Perceive by K E Osborn

 

 

AXEL

 

I hate the smell of this place.

We’d spent far too much time in this disinfectant hell hole recently.

Too many injuries.

Things that shouldn’t have happened, but they did. Why? Are we getting too confident? Too cocky? Or are things simply becoming too dangerous? Are the people coming after us far too willing to go as far as they need to, to get what they want.

Working for The Agency has always been a dangerous job, but when you start to care about people, when you start to pull these other people into your life, suddenly, things change. You second- guess what you’re walking into, you don’t take chances or risks.

You’re more cautious.

And in this world, cautious doesn’t always mean better. It could mean the difference between firing first or firing second.

On the other hand, when you are too eager, the danger is just as real. You’re so determined to protect your team and the people around you, the people you love, that you are willing to jump in with both feet and can’t see the bottom but also don’t give a fuck.

You’re so willing to risk yourself for them.

Being in The Agency and the SO7 is about finding the right balance between the two.

I’ve seen every member of our team falter at some point. Their heart catching on something, allowing it to drag them out of line for a moment. It’s up to the rest of the team to pull them back in. Force them to focus.

That’s where I’m at.

The forcing point.

Sitting in Noah’s hospital room, Agency men standing at the door with permission to drop me if I try to leave, I already know Kace will have called in reinforcements. I have no doubt my dad and any men he can get together are already riding toward Washington. And part of me is thankful, glad they have my back, that they also have Kenzi’s back. But the other part of me wants them to stay away because the thought of possibly losing one of them is weighing heavy on my chest.

And if I’m going to get my head back in this game and get Kenzi back without losing anyone else, I’m going to need to focus on the job ahead.

The door creaks open, and Lily slips in, a reusable grocery bag hooked over her arm. “Hey, how’s he doing?” she asks in a low whisper before Kace edges in behind her, having a quiet word to the two guys at the door.

“The doctors have him pretty doped up,” I mutter, looking at my fallen friend. “His brain scan came back fine. He should be okay.”

“And how are you feeling.”

Lily, always the mother.

“Helpless,” I respond with a shrug. She walks over, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and giving me a soft squeeze.

“We’ll make this right,” she answers with a gentle determination that has me turning my head with a smile.

“We?”

“I can shoot a gun if I have to take Eli’s place on the team to track Kenzi dow—”

“You will not,” Kace cuts in, tugging his lady back against his chest and wraps his arms around her as if holding her captive, keeping her safe.

“I have mad skills,” Lily protests with a grin.

“Don’t I know it,” Kace responds.

Ignoring the loved-up couple making my stomach turn, I notice the two men who had been guarding the door, step out, though just when I think the room is feeling less claustrophobic, Tanner, Blair, Luca, Everly, and Jack fill it to the brim. Blair closes the door behind him last and presses his back to it, folding his arms across his chest.

“I’m not about to make a run for it,” I groan out loudly, then roll my eyes. My knee bounces continuously, a habit I can’t help, but I’m trying to fight unsuccessfully, knowing I need to trust my team and not rush in like I’ve done before when it comes to Kenzi—getting Luca hurt in the process. I also know now just how fucking strong Kenzi is.

I know she’ll fight.

And that alone gives me some ability to breathe.

“Everly,” Jack announces, nodding to her. She jumps a little, pulling her sad gaze from Noah’s still body.

She clears her throat. “I checked the cameras in Eli’s house.”

The pause as she looks over at me, has this tornado twisting and turning in my stomach, ready to rip me apart from the inside out.

“It was Hendrix,” she confirms, her body inching backward, her shoulders slumping when her back meets Luca’s chest, and he hooks his arm around her shoulders. They lean into each other, taking the weight of their bodies together, allowing one to support the other in obvious grief.

That’s when I really feel it.

The weight of his presence missing from the room.

I’d been so focused on Kenzi, I hadn’t even allowed myself to think about the fact that my friend had fucking lost his life trying to protect her.

Jesus Christ.

