Page 26 of Lethal Illusion (Six Points Security #8)

Midnight in the emergency room was not where Jackson had expected the day to lead him.

He stared straight down at the sterile white tiles because the bright fluorescent lights hurt his eyes.

After hours of being poked and prodded, the doctors had finally discharged him, though he’d yet to leave the hospital.

Last he’d heard, Rosario was on the third floor getting her broken nose reset.

Considering that was the worst of her injuries, she’d gotten off fairly lucky.

The waiting room door swung open, and Austin Flint strode inside, a Styrofoam cup of coffee in each hand. He looked pissed, which was to be expected, given their current situation.

“Don’t get up,” he said, and Jackson planted his ass back onto the cracked vinyl seat. He knew not to mess with the boss when he was in a mood.

Jackson uttered a simple “thanks” when Austin handed him one of the cups. He sampled the coffee—it tasted awful and was only lukewarm, but he needed the caffeine boost so he drank it anyway. “Any word on Garrett?”

“He’s still in surgery. Last I heard it’s going to be awhile before he gets out.” Austin drank a swig of his coffee and grimaced. “Christ, that’s awful. That’s what I get for buying coffee out of a vending machine.”

He set the cup on one of the few spots on the waiting room table that wasn’t littered with magazines. “How are you holding up?”

Jackson shrugged and fought not to wince. “I’ve been through worse.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

Yeah, he knew that. He just hated acknowledging his own injuries. It reminded him of his own mortality, and that was a subject he’d rather not think about. “Possible concussion, cracked ribs. Six stitches to take care of whatever caught my right side. Other than that, I’m fresh as a daisy.”

Austin chuffed out a breath. “Have you talked with Essie yet?”

“Yeah.” It was the first thing he’d done when he reached a place with cell phone reception.

He’d told the love of his life not to worry, that he’d be just fine, but that hadn’t deterred her from booking the first flight to North Carolina.

It was totally unnecessary, but he loved her all the more because she’d done it without hesitation. “She should be here in a few hours.”

“Good. Text me her flight information, and I’ll send one of the guys to the airport to pick her up.”

“Thanks, boss.” It was nice to work for a company that treated their employees with respect. “Any word on Navarre and Sloane?”

Austin shook his head, frustration evident on his face. “Nothing yet. We’ve got a team on scene trying to piece together what happened.”

“It was well planned out. They knew we were coming.”

“Yeah. I know. Now we have to figure out how they got that information.”

The possibility of Six Points having a leak chilled Jackson’s blood. “How many people knew about the op?”

“Aside from the agents assigned to the job? Nobody.”

“Did Sierra’s team get tagged as well?”

“No, only you.”

The news alleviated some of Jackson’s concerns, because that meant the call hadn’t come from inside the house. If it had, those assholes wouldn’t have fucked up by attacking the wrong target. “Maybe Sierra has a disgruntled employee.”

“It’s always possible,” Austin said. “Or somebody within her inner circle was offered a boatload of money. Larissa and Nina are checking to see if any of them recently received an unusual deposit in their bank account or splurged on something expensive. If nothing hits, they’ll branch out to emails and text messages.

It’s only a matter of time before they find the rat. ”

Navarre and Sloane didn’t sleep well that night, which really wasn’t surprising.

They’d used the alarm on Navarre’s watch to mark the shift changes; Sloane dozed until midnight, and then he’d napped until the distant rustle of raccoons woke him a few minutes before his alarm was set to chime at three.

He’d been wide awake ever since, worrying about the rest of their team, wondering who’d hired those goons to kidnap Sierra, while listening for signs of danger outside their shelter.

Anything to keep his mind off the sexy woman sleeping beside him.

He couldn’t see her—the glow stick died hours ago—but oh, he could feel her, lush and warm in his arms, her hand resting on his chest and one of her legs twined with his. Every so often, she breathed out a sigh that bordered on sexual, and it damn near drove him wild.

