Tessa Hahn, code named Echo, was part of Gamma Team, a two-person field team on duty in Washington, D.C. tonight. Tessa’s power was teleportation, but she could only teleport into places she’d seen before with her own eyes or through someone else’s by way of telepathy. The Blue Room wavered at the edges of Jamie’s vision as Katie took in the area and telepathically shared it with Tessa.
“I saw the guest list. You don’t have a seat at the table,” Jamie told Bennett.
“And whose fault is that?” Bennett asked.
Jamie arched an eyebrow. “Certainly not mine.”
“Not yours, no, but someone in your vicinity can certainly take the blame.”
Jamie took a sip of his wine, refusing to give in to his anger at those words. He kept his grip on the glass light and easy; one wrong bit of pressure and the glass would shatter.
Someonecould mean anyone, but only three people on his team had ever worked for the CIA in some capacity. Sean had spent over a decade with them and had the strongest connection to the United States’ premier intelligence agency. Kyle and Alexei had run black-ops, off-the-books missions with the CIA through Strike Force. Their connection was through intermediaries, but one of those intermediaries had been a shape-shifting metahuman. When the CIA had attempted an internal investigation on the matter of Special Agent Cora Everly years ago, Bennett had moved to quash it.
Bennett had gone out of his way over the years to save his own ass and his bottom line at the expense of people Jamie considered his responsibility in all the ways that mattered. Bennett was pulling strings in the government to keep all eyes looking the other way while he tried to slip out of the fucking mess he’d made of too many lives.
Just like Stanislav.
The GRU was no longer a fan of the Pavluhkins, but Jamie doubted even the Kremlin could do anything about the Pavluhkins and thePresnenskaya Bratvawhile Stanislav’s precognition was still in play.
But the MDF could hopefully cut away the rot inside the CIA.
If only Jamie could start now.
“I trust the people I’ve got watching my back,” Jamie said, pitching his voice low so that only Bennett could hear him. He kept his expression easy and neutral, not giving anything away.
“We all have people we trust to get the job done.” Bennett lifted his wine glass and tilted it in Jamie’s direction. “I hope you enjoy your evening, Captain Callahan.”
Every instinct Jamie hadscreamedat him to not let the other man walk away. As much as Jamie wanted to grab Bennett by the throat and drag him into custody, he couldn’t. Not here in the middle of a State Dinner.
And Bennett knew that.
Status?Jamie asked through the telepathic links tying him to his team.
Their voices echoed through his mind as he watched Bennett walk out of the Blue Room, every last member of his team calling in. Hearing their mental voices didn’t ease the tension winding through his body.
“You have a bit of the old-fashioned murder-eyes going on,” Liam murmured as he sidled up to Jamie. “Might want to put them away.”
Jamie blinked, having to unclench his teeth in order to speak. “And if I don’t?”
“You know I’d back you, Jamie, truly I would. But we’d end up with blood on our clothes and my mother would despair of me showing up to dinner an utter mess. I’d never hear the end of it from Gran.”
“Wouldn’t want that,” Jamie muttered as he turned to face Liam.
Liam was looking at the giddy crowd of people that had swallowed up Bennett. “Who was he?”
“A problem.”
“Ah. One of those.” Liam’s gaze slid Jamie’s way. “Your date is looking for you.”
“He’s not my date.”
“Needs must, and all that bollocks, my friend.”
They shared a split second, commiserating glance before parting ways, with Liam off to be introduced to yet another Washington elite social-networker and Jamie back to Gabriel’s side. The president’s son didn’t seem to have missed him, seeing as how he was chatting it up with one of the A-list movie stars invited to tonight’s dinner.
The actress did a full-body scan on Jamie and didn’t look ashamed about her actions. Jamie fixed a polite smile on his face and waited Gabriel out, feeling like he wanted to crawl out of his skin, like he had some place to be that wasn’there.
The crowd shifted around them and Jamie caught sight of his parents and sister talking with Sir Philip Jones, the British Ambassador to the United States. When Richard looked up, Jamie caught his father’s eye. After a moment, Richard tipped his head in Jamie’s direction, a silent acknowledgment of his presence as the dutiful son.
