Chapter Nine #2
“Carson,” Oren said. He kept his tone level by force.
“He was inside the build and met me in the Southwest corridor. He put a gun on me. When I tried to engage him, get him to come out swinging, he said ‘not tonight.’ His exact words were he wants a stage.” He swallowed and went on, faster now, like he didn’t trust himself to stop and start again.
“His eyes looked—different. Brown before but tonight they were a striking blue and I am positive that it was not just a trick of light.”
“Why am I only hearing about this now?” Dale again voiced the same question slamming through his own head, too even to be calm.
“Because I wanted to check the fence first, the bastard had to have gotten in somehow,” Oren said in a monotonous tone. “Because I feel like I’ve brought a ghost from somewhere in my past to your house. Because I needed five minutes to think.”
“Bullshit. You didn’t trust me or Ty enough to bring this to us straight away,” Dale said. “You took a gun in your face on our site and kept it from us. You don’t do that. Not here. Not ever.”
“I didn’t keep it from you,” Oren said, heat climbing his cheekbones. “I’m saying it now.”
“After we had dinner together, and then after we talked about drones and Hogan and everything else,” Dale said, and Ty heard the line under the words—you didn’t trust me or Ty, you keep bringing us things after the fact, we need the truth when it happens.
“Hell, in the gym the other morning you berated Ty for holding something in that nearly broke him, and now? You do the same damn thing.”
Ty held up a hand, not to referee, just to slow the spin. “Okay. He was inside and he put a gun on you. He wants an audience for whatever fucked up plan he has for you, and his eyes looked wrong. We can work with that.” He looked at Oren. “Did he say how he got in?”
“He said he’s a man not many places can keep out,” Oren said. “He liked that line. A lot.”
Marsh growled. “Let’s see if the fucker is still laughing when I close whatever fucking door he’s using on his face.”
Bateman leaned forward, placing his fists against the conference table. “Anything else, Oren?”
Oren’s mouth thinned. Ty knew that look—there was more to it, but he was still processing. “No,” Oren said at last. “That’s what matters.”
“And you didn’t tell us the second you walked in because—” Dale pushed.
“Because Ty was cooking and I didn’t want it to ruin our night,” Oren said, frustration clear in his tone.
“Because I was going to fix the cameras with Marsh in the morning. Because I’m tired and I didn’t want to make it real yet.
Because I am still trying to work out what that fucker wants with me. Pick one.”
“Pick none,” Dale said, standing now because sitting wasn’t enough to hold the frustration. “You don’t get to make that call for us.”
Ty’s chair scraped back as he stood, too.
“Both of you, stop.” He didn’t raise his voice either.
“We are on the same side. We’ve got something brewing in Hawaii, eyes over our fence and this bastard prowling around inside our perimeter.
We don’t get to stop focusing on the enemy and fight amongst ourselves here. ”
“That’s rich—when it goes sideways, are you going to pull the trigger, Ty, or just stand there and think about it?” Dale said.
Ty took the hit. It was hard and center mass, but he let it sit without giving it back.
He looked at Oren and kept his tone even. “Next time, the minute it goes bad, I want it. Not cleaned up. Not later. But as soon as whatever shit hits the fan—hits.”
Oren’s jaw worked once. “Copy that,” he said.
Ricky cleared his throat. “So, just a thought. Maybe you all step off each other’s throats for five minutes and we aim all that pent up aggression at the problem. Or in this case, the three problems we seem to have knocking at the door.”
Ezra tipped his head. “Seconded.” He looked at Dev’s image on the screen. “And thirded, if command wants to make it official.”
Dev didn’t smile. “Here’s official,” he said, voice going quiet in the way that made rooms listen.
“No more solo heroics. No more deciding what the other two can handle. If you’re carrying it, we’re carrying it.
All three of you. You are a high performing system when you remember to behave like one.
” He let that sit a beat, then added, softer, “Hogan’s gone because he has to be—for now.
He’ll call you in when he needs you, and then come home.
Your job is to make sure there’s a home to come back to. ”
Bateman nodded once, sealing it. “We’ve got drones to track and doors to close. Marsh will push what we need—camera cycles, likely ingress, traffic patterns around the ridge. Ty, Oren, and Dale, you get your heads on straight. You can fight later. Preferably not in my conference room.”
Silence weighed heavy in the room. Dale broke it by walking swiftly toward the door. “I’m done for tonight.” He didn’t look at anyone when he said it. “Ty, don’t touch the south run without me in the morning.” He left without waiting for an answer.
Oren didn’t sit back down. “I’m going to the barracks,” he said. “I’ll be up at first light to check the fence line. Marsh, I’ll call you in the morning.” He didn’t look at Ty either, which hurt more than Ty wanted to admit. The door closed on the tail of his frustration.
The room stayed awkward.
Ezra said, “Well. That went ... like it went.”
Dev looked straight at Ty from the screen. “Go back to your room, and get some sleep, Ty,” he said, not unkind. “I’m sending you what the three of you will need to sort this shit out. Bateman—cycles, probable blind arcs, a sensible list of what needs doing is already in your inbox.”
Bateman’s pen tapped once more. Agreement. “You heard him. All of you get some sleep. In the morning, sort this out. Heads out of your asses, please.”
Ty gathered his notes without seeing them. His chest felt too tight and too empty all at once.
“Ty,” Dev said before he cut the feed. “He told you because he trusts you. He’ll tell you the rest when he can.”
Ty nodded once, not trusting what might get out if he spoke. He left the room into the thinner, quieter hall and let the door close behind him. He had a list. He had work. He had two men he didn’t want to be at odds with.
Morning would come. He’d choose the order again then. For now, he headed for his room in the trainer’s barracks because command had asked and because it was the only order on the list he could do tonight.