No one was.
I rubbed my hand over my stomach when the knots twisted harder. I knew what I needed to do. It was just one of the hardest thing I had ever done.
I wrote down all of Stone’s contact information on a piece of paper and then slid it into the top of my desk. I couldn’t completely delete him. I was still his handler until I could transfer him to someone else.
Maybe it was time to take that step, as well.
Tears sprang to my eyes as I deleted Stone from my phone. That was it. From now on, I would have to make a conscious effort to contact him. No more speed dial. No more “accidentally” calling him. No more weekly chats.
That part of my life was over.
I had one more step to take, and this one might be the hardest one of all. I pulled up Stone’s personnel file on my personal laptop. I checked to make sure just the barest of information was inside before sending it off to another handler.
I smirked when the phone rang less than thirty seconds later. “Yes, Ion?” I asked after picking up.
“You’re handing me Stone?”
“You are a handler, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but this is Stone we’re talking about. You’ve never let anyone take any of your guys, not even for short work, and especially not Stone.”
Something thick and nasty rose up in my throat. “I’m not a handler anymore.”
Maybe I would be again someday, but I knew Stone would never be one of my guys again. Maybe I needed to get out of the handler business altogether. My computer skills were in demand more often than not. I could easily find a job hacking something once this councilman gig was up.
“Look, I need you to take Stone. I’m sending you a contract for him. It shouldn’t take more than a few days.”
Stone was very efficient.
“You going to hand off any of the others?”
“I’ll be handing off all of them eventually. Samson is already out on an assignment and Shade just left to go on his honeymoon.”
“What about Stryker?”
“He’s going on a special assignment for me.”
“Oh.”
I smiled. There was pure disappointment in Ion’s voice. “I’ll think about it, okay?”
“I’d take good care of him, Sinclair. You know that.”
Ion probably would, just not as good of care as I could give him. My guys were special to me. I handed out the assignments, but I made sure they had everything they needed to complete their work. Some of the things I did were not exactly sanctioned.
The knot in my stomach tightened as anger infused me. I didn’t want to give up my guys. “I told you I’d think about, Ion, and I will. But right now, Stryker is on a special assignment. He’s not going anywhere for the time being.”
“But you’ll keep me in mind when he is ready to go?”
“Yes, of course.” I pressed my hand to my stomach again when the knot grew more intense. I really wanted this conversation to end. “For right now, you have Stone.”
I knew I certainly didn’t.
Chapter Two
Stone
I growled as I slammed my phone down on the seat next to me. If Sinclair thought he could just brush me off, he had another thing coming. I wasn’t going to be tossed away just because he wished it.
