Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,16

what? Fifteen, sixteen years ago?” Nolan prodded.

Damn. Addy heaved a sigh. Persistent, protective pseudo family for the win. “Why does it matter?”

“Because you’re holding it in and we don’t want him using whatever you’re hiding against you,” Shep said. “I thought you trusted us, Red.”

Red. Addy squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her head back against the glass.

“Peter falsified my records when I joined Hive. I don’t know why, but he did.” She looked at Marshall. “He took a leave from the military when my parents died. We went to the funeral and then we got on a plane and flew to Russia. He dropped me off at that place and left. He’d come back every now and then after he left the service and formed Hive, mostly toward the end.”

“He left you.” Marshall repeated the words. A flush rose in his face. “Son of a bitch.”

“How old were you?” Zoey whispered the question.

“Seven. I turned eight a few weeks after.” Addy swallowed the rest. She’d given them too much to chew on, more than she’d ever intended. She understood her new crew, though. They never stopped digging. She’d feed their need to know and they’d have her back because they were damned good people who wouldn’t ignore a problem.

Not that this was a problem.

“What kind of training could a seven-year-old do?” Zoey paled. “I…I…”

Gage reached up and squeezed her hand. Thunder answered the question first. “Places like that back then educated the young kids and started their physical training. Fighting. Shooting. Anything a field operative would need to know. Didn’t think young girls were in them, though.”

“There were a few,” Nolan said. “Typically separated from the men for a while, until they were old enough to train together and learn spy craft.”

Spy craft. What a neat term for the worst experiences imaginable. Addy met the man’s gaze. She should’ve known operatives as good as them would be familiar with places like that.

“Why was Kristof there?” Zoey asked.

Addy laughed. “He’s probably just as lethal as anyone here. Hell, he’d give Jud a run for his money, I bet.”

Cracker and Shep both cursed.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Beast asked.

“The Arsenal was our clean break, a reboot. Nothing good comes from opening that shit up. It’s done. Leave it be.” Pandora’s Box had nothing on her past.

“They’ll want to know about the off-the-book missions,” Marshall said.

Mary. Vi. Her friends. “Why? What good comes from it? You can’t tell me we know everything you all have done.”

“No, but we’ve seen how that worked out,” Gage said. “Me. Dallas. Jesse. Fallon. You aren’t alone.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?” Beast asked as he cracked his knuckles. “This makes me wonder what happened when those coms went off.”

Jesus. The coms. Again. “There’s nothing between Kristof and me. There never has been, nor will there ever be. He didn’t hurt me, nor would he. We’ve run a few ops together. That’s it. I swear.”

Silence loomed as the people around her regarded one another.

“Wait. If you were seven when you went there,” Zoey said. “The math doesn’t add up. How old are you? Birth records and Hive data showed you’re thirty-six.”

Damn geeks and their math. “I’m thirty-two. Peter added four years.” And changed the birth date but that didn’t matter.

“That bastard.” Zoey breathed the words. “I-I don’t even know what to say.”

“He died too quick,” Johnny said. He turned the skull ring on his finger. “Too easy.”

Addy needed to redirect the conversation. She’d never done well when attention focused on her. Blending in to the shadows had been ingrained within her too long to accept the well-meant worry and attention those around her offered.

Family.

Her insides burned. “I get why you’re worried. I appreciate it, but I’m okay. Really. To be honest, I’m better than I’ve ever been. Peter’s dead and we buried all that shit at Hive and before with him.”

“You were fifteen when you started at Hive,” Zoey said. “What the hell could someone that young do?”

More than they’d ever know. She hadn’t worked with other operatives for the first three years under the guise of needing “training.” Addy glanced up at Marshall. The man’s gaze locked on hers.

“Leave it be, Z,” he ordered.

“Okay, Red,” Beast said. “If that changes, we’re here. You aren’t in this alone.”

“Just a few more days and this is done,” Nolan added. “We wouldn’t have put you in as primary if we’d known about this.”

“I was the only choice. Iriana’s worked with Kristof in the past. If anyone dug, there’d be enough background