18. Gwen #2
Although he was mostly raised in America, the British in him comes out from time to time. Probably has an Ameri-Brit vocabulary like me, and that reminds me of something important.
“Does Elaina know what happened to me?” I’m acting as if everyone was in on my interior monologue and can follow along. I might have a habit of doing that, so they’re used to it.
“No. We told Liam and Emily what happened, but we all agreed it’d be best if Elaina wasn’t looped in. She’d, you know . . .”
Dad doesn’t need to fill in the blanks. I already know. Elaina will blame herself for giving up her visions and not preventing what happened to me.
My shoulders drop with relief, only for a new concern to hit me. “But Easton said everyone from Falcon is meeting up at the hotel, and if that’s the case—”
“Sydney and Beckett need to stay back in D.C. They understand the risks, but they can’t get away.” Dad understood where I was going with that thought.
Sydney and Beckett’s daughter, McKenna, is best friends with Elaina, and Elaina would figure out something is wrong if McKenna had to relocate to the hotel. They’d have to clue her in.
I’m fairly certain my dad is only part of this because of my connection to Falcon and The Sapphire, so the rest of Dad’s teammates should be safe. Still, I know he’ll warn them to up their security measures.
“I don’t want Elaina to stop taking her medicine to try and help solve this case.
” I wait for Carter’s attention before continuing, “Or Camila. They both finally have their lives back. It’s too dangerous for them to help.
We know what might happen if they stop taking their pills cold turkey.
” I glare at him, waiting for confirmation he’s in agreement, and he nods.
“We’ll find Jezebel and whoever is behind this on our own. ”
“Yeah, well, I have no clue who Elaina or Camila are, but sure, okay,” Julian finishes saying just as another thought slams into me.
“Wait,” I blurt out, “are Sydney and Beckett the only ones not coming to the hotel? Everyone else from Falcon is? Griffin and Savanna. Jack and his wife. Uncle Gray and Aunt Tessa. Mason. Everyone everyone?”
Carter’s eyes lift overhead, thinking.
“Why can’t Sydney and Beckett come?” I ask, my heart racing. “What’s keeping them away?”
“A high-profile murder investigation, and Beckett is the lead detective on the case. He can’t come, and Sydney doesn’t want to leave him in D.C. alone. You know how she is,” Dad explains, his voice deepening as it more than likely starts to click for him, too.
“Any chance someone put this case in Beckett’s lap because they don’t want Sydney with you at the hotel?” Julian asks, catching on himself, but he’s missing the main piece.
“It’s not about Sydney or Beckett. Someone just needs their family to stay put.” I unbuckle, wanting to be on my feet to pace, but Dad holds my arm, not letting me up. Turbulence, right. I strap back in. “It’s about Elaina. Whoever is behind this knows about her.”
Natasha explains to Julian and Gideon about both Elaina’s and Camila’s prophetic visions and how they no longer have them thanks to a cure Camila found last year. “Basically, a natural homeopathic-type remedy blocks the visions from manifesting,” she adds at the tail end of her explanation.
“Wow, um . . .” That’s all Julian has to say, and I don’t blame him for being speechless. “Didn’t know there was an antidote to that kind of stuff, but after everything that happened to my family in the fall with those mind-control and memory-wipe drugs, I shouldn’t be surprised.”
True. “If McKenna has to hide out at the hotel, Elaina will panic and stop taking her medication in hopes her visions come back to help out.” I drop my head into my palms. This is hitting even closer to home than I thought. How long have we all been spied on?
“Why not just kill Elaina, then?” Gideon asks, which has me whipping my head up. “If they’re worried about her getting involved, that’d be easier, yeah?”
“None of us have been hurt yet. Maybe I really wasn’t meant to die. Not yet,” I say as an idea strums through my mind. “If they killed me, or if they were to hurt someone you all love, like Elaina—”
“All hell would break loose,” Gideon finishes for me in understanding.
“So, they’re just positioning all the . . .” Julian clears his throat “. . . puzzle pieces into place.” He lifts his brows, eyes on Dad. “That analogy okay?”
I don’t check Dad’s reaction, too busy processing what this all means. “They want to keep Elaina in the dark, and they’re counting on us to want to do the same to protect her. This is their move, I’m sure of it.”
“I’ll reach out to Sydney.” Carter looks to Dad. “You should talk to Liam. Give him the heads-up Elaina could be in danger. There could be a backup plan to go after her if they think she’ll stop taking her medication, which means they have eyes on her now.”
Dad acknowledges him with a tight nod, curling his hand into a fist on his lap.
The only thing keeping me from losing it about all this is I trust Elaina’s family and Liam’s teammates to keep her safe.
“Camila could also be in danger,” Carter points out another uncomfortable truth. “She’s on an op with her team in Peru, or she’d have helped out here. I’ll give her the heads-up to be on the lookout and up her security.”
“Don’t let her stop taking her medication, either. Remember when she tried a few months ago because of her own case, and—”
“I remember, and I’ll handle it.” Carter removes his mobile from his pocket.
“I need to make some calls.” He looks at Zoey.
“And you are staying with us. We’ll find Molly together.
” He pauses, then adds, “And Diana will be okay with it. You can argue with me, but don’t think about arguing with her. ”
“What’s going on?” Julian asks.
Right, we never answered Gideon’s question about this, so now Julian’s throwing it at us.
“Carter’s Zoey’s ex. Well, kind of,” I admit, keeping my voice low as if it’s a secret between us.
Carter ignores what I said and doesn’t wait for Zoey’s confirmation. Instead, he twists around and eyes Easton. “Nash is wrapping up an op in Dublin with Sebastian, which is why they’re both not here.”
I forgot about that. When we went on our trip to Dubai, Sebastian asked to “borrow” Nash for a mission.
“Am I letting Nash know you’re back as my lead pilot?” he asks him.
Easton looks at me before his gaze slides back to Carter. “Yeah, I’m back.”