Page 11 of Heartless

Serena Donavan walked into the room, and he could see the dread in her eyes. Guilt weighed heavily on Ash’s shoulders. She had happened upon the intel by chance—something he should have anticipated but hadn’t—and found out that Hawke was still alive. When he had explained the situation, she had volunteered to aid them. While he felt remorse for having her involved, he also knew they’d accomplished much more with her help.

But now they were both going to pay the piper.

“The others on the way?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You say anything to Sean yet?”

“No. He needs to hear it with everyone else. It’ll be better this way.”

He wasn’t so sure about that, but Ash didn’t argue. Since Jules was on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy, he had told his wife the truth this morning before he’d left the house. She had been supportive and had understood his reasons but agreed that the other team members might not be as generous. She didn’t know Hawke. The rest of the team had known him for years. He’d been a member of their family. When they thought he’d died, it had hurt them deeply. Had almost destroyed them. What would his reappearance do?

And what about Olivia? His guilt on that matter was tripled. What they had done to her, what he had allowed to be done, hit him square between the eyes. He had been harder on her than almost anyone else, and when he’d had the chance to make it right, to tell her the truth, he had chosen not to. Yeah, there had been reasons—good ones. That didn’t clear his conscience, though. Not by a long shot. No matter his reasons, Olivia would have every reason to hate him when she learned the truth.

Another hurdle they would have to jump was Hawke’s opinion of Olivia. Ash thought because his own emotions weren’t involved, maybe he could view things as an impartial observer, see things in a way Hawke could not. If nothing else, having Olivia and Hawke in a room together for the first time in years would definitely crack something open. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be someone’s head or heart.

Ash glanced up as the OZ team came into the room, one by one. Each operative was impressive in their own right, but as a team, he’d never seen their equal. Their success rate was phenomenal. Ash valued each of them as a co-worker and as a friend. The fact that the latter could be obliterated today was no small concern. But this could wait no longer.

Since he hadn’t given them any idea what the meeting was about, they were laughing at one of Liam’s stories about his honeymoon. He and Aubrey had just returned two days ago, and from the sound of it, they had enjoyed every moment. The contentment on Stryker’s face was a direct contrast to how he’d looked a few months back.

The rest of the team looked surprisingly content as well. Things were getting back on an even keel, and their focus was on the future. The shadow organization they were pursuing had gone deeper into the shadows, but that wouldn’t stop them. Someday, someway, they would find the head of that evil entity and end them.

If there was a ray of light in all of this mess, that was it. Hawke was bringing them a spark of hope where none had existed. But first, Ash had a fiery hell to confront.

Might as well get started.

“Have a seat, everyone.”

Ash waited until they were all seated. The room became quiet, and he noted that everyone’s expressions had changed to tense and wary. Yeah, they were picking up on the bad vibes.

Even though it was a well-known fact among them, Ash began the meeting with an explanation of sorts.

“As you know, when Option Zero first started up, we agreed that not only would we work as a team to bring down as much evil as we could, we each had our own personal agendas. That hasn’t changed and won’t change. A couple years ago, a member of the team came to me, asking a favor regarding a delicate project. After listening, I agreed. We both believed involving the rest of the team would jeopardize the project.”

“That’s not how our team works.”

The words came from Sean Donavan, and though Serena’s expression never changed, Ash saw her shoulders go rigid. Yeah, this was going to be rough.

“The argument was sound,” Ash continued. “It was a time-sensitive matter, so I agreed to the plan.”

There was silence as each of them looked at one another, trying to determine who had made this radical request.

When no one spoke up, Xavier said, “All right. So somebody’s been working on their own without us. Apparently, whoever it is, needs the team’s help now, so who was it, what’s going on, and what do we need to do?”

That was Xavier Quinn to a T—tell me the problem, and let’s get on it. If only this one were that simple.

“It wasn’t anyone in this room,” Ash said.

“What do you mean?” Gideon Wright asked. “Who else is—” He cut off, and realization flashed on his face. “It was Hawke, wasn’t it? Is that what got him killed?”

“Yes and no.”

Moving restlessly in her chair, Eve Wells sighed. “These cryptic comments are getting frustrating, Ash.”

“You’re right. But before we go any further, I want to make sure everyone understands. This was my decision, no one else’s. If you’re looking for someone to be angry with, you don’t need to go any further than me. It was my choice.”

“Since no one knew about it except you, that shouldn’t be hard,” Liam said.

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