Page 15 of Deadly Hope (Hope Landing: New Recruits #2)
Axel kept his hand at Olivia’s back as they moved through the hallway, hyperaware of every shadow, every blind corner, every potential threat point. Ronan and Griffin flanked them, while Kenji and Deke maintained rear security. Standard protective formation. Just like dozens of other missions.
Or so he’d keep telling himself.
His pulse was still running too fast, breath not quite steady after that moment upstairs. She’d talked him down with quiet expertise, and that burned both the need for it and how easily she’d read him. How she’d known exactly what he needed.
“Axel.” Her voice was low, meant just for him. “We should?—”
“Not now.” He kept his tone professional, impersonal. Kept his eyes scanning their surroundings as they approached the building’s exit. “Vehicle’s five meters ahead. Ronan, take point.”
She subsided, but he could feel her therapist’s gaze on him. Could practically hear the clinical observations forming in her mind. His jaw clenched. He didn’t need analysis right now. He needed to keep her alive.
The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the parking lot as they emerged. Axel’s heartbeat kicked into overdrive—too many vehicles providing cover, too many angles of approach, too many?—
“You’re hypervigilant,” Olivia murmured. “Your breathing pattern?—”
“Doc.” He cut her off, gentle but firm. “I appreciate the concern. But until we figure out who’s targeting you and why, my PTSD is not the priority. You are.”
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive,” she argued as they reached the armored SUV. “If your symptoms interfere with?—”
“They won’t.” He opened the vehicle door, scanning the lot one more time. “I’ve managed them for years. I’ll deal with it properly once you’re safe.”
Her expression suggested this discussion wasn’t over, but she climbed into the vehicle without further argument. Smart woman. She knew when to pick her battles.
The ridiculously short drive along the runway to Knight Tactical headquarters was tense, silent except for routine communications checks.
Axel kept replaying the camera shutdown, the timing, the implications.
Someone had wanted them to know they could get past Knight Tactical’s security. But why show their hand?
“Izzy and Deke are doing a food run,” Ronan reported as they pulled into the hangar. “Just got off the phone with Christian. Main team’s tied up overseas for at least another week.”
“Not a problem,” Axel replied, helping Olivia from the vehicle. “We’ve got this handled.”
The command center was already humming with activity when they entered. Kenji had multiple screens displaying security feeds, system diagnostics, and what looked like lines of code.
“The camera sabotage was professional grade,” he reported, fingers flying over keyboards. “Whoever did this knows our systems. Not just standard security tactics. They knew our specific configurations. Our backdoors. Our failsafes.”
“What doesn’t make sense,” Griffin added, “is the lack of other attempts. No probing of her home security, no surveillance we’ve detected. Nothing. Then suddenly this?”
“So either they’re after something specific they think she has,” Ronan mused, “or ...”
“Or they’re playing a longer game,” Axel finished. “Making sure we know they can get to her, watching how we react.” His fists clenched at his sides. “Well, they’re about to see exactly how we react. Doc, you’re staying here until further notice.”
“But my clients?—”
He exchanged a hard look with Ronan, who nodded. “We can secure the new office location, no problem. You can start seeing clients again tomorrow. That work?”
“Okay. But we need to set up the office?—”
“You’re not going anywhere. Griffin and Zara will handle the setup. You can direct them via video feed.” His tone made it clear this wasn’t up for discussion. “No unnecessary exposure until we know what we’re dealing with.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but something in his expression must have convinced her. She nodded, shoulders slumping slightly.
Axel watched her settle into a chair at the command center, already adapting to the situation with remarkable composure. The urge to touch her shoulder, to offer comfort, hit him hard enough that he had to turn away.
That’s when it hit him—the real reason he’d been so resistant to her attempts at therapy. He didn’t want her professional insight. Or her clinical understanding.
He wanted her. All of her. In ways that had nothing to do with therapy and everything to do with the way his chest tightened when she looked at him. In ways that were completely impossible given their situation, their roles, the dangers surrounding them.
Kenji’s voice pulled him back to the present. “Where do you want to start?”
Axel forced his focus back to the mission. Back to keeping her safe.
“Start with airport personnel records,” he ordered. “Anyone with the skills to pull this off. Then work outward.”
He didn’t look at Olivia again. He couldn’t afford to.
The command center buzzed with focused energy as the team settled into their tasks.
