Page 37 of The Ghost

Clark

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I PICKED A SPOT ON the ceiling and stared at it while the doctor was working. I’d had enough field dressings to appreciate the fact that she’d provided local anesthetic. I couldn’t feel any pain, although there was a bit of pressure that clued me in to her progress.

When she was finished, she showed me a thin metal strip on the end of her tweezers. Transferring it to an evidence dish, she put two stiches in my shoulder and applied a bandage to the wound. The whole procedure took about ten minutes.

I exhaled in relief. Sitting up, I examined the implant. I could understand why I hadn’t felt it; the thing was tiny. I wondered how long it had been there, and when Mr. Ashcroft had had the opportunity to implant it. It must have been on one of our many invasive doctor visits. I always hated them because the people he sent us to spent hours poking and prodding.

And to think I’d considered him a father figure for a good portion of my life. The whole time, he was just looking at me like a walking detonator, a tool in his arsenal and nothing more. The emotional betrayal was almost as bad as the physical one.

I pulled my shirt back on and was getting ready to go find Theo when he burst in. I could tell immediately that something was wrong. He had a storm cloud dangling above his head and steam coming out of his nostrils. I couldn’t guess which one of a dozen different people might have caused him such consternation. Maybe George had given him an order he didn’t want to comply with. Maybe there was some news about Mr. Ashcroft.

“Are you finished?” Theo demanded.

“Yeah,” I replied, realizing that at some level, he was angry with me. “What’s going on?”

“Did they get the implant out?” He ignored my question, focusing in on the most important consideration first.

“Here it is,” the doctor said, peeling her gloves off and pointing to the evidence tray.

“Do we need to take it up to Lukas?” Theo asked.

“I’ll take care of it,” the doctor responded. “You can tell Lukas to come down.”

“Sure,” Theo agreed, reaching out for my hand.

I gave him a friendly squeeze, hoping that would solve the problem. But he practically yanked my arm out of its socket, pulling me through the operating theater. We walked out through the waiting area, where four young agents were sitting silently.

“Theo, what’s going on?” I questioned, starting to get alarmed.

He didn’t answer, dragging me out the door and into the hall. If it was anyone else, I would have yanked my hand back and beaten him until his jaw worked, but it was Theo. I knew that whatever was bothering him was something serious. And from his actions, he didn’t want to talk about it out in the open.

Instead of fighting him, I increased my speed to keep up. My shoulder was still numb, and I was a little dizzy from the procedure. But if push came to shove, I could still take care of business. I wasn’t worried.

Theo took us straight to the bunk we shared, opened the door, and guided me inside. I didn’t have to wait another second after the door shut before he was blasting me with accusations.

“What did you say to Ryan?” he demanded.

“What are you talking about?” I countered.

“Ryan said you were getting back together,” he informed me.

“And you fell for that?” I shouted, unable to believe what I was hearing. Of all the stupid, backward things for Theo to say to me, that took the cake. I’d just made love to him not two days ago, and there he was, questioning my fidelity.

“I don’t know what to believe,” he answered.

“Well, if you think I’m getting back together with Ryan, you’re stupider than he is,” I snapped.

Theo frowned at me. I could see he was doing the math in his head and that he was itching to strike out. But he thought better of it, fortunately, and stalked away. Turning a tight loop in the little room, he glared at the floor.

“I thought he was going on assignment,” Theo said.

“I thought so too,” I answered, hoping we were about to be on the same page again. “But he cornered me in the hallway after you left.”

“And?”

“And he asked me to follow him to his room,” I admitted.