Page 40 of The Sound of Him

“Mm.”

“You could always ask Adam to check in on him.”

“Mm,” he says again, this time much differently. The first was considering. This second was grumpy. It’s also a clear dismissal of the idea, which isn’t a surprise.

I don’t let myself smile, knowing he’ll hear it if I do.

“He wants to join Travis Kenton on his upcoming mission,” he says next.

“Yeah, I thought maybe that was what you were calling about.”

“He told you?”

“He did.”

“I don’t like it.”

I can’t help my smile then. “I told him you wouldn’t.”

He grunts. “Kid doesn’t care whether I like something or not.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.” I lean back in my seat, eyes remaining on my main monitor. I’m running a new lead for Mica - just a breadcrumb Jake found in one of my physical files. A long shot. “What don’t you like the most?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe him fucking dying?”

“There’s a chance of that, yeah, but there always will be for missions. Even outside of missions. Walking down the street could-”

“Trust me, if I could lock him in a padded cell, I would,” he interrupts. “But he’ll never be on board with that.”

I smirk. “He’s not on board with retirement yet, either. He’s cut back a lot for you, especially in these recent years, but you know he’s not ready yet.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I know.”

“And stop smirking.”

I have to physically put my hand to my mouth and force it to relax, the smirk fighting against me. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” He sighs dramatically - not on purpose to make me laugh, but because Kellan is apparently feeling very woah-is-me tonight. He gets like that when his baby brotherwon’t listen. Not that I’m complaining. I’ll take this version of worried-about-Keaton Kellan over the version that yells and threatens any day. “Tell me about Travis.”

“Stats or personal?”

“I do not give a single fuck about his personal life. Can he keep my brother safe?”

“He can. He’s one of the best. Didn’t deteriorate at all while undercover. If anything, he got better. Especially with hand-to-hand. Usually scores a perfect at the range. He’s a decent sniper, but nothing on Keaton. It’ll definitely be Travis that needs to be sent inside anywhere if they want to do something with sniper cover.”

He doesn’t respond, but I still know that won a point for Keaton getting to join Travis. I can’t lay it on thick, though. He’ll know. Just like he’ll know if I hide things.

That’s why I add, “I know you don’t care about personal, but he’s going through a lot. More than most operatives after coming in from undercover. I think that’s part of the reason Keaton wants to pair with him.”

“See, I thought maybe that was the case. Nosy little shit.”

“This is the operation with-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. The little brother.”

“Yeah.”