“Wonderful,” Liam said in a voice devoid of emotion.
Oliver refused to look at him, busily pulling up data and sorting out files in his own terminal. Samaira shared a look with Liam that spoke volumes. They were professionals, but MI6 wasn’t the easiest of agencies to partner with. It wasn’t just because of Liam’s personal association with Oliver that made working with him a headache, something the rest of his team wasn’t completely aware of, but because most agencies disliked sharing intelligence these days. They couldn’t be sure they were getting everything useful, and Liam was a big fan of useful.
“The UMG has green-lit missions off the intelligence retrieved from Fortuna-sur-mer. We have reason to believe that the Reborn IRA and theKuntsevkayaBratva are both still in the running to pay for the location of the black-market Splice lab still under control of Carter Bennett. The Irish Mob seems to have dropped out of being a serious contender as a buyer. As of right now, chatter indicates both groups might very well have high-ranking representatives in London,” Chapman said.
Liam tore his gaze away from Oliver and focused on the report in front of him. “London, sir?”
“For the buy to go down, or the lab itself?” Glenn asked, his thick Scottish accent a rumble in the room.
“That we aren’t certain about. However, there are several events scheduled to come up on the summer calendar, many of which will involve a rather large number of people who would make good targets,” Chapman said.
“MI5 is of the opinion that Ascot and Trooping the Colour are two potential target dates. MI6 is in agreement,” Oliver said.
Samaira grimaced. “Both of those events are going to be difficult to secure.”
“Securing the events will happen. There will be no failure in the area,” Chapman said flatly. “Our job is to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice, preferably before they get a chance to target any of our citizens.”
“If Carter is involved, are you bringing in the MDF?” Liam asked.
Chapman shook his head. “I see no need to involve them as of right now. Consider that an order, Colonel Wessex.”
Liam took the warning for what it was and kept quiet regarding the order he’d been given by his grandmother to invite Jamie and Kyle to Ascot. There was no guarantee they would come, as he hadn’t even asked them yet since they weren’t on Earth. No sense in acknowledging a possibility that might not happen.
“Does that mean you will allow me back into the field?”
Chapman looked through the glow of the holoscreen to meet Liam’s eyes. “You know why we held you back from recent missions.”
“It’s a bit more like nearlyallthe missions, sir. If you’re deploying my team in London, there should be no problem with me leading them. It’sLondon, not a foreign country.”
Chapman pursed his lips but didn’t immediately say no. “It would be easier if you weren’t in the field.”
“The UMG thinks the enemy is in London, ready and willing to target events where my family will be prominently involved. I’m not going to stand by if they are in danger. I’m going to be there anyway, so I might as well be there with full authority of the UMG to act.”
“It would be helpful to have someone close to the royal family, sir,” Samaira said. “No one would think twice about Liam’s presence, but they might with ours.”
It was a reality they had all reluctantly come to terms with over the last year. Even before his identity had been revealed, Liam and his team had been careful about appearing together in public. He was a member of the royal family and that alone invited interest. Once he was identified as a metahuman he couldn’t risk his team’s identities and privacy. Liam couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone out in public with his team to simply catch up with each other at a pub or restaurant. Nowadays, if they wanted to hang out, they had dinner parties at each other’s places where no one else could see.
Liam was used to restrictive protocols, as was his team, but some days he was just plain sick of them.
“I think the royal family would be better served to have Colonel Wessex properly briefed and aware of the threats that are out there. MI6’s recommendation is that the UMG should approve him for the field, sir,” Oliver said.
The support from an unexpected corner made Liam blink in surprise. His gaze slid over to where Oliver sat, but the other man wasn’t looking at him. Liam stared at Oliver’s profile in silence, taking in the faint circles beneath his light brown eyes and the sharpness of his cheekbones. Oliver looked tired, which Liam attributed to his job. What they both did was stressful, even more so right now with the looming possibility of a domestic terrorist attack.
“If the Reborn IRA and the Russians are going to attack London like they did a few years ago at the Victoria and Albert Museum, everyone will need to be on the field,” Tariq said pointedly.
Chapman drummed his fingers against the edge of the table, still never looking away from Liam. “You are correct that London is different than deploying you in a foreign country. That still doesn’t mean the public will accept whatever action you are required to take in the middle of a fight.”
“I’m aware of that, but if I stay my hand in the face of a threat, the UMG and myself will both be vilified in the media for doing nothing. There are negatives and positives to both decisions, but the media will only see it one way if I’m there and I don’t fight,” Liam said. “So let me fight.”
The silence in the conference room held for at least a minute before Chapman finally capitulated. “You make a compelling argument, one which myself and several others in the chain of command have acknowledged when we made the decision to have the Royal Legion take lead on this mission. Your position as a member of the royal family is one that we can’t overlook. You may join your team in the field, so long as the fight remains in London or on English soil. The moment it crosses an international border, you will be taken off the field. Do you understand, Colonel Wessex?”
It felt as if it were his one last chance to do right by his team, and Liam wasn’t willing to give it up. “I understand, sir.”
“Good. Now let’s get to work. We have a lot to get through.” Chapman swiped his hand over the embedded screen and flung a bit of data into the center of the table. Multiple holopics sprang up in the holoscreen and on their individual terminals. “The Reborn IRA is considered the likelier group to receive control of the Splice lab. They lost their chemist and main supplier, but they didn’t lose the working relationship with Bennett. That past relationship weighs heavy in their favor compared to the Russians.”
“Did they finally sort themselves out from all the infighting that was happening?” Samaira asked.
“In a way. Tegan Murphy took control after Emmett Doyle died and the Reborn IRA lost Cillian Halloran. Murphy is a vicious, exacting leader, with no love for England. Chatter indicates he’s on the move, most likely to rendezvous with Carter regarding the deal. The odds are quite high he’ll become a problem while on English soil.”
