“Oh, good. She’s here,” Kyle said, sounding pleased.
“Who?” Oliver asked as he got out.
Kyle didn’t answer, merely gestured for Oliver to follow him up the flagstone walkway and into the mansion proper.
They were greeted by the sight of a woman Oliver had seen splashed through the news streams after the mess in D.C. last year. Ekaterina Ovechkina looked up from the laptop she was typing rapidly on, the projected holoscreens splashing colored light across her face.
“About time you got here,” Ekaterina said, eyeing Kyle and ignoring Oliver for the moment. “Where’s your better half?”
“Telling the president that we aren’t leaving for D.C. anytime soon. It’s a long argument, and I had better things to do,” Kyle said. “Like get this one some rack time.”
He jerked his thumb in Oliver’s direction, who scowled. “I’m fine.”
Ekaterina’s attention shifted to Oliver, pinning him with a focus that made him freeze for a second before he shook it off. “You should listen to NCOs. We know what’s good for you. Couple of hours won’t hurt. I can help you sleep if you want.”
Oliver knew from the files MI6 kept on her that Ekaterina was a strong telepath. The idea of someone knowing his thoughts left him feeling slightly ill, so he shook his head.
“No, I’ll be fine,” Oliver said.
Kyle snorted softly. “Sure you will. I’ll show you to one of the guest bedrooms.”
Oliver went because he had a feeling if he tried to stay up with them, he’d find himself put to bed whether he liked it or not.
“Jamie got Katie cleared to come out and show the UMG’s telepaths some mind tricks they don’t know,” Kyle said as he pointed at the bed.
Oliver gingerly sat, toeing off his shoes but refusing to get undressed further. “And the rest of your old team? Will they be coming as well?”
Kyle crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the door jamb. “The UMG hasn’t formally requested assistance, so our hands are tied. If and when they do, our team will be the first one with boots on the ground, just not designated Alpha Team. The MDF is doing what it can by monitoring chatter within the United States in case Liam pops up on the grid over there.”
“They could’ve taken him anywhere.”
Kyle’s expression softened a little. “Yeah, but it’s our job to find him, and we will. Jamie would never leave a friend behind, and we follow where he goes.”
Oliver was glad Liam had friends like them. He hoped one day Liam would count Oliver as a friend when this was all over.
Because they were getting Liam back—alive.
Oliver refused to believe in anything else.
15
Show Me Your Teeth
Liam came backto consciousness when a metal rebar was shoved through his outer thigh. The searing pain as it tore through muscle with every hit of the hammer driving it through dragged a garbled scream out of his mouth. Liam tried to kick out against the agony, to get away, but couldn’t. He instinctively tried to tap into his electrokinesis, and the shock that burned through his nerves and spine, coalescing in his brain, nearly knocked him out again.
“Keep trying and you’ll fry your brain,” an amused voice said.
The Irish accent wasn’t as thick as some Liam had heard over the years, but it was enough of a clue for him to know who had taken him hostage. Liam breathed through the pain of his central nervous system being disrupted, leg throbbing in agony, the constriction of the collar around his throat almost choking him. The end of the rebar punched through the bottom of his thigh, hitting the metal seat he was strapped into. The hammering stopped, but the pain didn’t.
The distinctive pain of fried bioware pulsed from his left forearm to the tips of his fingers when he made a fist. His NatID chip was disabled, which meant so was the embedded tracker. His comms were dead in his ears. Sucking in air between clenched teeth told Liam his ribs weren’t broken, just bruised from the car crash.
Ollie.
Liam hoped Oliver had notified Chapman that he was missing. More than that, Liam was gutted that he hadn’t been able to explain himself to the other man and apologize. He owed Oliver so much more than that, and this wasn’t how he wanted things to end between them.
Liam forced his head up, wires skimming over his skin from the Faraday they’d put him in. Where they’d got it from, he didn’t know. Maybe Bennett had supplied the Reborn IRA with stolen military gear.
He blinked his eyes open, vision swimming from vertigo and the tears he hadn’t bothered to hold back. A face he’d only seen on holoscreens came into view, Tegan Murphy’s welcoming smile a cruel twist of his lips.