The bottle of hand sanitizer that sits beside the bed is the closest thing I have. Grabbing hold, I launch it across the room. It practically explodes on the opposite wall and before I can even think of grabbing anything else, Luca and Blair have me pinned back, their hands against my shoulders. A warning in their eyes telling me they won’t hesitate to calm my dumb ass if I don’t calm it myself.

“We all lost Eli, you know,” Jack snaps, his eyes connected to mine though he’s beginning to blur. “But it’s our job to make sure we make things right for him. So pull your fucking head in, Axel. You want in on this, you need to show me your team can trust you and your damn temper.”

Blair and Luca step back, allowing me to take a deep breath and clear the emotion clogging my throat. “My head is in,” I growl, looking at Noah out of the corner of my eye.

I can’t lose him.

I can’t lose Kenzi.

I have to do this.

“It’s completely in, sir.”

“Good,” Jack snaps, looking around, making sure he has everyone’s attention. “We need to figure this shit out. Camilla said Hendrix was going to auction off the bio-chem. He wants top price for it.”

“Where do criminal enterprises hold their world-destroying auctions?” Everly questions with a heavy sigh.

“Anywhere,” Kace answers. “He would have had this planned for months. Somewhere out of town, where he can host something fancy but with no prying eyes. Because that’s what these assholes will want… fancy but secretive.”

Luca rolls his eyes. “There are a million places like that around. And how the hell do we even know it’s anywhere around here?”

“Because Kenzi has been there before,” Lily announces, scrambling to pull her cell phone from her pocket, her fingers dancing across the keys with her brows creased in concentration. “Here!”

She turns to Kace, pressing the screen of her phone right up into his face. He pulls back just a little as she begins to swipe but quickly grabs her hand. “Lil, I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me,” he answers her honestly.

“This is one of the places I had on our list of wedding venues,” she rambles, bouncing from one foot to the other like she desperately needs to go to the bathroom. “Kenzi saw the brochure while she was at our place on Kace’s birthday. She said she’d been there before. With Hendrix. That he was going to have an event and a lot of high-profile, international guests were going to come.”

I stand up straight, my eyes flicking between Kace and Jack who have already whipped Lily’s phone out of her hand and are now examining the venue. Everly tiptoes at their backs, glancing over their shoulders.

“It’s out of town. Remote,” Jack mumbles, his brow raised. “How do we know?”

“Yeah, hi there, Andrew!” Our eyes are all immediately drawn to Everly, who has her cell phone pressed to her ear and a bright smile on her face. “I’m one of Mr. Hendrix’s personal assistants. I just wanted to check up on a few things for his event tomorrow?”

The room is silent.

Each of us holding our breath.

Though Luca’s smirking down at Everly with absolute pride.

“Oh sorry, Saturday’s event, you’re right,” she laughs, quickly widening her eyes at Lily who scrambles, tearing a piece of paper from what I think is a bible sitting on the hospital shelf, and ripping the pen from the clipboard hanging at the end of the bed. “Can you confirm the starting time?”

She chews her lip, her head bobbing.

“Dinner served at six, speeches after that at 7.30 p.m.” Lily scribbles it down. “That’s absolutely perfect… oh yes… Mr. Hendrix was wondering if you could arrange for a chocolate fountain at dinner? Amazing. Maybe also a cheese fondue station? That’s great! Oh, and just one more thing…”

Kace’s frown is growing deeper, while Luca mouths, “Hang up already,” to try and get her off the phone.

She puts her hand up and turns away, clearing her throat. “I know this is late notice, but Mr. Hendrix really loves art, and he adores that statue of David. You think you could get him an ice sculpture of one to have as a centerpiece? You could? Can you also make him really well endowed… I know… yeah… Mr. Hendrix sees it as an almost reflection of himself sothe appendage really needs to be… well, big. Larger than life.”

I swear the air is sucked from the room.

Lily’s almost killing herself, trying to hold back her laughter.

