Chapter 28 Calder
CALDER
Sure enough, T.J. climbs out of the back seat with a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other. Elena’s shoulders look tight, even from a distance. She’s worn thin in ways most people wouldn’t notice, but I notice too much where she’s concerned.
Weston lets out a breath, and Buck’s expression shifts just enough to pass for normal as he gets up from behind his desk.
I follow the two of them out to the bay, where T.J. is approaching at a jog and Elena’s reminding him to slow down.
“Hi.” T.J. sounds half breathless as he looks between the three of us. “Mom said I could come do my interview project if you weren’t busy.”
Buck’s face changes all the way then, leaving Kozlov back in the office. “Interview project, huh?”
T.J. nods and lifts the notebook. “We have to ask questions about a real job in town, and I picked firefighters because it’s cooler than the grocery store, and because you guys have actual equipment.”
“Solid reasoning.” Weston huffs out a laugh as Elena comes up behind T.J., a few strands of hair loose and brushing her cheeks and forehead. There’s an apologetic look on her face that doesn’t quite hide her smile.
“His words, not mine,” she says, her gaze flicking briefly to Buck, then Weston. “He’s been talking about this all week.”
T.J. looks up at me, open-faced, and I try not to see Tyler in his features. He’s a good kid. Too brave and too ready to trust us, which only adds to the ugly weight already sitting in my chest.
“You came prepared,” Buck says.
T.J. flips the notebook open to a page covered in careful printing. “I have eight questions. I need to think of two more before I’m done.”
Weston grins. “That looks official. Better make sure we give you good answers.”
T.J. beams, and I hate that all I feel is the weight in my chest getting heavier.
As Buck and Weston close in on T.J., Elena’s gaze flicks to mine, and her smile fades a little at the edges.
Buck sets an easy hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Come on, buddy. We’ll show you the engine. You can’t interview firefighters if you haven’t seen the cool stuff first.”
T.J. goes with them at once, and Weston throws Elena a nod as he passes. “We’ve got him.”
For a second, it’s just me and her near the open doorway, with T.J.’s excited voice carrying back from the bay.
She studies my face, and whatever she sees wipes the last of her smile away. “What happened?” she asks quietly.
I glance over at the guys, who are steering T.J. toward the back of the engine. “This isn’t the time,” I tell Elena.
Her eyes narrow at me. “Calder.”
“You’re here with T.J. I’m not dropping something heavy on you while you’re in mom mode and he’s ten feet away.”
She steps closer. So close, a faint, warm scent of vanilla comes with her. “You can’t say that and expect me to be patient. Was there another fire?”
“No.”
“Then what?” When I hesitate, irritation flashes across her face. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Look at me like that and then tell me it can wait.” Her voice stays low, but there’s steel under it. “If something’s happened, I need to know.”
“Elena—”
“Tell me what’s wrong, Calder.”
I draw a slow breath and glance over to see T.J. writing something in his notebook while Buck balances a Halligan bar across both palms. “Come into the office.”
Elena follows me down the hall, and I end up taking her into the quiet room off the administrative hallway instead of Buck’s office. It’s a space meant for breaks and briefings, with a few chairs and an old couch. I close the door behind us.
She doesn’t sit, and I don’t ask her to.
I know what Elena was told about Tyler’s death, and I want to spare her from the truth, but sparing her and lying to her are nearly the same thing.
“There’s something we found,” I say. “About who might be behind the fires.”
Her face goes a shade paler. “Okay.”
“We found cigarette butts around the station and the school. Foreign ones.” She nods, and I assume Buck or Weston already told her that much. “I got in touch with an old teammate who works in intelligence. The name that came back is Anton Kozlov.”
She frowns. “I don’t know that name.”
“You wouldn’t.” I pause. “But Arseny Kozlov was connected to the mission where Tyler died.”
She goes completely still. There’s pain in her eyes now, but her voice doesn’t waver. “I know there are things you’re not allowed to tell me, but if these fires are connected to that mission, you can’t shut me out. I need to know.”
“Elena—”
“I want the truth, Calder.”
It would be easier to hide behind the paperwork I signed. Maybe a widow shouldn’t know her husband died in the middle of a clusterfuck that left enemies alive, questions buried, and the military more interested in classification than honesty.
Maybe gentle lies would protect her, but that isn’t what she’s asking for.
I let out a long, slow breath and look anywhere but at her face. The closed door, the scuffed floor, the blank stretch of wall over the couch.
“It was a covert op overseas. Arseny Kozlov was the target, and the mission was simple on paper. Go in, eliminate him, get out.” My mouth goes tight. “On paper being the important part.”
Elena folds her arms across her middle like she’s holding herself together. “What happened?”
“Bad intel. We were told Kozlov would have a limited security detail.” I shake my head once. “Instead, the place was crawling with armed men. Way more than we were briefed for.”
Her face goes paler still, but she doesn’t interrupt.
“We hit the target anyway, but the firefight went bad fast. By the time we got to Kozlov, the whole compound was up and moving. Too many shooters, too much ground against us. We put him down, but getting out clean was already off the table.”
“What did you do?”
“We fought our way out, and when we got outside, we took the only option left. Kozlov had military vehicles on-site. We stole two Hummers and used them to punch through the perimeter.”
Elena’s throat moves with a swallow. “Did Tyler make it out?”
“All eight of us made it out. Buck, Weston, and I were in one Hummer, Tyler was in the other.”
She shuts her eyes for a second, then opens them again. “Go on.”
“We got clear of the compound, but not clear of his men. They came after us in vehicles of their own.” My hands curl at my side. “That part of the intel wasn’t bad, it was nonexistent. Kozlov’s people were better armed and better positioned than we were ever told.”
Anger flashes in her eyes, cutting through the grief.
“We were taking fire as we moved, and trying to return it. We were trying to get enough distance to regroup when the other Hummer was hit with an RPG.”
I have to stop for a second to get my chest unlocked. “When it hit …” My voice almost fails me. I look down, flexing my hand once before I force the rest out. “It was a direct strike. The whole Hummer went up.”
Elena covers her mouth with one hand, but I keep going, because if I don’t, I may not start again.