“You’re right, Juarez, thank you for the reminder.” Melissa pulled off her glasses and gave them a small smile. “You should go, the team’swaiting.”
Juarez gave her a mini salute and strolled from the room but Diggs held back. “Do you really think we’re going to lose him?” Losing Quantum was something that Diggs hadn’t allowed himself to contemplate, it hurt too damn much. He’d already lostDawson.
Melissa put her hand on his arm, her expression full of empathy. “I’m going to save him, even if I die doing it. You have myword.”
The hollowness in his chest seemed to rise up into his throat and swell, making it hard to speak. “Do you still read to him every night?” Melissa seemed to have taken on Quantum as her own intensely personal project. And while Diggs was ashamed to say he didn’t go in Quantum’s room to sit with his unconscious teammate as much as he should, he was glad Melissa did. It was just too hard for him to walk through the wall of guilt at Quantum’sdoor.
“Yes, and in the beginning, I could feel him, you know? Like he was trapped inside trying to get out. These past couple of weeks he seemed to stop fighting and I’m scared to death that he’s giving up.” Her eyes were pools of pain and fear and suddenly Diggs realized he’d been so focused on himself he’d missed a significant piece ofinformation.
“You care abouthim.”
Melissa crossed her arms over her chest, a defensive position. “Of course, I care about him. I care about all ofyou.”
Diggs gave her a deadpan look. He wasn’t going to argue with her, she could be more stubborn than the entire team combined. “You’ve got my word I won’t tell anyone,” he held up a hand when she made to protest, “but first you have to promise me twothings.”
“What?”
Diggs reached for the protein bar Juarez had handed to her minutes ago. He took her hand and uncurled her fingers from the tight fists and placed the protein bar in her grip, re-curling her fingers back around the food. “Number one, you will eat at regularintervals.”
She blew out a breath and gave him a jerky nod, her normally impartial eyes bright with emotion. “And numbertwo?”
“You’ll come talk to me if you ever feel the need. I’m pretty good atlistening.”
Her stubborn chin wobbled and she said quietly, “Deal.”
Diggs stepped away, giving her the space he knew she needed to gather herself. Dr. Averton never shared much with anyone but her sister, who also lived here. But Whitney was a civilian and she’d just recently come into the fold. Diggs had been with Mayhem from ground zero. He could understand things that Melissa’s sistercouldn’t.
Diggs turned and walked from the room, smiling when he heard the sound of the plastic wrapper on the protein bar being tornopen.
As he walked down the hallway, past the training center into the war room at the very back Diggs shrugged off the gentleness he’d used with Melissa and focused on the task at hand. The coincidence of a drone randomly flying over their mansion was unlikely. But how could General Rainier have found them so quickly? And if he had, why hadn’t heattacked?
They would have to prepare and even if it meant no sleep for the next week, Diggs wouldn’t rest until he tracked down Rainier and stopped him from ever harming his teammatesagain.
Diggs busted through the doors to find the rest of his team standing around the center table in the room. Reaper at the head, King to his right; Hicks and Juarez on his left, their expressions tight.Tense.
Suddenly feeling like he’d missed something big, Diggs slowed his progress to rejoin his team. “What?”
“That.” Reaper pointed at the far-right screen. There was a grainy black and white image posted of a man in a ball cap and sunglasses, walking head down in a crowdedairport.
All the air left Diggs lungs in a whoosh. “Rainier.”
“It popped up while you were in the woods.” Reaper paused, the words he didn’t say blasting in the space betweenthem.
“Where?” Diggs avoided his gaze and dropped in the chair at his computer, zooming in on the photo. The sunglasses obscured half the man’s face, but there was no doubt in his mind that it wasRainier.
“Dulles International,” Reaper saidquietly.
“Shit.” That was only two hours away. They’d intentionally picked a location close enough to D.C. that they could have access to the resources they needed if worse came to worse, but far enough away they could melt into the country side without detection. They’d ended up halfway between Richmond and D.C. “When was ittaken?”
“0400 this morning. We need to get there. Now.” Reapersaid.
Adrenaline pumped through Diggs and he shot to his feet. Hell yes, this was the mission he’d been waiting on. He was so tired of staying cooped up in the compound, an impotent frustration always eating at his insides. He needed to be out there, doing something. “I can pull up the rest of the footage in the car. How do you want toapproach?”
Reaper crossed his arms over his massive chest. Hicks and Juarez stared at a point just past Diggs’ shoulder. King looked as impassable as usual, but everything about their stances screamed something wasoff.
“You are staying back. I need you monitoring the agencies for alerts in case we are spotted. We are just as wanted asRainier.”
Diggs took that soul crushing beat and stood there in silence, unable to speak for the vice like invisible grip forming around histhroat.
Reaper continued. “King will drive. Juarez and I will recon the airport. Hicks will provide over watch.” Reaper circled his finger in the air and the rest of the team moved to gear up. Reaper faced him. “This has nothing to do with this morning. I need you to keep an eye on all the channels in case we getpinned.”
Diggs forced a nod, praying his expression stayed neutral, even though his insides rolled. “Roger,Top.”
He’d stay behind and do his job, while the rest of his team went out on the front lines—King and Hicks with their super strength, Juarez with his super speed, Reaper with all ofit.
And Diggs withnothing.
