“Thanks, but I’m okay,” Maisie said. “Just a few cuts and bruises, but I’m not too bad, considering.”
“Far be it from me to contradict an expert,” James said with a smile, “but how about for my own peace of mind, then? You’ve been through a lot, and at the hands of our agents. I’d like to know we’ve done right by you.”
Maisie hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. But how long will it take?”
Rhys glanced over at her. The idea of being separated from Maisie chafed, but he knew it was standard practice, and James really did have a point about getting her checked over.
“Not too long, I don’t think, if you say it’s only a matter of a few cuts and scrapes,” James assured her. He turned to Robb. “Was there anything more you wanted to say before we finish up here?”
Robb shook his head. “No – I’m pretty sure you’ve covered everything.”
Rhys frowned. Again, Robb had always been taciturn, but now he was taking it to ridiculous new heights.
“Well, let’s get you on your way then,” James said, smiling at Rhys and Maisie in turn.
There was an orderly waiting for them outside the meeting room – with a smile, she directed Maisie down a corridor, telling her she’d be as quick as she could.
Maisie glanced over her shoulder at him as she was led away, a wan smile on her face. She looked tired, and Rhys couldn’t say he blamed her.
You are lucky the mate bond is so strong, otherwise I do not know how she’d continue to put up with you,his griffin grumbled.After everything you put her through.
Rhys frowned.None of that was my fault,he tried to argue, but the fact was that if Maisie hadn’t met him, she wouldn’t ever have been caught up in all this.
Despite himself, guilt stabbed him in the gut. Maybe he should go be with her now, even if it was just to hold her hand while the nurse dabbed disinfectant on her cuts and scrapes.
“Rhys! Can I have a moment?”
Keeping his annoyance from his face, Rhys turned to see James standing behind him. As much as he wanted to tell James he was off to be with Maisie, he forced himself to say, “Sure.”
“Given that you’re off suspension, you’ll need your ID card back,” James said. “We can sort that out now before you go off on your well-deserved leave.”
Rhys nodded. He supposed that he did need to do that.
Okay, I’ll get my stuff… and then Maisie and I are getting the hell out of here.
The two of them took the lift downstairs, James making small talk and Rhys trying to not sound entirely disinterested. It wasn’t like he didn’t care, but he was just sick to death of all this bullshit right now – not to mention that Aaron’s betrayal was still burning a hole in his gut.
After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at the secure room where his card was being held, the surly-looking agent on duty waving them through the door. James unlocked a smallcabinet, going through what seemed like an excessive number of steps in order to do so – but Rhys knew that when it came to small pieces of plastic that could be used to gain access to all kinds of top-secret places and files, security was paramount.
“Here you go,” James said, handing it over, and Rhys did have to admit that it felt good to have it back again. Having to wear a visitor’s pass at his own place of work was a pretty shit feeling, and it was with a certain feeling of irritation that he pulled the visitor’s pass off now, handing it over to James. Being made to feel like an untrustworthy intruder after having put his life on the line to rescue one of their own – or someone who he thought was one of their own – was really rubbing salt into the wound.
It was going to take time to get over this.
“Thanks,” he said, trying not to let his low mood show. The more blandly polite he could be, the more likely James was to shut up with his idle chit-chat and let him go.
“It was just as well that Michael came through with the info just when he did,” James mused as they left the room. “A few minutes later, and we could’ve had an all-out intra-agency brawl at a popular tourist site. Could’ve been pretty nasty.”
“Yeah,” Rhys muttered. He was so close to being out of here and being able to spend some proper time with his mate – a couple more vague pleasantries, and then he could beat a hasty farewell, grab Maisie, and get the hell out of here. He didn’t know where they would go, exactly, butanywhere but herewas sounding pretty damn good.
And besides –
Wait.
Michael?
It was all he could do to keep walking naturally, rather than stop in his tracks and swear loudly.
I never mentioned that Michael was the one who forwarded those documents. And he wiped all identifying data before he forwarded them to me, so James and whoever else saw those documents wouldn’t have been able to tell the source, either.
