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I hit send and then hold my breath, waiting for a reply. But it never comes.
“And the stories are all the same,” Jett continues talking to the Rogue. “Someone gets kicked out or gets pissed off and quits. You’re all so angry at the organization for ruining their lives, when you were the ones who chose to enter it.”
“Chose to enter?” The hollow laugh the Rogue releases sends a chill down my spine. “Do you really believe that?”
“Of course I do,” Jett replies. “No one forced me to join. I made the decision.”
“Then you’re really lucky. Or perhaps if you’d said no, it would’ve been another story.” He pauses for a lengthy amount of time and then says, “The girl hiding behind you… I want to see her.”
“Well, we don’t always get what we want, do we,” Jett replies in a calm, but firm tone.
“That wasn’t a request,” he growls. “The girl is going to step out from behind you or else I’m going to make her.”
Panicking, I quickly tuck the phone back into Jett’s pocket. Then, with a few inhales and exhales, I step out from behind Jett.
For some reason, I pictured the Rogue as an older man who’d spent too many days on the job. But shockingly, he looks around my age with brown hair that reaches his shoulder and a scar grazes across his forehead. He’s dressed in black cargo pants, a black t-shirt, and black boots.
He eyes me over as thoroughly and then pales, as if he’s seen a ghost. “Zhara Baker?”
“You know her?” Jett looks at me for an explanation. “Do you know him?”
“I…” Puzzlement swirls through my mind as I glance at the Rogue then back at Jett. “I don’t think so.” This doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t look familiar, yet the feeling of familiarity presses against the back of my mind.
Who the hell am I?
Before I can delve too far into the strange wonderment of my identity, the sliding door to the deck bursts open. The Rogue turns for the door with the gun aimed in front of him as Jackson strolls in. Jackson doesn’t appear alarmed and I soon find out why as Benton rushes in from seemingly out of nowhere. He soundlessly moves like a freakin’ ninja cat and Tasers the Rogue in the back. The gun falls from the Rogues hand, his eyes roll into the back of his head, and his body jerks as he collapses to the floor like a tree toppling over.
“Timber,” Jackson jokes. Then he surrenders his hands in front of him as Benton shoots him a dirty look. “Sorry, but it’s not my fault. The jokes just spill out.
Benton shakes his head, pulls out a pair of handcuffs, and straps them on the Rogue’s wrists.
“Hmm… I might know a way to help with that, Jacks.” Jett muses, tapping his finger against his lip. “All you have to do is stop opening your mouth.”
Jackson scowls at him. “Like your one to talk.”
Jett rolls his eyes. “I’m so not as bad as you—”
“That’s enough,” Benton cuts him off, his tone sharp.
The room grows so quiet I can hear the dripping of a faucet.
Benton gives Jackson and Jett a firm look before fixing his gaze on me. His eyes soften a smidgeon. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “I think so.” Well, I mostly am except for one small thing.
The Rogue knew my name.
“Are you sure?” Benton asks, inching toward me. “It’s been a rough last twenty-four hours.”
“I’m fine,” I say, but then pause.
“What is it?” Benton asks, taking another step toward me.
“It’s just that…” I shift my weight, feeling uncomfortable.
Is it a bad thing that the Rogue knew me? Are they going to think I’m bad?
“The Rogue knew her,” Jett explains for me.
“Fuuuuck.” Jackson lets the word drag out through a loud breath. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Yes,” Jett says then looks at me. “Are you sure you didn’t recognize him?”
I shake my head. “No… I mean, well…” I press the heel of my hand to my forehead. “I don’t know. He didn’t look familiar, but he felt familiar… That doesn’t really make sense, though.” My hand falls to my side and I free a trapped breath. “I had the same feeling with the guy who patted me down before I got into the car with Axel. And I have this memory of being in the car with my mom and that same guy… but I was really young at the time, so maybe I’m remembering wrong.” I wait for someone to say something, but the room remains quiet. Worry creeps up inside me. “Is something wrong?”
Benton glances at Jackson then at Jett before focusing on me again. “I think we need to talk.” He offers me his hand.
“Okay…” Nerves bubble inside me as I slip my fingers through his.
When Jett and Jackson give me a look of pity, I have a feeling that whatever Benton is about to tell me is going to be bad.
Really, really bad.
A Goodnight Kiss
Benton leads me into his bedroom and shuts the door. Without saying a word, he shucks off his jacket, removes his holsters and guns, and kicks off his boots. Then he takes my hand in his and guides me toward the bed. He still doesn’t speak as he helps me lie down. Then he tucks a pillow under my head and climbs into the bed beside me so we’re lying face to face.
“I have to tell you something,” he says. “And it isn’t going to be easy to hear.”
I force down a shaky swallow. “Okay… Is everything all right? Are Ridge, Wilder, and Xavier okay?”
“They’re fine. They’re just doing some extra surveillance in the area. And someone will come pick up the Rogue soon, so you don’t need to worry about him.” He assures me, resting his hand on my hip. “What I have to tell you is about your family.” He blows out a stressed breath. “I don’t think there’s any easy way to say this so I’m just going to say it.” Another breath escapes his lips. “I’m pretty sure your family might have worked for an organization at one time.”
Okay, so I knew what he was going to say would probably shock me, but I didn’t expect that.
“How do you know that?” I ask. “And wouldn’t I know if they did?”
“Not necessarily.” He traces circles on my hip with his fingertip. “A lot of times parents choose not to tell their kids they work for the organization. At least until they’re kids are old enough to understand.”
“But that doesn’t make sense… When they died, we were old enough. At least Loki was. And Jessamine… Oh my Gosh, what if they do know and no one ever told me!” Adrenaline courses through my veins. “What if everyone’s been lying to me?”
“Zhara, calm down.” His voice is gentle. “There’s no reason to get worked up until I figure out exactly what’s going on. For all I know, your parents could’ve quit a long time ago. Or maybe they were part of it before they were married. It’s hard to say for sure.”
“But you can find out for sure?”
“I might be able to, but it’s going to take some time.” His hand glides up my side and doesn’t stop moving until his palm is cupping my cheek. “Until then, I need you not to worry. The guys and I, we’ll take care of you. Nothing is going to happen to you—I won’t let it.”
“Am I not safe?”
“You are with us.”
“What about when I go home?”
His gaze burns intensely into mine. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”
I nod, releasing a breath.
He grazes his thumb across my cheekbone. “Now try to get some sleep. You’ve had a rough day.”
Yes, I definitely have. Sleeping seems impossible, though. Not when my mind is so wired with thoughts of my parents being part of an undercover program. Sure, Axel seemed to know my mom and the Rogue recognized me, but besides the memory of being in the car with Axel’s colleague and my mom, I can’t remember anything else that would lead me to believe my parents worked as undercover detectives. I have feelings, though. But how can I turn those feelings into memories? And why can’t I remember?
As my mind continues to race with ques
tions, Benton leans in and places a soft kiss on my lips.
“Close your eyes,” he whispers. “And get some sleep.”
I do what he instructs, figuring I’ll just lay there with my eyes shut to please him. Yet, somehow, minutes later, I manage to fall deeply into dreamland.
Benton
I lay by Zhara until she falls asleep, then I slip out of the room, leaving the door cracked, and return to the living room where my team is waiting. The Rogue has been picked up, so at least I can relax about that. But I have about a million other things to worry about, starting with…
“How did he get in?” I ask Jett as I drop down into the sofa.
Jett rubs his hand across the top of his head. “Honestly, I have no idea. The alarms didn’t go off. So, either he hacked the system or knew the passcode.”
