Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
After a week recovering in Dallas, his chest had hurt for another reason. Mia had come to see him. She’d been sweet and kind and everything he would never have. She’d promised she would look into the story and try to clear his name. Of course, her massive husband had stood behind her, promising to keep her safe while she looked into the Agency.
It was better she’d picked Case Taggart. Ezra was cursed and he knew it.
Still, even a cursed man could do some good, and he was about to prove it.
If the Agency wanted a war, McKay-Taggart would give them one. And Ezra Fain would play his part. He had a new team now.
He strode into the lobby and past the pretty blonde who waved him through. He moved through The Garden, to the back of the club where he’d been told his new job awaited him.
There they were—six men who’d had their memories wiped, their whole worlds taken from them so Hope McDonald could prove she could. Now their bodies held secrets every intelligence agency in the world would kill to get hold of.
“I thought I was only taking five.” He settled his duffel bag over one shoulder. Everything he owned in the world was in that bag, the rest left behind because like these men, life as he knew it before was gone.
Damon Knight stood amid what looked like his whole team. His wife, Penelope, was dabbing at her eyes, her small son on her hip as she moved around the men they’d come to affectionately call the Lost Boys.
But he’d thought Owen Shaw was staying here in London. They’d made the call because Owen was different. He’d had his memory wiped, but he knew his real name, had all the documentation he needed to be safe. The Agency wasn’t going to swoop in and take Owen. He had too many ties. Like Theo Taggart.
Unlike the rest of the men who didn’t even know their real names.
Yet, Owen had a backpack on. “This is my family. You’re not leaving me behind. If we’re going to ground, I’m going, too. Robert can’t leave me behind like he’s leaving her.”
More than one face frowned Robert’s way. Robert was the oldest of them, well, in Lost Boys’ years. He’d been around the longest. He’d been in the first group. Only he and Theo Taggart had survived that first round of experiments.
“It’s better that she stay here,” Robert said, his eyes staring straight ahead and not back at the gorgeous woman named Ariel Adisa.
Damon stepped in, his voice going low so only Ezra could hear him. “Ariel wanted to come along. Robert won’t allow it. It had to be a unanimous thing or you would be dealing with disharmony where you need peace, brother.”
“I take it the others wanted to bring the good doc along?” Ezra looked at her, her face strained and tight in a way she normally wasn’t. Ariel was the group’s psych expert.
She was also firmly in Levi Green’s line of fire, according to Kayla. Well, and Levi himself.
Damon sighed. “Yes, they disagree with how to deal with the threat against her. Levi Green called her last week. Bold as brass, that one. He asked if she wouldn’t mind forwarding the files on the lads. Of course she said she had no idea who he meant. He asked if they could discuss it over dinner, said he would be in London soon and would love to see her.”
Bastard. “We can take her along, but it might be smarter to keep her here. Green is trying to provoke a response. Does Robert have a thing for her?”
“Robert is hopelessly, madly in love with her,” Damon replied. “Not that he’s done anything about it. They’ve kept it professional up to this point. He’s panicked and not thinking straight. Give him some time. We might be shipping her out to you soon. In the meantime, she’s left you profiles of all her boys, as she calls them. We’ll keep her safe.”
“Do that,” Ezra replied. “I don’t trust Green. He’ll do anything to win.”
Damon held a hand out. “Everything is set. The plane is waiting. Good luck to you all.”
Ezra looked at his new team. “Men, I know it sucks to leave home, but we’re going to make it through this. We keep our heads down and let the men and women of McKay-Taggart figure a way out of this for us. We’ll go to ground, but not to hide. We’ll do our best along the way to earn our keep, to use our talents for the betterment of those around us. Up until now very little has been asked of you, but that changes today. We’re on our own in a few short hours. We’re going into a war where you are the prize.”