Elias pointed at him. “No. You don’t get first dibs. You’ll learn the details at the same time as everyone else.”
“Did you tell Iona?” Grant asked.
“No one knows the details except Brent.”
“Then I guess I’ll have a separate meeting with the boss to address the lack of communication.”
“Don’t bother. He left the communication to me.”
“And you opted not to communicate, right?”
Elias shrugged his good shoulder.
Seth growled. “This had better be the last time you drop the ball, Knight. If this happens again, I’ll bench you myself. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He walked ahead of Grant, Iona, and Elias, standing outside the hospital’s front doors to survey the entrance to the parking garage. After a moment, Seth signaled the others that the way was clear for them to come ahead.
By the time they reached the garage, Elias’ face was dotted with perspiration, and he was breathing hard.
Iona caught Seth’s attention and tossed him her remote. “Bring the SUV to us.”
“I’m fine,” Elias protested. “I can handle walking a few feet, Iona.”
“Really?” She and Grant let go of him.
Elias swayed, then his knees buckled. Fortunately, Iona and Grant caught Elias before he hit the garage floor and steadied him.
Seth rolled his eyes and walked to Iona’s SUV. A minute later, he drove the SUV to them and parked. After climbing out of the vehicle, he handed Iona her key fob. “I’ll follow you andElias. Grant, get some rest. We’ll see you tonight at 6:00. Pass the word to both teams.”
“Yes, sir.” He glanced at Iona. “Call me if you need me. Rayne and I don’t live far from Elias.”
She grinned. “No one lives far from a teammate. This is Hartman, Tennessee, the perfect example of a small town only 30 minutes from Nashville.”
He inclined his head. “While that’s true, Rayne and I are only five minutes away.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. See you tonight.”
Between them, Iona and Seth helped Elias into the front passenger seat, strapped him in with a seatbelt, then shut the door. “Thanks, Seth.”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“Just that it has something to do with a motorcycle club. He’d planned to go on the assignment without backup to protect us.”
“Yeah, at his own expense.” He glared at the man sitting in the car, oblivious to the fury building in his team leader. “We won’t let him get away with it.”
“Neither will Artemis.”
“Then we both better come up with excellent reasons to include us in his mission. Otherwise, he’ll sneak off on his own to complete the mission anyway.”
Not on her watch. Elias Knight had better not think he would get away with that. She’d have several things to say to him and to Brent about the matter. No operative went undercover alone. Her lips curved. Including Elias Knight. “Let’s get out of here.”
She exited the parking garage and turned onto the street. Two turns later, Iona joined the traffic leaving Nashville and headed toward Interstate 40, which would take them to their hometown.
“Where am I taking you, Elias? Your house or mine?”
He stared at her. “Mine, of course. You can drop me off and come back tonight for that meeting.”
