Page 2 of Hunted Hearts
“What’s this about?”
“You submitted a note to embassy authorities during your last month in Turkey. We have a few follow-up questions.”
His spine stiffened like a steel bar had been rammed down its length. “That was four months ago.”
An unfamiliar trace of amusement sounded in Ash’s voice. “Wheels sometimes turn a bit slow.”
Theo gritted his teeth. “Go ahead.”
“Did you read the note before handing it off?”
He snorted. “Of course I read it. How else would I know to hand it off?”
“We had to ask. You weren’t briefed on the contents.”
Theo pushed his fingers through his hair again. The strands were the longest they’d been since he got his first buzzcut in boot camp at eighteen. “I figured if someone risked slipping me a note under my espresso cup, it was serious. And it was, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Ash said. “It flagged a trafficking ring moving minors through international shipments. The investigation’s ongoing.”
Theo took a few steps to the rail that ran the length of the deck. He gripped it hard enough for the edges to dig into his palm. The pine-scented wind filled his lungs, but it did nothing to ground him.
“So why are you calling me now? I’ve got my walking papers.”
Unless this was really about Blackout. About roping him back in.
There was a beat of silence, one that was just a little too calculated.
“This is about Blackout, isn’t it?”
Across the deck, his brother’s whole body jerked as if he’d taken a bullet. His fists curled at his sides. After Denver persuaded him to stay out of the very team Denver just left, Theo wouldn’t put it past his brother to hog-tie him to keep him from going.
“Look, I’m on vacation.” It wasn’t much of a vacation to Theo, not yet. But there would be no chance in hell of getting a fishing pole in his hand if he stepped back into special ops.
At the same time, a question wormed through his mind. Wasn’t special ops the very thing he had just been missing?
“Things are breaking open on the case, and you played a pivotal role in it. If anything crosses your radar, you know how to reach us.”
Ash didn’t call to ask, beg or convince him to join Blackout. His mind had jumped ahead.
“I see.” He barely kept the note of embarrassment from his tone.
And he wasn’t sure if he felt relief flowing through his veins or the adrenaline rush he was missing out on.
The call ended without another word, and Theo dropped the phone from his ear, letting it dangle in his hand at his side.
Denver’s brows drew downward like two exclamation points, and Theo could see a lot of questions were coming at him. But before Denver said a word, the door slid open.
His brothers flooded onto the deck.
Theo glanced from face to face. “What the hell’s going on?”
Did they know about the call, the situation with the trafficked minors?
The only Malone brother who hadn’t attended the family vacation was the oldest, Carson, and that was because he just returned from his honeymoon and opted to remain in the Black Heart Security office. That left Oaks to take charge of whatever was going down.
His brother stepped forward. “A call came in.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Denver made an abrupt movement, but Theo ignored him. “What kind of call?”
