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On camera, she saw him step in while speaking to Moe. “Don’t kill him before we have a chance to get his confession.”
Moe shoved Colton back. Cal joined in, but only to say, “Just don’t break his jaw. He can still talk that way.”
She seriously needed to remind each of them who was in charge. “I will bench every one of you for the next six months if someone doesn’t stop this.”
She marched through the main area and found the hall where the three had a cowering Maddox on the floor. Quarters were tight with Colton and Cal forming a wall, but she knew Moe was out of control.
She shoved at Colton’s back. “Move.”
He turned and put his hands in the air, but didn’t get out of the way. “The guy deserves a beating, and there is a line that Henley will not cross. Give him another minute.”
She hated it, but enough was enough. She took a step back, removed her weapon from its holster, and shot a hole in the ceiling. Cal and Colton ducked, Moe whirled, and the next thing she knew he was pointing his gun at her.
His eyes were wild with anger, and he didn’t seem to recognize who she was. He’d gone somewhere inside his head where she didn’t exist.
Cal backed up against one wall, Colton the other. Cal took two fingers and pushed the barrel of her weapon to point it at the floor. “Everybody breathe.”
She couldn’t. Moe was still aiming at her face and everything inside her had gone stone cold. Her body, her heart, her brain…they belonged to him and he was ready to shoot her.
And then he blinked and the man she knew came back. “Fuck,” he said dropping his weapon. It hit the floor with a clunk. He hung his head, knocking a fist against his temple. When he raised his eyes to hers, they were racked with sorrow and an ache so deep, it made her chest hurt. “Parker, I didn’t mean… I’m so sorry.”
She swallowed her feelings and returned her gun to its holster. She still held the tablet in her other hand, and she heard Beatrice demanding answers and shouting orders in her ear. The others heard it, too, but no one moved a muscle. They were all looking at Parker, waiting for instructions.
As if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, Cal said, “We can’t fit Maddox and Romalov in the helo with all of us. What do you want to do, Jett?”
“We’re not flying them out of here.” She was back in control, clinging to protocol like a lifeline. “Stash Maddox in that room.” Ignoring Moe’s pleading stare, she pointed to a door marked 2B. “Secure him to a chair.”
Trace came up behind them, Romalov cuffed and staggering. His lip was bloody and his eye swollen. “What do you want to do with this one?”
She pointed at the room across the hall. “He goes in there.” Then she spoke to Jeb. “Retrieve Lori and bring her to room 2E.”
He acknowledged the order and Cal helped Colton lift Maddox to his feet. Blood ran from his lip and cheek. He attempted to smile through his pain. “Believe I deserved that.”
She waited for the area to clear, then stood over Moe, who sat defeated on the floor, his knuckles torn and bleeding. She retrieved his pistol. “You, outside.”
He followed. She cut off her comm and his, along with their video feeds before tucking the tablet away. He waited, head down, as if it wasn’t only the fight that had left him, but a part of his soul.
Jeb had Lori in hand and she jabbered at Moe while shooting daggers at Parker as they passed. Parker didn’t want to hear it. “Shut up or I’ll shoot your kneecap myself.”
She fell silent.
When they disappeared, she held out the gun to Moe. “We have a situation.”
He glanced at the butt but didn’t take it. “I made a total cock-up of it. Story of my life. I’ll wait in the helo.” He sucked in a long-suffering breath.
“You defied orders. Worse, you disappointed me. You wanted my trust but you blew it.”
“I know.” He took the weapon but laid it at her feet.
“I can’t let this go without a formal reprimand.”
He nodded, keeping his focus on the ground. “Won’t matter. I’ll hand in my resignation now.”
She didn’t want that. Neither would anyone else, including Beatrice or Emit, but rules were rules. They couldn’t afford vigilante justice to go unpunished.
But if Moe didn’t have SFI, what would he have? Thinking about him sinking into a hole of depression or putting a gun to his head and ending it all because he believed he was nothing but a screwup wasn’t about to happen on her watch. “We’ll discuss that when we get back. For now, here’s the plan.” She grabbed his chin and lifted it. “Are you listening?”
His eyes, dead and flat, met hers. “Why tell me?” He hesitated. “I can’t be part of it after what I just did.”
