people. They could be our way in.” He cleared his throat. “Any chance you talked to Felecia’s father? Told him about what happened?”
“The director banned me from discussing the attack with Obran.” Zora sounded none too pleased about that.
“He—what?” Logan didn’t understand the occasional rulings the director of the Task Force made. Hell, he’d ever even met the man.
“I’m working within the bounds.” Zora sighed. “I may need to move people around. Tucker would be most valuable with you.”
“I could trade him for Kelsey,” Logan suggested.
The recommendation worked two-fold. First, it would put space between him and Kelsey. Right now he needed that if he was going to keep his head screwed on straight. Yes, that decision was playing into her bias of him, but he was only human. Second, chances were she’d be a hell of a lot safer wherever Zora was. Two birds, one stone. Maybe Kelsey had grounds to be mad at him? Or was one of them over-reacting?
“I might take you up on that. For now, review what gear you have and let me know what you need. When we get the warrants, I want to move. Immediately.”
“Understood.”
Zora and Diha did a bit of talking. Logan didn’t understand what they said, but he remained on the line, regardless. Information passed to him so rarely he was going to take what he could get. Most of it was about the facility, how much intel they’d lost and what was safe. Their servers were located on a secure site with other NSA tech, so those were out of reach.
Eventually the two women hung up, leaving Logan alone with his thoughts.
Was he really the problem?
Or was it possible the events of the last twenty-four hours had overwhelmed even Kelsey?
It didn’t escape his notice that she’d come to him last night. She’d doted on him, poked fun at him and cuddled up next to him as naturally as if they’d been together for ages. And though he didn’t doubt she’d initiated sex as a way to distract herself, he’d felt a connection with her.
What if this was Kelsey’s way of controlling an out-of-control situation? What if the break-up wasn’t actually about him at all, but instead about her?
That made him pause.
A strong woman unaccustomed to being emotionally overwhelmed could very likely respond by pushing people away. It made sense. A lot more than her suddenly deciding they had issues again.
She needed time. How much did he give her? How long did he wait? And what if he was wrong?
TUESDAY. SAFE HOUSE. Washington, DC.
Kelsey’s insides felt like crap.
It was like she was divided in half.
One part of her was freaking out and a complete mess. That was the idiotic part of her that had been in control earlier when she’d wrecked everything with Logan.
Had she really broken up with him? Had they ever been together? Could she break up with someone she wasn’t technically dating? Were they going to find Nadine? Had anyone died in the fires? Was this job too much for her? Should they cut their losses and turn away?
Her other half was emotionless, dazed and stuck merely watching events unfold around her. That was where she was now.
She pulled her brush through her hair and stared at her reflection. Outwardly she looked like herself, if a little worse for wear. But on the inside? She was a mess.
After her awkward shift on watch, she’d crawled into bed and slept. Or tried to. Dozed was more like it. She’d never truly settled in, always tossing and turning. More than once she’d caught herself reaching blindly across the bed for a body that wouldn’t be there.
What the hell was wrong with her? Why had she panicked like that?
They’d faced worse, and yet last night had totally unhinged her.
Why? Why was she falling apart like this? Did she need to go back to the psychiatrist? Had they missed something?
Someone tapped on the bedroom door.
She blinked and forced herself to refocus despite the pain in her chest.
“Come in,” she called out.
It was Logan. She knew it had to be.
Could she make this right? Should she undo what had been said? Was that wise?
She had been right when she felt he was smothering her. He was just so big and there and taking up so much of her mind. It was hard to think about anything else, and that was a problem. People’s lives depended on her, and she was distracted. Cutting him out made sense in that regard, and yet her heart