She dresses differently now.More stylish, more presentable.Lachlan is happy for her and when they meet once a day, usually over lunch, she seems happy too.He can’t help but worry, knows where all her predecessors end up, but she asked him to trust her and he does.
‘Your second is fucking crazy,’ she tells him of Danya.‘I saw him swimming in the lake yesterday.It’sJanuary.’
‘He’s Russian.’
‘You trust him?’
‘So far.You don’t?’
Carrigan gives a casual shrug.‘I don’t know him well enough.’
‘The other two are excellent as well, especially Zaitsev,’ Lachlan goes on, doesn’t know why he feels obliged to present them well.‘He streamlined some tech stuff I didn’t even know could be streamlined.’
‘I actually want to talk to you about him.’
‘Zaitsev?’
‘Yeah.I’ve been rotating their backgrounds to see if any discrepancies pop up, y’know.’Lachlan does, it’s standard for thorough checks and vetting.‘Nothing has changed, but I caught something that I think you’ve missed.’
Lachlan sets down his sandwich.‘Tell me.’
‘You remember Fenwick’s background?’
‘Special Forces, then Diplomatic Security Service.’
‘In between that, he was assigned to protective detail for a classified research operation.’
‘That’s not unusual.’
‘I know, but back when I used to run deep dives, I had a full compiled list of all missions and deployments, including codenames.Fenwick was involved with Project Spectrum, and so was Zaitsev.’
‘Protective detail?’
‘No.’
‘As in… held there?’
‘Looks like.’
‘Wait, are you saying Zaitsev is a Paranatural?’
‘I’m saying from what I can piece together, he was held there as one.Just letting you know.’
Lachlan frowns slightly, mind whirling.‘Heard.’
?
In early February, Lachlan goes to Jules.
‘Can we talk?’he asks.
Jules is in his room, on his phone.
It’s pouring rain outside.
Mimi, of course, is outside with Vasily and Blaire, Danya hovering close by while she makes a fine mess in the mud.
Jules sighs.‘Fine.’
