Page 41 of Deadly Hope (Hope Landing: New Recruits #2)

Axel’s mind cycled through containment scenarios even as he raised his phone, framing the unexpected occupant through the glass partition.

Young woman, business attire, clearly exhausted.

The laptop’s blue glow caught the sharp angles of sleep deprivation on her face.

He snapped three rapid shots from slightly different angles, transmitting them to the team.

“Need immediate ID and background,” he vocalized into his concealed comm.

“Female, approximately twenty-five to thirty, currently at the desk outside Driscoll’s office.

” His perfectly tailored suit jacket concealed both the weapon holster and comm set up underneath.

“All teams, maintain position and sound off.”

“Running facial recognition now,” Kenji whispered. “Ronan and Zara are set in the basement. Guards are buying their maintenance act. Deke and I have lobby control room locked down. Camera feeds looped, elevator protocols handled.”

“Griff here. Parking garage covered—any early arrivals will find ‘unexpected maintenance’ blocking their usual spots. ”

“Izzy. Van’s in position at loading dock, looking properly corporate. Ready for fast exit.”

The woman reached for what looked like her fourth Red Bull. Axel cataloged options. Direct confrontation risked noise. Security call would blow their cover. Waiting her out could compress their timeline dangerously close to Driscoll’s arrival.

“Got her,” Kenji cut in. “Amber Burns. Junior analyst. Keycard shows zero-four-hundred entries three times this week.”

“Because Driscoll’s been riding the whole team ahead of the confirmation hearing,” Voss offered quietly.

They’d planned this infiltration meticulously—their corporate audit team cover had been Olivia’s suggestion, knowing Driscoll’s security was trained to spot armed threats, not question internal auditors. But an all-nighter analyst hadn’t been in any of their scenarios.

“Deke, what’s our window looking like?” Axel watched Burns hunch further over her keyboard, mind already gaming out multiple extraction paths depending on how this played out.

“Approximately sixty minutes until target arrives.”

Olivia’s hand settled on his arm, feather-light but commanding attention. Her charcoal suit and elegant briefcase perfectly sold the corporate psychologist image. Her eyes met his, asking for trust. He gave a slight nod.

“Ronan, Zara—maintain basement coverage. Everyone else hold positions. We’re implementing Plan Echo.”

Plan Echo—their contingency for civilian encounters. Less than ideal, but with Olivia taking point ...

She stepped forward, her whole demeanor shifting. Gone was any trace of an operator. In its place, professional concern radiated from every pore.

“Ms. Burns?” Olivia’s voice carried just the right blend of authority and warmth.

“I’m Dr. Warner from HR’s wellness initiative.

We’re conducting a surprise overnight audit of work-life balance concerns.

” She gestured to Axel and Voss, who stood straighter in their dark suits.

“My colleagues are checking building security protocols, particularly around junior staff working excessive hours.” She smiled reassuringly.

“Looks like we guessed right, showing up this early.”

Brilliant improvisation. Their cover as a corporate audit team, complete with falsified paperwork, had been meant for the day shift. But Olivia was spinning it into something that explained their pre-dawn presence while playing directly into the intern’s obvious exhaustion.

“Oh no.” Amber’s voice cracked. “Am I in trouble? Mr. Driscoll said this presentation had to be perfect for the morning meeting, and the numbers weren’t balancing, and I thought if I just came in a little earlier?—”

Through his comm, Axel heard Kenji’s soft whistle. “Getting building security logs from the past month. This isn’t an isolated incident. Driscoll’s got half his junior staff working graveyard shifts.”

“You’re not in trouble,” Olivia soothed, moving to perch on the edge of the desk. Every movement precisely calculated to appear casual while maintaining optimal position. “But I am concerned. How many days this week have you worked past midnight, or come in hours before dawn?”

As Amber’s story poured out, Axel watched Olivia work, suddenly grateful for the mission parameters that had required business attire instead of tactical gear.

They looked exactly like what they were pretending to be—corporate troubleshooters doing their jobs.

Sometimes the best camouflage was hiding in plain sight.

“Team, heads up,” Griff’s voice came through their comms. “Two more cars just pulled into the garage. Looking like more junior staff revving up. ”

“Not anymore they’re not,” Olivia murmured, smoothly incorporating this intel into her cover.

“Amber, I need to be clear—this isn’t just about you.

We’re seeing a pattern that represents serious liability.

Mr. Stone?” She gestured to Axel. “Could you please check the other offices while Mr. Voss escorts Ms. Burns to gather her things?”

Perfect tactical move. Getting eyes on the other arrivals while maintaining their cover story.

“Of course, Dr. Warner.” Axel strode out, his dress shoes silent on the carpeted floor. He found three more analysts—all looking as strung out as Amber—just walking in. Easy enough to add them to Olivia’s impromptu “wellness intervention.”

He turned to Voss, or rather, Mrs. Chatham. “Please escort these analysts out of the building.” He addressed the tired workers. “Dr. Warner is officially putting a stop to this abuse of your time. Now.”

Voss nodded, stepping forward with a calm, yet authoritative presence. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ll follow me, please,” she said, guiding the startled, exhausted group back toward the elevator.

