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“Wait,” she said, separating her body from mine like I had our lips. “I can’t. I mean, I want to, but Jada, and…”
I rested my forehead against hers but kept my arms around her. “Do not explain. We gave each other momentary comfort after facing the worst kind of evil. That is all.”
“Can we sit for a minute?” she asked.
“Of course.” I took her hand and led her to the sofa, where we sat in silence for several minutes. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“Zin,”she spat. “I was within seconds of issuing the order to move in when shots were fired.”
“I was there. However, I wasn’t briefed on exactly what was happening.”
“We received the building’s schematic from the NRO while en route in the Akicita. Luisa was able to confirm which corridors had access to the area where Jada was being held. That place was built like a bloody rat maze. Anyway, shortly after we completed mapping our plan of attack, Atticus compiled a list of everyone who worked at the station since its inception. It took Luisa less than ten seconds to identify a man who had harassed her when they shared classes in the MBA program—Hamad Al Zaabi.”
“He is the man Zin shot.”
Jaicon nodded. “That’s right. Atticus pulled a dossier while Magnet contacted the NRO. Within minutes, he reported reconnaissance was able to place him in Egypt four days ago, when the first message was sent.” She took a deep breath. “He had every bloody corridor mapped, like we had, meaning he’d be able to see and hear from wherever we entered. His threat was that unless Luisa came in alone, he would kill Jada.”
“I was with Burns when he intercepted the signals and replaced the feeds.”
“As we made our descent, I made contact with Al Zaabi using Luisa’s mobile, which generated an auto-response reminding her what would happen if she did not arrive alone and that the clock was ticking. She had exactly thirty minutes.”
I told her I was on the scene when the helicopter touched down and the teams moved into position.
“So you’re aware we had everything in place. Ten sniper-trained operatives would’ve had him surrounded. Any one of us could’ve neutralized Al Zaabi before he had the chance to pull the trigger on the gun he had trained on Jada. Instead, out of nowhere, Zin fucking shoots to kill.” Her cell rang, and she swiped the screen. “Hey, Fatale. I’ll be right up.” She ended the call and stood. “I’m sorry, but they need me at the main residence.”
“We’ll go together. I want to check on Jada.”
When we reachedthe porch steps, Jaicon remained with Kade and Merrigan, who had been waiting for her, while I went inside. When I heard shouting coming from the direction of the triage room, I hurried down the hallway and opened the door when I recognized both Jada’s brother Montano’s voice and Zin’s.
“I’ll take it from here,” I said, stepping into the room.
Montano looked over his shoulder. “It’s okay, Tryst. I’ve got this.”
“I was not asking for your permission, Onyx.”
“If I go, he goes.” He pointed at Zin.
I took a step forward. “You’ll both go.”
Once I was sure they were doing as I’d asked, I approached Jada’s bed, leaned down, and kissed her cheek.
“Hi, Tryst,” she said, wincing.
“How bad is the pain?” I asked.
“Maybe a seven.”
“I am sorry this happened to you, Jada.”
She closed her eyes and whispered her thanks.
“What can I do to help?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“Are you able to rest?”
She shook her head.
