Chapter 34
CHAPTER
Nate, thick blond hair pushed back from his face, sits forward in his chair. ‘It’s always great to chat with you, Flick, but I figure you’ve got something you think I should know.’
It’s after nine in the evening, and we’re sitting at a small corner table in the mess.
Angelina, reclining on an armchair, has an iPad on her lap but looks at Nate more often than she looks at the screen.
They’ve been excruciatingly courteous to each other for the past few days, but tonight they sat close and talked, just the two of them, all the way through dinner.
‘This was said to me in confidence the day before you arrived, but it might be something you and Sebastien should know.’
‘Who is your source?’
‘I don’t like to betray a confidence, but she’ll ask questions if I ask permission first.’
He follows my gaze to Angelina. ‘Shoot.’
I kick off my shoes and curl my legs on the chair. ‘After Dougie found out you were coming, he asked me what you did for the UN, and I told him all I knew about was the environmental work. Angelina told me when Dougie asked about you, she didn’t answer.’
Nate lifts his arms, links them behind his head. ‘Far as I know, Dougie doesn’t know anything he shouldn’t.’
‘Angelina told me she’d avoided answering Dougie because the work you’d done in the past was hush-hush and she hadn’t been allowed to talk about it.’
‘Did she mention Golden and Tor?’
‘I think she was protecting them and you.’
‘You only know as much as you do because we had no choice but to tell you. You didn’t tell Ange anything, did you?’
‘No, but I thought you should know she might know you’re a spy. You are a spy, aren’t you?’
He laughs. ‘I’ll own to being an extreme version of a curious neighbour. If I think something is going on in the neighbourhood, I’ll watch and wait until I pin that something down.’
‘Is Sebastien a spy too?’
‘Seb Thorsen is everything you see and more.’
‘An air force officer. A pilot. He’s coordinating a UN environmental project with international implications but he’s working with you too.’
‘It’s the project he wants to focus on—I dragged him into the rest.’
‘He doesn’t like Dougie.’
‘Or the idea of Dougie giving his project a profile for all the wrong reasons.’
‘Why didn’t you tell Angelina you were on Casey?’
‘Seb gets the Antarctica emails for both of us.’ He sucks in a breath, releases it slowly. ‘Turned out, he didn’t tell me about Ange.’
‘That was deliberate?’
Nate pyramids his fingers. ‘I’d prefer not to answer that.’
‘Sebastien knew you and Angelina were friends, didn’t he?’
‘He might’ve said I didn’t need distractions.’
‘I bet he did say that.’
‘Six weeks ago, I found out she was here.’ Nate puts his hands on his knees and stretches out his fingers. ‘What came out of that doesn’t reflect well on me or Seb.’
‘Did you have an argument?’
Nate puffs his cheeks then blows out a breath.
‘There’s an outdoor boxing ring at Casey.
Seb and I were sparring when someone asked Seb if he was going to the dance on Morrison.
When I asked questions, he didn’t want to answer.
Turned out he’d seen me and Ange at his brother’s wedding last year and suspected how it was for me.
’ Nate makes a fist. ‘I’m ashamed of what happened next. ’
‘You didn’t hit him, did you?’
‘I split his lip.’
My breath catches. ‘Oh!’
‘This isn’t an excuse for what I did, Flick, but Seb’s a much stronger fighter than I am. He could have ducked, which is what I expected him to do. He could also have hit back and beaten me up. He did neither of those things.’
‘Why not?’
‘I reckon he felt guilty for not telling me about Ange. He thought I had a right to be angry with him.’
He thought he deserved to be hurt. ‘You were both in the wrong.’
‘Seb having regrets about putting the job first, which was his reason for not speaking up, is out of character. Just like risking tipping Dougie off by staying on Morrison to look after you.’
‘Thank you for backing me up.’
‘I’m uneasy about that now, given the way Dougie’s been hanging around. I think Seb might’ve had it right—Dougie’s a loose cannon.’
‘He always turned up at unexpected times, but now it’s happening more often.’ I stretch out my legs. ‘What happened to Sebastien’s ankle?’
‘He was holding his bleeding lip together when he left the ring, which is how he lost his footing. He blamed himself for that too.’
‘No hard feelings now?’
‘In the past few months, he’s learnt more about relationships that matter. He wouldn’t have wanted me to do to him what he’d done to me. Not where you’re concerned, anyway.’
‘I don’t think—’
‘I’m not gonna pry, Flick. Just putting my thoughts on record.’
‘Sebastien and I lead very different lives.’
‘He’s been at the pointy end of the military for over ten years.
I’ve been doing this gig, one assignment after another, for even longer.
The adrenaline gets addictive. We’re on a high when we get it right, and the lowest of lows when we don’t.
So, what do we do? Search for that high again.
But I’ve had enough. I’m leaving next year. ’
‘What will you do?’
He winks. ‘A new challenge.’
When I glance towards Angelina, she looks up from her iPad and smiles.
‘I hope Angelina is a part of that.’
‘Like she says, you have a tender heart.’
‘I’m tough underneath.’
‘Resilient, yes. Tough, no.’
‘Is Sebastien tough?’ I’m not sure where the words come from, but I don’t regret them. Why shouldn’t I know more?
‘Seb’s got a hell of a history.’
‘He told me what happened after he ejected from the plane.’
He whistles. ‘He only told me because, working together like this, he was forced to.’
‘Other dangerous things have happened too, haven’t they?’
‘He could fill a Boys’ Own Adventure story book, no problem.’
Behind Sebastien’s arrogant exterior, he’s sensitive. He likes books and the natural world. He’s honest to a fault. The way he keeps his thoughts to himself can be frustrating and infuriating yet …
‘Maybe it’s better I don’t know.’
‘Seb was dragged into the issue with Dougie. His first priority is the transport project.’
‘When he’s done with that, he’ll be back in the air force taking on other challenges.’
‘It’s a Thorsen thing.’
‘You’ve met his brothers?’
‘Kit has always been a man on a mission, but since he fell in love with Mackenzie, he now has other priorities. As to Fin, what his brothers have got in taciturn, Fin has got in charm. Even so, Fin is also primed for living on the edge.’ Nate blows out a breath.
‘It was him who told me about the zip line at their grandfather’s place and warned me that Seb is the worst of the three of them, he took the most risks. Have you heard the story from Seb?’
‘No.’
‘It’s not my place to repeat it, but you might learn something if you asked him about it.’
‘I’m thinking it’s a Boys’ Own Adventure thing.’
‘With bells on.’