Page 10 of Dangerous Mission

Right there was the reason she wanted to scream. Since she was a small kid, she’d had to live by a different set of rules for her dad.When will I get to live my life or do what I want?The term “Money doesn’t buy happiness” was so true. Money made her life easier, but it didn’t mean she was happy or didn’t have to worry about other problems.

“You would never understand.” Terri sighed and rested her head against the couch. “Furthermore, you can’t come back into my life and think you know me. I’m going to bed.” She got up from the couch and headed toward the double doors leading to the master bedroom. She didn’t care if his stuff was inside.

Axel said her name as the door clicked closed.

Next to the bed was a green bag, and a white shirt peeked over the top. Blood had stained her white blouse. She ripped it off then grabbed his white shirt and a pair of his gym shorts. Even though Terri was six feet tall, his clothes engulfed her size-zero frame. She rolled the shorts so that they wouldn’t fall.

When she climbed into the bed, she knew she’d made a huge mistake. It smelled like him. Trying to distract herself from his woodsy scent, she pulled out her phone and flipped TikTok open. Terri tried to post every day, but when she couldn’t make content, she used a draft she’d made. After posting a dance video, she thumbed to her DMs.

The woman from the store had sent her a DM from her and her mom.I told her I met you today.

She clicked back on the woman’s page and thumbed through the content. She did cartoon paintings in neon colors, and Terri fell in love with the woman’s artwork. Even though the paintings didn’t match her home decor, she bought a couple. After she finished her purchase, she added one to the green screen feature in TikTok and posted a quick photo. Terri winced. Her eyes were bloodshot, but at the moment, she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was help the woman. Immediately the video took traction, and she flipped back to her DMs.

Terri:Thank you for helping. I can’t wait to see you and your mother again. Maybe we can do lunch, and you can bring me the drawings I purchased in person.

She didn’t expect an immediate reply, so she scrolled through a few pimple-popping videos. She hadn’t even realized how much time had gone by until a DM pulled her attention from the videos. She clicked over to it.

Unknown person:You took something that belonged to me. Now I took something which belonged to you.

Her stomach dropped as she worried about what the person meant. When she dialed Hex’s number, he didn’t answer. Terri climbed out of bed, threw her shoes on, and walked into the living room. The door on the other side was shut, and she sighed, knowing Axel couldn’t hear her. It was close to four in the morning when she walked out the door.

As she rode the elevator down, she ordered an Uber. When she stepped into the lobby, she tried Hex again, but he didn’t answer. The man never seemed to sleep, and he sure as hell always picked up her calls.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she rode in the back seat to Hex’s small home. Leaving in the middle of the night to go to his house hadn’t been the best idea. But she was too damn stubborn to ask for help, especially from Axel.

When the car stopped outside Hex’s house, she got out and walked up the cobbled sidewalk. He’d given her a key a few months back. She started to push it into the lock, but the door swung open.

The farther she walked into the house, the more she knew something was off. When she got to Hex’s office, she panicked. Next to Hex’s chair were splotches of blood leading toward the back of the house. She followed the trail of blood out the back door, but he wasn’t at the end of the trail. She ran back inside, and on his desk sat his keys and phone. She knew the DM earlier was about Hex. She could only assume the traffickers had taken him as payback for April.

Axel

Axel sighedas he heard the doors to the master bedroom open and the clicking of Terri’s shoes across the marble floor. He’d figured she would try to leave in the middle of the night, so he’d left the bedroom door cracked.

After the hotel room door clicked closed, he grabbed his keys and headed out. He could easily throw her over his shoulder and stick her in the room, but she would try to escape again. When Terri fixated on a task, she wouldn’t drop it. And he wanted more information on that woman, April.

Orion had sent him some information. April had been kidnapped by the Karva Organization five years ago and put up for sale. The Karva Organization was the largest human trafficking group in the world. The military had been working to take down their auctions, but the criminal empire was backed by so much money that it was impossible to stop them. A couple of years ago, Axel had heard they made eighty-five percent of their money from ransomware attacks. As long as people kept paying to have the stolen data returned, the organization could go on.

When Axel stepped into the hall, the elevator doors closed, and he watched the numbers go down. He jumped into the second elevator and rode down. When it reached the ground floor and the doors opened, Terri was already exiting the front door. She didn’t have a car, so she would have to call an Uber. Axel jogged out the side door to his SUV and pulled out his spare keys. He’d paid the valet extra for his spot.

The front of the hotel was dead. Axel wondered for a second if this was what it was like to work for Xavier Smith. His mercenary company did bodyguard jobs all the time. Angel, one of the women on his team, bitched about how the clients could be a pain in her ass. Now he knew what she meant.

A red Honda Accord pulled up, and Terri got in. When the car pulled out, Axel followed. He figured she was going back to her condo or her apartment. Her double life made his head hurt. When they’d dated, Terri always came up with new adventures.

In junior year of high school, she’d wanted to spend time at the homeless shelter, helping out, but her mom and dad said it was too dangerous. Axel’s parents never cared what he did, as long as it didn’t look bad for the family. He could go months without seeing his parents because they were filming new movies. He and his sisters had nannies growing up, which made it easier for him to join Terri on the adventures she came up with. To go to the homeless shelter, Terri hired a makeup artist to change their looks. After they sat through three hours of that, they went to the homeless shelter and helped for the day.

He didn’t miss the stack of hundreds she took from her purse or how she slipped them to all the moms. Terri had the kindest heart. He winced, knowing he’d broken it years ago. At the time, it seemed like the smartest thing to do, but then again, not many eighteen-year-olds made the best decisions.

Looking back, he didn’t regret joining the navy. His regret was not talking to Terri. Instead, he’d sent a fucking note.

The red Honda finally stopped in front of a small home. Axel parked a few houses back and watched as she walked up the driveway. President Fugate had given him a folder of information on his daughter—another reminder of how her life would never fit in with his. Axel needed to stay off the radar as much as possible. Hell, he spent a lot of time overseas, so having a relationship was hard.

The past few years, he stopped even dating, but when he was home, it was lonely. Since his teammates were starting to settle down, it was becoming even more difficult to spend nights alone. He and Cy often spent time at the gym or swimming. But since Cy married Lucy in Vegas, they didn’t have as much time for each other. Casper was the same. He spent his free time with his fiancée and daughter. Ginger wanted nothing to do with anyone outside of work. Doc worried about Yara and guarded the woman with his life. Volunteer work at the youth center took up Doc’s extra time. Which left Axel alone. He shook his head, trying to get the thoughts out.

Axel watched as Terri pushed the door to the house open. With her inside, he drove up to the front of the house.

Axel reached for his phone. Cy might be asleep.

When he pulled it out, it vibrated, and he stared down at the blocked number. Telemarketers were a pain in the ass, but they didn’t call at four thirty in the morning.

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