Taken By Terror by Lolita Lopez
Chapter Ten
Arms crossed in front of his chest, Terror stood at the rear of the observation room, his back against the wall and his fingertips biting into his sides so hard he was certain there would be marks later. He focused on Maisie as she answered the questions lobbed at her by Keen. The pleasant male voice reading out her answers unsettled him. It was one of those moments when he realized just how male-centered his world was and how very little of their technology ever had women in mind.
How did I miss that? He reeled from the discovery that Maisie was connected to not only Devious but also Admiral Flint, Terror’s one-time boss. He couldn’t understand how a man with as much power as Flint would abandon his innocent grandchild to be raised in a Splinter cell when he could have easily ordered a mission to retrieve her. Surely, Flint knew that Devious was her uncle. It would have been simple enough to get a message to Devious to pull her out and send her to meet another agent for pickup.
And what the fuck was Devious thinking leaving his niece there? So many horrific things could have happened to her. Death would have been preferable to being captured, raped, tortured or sold. Devious used her like a tool and then abandoned her to prison camps. Why had no one made plans to get her out when shit went south?
He thought back to all the years he had known Devious, to their time at the Academy and their early years in Shadow Force training. Never once had Dev ever mentioned a brother. Terror would have remembered. He always committed little details like that to mind.
Looking at Maisie now, he could see the slight resemblance between her, Flint and Devious. She must have favored her mother’s side of the family more. Otherwise, people would have noticed the similarities between her and Devious.
And how had Flint hidden the fact that he had thrown away his daughter? Children were a precious resource among their people, especially those of the highly ranked. Despite the fact that Maisie’s mother was a Defect, she would have been counted on the yearly census.
Unless she had been reported as dead.
A man like Flint with the power of Shadow Force behind him could make anyone disappear, even his own child. Terror had seen enough horrible shit in his life to know that some parents did far worse to their children than simply abandoning them. He wholeheartedly believed a man like Admiral Flint would be cold and callus enough to leave his less than perfect daughter at one of the homes for Defects and use a bribe to get a fake death certificate. Men like that, men who were considered the best of the best and lauded for their prowess and virility, would have no problem getting rid of a child.
But what about Devious? Surely, he must have known about his brother and Maisie’s mother. Was that why he volunteered to take on the mission to infiltrate the Splinters? To be framed and tried and sent to prison? Was that how he convinced the Splinters he had turned traitor? Did he use his brother’s membership to convince them? His dark family secret to gain sympathy?
Or was it even worse than that? Was Devious a sleeper Splinter the entire time? Had he been a triple agent from the start?
As Terror watched the interrogation, he noticed the way Maisie had tried to get a second look at the tablet screen when shown Devious’ dead body. When Keen didn’t press her on it, he huffed with annoyance. There was something there. She had seen something wrong. Why wasn’t Keen asking her?
By the time that Keen got the details about Reckless out of her, Terror had grown even more irritated. They already knew Reckless had been the one who betrayed Devious. Terror and Grim had gotten that out of him in less than ten minutes of enhanced interrogation. The master detective was playing games with Maisie and wasting precious time.
Savage had to be aware of her physical state. Why wasn’t he stopping the interview? Why wasn’t he following ship protocol regarding female prisoners?
Even standing behind a wall and watching her through the special glass, Terror could tell that she was fading quickly from malnourishment and dehydration. She looked ready to fall flat on her face with exhaustion.
“Please,” the tablet’s voice said. “Can we take a break?”
“No,” Savage said roughly and pushed off the door where he had been standing for the entire interrogation. “No,” he repeated, pointing to his mouth. “We stay here until I say we’re done.”
She seemed to deflate, her shoulders rounding and her chin dropping toward her chest. She tapped at the tablet in front of her. “Please, sir, I can barely keep my eyes open. I’ll be more help after I’ve rested in whatever cell you have arranged for me.”
Terror’s heart actually ached at the pleading expression on her face. She had hit her limit and needed to rest. Not about to let her sleep in another cell, he took a step toward the door but stopped as soon as he heard Savage’s gruff voice.
“You’re not going to a cell,” Savage said coldly. “You’re going on a long-haul transport ship to Prime where you’re going to be tried, found guilty and hanged as a Tier One Terrorist.”
Terror stormed to the one-way glass. What the fuck did he just say?
