Hide and Seek - Lara Adrian Page 0,32

kill for the man... have killed for him. And he would do the same for me, because he considers me a son. Son-in-law, to be exact.”

The news was unexpected to say the least. “You’re telling me you’re married—”

“Was married,” Alec said quietly. “To his daughter, Maria. She died eleven months ago. Inoperable brain tumor.”

“Fuck... I’m sorry.” He couldn’t even imagine that kind of loss. Didn’t want to imagine it. “How long were you together?”

“Not long. Three months.”

Not long at all. Duarte never would have taken Alec for the whirlwind type, but then again, all bets were off when it came to the right woman. He’d only seen Lisa a handful of times at the base before she eclipsed any other woman in his eyes.

If she hadn’t been Kyle’s little sister, Duarte would have put the move on her right away. Instead, he’d played it cool. Played it safe. Told himself she was off limits and no matter how much he wanted to look, he’d never touch.

Until the night of that stand-in wedding date and subsequent trip up to his cabin.

And now?

He didn’t want to acknowledge what she meant to him now. Nor how much it would wreck him to lose her. But to lose her to death as Alec had lost his wife?

He didn’t think he could survive that.

Alec stared out at the ocean, contemplative. “I knew she didn’t have long when I asked her to marry me. We’d been messing around in secret for a few weeks, flirting with each other for a lot longer. When I realized she wasn’t healthy, I didn’t want to just keep playing games with her. She deserved better than that, you know?”

“When you say you knew she wasn’t healthy...”

“I knew about the tumor,” Alec confirmed. “Thanks to my so-called gift, I watched her die in my arms twice. Once in the premonition, then again on the day I lost her.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Duarte murmured, staggered by what his friend had done, and by what he had endured. “Sorry for the way I pushed you to tell me about her, too.”

“No apology needed.” Alec lifted his shoulder, gave a mild chuckle. “No one ever counted on you for your diplomacy, anyway. Asshole.”

Duarte smiled at the light jab, relaxed immediately. It felt good to look at his old friend—his brother-in-arms—and think maybe he wasn’t alone in this fight anymore. Risky or not, he believed Alec Colton. He trusted him—with his own life and with Lisa’s.

As for her brother?

“Tell me again about the vision you had about Talon. What was he doing?”

Alec cleared his throat. “I saw him sitting in a room, telling someone about the program and the file he had with intel on the operatives. Giving them names and location information. Real names, John. Not just our codenames. He was giving them everything they asked for.”

“Fuck.” Duarte scowled. “Did you see who he was talking to?”

“No.”

“Kyle’s ability was off the charts, always has been. Easily the strongest of the three of us, anyway. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was one of the strongest of all the operatives. If Phoenix’s enemies have him on their side, they couldn’t ask for a more powerful tool to use against us.” At Alec’s nod of agreement, Duarte exhaled sharply. “For all our sakes, I hope to hell you’re wrong.”

“So do I. But if I’m right?”

“We have to find him,” Duarte said. “We need to have that answer, no matter what it is.”

“Agreed. Because when we find Talon, we’re one step closer to finding the murdering bastards he’s working for.”

“Assuming Kyle’s still alive,” Duarte suggested. “That text he sent to Lisa seems like the act of a desperate man. A terrified man. You first saw him in your vision two months ago. He may have outlived his usefulness.”

“If he hasn’t, and we find him first, he’s gonna wish he was dead,” Alec growled. “If he’s turned traitor, we can’t let him live. You know that, right?”

Hard as it was to consider it, much less deal the punishment should the time come, Duarte nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I know. There’d be no coming back from that kind of betrayal. No forgiveness.”

Alec was quiet for a moment. He pitched the last of his coffee into the surf. “What about Lisa? You tell her anything about this?”

“No.” Duarte felt a stab of guilt for that. “Not yet. She’s been through a lot these past two days. Hard to find the right time to drop that kind of bomb on