Page 43 of Fallout

Destiny drank some of her tea, which Clare had made for both of them. When Clare was done, Destiny tried to figure out how to ask her question.

“What is it?”

Of course, her boss had picked up on it. “I really felt like God told me to go to Africa.”

“Because He did.” Clare seemed so sure. “You heard Him.”

Destiny held on to her mug, warming her hands. “Why would He send me if He knew what was going to happen?”

“You might never know.”

“What if that’s not a good enough answer?” God had allowed what happened to her to occur, but He hadn’t orchestrated it. People had free will. The man who attacked her had done so because hecould, and if anyone was behind it, then it was the enemy of every believer. Not God.

“Why do people die of cancer? Why are children sold?” Clare asked.

“Because we live in a fallen world.”

“Do we have to understand the why of the pain to find the depth of comfort in healing?” Clare gave her a long look. “You may never have peace with what happened to you, but you can trust God to bring you through all of this. And to give you wisdom for the future.”

Jasper.

That’s what Clare was talking about. “He doesn’t need to be saddled with me and a baby he never asked for.”

Clare made a face. “What if that’s exactly what he needs?”

“No way.” Destiny shook her head. “It’s not even what I need, but it happened.”

Clare’s expression said she wasn’t sure that was true. Her phone buzzed, and she lifted the device to see the screen since leaning forward wasn’t an option right now.

Something Destiny wasn’t exactly anticipating. Though, getting sick every day was worse.

“SWAT was deployed to George Anderson’s house. Reports of shots fired.” Clare shifted in her seat.

She clearly wanted to go but shouldn’t. Better for the pregnant woman to stay out of the way than risk being hurt. Despite her nature, Clare was channeling that need to wade into the fray toward caring for the child growing in her.

Destiny had never desired to be a cop, or an operative. But she felt the same need to protect the life growing inside her, even if it was barely the size of a plum.

Clare said, “Unlock your phone and open the app. I’ll give you a crash course in operations while we distract ourselves because our men are in danger.”

“This says Brent Rammington wants to meet.”

“Right.” Clare tapped the screen on her phone, and the notification on Destiny’s was marked accepted. “So we send him some options on times, and he accepts the slot he wants. We’ve got two requests from Europe, which you’ll pass to Mack. Badger’s wife thinks she saw a high-value target when they were on vacation last week. We can have Peter look into it, and if there’s something there, then he can follow up.”

The amount of things Clare coordinated blew Destiny’s mind on a regular basis, but the reality was that she employed the best and she delegated amazingly—all from her phone.

If she wanted to take on a mission, she could. If she wanted to stay home with the baby, she could.

“Why do I feel like you’re gearing up to have me cover for you when you have the baby?”

Clare grinned. “I’m sure everyone in the company will pitch in if you need it.”

“I’ll be terrified. You have no idea.”

“Oh, I think I have an idea.” Clare tipped her head to the side. “Except the idea of Jasper wanting to spend more time with you is scarier than this.” She motioned to the phone. “Right?”

“So, the notifications.”

Clare laughed.

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