The Darkest Corner (Gravediggers #1)(31)

"It was then I heard the thump of something hitting the top of my cage, and I was jostled around as they pulled me from the ground. They were as surprised as I was when they opened the casket and I crawled out into the fresh dirt."

Levi raised his brows and said, "I bet so. You're lucky some trigger-happy cowboy didn't fill you with lead because he thought you were a zombie."

Deacon did smile at this. "That's the thing about this organization. There aren't any cowboys. It's a fluid unit, from the most insignificant job to the most important. And everyone is the best at what they do. Eve Winter sought you out for that reason and brought you here."

"And yet, I still don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"How's your headache?"

"Gone," Levi answered. "Thank you."

"We've got your background and service file. You were Kidon Mossad. Everyone here comes from similar agencies."

"Mossad has no equals."

Deacon smiled. "We can put it to the test once you're back to full strength. We train together and spar together, sometimes just for the hell of it. You'll get your chance to show us what you're made of."

"Where do you come from?"

"Originally? From a little town in Louisiana. But I was recruited by the CIA about a dozen years ago. I worked covert ops eight years of that. My last four I was taken off the books completely and spent so much time in deep cover I forgot my real name. I took over the identity of Syan Ackbar and infiltrated his ISIS terrorist cell. I spent four years there, slowly cutting the heads off the snakes until the cell had been completely destroyed."

"We have agents as well who have infiltrated these cells," Levi said, nodding. "It is a dangerous game we play with each other. Many lives are lost. But more are saved." 

"That's why we do it," Deacon agreed. "You'll meet the others over the next few days. All are allies to your country and to you. Dante is former MI-6, Elias was a Navy SEAL, Colin is French Intelligence, and Axel is Australian Intelligence. We no longer fight for our individual countries, but for one world. That allegiance to each other is important.

"You've got to go through psychological and physical testing over the next couple of weeks. You're feeling a little better now after the pain pill, but when it wears off that headache will come back with a vengeance. You might also have some hallucinations and some out-of-character behavior-meaning you're going to get mad as hell and want to pound on whatever's closest to you. You'll also have some nightmares. It's all part of the process.

"Once those symptoms pass, we'll move you to the room across the hall. It's bigger and you can rehabilitate in more comfort. There you'll start the debriefing process and learn about the organization, as well as be updated on current mission status. You should only be there a couple of days. Then you'll move up to your permanent quarters on the second floor. Unless you want to find a place of your own. Dante and Elias both live off-site."

"Ten years seems like a long time," Levi said.

"It's the blink of an eye when it seems like the world might not last that long."

"How do you stand it?"

Deacon shrugged. "We're not prisoners. We train, we fight, we work hard. But we're free to come and go as we please. Elias likes to go to his cabin in Colorado. Dante will disappear for a few days at a time when things are slow, and no one knows where the hell he goes. It's up to you. Ten years isn't forever. It's important to remember that."

Deacon decided not to tell him there were times being a Gravedigger felt as if it'd last an eternity. And who knew what was in store for any of them? It was something that occupied his mind from time to time. When the ten years were up, would Eve really let them leave?





CHAPTER SIX




Tess considered herself a patient person. Sometimes. But after searching for Deacon for a good hour, she definitely wasn't feeling patient. She still had no answers as to why the sheriff thought they'd been involved in some kind of commando raid robbery, she still didn't have a van, and she assumed there was still a body on her table, though to be fair she hadn't looked, and she figured Mrs. Schriever was good on ice awhile longer.

She knew Deacon had to be around somewhere because his motorcycle was parked in the carport next to the carriage house. She'd braved the rain and pounded on his front door, but no one had answered. She'd even tried to figure out how to access the hidden room in the casket warehouse, but by the time she'd knocked on all the walls and tried every combination of things she could think of, she was starting to wonder if she'd imagined the room to begin with. Maybe Axel hadn't disappeared through the wall that day. Maybe she was just crazy.