Cloud Invasion: R-D 2 (R-D #2)(70)

*

Notes-Colonel Hunter

"I'm not sure how to reduce her stress," Leo Shaw said over the phone. I was more than grateful for the cell phones Corinne had given all of us-even Matt had attempted to trace them and was unsuccessful.

This conversation needed to be kept private; Corinne had experienced a meltdown. I was responsible and said as much. "You're not totally responsible," Shaw informed me. "I think you were the tipping point. Too many factors weighed into this, I believe, and while she has been able to manage this on her own up to a point, it eventually overloaded her."

"I still feel responsible," I said.

"Stop worrying about it-this will pass. You've had some disagreements in the past, this is no different. Besides, she didn't grieve as she should have for her son. As I said; too many factors."

"We have to find this bastard before he finds her," I hissed.

"I agree. The death toll is staggering as it is."

"At least we know he has a big connection to Russia-that has been proven time and again. I have no idea how many Baikov clones there are, but rest assured he's controlling them, and likely the Soviet President through them."

"It's possible your theory is correct-that he wants to destroy the peace between countries and then appear the hero by taking back the White House and forging peace again."

"This is a f*cking sick way to do it," I said.

"It wouldn't be the first time a leader has murdered to further his personal goals."

"History is full of that," I agreed. "I worry that we'll never get past it."

"I hope we survive it-both on a personal and global level."

"Is it professional to call him a f*cked up, sick bastard?"

"If there isn't a code for that in the diagnosis manual, there should be," Leo affirmed with a chuckle.

*

Corinne

I woke next to Ilya late the following morning. He was sitting in bed, scrolling through the cell phone I'd given him.

"Research?" I croaked. My throat fell raw from weeping and then falling asleep, so I held out a hand and Pulled in a bottle of water.

"A talent I wish we all had," Ilya said, setting the phone aside and taking the bottle to remove the cap.

"The cool thing is I can recycle the bottle using power," I said after drinking nearly half the contents.

"You can?" He offered a gentle smile.

"Why do you think you haven't had to empty the trash in a while?"

"You've recycled all of it?" Now he sounded surprised.

"Yeah. We each give back in our own way," I teased.

"Feeling better, then?"

"Yeah. I was tired and stressed."

"I understand. Cabbage?"

"What, honey?"

"I want to buy your ring. There are jewelry stores in Corpus Christi. I desire to take you to one."

"Which one?"

"This one." He lifted the phone and showed me the online advertisement.

"That's in a mall," I said, before realizing he already knew that.

"This is the one I want," he insisted.

"Okay. Let me get dressed."

*

I shouldn't have been surprised that we weren't able to leave the house without taking everybody with us.

I also wasn't surprised that James and Nathan had spent the night together. I'd understood they could be a good match-fortunately, they'd seen it, too.

I landed us in a dim hallway away from any security cameras or eyes that might see, and we walked into the mall from there. "Meet in that hallway in two hours," Leo commanded. He was the ranking officer, after all.

Ilya steered me toward the jewelry store, first thing, while the others fanned out to shop or look around. Opal and Nick headed for a popular Chinese restaurant near the center of the mall. James and Nathan walked toward the trendy electronics store, while Richard and Maye had no particular direction and strolled away, holding hands.

"They should be shopping for rings, too," Ilya breathed against my ear as he steered me on a steady course toward the jewelry store.

"Up to them," I replied and worked to match his long-legged stride.

There's a reason the jewelry stores place their engagement rings and wedding bands in an easy-to-discover spot. Ilya zoned in on them as if he had radar.

"Tell me what you like, cabbage," he said as we leaned over the long, glass case and peered at all sorts of diamonds.

I sighed when one of them caught my eye. "I'd like to see that one," Rafe pointed to the one I couldn't look past.

"A good choice," the salesclerk said, unlocking the case and pulling the ring from its velvet nest. "Two and a half carat oval diamond, surrounded by smaller diamonds with more falling halfway down the band." He set it on a convenient black velvet pad so we could see the brilliance of the cut.

My breath caught when I saw the price-thirty-eight thousand dollars. "Try it on," Rafe smiled, reaching for my hand and placing the ring on my finger.

"We'll size it for free, with a lifetime of free cleaning and mounting checks," the salesclerk beamed.

Holy shit, Ilya, I sent to him.

Worth every penny, he shot back. "We'll take it," he nodded to the clerk. "With the matching band and a man's wedding ring."