Page 18 of Jack

Astrid blinked as if coming out of a trance before her eyes dropped back to the phone and she swiped across it to show him a few more chunky blankets.

His hand folded over hers as it shook, and he felt the intimacy of the moment, a connection he’d never had before.

He stilled her hand on a picture of her with a woman he didn’t recognise as being part of Zenobi. “Who is that?”

“My sister Adeline. She died four years ago today.”

Jack’s body tensed, and he felt an overwhelming desire to wrap her up and protect her from the pain he knew she must feel. If he lost Will, he had no clue what he’d do, couldn’t even imagine that kind of pain. He knew Waggs lived with it and it had almost cost him his son.

“I’m sorry.” His arms came around her, and he gave her the only thing he could—a shoulder to lean on.

She took it, settling against his body as if she’d been created to fit him. “Can I tell you something and know it won’t go any further?”

Jack wasn’t expecting that but felt privileged she’d trust him with a secret. “Yes, of course.”

“I don’t think she’s dead.”

“She was CIA, like you?”

“Yes, and she died on an op just after she started it. At first I accepted it, but after a while, things began to come to light which didn’t add up. I began to investigate on my own. My handler found out and shortly after I was disavowed and left to die at the hands of a cartel we were chasing down.”

He hated the thought of her at the mercy of men like that. She wasn’t saying it, but he understood they would have hurt her and badly. He fought the urge to ask, knowing she’d tell him if she wanted him to know the details. “How did you get away?”

“Roz. She and Mustique were working the same case for a client who’d lost his daughter to the cartel and they helped me. I would’ve died without their help. I owe them everything.”

“Is that why you work for Zenobi?”

“That and the fact I’m good at what I do, and it allows me to carry on looking for Adeline.”

“You are good at what you do.” Jack leaned forward, making her sit up and face him as her phone fell to the blanket. “Let me help you, Astrid.”

“I can’t, Jack. You have enough going on, and these people are dangerous.”

He swept her hair from her cheek with his thumb. “I’m dangerous, Astrid.”

“I know, but these people don’t care who they kill, and I have to be careful not to expose Adeline by finding her. If she’s stayed hidden this long, it’s because she’s scared, and I don’t want to put her at risk.”

“Even more reason to let me help you.”

“What about your father? You have your hands full already.”

Jack knew this was something he could do for her. He couldn’t offer her a future but this he could do. “You let me worry about him.”

Astrid looked away to the sea as if trying to make up her mind.

The alarm on his watch beeped, and he looked down at the message from Lopez.

Security breach on the beach.

“Fuck.”

“What is it?” Instantly her demeanour changed, and she was on alert, something in his tone, making her aware.

“We have a security breach, and apparently it’s on the beach.” Jack dashed a load of sand over the fire and doused the flames as he pulled Astrid further back into the cover of the rocks. He knew it was dangerous because of the risk of burns but needed the darkness.

He quickly typed out a message to Lopez telling him to get men to the beach and turned to Astrid. “Are you armed?”

“Yes of course,”