Page 16 of Ghost Among Lies

We managed to get Hayes into the Jeep and drove out of the neighborhood without any of his neighbors noticing. If my calculations were correct, and they usually were, he would be out until we got to the compound. Then I would need to give him something to make sure he stayed that way until we could get him tied up.

Knowing there was no way I could sneak Hayes onto the compound without my team realizing it, I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent out a quick text. The compound would go into a lockdown status until I explained what was going on.

The message was barely delivered before Beckett's phone started to ring.

I lifted my brow. "Anita?"

He nodded once before answering with a clipped hello. I did my best to focus on the road rather than the conversation on the other side of the vehicle. My efforts were futile because it didn't take long for my name to come up in conversation.

"Yes, I'm with Sloane." A brief pause. "Yes, we're on our way back." Another pause. "We'll talk about it more once I'm back." Beckett sighed and dropped his phone onto his lap.

"She hung up on you?"

"Yep." He popped the P.

"She's pissed, isn't she?"

"Her tone was cold and detached, so what do you think?"

Oh yeah. Anita was definitely pissed. "I'm sorry. I'll fix it when I get back."

Beckett waved me off. "It's fine. It was my choice to come along. I think her anger stems from the fact that she was worried, and we know that's not a feeling Anita's comfortable with."

Anita wasn't comfortable with feelings in general, so no, being worried wouldn't sit well with her. Hopefully the hour drive home would give her enough time to cool off.

Spoiler alert: It wasn't enough time.

I barely had the Jeep in park before Anita and the rest of the team were headed straight for us.

Anita looked pissed.

Lilith was her usual neutral self.

But Nyx had a smile on her face that screamed she was about to make shit worse for us.

"What the fuck?" Anita growled when she got a good look at Hayes squashed into the back seat. He was starting to stir, so time was of the essence.

"I promise I'll explain, but first I need to make sure he's completely out until we get him into the cell and tied up."

"I gotchu." Nyx took off and was back with a syringe just a few moments later. She jabbed Hayes in the neck before turning back to me with her sadistic smile. "Okay, now that we have that handled, give us the dirty details." She rubbed her hands together.

Before I could say anything, Beckett spoke up. "Well, you see. We had a plan, but during the execution phase, things went a little off the rails, so we decided to throw away the plan."

"Is that a Captain Cold reference?" Nyx’s lips twitched.

Beckett smirked. "It is. Did you like it?"

"I mean it could use some work. I'd give you a solid eight out of ten."

Beckett shrugged. "I'll take it."

"Are you two fucking done?" Anita snapped. Apparently, she didn't appreciate Nyx and Beckett's attempt to lighten the mood.

"Ah come on, Anita. Where's your sense of humor?"

"It went out the window when these two decided to sneak off together for a secret assignment." She pointed back and forth between Beckett and me.

"Technically, Sloane told you she was leaving. I'm the one who snuck off with her to try and keep her in line."