As if sharing his shock, Maisie blinked and frowned. She must have thought that she had misread Savage’s lips because she asked, “Write it out. All of it. Word for word.”
Savage snatched the tablet from Keen, swiped across the screen a few times and then slammed it down in front of Maisie. “The charges, you little murderous bitch.”
Maisie paled as she scanned the tablet. She shook her head and tried to use her hands to sign, but the cuffs tightened and she couldn’t. Her panicked gaze jumped to the mirrored glass, and Terror’s stomach dropped at her silent and desperate begging. She didn’t have to say a single word for him to understand the look on her face.
Furious that Savage had decided to charge Maisie with bullshit crimes, he rushed out of the observation room and over to the interrogation door. Wither, Savage’s adjutant, stood outside the door as a guard. He was a rookie Shadow Force agent, fresh out of training and without a single minute of actual operational experience. The cocky bastard dared to lift his hands to stop Terror.
“Get your hands out of my face,” Terror warned, his voice malicious and tight. “Unless you’d like to confirm the story about my skill in gnawing off a finger or two.”
Wither’s face slackened, and he stepped aside. Doubtless, he had heard the wild tales of Terror’s exploits in his younger days. Back then, he had been violent and bloodthirsty. He hadn’t ever hesitated at biting off a finger in a fight or using his teeth to rip at an enemy’s neck or ears.
Terror tapped the frame of the door to activate the opening mechanism. It slid to the side, and Savage glared at him as he entered the frigid room. “You’re not cleared for access to these areas!”
“What?” Terror flashed his wrist. “You’re really surprised I reprogrammed my chip to cut the leash you put one me?”
“That’s a violation of your probation,” Savage reminded him. “You’re never going to get cleared to return to duty.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Terror growled as he strode toward Maisie. He gestured to Torment and ordered, “Get her out of these cuffs.”
“She’s our prisoner!” Savage insisted. “She’s not going anywhere but straight to the prison transport waiting for her.”
“Like fuck she is!” Terror snarled.
“She killed our men, Terror,” Keen said in that annoyingly calm manner of his.
“While exchanging gunfire during raids,” he snapped. “In self-defense.”
“She killed at least seven of our soldiers over the last six years,” Keen replied.
“And she was how old six years ago?” Terror waited for their reply, but it never came. “That’s what I thought. She was underage. A minor. We don’t charge minors above a misdemeanor, no matter the crime.”
Savage didn’t have a response to that. Instead, he said, “Her last charges all occurred after she reached adulthood. She might not have killed anyone after that point, but she aided and abetted her stepfather and stepbrothers. That makes her a terrorist.”
“We don’t charge women with Tier One Terrorism,” Terror pointed out angrily. “Execution of females is forbidden. There’s not even a statute on the books for laying a capital charge against a woman.”
“There will be,” Savage said. “She’s the test case.”
“Over my dead body,” Terror vowed.
“You say that like it would be hard to arrange,” Savage replied icily.
Terror laughed darkly. “You think you could take me?” He flicked his fingers. “Try it.”
Savage did.
He came around the table, ready to strike, and Terror posted up, lifting his hands and rocking back for balance. Keen jumped from his seat and tried to stop Savage, but he wasn’t big enough to slow down the giant lumbering toward Terror. Never one to back down from any fight, no matter the size of his opponent, Terror waited for Savage to take the first swing and slid right to escape it. He steeled himself for the graze of Savage’s fist across his shoulder, wincing fractionally at the sting, and then popped Savage in jaw. His left hand quickly moved to the back of Savage’s neck, and he used every ounce of his strength to jerk Savage forward while lifting and slamming his knee into his face.
Blood splattered the floor and both men’s uniforms. Savage roared in anger and drove his elbow into Terror’s stomach. With a grunt, he stumbled backward and forcefully shook off Torment’s hands as his friend tried to intervene. He rushed Savage, lowering his shoulder and hitting him right in the chest. Wrapping his arms around Savage’s waist, he drove the other man into the edge of the table, eliciting a pained yowl from Savage as his hip cracked the corner.
Savage retaliated by gripping Terror’s belt and the waist of his pants. He roared like a beast as he hefted Terror off the floor and slammed him onto the table. The impact of the metal against his back knocked the air out of his lungs, and he wheezed while fighting to escape Savage’s hold. Savage took advantage and tried to get his hands around Terror’s neck. He kicked out and swung his legs, knocking Savage off balance.
