Reality was always worse, itseemed.
Zach’s eyes snapped from Sean to the other two, then back again. “What are you doing here? Whoarethey?”
“Believe me, I wish it was under better circumstances,” Sean said to his older brother as he moved farther into the living room. “Where’s Mom? We need to get all of yououthere.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Parker demanded from where he was sprawled on an armchair, staring at Sean in surprise. His youngest brother’s brown eyes suddenly went wide and he jabbed a finger at Sean. “Is thatagun?”
“What?” his father exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet. “You’re carrying awhat,Sean?”
Sean ignored them in favor of yelling out, “Mom! We needtogo!”
Trevor moved past him and strode over to the windows that overlooked the inner courtyard below. It only took him seconds to find the control panel and shade the plas-glass to its darkest setting. Sean breathed a little easier knowing Trevor had probably also raised a telekinetic shield between his family and whatever threat might beoutside.
“What is all the shouting about?” Naomi said as she came downthehall.
His mother was in her early fifties and aging gracefully, despite the stress of her job as an emergency room trauma surgeon. Her graying light brown hair was pulled back in a loose chignon, and she wore a pair of casual slacks and a white silk blouse with a pair of loafers, looking as put-together asalways.
“Mom,” Sean said, raising his hands a little in a placating gesture. “I know this is completely out of the ordinary, but you need to listen tome,okay?”
“Sean? What are you doing here? You said you couldn’t make your father’s birthday because of work?” Her sharp-eyed gaze latched on to the sidearm holstered to his hip and her eyebrows crept toward her hairline. “You haveagun.”
“They’re all carrying guns,” Caleb said, staring at Madison with an uneasy look onhisface.
“Mom, I need you to trust me,” Sean said as he took a step toward her. “You guys are in danger and we’re here to get you to safety. So can you please not argue with me right now and just comewithus?”
“We wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Madison piped up from her position bythedoor.
“Who are you?” Gregdemanded.
Sean inwardly winced, recognizing that tone of voice. It was his father’sjudgevoice, an upgrade from thelawyervoice he’d had when they were kids. Madison didn’t seem at all affected by it, which wasn’t a surprise. She’d been a Recon Marine before being an MDF field agentafterall.
“A friend,” Madison saidcalmly.
“None of my friends carry guns,” Calebpointedout.
“Your friends soundboring.”
“Not the time,” Trevor said warningly, still keeping watch on the sightlines into theapartment.
“What is going on?” Naomi demanded in a calm, even voice that came from over twenty years of manning an emergency room operating theater in high-pressuresituations.
“You know how you think I work as a bank auditor and that I’ve been wasting my life since dropping out of college? I don’t work for a bank and I never dropped out. I lied, and I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry about trying to keep you safe,”Seansaid.
“What exactly are you saying?” his father asked, coming around to stand next to his mother. They made a formidable team,alwayshad.
“I was CIA, okay, Dad? I worked for the CIA, and right now, some people are coming here to hurt you because of me. And I’m sorry, I’mso sorry, but I can’t stop and explain. We needtogo.”
“Bullshit,” Zach scoffed as he stood up. “No way do you work fortheCIA.”
“Not anymore he doesn’t,” Trevor answered before anyone else could startprotesting.
His mom opened her mouth, but Sean never learned what she would have said. The television abruptly switched off, the projections disappearing as the screen went dark. The silence only lasted a second or two before an uplink embedded itself in the smart screen. Sean looked over his shoulder and found Elena Flores blinking out at them from the depths of the war room back at the MDF. Sean’s stomach sank, because he knew the MDF accessing the backdoor he’d had built into his family’s home security system years ago wasn’t a goodthing.
“Wraith, you have hostiles inbound. You need to get everyone out of therenow,” Elenawarned.
“You couldn’t give us a longer lead time?” Seansnapped.
“They’re in civilian clothing and we still don’t have the entire employee list from North Star International to do a facial recognition scan. We finally got them on the apartment complex’s security. Sorry we couldn’t warn yousooner.”
