Page 12 of Dangerous Mission

During the summer, he would go with her to the self-defense classes. They would be partners so that they could learn each other’s weaknesses and work to fix them.

“Well, then she might be a keeper. The biters are the best.”

“This conversation is heading down the wrong path. Are you going to send a clean-up crew?”

“After what happened earlier, the whole team, except for Grim, is heading to DC. She’s on a special project. Lock up and send me the address, and I’ll take care of it. Orion reported that the girl who was taken was trafficked by the Karva. Last year, she was sold to the guy she was out to dinner with. She still hasn’t given up the man's name. All she wants is to go home. Even if we track the man down, the organization will figure out how to take him out. And I wonder if that’s already happened, since this hacker is missing.” Xavier paused. “I’m going to send you coordinates to my hunting cabin in the mountains. Nobody knows about the place. When we figure out what she got herself into, she can come back.”

“Thanks. I owe you.”

Xavier chuckled. “You’ll get the bill. I’m enjoying working for you trust fund babies. It will help fund the laser sensors I want to add to my beach house.” The line went dead.

Cy had told Axel he’d tried to pay Xavier after he helped save his sister and Lucy, but the mercenary wouldn’t take his money. The man had a hard exterior but seemed to have a soft side.

Axel pulled Terri outside and locked the door behind them.

“Are the police coming?” she asked.

He shook his head. The closer he looked, the more he noticed the worry on her face. Without thinking, Axel pulled her against his chest. Terri didn’t fight him and rested her head against his shoulder. For a second, everything in the world disappeared. She pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes then leaned forward, and their lips almost touched. In the distance, a dog barked, pulling them out of the fog.

Terri shoved his chest and stepped back. “What are we going to do?”

“Xavier is sending a team. They will look for your friend. Let’s go.”

“We need to stay and help.”

He shook his head. “No, we’re heading to a safe house.” Before she could deny his request, he reminded her about her promise.

Axel hoped they would both survive being thrown together at Xavier’s cabin. He wasn’t sure if she would stab him in his sleep.

Terri

Terri glancedat the clock in the large kitchen. She was pretty sure the house was bigger than her dad’s five-million-dollar fishing cabin, which surprised her because Axel had informed her that they were going to a cabin in the woods. She’d thought the place would be a tiny, one-bedroom place with a wood-burning stove, not a five-thousand-square-foot log cabin with large windows giving a perfect view over the mountains. The house was beautiful. Unlike her modern black-and-white kitchen, the cabin felt like a farmhouse with its deep-cherry cabinets.

When they’d gotten to the cabin, she took a shower and tried to fall asleep but failed, probably because she was overly tired. So she came down to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee and sit on the patio. Terri couldn’t remember the last time she’d put her life on hold and took a peaceful vacation.

Most of her travels were tied to what her father wanted. If he found out she was going somewhere for a vacation, he turned it into a mission to make him look better. Her dad wasn’t a bad person. He wanted to do good in the world. And the family had to sacrifice for that.

“Can I join you?” Axel’s deep voice came from behind her.

“As long as you know how to make coffee using the contraption on the counter.” Terri either used the Keurig at her house or hit the Starbucks in the lobby of her condo.

“I’m not even sure Xavier would know how to use this.” Axel pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen. “Found the instructions.”

She couldn’t help but watch him work in the kitchen. It was a little distracting, especially since he didn’t have a shirt on. When he turned, she saw the scars down his back. They crisscrossed each other. There were so many that she wasn’t even sure she could count them all. A question about what had happened was on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t know if it would offend him.

“So this is Xavier’s home. He’s the mercenary you mentioned earlier, right? But I thought you were in the navy.”

Axel didn’t answer her right away. Instead, he put coffee grounds into the machine, flipped it on, then turned toward her. His gray eyes were light in the morning sun. “Iamin the navy. Your father came to my commander to ask if I could come to DC for a while.”

He ran a hand through his hair, which she thought was a little long for someone in the military, but Hex had mentioned he was a SEAL. Maybe they had different protocols.

“But the last time one of our teammates was pulled to a different mission, it didn’t go as planned. Xavier works for the government as a private contractor. He’s also good friends with my commanding officer. Since I can’t use my team for this mission, I’m relying on him.”

“Don’t put this on me. I wasn’t the one who pulled you from your team. The couple-line note you left me years ago was enough for me to know you never wanted to speak to me again. So I never reached out. My parents should’ve known better. For some reason, my father thinks you can control me, but the thing is I will never let anyone completely control me. So we should think about getting someone else to guard me. Why can’t one of Xavier’s men come here? Then you can go back to yourteamand not think about me again.”

Terri’s heart was racing. She hated how he could cause her to feel so many emotions. Feelings she’d locked away years ago rushed to the surface. Her words didn’t match how she felt. She didn’t want Xavier’s team to watch her. She wanted Axel, but she knew he didn’t feel the same as her.

Axel glanced out the side window. “Leaving you in the care of someone else is what I should do, because we both know my being here is bound to blow up. The problem is I can’t leave if you’re in danger. Xavier's team is good. He has this house hidden in the woods, and all this glass is bulletproof. The doors are steel enforced. The door near the back leads to an underground tunnel. And I’ve found two panic rooms. If I had to guess, I’d say the basement had more guns than our armory at the base. Xavier is the best mercenary. But I’m not leaving.”

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