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“The bloke had a right arc up,” Nate said, moving in beside him.
“I think I should stay with Dare. There’s no need for a bodyguard,” Brian offered.
Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, Mr. Canada, you will be coming with me.” He turned to Chet. “Asshole, I expect a report, and before you say something that will make me put a fist through your face, check in with your handler. You’ll find everything in both these godforsaken ops has been turned over to me.”
Chet’s face went a florid red, but he simply nodded.
Apparently this Ian person was the apex predator of the group.
“Dare, we will talk soon,” Brian promised.
He ignored the man.
It was way harder to ignore Tasha as she stared at him, the others moving around her. There were tears in her eyes as Ian’s wife put an arm around her and started to lead her away.
“Wanna go watch telly in the locker room?” Nate asked. “Maybe get comfy because I think Ian’s going to yell for a long time.”
He turned and walked away. He would find a way out. Maybe not tonight, but he wouldn’t stay here a moment longer than he had to.
His time in paradise was over.
Chapter Fourteen
Tasha had to force herself to walk into The Station’s conference room and likely wouldn’t have if her mother hadn’t been right behind her.
The whole time she’d been getting dressed her mother had asked her questions she’d managed to answer in a monotone.
A bit like Dare. Since that moment the world had flipped, Dare had gone stone cold, and she knew what was happening. He’d shut down. He’d closed off his every emotion and shoved high walls up so she couldn’t get to him.
She walked in and was surprised to see it was only her team and TJ sitting around the big table.
Had her father finally murdered her ex? She wouldn’t blame him. She would help him do the cleanup because Chet was a massive asshole who’d poked Dare in all the worst ways.
“That’s all I know, Uncle Ian,” TJ was saying. “My group was requested as support for Whittington’s op, which was to watch over the Canadian operative during his mission. I don’t know all the ins and outs. Whittington isn’t Zach. He doesn’t bring his military backup into his confidence. We know very little beyond his instructions. We’ve been stationed in a safe house outside of Sydney for a week now, and the op was supposed to run through next week, though we were moving locations, I was told.”
It was easier to focus on the op and where it had all gone wrong than to think about Dare. “I can tell you why. That’s when Brian, Dare, and I would have traveled to Oakley’s place in the Blue Mountains to spend some time with Dr. Huisman. I’m sure Brian had plans for that. Our only mission was to look around and report back. If we had a shot at gathering any intel on Huisman or Oakley, we were going to take the chance. We were told that Oakley had some unsavory connections when he was younger and a habit of taking over the companies he invests in and keeping the tech for himself. The Huisman Foundation is involved in some research our government is interested in, up to and including potential cancer vaccines and cures that Oakley might keep to himself if he thinks there’s more money to be made in treatment.”
Her father looked up, his expression softening marginally. “I know the parameters of your mission, dushka. I was the one who gave them to you, and by you I mean your sisters.”
Kala held up her hands. “Not my fault. Talk to your boy, Zach, who thought Dare would be a better target than the original one. Do we think Middleton’s accident was actually an accident at this point?”
“No,” her team said in unison.
“Obviously someone wanted Dare to be the one to meet with Huisman.” Tristan looked as uncomfortable as she felt. He kept his eyes on the table as though he could avoid a lecture if he didn’t meet the boss’s stare.
“Or Oakley,” Cooper amended. “We can’t be sure if TJ doesn’t know who the target was. Do we think the Canadian operative took Middleton out so the target moved to Dare?”
“No. He wouldn’t do that.” Kenzie leaned forward, looking at their dad. “I’ve spent some time with him. He’s not like that.”
Her dad’s eyes closed, and he went still. Now was one of those times she wished she had a lemony treat to offer her dad. Her mom moved in behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders and rubbing.
“It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine,” her mom assured him. “Kenz, tell your dad you didn’t fall for the Canadian operative and give up all of our secrets.”
