Chapter 15
Celine stayed tucked up close to Aaron as they walked quietly down the maze of hallways inside the Pentagon.
Somehow, she never pictured it like this, so.
..normal. Like the inside of any other office building, minus the windows and the fact that they were there in the middle of the night.
And yet people rushed up and down the hallways, all dressed business casual, carrying on with their jobs.
The group took the elevator down, to what floor she had no idea, but Eli had to swipe his card and enter a code for access before they started moving. The doors finally dinged open and she stumbled out first, eager to get out of the claustrophobic space. “Where are we now?”
“Below ground. This level is secure. You have to have clearance to enter,” Eli answered and took over as line leader this time. “If you will follow me, please.”
Once again, Celine stayed close to Aaron as they followed Eli down the hall, Daniel bringing up the rear of their little entourage.
Eli stopped in front of a common brown door, near the end of the hallway, and swiped his card.
The door buzzed open and Eli held out his arm, inviting them to enter.
“Have a seat, someone will be with you shortly.”
Celine entered the room, first unable to shake the uneasy feeling she'd had since they'd stepped off the plane.
The room was small, with a single plain table in the middle and a couple of chairs on each side.
A large mirror stretched across the opposite wall and Celine nearly gasped at her reflection.
She'd lost weight, she could tell that simply by the way her bones protruded beneath her skin, but the hollowed-out cheeks and the purple smudges under her eyes showed more evidence of it – she looked like a recovering drug addict.
And Aaron had been up close and personal with her the whole time. Uggghhh.
“We’ll be right outside if you need anything.” Eli pulled the door shut.
Aaron stalked to the mirrored wall, his brows narrowed and lips pulled tight. Her unease slipped into fear. “What's wrong?”
Aaron did that thing again, where he made his face go completely blank, something she'd started to hate. “It's nothing, just the CIA. I always hated working with the sneaky bastards.”
Celine stared hard at him, concentrating on his rich brown eyes. There were tight lines around them now that hadn't been there on the plane, and his blank expression couldn't hide the flat lines of his mouth. Evidence that he was as uneasy here as she was. “I thought you guys were run by the CIA.”
He didn't even blink, just stared at her without speaking.
After a few seconds the urge to fill the silence overtook her patience. “So, don't you sort of work for them?”
He kept staring and she had to fight the urge to twitch. “You're doing that on purpose, stop it.”
“Just trying to figure out how to answer your question when I can't really answer your question.”
“I think you just answered my question.”
Finally, his tight lips eased into a soft smile. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Ms. Latimer?”
Aaron shoved her behind him and faced the open doorway. “Who wants to know?”
A tall, thin man in a suit, with a shock of red hair and pale white skin, propped his shoulder on the door frame like he owned the place.
“I'm Agent O'Keefe. Sorry about rushing you down here fresh off the plane, but we just need to ask you a few questions about your time overseas while everything is still fresh on your mind.”
He reminded her of a Virginia Slim cigarette lit at the top. Except for his eyes, they held nothing, just took up empty space on his face in a way far more menacing than Daniel. “Will it help Caroline?”
“You may be the only way we find her. Unfortunately, our teams on the ground lost her trail after your rescue.”
His carefully spoken words lit a match of guilt in her chest, burning up her cheeks while her hands went numb. “Are you saying if they hadn’t rescued me, they might have found Caroline?”
Aaron's chest rumbled against her. “Watch it, O'Keefe. There wasn't any choice involved. If we didn't rescue Celine, she'd be gone. At least we know who has Caroline.”
O'Keefe rolled his shoulder around the door frame and straightened, his movements fluid like a serpent. “Ah, that's true. But if your team had gone after Mr. J in the first place, this whole thing might be over by now.”
Celine’s head swung back and forth between the two men, watching as they faced off, the tension growing thicker than the fog outside. Aaron went as stiff as the metal chair next to him. “We’ll find J and Caroline.”
“You, or your team? Haven't each of you vowed to see him dead? What are you doing here when you could be on his trail?”
Celine felt each word from O'Keefe like a bag of concrete weighing her down and when Aaron didn't answer, she felt that concrete harden. He really was here playing hero. Or maybe because he'd been ordered to guard her?
She'd heard about the attack on his headquarters not long ago, heard it was someone intent on wiping out his team. “Was he the one who attacked you?”
Aaron stared right through her.
“Yes, Ms. Latimer, and yet here he is, while the rest of his team hunts down the man who tried to have their entire unit and families annihilated. You must be a very special person to Mr. Speirs for him to give up his best shot at revenge. And at finding Caroline, who’s a key player in the fate of the nation.
” O'Keefe circled the room, his steps slow and measured, all the while he tapped a finger on his lower lip.
“Is that true? Are you missing out on catching him?” She whispered.
“Killing him. Not catching. There will be no catching involved when I finally get my hands on that traitorous, murdering son of a bitch.”
Aaron’s words took the concrete weighing her down and threw an extra truck load on top. “You should go, be with your team.”
“What do you want to bet he can't? Did someone order you to bring her here? To babysit the wounded bird?” O'Keefe drew out the word babysit, emphasizing baby.
Shame heated Celine’s cheeks. She wasn't a pet project or a fixer upper in need of careful handling. And she sure as hell didn't want a man by her side only out of obligation.
Or worse, pity.
The way Aaron stood stiff and distant was more of an answer than any verbal communication. He hadn't chosen her. His commander had taken his choice away.
“Ms. Latimer, as I was saying, I really do need to ask you a few questions, and it would be better if we were alone. Protocol, you understand?”
Celine moved to the corner of the room, as far from Aaron and his pity as she could get. “I'm ready.”
“Mr. Speirs, if you could just step out in the hall for a moment. I'll call you when we are done.”
Aaron’s face flushed. “No. I'm not leaving her side.”
“Why? Do you think I'm not capable of answering a few questions?” Celine asked.
“No, it’s not that. You shouldn't be alone right now. You're still in shock.”
“Shock? I'm upset, yes. A little bruised. But that will not stop me from doing anything in my power to help find Caroline.” Celine paused and then said, “You understand a sense of duty to the people you love, don't you?” Her gaze held him in a stalemate and wouldn’t let go.
He didn’t know how much he knew about love, but he certainly understood the thirst for revenge.
Aaron faltered, his gaze bouncing between her and O'Keefe.
The agent walked toward the door and held it open. “Mr. Speirs?”