The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(84)

“Unless they repaired a vehicle of some type,” Torran suggested.

“Yes, but then they’d have to find a way to restore the fuel they’d need to fly or drive such a vehicle. That would take time.”

Trevino walked to the table and tapped the surface. A hologram appeared. It was a map of the area around The Bastion. It extended outward and covered the areas where the squad had retrieved food. Torran could now easily see the search pattern. The pulses probably should have turned up the couple by now if they were in the area. Fear strangled him for a few seconds, and he swallowed hard.

“I see your concern, sir.” Torran cleared his throat. “If they’re alive, they should have shown up on the scans. Do you think they’re dead? Or possibly turned into Abscrags?”

“Perhaps. Or there could be sabotage.” Trevino transferred his gaze from the holographic map to Torran. “Do you think that is a possibility?”

It bothered Torran that he instantly thought of Lindsey. She was incredibly intelligent and very capable of thwarting the SWD. Again, the thought of being on opposite ends with Lindsey made him very uncomfortable.

“It is a possibility,” he replied at last. “But then the Constabulary would have to have uncovered our plans.”

“Which is conceivable. They spy on us as much as we spy on them. I have a specialist sorting through the mission records trying to determine if there is sabotage occurring and who’s behind it. Do you have any thoughts on who it might be? It might accelerate the process.” Pivoting toward Torran, arms crossed over his broad chest, Trevino stared at the Scotsman with an unreadable look.

Torran pressed his lips together and quickly sifted through his thoughts. Finally, he said, “There are a few possibilities. Chief Defender Solomon comes immediately to mind.”

“She’s on my list, too.”

Setting his fingertips on the edge of the table, Torran hated the next words out of his mouth. “Of course, Vanguard Rooney.”

“She’s is at the very top of my list. We’re already launching an investigation. It’s not easy to find any details about her outside of her service record. Which makes me very suspicious.”

Torran wondered if maybe there were undercurrents to the conversation. Had perhaps someone seen him and Lindsey together? Maybe they’d become too lax in their interactions with one another. He had to wonder if he was under suspicion and the entire conversation was actually about his loyalty.

Trying very hard to remain calm, he said, “You might as well put the entire Constabulary squad on your list at this point. They’ll try to protect their own. Hell, I guess I should be on the list as well, since I once served as a vanguard.”

Trevino inclined his head, but Torran couldn’t decipher what the gesture meant. “The Notre Dame Depot excursion is one of the most important yet. We strongly suspect the fugitives might be in the city. Calculations indicate this would probably be the furthest they’d be able to travel with their limited resources.”

“I will keep my eyes open for any irregularities.”

“Excellent. We’re depending on you, Master Seeker MacDonald.”

Once he was excused, Torran dashed across the quad to the squad’s headquarters. Lindsey would be returning soon, and he hoped to speak to her in private. If she was being investigated, it was only a matter of time before their affair would be uncovered. Most likely, Lindsey would be removed from the squad, and though Torran would be happy to have her out of danger, she’d resent the transfer. He hated the idea of any friction happening between them. Yet, he couldn’t tell her about the search for her best friend, even though there was a distinct possibility she already knew. And it wasn’t beyond reason to suspect she was working against the SWD discovering Maria.

Though he wasn’t a violent man by nature, Torran felt like punching something very, very hard.

Instead, he hurried into the prep room and pulled up the mission records on one of the consoles. Though he was not the mad genius Lindsey was when it came to computers, he was more than competent. Swiftly writing a program to search for specific clues, he frowned as he worked. Lindsey was very good at covering her tracks, which would make his search very hard if she was the one behind the sabotage. Yet, things could be missed. He opted not to pay attention to the feed from the aerial drones or remote generators, but the squad’s suits.

Torran was deep into his review when the door opened, and it took him a second to register the arrival of another person. Swiftly closing his program, he looked up to see Lindsey standing in the doorway. It seemed to be the day for indecipherable looks on people’s faces. He couldn’t tell if she was angry, sad, agitated or afraid. Or maybe she was all of those things at once. She started to speak, but the doors opened again.

“We need to leave now.” Chief Defender Solomon was already in her armor and held a tablet in one hand. “An unexpected snow storm is in route.”

Not even giving them a chance to respond, the commanding officer swiveled about and hurried down the hallway.

Without a word, Lindsey followed and Torran hurried to catch up. His fingers grazed hers and she looked up at him. It staggered him to realize that an unexpected distance had popped up between them just since their parting kiss in the morning. The woman he loved looked wounded, unsettled, and unsure. He suspected he may have somehow lost her faith in him, and the thought left him adrift in a cold void. Words failed him and he stared at her in silence.