She moved in her sleep, her hand trailing down from his chest to his abs, and his body leapt to attention. A little lower, to the waistband of his pants, and half of the blood in his brain shot down to his groin.

Nothing good could come from this , he reminded himself again and again as he gripped her wrist and slid her hand back up to his chest. As soon as he let go, her hand started to drift down again, leaving him no choice but to keep hold of her wrist so she wouldn’t do something they might regret.

The hoot of a nearby owl provided a much-needed distraction.

The forest was alive with chatter, chirps, squeals, and grunts, which was good, because the first warning sign of an approaching predator—human or animal—was silence.

So far, nothing had ventured near their shelter, probably because the critters put them in the predator category.

That was fine by him. He appreciated nature, but he had no desire to interact with it.

Inevitably, his thoughts drifted to Jackson.

They were friends, roommates, brothers-in-arms. He’d served as best man in Jackson’s wedding.

The possibility that Jackson was no longer alive made his chest ache, though he held out hope that wasn’t the case.

The rental vehicle was heavily armored, which should have provided additional protection for Jackson and the others when it plunged down the ravine.

Combined with the other safety features, they stood a decent chance of walking away from the wreck on their own two feet. But until he knew for sure, he’d worry.

Outside, in the distance, an animal let out a god-awful shriek.

Sloane jerked awake. “What was that?”

“From the sound of it, some unfortunate critter became part of the circle of life.”

“Oh, God. What do you think it was?”

“I have no idea. It’s not important. Go back to sleep.”

“How am I supposed to sleep after that? What if whatever killed that poor animal comes sniffing around here?”

“If anything gets close enough to pose a danger, I’ll fill it full of holes, okay?” He brushed his fingertips up and down her arm in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “Now relax and get some sleep. It’ll be daylight before you know it.”

“I don’t know if I can. I’m wide awake now.”

“Try counting sheep.”

She snickered softly. “Sheep? Seriously? Who even does that?”

“I have no idea. It was just a suggestion. What do you normally do to get sleepy?”

A few more suggestions sprang to mind, most of them crude and highly inappropriate, but he had enough sense to keep them to himself.

“Most of the time, I read a book or watch TV, but those aren’t options out here.” She blew out an audible breath. “Maybe if you talk, it’ll help calm my nerves.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know.” She paused as if thinking it over. “How about a story from your time in the Army?”

“Those would give you nightmares.” Well, most of them would. The rest, like his suggestions, were highly inappropriate.

She shifted position, and even though he couldn’t see her in the darkness, he could feel her eyes on him.

“In that case, why did you join the military?” she asked. “Was it born from a deep-seated desire to be all you can be?”

There were so many bullshit answers he could give her, ones she’d likely accept without question.

That he’d felt a desire to serve his country, a need for purpose and belonging.

That he’d yearned for adventure within a structured environment, while learning valuable skills he could use in the civilian world.

And yeah, he supposed those were true to a certain degree, but they hadn’t been the deciding factor.

And because he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her, he offered the unvarnished truth. “I didn’t have much choice after my father disowned me.”

There were a few long moments of awkward silence before she finally spoke. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting that. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. It’s not like you had anything to do with it.”

“Yeah, but still…I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, not really.” But his mouth refused to shut the fuck up.

Guess she was going to get a story after all.

“My father was—still is—known as the Debt King of Kansas. He operates one of the largest debt collection services in the Midwest. It made him a millionaire many times over. He expected me to follow in his footsteps and take over the business when he retired.”

“I gather that wasn’t what you wanted.”

“Nope.” He stared at a tiny gap in the roof of their shelter, where a sliver of the moon was visible.

“When I was old enough, he gave me an entry-level job at the office. You know, scanning documents, running errands, stuff like that. He wanted me to work my way up the ladder like he did when he was my age. I didn’t have a problem with that…

never had a problem with working my ass off. That part of the job I enjoyed.”

“What happened to change your mind?” she asked.