Page 20 of Flame
I press the green button. “Carmichael.”
“This is Ford. I got your message. What’s up?”
Anger begins to build inside me again.
I point at Banks to back up closer to the corner. He holds his hands up and presses himself flat against the wall.
“I want to talk to you about Bianca,” I say, my jaw aching from clenching so tightly all afternoon.
“Of course. What about her?”
Stay calm. “Why in the hell was she on a plane with Jason and no backup if you know there’s an open threat?”
He sighs. “All right. Calm down. Let me explain.”
“I’d love for you to explain. I’d love for you to explain to me why the protocol is being ignored.” I suck in a breath. “Where was her security detail? Where was Troy? Dominic? Calvin? You had no one escorting them? Jason is flying a fucking plane with her on board, and there’s no backup?”
“Everyone had another assignment—”
“No one called me.”
“Youasked to be removed from her detail.”
I’m breathing fire. “I ask to be reassigned. That doesn’t mean I’m unwilling to rejoin her team if there’s no one available.”
Banks starts to slip away from the wall.
I lunge at him, and he slides right back into place.
“You’re not affiliated with that plan,” Ford says. “You know how this works.”
“I know that she should never be allowed to fly around the country alone when someone is making threats against her,” I say a little too loudly.
Banks’s eyes go wide.
“She wasn’t alone. She was with Jason. And let me remind you that Jason isn’t a normal civilian. He’s as trained as you are. He’s as capable of protecting his sister as any of us, and he took responsibility today.Hecalled Dominic off.”
“You’re dropping the ball, Landry.”
There’s a moment of silence—long enough for me totryto regain my composure.
I kick myself for getting too close to Bianca in the first place. I kick myself harder for not being able to handle it. I bust my ass for asking for the detail transfer and allowing these assholes to leave her in harm’s way.
I fucked this all the way up.
“Foxx?” Landry asks. “Are you okay?”
I tug at my hair with my free hand. “I’m fine. I’m …fine.” I blow out a breath and drop my hand to my side.
“Bianca is with you now, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Is that okay with you? If not, I can send someone—”
“I wouldn’t advise it,” I say through clenched teeth.
The door slams. I jump just in time to see Banks jetting down the porch.
