Team 52 Box Set: Books 1-3 Read online

  With another thrust, he roared through his own release.

  When she could finally see, hear, and breathe again, they were both sprawled on the couch.

  “I was planning to make you breakfast first,” Seth murmured.

  She lazily stroked his muscled back. “I’m okay with switching things up.”

  He laughed. “Well, I’m going to make you breakfast now.” He levered himself up. “Hope you like fried eggs.”

  “I sure do.” January managed to stand on shaky legs. “Especially when they’re cooked by a super-sexy guy.”

  Another flash of a smile that made her heart flip over. He reached out, thumb rubbing over her lips. The look on his face took her breath away. She did a mental fist pump. There was another crack in that shell of his, she was sure of it.

  She watched him pull his sweats over his absolutely fine ass and head for the kitchen. She detoured to the bathroom to clean up.

  When she returned, she sat at the island and watched him serve her perfectly cooked fried eggs.

  Seth leaned against the counter and started eating his own breakfast.

  “Best fried eggs I’ve ever tasted.” She winked at him. “And best orgasms and fried eggs I’ve ever had.”

  As he chuckled, a low chime sounded. He moved to his security screens. One screen showed Callie at the front door.

  “Hey, Callie.” Seth pressed a button. “Come on up.” His gaze moved to January. “She’s got clothes for you, and she’s our ride to the airport. We have a flight back to base shortly.”

  “Any news on the Knights of Gaia, or the sphere?”

  He shook his head. “The team at the base are working on it.”

  She nodded, forking up more eggs. It had been a wonderful, little interlude, just the two of them, but now reality was crashing back in. Big time.

  Seth moved and stopped close to her. He tilted her chin up and dropped a kiss to her lips. “Wish we had more time.” He brushed his fingers along her jaw.

  “Me too.”

  “Morning.” Callie strode in, holding several shopping bags. “I have clothes, shoes, and some basic cosmetics.”

  January swiveled on her stool. “You are a goddess, Callie. Thanks.”

  Callie smiled. “You’re welcome, although you are completely rocking Seth’s tee.”

  January snorted. “Might not be the right look for base.”

  The medic’s pretty smile widened. “Probably not.”

  Sliding off the stool, January took the bags. “I’ll go and change.” When she looked up, she saw a look on Seth’s face and she read it easily. She smiled. Apparently, he was sorry to see her out of his T-shirt.

  In the bedroom, January dressed, and quickly did her face and hair. As she headed back toward the living area, she heard Seth and Callie talking.

  “I like seeing you like this,” Callie said.

  “Like what?”

  “Open.”

  “Cal—”

  “No, Seth, you trust no one. You never let anyone through those personal defenses of yours.”

  “I let you and the team in.”

  “Other than us.”

  “I have my reasons.”

  Callie sighed. “We all do. But you think you always have to get a read on people and test their loyalty. I think it’s braver to take a risk and let them in.”

  There was silence and January stood out of sight, frozen in place, and wrapped her arms around her middle.

  “I like her,” Callie said. “I like you two together like this. I like the light in your eyes.”

  There was a moment of silence. “I like her, too.”

  January felt a burst of warmth inside. Somewhere that had been cold since her mother had died.

  “Remember, not everyone is out to shove a knife in your back,” Callie said.

  “Or your face,” Seth added.

  Callie made a choked noise. “Please tell me you aren’t making torture jokes.”

  January dropped her arms and took a deep breath. She breezed back in. “I’m ready.”

  Seth looked up. He’d changed and was now dressed all in black—black cargo pants, black shirt, and heavy, black boots.

  He nodded. “Time to go.”

  Together, the three of them headed out to the black SUV parked out front. Seth locked up his place, and then they were on their way to the Bunker.

  When they got to the airport, a smiling Kinsey greeted them. She was wearing tight jeans and a baby-pink T-shirt advertising the Hard Rock Casino.

  “Hey, how you feeling, sweetie?” she asked January.

