Chapter Five

Later, back in the privacy of his motel room, Rory wearily settled on the bed. His dinner—takeout from a nearby fast-food restaurant—on his lap, his thoughts momentarily returned to his old friend, Leo, and the memories their conversation had stirred. As usual, it was hard to think about how stupid he had been back then. How he could have been so badly fooled, so blind to the obvious.

Memories, dark and bloody, flashed through his mind, the way they sometimes did when the tight rein he had on his emotions loosened and the past came back to haunt him.

Alice.

Her warm smile that never failed to touch him. Blond, wavy hair and a curvy feminine shape. The memories replayed, tauntingly faint, through his mind. Alice had been his high-school sweetheart before agreeing to marry him and had filled the void his parents’ deaths had left. As his wife, she had loved him with unfailing passion…even after she had started to question his career choice.

His first mistake had been to join the NSA straight out of college. His sense of duty and pride had steered his choice back then, and years later when ATDF recruited him, it had been his ego that dismissed Alice’s concerns. He had been blind to anything except his own career advancement.

Then Alice had been killed. And with her, everything that was light and good had vanished from his life. He’d locked down his emotions, never wanting to feel such a terrible loss ever again. In the years that followed, he had been little more than an automaton, doing what he did best—hunting down whichever targets his employers aimed him toward.

Alice’s very vocal doubts and his own stubborn blindness had been what had cost Alice her life. He could admit that now. It had taken him a long time to accept the truth, especially in those first weeks after ATDF was exposed for the corrupt, unethical organization it truly was, and he realized the rogue agents he’d been hunting down for them were, in fact, the good guys. He’d been assaulted by an even greater flood of ugly emotions when he’d discovered the killer he had made pay for his beloved’s death had been nothing but a pawn for his superiors at ATDF, who hadn’t wanted Rory to quit as his wife had urged.

Killing Alice had been little more than a blip on ATDF’s radar, when it came to keeping a valuable asset like him. There had been no hesitation to take her out of the equation, that much he had discovered after the agency had been dismantled.

Unfortunately, Rory couldn’t have his vengeance on the man who had given the actual order. The bastard had not survived the initial raid on ATDF headquarters.

It had all been too much for Rory. His world had come crashing down around him, and left him broken.

Months later, Admiral Creighton and Morgan McCabe had found him in some dark, dangerous barroom, using alcohol to numb the guilt and the pain.

It hadn’t been easy for them to get through to him, but once he’d sobered up, he had understood they were offering him a shot at redemption. A way to make up for his past sins…the way Alice would have wanted. They had asked him to find the missing agents and make sure they were all right. And if they weren’t, eliminate the threat and bring them to safety.

Rory had grabbed the chance with both hands and, ever since, had made the mission they’d offered him his sole purpose in life. He was determined to track them down and give these former child-soldiers what they deserved. Freedom and a chance to live their lives on their own terms. The way they should have so many years ago.

He thought of Nina Hernandez, her big, haunted eyes and shaggy dark hair pushing aside the memory of Alice, and felt his resolve strengthen. He had to get her out of there.