at him with a narrowed stare.

With a shaky finger, he traced the jagged scar that went from her temple down the side of her cheek.

She winced as if it hurt, but he doubted that. It wasn’t fresh .

He scowled. “The raid?” he asked.

“Yeah. But then you should know, you were there.”

“No. Not when the village was attacked. We came in for the rescue.” He took point and his men followed a few paces behind. This was what he loved the most about working with these guys. They knew when to get in his face and when to give him space.

This was the time for the latter.

“I know. I saw Roxy,” Octavia whispered.

He snapped his head in her direction. “Excuse me?” He knew something had happened to his dog on that mission. To all the K9s. It was a miracle that they rescued two of the Peace Corps volunteers and twenty other people on that mission.

But Roxy knew Octavia and knew her well. He’d gotten her when Octavia and he were still a couple. That damn dog had been out of her mind for months after Octavia broke up with him.

“What do you mean you saw her? We spent days looking for you. And if you knew it was her, why didn’t you call her? She would have stayed with you. Or come and gotten me.”

“She sniffed right where I was and walked right on by as if she didn’t even know I was there.” Octavia swiped at her eyes. “I was too weak to call her name. I was… I was…”

Octavia wasn’t one to show too much emotion. She prided herself on being strong and fiercely independent. One of the many qualities that he loved about the woman.

For her to even show a little in a moment like this told him a lot about what she must have experienced.

“Let’s talk about this when we’re back at the hotel and you’ve had a nice long hot shower and a decent meal.”

She nodded.

“Hey.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I should have said this sooner, but I’m damn glad you’re alive.”

“That means you actually thought I was dead.” She arched a brow. “’Cause, you know. You went on a date with Nova.”

He sighed. “I attended your memorial. I didn’t want to believe it. I fought that reality for years. Hard. But honestly, as time passed and all the so-called sightings turned out to be false, everyone told me I had to accept it. Hell, your fiancé demanded we accept it.” He arched a brow. “Nova told me the same thing.”

“She was following Tate’s orders and for the record, Eric’s not my fiancé and he’s a big fat prick.”

“That we can agree on.”

“He always hated you.” She adjusted her pack, clutching the straps with both hands. “Thought you were a worthless, no-good Marine who was going nowhere fast.”

He chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Shortly after we all left the military, I went to your final resting place to bring you daisies.”

“Aw, you remembered my favorite flower.”

“I remember a lot of things.” He tapped the center of his chest. “Anyway. I was sitting there, having a good old heart-to-heart with you and Eric strolled up. Honestly, I don’t think he was there to see you. His dad had passed away the year before and he’s buried in the same cemetery.”

“I’d like to believe he grieved for me for a hot minute.”

“Not.” Bellamy was completely and utterly disgusted by Eric’s speech at her graveside, but he wouldn’t get into that. At least not right now. “Anyway. He marched right up to me and told me I wasn’t welcome. I reminded him it was a free country. He poked me in the chest and told me to leave. Though his words were much harsher.”

“And you hate it when anyone pokes you.”

“That I do.” He nodded. “But it didn’t stop there. He called me a loser. Told me I was washed up and no one wanted to work with me or my team. He shoved me. Hard. So I punched him. Right here.” He tapped his nose. “Broke it too.”

“I bet he sued you. ”

“Nope.” Bellamy jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Cooper was there. Saw the whole thing and was smart enough to get it on video. I was provoked. All I did was defend myself.” He waggled his finger. “But I was kind enough to pay for his hospital bill, just not the plastic surgery. And he’s still an ugly asshole.”

“He’s not that gross-looking.” She turned and lowered her chin. “I do have standards.”

“I’m not even going to comment on that one.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” This should be interesting. The whole conversation was entirely strange, but at the same time, completely normal. It was as if he hadn’t cried like a baby for an entire year when he finally accepted that she could be dead.

He nearly choked on that thought.

“If you knew it was me you were coming to extract, would you have taken the assignment?”

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, totally forgetting he was in the middle of nowhere Colombia and his best friends were right behind him, watching his every move. But what were they going to do, bust his balls in this moment? Doubtful. “I would have come faster.”