  “I’m great.” God, January couldn’t look away. The woman was gorgeous.

  “How’s our guest?” Seth asked.

  Kinsey rolled her blue eyes. “PIMA. Pain in my ass.” Her gaze flicked to January. “Not sure how you ever let him lay a finger on you…”

  “Temporary insanity.” January pursed her lips. “And too much tequila.”

  Kinsey’s laugh was melodic and full-throated. Her gaze moved to Seth. “Well, you traded up.”

  At that moment, Smith appeared in the doorway behind Kinsey. His gaze zeroed in on the blonde as she stood there laughing. January watched Smith’s face close down.

  Ooh. Interesting. January wondered what that was about.

  “Andelman is a fuckwit,” Smith said.

  “Nothing we didn’t already know,” Seth added.

  “Smith’s spent a lot of time with Dr. Andelman, and his patience is wearing a bit thin.” Kinsey reached up and patted Smith’s broad chest.

  January watched as Smith stilled at the blonde’s touch. And when Kinsey moved away, she watched the big man’s gaze follow the woman.

  Oh, yeah. January was so interrogating Seth about this later.

  Everything was a whirl of activity after that. The rest of Team 52 arrived, and January watched curiously as a russet-haired, pretty woman dropped Lachlan off. January remembered she’d met Dr. Rowan Schafer briefly at Area 52. January watched the pair make out beside the car. Lachlan Hunter held the woman like she was something precious he needed to protect. It made January smile. Nothing like seeing a badass in love.

  Soon, they were back on a plane headed back to Area 52. She saw that the team was tense and alert, clearly ready to track down the Knights of Gaia and end this. They all wanted the stolen sphere found.

  As soon as they stepped back into the base, Nat appeared with a click of her heels. “Morning.”

  She was as put together as always—fitted, dark-gray skirt and a blue shirt. But there was no hiding the dark circles under her eyes.

  “Long night?” Seth asked.

  She nodded. “I helped Brooks and Ty out. And I tracked down the document the Knights discovered with a reference to the spheres. There was a reference to it in the emails. It was actually a Mayan vase recovered from the Snake King site of Calakmul. The cylindrical pot was inscribed with glyphs and mentioned the jade spheres with a reference to their power.”

  “I’d love to take a look at it,” January said.

  Nat smiled. “Sure thing. But right now, Brooks is in his domain, and wants everyone there ASAP.” Her gaze scanned them all. “He found something.”

  January straightened. Finally.

  “Something in the emails?” Lachlan asked.

  Nat nodded. “But he hasn’t shared what, yet. He wants us all there, first.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Seth took hold of January’s hand. She felt everybody watching them, but he didn’t appear to care. When she glanced around, she spotted a whole bunch of grins.

  She grinned back, and then they headed down the hallway. A side door opened, and an older man with a buzzcut, and wearing fatigues, stepped in front of her.

  “Oh, hi,” January said.

  The man grunted.

  “Arlo, this is January,” Seth said.

  The man’s unhappy gaze fell on their joined hands. “Heard Lynch trekked through the jungle, fighting off bad guys to rescue you,
then beat up some asshole who tried to kill you.”

  “Yes.” He sounded pretty pissed about it all. “I’m pretty sure Seth would do the same for anyone in trouble.”

  Another grunt. “You planning to get snatched again?”

  “I hope not.”

  Arlo made a harrumphing sound, then pivoted, and strode off.

  With wide eyes, January looked at Seth. “Happy guy.”

  “Arlo’s like good cheese…”

  “Old and crusty?”

  Seth smiled. “He gets more palatable with time.”

  Right. There was quiet laughter all around.

  Finally, they stepped into Brooks’ computer room.

  Wow. The place looked like NASA’s Mission Control. There was a high island in the center of the room and screens everywhere. A large screen dominated the front wall.

  The central table was littered with candy bar wrappers, and Brooks stood beside it. His shirt was rumpled and his hair was a mess. He didn’t look like he’d slept.

