Intercepted Risk (Aegis Group Task Force #5) - Sidney Bristol Page 0,97

dry.

Now, it was time to do a little for herself.

Nadine picked herself up and began walking. Twenty paces down the side of the building was a paint bucket. She grabbed it and kept going. Everything she needed to say goodbye to this life and hello to the next was in her grasp. And this time, she wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.

MONDAY. TASK FORCE Headquarters. Washington, DC.

It took almost two hours for Logan and Kelsey to make it back to the Task Force headquarters. They’d had to wait for the cops to clear them to leave and get someone to take them given that the SUV had to be towed. Most of it had been spent on the phone. He’d stuck to Kelsey’s side and held her hand while she processed the betrayal. In a way, he was glad that they weren’t around the others right now. Being at the safe house allowed her to process those feelings rather than bottle them up.

He glanced at Kelsey. She stared out of the window of the cruiser, her chin propped on her hand.

Nadine.

He hadn’t seen that coming.

None of them had, if they’d all been honest.

He should have.

They all should have.

Yet it seemed like everyone was shocked by the news.

Nadine had done her best to be well-liked by everyone. Her age and seniority had given her some protection against suspicion. But who could have hidden their agenda better than someone who’d been around and knew all the ticks of spy craft?

He’d known Kelsey would take the news hard regardless of who it was. He just wished he knew what he could do to comfort her.

The cop cruiser pulled up to the apartments. He’d given the officer that address instead of the headquarters, seeing as it wasn’t labeled a federal facility.

“Thanks, man,” Logan said to the officer.

The young officer nodded in the mirror. “Not a problem. Thanks for all your help. You two be safe, okay? I’ll come around and get your doors.”

Neither Logan nor Kelsey spoke while their driver opened one side, then the other.

Even the weather was betraying them.

It was a bright, sunny, warm day. The wind had finally let up. It was a stark contrast to the mood.

Logan and Kelsey got out of the cruiser and with a final goodbye to the young cop, they were alone again.

“How you doing?” Logan asked after a moment.

She turned to face him. “I just... It doesn’t feel real yet.”

“I know.” He nodded.

“God.” Her eyes widened. “Joon?”

He grimaced. “Poor guy.”

Kelsey reached out and took Logan’s hand. It felt good for her to do that so easily. “Come on.”

He didn’t say anything, just curled his hand around hers. They walked maybe twenty or thirty feet before she glanced at their hands.

“Thanks.” She squeezed him then let go.

“Nadine got really close to you,” he said.

“Not really. I mean, I looked up to her given her career history. We talked a lot over Thanksgiving at Diha’s, and yeah, I’d started to feel...closer? I guess?” She shoved her hands into her coat pockets. “I didn’t really know her. Obviously none of us did. Shit. What about her family? She’s married and has kids that live on her same street. Fuck. What about them?”

Logan didn’t know how they began to handle the situation or what they’d tell Nadine’s family. It was a lot to process.

Kelsey glanced down and wrinkled her nose at her jacket. Was she thinking about when Nadine might have planted the microphone on her?

He swiped his keycard at the door and held it for Kelsey. She paused and looked at the opening.

“Damn it,” he muttered and stepped inside ahead of her.

The new security measures included one entry swipes. They needed to know exactly who was in or out of the building at all times. Meaning, he couldn’t swipe his card for both of them to enter.

He pulled the door shut and nodded at the guards there on duty while Kelsey swiped her own card. It wasn’t a perfect system, but they’d make it work.

“Where is everyone?” Kelsey asked him.

They strode down a hall while he checked his phone.

The hall let out into a general workspace. Before today, things had grown quiet here. No doubt the paper pushers had picked up on the general mood. Now, it was a flurry of activity. Almost frantic.

“They’re upstairs in the conference room,” he said.

“Huh. Haven’t been up there in a while.”

Logan kept close to Kelsey, but didn’t touch her. Until he knew every employee had been vetted ten different ways and