Relief visibly washed over the analysts’ faces as they followed Voss. Axel maintained his stern oversight, knowing that their cover story had to hold until the very end.

While Voss escorted the exhausted workers out of the building, he and Olivia made a quick study of the outer office, checking each desk for possible intel.

Olivia’s professional mask slipped just slightly. “Well, that was an unexpected complication.”

“Handled perfectly though,” Axel said, meaning it. “Ronan, Zara—status?”

“Basement’s clear. Ready to move when you are.”

“Kenji? ”

“Cameras looped, security feeds managed. You’ve got less than twenty minutes until target’s arrival.”

Voss strode back into the suite, nodding sharply. “All good.”

“Good.” Axel hitched a thumb at Driscoll’s inner sanctum. “Time to get to work for real.” He allowed himself a small smile. “Ready to help me plant some evidence that will push all of Driscoll’s psychological buttons?”

“Actually,” Olivia said, already moving toward Driscoll’s office, “I have a few thoughts about optimal placement. Given his paranoid tendencies, he’ll probably check certain locations first ...”

But first, they had to break in.

Do or die time. Either the CIA woman was as good as her word and had the skills—and the desire—to get them inside, or the mission ended here.

He glanced at Voss, who was already reaching into her jacket pocket. The moment of truth—the point where they’d learn if she was really on their side or playing a longer game.

She withdrew a thin case and extracted what looked like a thin plastic film. “Lifted from his whiskey glass at a fundraiser six months ago,” she murmured, carefully applying it to the fingerprint reader.

Axel watched her work, noting the practiced precision of her movements. The door’s LED shifted from red to green with a soft click that seemed thunderous in the quiet hallway. No alarms. No security response.

He caught her eye, nodding once in acknowledgment. First test passed.

Once inside, they moved with practiced efficiency. Voss messed with the photos on the credenza beneath the curtained window.

“His psychological profile suggests he’ll check his desk first,” Olivia said softly, laying out items from her own briefcase. “Particularly the left drawer. It’s where he keeps his personal files—the ones he doesn’t trust to digital storage.”

“Getting territorial about his space,” Axel noted as he hid security cameras throughout the office. “Classic paranoid behavior.”

“Exactly. And we’re going to use that.” She placed a USB drive, carefully aged and scuffed, in the drawer’s back corner. “He’ll find this within two minutes of arriving. Just visible enough to spot, just hidden enough to seem suspicious.”

“Safe’s biometric has been bypassed,” Voss reported quietly. “Beginning sequence now.”

She planted a folded note, carefully crafted to look like it had been hastily hidden. “His increasing paranoia, the late-night demands on his staff, the security upgrades—he knows he’s vulnerable. Now we give him a face for his fears.”

“Ronan here,” the comm crackled. “Maintenance crew just pulled into the garage. Earlier than expected.”

“We’re almost done. Work the timeline,” Axel ordered, helping Olivia arrange the final pieces of evidence. A misplaced document here, a shifted photo frame there—tiny details designed to suggest someone had been searching the office. “Olivia?”

She stepped back, surveying their work. “It’s perfect. Not enough for him to call security, but enough to trigger his existing paranoia. By the time he finds the USB ...”

“He’ll be primed to see exactly what we want him to see.” Axel allowed himself a moment of admiration.

“Driscoll’s here.” Izzy’s voice crackled with urgency through the comms. “Black Mercedes just pulled into his reserved spot. He’s early.”

Axel thought through their exit strategy. No way they’d get out of the building without Driscoll, or his security detail, seeing them. “We’re not going to make it out of the building. Kenji? Zara? We need a hideout on this floor.”

“You’ve got two minutes, max,” Deke cut in. “He’s already in the elevator.”

They raced out of the office, Axel taking a final sweep of the space. Everything looked exactly as it had—except for their carefully placed breadcrumbs. He eased the door shut behind them and they sprinted across the large suite and across the hall.

“He’s in the lobby,” Zara hissed. “The office next door is empty. Electronic lock is inactive. Go.”

“Copy that.” Axel motioned to Voss and Olivia to move.

He prayed, hard, that the door was indeed unlocked.

The keypad was, thankfully, blank. He eased his sidearm out of its holster and opened the door. Silence.

He ushered Olivia and the Agency woman inside.

“I’m coming to you,” Deke announced over comms. “You’re gonna need the extra backup.”

“Copy that.” Axel cracked the door just before Deke appeared at the door to the stairs.

How such a big man could move so quietly, he’d never know. An instant later, Deke was inside, too.

Axel pressed against the wall of the darkened adjacent office, Olivia and Voss beside him, Deke positioned himself on the other side of the doorway. Through the thin partition, they could hear Driscoll approaching his door. The distinctive beep of his security system disengaging.

Through the crack in the door, Axel watched Driscoll enter his office. For several long moments, there was only the sound of methodical movement.

Axel felt Olivia’s slight tension beside him. This was the moment they’d planned for—Driscoll discovering their carefully orchestrated scene.

Then, “Someone’s been in here!” Driscoll’s voice had taken on the edge they’d been counting on. The first seeds of paranoia taking root.

“Psychology can be the deadliest weapon in the arsenal,” Olivia whispered. “You just have to know exactly where to aim.”