Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(67)

“So long as you promise to rest, you can be moved to the rest and rehab cabin, but the guest cabin is a mess. We’d rather you stay in a more secure building for the time being.”

Memory came crashing back. “Charlie!”

“Whoa, whoa.” Caleb jumped up as she started to swing her legs down off the stretcher. “You’ve still got an IV in, don’t rip it out by accident. Your friend is going to be fine. Our men retrieved him from one of the Apaches when we responded to the offensive action.”

She blinked back tears. How could she have forgotten? “Really?”

“To be honest, Edict shoved him out of the helicopter.” Caleb held her shoulders. “But he didn’t fall far. He’s got a few bumps and bruises, but you look a lot worse than he does. Plus, with the damage to your ears, let’s take it slow with the standing up or one of the medics is going to come in here and yell at us both. Your balance might be off.”

“They just...let him go?” Maylin had been so sure they’d kill Charlie, and maybe her too, once she wasn’t of use as leverage. Maybe she’d been watching too many television shows.

Caleb grimaced. “Well, there’s no being sure. But Lizzy took a distance shot at the person holding him in the copter. So whatever they were going to do, their mind was changed. Lizzy is a pretty incredible sniper, in case you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t.” Really, she didn’t know much about any of them. Except Gabe. “Where are they all now?”

Caleb paused. “I promised Diaz I wouldn’t lie to you. He said he owed it to you.”

Maylin’s breath caught in her throat.

“You have been out for a good twenty-four hours. They’ve been cleaning up and analyzing the attack, including a captured recording of your call with Jewel. Nice presence of mind, setting it to record the call, by the way, and keeping your wits about you with her. That woman is too clever for her own good.” Caleb sat and crossed one leg over the other, tapping his knee with his fingers in a rapid staccato beat. “Harte and I arrived with several other fire teams, enough to make a couple of squadrons. That’s two dozen more people to support Diaz’s team, by the way.”

“Okay.” It was a lot of people. All to the good, she hoped. Elation bloomed in her chest and spread through her body, clearing away the last of the fog of her injuries. They had enough people and firepower. They were going to get her.

Her heart contracted and expended in her chest almost painfully. After being told so many times to give up, by everyone, this was finally happening. And she couldn’t help holding her breath against the fear that all of this could still end badly.

A few tears welled up and she blinked them back. Happiness and apprehension warred with each other inside her head until she clenched her hands in her lap to stop them from trembling.

Caleb didn’t say anything as she worked through her tumble of emotions. He seemed so nonchalant about it or, she was realizing, his expressions weren’t reflective of what he was actually thinking.

She’d blinked away the tears and sat staring at him for a few moments before he continued as if he’d never stopped. “Diaz and his team were ready with a plan, and it was determined they should execute, with certain tweaks, before Edict or their sponsor decided to move your sister since the acquisition of you failed.”

In his own way, Caleb was really hard to read. She couldn’t help but watch him close. He seemed so genial and pleasant, she almost missed the tightness around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. His tone had barely changed. But he was angry. Maybe.

“Caleb, I...”

He waved her apology away before she could finish. “It’s not your fault. Not any of this. And Edict is ballsy as f*ck for taking action here. There has been tension between the two organizations ever since they cherry-picked a couple of our resources, but this took it to a whole new level. Trust me. If it hadn’t been you, it would have been a different contract and a different altercation.”

“How are you and Harte different, Caleb?” She’d wondered before, and maybe it was a stupid question now. But she wanted to know. Isabelle and Victoria had nicknames, but most of the men had been addressed by last name.

Caleb blinked. “Different?”

“Everyone calls you and Harte by your first names.”

“Oh.” He might have been blushing. Maybe. Hard to tell, but he did look sheepish. “I was an officer when I was active with the US military. So was Harte. I’m in training now, but I have special subject matter expertise in intelligence and other things. So I guess since we don’t use rank in the Centurion Corporation, being private sector and all, the first name usage is our version of addressing someone who is the equivalent of an officer. Sort of a gentleman’s agreement. It’s not quite that simple, but that’s the high-level version of it.”

“So you have authority.” She kept her gaze steady on his. No dodging on this one.

“Yes.” He said it slowly, like he was realizing she’d maneuvered him and was deciding whether he should slip out of whatever she had in mind.

“So you can take me to Gabe and the others.”

“Not exactly.” Caleb studied her. “They’re not on premises and there’s no way I’d take you to where they are. Besides, we’d only be in the way. The operation is planned and in progress. If we want them to succeed then we trust them to do what they need to do.”