  Her gaze fell on the text on his shirt and she fought a smile. It said “If I was a Jedi, there’s a 100% chance I would use the Force inappropriately.”

  He shot them all a vague smile. “Hey.”

  “What have you got?” Lachlan asked.

  Brooks stepped forward, looking strangely nervous. He cleared his throat. “I’ve been going through all of Andelman’s emails.” Brooks’ gaze turned serious. “The Knights of Gaia cell is definitely in L.A.”

  “You have an address?” Seth asked.

  Brooks shook his head. “Not yet.”

  A bunch of email text appeared on the screens, and January leaned against the bench to study them.

  “Andelman took some small, early payments.”

  “Luring him in.” Seth crossed his arms. “Start small, prove themselves to him.”

  “Ahh…” Brooks fidgeted.

  “Brooks?” Lachlan frowned at the man.

  Another email appeared on the screen, and January saw her name mentioned in the text. She straightened, and felt the vibe in the room change.

  Another email appeared, and her name was in there, too.

  Brooks shot her a careful look. “The Knights say they contacted Andelman and January.”

  “That isn’t true.” She laughed, but it was halfhearted. “I never had any emails from them. I’d never even heard of them before the jungle.”

  “They say they paid you money to bring them the spheres,” Brooks said.

  She couldn’t believe this. “That’s ludicrous! You can check my account.”

  She looked around, feeling the chill in the air. Goose bumps broke out on her skin. She looked at Seth, and saw something working in his eyes.

  “Seth—”

  “I did check.” Brooks pushed his glasses farther up on his nose. “You received a large transfer into your account.”

  She went stiff as a board. “What? I never received any money.”

  She looked at Seth again. What she saw on his face made her feel like he’d punched her. His face was completely closed down, his eyes devoid of any emotion, and his jaw tight.

  “Seth, this is bullshit. You know me.” She looked around at the bunch of serious faces. “You all know me.” God, she hated being forced to defend herself. She felt chilled to the bone. “I am not involved. They shot down my plane, for God’s sake.”

  “Is there any chance the emails have been tampered with?” Lachlan asked.

  She was glad to hear Lachlan ask the question. She just wished it had been Seth.

  “I’ve checked.” Brooks sounded like he was sorry. “They look legit.”

  “No way January would be involved with this,” Blair said.

  January felt a tiny spurt of relief.

  “We can’t take any chances.” Lachlan’s golden eyes were intense. “We need to check this out.”

  The relief evaporated.

  She looked back to the man who’d held her tight all night, who’d touched her, who she’d shared her darkest secrets with. “Seth—”

  “You’ll be confined to quarters until we sort this out.” His tone was ice cold.

  January’s heart cracked. “You don’t believe me.”

  God. She’d forgotten. For a little while, she’d forgotten that good things weren’t forever. The things you loved most always disappeared. Besides, Seth had never opened up to her. He’d shared his body, but not his secrets. He’d never trusted her.

  “I’ll escort you to your quarters.” Seth moved to take her arm.

  She jerked away and wrapped her arms around her middle. “Fine. Whatever.”

  Air hissed out of Seth as he did another set of chin-ups in the base gym. He was soaked with sweat, but he kept moving. Up, down, up, down.

  He kept seeing January’s name in those damning emails.

  Shit. He’d been blindsided by this. Unable to sort through the chaos in his head, he’d come to the gym. He’d already run ten miles, and hit the punching bag until it split.

  He didn’t want to believe the worst. He pictured January naked in his bed. Smiling at him. Her talking about her past, her mom. He’d sent the pictures from his camera to his phone. The pictures of her in no more than his shirt, smiling at him.

  And then he’d seen those fucking emails.

  He knew. He knew people were rarely what they seemed. They could smile, go faithfully to church, and then turn around and murder the people they cared for the most. They could work at your side for years, then betray you to the enemy.

  But his damn gut wanted to believe January was innocent, even when his head was telling him to assess the facts and remember the past.

  He saw another image—January’s face as he’d escorted her back to her quarters.

