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Fuck, fuck, fuck…
As soon as the door closed behind Steele, Cap turned in his chair to face me. “There’s nothing more important?” Cap’s brows drew together in a rare scowl. “I’ve been tolerant with you hanging with Steele’s protective-duty unit because of your emotional attachment to the protectee. But you just stepped over a line with that bullshit. Do you know how totally off-the-mark that comment was? Could you even hear the selfishness in it?”
“Selfish?” It took all I had not to snap out of my chair. “What the hell are you talking about, Cap? For almost ten years I’ve given you my best, from our time in the military together to here in the private sector. I’ve waded through the minds of people who could hardly be called human, and I did it all without complaint. That’s hardly selfish.”
“No, but it is the job you signed up for, so don’t come off like you think you’re owed something special now just because you’ve caught fuckingfeelings.”
“Cap—”
“What’s more, if you didn’t have your damn head up your ass, you’d see that everyone around you is already doing their missions to the best of their ability. Nix, Steele and Echo are treating the Steadfast case like it’s their most important job, because they’re professionals and that’s how they should see it. Rudy, Havlik, Forge and Xander are in Montreal guarding a member of the Monaco Royals and all their staff because someone, we don’t yet know who, seems to have a hit out on them, and you know what? They’re looking at that mission as their most important one. Then we have Shaw, Wingo, Call and Tennyson and a host of other new recruits over in the UK, overseeing the transfer of Colonial-seized artifacts to the Egyptian government. These objects are frigging priceless, and already our team has successfully countered two attempts to steal them and one crazy-ass religious extremist group trying to blow the whole fucking thing up. In the eyes of every PSI agent and in the eyes of all the people who love them, their missions are the most important one. So if I’m not making myself clear to you, let me straight-up state it—at any time and without warning, any of these cases could go sideways, and lives could be lost. You just diminished everyone else working like hell to pull off successful missions around the globe because you’ve got your nuts in a twist over your girlfriend. You are helping no one with comments like that, especially your comrades here at PSI or your woman. Am I getting through to you?”
“I’m getting it,” I muttered through my teeth, because goddamn it, every fucking word he said was right. I needed to get perspective now more than ever, but for the first time in my life, all I could see was one thing—Eden. “If I’ve stepped on any toes, I’ll make good with Steele and the rest of the protective unit, you’ve got my personal guarantee on that. But I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m not PSI’s man right now, Cap. I’m Eden’s man, and I’ll turn this whole damn world upside down to keep her safe.”
“As long as you make good with the team, you and I don’t have a problem.” With a nod that told me Cap had closed the book on that subject, he leaned forward. “Now, tell me more about the phrase Tru Steadfast told Bruno—for the greater good. Cobee Bruno’s obviously not a big thinker, but you are. Do you have any guesses on what Tru might’ve been referring to?”
After the ass-chewing I’d just received, I nearly turned myself inside out trying to focus on the problem. “He told Bruno that stalking Eden was for the greater good. We also know that when Eden went to visit her father, Tru did a full-court press on getting her to come home—offered her an entire wing of the mansion, all the security you could shake a stick at, the works. It’s obvious that getting her back home is part of Tru’s so-called greater good.”
“We’ve already discussed that,” Cap said, nodding. “Is it because he’s that much of a control freak?”
“He is, but I’ve been thinking about why he’s pushing for Eden to come home now, when she’s been gone for three long years. The hospital’s PR person, Fritzi, said something earlier that caught my attention. She said that while the hospital’s been inundated with calls about Tru’s condition, they’ve also taken as much or even more calls about Eden. Clearly there’s still a huge public interest in her, possibly even more than Tru.”
“Interesting.” Cap reached for his phone and began to thumb the screen. “I wonder if our favorite cult leader’s numbers are slipping. I’m going to have our social media guys check up on that, so he should have an answer by tomorrow. Kythe, of course, is gone, so like I said, things are moving a lot more slowly on that front.”