Savage’s giant hand grazed Terror’s mouth, and he bit down on the first finger he could reach. Savage snarled in pain, and Terror spit blood onto the other man’s uniform. Savage punched Terror right in the gut, and Terror gasped for air for the second time in less than a minute. He slapped at Savage’s face, trying to get hold of an ear for leverage, but Savage evaded him.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Orion’s booming voice echoed in the interrogation room, but Terror didn’t let up on Savage. He shoved hard and watched with a triumphant and malicious grin as Savage hit the floor, ass first, and bounced roughly.
Savage wasn’t ready to give up either. He snatched Terror’s boot and yanked him off the table. He tumbled onto the floor, and Savage leapt on top of him. They wrestled furiously, grappling and slapping and clawing. Neither man was willing to concede or surrender.
“Terror!” Orion shouted. “Stop! Now!”
Even with all the bad blood between the admiral and himself, Terror did as commanded. He rolled away from Savage and tried to catch his breath.
“Stand at attention. Both of you!” Orion commanded.
Terror got to his feet more gracefully than Savage. He wiped his bloody knuckles on his shirt, smearing Savage’s blood across the fabric, and turned to face the admiral. Looming in the doorway, Orion scowled at every single man in the room. He didn’t suffer fools, and Terror waited for the lecture that was about to come.
“Of all the fucking problems I need today, this childish behavior,” he gestured around the room, “isn’t one of them.” With a shake of his head, he said, “I swear every time there’s trouble on this ship you Shadow Force assholes are right in the center of it.”
“Sir,” Keen stepped forward, “I can explain—”
Orion held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear it. You take Savage to the med bay and get that nose handled.” Grimacing at the fountain of blood erupting from Savage’s face, he added, “And put something over that! I won’t have a trail of blood across my ship.”
Keen nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Orion stepped aside to clear the doorway so the two men could leave. Terror caught Savage’s murderous gaze and smirked. He was done playing nice with the man who had usurped his position and who seemed to be doing everything he could to keep Terror from returning to the field. Orion must have noticed the smirk because he narrowed his eyes at Terror in warning.
As soon as Keen and Savage were gone, Orion crossed the room, careful to sidestep the blood splatter, and stopped when he reached Maisie. Terror tensed and curled his fists at his sides. Like a predator about to pounce, he watched the interaction very carefully. There was no denying the flare of possessive jealousy that burned right through him at the sight of Orion showing Maisie kindness. He wanted to knock Orion on his ass and steal Maisie away from him.
The admiral crouched down in front of her and used his chip to override the locks on her cuffs. Carefully, Orion removed them from her wrists. Holding her hands, he studied them and seemed to grow more irritated with every single bruise, scrape and broken nail he uncovered. He gently placed her hands on her lap and then unlocked the ankle cuffs.
When he felt the wet laces on her boots, Orion growled and started to quickly unlace them. “These boots are soaking wet. She should have been taken to the med bay for a proper exam before she was dragged in here.” He clicked his teeth when he peeled off the first sopping wet sock. “She’s going to end up with trench foot if we’re not careful.”
“She’s a prisoner, sir,” Torment pointed out unhelpfully. “Savage has her on extreme restrictions because of the charges against her.”
“There’s no restriction against providing medical care to any prisoner,” Orion replied tautly. “You can pull that shit with someone else but not me. This is my ship, and I set the rules. Shadow Force will never again deny any prisoner medical care. Is that understood?”
Torment nodded. “Sir.”
Orion held her gaze, staring up at her from his crouched position, and seemed to be studying her face for something. Eventually, the admiral called out, "Noble!”
The admiral’s executive officer stepped through the door. Noble came from the same home planet as Terror. They had the same dark hair and dark eyes, but Noble was considerably taller, similar to Orion in build. A no-nonsense man who had an incredible sense of duty and honor, Noble was one of the few men he trusted with Maisie.
“Sir?” Noble stood at attention.
“Take this woman to medical. Risk is the only medical officer I want touching or treating her. Am I clear?”
“Crystal, sir,” Noble confirmed. “And if Risk isn’t on shift?”
“Bring her to my office. We’ll have Able brought over from the Mercy.”
