Page 34

EIGHTEEN

PAUL

I smeared the last of the camouflage paint on my face, and the rest of the guys did the same.

Concealing our identities had become a necessary part of every mission.

It made everything more difficult, but gone were the good old days when the internet was dial-up and social media hadn’t been thought of.

Nicole strapped her GoPro to her chest and inched toward the door of the SUV we had borrowed. We couldn’t risk being followed again.

“You’re documenting this?” I checked the clip of my gun.

“Of course. Do you know how much is missed by the human eye? Besides, if something big happens, I have my next story.” She hopped out. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“Hey,” I stepped closer and folded my arms across my bulletproof vest, “stay behind me, keep your head on a swivel, and if I tell you stay back, stay back.”

“I know.” She rolled her eyes as she pushed in the earpiece we gave her. “I told you before, this isn’t my first rodeo.” At my warning look, she made a face. “Paul, I’ve worked with soldiers before.”

“Maybe, but you haven’t worked with Blackstone.”

“Hate to break it to ya, Ace, but I’ve worked with some pretty elite teams. I promise I got this.” She smiled at me then raised her fingers and ran them down my painted neck then stroked them across the tops of her cheeks, smearing the paint across her own face. “Hooah!”

“Hooah,” I muttered as she left to join Mark.

Cole came up next to me. “No one would fault you if you wanted to hang back.” I shot him a crazed look. He chuckled lightly. “I figured. Remember, comb through everything?—”

“Because somewhere there’s something to point you in a direction.” I slapped his shoulder. “I got this, brother, I promise.”

“I know you do.” He walked with me over to the others.

“All right, boys,” Nicole cleared her throat, “and girls,” he acknowledged her.

“We all know what our jobs are. Let’s get in and out in under ten minutes.

The moment we enter the property, start your watches.

If anything goes wrong and we get separated, we know where to meet up. Copy?”

“Copy,” we all said in unison.

He signaled for us to approach the place, and we spread out with our rifles raised and eyes constantly scanning the area.

John and I took the side entrance while Mark and Cole took the driveway, and Keith and Mike took the back yard.

Nicole was behind John, and I gave him a nod that we were clear to enter.

She tapped his arm to signal she was ready.

I bent low and moved across the straw-like grass then pressed my back flush to the house.

The others followed, and once they were with me, I tried the handle and felt it was locked.

I used my shoulder and carefully broke the lock from the wall.

We moved inside, and after a quick glance around the house, I felt as though I’d stepped back in time.

Talya’s face was in several of the photos that lined the wall.

It was like a kick to the heart. I hadn’t had time to process her death, and I knew that would have to be dealt with at some point.

I stopped short, and John ran into me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him follow my line of sight to the baby photo of my son.

It suddenly dawned on me how much I’d missed.

If only the circumstances had been different. It was hard to drag my eyes away.

“What a cutie,” Nicole whispered behind us.

I snapped out of it and shoved my sorrow down as I moved deeper into the house.

It appeared they’d left in a hurry. There was a half glass of juice on the counter, along with a baby bowl and spoon in the sink.

Diapers were scattered by the back door, and a tiny sock lay on the floor in the corner.

That tiny sock got under my skin like a punch to the gut.

Then I smelled her, and my body locked in place as I searched for the source.

A familiar sweater hung on a peg next to me.

I picked it up and held it close to my face so I could drink in her scent.

I closed my eyes and fought all the memories it unlocked inside my head.

When I opened them again, I saw Nicole watching me, and I quickly tossed it aside and moved on.

“All clear in the bedrooms,” Cole said softly through the radio. “Moving toward you guys.”

As I turned to exit the kitchen, I caught sight of a photo propped against the windowsill above the sink.

I picked it up and studied it carefully.

It was of Talya, and she held my son. Her face looked a little fuller, and there was a small, raised scar along her jawline that hadn’t been there when I knew her.

She had tiny lines at the corners of her beautiful brown eyes.

I moved my attention to my son, and a lump built in my throat.

Nicole was suddenly by my side. “That had to be taken this month. Look at the newspaper.” She pointed to the background. “That story was printed only a few weeks ago.”

Well, shit, she was right.

