Page 103 of Fallen Hero

Yes, that’s all I was, a possession. Tom Washington’s personal assassin. His favorite toy, yet somehow still expendable.

“If you don’t know, then why are you calling me?”

“We’ll come back to that, but only because what I have is time sensitive. Are you with your team now?”

My team.

That felt like a blade sinking into my heart. Mason, Pete, and Fallon were never my team. But last night, it felt like they were. It had felt good knowing they had my back. And the night before felt like it, too, when we worked together to save two young women. I hoped Mira and Kiara were safe and would be able to find that ever-elusive peace after trauma.

In a moment of weakness, I allowed my gaze to travel around the room. As pissed as I was at Mason, I was glad he had these men and Catarina.

I refrained from telling her they weren’t my team and never would be.

“Yeah, they’re here, why?”

“Put me on speaker. I need to talk to them.”

I’d learned that lesson once today.

“Not until you tell me why.”

“Someone’s digging around, and I need to ask them a few questions.”

Son of a bitch.

I focused on Mason but told the room at large, “Atlanta has a few questions.” I put the phone on speaker. “Go, Atlanta. But before you ask your questions, you should know Mason had the security footage pulled from the restaurant where I had my dinner with Amir. Whoever did the hack must’ve triggered the alarm.”

“Why the hell would he do that?” Atlanta spat, not hiding her anger.

Because he was an entitled asshole.

“I don’t know,” I told Atlanta. Then asked Mason, “Why’d you go behind my back?”

Mason’s jaw clenched, a clear sign he was seriously unhappy with my attitude. Not that I gave a shit what he was or wasn’t happy with at the moment. Depending on who was digging and what they were after could mean a delay in taking Jason down once and for all. It could mean years before he left the safety of Berlin again, where he’d built an empire of filth.

No, he hadn’t built it—his father had. Jason just erected the protective walls around the fortress. He bought protection from local and government authorities, had connections his father never managed. Which made him untouchable. He rarely left the city. My only chance of taking him out was when he only had a few guards with him and not the full force of the establishment.

“You know what, that doesn’t matter,” Atlanta said diplomatically. “For the last eight hours, someone’s been digging into you. You, Calista, not you, Zara. Which led them to digging into Mason and Fallon.”

“We know,” Pete said. “Or I should say, Fallon and I and the rest of my team know. We hadn’t briefed Mason and Calista yet. But it was to be expected, and whoever’s looking has hit roadblocks, and the deeper they dig, the easier it will be for us to track them.”

I narrowed my eyes on Pete. I didn’t have to ask how he knew—Shepherd Drexel was how. It was on the tip of my tongue to confirm for Atlanta they had Shep in their pocket, but for some asinine reason, my loyalty to the three wouldn’t allow me to.

“I already know who it is,” Atlanta announced. “Archie Evans.”

Jason’s guard.

Yeah, I was royally fucked. Up shit’s creek with no paddles in sight.

“Who’s Archie Evans?” Pete inquired.

“Former SBS turned scumbag protection,” I told him.

He could find out the specifics from Shep if he felt so inclined. I had bigger issues to worry about.

“There goes any hope he didn’t recognize me,” I grumbled.

It had been twenty-one years. I was hoping I’d at least have age on my side and it would take him a few minutes to figure out who I was. Time I would use to end him. Now I’d lost the element of surprise. Jason knew I was in Dubai. He knew that I knew who he was.