Page 36 of Deadly Hope (Hope Landing: New Recruits #2)

“You’re an idiot,” Izzy announced, shoving pots and pans back in their cupboards while Axel leaned against the counter.

Deke grabbed the last slice of garlic bread from the serving plate before sliding it into the sink. “I’ve seen smoother operators at a junior prom.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Axel’s jaw tightened.

Kenji appeared in the doorway. “Really? Because I just passed Olivia in the hall. Not good, my man. Not good.”

“Whatever.” Axel’s response was too quick, too sharp. Maybe he was finally seeing clearly. This whole thing between them—if it was even a thing—was situational.

Adrenaline and proximity.

Deke shook his head and chomped on the bread.

“She’s brilliant,” Axel continued, more to himself than them. “A literal genius who can read people like books. And me? I’m a guy who solves problems with fists and weaponry. You really think that works long-term?”

“Yes,” said three voices in perfect unison .

But Axel remembered the cold distance in Olivia’s eyes when she’d left the kitchen. “She’s figuring it out. I’ve seen it before—smart women realizing they’ve mistaken intensity for compatibility. Better now than later.”

Izzy brandished a wooden spoon at him. “You know what your problem is? You’re scared because she actually sees you. Not the tough guy act, not the strategic mind—the real you.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” Axel muttered, pushing off from the counter. “I’m going to check the perimeter.”

But before he could leave, Olivia burst back into the great room with her notebook. “After Caracas, James became obsessed with water safety. He’d drive me crazy with it—changed everything in his apartment, even his climbing gear. It was like he couldn’t touch water without testing it first.”

Voss straightened. “The liquid-cooled anchor system.” When everyone turned to her, she added, “It was a prototype he worked on. A cooling mechanism for descent gear.”

Axel caught Kenji’s eye, a silent conversation passing between them.

There was something too smooth about Voss’s intel drops, like breadcrumbs laid out just so.

He noticed Olivia tracking their exchange, her face composed but her fingers tensing against her notebook.

Good. The professional distance was back, that dangerous intimacy from earlier burned away by the cold light of morning. Better for everyone.

“Where did he keep his gear?” Axel kept his voice carefully neutral, watching Voss for any tell, any slip.

“He had a private facility near Garden of the Gods,” Voss said. “In Colorado Springs.”

He watched Olivia’s face transform with recognition. The way she lit up when talking about her brother—it was the same intensity she’d shown last night when ... No. Focus.

“The last time I saw him ... he kept talking about Colorado Springs,” Olivia spoke up. “About unfinished business there. I thought he was just reminiscing about our climbing trips as kids, but …”

“Convenient that you know so much about James’s operations,” he said to Voss, letting just enough edge show.

Voss met his challenge head-on. “We worked together. That’s not a secret.”

“Yeah, but whose side were you on then?” Deke muttered, saying what Axel was thinking.

“The same side I’m on now,” Voss replied. “But you don’t have to trust me. The facility exists—you can verify that. And if James left something there?—”

“He’d have made sure I could find it,” Olivia finished. “He always said our childhood codes were unbreakable because?—”

“—because no one else knew which rules you broke and which ones you followed,” Voss finished softly.

Axel watched Olivia stare at Voss, saw the uncertainty creep into her expression.

This was why he kept people at arm’s length—relationships, family, all of it just gave others leverage.

Points of vulnerability. He’d seen that shadow cross Olivia’s face before, in the kitchen.

The same dawning realization that getting close meant getting hurt.

“If we do this,” he said, dragging everyone back to operational reality, “we do it carefully. Full recon first. And nothing happens until we verify every piece of intel.” He fixed Voss with a hard stare.

“I can draw you the schematics,” she offered. “You can compare them to satellite imaging, county records.”

“What about security systems?” Kenji asked.

“Complex,” Voss admitted. “But I can?—”

“We’ll handle security ourselves,” Axel cut in, brooking no argument. “Deke, get started on surveillance feeds of the area. Kenji, pull whatever records you can find. We need to know what we’re walking into. ”

“What do you need me to do?” Olivia asked.

Axel glanced up, then away. Looking at her directly hurt too much. “You should stay with Zara. This kind of operation?—”

“He’s my brother, Axel. And whatever he left there, he meant for me to find it. I’m going.”

The room crackled with unspoken tensions.

Axel felt them all pulling at him—the tactical risk of trusting Voss, the emotional risk of working closely with Olivia, the burning need to keep her safe warring with the knowledge that they needed her for this mission.

Everything he’d feared about letting people get close was playing out in real time.

Finally, he nodded, keeping his voice professional, distant. “You stay with Deke’s team. Follow every instruction exactly. And if anything feels wrong?—”

“I know,” she said, and there it was—that same coolness he’d seen earlier. The walls going up on both sides. “But James is the key to finding Driscoll. And right now, this is our best lead.”

“Or our worst trap,” Kenji muttered, but he was already pulling up satellite imagery.

Axel buried himself in the tactical planning, ignoring the hollow ache in his chest. This was better. Safer. For everyone.