In early June, Lana announced that Tommy was requesting everyone in the conference room for an emergency meeting immediately. Evie followed Cole in and sat in her seat, looking around curiously. Paula was on a mission, so she wasn’t there, but Nissa and Aaron were also missing, and now that she was thinking about it, she hadn’t seen either of them in at least two days. A pit of anxiety began to form in her stomach. She looked over at Cole and Thorn and saw her concern mirrored in their expressions, which only made it worse.
Before she could say anything, Lana and Tommy walked in and took their seats. Lana also looked concerned, but it was Tommy’s expression that made Evie’s stomach drop to her shoes. His usually neat hair was sticking out at the sides, as if he had been gripping it tightly with both hands; his face was pale and a little green, and his eyes looked as if he had been crying.
Clearing his throat, he apologized for making them drop whatever they were working on, but he had news he felt they needed to know immediately.
“Paula missed her last two check-ins and didn’t respond when Nissa and I attempted to hail her.” Picking up the remote for the TV at the end of the room, he turned it on. He used his Onyx Prism tablet that he and Evie had explicitly designed for the Consulting firm, with HELIX integrated, to pull up a video.
“I sent Nissa and Aaron, who insisted on going despite my reservations, to her last known location to find her, and without going into detail about my possible involvement in some veryillegal hacking into a drug lord’s security system, we managed to find this video.”
He paused, his eyes flicking over Lana and Evie. “It’s very graphic, so I’ll stop it before you see anything.”
The video began to play, and Evie watched as Paula was half-carried out of what looked like a shed, her hands tied behind her back in just her bra and underwear, and stood in front of a wall riddled with pockmarks. Despite the grainy, black-and-white footage, it was obvious that she had been tortured and beaten to within an inch of her life. She was only able to stand for a minute before she slumped to the ground and had to be positioned so she was sitting upright against the wall. Four men filed into view in front of her, each holding a machine gun. They raised them, and Tommy stopped the video, turning off the screen.
Evie swallowed and blinked back tears as she turned to Tommy, feeling like someone was squeezing her lungs. All she could think about was how heartbroken Aaron must be, and she wished she could help him.
“Obviously, she did not survive.” Tommy cleared his throat again, and Evie looked around. Lana was as white as a sheet, leaning heavily on Cole, who had his arm around her, holding her tightly against him, but his and Thorn’s expressions were impassive. When Thorn met her eyes, his expression softened, and he got up and came around the table to sit beside her, letting her lean into him as he rubbed her back.
“Nissa and Aaron managed to find one of the shooters yesterday and… convinced him to lead them to where they disposed of her body. Nissa is on her way back with it now, but Aaron disappeared this morning.”
Evie felt Thorn tense beside her and saw him and Cole exchange worried looks.
“He called me about an hour ago, told me he was going after her killers and not to try to stop him. I offered to send Thorn or Cole to help, but he refused, asked me to look after Paula and contact her parents, then hung up. He’s since turned off his tracker, phones, everything, so we have no way to find or help him.”
Tommy looked over at Evie. “Evie and I will take care of all the arrangements. We both have extensive experience with this, and I have all her final wishes and requests on file. We will hold off on holding a memorial service for three months or until Aaron returns, whichever happens first.”
He paused to let everything sink in. Paula had kept her relationships with all of them pretty superficial. They all felt terrible that she was gone, and for Aaron, but no one had anything to say. Tommy sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
“I’m currently in the process of hiring a highly gifted psychologist who specializes in behaviour analysis. She’ll be starting in the next three or four months. Her role will be to provide us with insight into our targets going forward and to help pair the best contractor with the job based on behaviour and personality. She will also serve as the team psychiatrist, and there will be mandatory monthly check-ins for everyone who works with Sloane Consulting, regardless of whether they’re in the field. Of course, if you feel you need to speak with her more often, you can, and marriage counselling will also be available.”
“How are we handling Aaron going off script?” Thorn asked, looking genuinely pained to have to ask, but clearly feeling like it needed to be discussed. “I understand why and do not blame him at all.” He glanced down at Evie, and she felt hisarm tighten around her waist a little. “If something happened to someone I love, I would respond the same way. But this is now putting his life in danger. He is emotional and more prone to making mistakes.”
“Nissa overheard him talking to someone called Beau and said it sounded like he agreed to fly down to Bogota and help him track down Paula’s killers.” Tommy caught sight of his hair in the reflection of the TV and ran his hand through it, trying to make it lie flat again.
“She told me that his best friend is a guy named Beau Corbin, and I was able to find out that he’s a Staff Sergeant in the Army and a decorated sniper. At one point, he held the record for the longest distance kill shot, so he’s clearly pretty damn good at it.” He fell quiet for a moment, looking impressed, and Evie knew he was wondering how to get him to leave the Army and join Sloane Consulting.
“Anyway,” he shook his head, “I made some discreet inquiries with some of my contacts, and he’s been on leave for the last year recovering from an injury, but he’s leaving to do another tour in Iraq in August.”
“So he is bringing in someone from outside the company? Who we can assume is also having an emotional response?” Thorn sat back, shaking his head as his hand ran up and down Evie’s arm. “This is not good, Tommy.”
“From what Nissa has told me, this Beau character and Paula… Well, let’s just say the word ‘despised’ apparently doesn’t quite do it justice when it comes to describing how they felt about one another.” Tommy gave a small, sad smile. “Which, given how Paula was with us, doesn’t feel like much of a stretch. Nissa believes he will keep Aaron rational.”
His smile faded, and he huffed out a choked breath as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “I warned Aaron that going off script means any and all consequences fall on him and the soldier. He said he understood and was okay with that.”
“Does the soldier understand the risk?” Cole sat up straighter. “This could end his career. If the Army finds out he was involved in something like this while on leave, they won’t look kindly on it.”
“I have no idea what he knows or doesn’t know. I believe Aaron and Paula have been telling friends and family they still work for the CIA.” Tommy shrugged, clearly not concerned about whatever consequences Aaron’s friend might face. “Whatever happens to him professionally because of his choice to help Aaron is entirely outside of my control. The best I can do is offer him a job when they get back.”
“Even if I wanted to insert myself, which I don’t, because I want Aaron back here in one piece, there’s nothing I can do anyway. He left this morning on a flight to Bogota.” He stood and looked around the room. “If any of you have any suggestions about Paula’s memorial or how we can honour her, please let me or Evie know, and if you feel like you need to take a couple of days to work through your feelings, please do so.”
He turned to Evie and held out his hand. “Come on, Princess, let’s go get started.”
Evie hugged Thorn quickly and stood, walking over to Tommy, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. When they were out of the room and walking toward his office, he leaned close to her ear.
“Because the op was sanctioned, the Colombian government pushed everything through for us,” Tommy saidquietly. “A private medical examiner prepared Paula’s remains, and the Ministry issued the export papers within an hour. We used a sealed transport coffin, and she’s on her back on the jet. Customs will clear us on arrival, no questions asked, and the funeral home will pick her up from the airport. They just need to know what they’re doing with her body.”
Evie nodded. Contractors with Sloane Contracting had to have very detailed end-of-life plans on file. “I’ll go through her file and get it to them.”
“Thanks.” He kissed her temple as they reached her office. “I need to go pack a bag for myself and Nissa. We’re flying out this evening to meet with her adoptive parents and her birth mother in Springfield, Massachusetts. We’ll be back late tomorrow. Call if you need anything.”
