CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I can’t believe the people we work for are involved with Sentinel,” Katrina said as she dumped the container of air-popped popcorn into the bowl on the counter then drizzled melted butter over it.
All Talia could do was shake her head as she added hot chocolate mix to the mugs. She and Katrina had spent the afternoon up at the main house with Maria and Beverly doing school lessons and playing a few games. As much as they’d wanted to, there’d been no time to talk about what had happened last night. Not with two precocious kids listening in on every word. Coming down to her cottage to get ready for movie night and a sleepover with the girls was their first chance to talk all day.
“I know what you mean,” Talia said. “I’m devastated at the idea that the family I thought I was part of—that I risked my life for—would do something like this.”
“I’m sure it’s not the whole family,” Katrina pointed out. “At least, I’m hoping Vera isn’t aware of what her husband has gotten wrapped up in.”
“I’m not sure how much Vera knows but I have no doubt that she’s at least somewhat aware Bogdan is up to something. Beyond the fact that she’s been married to the man long enough to know when he’s scheming, when we talked the other day, she practically admitted he was working with some dangerous people.”
“Okay. I agree she probably has some kind of radar when it comes to her husband’s criminal behavior. But I refuse to believe Vera would ever be okay with letting Anna—or any of us—be hurt.”
“I hope you’re right.” Talia didn’t have the energy to argue about the subject anymore. Her head was too focused on what she should do about Bogdan’s involvement regardless of what Vera knew or didn’t know. “I spent a lot of time last night thinking instead of sleeping. I have to admit, the thought of resigning crossed my mind more than a few times. It seems to be the only way I can think to get out of this situation before it’s too late.”
Beside her, Katrina did a double take. “Would you do that?”
“I don’t know,” Talia said with a groan. She’d asked herself the exact same question a hundred times last night. “Resigning would mean leaving Maria and Sofia behind. Even thinking about doing that makes me want to cry. It also means giving up an amazing job I love that pays more than I’m likely to get anywhere else, not to mention this beautiful cottage.”
“I have to agree. This place is awesome,” Katrina agreed with a smile. “Although, it’s probably silly to be thinking about room and board when the job could get you killed.”
“True.” Talia grimaced. “But beyond the kids and the job perks, leaving would mean I wouldn’t be around to help find Anna. I know the odds of finding her are getting slimmer by the day, but I refuse to give up on her. And if we’re talking about people I don’t want to give up on,” she added with a sigh, “I guess I’m still hoping I’m wrong about Bogdan. I know it seems like he’s in bed with Sentinel—and yes, he’s probably agreed to provide them access to his worldwide collection of spies, arms dealers, and corrupt politicians—but he’s also the man who gave me a chance and a second family that’s better than my real one in some ways. It feels wrong to walk away without giving Bogdan a chance to make this right.”
Katrina seemed to consider that. “Well, it’s not like you can walk right up to the man and accuse him of being in league with terrorists. If Bogdan didn’t fire you on the spot, he’d almost certainly tell Keller about you, which would obviously be much worse.”
Talia shuddered at the thought of Keller knowing she was onto him. The man had almost gotten his hands on her once. She didn’t want that happening again.
“Which is why I’ll have to stay put and hope Lennox and the other SEALs find Anna,” she said. “And that they’ll figure out what to do about Sentinel too.”
Katrina picked up the huge bowl of popcorn and took it into the living room, placing it on the coffee table. Then Talia helped her move the table to the side to make room for the pile of blankets they’d use for the slumber party.
“Did I tell you that Darwin sent me a text today?” Katrina said as they continued to set up the room. “He wanted to apologize for landing on top of me when he jumped into the van. He was concerned that he’d hurt me. We ended up texting back and forth for almost fifteen minutes about how I was handling what happened last night. It was sweet. I’m not sure, but I think maybe he likes me.”
Talia felt a tightness in her chest at that. Lennox hadn’t sent any texts last night or today asking how she’d handled the trauma of last night’s events.
“Speaking of sexy SEALs,” Katrina said as she began spreading out several thick blankets in front of the TV. “When is Lennox supposed to get here? Both the girls were losing their minds all day at the idea of having movie night with him.”
Talia couldn’t help smiling. Instead of doing dinner and a movie tonight like she and Lennox had talked about, she’d called the next day and asked if he’d be cool with doing movie night with Maria and Beverly.
“He should be here in thirty minutes or so,” Talia said, pausing in the process of tossing half a dozen squishy pillows on the blankets for the girls. “Though to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t show at all. I sent him a text earlier and his response was kind of curt.”