I winced. “Shit. My bad, Cap.”
“Everyone gets at least one shot at being a fuck-up, son. This just happens to be your time, but I’m hoping you’re working on righting the proverbial ship. And as for Kythe, Steele and Nix were right. He was a dickhead of the highest order and bad for morale. Personally I’m glad he chose to quit, because firing a hacker is never an easy breakup.” He hit the screen decisively, then set the phone aside. “Okay, I’ve got someone on it. Whatever info is dug up on Tru Steadfast’s current popularity versus Eden’s will be sent to both you and Steele. Until then, dismissed.”
Chapter Twenty
It’s the Little Things
Eden
There was a certain weird peace in a hospital room, I thought, curled up in a heavy chair that was supposed to be a recliner, but so far I hadn’t figured out the magic to make it work. I’d told my clientele that due to a family emergency I had to suspend sessions until further notice. For the most part, they’d already heard about what had happened to my father and were kind enough to give me whatever time I needed. Several former clients and friends had also reached out, quietly offering support while respecting my need to simply be near my father while he was at his most vulnerable. It seemed like while I was here, the world was kept at bay.
Hopefully I wouldn’t lose my mind and be stupid enough to fall for that illusion.
My father grunted and twitched, an accordion-like alarm beep-booping once. In a heartbeat I was out of my chair and leaning over the bed’s rail. “It’s okay, Dad. You’re okay.” I had no idea if that was the case since one of those mysterious hospital-bed alarms went off, but I would say whatever it took to ease whatever hell he was going through.
“Eden.” To my shock, I heard him whisper my name. He’d had the breathing tube removed over twenty-four hours ago, but he hadn’t shown an inclination to talk in any coherent way. This was huge. “Eden?”
“Yeah, Daddy, it’s me. It’s Eden.” I leaned over and gently kissed his right cheek, the one that wasn’t covered in bandages. I hadn’t yet seen his face without the bandages that covered two-thirds of his head and left side of his face, and while I dreaded the moment of seeing him without his left eye for the first time, I knew that moment would be so much worse for him. “You’re safe, okay? You’re in the hospital, and you’re safe now, I promise.”
“Eden.” His hands—one of them in a cast due to defensive breaks in his hand, the other strapped to a board to keep his IVs anchored, reached up to remove the bandages. “I can’t see. Help me, sugar, there’s something… something on my face.”
Oh, God. “I know, Daddy.” As gently as I could, I caught his hands before they could make contact. In his delirium the day before, he’d tried to rip the bandages off and had to be physically restrained. “I’m so sorry, but you need to leave everything the way it is, okay? You have a lot of gauze and bandages on your face. That’s why it’s…” I swallowed against the knot in my throat and struggled to change my face to a mask of calm. “That’s why it’s hard for you to see.”
“Bandages?” He said the word like he wasn’t sure what it was, and his remaining eye, bruised as it was, rolled to focus on me. “Why… are there bandages?”
“You were attacked, Dad. You went to Tamarack Meeting Hall alone, and someone attacked you and left you for dead. Do you remember who attacked you?”
There was no understanding in his uncovered eye. “Attacked? When?”
Okay, so I’d circle back to that. “You would’ve died if Kelsey hadn’t gone looking for you, but the doctors say you’re going to be okay.” After a long, long road filled with rehabilitation, surgeries and pain, of course. For the countless time, I cursed the bastard who’d done this to him. No matter what my father was guilty of, no one deserved the savaging he’d received. No one.
“No, I… I couldn’t have been attacked. I don’t remember that. Or… maybe I do.” He shook his head, then squeezed his eye shut, as if the room had begun to spin. “My mouth… It feels funny.”
“You had six teeth knocked out, and a couple others broken. They’ll have to come out too, eventually. But don’t worry, I’ve already called in a reconstructive dentist who comes highly recommended. They’ll be able to put your smile back the way it was, no worries, so I don’t want you to give it another thought, okay? I’ll take care of it, I promise.”