  She’d shut down. All the life in her gone.

  He’d hated that.

  Shit, why would she sell out her dig? His gut churned. It didn’t make any sense.

  “Seth.”

  Lachlan stood in front of him. Seth didn’t pause his chin-ups.

  “You okay?” his friend asked.

  “No.”

  “I have Brooks checking to see if the emails are fake—”

  “You should have him focused on finding the cell in California.”

  Lachlan released a breath. “I know you feel something for January, and if you want to talk about—”

  “No.” Seth knew his voice was sharp.

  “She looked pretty cut up.”

  “Seen lots of good actors, Lachlan. Especially when their asses are on the line.”

  Lachlan tilted his head. “You really think that? That she’s playing us?”

  Seth dropped down from the bar then spun and kicked a workout bench. It flew across the gym.

  “No, dammit. I don’t think she’s guilty. But I can’t let personal feelings cloud my judgment.” He met Lachlan’s gaze. “We have a job to do. An important one.” He thrust his hands in his hair. “Fuck!”

  “You let her in,” Lachlan said quietly. “You care about her.”

  Seth pressed a hand to the back of his neck, hating that this hurt so much.

  “Does this make any sense to you?” Lachlan continued. “January, of all people, taking money and selling artifacts?”

  No. “People do fucked-up things all the time.”

  “I’m not talking about spies or traitors, Lynch.”

  Seth dropped his hand. “No, it doesn’t make any sense.” He wanted to believe. He wanted to shout to the world that she was innocent. But he’d felt this way before, defending the agent who’d sold him out, right up until his captors had shoved a knife through his cheek, his arm, and his chest.

  “You’ve been getting to know January,” Lachlan said. “You need some trust, Seth. I know you trusted the wrong people in the past, but you’ve got good instincts.”

  Seth gritted his teeth.

  Lachlan’s eyes narrowed. “You know her.”

  Seth blew out a breath. “She wouldn’t do this.”
The words burst out of him and instantly the horrible pressure in his chest eased. January was life, enthusiasm, and energy. She wasn’t shady deals and selling out what she was passionate about. “She wouldn’t sell out. One, because she loves her work. And two, because of what drives her.” Seth thought of her mother.

  The gym doors slammed open and Brooks hurried in.

  Seth went stiff. “Did you find tampering in the emails?”

  “Nope,” Brooks answered. “But the money went into a new bank account in January’s name. Opened two days before the plane crash.”

  Seth lifted his chin. “Where was the account opened?”

  “In Los Angeles. In person.”

  Seth felt a chill run down his spine, and heard Lachlan curse. “And January was in Guatemala then.”

  He hadn’t believed her. In his heart, yes, but not out loud when she’d needed him. Not when she’d told him point-blank that she’d had nothing to do with it.

  He hurried out of the gym, striding down the hall.

  “Seth—” Lachlan called after him.

  “I didn’t trust her, Lachlan. She’s been through shit before, and I left her alone to deal with this. I—” Dammit. He’d apologize. He’d beg and grovel. Whatever he had to do to make it up to her.

  He reached her quarters and pounded on the door.

  There was no answer.

  “January? Open up.”

  Still no answer. He expected the door to wrench open and for her to come out with guns blazing. But he remembered her pale, hurt face.

  Screw this. Seth stepped back and then kicked down the door.

  “Hell.” Axel’s voice.

  The man was standing in the hall watching Seth, Lachlan coming up behind him.

  “We having a party?” Axel asked.

  “No,” Seth barked.

  “Seth is extracting his head from his ass,” Lachlan said.

  Ignoring his friends, Seth entered January’s quarters. He looked around, but he knew she wasn’t there.

  “Empty,” he said.

  “Shit,” Lachlan muttered.

  Seth moved to the phone, snatched it up, and hit Brooks’ line. “Brooks, you know where January is?”

  “Confined to quarters,” Brooks said. “Hey, I found it. Whoever the hell did it was good.”