“Understood.”
“After she’s treated, make sure she’s fed a hot meal. Whatever she wants,” Orion said with surprising indulgence. “Keep her under guard, but only use men you trust.”
“Done, sir.”
Orion helped Maisie stand. She swayed on her first step, and Terror immediately moved toward her. She shook her head, silently telling him not to interfere again. She wasn’t angry with him, but she didn’t quite trust him anymore. Not after the way he had taken her into custody and handed her over for interrogation. As if to remind him of their conversation in the dark hallway of the Ryderwood cabin, she lifted her trembling hands and gave him the same sign he had given her.
I promise.
Desperate for her to understand that he meant to keep that vow, he repeated the hand movements. She hesitated, as if trying to decide whether or not she could ever trust him again, before nodding. Noble dwarfed her as he gently took her arm and walked her out of the interrogation room, and she glanced back at him one last time before disappearing from sight.
Apprehensive about her safety, Terror said, “She needs an easier way to communicate with us.”
“She won’t be here long enough for us to make that happen,” Orion said as he glanced around the destroyed interrogation room.
Confused by Orion’s statement, he asked, “Are you really going to let them take her?”
“I don’t have a choice.” Orion picked up the tablet Maisie had been using and scrolled up to read her replies. “The Council wants her back on Prime. Flint is demanding she be placed in his custody. I can hold them off for two or maybe three days. Anything more than that, and they’ll give me orders that I won’t be able to refuse.”
Terror’s jaw clenched. “She’s not a terrorist. Surely, Flint isn’t going to let her rot in a cell.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Orion sounded tired. “Someone has to pay the price. She’s their perfect little scapegoat, and Flint is on the outs with the power brokers on the Council. I don’t know why either so don’t ask. I only know that he was blocked from receiving top secret communiques and barred from the Council chambers.” With a loud sigh, he said, “Come with me. We need to talk about your future on this ship.”
Terror didn’t want to talk. He wanted to grab Maisie and run. He wanted to give her the freedom she had been denied her entire life. Fully aware that was nothing more than a fantasy, he grudgingly fell into step behind the admiral and shadowed him on the trek through the ship to the bridge. He noticed the gawking stares from those he passed, all of them shocked at the state of his filthy uniform and Savage’s blood splattered across his skin. He was used to people staring at him because of his scarred face or his reputation as a stone-cold killer so the attention didn’t bother him. He made sure to stare back at them, holding their gazes until they grew uncomfortable and looked down. It was an asshole alpha move, but it made him feel marginally better to know he still had the power to intimidate with a single look.
“Shut the door,” Orion ordered as they entered his private office. The panorama window across the room provided a matchless view of the pale lavender moons orbiting the planet in the distance. “Take a seat.”
Terror made sure the door had closed before choosing one of the chairs in front of Orion’s large desk. The tidy surface had been freshly cleaned. There wasn’t even a hint of a fingerprint on the clear surface. He glanced at his filthy uniform and bloody hands. “I think I’ll stand.”
Orion seemed to have forgotten the mess Terror had made. He gestured to a door on the left side of his office. “You can use my private washroom.”
With a nod, Terror crossed the office and entered the bathroom. The lights didn’t automatically turn on as they should have. “You need to send maintenance up here for the lights.”
“They’ve been by twice. They can’t figure out the problem.”
“Of course not,” he grumbled and made quick work of washing up at the sink.
Never one to leave a problem that could be easily fixed, he reached out and tapped the light switch pad on the wall. The lights flickered briefly before going dark again. Irritated, he stepped onto the toilet lid and then onto the sink. With a little pressure, he popped free a ceiling tile next to the recessed light fixture and slid the tile to the side. He pulled a small flashlight from his tactical belt, switched it on and clamped it between his teeth. Rising on his toes, he braced himself on of the exposed ceiling beams and peered through the hole. There, attached to the light fixture, was a transmitter.
“What the hell are you doing?” Orion asked from the doorway. “Are you trying to fix my lights?”
“No,” he said around the flashlight clamped between his teeth. He trailed the wires on the transmitter until he found the one attached to the power supply. He yanked it free and removed the device. With the transmitter in hand, he hopped down from the sink and pocketed his flashlight. “Here.”
