Break the Day - Lara Adrian Page 0,43
it wasn’t exactly good news that he’d participated in a vault robbery of millions’ worth of priceless art, either.
He probably ought to begin with the least fucked-up aspect of his mission so far.
“I’m in with the gang. Cruz and I aren’t going to be best friends, but I think he trusts me. There’s been talk of something big coming down the pike soon. I’ll make sure I’m in on it. I’m confident we’ve found a solid link in LaSalle, one that’s going to eventually lead us to someone in Opus.”
Lucan grunted. “Glad to hear it. After that shit-show over at the MFA, I had my doubts.”
“Yeah, about that,” Rafe hedged. “How’s Jordana?”
“She’s fine. A little shaken, but that’s understandable considering the circumstances.”
“And Nathan?”
Lucan arched a black brow. “Fit to be tied, and I mean that almost literally. He was ready to kill you even after Chase informed him that you’re covert and operating with the Order’s full support.”
“So, he knows now.” Rafe nodded. “How’d he take that news?”
“You know your team captain, he’s an emotionless machine most of the time. No shock, given the way he was raised in the Hunter program. Nathan may not have said as much, but I know he’s got to be relieved. That’s not to say you won’t have to answer to him about what happened in that museum vault.”
Rafe frowned. “I didn’t know Jordana was going to be there. Hell, I didn’t even know about the heist until I was in the van and rolling with Cruz and the rest of the gang.”
Lucan nodded. “They had to test you.”
“That’s right. If I’d thought there was any chance Jordana or Carys might end up in harm’s way, I would’ve aborted the mission.”
“I know, son. When all of this is over, you’ll have to work on convincing Nathan of that.”
Rafe welcomed the chance. He had a lot of bridges to rebuild on the other side of his mission. Now, he had to add Devony’s name to that list too.
“Are you going to tell me about the woman?” Lucan’s gray gaze bore into him. “Nathan and Jordana told quite a story in their debriefing. They said she’s Breed. This daywalker, is she the female you reported on the other day, the one you said they call Brinks?”
“Her name is Devony,” Rafe said. “Devony Winters. Her father is—”
“Ah, Christ. Roland Winters,” Lucan muttered, his scowl deepening. “Why am I just now hearing from you that a goddamn JUSTIS director’s daughter is involved in this?”
“I only discovered her name last night, sir.”
“She fucking Cruz?”
“Hell, no.” Rafe’s reply came out sharper and more defensive than he intended. “Devony’s not actually part of Cruz’s gang. She’s working her own mission, been embedded with them for a couple of months.”
“Embedded,” he said, suspicion rankling his forehead. “You mean as a JUSTIS covert agent?”
“No. She’s a civilian, Lucan. Actually, up until the bombing in London killed her parents and brother, Devony was a music student studying here in Boston. She’s been trying to track down the ones responsible for the attack on the JUSTIS office. She’s looking for Opus, same as we are. She wants to see them destroyed because of what they did to her family.”
“Son of a bitch.” On the other end of the video feed, the Order’s leader sat back in his big desk chair. He slowly shook his head. “We can’t have this, Rafe. She’s going to get in our way. Hell, she already is. We need to contain her. I’ll have Chase take care of—”
“Lucan.” Rafe didn’t know what he could say, how to explain that Devony had actually proven to be a help, not a hindrance, to his mission. There wasn’t anything he could say. He had to show him. “Hold on for a minute. I’m going to upload some information.”
He grabbed his phone and sent some of the photos he took of Devony’s war room and the handwritten notes her father had left behind. Then he waited, watching as Lucan reviewed the intel in unreadable silence.
“That’s just the start of the information she’s collected these past few months. The logs were assembled by Roland Winters over about a year’s time. He kept them hidden in a safe at the family’s Darkhaven in Back Bay. Devony doesn’t think he told anyone about them, including his colleagues at JUSTIS.”
“She volunteered all of this information to you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Was this before or after she drained Jordana of her power and knocked one of our most lethal warriors on his ass