Page 45 of Sebastian

She fell back into the seat. “I guess you’re right.”

“Nash is going to fly the plane out, and we’ll bring Gage, too. Gunner, Stone, and Hawk will stay behind and work on a way to draw him out while we’re gone. If all goes well, we can have him before the end of the week.”

“That would be nice.” Emma’s eyelids drooped as exhaustion from her episode took hold. The guys all stood, apparently understanding their assignments from what little Sebastian had said. They left the room until it was just her and Seb. He still held her hand, tracing the veins in her skin.

“Why don’t you come upstairs? You can rest before we have to head to the airport.”

“I’m okay here. I need to talk to Hank, and I’ll have to text Daisy that I’m not feeling well. She and I had plans to talk about her baby shower tomorrow, and she’ll sniff out my lies if I see her face to face.”

“The guys and I need to speak with Hank, too. Maybe we can have him come here before we leave. I’ll ask him to keep things quiet for now.”

“I’m sure he’ll agree. He’s been driving Daisy crazy with how protective he’s been acting. Although, I can’t blame him. For the first time, I’m thankful my best friend is a blonde bombshell and I look nothing like her.”

Fifteen

“Why the fuck isn’t there any information in your files about this guy?” Sebastian yelled at the screen that had been set up in the conference room.

“I understand you’re upset, Sebastian, but Ms. Sullivan’s revelation is a big break in our case. There has been chatter of someone in the organization who carries out these acts, but no one has ever had a name to put with the whispers. The only thing we knew is that he was nicknamed ‘the surgeon’ and that he’s absolutely ruthless. The photos I’ve seen from what this guy does is…horrific. I’ll be notifying our agents inside the organization at their next check-in.”

“And when is that?”

“Later this week.”

“It’s not fast enough. She’s in danger, now. More women in this county are in danger.”

“We have a protocol to follow. I will notify them as soon as possible, which is in just a few days. Until then, take Ms. Sullivan out of Texas, like you plan to, and wait for me to contact you again with an update.”

“Fine. But I want a phone call or video conference the second you are done updating your agents.”

“I’ll speak with you then.”

Agent Wilson ended the video call and Sebastian blew out all his breath. He felt like he was making the right decision to take Emma out of Texas, but what if it wasn’t enough?

Sebastian rested his elbows on the table, placing his head in his hands and tried to think through each possible outcome of their trip to Colorado. If he planned for everything before they went, he’d have a better chance of keeping her safe.

But as he closed his eyes, his mind didn’t take him to Colorado. No. He didn’t want to be back there, back in the desert.

The smell of smoke and copper filled his nose, and when his eyes looked up, dust was so thick he could barely see a foot in front of himself.

Where was his team? His head hurt. The ringing in his ears was so fucking loud. Louder than the screams coming from the side of the building. Where were they? This wasn’t supposed to happen. He needed to get to them. Sebastian stumbled, his knee giving out before he’d even put all of his weight on it. Someone was calling out his name…

“Cap? Hey, Cap. Come back, man. Come back.”

“Stone?”

“Yeah,” Stone answered as he tried to get to his feet. “No way, bud. Sit down.” His friend pushed on his shoulder, forcing Sebastian back into the chair in his conference room. The conference room at Montgomery Equities. He was in Bell Ridge. This wasn’t war, it was his mind playing a trick on him.

“Here, drink.” Stone handed him a glass of water. “How long have you been having flashbacks for?”

“That’s the first one I’ve had in almost two years. I don’t know what happened.”

Stone nodded, still watching him closely, his eyes never leaving Seb. “It’s not surprising that everything with Emma triggered it.”

“I guess. All I care about is keeping Emma safe. My brain just took me back to the last time I failed at protecting the people I care about.”

“Cap, I don’t know how many times you are going to need to hear it, but I’ll say it every time you need to be reminded. What happened to Luke and Ryan that night wasn’t your fault. The team decided to act on intel that we believed was valid and vetted. It was not your decision alone that led us into that ambush.”

“Tell that to their wives,” Sebastian sighed. “Tell that to Luke’s son who now has to grow up without his dad. I fucked up, Stone. What if I do it again, and it cost’s Emma everything?”

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