“Curt how?” Katrina asked. “You’re not talking about him using punctuation are you? Because I told you, normal adults do that.”
“No. It’s nothing like that,” Talia said, trying to put her thoughts into words. “When I sent him a reminder about tonight a couple hours ago he bubbled me for almost a minute and when he finally did answer, it was a blunt and snappy I said I’d be there . Maybe he was busy or something, but it seemed like he didn’t want to talk to me. He’s never sent a text like that before.”
She expected Katrina to tell her that she was reading more into the text than was there. So when her friend moved over and sat on the couch with a thoughtful look on her face, it worried Talia more than it probably should have.
“What?” Talia asked, moving over to join her. “I can tell from your expression that you have something to say.”
Katrina took a deep breath. “Before I say anything, I’ll freely admit that I obviously don’t know Lennox as well as you do so I might be completely off about this. But did he seem a little distant last night before we left Kyla’s safe house?”
Talia wished she didn’t know what Katrina was talking about, but unfortunately, she did. She’d been trying to convince herself all day that what she’d seen last night had been her imagination, even though she knew it hadn’t.
“Did something happen between the two of you when we got split up in the alleyways?” Katrina prompted when she didn’t say anything. “Something you didn’t tell me about?”
“No, nothing happened,” Talia said. “At least, not that I remember. It was all so confusing. Just a lot of running and hiding, darkness and loud noises. I went where he pointed me and tried not to scream too much. But when we walked into the living room of Kyla’s safe house after cleaning up, it was like I’d done something to upset him. He wouldn’t even look in my direction the whole time we were talking about finding Anna. And when we were getting ready to leave, he barely responded to my kiss goodnight and didn’t say anything about calling me later.”
Katrina grimaced. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the way I saw it too.”
“I thought things were going well between us,” Talia said with a sigh. “When we made the decision to start sleeping together, we sort of had unspoken agreement to put a pin in those issues standing in the way of a long-term relationship, mostly my concerns about his work. But maybe that was a bad idea. Wishful thinking probably isn’t the best way to deal with a problem.”
“So you think that’s what this is?” Katrina pressed. “That Lennox suddenly doesn’t want to be together with you anymore? Why not and why now?”
“I don’t know.” Talia felt a crushing sensation deep in her chest that threatened to overwhelm her. “Maybe now that we’ve slept together, he’s bored with me.”
Okay, that sounded pathetic when she said it out loud.
“Oh, please!” Katrina let out a snort of derision. “I know you don’t seriously believe that. If Lennox was the hit-it-and-quit-it type, you would never have slept with him to begin with. There’s obviously another reason he’s trying to push you away.”
Talia had already wasted so much time on that very question it wasn’t funny. “All I can think is that how I reacted to everything that happened last night convinced Lennox that I can’t handle the dangerous world he lives in. He’s choosing to walk away because he thinks that’s what’s best for me.”
“Is he right?” Katrina asked. “Would it be best if you two stopped seeing each other now before you get deeper in the feels?”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “Maybe. It would probably save me a lot of pain in the long run.”
“But is it what you want ?” Katrina pressed. “We’ve had this conversation more than a few times but like I’ve said before, sometimes life is more about what you need than what’s good for you. Do you honestly want to let Lennox walk away?”
Talia knew the answer in her heart but saying the words out loud seemed impossible. So, she simply resorted to shaking her head, even as tears slipped down her cheeks. Katrina moved closer to pull her into a hug.
“If there’s any chance for this thing to work between you and Lennox, you’re going to have to tell him how you feel,” her friend said softly. “Sex is great and all, but it doesn’t take the place of a real conversation. You need to say the things that need to be said.”
Talia was going to ask when her friend had become so wise, but the sound of a car door closing followed by the clattering of little girl footsteps interrupted her. Maria’s parents were watching her older sister’s ballet performance tonight, so they dropped the girls off on the way. Talia barely had time to wipe the tears from her face before Maria and Beverly ran into the living room, squealing in delight as they saw the pile of blankets and pillows in front of the TV.
“Where’s Lennox?” Maria asked, looking around as she jumped up and down excitedly. “He’s going to be here, right? He promised.”
Talia kept her face turned away for a few more seconds, wiping away the last of the tears, before smiling down at her precious little princess. “He promised, so yes, he’ll be here. Let’s start the movie and you can catch him up when he arrives.”
Talia was afraid Maria would ask why her eyes were puffy and why Lennox wasn’t already there, but thankfully, she grabbed a handful of popcorn and flopped down on the floor beside Beverly, a big smile on her face as she asked what movie they were going to watch first.