Page 6 of The Bait

No messages, no phone calls, no contact.

And Yunho never went silent.

He was always awake, always online, always one heartbeat away.

Asher had sent him a message for Memorial Day, July 27th. Yunho had served in Korea’s military, after all. And while Yunho didn’t have fond memories of that time, he appreciated Asher remembering. They’d expected Asher’s phone to ring at any moment, because that’s what Yunho did.

The call never came.

Then Asher sent him a text, then another and another. All went unanswered. Harry had hoped when they’d woken the next day there’d be an explanation... but no. Asher already wanted to get on the next plane to see Yunho.

But then Shaw and Porter turned up with news of three men, at least one who was Croatian, asking about access that bordered on their property.

And they knew then that something was definitely wrong.

It was also a very blunt reminder of how reliant they’d become on Yunho’s intel.

He had ears and eyes on everything. Including on Shaw and Porter. Harry and Asher would normally get a quick heads-up phone call to alert them that the town’s good policemen were on their way.

So it was a complete surprise when it was Porter who’dalerted them this time, and not Yunho. And the horror of hearing of a possible enemy threat from Shaw made Harry feel very uneasy.

Yunho should have seen them coming. The fact he didn’t meant something wasverywrong.

So they’d boarded the first flight to Bangkok and were on their way to Yunho’s island.

Harry was scared of what they’d find.

Scared of what it would do to Asher.

Yunho was like an older brother to Asher, or a father. The only family he had. He’d saved Asher’s life all those years ago, and in turn, Asher had saved his. They’d been working ops together ever since.

Yunho was the eyes and ears of their team; Asher was the feet on the ground. They were unbeatable. Untraceable.

Until now.

The island came into view and Asher got to his feet, ready. Harry brought the boat around, slowed right down, and edged into the private dock like he’d done a dozen times in the last two years.

He hadn’t even cut the engine or tied the boat off before Asher was up on the dock, running toward the main house.

Goddammit.

“Asher, wait!” Harry called, but it was useless. He was gone.

Harry hooked the mooring line around the bollard and chased after him. They had no guns, no weapons, and Asher ran in there without any intel whatsoever.

And Harry could see as he cut across the manicured lawn to the house that something was wrong.

The glass sliding door had been left open, sheercurtains blowing in the wind. Lights were on, a lamp knocked over, and it was far, far too quiet.

Yunho had never not met them on the dock, so that in itself wasn’t good. But when Harry ran inside, it was pretty apparent as to why.

Narong, one of the men who worked for Yunho, was on the floor, dead. A dark pool of dried blood radiated from his head like a macabre halo.

Harry didn’t need to check to see how cold he was. He could easily determine he’d been dead for over forty-eight hours. Maybe sixty hours.

Too long.

Asher came running down the stairs. “No one. Nothing,” he said, not even stopping before he ran toward the back of the room. Harry knew where he was going, and he was quick to follow.

---