Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,61
not enough time to go through the details right now, but I found more information about Kristof’s history before the underground started,” Mary said. Addy’s gut tightened. “I’m going to hold a sidebar meeting without your team after this debrief is done. It’s up to you whether we include Kristof.”
“If it’s about him, he should be there,” she said. “Though, to clarify, his life from back then isn’t our business.”
“We’re pretty sure it’s the why. Why his father is trying to kill him. Why he’s trying to overthrow him.”
Did she want to hear that from Mary? She’d rather have the why come from Kristof—and only if he wanted to share. Privacy was something she worked hard to protect, and she hated the idea of violating his when she safeguarded hers.
“Can we table that? I want to give him the chance to fill us in. I…”
“Jesse thought as much,” Mary said. “It can wait, but if his father is involved in these recent events, it’s a discussion we need to have.”
“You think he’s involved,” Addy said.
“We do.”
Damn. Addy nodded. “Then let’s get the debrief started. Both he and I are likely to collapse soon. We need the air fully cleared before that can happen.”
“There’s something else you should know,” Mary said. “Marshall and Nolan want you benched as primary on this mission. At first, I agreed. You ignored my direct orders to remain in that cell. What if those five operatives hadn’t been dead? You could have been killed.”
“And they could’ve come in and killed us before the team got there,” Addy argued.
“It was a risk. A risk you wouldn’t have normally taken. Why did you?”
She’d wanted to make sure there weren’t any more threats to Kristof. Addy didn’t answer because her friend already knew the answer.
“I’m thinking that’s the wrong call after hearing what just went down,” Mary said. “And what Lavrov said when Nolan told him.”
What had Kristof said? Addy was tempted to ask, but she was too exhausted to wage that battle right now. It’d wait. Everything would wait. But they’d cornered him before he’d even been removed from that cell.
“That’s why he finagled time alone with Kristof.” Anger filled Addy. “He was injured and barely conscious and Nolan hit him with that?”
“We’re all worried, Addy. We can’t protect you from any of this because we don’t know what the hell we’re fighting.”
But they did know. At least, her exhausted mind thought they did. Kristof was at war with his father—who may or may not have been involved in taking them captive. Either way, there was trouble there that Kristof hadn’t fully explained. As for her history with him, she’d made it clear enough.
He’d once been an important part of her life—a life she’d locked away when Peter died.
Was there anything else to share about that? Probably. Would it change anything? No.
“I’m not leaving this mission.”
“I know. In all honesty, I don’t think Nolan agrees with that call either at this point.”
That must’ve been some conversation he and Kristof had. “Thank you, Mary. You’ve always had my back, even when I failed to have yours.”
Silence. Addy cursed. Exhaustion had left her tongue loose.
“Mary…”
“You blame yourself?”
“Shouldn’t I?” Addy asked. She turned away from the group watching her from across the room. “He was my brother. I knew he was a monster. I should’ve known he’d go after you and Vi.”
“You couldn’t have stopped him. No one could. I should’ve realized you’d think that. Hell, Vi did, too.”
“None of what went down was on Vi.”
“And it wasn’t on you,” Mary said, her voice loud in the com. “Peter was the only one at fault. He was the monster. None of us could’ve stopped him.”
Whatever. “Okay.”
“You say okay, but I know you’re not letting yourself off that hook. Be warned, I’m getting you off of it when you come home. You’re one of my sisters. You’re my rock. You’re everyone’s rock. Bree and Rhea both gravitate toward you whenever they’re scared or need support. Because you always stand between us and any threat. Please, please let us be your rock. Whatever this is, let us help you through it.”
Emotion clogged Addy’s throat. She felt as though she’d been shoved into a blender set to shred. She was scraped raw and too confused to formulate thoughts or a strategy to deal with the next phase of whatever the hell this was. “I can’t make that promise, Mary. Not yet.”
“Fair enough. Just promise me you won’t intentionally shut us out. We can help