Page 4 of Out of the Shadows

After working closely with Bean for the last eight years, he knew when she’d hit the wall. Her deep-blue eyes, which lightened and darkened depending on her mood, got shaky. It was always concerning when that happened, but the woman looked like her usual put-together, badass self. If MacKay thought she looked like shit, then they must have had a bad connection.

Dismissing MacKay’s concerns, Gavin got down to business. “It’s nearly four-thirty in the fucking morning, so let’s make this quick.” After giving a concise recap for MacKay’s sake with his team chiming in here and there, Gavin turned to Xander Bonetti, one of their top security specialists. “I’d like you to meet with the McClintocks later this afternoon. I talked to Edward briefly tonight about their security personnel and recommended they clean house. Edward wants us to take over the personal security for his son and wife tomorrow. He’s also requesting we take the lead on hiring long-term security for them. However, he’s insisting on keeping his own core security personnel. A team of five led by Adrian Polanski that he apparently ‘trusts with his life.’”

Xander frowned. “He wants to keep the people that were in charge of hiring security for his kidnapped son?”

Gavin shrugged. “Apparently, Edward, Polanski, and the other four guys go way back. And I quote, ‘It wasn’t their fault they were duped.’”

Groans and muttered curses filled the room.

Xander shook his head. “When the fuck are people going to realize that longevity doesn’t equate to loyalty?”

“So Edward trusts Polanski and his guys with his own life, butnotwith the lives of his wife and child.” Bean’s eyes rolled. “People are freaking strange.”

“Like I said,” Gavin began, commanding everyone’s attention, “I briefly talked with Edward. Obviously, he was preoccupied with getting Anson back and with his son’s condition. Xander, when you meet with him later, try and push him to reconsider keeping his current security. Team Two, you guys are going with. Since Anson will be in the hospital for at least a week, and Rita says she’ll be staying with him the entire time, I don’t think we need to assign an additional team to the two of them right now. We’ll reevaluate assignments when the kid gets released from the hospital.”

Xander and the three men who made up Team Two nodded, and Gavin turned to the screen. “Bean, I’ll need you to run deep background checks on all the new candidates for the McClintocks ASAP.”

“Copy,” she said, then a smirk lifted her lips. “Oh, sorry, MacKay, you’re muted. Hang on... Oh, damn. Sorry, my feed froze, and I can’t unmute you.”

MacKay flipped her off. The corners of his lips twitched as chuckles and snorts sounded throughout the conference room. One, they all knew her last sentence was a blatant lie. And two, the grin on B’s face was the definition of smug.

Wrangling the group back in line, Gavin doled out a few more assignments and then leaned back in his chair. “Goodwork today, everyone. Now get some rest, and we’ll check back in at fourteen hundred hours.” As his team nodded and rose from their seats, he called out, “Bean, call me on my cell in five.”

Following the group out of the conference room, Gavin said his goodbyes and made his way to his office. Flopping down onto his leather couch, he let out a tired groan. He loved the thrill of going out on missions, and while he hadn’t had the opportunity to go on many lately—he had teams of younger, highly qualified men and women who were more up to the task—he hadn’t been willing to stay behind on this one. Images of that tiny kid flashed in his mind. Then they were replaced by images of other children. Other kids who’d been tortured and beaten...

Bile churned in his belly, and he scrubbed his hands roughly over his face. He hadn’t been able to rescue those other children, but he’d been able to rescue this one.

His ringing cell phone pulled him from his grim thoughts. Yanking it from his pocket, he answered the video call.

When Bean’s face filled his display, his eyes narrowed. “You okay?”

“Sure thing, boss. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He didn’t buy her chipper, carefree routine. Not for one second. The woman was neither.

“Push your glasses up, B.” Her right eyebrow arched, and he fought a groan. “Please.”

She shoved her glasses to the top of her head and glared into the screen. “Happy?”

No. Not at all. Because the darker edges of her blue eyes trembled ever so slightly.

He quickly took in the area behind her and spied a bright-red sweatshirt lying on the table. He’d bet his company that she’d been wearing that grubby sweatshirt when MacKay had spoken with her earlier. And he’d also betthere was a reason she’d changed back into her usual professional wardrobe after hanging up with the guy.

Gavin tried not to sigh but wasn’t sure how successful he was. “You hacked into MacKay’s messages, didn’t you?”

Her eyes widened the tiniest of fractions. If he weren’t so attuned to Bean’s face, he would have missed it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He tilted his head and arched his own eyebrow. “Really?”

“Whatever,” she huffed, readjusting her glasses. “Besides, it’s rude to say someone looks like shit. I thought British people were supposed to be prim and proper.”

“You know MacKay’s neither of those things. He’s just worried about you, B. You almost passed out?”

She snorted. “No. He may have been a tiny bit right about the looking-like-shit part, but he was dead wrong about that.”

Gavin wasn’t quite sure he believed her, but it was nearly five in the morning, so what the hell did he know? “Good work today. Seriously. I don’t know how much longer the kid would have lasted if you hadn’t found him so quickly.”

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