Axel kept his attention on the re-booted security feeds, deliberately not watching Olivia as she spoke quietly with Izzy about office setup requirements.
Her voice carried just enough for him to catch fragments–something about client files and proper soundproofing for confidentiality.
“Got preliminary findings,” Zara announced, gesturing to her screens. “The code signature is ... interesting. Whoever wrote this knows military-grade systems. And—” she paused, frowning. “There’s something familiar about the structure. Like I’ve seen this style before, but I can’t place it.”
“How many people have that kind of expertise?” Axel moved to study the scrolling data.
“US-based? Maybe a dozen. But with these specific markers ...” She shook her head. “This is specialist work. Black ops level.”
The implications of that hung heavy in the air. “So we’re not dealing with some random threat. This is professional.” Ronan voiced what they were all thinking .
“Which brings us back to why,” Griffin added from his position by the door.
Axel caught the slight tension in Olivia’s shoulders at that question. She was still listening while discussing setup details with Zara, multitasking like she did everything else—efficiently and thoroughly.
“Doc,” he called out, keeping his voice neutral. “Any former clients with that kind of connection? Military or intelligence background?”
Her bleak look said it all. “Connections, I can’t say, but lots of my clients have special forces backgrounds. Some even current military. But I can’t disclose client names,” she said firmly. “Even in these circumstances, I’m bound by confidentiality laws and ethical guidelines.”
“We need something to work with,” Axel pressed, but his tone acknowledged the professional boundary. He got it. He did.
She considered for a moment. “About eight months ago, I had a new client. Former Delta Force. Or so he claimed. Turned out, he’d stolen an active-duty soldier’s identity.
I only saw him once. An odd session. He was way more interested in digging into my protocols for handling classified material than talking about himself.
Not unheard of with my clients, but it sure caught my attention.
Never showed for his second appointment.
A few months later, the DOD contacted me asking questions, but that was the end of it. ”
Or not. Axel caught her gaze. “Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
She scrunched up her face. “Maybe. But there’s still client confidentiality to consider. Just because he lied about his identity doesn’t mean I can call him out.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t do our own digging, though,” Zara said, fingers flying across her keyboard. “I’ll pull all security footage from surrounding buildings in that timeframe, run facial recognition against known operatives.”
Olivia nodded, obviously relieved that they’d respected her professional boundaries while still finding a way to investigate.
Izzy and Deke returned with food. The smell of DreamBurgers filled the command center, but Axel noticed Olivia barely touched hers. She was staring at nothing, that familiar therapist’s look of deep analysis on her face.
“What is it?” he asked, keeping his distance but maintaining visual contact.
“He asked a lot of questions,” she said slowly. “About my other clients. My methods. I thought he was just nervous, feeling out whether he could trust me. But now ...”
“You think he was fishing for information,” Axel finished.
She paled.
Ronan wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Could be they’re after information they think you have. About one of your clients.”
The pieces were starting to fit, but the picture they formed made Axel’s combat instincts scream.
This latest stunt seemed designed to let them know they weren’t looking for a garden-variety loon stalking a therapist. Whoever broke into their surveillance system wanted them to know they had serious skills.
“Okay, we’ve got multiple angles to work here,” Axel said, looking around at his teammates. “Zara, you take point on the security footage analysis. Start with today’s incident. See if you can ID our mystery visitor. We’ll worry about Dr. Kane’s strange client later.”
“I’ll help with that,” Kenji offered. “I’ve got some new recognition algorithms we can run.”
Ronan grabbed his tablet. “I can start mapping out all reported security anomalies at the airport over the past year. Might show a pattern we missed.”
“Actually,” Olivia spoke up, “I have an idea. I keep detailed session notes with behavioral patterns, concerns, anything that raised red flags. If I redact all identifying information, would that help? We might spot something relevant.”
Axel nodded slowly. “That could work. I can do a preliminary search through your redacted material, look for anything that might connect to this level of operation.”
“I’ll grab my backup drive,” she said, then paused. “And Axel? Thank you for respecting the confidentiality issue earlier.”
Their eyes met briefly, and that familiar warmth spread through his chest—that feeling he was trying so hard to ignore. He watched her walk away, then forced his attention back to the files Ronan was pulling up.
They had work to do. Everything else—the PTSD, the growing tension between them, the way she somehow saw right through his defenses—would have to wait.
Right now, they needed answers. Before whoever was behind this made their next move.