Chapter 23

January 21st

10:32 A.M.

"I wishwe could have stayed in our bubble a little longer," Scarlett said as she took Tate's offered hand and they strolled toward Prey's building.

Yesterday had been perfect, everything she needed, and she wasn't ready for it to end. A vacation, several weeks away from the real world, where it was just her and Tate, getting to know one another, exploring each other's bodies, that's what she craved. The downtime was desperately needed. The last two weeks had been beyond rough, and both her physical and psychological health depended on time when all she had to worry about was relaxing.

But unfortunately, time was not a luxury they had right now.

Between Raul Castillo and the mole at Prey, there was no way she could just check out and leave everyone else to handle things.

If her team was in danger then she was going to be there, doing whatever it took to make sure nobody ever got their hands on the Reactivator.

"Me too, sweetheart," Tate said, his gaze constantly roaming the street. Saying he was against the idea of her being there would be a gross understatement. There was no doubt in her mind that he had been about a heartbeat away from sending her away to a place only he knew the location of and keeping her there until this whole mess was resolved. It was only his promises to her that they would face things together from here on out that had stopped him.

If his team had been able to take leave, she was pretty sure the two of them would already be on a plane by now, heading off to some unknown location.

Since that wasn't a possibility, she would stay with him at least until the mole was identified and in custody and Raul had been apprehended. There was no point in going to a safe house since the mole would be able to find the location, same thing with staying at a hotel. So, they'd decided she may as well just stay with Tate. If she was at Prey, she'd be sticking close to someone she trusted, otherwise she'd be with Tate, with some of his team watching over his place.

Not a perfect system, but the best they could do under the circumstances.

It was quiet in the Prey building, and they headed through to the conference room that had been set up specifically to work on this problem. Eagle was in there, along with Fox and the guys, and two of her teammates. With a mole in the building, there was no way to hide what they were doing, their best bet was to keep everything out in the open and hope that it caused the mole to slip up.

"How are you?" Cassie asked, hurrying over to wrap her in a hug.

"I"m okay, better than I was," she assured her friend as she returned the younger woman's embrace. Even though she hadn"t wanted to, she'd told them all everything. Including about the drug she'd been given. Since Rocco and his team had been there and seen firsthand what had been given to her it wasn't like it was some sort of secret. Rocco and the guys had been very sweet. In the hospital, she'd been embarrassed to see them, but they had all come and hung out with her for a while, treating her completely normally and she loved them for it.

"We're going to figure this out," Eagle vowed as he, too, came and gave her a hug.

The man might be her boss, but she didn"t see him all that often and Scarlett was completely in awe of the man. In the special ops community, he was like some sort of legend, and she would be grateful every day for the rest of her life that he had thought her worthy enough to work for Prey.

"Thanks for believing in me," she whispered, a little embarrassed that tears were blurring her vision.

"I know you, Scarlett," Eagle said, pulling back to look down at her. "And I never doubted the kind of person that you are. I"m sorry you got caught up in a mess because I dropped the ball and hired someone who betrayed us all. I promise you that I will make sure you don't get hurt again."

"It's not your fault, Eagle," she assured him, but from the look in his eyes, it was clear he didn"t believe her. Prey was definitely a family and Eagle saw himself as the head of that family—which he absolutely was—and he took that responsibility very seriously.

Ella's phone rang. "That's Lucy," she announced.

"She's on a plane going to collect more of the plant she used to base the healing part of our drug on," Cassie informed her.

"She's on a plane, heading off somewhere on her own?" she repeated, panic thrumming through her. Right now, she wanted her friends here, close, and safe. They had no idea how invested Raul or the mole would be in attempting to follow through on their initial plans. There was a chance they would just give up, cut their losses, and accept they weren"t going to get their hands on the Reactivator. Or they could double down their efforts and do whatever it took to get it.

Doing whatever it took to get it meant she wasn't the only one in danger.

"Don't worry, the pilot is skilled, he won"t let her get hurt," Cassie soothed.

"Here, check in on her yourself," Ella offered, holding out her phone.

Scarlett's hand shook as she took the phone, but Tate's presence beside her was solid and steady. "Hey, Luce," she said as she saw her friend smiling back at her on the screen.

"I wish I was there to give you a huge hug," Lucy said.

"As soon as you get back the four of us are going to spend an entire day together. Spa, facials, massages, manicures, the whole works. Lunch, more than we can eat, and we're going to talk and laugh, and I"m warning you now, I might cry too," she said, tears already blurring her vision again. She loved these women, they were the sisters she'd always wanted, and she wished she hadn"t doubted them, not even for a second. Of course, they wouldn't think the worst of her. They loved her, had always had her back, and she had theirs, too. Forever.

Lucy laughed and the phone moved with her as she did so.

As it did, Scarlett caught a glimpse of the pilot's hands as he flew the small plane.

There was a scar around the man's wrist, a tattoo had been inked over the marks.

A chain of infinity symbols.

No.

It couldn't be.

The world began to spin around her.

The phone fell from her hand.

When her knees buckled it was only Tate's quick actions, wrapping an arm around her waist, that kept her from hitting the floor.

How was that possible?

Surely, she had to be wrong.

Had to be.

There could be no other explanation.

"Scarlett, you okay?" Ella asked as she retrieved her phone.

Snatching the phone, she stared at Lucy, willing this not to be true because if it was, there was a chance her friend was in danger. "Show me the pilot," she demanded.

"Huh? Scarlett, what's?—?"

"Please," she said, cutting Lucy off.

Her friend looked confused, but she shifted the phone slightly so the camera picked up the man's face.

The bottom fell out of her world in that moment.

"Sweetheart, you"re scaring me," Tate said, the arm around her waist tightening.

Just drawing air into her lungs was an effort right now, let alone getting out the words she needed to say.

How could her life keep getting worse?

Just when she thought that things were looking up this happened. Another betrayal. She was alive, she had Tate, she had her Prey family, she knew she was going to be so surrounded by people she trusted that there was no chance anyone would get to her and hurt her.

Only now, life had delivered her the most devastating of blows.

Gripping the phone in one hand, her other held onto Tate's forearm, needing him more than ever now that she knew how deeply she'd been betrayed by the only person she thought would never do that to her.

The pilot's eyes met hers, understanding flowed between them, then the next thing she knew an alarm began to sound in the plane carrying Lucy and Zander, Scarlett's supposedly dead twin brother.

"What"s happening?" Lucy asked, panic in her voice and the view on Ella's phone shifted to the ceiling as Lucy's phone moved, the camera no longer capturing the face of the person who for the first thirteen years of her life had been the only thing keeping her going.

"We're going down," the pilot's voice spoke far too calmly considering what he'd just said.

"Lucy, whatever happens, don't trust him," Scarlett screamed. "That's Zander, my brother. He's supposed to be dead. If he's there then you're not safe."

Those were the last words she spoke before the sound of the plane hitting the ground filled the room, leaving all of them standing there in horrified silence.

Even if Lucy survives the plane crash, she's still trapped with a man who might be a threat to her safety in the second book in the action packed and emotionally charged Prey Security: Athena Team series!

Fighting for Lucy (Prey Security: Athena Team #2)