The photo had been taken in the room where we stood, so I turned and looked to see where she’d been standing. I stood in front of the wall by the back door and held the photo up as if I were taking it myself. Then I lowered it, moved it up again, then lowered it again.

Nicole’s voice came from behind me. “What do you see?”

“It’s what I don’t see that interests me.

” The prize becomes fish food circled back in my mind from when Nicole shared what Rafael had said.

Cole and Mike joined us. “I think I might know where they went.” I pointed to the yellow foam keychain in the photo then moved the photo and showed them it was now gone from the hook.

“ Rayo de Sol II ,” I read from the tag.

“Any idea where the closest marina is?” Mark asked, and John held up his phone and nodded like he found it.

“Let’s move,” Cole ordered and headed back to the SUV. I pocketed the photo as I ran from the house.

The marina was twenty minutes away, and it gave me time to recheck myself as I sat in the back. I needed my head on straight. I pretended I didn’t notice Nicole as she checked her phone every few minutes.

Stress ate away at me, and I closed my eyes and leaned my head on my propped-up arm.

I never imagined myself ready to be a father, but that meant nothing now.

I knew I’d have endless support and love from everyone at Shadows.

Still, it was a lot to process. I wanted to pull out the photo and study every line and curve of their faces but couldn’t risk Nicole seeing. She was anything if not observant.

Of course, the most important questions were who killed Talya and where my son was.

I was ready to kill. A bullet wouldn’t be enough for whoever took the mother of my child from me—from us.

I gave in and remembered how she felt under my touch and how much I craved her body on mine.

Years ago, I’d come to know that there could be no future for her and me.

Her being from a prominent Cartel family and me with my job.

Her face came to me, then suddenly it wasn’t Talya anymore.

It was Nicole looking up at me from under the sheets.

My eyes popped open, and I blinked a few times, then squeezed them tightly shut again as my head was a jumbled mess of confusion.

“Hey,” a hand slid over my arm and squeezed it, “we’re here,” Nicole said softly.

I looked at her and forced away the memory that still clung to my subconscious.

“We’re here,” she repeated. Her phone vibrated at that moment, and she looked down at it and her mouth gaped.

“I need to take this.” She rushed out of the SUV and moved a good fifteen feet from the rest of the guys.

What I found more interesting was she made sure she kept her back to us.

I jumped out, and John handed me a ball hat.

“You good, buddy?”

“Yeah.” I started to check my gear. We wouldn’t be carrying our rifles into the marina, just our handguns. I snagged my bag from the SUV then Nicole turned around and I read her lips.

“—no right to speak to me that way. I’m doing everything you asked and—” She moved her hand to cover her mouth, and I missed the rest of what she said. John came and stood next to me. His expression told me he was worried about how I was handling everything.

“Who’s Nicole speaking to?”

John shrugged. “Probably a friend. You sure you’re good?” he asked as I closed the car door rather hard.

“Yeah, all good.” I wondered who Nicole really had been talking to, I didn’t think it was a friend.

“All right,” Cole jogged over, and we gathered around him, “entrance is here, and the boat slip for Rayo de Sol II is number twenty-six. Same groups as before. Paul, you guys head right to the slip and see if the boat’s there, Mark and I will gather info from the staff, while Mike and Keith, you guys go talk to the locals.

Let’s go. Nobody does anything until we know what we’re up against.”

Nicole hurried over and fell into step with John and me. “Good call?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah.” She seemed off, and John glanced at me, but let it go. One thing at a time.

The marina was a bit rundown in spots, but the dock itself was high tech and up to date.

I spotted a young kid, maybe sixteen or seventeen, spraying off an expensive looking catamaran. The moment he saw us, he went for his radio.

“Please,” I held up a hand and spoke Spanish, “we’re looking for someone, and I promise it isn’t you.”

“Until it is,” he huffed and turned off the hose. He tossed it down at his feet. “Americans, yeah?” I nodded. “Let me guess. You’re looking for slip twenty-six?”

His words made my chest squeeze to the point of pain. “We are.”

“Well, like I said to the other guys, I don’t?—”

I shifted my weight on my heels. “Other guys?”