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I almost poked the bare skin of his stomach, but thought better of it, seeing the looks on Ehren’s and Rogue’s faces.
“Wait. You were also supposed to wear the overweight suit?—”
The look on Magnet’s face immediately shut Rogue up. The two men returned to the other room, leaving Ehren and me alone.
“I’m surprised you aren’t being more careful,” she said the minute they were gone.
“What do you mean?”
“It would hardly advance your standing with Nemesis should she discover you’re having sex with your commander.”
I vacillated between slapping her, denying it, or responding that, from what I understood, Ares had effectively done the same thing when he and Nemesis met and subsequently married after joining the coalition. Instead, I walked away, once again employing what I’d learned a long time ago from Mrs. Strousberg. Which was, given the options, ignoring someone’s bad behavior was usually the most effective response.
As I turned to go into the bedroom, I saw Magnet standing in the doorway, looking as though he’d heard every word. I implored him with my eyes not to say anything, then mouthed, “Don’t.”
It became apparent he either didn’t understand or didn’t care when he stalked in Ehren’s direction.
7
MAGNET
“Seeing red” was a phrase I hadn’t truly understood until the day Zeppelin and I went at it over his nasty comments about Schön. Then, I’d reacted with my fists. Today, as much as I wanted to wring Ehren’s neck, I wouldn’t lay a hand on her. However, she would experience my wrath.
Yes, I’d recognized Schön’s plea that I not get involved, but I had to. I’d heard what Ehren said, and she’d disparaged me as much as she had her fellow female agent.
While she may be anticipating a slap on the wrist, things were going to go far worse for her. I still hadn’t decided whether or not she’d remain on the island to complete the op. But once we returned to Shere, she’d no longer be a member of the Albanian task force.
It was up to Nemesis and the other commanders to decide whether Ehren would remain a part of the coalition. If it went up for a vote, I’d cast mine in favor of her dismissal.
Schön definitely couldn’t count on the woman to have her back, and I wasn’t too sure I could count on her either.
“Listen, Magnet,” Ehren began when I approached.
I stopped short and folded my arms. “Are you planning on telling me what’s what?”
“We both know how she got the job with the coalition,” she said under her breath.
I leaned in. “Do we?” I asked just as quietly.
“Obviously, her relationship with Marchand. Now, she’s trying to influence you in the same way.”
I looked over at Schön with wide eyes. “I suppose that makes sense, given I’m undercover as her father.” I looked back at Ehren. “Although my understanding is that daughters typically conspire with their mothers.”
Her head cocked. “You’re not understanding me. She slept?—”
“With her uncle?” I gasped. “I wonder, then, if we should address these allegations with the ambassador.”
As I’d anticipated, she had no immediate retort. Unfortunately, though, I hadn’t achieved my goal of wiping the smirk from her face. It remained.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’d like to do now, Ehren? I’m at a bit of a loss as to the most appropriate course of action.” I held up my hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “As you’re aware—or at least Ithinkyou’re aware—this op is crucial to our bringing down one of the largest human trafficking organizations in the world. Given you worked closely with Seshat, caring for the victims and reuniting them with their families, I would think you would possess the same sense of urgency the rest of us do.”
“Of course I do.”
My eyes scrunched. “Then, I suggest you focus solely on the task at hand rather than disparaging a fellow agent. The four of us are undercover together, and honestly, I wonder if I should call upon Delfino and Atticus to join our op and allow you to return to Shere prior to its completion. What do you think I should do, Agent Richter? What would be thehonorablething?” The last bit, I added in reference to her code name that was a derivative of the German word for honor.
“I’d like to remain on the op, sir.”
“Would you? What are you willing to do in order for me to agree to allow such a thing?”