Page 67 of Blake

“Sorry, give me a sec,” he said holding his finger up and stepping away. “Jack?”

“We found Mitch. He’s been roughed up and locked in a shed at his place. He confirms it was Gunner who attacked him.”

“So, you’re absolutely sure?” Blake asked not wanting to believe it.

“I have a confirmed sighting of him in the US two days ago and the image Will is cleaning up places him at the cabin when Eddie was shot.”

“So he shot Eddie? That makes no sense. Is he out to finish Eidolon or protect us?”

“At this point we don’t know but it seems he’s working against us. It’s possible he’s being forced into it, and that would explain why he’s still protecting certain people.”

“Fuck, this is so twisted. I really hoped we were wrong.”

“Me too,” Jack added quietly.

“When are we telling the others?”

“Day after you get back. That gives us time to make sure we’ve not made a horrible mistake.”

“Do you think that’s possible?” Blake asked still hopeful.

“No, I don’t.” Jack said tiredly.

Blake knew this would be taking a huge toll on his boss as it would them all. Blake hung up after a few more seconds and shook his head trying to make sense of it. He couldn’t and he knew he never would.

* * *

He watched Blake and Pax leave the hospital with a heavy weight on his chest. He had killed Eddie when he’d seen him lift the gun to Pax. Whether Blake would ever know or believe it now or not, he considered him a friend and he would never allow her to be taken from him if he could help it. The attack he had orchestrated on Pax had been the single lowest point of his life. He didn’t believe women were the weaker sex but two against one, and one who had no skill to fight was despicable. He was vile. He thought about the woman who had been on his mind since the Christmas Eve wedding of a good friend.

She had been beautiful and resilient and so fucking proud. He had been bowled over by her. But much as she had shown an interest, he would not touch her. He would not drag a woman like her into the underbelly of society where he now resided. He had betrayed his friends and teammates and it didn’t matter that his reasons for doing so were pure.

He was a traitor and he knew it was only a matter of time before Jack and the others identified him. He was done with Eidolon and the knowledge made him want to vomit on his shoes. It had been the greatest honour of his life serving with those men, but his life was leading him on a different path now.

He could no longer protect his friends from inside their missions, he would just have to try and do so from afar. Turning, he walked away and prayed that when this job was done, and the man he was protecting was exonerated, he would be left alone. Maybe they would put a bullet in him and end his sorry ass. It was no more than he deserved and quite honestly, his life meant nothing to him now.

Yet the image of Lacey filled his vision and he wished things had been different. That he could be the man to help her heal from the trauma she had gone through. A man worthy of a woman like her. One that was filled with light when his own world was now filled with nothing but darkness and death.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

They had been back in the UK for three days now and Blake was on his way to a meeting at Eidolon. He knew Jack would be telling the other men about the traitor and his identity. He felt bile fill his stomach at the thought that his friend could do this to them. Mitch had been told to keep quiet until Jack could break to news and had reluctantly agreed.

Clark Baker had admitted ordering the deaths of Sally and Marvin Nixon and the lab tech. He had also admitted his involvement with the illegal drug trial years ago and the plan for the one involving the Princess and was being charged with conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and a whole host of other charges relating to fraud. He had not named the British operative he’d first talked about saying he had no name and they had not met.

Baker was a classic example of a broken heart that had festered into a poisonous disease and caused him to do stupid things to prove himself worthy of a woman that would never love him. Blake’s thoughts moved to Princess Louisa. He had made some inquiries and heard that she was now involved in a perfectly legal trial in Switzerland. With luck it would be a success and she would recover. Blake knew that the road for her parents would be long and gruelling, with no guarantees. He wished he could do something but there was nothing to be done except pray it worked and put their trust in the doctors.

Stepping into the conference room he took the last seat as Jack nodded at him. It was time for the rest of the team to know the truth.

“Thank you for coming in on a Sunday,” Jack began as Will sat beside him, his face stony and angrier than Blake had ever seen. Blake could feel the tension coming from the men around him—they knew something was up. “I called you here because earlier this year we discovered there was a traitor sabotaging missions inside the team.” A hushed whisper moved through the men as they looked at the others and around the room. One seat was obviously empty. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife as the tension went sky high.

“We have now identified and confirmed the traitor.”

Blake flexed his jaw the fury at finding out Pax had been hurt because of his teammate was still a bitter pill to swallow.

Jack gave a tight nod to Will who brought an image on the screen with a few clicks of his fingers. An audible gasp of disbelief filled the room as they saw the picture of a man they had considered a friend, but who had now turned against them.

“Gunner Ramberg is now considered an enemy of Eidolon. I know this is a hard thing to acknowledge but nevertheless, it’s the case. We don’t know why or who he’s working with, but it seems the objective is to bring this team down.” He nodded at Blake and Alex. “Blake and Alex have been working on some theories but if anyone has any information, no matter how small, we need to know. This is our primary focus now. I want Gunner found and brought to justice. Nobody betrays my team and gets away with it.”

“So that’s why we were all on lockdown?” Mitch asked.