“Hey. Got a minute?” sheasked.
“I’m only in here for another hour or so,” hereplied.
“And then it’ll be time for that in-person debrief,” Katie said, not looking up from her owntablet.
Sean had been a little surprised when Katie followed him into his medical room for Gracie and her crew to look him over. He’d thought it was for the mental scan, which happened, but she stayed once she finished. Apparently, it was an unwritten rule within Alpha Team that any time one of them was injured, someone else on the team kept watch. Sean didn’t think he merited the company since he was only seconded to Alpha Team due to the Pavluhkin mission—which might not be for much longer if their identities were compromised—but Katie had made it clear she wasn’tleaving.
“I wanted to let you know the director has tasked me with getting your family settled in some of the on-base suites and preparing them for the legal disclosures. Someone from JAG is gathering the forms they’ll need to sign. The deputy director has authorized a redacted version of your personnel file for them to review,”Elenasaid.
The military’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps usually handled the MDF’s legal needs for its employees. Sean pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache that Gracie’s power had healed away threatening to return. “Shit. I should bethere.”
Talking to his family wasn’t something he wanted to do. He’d spent years lying to them and they’d discovered the truth in the worst way possible. He knew the probable argument with them in his future wouldbeugly.
“You need to rest. Let the MDF handle explaining everything. Trust me, it’s easier if an outsider does it. You’re too close to them to explain it in any rational way without getting caught up in the emotions of it all,” Katiereplied.
Sean knew she was right, but he felt he ought to be present to answer any questions his family would have. He owed them that decency, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get thatopportunity.
“How are you doing otherwise?” Elena asked as she approached hisbiobed.
Sean shrugged. “Tired.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get eyes on the enemysooner.”
“They’re ex-Special Forces. They know how to stayoff-grid.”
“Still, we’re supposed to be better than them. I’msorry.”
“No one on our side died, so I’m taking it as a win. The Pavluhkin mission might be fuckedthough.”
“We’ll see,” Katie said. “Travel records indicate Jansen left for Europe this morning, well before you had that meeting with theWolcotts.”
“And if they try to get in contact with Jansen orPavluhkin?”
“They haven’t so far. We’re monitoring their communications. A lot of calls between Declan and Dr. Valerie Hayes, but not to our main targets,”Elenasaid.
Katie nodded. “I’d put money on a mission coming down the pipeline. I doubt you’ll get the full three regulatorydaysoff.”
Sean knuckled his eyes and shifted to a more comfortable position beneath the scratchy sheet. “Great.”
“I’ll let you get some rest. I don’t want Dr. Gold to find out I overstayed my welcome,” Elena said, patting Sean’s shoulder. “Glad you’re allright.”
“Thanks.”
Elena left and Sean let the quiet wash over him. He was tired, but it was hard to sleep when his thoughts were such a mess. Still, he closed his eyes and managed a fitful half doze that was interrupted when one of Stirling’s aides knocked on his door and let herselfinside.
“The directors want to see you,” theaidesaid.
“All right. I’ll be there soon,” Seanpromised.
She left, already murmuring into her comms an update on his status to whoever was on the other side of the line. Sean stared up at the ceiling and tried to muster the strength from somewhere to face his boss and his family, but he was sotired.
“Come on,” Katie said, tucking her tablet into her jacket pocket. “Let’s get yousorted.”
Katie stayed with him through Gracie’s discharge and list of things he wasn’t supposed to do. She remained by his side through the hours-long debrief with Stirling and Nazari, going over every last detail of their time in Las Vegas and New Seattle since Alexei wasunavailable.
“He’s out of surgery and finishing up a regen regime. Gracie is keeping him overnight,” Stirling informed them before Sean continued with his side of thestory.
When it was finally over and done, day turned to night and all the chronos counting down to midnight, Katie was the one who bundled him into her sleek Maserati and drove him off base to his apartment in the middle of the Washington, D.C.,megacity.
