So far, they must have been doing something right, because neither of them had been reprimanded for decisions made in the field.
Sean caught sight of Katie coming up the ramp, talking rapidly with one of the director’s aides before she signed off on whatever it was he needed from her. The man saluted and jogged off toward the main building.
“They’re bringing out Jansen,” Katie announced. “And no, Alexei. You’re not coming.”
Alexei’s expression became sulky. Sean snorted quietly before nudging Alexei’s arm, drawing his attention. “It’s fine. We’ll be back in a couple of hours. Why don’t you find Kyle and go to the range? Shooting something might make you happy.”
“Pretend it Jansen’s face,” Alexei grumbled.
“If you must. I won’t argue what target you use.”
Alexei grinned at him before a commotion out on the tarmac caught both their attentions. Sean stepped a little to the side to better watch Jansen being escorted out of the main building under guard.
Jansen walked between two heavily armed guards, with a third taking up their six. He wore a white prison jumpsuit that was a far cry from the designer suits Sean remembered him wearing whenever they crossed paths. But more startling than his outfit were the physical changes wrought by the MDF.
Jansen’s curly blond hair had been shaved off prior to going under anesthesia so Gracie could implant an internal Faraday cage above his skull but beneath his scalp, effectively leashing his empathy. The biotech filaments left a strange pattern pressed into his skin, the incision sites healed over as if they never existed thanks to Gracie’s power. Since Jansen was no longer at risk of removing the Faraday cage, his hands had been cuffed in front of his body, the thick mag-cuffs linked to a metal belt. The give of the chains between wasn’t much, and neither were the set connecting his ankles.
He shuffled into the transport cell and the door closed behind him, the lock engaging with a loud beep. Jansen raised his head and looked right at them, hazel eyes moving from one to the next until they landed on Katie. Sean doubted he was the only one who saw the way Jansen flinched with his entire body as he registered her presence.
Katie barely acknowledged Jansen beyond saying over comms, “Prisoner is secured. We’re wheels-up in five.”
Alexei glared at Jansen for a few seconds longer before turning to face Sean. “Be here when you return.”
“You don’t have to wait around,” Sean told him.
“Is what team do.”
Alexei waved goodbye before walking toward the ramp. He pounded his fist against the transport cage on his way out of the combat jet, making Jansen jump. Sean shook his head and returned to what he had been doing before he was interrupted.
Flight prep didn’t take that much longer, and soon Annabelle was launching them vertically into the sky. The MDF agents tasked with handling Jansen’s transfer into the prison took up a pair of seats near the transport cage. Katie had brought along her laptop to work on for the short flight to Colorado. Sean opted to do the same, but after nearly forty-five minutes in the air, he got up to check their location through the navigation system.
“You aren’t going to win.”
Jansen’s voice reached Sean’s ear over the hum of the combat jet engines. He didn’t look away from the computer terminal near the flight deck, more interested in pinpointing where they were on the map. He expanded the area outward, eyeing their trajectory. According to the map, they were flying over Kansas, ETA twenty minutes.
“Did you hear me?” Jansen asked, raising his voice. “You aren’t going to win, but I can help you.”
“What was your bet?” Katie asked, not looking up from her work. “An hour before he asked for a plea bargain?”
“I didn’t bet. I like my money,” Sean said.
He stepped away from the terminal. Rather than take a seat next to Katie, Sean walked to where Jansen was temporarily imprisoned. Hazel eyes stared at Sean from inside the cage, the bravado in them easy to make out, as was his fear. Jansen was used to money, status, and friends in high places. He had none of that here, no leverage to bargain with, and they all knew it. All Jansen had to look forward to was time in prison while the legal cases in the United States and Europe stacked up against him.
“Ovechkina got everything we could ever need from your mind yesterday. You can’t help us, and even if you could, the United States government doesn’t bargain with terrorists,” Sean said.
Jansen pressed his hands against the plas-glass, taking a step closer. Sean watched him without worry. In the unlikely event Jansen somehow escaped his confinement, everyone on the combat jet was armed, and Katie’s telepathy was a formidable hurdle very, very few could hope to overcome.
Jansen’s mouth curled at the corners. He tried for his old smirk, but it came out more of a snarl. “And you say I’m the enemy after she forced herself into my mind.”
“Considering you’ve emotionally manipulated hundreds of people to better your lot in life and make yourself rich, I’m not inclined to feel sorry for you,” Sean replied coolly.
“A bit two-faced, don’t you think? You Americans, always thinking you’re in the right. How does my detainment measure up to your bloody laws and ethics, hm? No counsel, no trial, nothing amounting to fairness.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get a trial. Whether here or somewhere in Europe, a judge will send you away for the rest of your life, however short or long that might be.”
Deep down, Sean hoped he was tried in a US court. The United States was one of the few last holdouts in the world when it came to capital punishment. If anyone deserved to die, Jansen was high on that list in his opinion.
Jansen leaned his forehead against the plas-glass. The internal nanotech wires buried beneath his skin in that area seemed to roll a little from the pressure. “You’ll never see what’s coming.”