Orion caught the transmitter he had tossed and examined it. Anger colored the admiral’s voice as he asked, “Is this what I think it is?”
“Yes.” Terror took the device from Orion and showed him the ports on the side. “There are least four other cameras in your office. And, no,” he said roughly, “before you ask, I wasn’t the one who put these here.”
“I know that,” Orion replied, seemingly surprised. “You’re a lot of things, but you’re not a pervert who gets off watching me take a piss.” He studied the transmitter. “This looks old, Terror.”
“It is. I trained on these in the Academy. It’s junk. It’s so obsolete that it’s not included in any of our scanning software.” Terror turned the device over in his hand and pointed out the stamp over the serial number. “See? It was decommissioned eleven years ago. None of our security sweeps would have picked this up.”
“How does it work?”
“It collects the data—the audio and video footage from surveillance pods within fifty feet—and holds it until it receives a signal to transmit. It wipes the memory every twelve hours.” He glanced at the ceiling. “The lazy bastard that rigged this up piggybacked off the light as a power source. That’s why your lights are on the fritz.”
“You think Savage had it installed?” Orion asked the question Terror had been wondering.
“Maybe.” He grimaced as he admitted, “But I don’t think this is his style. He’s by-the-book. He would have gone through the proper channels to get a warrant and then used the latest technology.”
“The mole?”
Terror nodded. “These are probably easy to come by on the black market. We must have decommissioned thousands of them. Anyone on the cleaning crews or maintenance could have accessed your office to plant this transmitter and the bugs. It was probably done on the night shift.”
Orion seemed lost in thought as Terror offered his scenario. Finally, the admiral said, “It was me.”
Terror frowned. “What was?”
Orion rubbed his face between both hands and looked as if he might be sick. With a heavy sigh, he explained, “Vicious and I were counseling Zephyr. He had failed his flying assessment. One of the best pilots we’ve ever graduated from flight school, and he couldn’t even get behind the stick because of his guilt over what happened to you.”
Terror hated that Zephyr felt such responsibility for something that wasn’t his fault. “I talked to him. He knows I don’t blame him. We’re good now.”
“He wasn’t then,” Orion said, “and he didn’t know if you were alive or dead. None of us did. We all expected the worst. After he left, I asked Vicious if he had heard anything from Shadow Force. He told me that Savage was stonewalling. I asked him if there was any way to go around Savage and get a message to Devious, maybe using one of the contacts Menace’s mate has. I didn’t know that Devious was actually with you in that mine. None of us did. We knew he was on the surface, but we didn’t think you were. Regardless,” Orion slashed his hand through the air, “I shouldn’t have said his name.”
“You couldn’t have known you were being listened to,” Terror assured him even though he secretly agreed with Orion’s self-recrimination. No point in kicking a man while he was down. “You and Vicious both have the highest levels of clearance. You’re supposed to be able to talk about things like that inside your office with the expectation of privacy.”
“I knew there was a mole on this ship,” Orion disagreed. “I know how important operational security is. I fucked up.”
“We’ve all fucked up at one point or another. Me more than most,” Terror admitted. “You can’t dwell on it. You can’t change it. You’ve got to move forward.”
“If I’m going to move forward, I want to know who put that in my office,” Orion decided. “I want this mole and anyone else working with him uncovered and in custody.” He glanced toward his office. “How far does this thing broadcast when it uploads the data?”
“Not far.” Terror tried to recall all he knew about the model. “Maybe one hundred feet?”
“It could be anyone with access to this floor,” Orion grumbled.
“It might be easier to track down this serial number and see where it was sent after decommissioning. Even then...”
“What if we put it back? Hook it back up? Let it transmit? Can we trace it?”
“Sure,” Terror agreed. “Tor is the one I would ask to set that up. Besides you and Vicious, he’s the only one I know for sure isn’t a mole.”
Orion seemed surprised that. “Really? You only trust three people on this ship?”
“Three men,” he amended. “The list of women I trust is much longer.” Before Orion could question him about that, he gestured with the device toward the ceiling. “The cameras are recording, but they can’t upload. Once I hook this back up, it will start capturing the footage again.”
“Then we better sort out our plan before you do,” Orion stated.
“And what plan is that?”
“When I ordered you to come here, I planned to throw you off the ship,” Orion admitted. “But it was for your own good.”
