She climbed into the boat, took a closer look at the dashboard, then tried the cabin door. When it opened, she took the short staircase and ducked her head into the cabin. One bed, a toilet and sink. And packed floor-to-ceiling with military MREs, jugs of water, blankets, tarps, and safety equipment.
A hard jolt of camaraderie hit her. Hix was definitely her people.
She admired his preparedness. His dedication to detail and excellence. His ingenuity and practicality. The way his mind worked fucking excited her.
No. Her thoughts cut into the thrill. Hix may be her people, but she wasn’t Hix’s.
With a new knot in her stomach, Everly jogged back up the tunnel, then the stairs. She was breathing hard by the time she reached the office, where she closed the bookshelf serving as the door.
She tuned in to the house and found it as silent as when she’d left. Everly took a minute to catch her breath and glanced over the books lining the walls. Topics ranged across a variety of subjects. Leadership, military strategy, history, modern cultures across the world, neuroscience, physical training, entrepreneurship, financial growth. More ominous titles included Covering Your Tracks in Today’s World, Living Off the Grid and Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means Necessary.
Then her gaze paused on a section that didn’t fit with the others, and the titles gripped her heart like a fist. Raising a Daughter as a Single Dad. Single Dad’s Survival Guide. One Hundred Reasons a Daughter Needs a Father. Dear Daughter, What Dad Wants You to Know.
Her throat tightened, and, dammit, the sting of tears was back.
Her phone vibrated in her hand, startling her. She took a calming breath and looked at the screen. Roman.
She answered with a hushed “Finally. What’s going on?”
“Good to hear from you too,” Ian said. Roman had obviously patched him in on the call.
“We don’t have a definitive link between the attacks and Seaver,” Roman told her, “but we have found an association between Hix and a Hezbollah-funded militant group in Honduras.”
That news made her jaw drop. Made her heart freeze over. Her immediate reaction was denial. Then she considered the source, and her heart fell to her feet. “That is seriously…unfathomable.”
“I was surprised too,” Roman said. “After meeting him and watching him with his daughter and Connelly’s people, I was leaning toward your view of the man.”
“Couldn’t that information simply be a crossed wire in intel?” she asked, searching for an explanation that matched the man she knew. “Or information planted by Seaver?”
“It could,” Roman said. “But based on all the information we have, this new connection to an organization that could be working with—or targeting—Hix, and the threat to you and the girl, we’ve decided to go ahead with the extraction.”
Panic flickered hot in Everly’s chest. “Whoa, hold on. That’s a little drastic. This girl has just suffered through two terrifying incidents. Another one could really damage her.”
“She’s lucky it will be us taking her and not the people who’ve tried over the past couple of days.”
“Wait, Roman—”
“We’ll pick you both up at the southeast corner of the property at 21:00 hours tomorrow.”
“Why so soon?”
“There have been two kidnap attempts in as many days. Whoever this is won’t stop until they have her, and without any proof of who paid for that service, we’re not going to risk her life—or yours—another day.”
“The girl is safe here.” She forced her voice low. “Let’s take a little more time to trace the money. Dig harder into Seaver’s financials. Consider the consequences here, Roman. She’s just a baby and he’s a really good father—”
“What happened to ‘Yes, sir’?” The tone of Roman’s voice cut off anything else she’d been about to say. “This is not a discussion. And you will not disobey a direct order.”
Roman’s declaration stuffed Everly back into her box. Her role as a soldier. A teammate. A Manhunter with a mission. Something shifted in her head, in her heart. They both went on lockdown as she transitioned back into her orderly life with the speed of a finger snap. But the fit wasn’t as comfortable as it had been just a couple of weeks ago.
She swallowed her fight and cleared the knot from her throat. “Yes, sir.”
“Southeast corner of the property,” Roman repeated, his tone steely. “Twenty-one hundred hours tomorrow.”
“Sir,” Everly said, “Hix is still awake at that time. And he’s put two more guards on duty round the clock.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Roman told her. “There are wind advisories. It’s the latest we can fly in before the winds kick up. I realize it may be a little harder to get her out at that time, but I also have complete faith you’ll figure out a way.”
His tone wasn’t quite sarcastic but carried a you’ve-been-successful-under-far-more-complicated-situations message. And the truth was, they both knew she could pull it off.