Page 94 of Sunflower

“Uh, sure,” I said, wondering why I was getting a call from one of my frat brothers. Xander was one of those lucky students who lived off campus with family, but he’d recently lost both of his parents. Our frat had banded together to support him and his stepbrother, who was also a member of our frat, but we could only do so much when they were both still suffering through so much grief.

“I heard that you’re taking Professor Henderson’s class next semester?”

“You heard correctly.” I frowned. “Everything okay?”

He sighed. “Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m shifting to part time next semester, so I won’t be able to take Henderson’s unit until next year. But I’ve already bought the materials for next semester, so I wondered if you wanted to buy them off me? I mean, if you haven’t got them already, obviously.”

“Oh, damn! Yeah. Yeah, I’ll definitely get them off you.” Well,thatwas a stroke of luck I hadn’t expected. “You on campus between Christmas and New Year’s?”

“Don’t have any plans to be, but I can meet you. Message me on this number with a day and time?”

“Will do. Thanks, Xander.”

“Nah, thankyou, Callum,” he said with a very relieved sounding sigh. “This helps me get out of an unexpected bind. I appreciate it, man.”

“Anytime, dude. Anytime.”

We hung up and with a bit more of a spring in my step due to one less thing on my to-do list and a healthy and much needed reminder that the world still continued to turn outside of my own complicated little bubble, I finally entered the jewelry store and, after a quick look around to find what I was looking for, approached an attendant.

“Hi. I’d like to order that,” I said as I pointed at a particular piece they had on their racks. “But with some added engraving. Is that something you can help me with?”

“Certainly, sir. Let me grab the order book. When would you like to pick it up?”

I scratched my chin as I thought. “Would a week from today be workable?”

The attendant smiled. “Perfectly. Let’s get you sorted.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Callum

PresentDay…

“We’re still in the process of clearing Erin and Barry’s house after last night, so they’re going to stay upstairs in one of our spare suites,” Orchestra said to me and Joey as we sat in George’s office. “With everything still up in the air with the mole, I’d prefer it if you two would stay on site as well.”

I frowned at the idea, but nodded. Mam and Barry’s house had been compromised, and we didn’t yet know how much intel the mole had on the rest of us. Considering how easily they’d got to George’s house, and Marcy’s, odds were high that everyone in the team was now at risk. It wouldn’t surprise me if we all ended up living here until this mess was sorted.

Squeezing Joey’s hand in mine, I glanced over to him apologetically. “We’ll be safer here,mo lus na gréine.Someone from our security team can pick up our clothes and bring them to us later after they make sure they’re clear of bugs. Everything else will be provided for us.”

He nodded, even as he nibbled his bottom lip nervously. “As long as I’m with you, sweetness, I don’t mind where we stay.”

With a small smile, I brought his knuckles up to my lips to press a light kiss to them. We’d get through this. Like he said, I had to have faith in what my visions of our future had shown me. We were happy in our future. Relaxed. I had to believe that meant we’d get through all of this.

Even if it meant both of us being trailed by our security teams for the foreseeable future.

“This paperwork will get lodged tomorrow but expect more to sign when you come back in, Joey,” Orchestra said after a slight pause, getting us back on track with a pointed look at the pages in her raised hand, even though she was smiling. “I know Erin is upset that you’re dropping out of college to come work here, but I can’t deny that we need someone with your power on the team. Iamglad that you’ve decided to finish out this semester, though. If you wanted to continue studying next semester in a part-time capacity, we’d support you.”

“We’ll see.” Joey shrugged noncommittally. “It seemed like a bit of a waste to drop out now when I had less than a month to go. I’ll need the next couple of days to arrange things with the college, especially if I’m to have someone from security with me, but I’m positive I can convince my professors to allow me to shift to night classes until exams come around. If I do run into an issue, are you sure it’ll be okay for me to work around day classes?”

Orchestra waved her hand to dismiss Joey’s concerns. “We’ll work with you. It’ll only be a few weeks that we’d need to toggle things around a little. I’ll let your training instructors here know that we might need to play things by ear. And take whatever time you need to get the changes sorted. Just keep me in the loop if you need more than the next couple of days, so I can adjust the assignments here.”

Glancing at me, Joey heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Orchestra. Truly.”

She gathered the signed paperwork still sitting in front of her and tapped it on the desk before placing it in a manila folder to her left. “Honestly, you’re doing us a favor, Joey. As I said, we need a boost on the team, and with your dad confirmed, we’ll have two. No other team has that in the world, and with what happened last night, I dare say that we’ll need the both of you before this investigation is over.” She looked from Joey to me, her eyes shrewd. “Callum, I’m going to be putting you on desk duty while Joey is finishing out his semester and going through training.”

“What? Why?” I asked, leaning forward, immediately worried I’d done something wrong. “With Marcy and George out, we’re down on numbers. I need to be out and about, not stuck behind a desk.” As a thought struck me, I narrowed my eyes at her, suddenly questioning her reasoning. “Mam isn’t behind this decision, is she? Because if she is—”

Orchestra chuckled before she shook her head. “No. Erin had no say in this.”

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