Everly’s face lights up, and she grins happily. “Andrew, you’re amazing. I will make sure you get a large tip for all your hard work.” She ends the call, slipping her phone back in her pocket with a wide smile, it not even faltering when she catches sight of Jack’s hard glare.

“You could have just got the date and time and left it,” he scolds, shaking his head.

“That would have been suspicious,” she answers, rolling her eyes. “Hendrix comes across as a man who would want eccentric things. Things other people don’t have.”

“Like chocolate fountains and fondue?”

“Yup…” She laughs, fluttering her eyelashes. “And a statue with a large dick because he is one, not because he has one… just saying.”

Luca hooks his woman around the neck and pulls her in, pressing a kiss to her temple. I squeeze my fingers into a fist, trying not to let jealousy get the better of me. Not because of Luca and Everly, but because I want Kenzi here with me right now.

I push forward. “We could go now. Get to them before the auction happ—”

“No,” Jack cuts me off, shaking his head. “We need to wait. That time, that day is the only moment we can guarantee Hendrix will be there with that bio-chemical. He’ll have it stashed somewhere else, somewhere it can’t be touched until it’s time to hand it over.”

I clench my jaw, rolling my shoulders back. “So, we just leave Kenzi to the wolves until then?”

“He won’t hurt her,” Everly speaks up, looking at me as she does. “I think he needs her for something.”

“For. What?”

She licks her lips, leaning back into Luca for support. “Andrew mentioned a demonstration.”

“Fuck,” Blair curses, but it’s more like a murmur, just as my heart sinks. “She’s gonna be the guinea pig, so he can show the buyers how it works before they offer up millions for it.”

I stumble back, hitting the wall with a thud, pinching my eyes closed. “He can’t,” I whisper. “I can’t…”

“You won’t,” Kace argues. “He’ll keep her alive until then. We just need to make sure when the time comes, we have a plan.”

“Let’s go. Agency, now. We need to get Reid and his new team in on this,” Jack orders sharply, nodding to the door. “But first, we have a stop to make. Eli’s family needs to be informed so they can begin to find their peace.”

Everyone moves toward the doorway, Blair pulling it open only to find Annamae standing on the other side, her fist raised to knock. Tears streak down her cheeks, and her breathing is unsteady. She pauses for a second, looking from one to the other in confusion as to why we’re all packed into this little room. “Is he… oh goodness… is he okay?” She rushes in, hurrying past me to Noah’s bedside and leaping onto the bed. She reaches out, patting his hair back while quiet sobs leave her tiny frame.

“He’s fine, Anna,” Lily soothes before looking back to Kace. “How about I stay here, and you go do your thing?” It’s sweet, but I don’t miss the look on Lily’s face that tells me her offer isn’t completely innocent.

Does she not trust Annamae?

“Good idea,” Kace agrees, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before nodding at me. “Come on.”

I draw in a deep breath, shoving off the wall and following Kace out into the hallway. Both of us pausing for a second and watching the rest of the team walk ahead.

“I know you’re worried, but Kenzi can do this,” Kace insists.

“What if they break her this time?” I growl, running my fingers through my hair, pulling it back from my face.

Saturday is two days away.

Two fucking days where I will have to sit and do what?

Wonder whether they are beating her?

Hurting her?

Doing God knows what to punish her?

Something even worse?

“We both know Kenzi is already broken. That’s why she is so strong. She’s been through that pain, she’s felt the hurt, she’s hit rock bottom, and she’s ready to fight back. To fight for something better. To fight for you.” Kace reaches over and pounds me on the chest. “We make a plan. We get your girl out. But don’t underestimate her.”

He’s right.

Kenzi has been a fighter for as long as I’ve known her.

This new Kenzi? Whether she realizes it or not is still the Kenzi I knew before she lost her memory.

And if she needs to, Kenzi will use everything she has to get through this.

Nothing is keeping us apart now.

Just two days and this will be done.

Hendrix will be dead.

Kenzi will be back in my arms.

And we will be back with our family.

I’m coming, pretty girl.

Keep fighting.