Terror scoffed. “Of course, it was.”
“And the girl’s,” Orion added with a look.
Terror narrowed his eyes. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m not watching one more woman get used and sacrificed for the cause,” the admiral growled.
Surprised, Terror asked, “And how do you intend to make that happen?”
“There’s a cargo ship docked for another—,” he checked his watch, “two hours and thirty-seven minutes.”
“Cargo ship?”
“One of the ships that Naya contracts with,” the admiral clarified.
“Is that why you sent Maisie away with Noble? Made sure that she’s under guard by your men? With Risk?”
“Yes, but also no,” Orion replied cryptically. “She’s not getting on that ship. Neither are you, but your chip is.”
Terror glanced at his wrist and the pieces fell into place. “You want to send them on a chase?”
Orion nodded. “To buy you and Maisie whatever time I can to get as far away as possible. There’s a waste ship scheduled to leave after the cargo ship. You’re getting on it with Maisie.”
“How?”
“I have a safety drill scheduled. It’s the perfect diversion.”
“Sure, but how do I get Maisie out of the med bay?”
“Risk is putting her in a biohazard box.”
Terror made a face. “Oh, she’s going to love that.”
“I’m sure she’ll prefer it to the alternative.”
“And me?”
“I’m sure you can figure out a way to smuggle yourself onto a ship. After I throw you out of my office with an armed escort and an order for confinement to quarters,” he added with a smirk.
Terror shot him a perturbed look. “You’re really enjoying this.”
“I’ve wanted to throw your ass off my ship for years.”
Feeling defensive, Terror insisted, “I only ever acted to defend this ship, our soldiers and airmen and our people.”
“I know,” Orion assured him, “but that doesn’t mean you weren’t also the worst asshole at the same time.”
He couldn’t argue that. “I never claimed to be a nice man.”
“No, but I think there’s a good man hiding beneath all this meanness.” Orion gestured toward his face. “I’ve seen it in the way you treat Hallie and your interactions with Cipher’s mate. I saw it again today, in that interrogation room, when you looked at Maisie.”
Terror shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not Vicious or Cipher. I can’t offer her what she deserves.”
“Maybe not,” Orion conceded, “but you can protect her. You can set her free. And, maybe along the way, you can figure out what the hell is really going on around here.” The admiral shook his head. “There’s something more than a mole at play. Something deeper. Something much worse.”
Terror hesitated before admitting, “I think Maisie knows a lot more than she’s saying. Back in the interrogation room, she seemed confused about the photos of Devious. There was something wrong about them.”
“Why didn’t Keen press her? Or Savage?”
“That’s an interesting question, isn’t it?”
Orion grimaced. “The last thing we need is to find out that there’s some sort of conspiracy happening within the upper levels of the intelligence divisions.” He sighed and said, “You have to be careful, Terror. I have a lot of pull, but there’s only so much cover I can give you.”
Terror gave Orion’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not about to do anything to risk your career or Vee’s. If I find something, I’ll handle it my way.”
“That’s what worries me,” Orion grumbled. He checked his watch again. “We need to hurry. I’ve got to throw you out of here and have you confined to quarters before Risk makes his move.”
“I’m impressed with your scheming.”
“Yeah, well, don’t compliment me until we actually pull this off,” Orion warned. “A thousand things could go wrong.”
“I’ve managed far worse situations than this,” Terror assured him. He glanced at the ceiling. “I’m going to put this back. We’ll have a few seconds before it reconnects and starts receiving data from the other cameras. Are you ready?”
“Ready?” Orion grinned. “Hell, I’ve been dreaming about the day I would finally have the chance to throw you off my ship.”
Terror didn’t hold it against the admiral. If there was one man who deserved to be shoved out of an air lock, it was probably him. From the way he had risked Hallie’s life for cover on a mission to the way he had coerced and abused his authority to force Naya to confront her family, he had earned Orion’s ire. Considering all of the other terrible, questionable things he had done, he was lucky that the admiral had even consented to Vicious borrowing a ship to rescue Maisie.
As he hopped back up onto the sink to replace the transmitter, Terror vowed he wouldn’t waste this precious chance to truly rescue her. He hadn’t been lying when he told Orion he wasn’t a good man. He wasn’t. At all.
Maisie was his chance to redeem himself. This was one mission he refused to fail.
