is.”
Shawn leaned into his hands, rubbing them down his face. “You’re not all I’m concerned about.” He crossed his arms and fell against the back of his chair, face tilting toward the ceiling. “Taking you off campus is a huge risk for everyone involved.”
“Then give me the address. I’ll drive myself.”
“Not happening.” Shawn shook his head. “Sorry to burst your bubble on that one, but there’s no fucking way I’m letting you, or anyone else, leave here alone.”
Mona tapped one foot on the floor, the slow beat helping her work through the situation. “I want to see him, Shawn. If you don’t figure out how to make it happen then I will.” Mona stood from the chair and silently opened the door, slipping out before pulling it closed behind her.
The hall was quiet as she went to the office she shared with the rest of Team Intel.
“What did he say?” Lennie was the only other member of Intel in the office. It was still early enough that most of the team was just getting up and going.
Especially since they’d had a late night last night.
“What I expected him to say.” Mona eased into her chair.
Lennie lined up a set of picture frames across her desk, each depicting a different niece or nephew. “What about Heidi?”
“What about Heidi?” Heidi came into the room, a giant stainless steel cup in one hand and a container of fruit and yogurt in the other.
“Shawn won’t take Mona to see Zeke.” Lennie continued working on her desk, setting out a jar filled with an assortment of candy. “I thought maybe you could take her.”
“She was just brainstorming with me. I don’t expect you to take me to Zeke.” Mona ran one hand over the arm of her sweater, smoothing it down the way she hoped to smooth this conversation over.
“I do know how to get there.” Heidi lifted her brows Mona’s way.
“You would need a car.” Lennie stopped her organizing to look between Mona and Heidi. “And you’d have to figure out how to sneak it past Pierce. He doesn’t seem to miss anything.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Heidi dropped into her new desk chair and flipped the lid off her breakfast. “Did he even come back last night?”
Lennie shrugged.
“I can check.” Heidi flipped open her computer.
“He got back at midnight.” Mona wasn’t planning to tell anyone she’d all but accosted the owner of Alaskan Security last night, but having Heidi discover it on the security footage would make it seem like she was hiding something.
Which she was.
Her late night campout in his office might look different than it was, and the last thing she needed was for the rest of Intel to think she was trying to gain something from it.
Technically she was.
Just nothing for herself.
All she wanted was to see Zeke. Make sure he was okay. He would do the same for her.
“Midnight you say?” Heidi shoved her computer away, leaning forward as she dug a spoon into the container of yogurt. “Discuss.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.” Mona resisted the urge to shrink down. Disappear a little. “I asked how Zeke was. Pierce said he was fine. That’s it.”
“So, you already know Zeke is fine?” Heidi’s brows came together.
“I know Pierce claims Zeke is fine.” Mona pushed her shoulders back a little, trying to appear more sure.
More confident.
“But I want to see it for myself.” Among other things.
“I can hack into the security cameras at GHOST headquarters.” Heidi scrunched her face up. “They’ll know I did it though, so...”
“I’ll figure something out.” Mona glanced at the monitors. They had an enormous amount of footage of GHOST headquarters. She could probably figure out where the warehouse was on her own. Get the directions.
Take one of the SUVs.
“Good morning.”
Two words sucked all the air from the room.
From her lungs.
She’d spent a lifetime being intimidated by people. Shrinking back from people with power.
Giving them more.
And none of those people were half as powerful or intimidating as the one standing in the doorway of Intel’s office.
Pierce made her want to hide and throw up at the same time.
Especially when he was looking at her the way he was now.
“Sup, Pierce?” Heidi bounced back in her seat, kicking her feet up onto her desk. “We were just discussing your late night last night.”
Pierce’s gaze didn’t budge from where it was fixed on her face. “Were you?”
Was he asking her? Mona glanced Heidi’s way, hoping Pierce would follow suit.
He did not.
And no one else was answering him. The question hung in the air,