Page 5 of Anything But Convenient

“Are you sure you’ve rested enough?” Godric asked. At my scowl he added, “I was recently on bedrest for a bit there too, if you recall. I’m only asking because I know how restless I felt back then. We don’t want you to overdo it.”

I’m not overdoing it. I’m bored. Give me something else to think about.

As an afterthought I added,Please, at the bottom in all caps.

The group read the sheet, then looked at one another. I knew what those looks meant. Had worked with them long enough to read them all.

Well, all except Frost.

I wondered if he was taking over my spot or if his role was temporary. The idea of never being able to work again was one I’d avoided so far. There were plenty of people working with impairments. People doing things in all areas of life.

I wasn’t that special.

And if they could adapt, then so could I.

Ronan straightened, then motioned to the chair. “How about I go over it all and any questions or thoughts you have, you jot down while we talk? That way, we can recap anything at the end. Deal?”

Smirking, I eased into a chair and set the pad on my lap. I waved my hand in a way that screamed,get on with it.

Cohen chuckled, to which Godric elbowed him. “Hey! He’s funny. It’s better than the pissed off version we’d been dealing with.”

His cheeks pinkened at the blurted-out words. No one needed to explain to me what he meant. I had been angry after I woke up. My entire life changed in a span of a few seconds. I felt like a failure for not protecting Sinclair. And even more so, I was worried about how this new version of my life would go.

It was misplaced, sure, yet I could still feel it simmering beneath the surface. Hopefully, with becoming more involved in the team they would go away completely.

Ronan outlined the plan, which was mostly to figure out exactly where the sale was happening. Everyone really wanted to stop it before it went down, however, there was no lead on how the trafficked victims would be arriving. It could be by plane, cargo ship, or even truck. There were far too many options these days.

Memphis jumped in along the way to explain where he got the intel and how many victims he thought there might be based on the preview of the listing. He’d signed in under one of his dark web aliases, giving him access as if he were a buyer.

To these men, that’s exactly who he was.

“We’re going to need to have a truck on standby to get them back here. Stabler will be waiting here with me,” his eye turned to me, “and I guess Takeshi too since he’s back on his feet. We’ll be ready to help get people back to whatever homes they need to.”

Cohen leaned into my side, his gaze taking in my list. “We’re not getting police involved since there's going to be too much heat at the site. We’ll tip them off about the bodies after. The rest is going to be handled in house.”

I squinted at him, my frustration at his closeness unwarranted. Yes, I still didn’t feel good about him being close. I didn’t feel good about anyone being close besides Fabian, and that was only because he’d had to literally wipe my ass when I couldn’t. That type of thing made people close.

“Have you thought about learning sign language?” Memphis blurted out during my stare-off with our teammate.

I whipped my head in his direction. He held his hand up, as if trying to prove his innocence.

“It’s just a suggestion. We could all learn it. That way, you can communicate to us directly instead of writing it all out.”

Yeah. Sure. No biggie.

We’re in the middle of the largest mission we’ve ever taken on, one that will get us all the death penalty if anyone finds out, but sure, let’s stop to learn fucking sign language. What a ridiculous idea.

I shook my head, then stood to leave. Their voices called out behind me, apologizing for upsetting me.

It didn’t matter though. My mood had dropped and there was no reason to stay anymore. I went back to my room, laid down, and pretended nothing else mattered.

What good was I to them anymore?

Worthlessa voice echoed in my head. It sounded suspiciously like my father.

I closed my eyes tight, hoping to keep those memories at bay. No need to remind myself I was a failure long before now.

CHAPTER 2

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