Page 17 of Deadly Hope (Hope Landing: New Recruits #2)

The question hit Olivia like a physical blow.

She opened her mouth to respond, to offer some professional reassurance, but the words wouldn’t come.

Because Ben’s wife was right—there was something here, something in Ben’s last session, something in the way his hands had shaken when he’d finally started to talk about— Ugh.

She figured his reveal would be about ghosts from the past. It always was.

But now … How could she have been so wrong?

“Olivia, look at me.” Axel’s voice carried an edge of urgency. “We need to move.”

A subtle vibration from her phone—another client confirmation. The day was supposed to be about helping her patients feel secure in the new space. Instead ...

“Eileen,” Olivia said carefully, “I’m going to have Dr. Rodriguez contact you. She’s excellent with trauma and?—”

“I don’t want another therapist,” Eileen cut in. “I want to know what happened to my husband. ”

“We’ll find out,” Olivia promised, even as Axel guided her toward the door. She caught a glimpse of Ronan positioning himself near Eileen, of Zara’s intense focus on her tablet.

In the SUV, Axel drove with contained precision while speaking quietly into his comm. Olivia stared at her phone, at the growing list of clients she’d need to reschedule. Her new office suddenly felt very far away.

“Your ethics board,” Axel said as they turned onto the main road. “How fast can they convene?”

“For something like this? Today, if—” She stopped, noticing his grip on the steering wheel. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He checked the rearview mirror. “The servers they’re bouncing through? They’re military. High-level military.”

Olivia noticed they’d missed the turn for the office complex. “Axel?”

“We’re not going back to the office.” His eyes constantly scanned the traffic around them. “Not until we know what we’re dealing with.”

“I have clients?—”

“Who need you alive.” The bluntness in his tone made her pause. “Someone good enough to disappear a special ops veteran is now trying to hack your files. That’s not coincidence.”

She watched him take another turn she didn’t recognize, moving them farther from familiar territory. “Where are we going?”

“Safe house. Izzy’s already coordinating with Marisol to reschedule your clients.” He tapped his earpiece. “Deke, status?”

The muscle in his jaw tightened at whatever response he received. Olivia had spent enough time studying micro-expressions to read the concern there.

“Tell me,” she said quietly .

“Second attempt to breach your files. Different approach, same military servers.” He took a sharp right. “Whoever’s looking for your client’s information is escalating.”

Her mind raced back to their last session. Ben, finally speaking about what he’d seen. What he’d been ordered to do. The way his hands had tremored not from anxiety, but from?—

“Anger,” she whispered. “He wasn’t afraid when he talked about the incident. He was angry.”

Axel’s eyes met hers briefly in the rearview mirror. “What exactly did he tell you?”

“I can’t—” She stopped, professional ethics warring with growing awareness. “My ethics board?—”

“May not convene fast enough.” Another turn, another unfamiliar street. “Whatever he told you, someone’s willing to go to extreme lengths to contain it.”

Her phone buzzed again.

Marisol: Clients handled. You OK?

Olivia: Safe. With Axel.

Marisol: Good. Deke says don’t use phone after this.

Marisol: Also says I should delete these messages.

Marisol: Also says I should stop adding emoji to official messages

Despite everything, Olivia smiled slightly. Then she powered down her phone.

“The safe house,” she said, watching the city fade into suburban sprawl. “How long?”

“Until we know what we’re dealing with.” He paused. “And until you decide how much of Ben’s last session we need to know.”

She stared out the window, thinking of Ben standing in that empty doorway, of his pristine study stripped bare, of the anger in his voice when he’d finally started to talk.

The gravel driveway wound through towering pines, their SUV climbing steadily until a cabin emerged against the darkening sky.

In another life, it would have been perfect—rustic cedar siding, wraparound porch, picture windows promising cozy views of the mountains.

The kind of place you’d escape to with someone special, sitting by a crackling fire, trading soft kisses as snow fell outside . ..

Instead, she was here with Axel—professional, controlled Axel—who was currently scanning the perimeter with the kind of attention that had nothing to do with appreciating romantic ambiance.

His hand rested near his concealed weapon as he drove them up the final approach, and she knew the cabin’s quaint exterior probably hid enough security tech to rival a military installation.

“This is actually kind of beautiful,” she said, more to herself than to him.

“Defensible position. Clear sightlines. Multiple evacuation routes.” He parked, eyes still tracking their surroundings. “But yeah. Beautiful too.”

Olivia sighed, gathering her emergency bag—the one she’d hoped never to need when she’d packed it at Deke’s insistence. Here she was, running from nameless threats, surrounded by armed professionals, about to spend who knew how long in what should have been a dream vacation spot.

And now it looked like it was all because Ben Prado had finally decided to tell her the truth.

“Ready?” Axel asked, hand on the door.

She looked up at the cabin again, at the warm lights someone—probably Izzy—had already turned on to welcome them. In another life, this moment would have been the beginning of something wonderful.

Instead, it was just another reminder of how complicated her life had become.