“What gun?”
She went back to the foyer. The table with the hidden compartment was turned over, but didn’t look broken. Stooping down, she turned it around, and was relieved to see the wood was intact. She pressed the hidden release button, and the compartment opened, revealing her handgun.
“That’s handy,” Eve said.
Standing, she held the gun steady in her hand, oddly comforted. Was it a coincidence that the only item undisturbed was a weapon? She didn’t think so.
She took one last look at the destruction. “I’ll need to call my insurance agent.”
“You can do that tomorrow.”
“All right.” Aubrey turned toward the front door. “Thank you.”
Without a backward glance, she went down the steps and back to the car. The contents of the duffle bag she’d carried to Montana and the gun in her hand were all she had left. That didn’t matter. She would replace what she needed. For now, she wanted to get someplace alone and lick her wounds.
And then, dammit, then she would get back up and go at these people full force. They thought they had defeated her. Little did they know they’d only made her more determined.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Montana
OZ Headquarters
Sitting in Ash’s office, Serena chewed on her bottom lip as they waited for Liam to arrive. She had come to Ash yesterday and presented her findings. He had been full of questions, and she had managed to answer most of them. Yes, there were still holes. And no, she wasn’t completely sure of her theory but there were way too many coincidences to ignore.
The conversation she’d had with Aubrey on the plane had given her the insight she’d needed to probe deeper. There’d been only small clues before, but that fifteen-minute discussion had created a framework for the puzzle. She had spent the last two days filling in those pieces. She wasn’t there yet, but it had been enough to come to Ash and tell him her theory.
He’d been surprised and more than a little intrigued.
Ash had placed a call to Kate and had gotten more information. That, with what she had, almost sealed the deal. Now, to present the information to Liam and let him decide what he wanted to do with it.
It infuriated her that she hadn’t picked up on this from the beginning. Years ago, when Liam had asked for her help in identifying the woman he’d known only as Cat, she had done her best. There hadn’t been much to work with. She had taken all the information he’d given her, optimistic that she would find her. She took pride in her ability to dig up intel no one else could find. She had been a star at her previous job. If there was a secret to be found, Serena was the one given the task. No one was her equal.
Leaving the State Department had been a little scary for her. There, she had been comfortable and secure in her value. But when Sean had told her about OZ and invited her to come over, she hadn’t hesitated. Not only would she be working with the man she loved, she would be given carte blanche to delve deeper into secrets than she ever had before. She hadn’t regretted her decision one moment. OZ’s funding was phenomenal, her intel team was second to none, and she actively participated in the missions. Instead of handing over intel to someone else who would use it to save a life or stop an atrocity, she got to do that herself.
Then Liam had asked her to find Cat. Serena had taken on the task with her normal confidence. She knew her stuff. But every clue and lead he’d provided had fizzled out and died, going nowhere.
Was she seeing things that weren’t there simply because she wanted them to be true? For years, she had watched Liam grow grimmer and grimmer. With each rescue, lives were saved, but the one that Liam wanted to save the most was never there.
She hated seeing the disappointment on his face, the despair. Sean had told her she took too much on herself, and though she knew he was right, she couldn’t stop feeling guilty. This was what she did. How could she not find this one person?
This time the clues were too numerous to ignore. Not just the facts she now knew, but also the less obvious ones she had witnessed and ignored until they’d practically slapped her in the face.
“You’re nervous.” Ash made the statement as if surprised.
“I am. If I’m not right…”
“But if you are right…”
The smile he gave her was all she needed. She took a breath. Yes, if she was right, then she would have given peace to the man who’d saved her husband’s life.
Other than the basic details, the guys rarely talked about their time in Syria, which was understandable. Pain that deep could be shared with those who’d experienced the same thing, but to an outsider, even a beloved spouse, there were some things never mentioned. It was only by chance that she’d learned that Liam had stepped in front of a bullet meant for Sean. If he hadn’t been there at that exact moment, her husband, the love o
f her life, would be dead. How could she not want to give him peace?
“Before Liam gets here, there’s another matter we need to discuss,” Ash said.
Just one look at her boss’s face told her what he meant, and though she wanted to deny its existence, she couldn’t. She had known this day was coming.