ChapterForty-One
They received word midmorning that two bodies—those of Odent and Mueller—had been recovered. The search for Hobbs remained ongoing.
Hours after that, the final update confirmed Xavier’s greatest fear. Hobbs had been found in the lake.
With all three men accounted for, the focus on the search for Mikhail and any remaining mercenaries continued. The estimates for the number of mercenaries ranged from George’s count that first night when he identified a dozen, up to eighteen, as claimed by one of the men captured, while the other two men said there had been only ten or eleven. Given that George had been accurate in everything else, it was clear the mercenaries gave unreliable information.
The number of dead mercenaries was easier to calculate. The body of the man Xavier had encountered on the cliffside trail had turned up in the lake. That had been the first kill. Then there was the one he’d killed by snapping his neck, two. George had shot one with a match gun and taken out two with the explosive on the fishing boat, three, four, five. Add to that the one who died in the mudslide—six—and the one who’d attacked Audrey—seven—and the two killed in the lodge firefight—eight and nine. They’d also recovered the body of the man the captured mercs had claimed Mikhail killed, for an even ten dead.
Three captured.
Mikhail was the only one they were certain had escaped, as none of the three detained mercenaries had a wound to the shoulder. A balaclava had been found in a puddle next to Lake Olympus Road near Jeb’s cabin. The mask would be tested for DNA, but after being soaked in mud, it was unlikely to yield actionable evidence.
The forest was searched by law enforcement from every walk of life—federal, state, city, military, park, and tribal—on the assumption that up to five mercenaries could remain, but no other trace was found of anyone in the days immediately following.
Audrey was sent home after a full day of debriefing, but Xavier had to stay on the base to go over again and again every detail of the planning for the training, as they searched for the pieces that would reveal the mole who’d compromised the exercise.
Chris was pulled from the forest to join the debriefing, and the more they compared notes, the more they were both certain that the entire plot had been executed as revenge for the failed mission in Belarus.
The days were long and emotionally grueling. He and Chris were put up in a house on the base, and he ended each night with a long FaceTime call with Audrey.
She was back in her house in Port Angeles. Her SUV had been transported to a body shop to repair the damage from the bullets. She had a rental car in the interim, but preferred to stay home as much as possible. Jae and Undine took turns sleeping in her guest bedroom because she didn’t want to be alone.
Mikhail was still out there, and she’d been named as one of his targets.
The unruly campers Jae had dealt with the first night were long gone from Forks by the time investigators showed up, but that didn’t mean they’d left the country. The police had her house on their regular drive-by schedule, she was the proud owner of a high-end alarm system, and she sported a new smartwatch, so she would never be without a phone.
Xavier ached to be with her, but the work he was doing was important, and they both knew it.
The nightly calls drew them closer together even as they were apart. They spent entire conversations talking about nothing related to the lodge events, just sharing their history and dreams for the future, and that, more than anything, healed pieces of Xavier’s shattered heart.
He knew he faced a long road to finding a way to forgive himself. Right now, it didn’t feel possible to take that leap as guilt weighed on him. But he also knew on an external, logical level, that it wasn’t his fault.
Someday, he’d get his heart to believe it.
Fig had grown to the size of a peapod—he found it a little odd that fruits and vegetables appeared to be the standard base measurement for fetus size—when Xavier was finally cut loose for two days’ leave.
A quick online search gave him the name of a peapod flower that could be found year-round, but he was disappointed when none of the florists nearby had bouquets on hand. Instead, he got Audrey two dozen roses and went to the grocery store and made a second bouquet of peapods.
He showed up on her doorstep with a bouquet in each hand, and the look on her face when she opened the door might have been the most perfect thing he’d ever seen.
Inside, she’d squealed when he set down the flowers and peas on the nearest flat surface and scooped her up, draping her over his right shoulder. “Where’s the bedroom?”
“Xavier, you’re injured! Put me down.”
“It’s been a week. I’m fine.”
“Hey, Xave,” Jae said from the archway to what he assumed was the living room.
“Hey, Jae. Tell me where the bedroom is, then you can leave. Set the alarm behind you.”
Jae laughed and pointed to a hallway, then headed for the front door. “Let me know when you need me, Aud.”
They were halfway down the hall when Xavier heard the door close and the ping of the alarm. Audrey’s bedroom was small, like the rest of her house. Her bed was queen-sized, filling two-thirds of the room.
He set her on the mattress and said, “When we move in together, we’re going to need a bigger bed.”
She laughed. “And a bigger house. This one is only a two-bedroom. What if we have guests, or want more children?”