Page 22 of Dangerous Mission

“She lied—”

“But it’s what the media said. If we go by your thinking, it’s all true.”

His mouth opened then closed. “Sorry.” He ran a hand over his face. “If something happened to you on my watch, your dad would be mad. Plus, you don’t have the training.”

Terri shook her head. “Here’s the thing, Director. You have no clue what my background is. Because you wouldn’t take the time to listen to me. Yes, I spent a year modeling and continued a little while in college, but do you know what my degree is in?”

The older man’s face turned red. “No, but it doesn’t matter.”

Axel liked how Terri didn’t back down. “But I think it does. I have a degree in criminal justice. And I have logged many hours at the gun range. I’m also a certified self-defense instructor. You took one look at me and decided I wasn’t good enough. My father does the same crap but only because he thinks the world is out to kill me, not that I can’t do the job. I’m not the only person you’ve overlooked. So I have to wonder whether I should trust you. You want me to give you information when it suits you? Something about this case flagged your attention. Now you want my help, but I have to wonder whether you’re the leak. Because you’re running the trafficking program into the ground.”

“You really think that?” He slumped into a dining chair. “I’m trying to recruit for the program, but something is off. Every person who applies and accepts suddenly takes a different job. We have tons of other cases, so I can’t put agents on it. Yes, the program is failing. As for the leak…I’m not sure. Orion is the only reason I’m here. Happened to see the news about a woman getting attacked. In the background was Orion. He’s not hard to miss.”

The tall, muscular man smiled. “I told the boss I was the wrong person for the job, but nobody else was in DC. You outplay the FBI and the CIA one time, and they never forget your face.”

Axel really wanted to hear the story, but said instead, “I made a call to Xavier. He gave me a little information. The only person I told was my second-in-command.”

Orion nodded. “We think Karva has people planted in the FBI. It’s the only way they keep getting away with this. What we tell you stays with you only.”

April stepped forward. “I was taken in Moscow from my school. They branded me the night they took me and put me on a train. Two days later, I was sold for the first time. Men got bored easily and kept selling me. My last auction was six months ago in California. We were drugged during most of it, so I didn’t remember anything. Most of the time, I was drugged. The last man didn’t like the drugs because they numbed the pain for me. He liked to hear me…”

Orion growled and pulled the woman into his arms.

April didn’t try to pull away from the large man. Instead, she smiled up at him. “You’re a good man.”

Axel wanted to find the man and kill him.

“I figured as much. The restaurant gave us his information. We went to his house only six hours later. Damn warrant took too long. Everything was cleared out of his home office. His business was struck by ransomware in the morning. I have the tech team working on it, but I’m sure even if the ransom is paid, we won’t find anything.”

Terri stood with her hands on her hips. “What about Hex’s sister? He came to you, convinced that organization had taken her. Why not look into what he gave you?”

Fuck he didn’t want her to bring up Hex.

Orion glared at him.

“Hex thinks his sister is missing.”

Terri stepped forward, and Axel wrapped an arm around her before she punched the FBI director. “Sheismissing, and you wouldn’t do anything to help find her.”

“This has turned into a clusterfuck,” Director Ernest ground out. “Hex is missing. I know you guys already know that. I had eyes on him. But his sister is in witness protection. She helped take down a gang. But when they faked her death, they used Karva, hoping someone would bite on the information.”

“This is bad,” Terri mumbled. “Wait, you had someone watching him?”

Director Ernest nodded. “But my men were gassed in the van, and the video feed was cut.”

“They're going to think he knows something,” Axel said. “They wouldn’t have kept him in DC.”

“Keep me posted. I’m going to keep the conversations with my trusted men only. And, Terri, I’m sorry for assuming you were like the media made you out to be. For the record, you’ve done good work turning people in.”

“Keep us posted on any new intel, and we will do the same.” Axel wanted to get to California and work on the case. He also had a team of mercenaries to help him when he arrived back home.

Director Ernest left.

While they’d been talking, Axel’s phone had kept beeping with new notifications. He pulled it out and cursed, staring at news articles about Terri and how she really was at the scene. Someone had spotted her as she walked by the camera with the hood down. Another video showed them talking outside the restaurant.

It wouldn’t take long for Axel’s perfectly crafted world to come tumbling down. The media would love to run a story about the Burlington son who hadn’t been seen for years stepping.

A text from Commander North flashed across the screen. He wanted to speak in person. Axel had a sinking feeling his SEAL career was over.

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