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"They are just relieved the residents of Erin Smith's neighborhood aren't creating an uproar about how we almost created a panic amongst them," Theo said with a small smile.
He had been quiet since yesterday, which was when he and Brook had returned to the office to finish up the paperwork required to be completed per their consulting agreement with the Bureau. They hadn't really had a chance to talk, but that had been by design.
"How's the leg?" Theo asked, nodding toward her thigh.
Brook walked over to one of the chairs opposite his desk and used one of the metal arms to help her take a seat without too much effort. She didn't answer until after she had taken a sip of her coffee.
"I'll be on the treadmill by Saturday," Brooklyn said confidently, although she left off that it might be a slow walk at the start. "Just a little tender if I move the wrong way. Nothing I can't handle."
Theo regarded her silently, as if he were trying to ascertain if she was downplaying her pain. She wasn't quite ready to dive into what they needed to discuss, so she stuck with an informal question that would put them both at ease.
"Are you driving over to Sylvie's place tonight?"
"That's the plan," Theo replied before tossing the question back at her. "You?"
"Yes. Graham is meeting me there. Bit and Arden have been tag-teaming since Sylvie’s release from the hospital. Her father isn't doing well, and they expect him to pass away any day now." Brook compressed her lips together, wishing there was something they could do to ease Sylvie's pain…both physically and emotionally. Time was the answer to both. "I ordered dinner from her favorite Chinese restaurant, including that godawful tea she likes from there."
"The one that Bit says smells like stiff socks that have been worn for a month?"
Brook placed the back of her hand to her mouth. Truthfully, she'd been nauseous since making such a potentially fatal mistake in her search for Lorena. Brook had let a full day of discovering nothing last Monday lull her into a sense of non-accomplishment. Doing so had almost ended her life.
"Are we okay?"
The question had clearly taken Theo by surprise. He rubbed his chin, almost as if he didn't know how to answer her question. Brook's chest hurt that she was to blame for such a rift between them.
She observed closely as he took a moment to gather his thoughts.
"I'll admit I couldn't wrap my head around your decision to go silent and isolate yourself the way you did," Theo finally said, dropping his hand so that his forearm rested on the desk in front of him. "I thought that we'd gotten past that part of your life—the part where you keep everyone at arm's length. Truthfully, it seemed reckless and dangerous, even if you meant well. Sylvie was still in surgery, I was doing my best to keep your disappearance from Beeson, and you left me to deal with Bit. Seriously?"
Brook couldn't help but crack a smile. The part about Bit had been Theo's way of taking the sting out of his response. He then let out a long sigh before tapping his fingers on the hard surface of his desk.
"Having time to process what you were thinking at the time, I get it. I do. If Lorena had been able to be in Sylvie's life for two months, who else had we allowed to do the same? Our phones could have been cloned, there could have been listening devices planted in our vehicles and homes, and a host of other security issues that we hadn’t even considered." Theo frowned and shook his head in remorse. "Things that could still happen, because we don't know all the plans that Jacob laid out to free himself from federal prison."
Brook wasn't going to interrupt Theo, because he was saying everything that had crossed her mind since she had received the phone call regarding Sylvie’s attack.
"You did what you thought you had to do to keep us safe." Theo leaned forward, his expression more curious than anything. "Where did you come up with the idea to use a texting service to reach out to me?"
"The better question is why the coded message went over your head."
"Touché," Theo replied with a laugh. He eventually leaned back in his chair. "To answer your question, yes. We're okay."
Brook closed her eyes briefly from the relief she experienced upon hearing his words. She knew the path she had chosen could have truly damaged the trust between them. Hearing Theo's perspective gave her hope that they could continue to build that foundation, stronger than before.
"I'm glad to hear that," Brook said softly. "And Mia? Do we get to meet her yet?"
"Not yet."
Brook had no doubt that both Theo and Bit had been diving deep into the lives of those who had crossed paths with them ever since Jacob had turned himself in to the FBI. She would have given anything to tell them that their ability to trust shouldn't be questioned, but she couldn't do that.
"I have to ask," Theo said as he began the process of shutting down his computer. "You haven't mentioned Jacob. I'm assuming that he doesn't know Lorena Dobbs is dead. Are you going to visit him at the prison? Tell him what went down?"
Brook rested her elbows on the arms of the chair as she cradled her coffee cup. She had given a lot of thought about when to visit her brother, and even more consideration to the information that she would disseminate once she was there.
She took a slow sip of her coffee as she considered Theo's question.
"Yes, I do plan on going to see Jacob.” Brook glanced down at her thigh. “But not until after I've fully recovered. I don't want him to see any sign of weakness while I'm still healing."
Brook shifted in her chair, stretching out her injured leg.
