Lachlan said, “Surprisingly, he seemed to know quite a lot about Stingray Security and how we’re ramping up to start providing services soon.”
“He also knew that Gabrielle hired us to find you,” Sebastian said, with a hint of strain in his voice. Ike knew Sebastian hated lying to his sister, especially since they were in love now. A fact that still sat like a boulder in Ike’s gut, but it couldn’t be helped. Ike wasn’t ready to reenter the world. Not until he’d figured out why his parents’ plane had gone down.
“And he wanted to know if we’d made any progress. If we had any intel that you were alive,” Lachlan said.
“Wesley made it clear he wasn’t asking because he missed you,” Sebastian said with a sarcastic laugh. “The inquiry was directly from Galloway.”
Ike leaned forward. “He said that?”
Lachlan nodded. “Galloway wants you found, which doesn’t sit well with us.”
“Fuck, it doesn’t sit well with me either,” Ike said. The last thing he needed was his old boss putting a team in place to find him. It would be entirely against PISCO protocol to search for a civilian not considered a threat to the Palmchat Islands. But Galloway wasn’t above using the PISCOs for his whims and desires. And he was too powerful to be stopped or questioned by anyone.
Ike had learned that the hard way at the end of his first week of STORM, the Strategic Training for Ocean Region Missions used to select PISCOs. Dragged from his bed in the middle of the night, he’d been forced to dress in a wetsuit, then blindfolded as he was taken to an unknown location. His body was dumped on a concrete floor next to four others, who Ike suspected were also recruits. They were given an assignment that could only be described as treasonous.
Although he was confused by the request, he was determined to prove he had what it took to join the highly selective elite special ops team. When they dove into the sea to complete the mission, Ike refused to fail.
And he didn’t, making the grueling trek back to the abandoned warehouse only to find he wasn’t the first to arrive.
“What’s your name, son?” Galloway had demanded.
Ike hesitated as he looked past the Commanding officer to the other recruit who’d completed the mission faster than him. He’d watched as the recruit peeled the head mask of the wetsuit away, revealing wet strands of long black hair.
“Ike da Costa,” he’d responded, but his eyes never left her. She glanced over her shoulder and looked back at him. A challenge in her gaze.
“You did good. I won’t forget your efforts,” Galloway said.
“But I wasn’t first,” Ike said.
Galloway chuckled. “No one beats her. Don’t even try. You were the only one from your cohort to complete this mission. That’s the only thing that matters to me.”
Ike gritted his jaw, willing the memory of the woman to come into focus.
And when it did, he inhaled a sharp breath.
Ava.
She was there when he went through STORM. He’d asked her if she was a PISCO, which she denied.
Another memory floated to his mind.
“We’re not strangers, Ike.” She leaned closer to him, head tilted, revealing a long, graceful neck. The urge to trail kisses along her skin rose within him.
“You may know me, but I can guarantee I would never forget meeting you. If our paths had crossed before, I would remember it.”
“Maybe,” she teased, a sexy smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “If you weren’t distracted.”
So, if she hadn’t been there to train as a PISCO, why was she?
And why the fuck hadn’t he remembered her until now?
“Hey, you alright?” Sebastian asked, disrupting his thoughts.
“I will be once you make sure Galloway doesn’t have a team of PISCOs looking for me.”
Chapter 8
Britt’s hands wouldn’t stop shaking as she stared at her reflection in the ferry terminal restroom mirror. The stranger staring back at her had coffee-brown eyes, full lips, and high cheekbones with a single dimple on her right cheek. She supposed she was beautiful, despite the dark circles and gaunt hollows of exhaustion under her eyes. Two days of freedom hadn’t erased a year of captivity from that unfamiliar face.
