Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,94

out of the spotlight. We’ve yet to confirm whether this was simply the rest of the Cuba group acting alone or if there’s a coordinated involvement with the entire organization.”

“I hope to hell it’s not the whole group,” Beast said. “That’s a big elephant to take down.”

“We’ve taken on worse,” Mary said. “Either way, we’ll lay low for the next few days. Once you’re all back here, we can circle back and see what’s surfaced by then.”

“I’m more worried about who outside Mandrake surfaces,” Addy commented. “Any word from Bob since the compound went down?”

“We’ve heard some chatter from a couple of international groups,” Mary said. “Nothing confirmed.”

Great. The last thing anyone at The Arsenal needed was an international black-ops team coming after them. Was the Secretary of Defense behind Mandrake and the biochemical weapons smuggling? Or was he just trying to cover someone else’s ass?

“I hate political red tape,” Thunder grumbled.

“We all do,” Marshall said. “I’ll reach out to a few of my contacts, see if they’ve heard anything.”

Addy wondered what contacts the man had. The eldest Mason never offered much in the way of names and rarely admitted to doing anything in the background, but she suspected he did. Frequently.

“You should probably do the same,” Marshall said as he looked over at Nolan.

Interesting.

It was always the quiet ones. She chuckled as she looked over at Beast. They’d both suspected the two eldest Masons had far more reach than they’d ever admit to. Both had blacked out years in their service records.

Dallas had been with The Collective during his dark years. Where had those two been?

“The secondary cache we found thanks to Olaf’s intel was larger than we expected,” Jesse said. “Four biochemical weapons of unknown origin and several prototypes of some sort. Rhea’s going through data we pulled via the drones, but we’ll know more once they’re in our possession.”

“They’re going to The Arsenal?” Thunder asked. “I thought all that shit was going somewhere else.”

“It will once we’ve determined its origin,” Mary said. “If there’s more of that floating around, we’ll need to hunt it down.”

“You’re all wheels up for Texas in forty-eight hours,” Jesse said. “Olaf should be safe to transport by then, but we’ll double check once he’s fully awake and rehydrated.”

Forty-eight hours wasn’t a lot of time, but it felt like an eternity in many ways. She wanted to be home.

What about Kristof?

She’d always known how this would end. She’d return to Texas. He’d stay in Russia. Sure, he was going to The Arsenal, but did he intend to stay? How would that work?

Why did her insides ache at the thought of walking away from him in two days?

You’ve got two days. Make the most of them.

The thought echoed in her brain. Kristof wouldn’t want her hovering right now. He wanted to spend time with Olaf. That was where he needed to be.

“Dismissed,” Zoey said.

Maksim touched her arm. “A moment?”

“Sure.” Addy rose and followed him into the kitchen. “What’s up?”

“Kristof needs to rest. Decompress.” Concern reflected in his gaze. “He won’t listen to me, but he’ll listen to you.”

“I’m not sure that’s true.”

“I am.”

Okay then. Addy sighed. “I’ll try. No promises.”

21

Addy entered Olaf’s room and quietly shut the door. Leaning against it, she observed the two men as they chatted back and forth. She admired Kristof for using sign language as opposed to simply speaking even though Olaf could hear.

Olaf’s gaze locked on to her. His cracked lips slid into a big grin. Is that her? He pointed at her.

Kristof glanced over his shoulder. “Addy. Come in and meet my cousin.” He signed the words as he spoke them.

“Glad to meet you,” Addy signed.

“You know sign language.” Olaf grinned. Her stomach tightened as she noted the holes where teeth should be. Four, maybe five missing in the front.

She made a mental note to chat with Zoey about dental work once Olaf was feeling better. He deserved a fresh start after what he’d endured. She sat on the edge of the bed. “I do. I learned from the same man who taught Kristof.”

Olaf’s eyes widened. “You were there. In the camp.”

“I was.” Addy wondered how Olaf didn’t know that if Kristof had mentioned her. How much had he told his cousin? And what? “I’m glad you’re awake. Your cousin hasn’t left your side.”

“He looks worse than I feel.” Olaf glared at Kristof. “You should rest.”

“There’ll be time for sleep later.” Kristof leaned back in his seat. “I was just telling Olaf about you and your team.