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“We completed our objectives.”
“We did? Or you did?”
I looked over at where she stood, arms folded and smirking. Since my left side was to her, I reached up on my right and switched my comms on.
“I don’t know exactly what you’re inferring, but my understanding is that Rogue and Magnet were able to collect DNA samples.”
Clearly, her comms were off since she didn’t react to hearing me speak through her earpiece.
“Don’t play stupid, Schön. While Magnet came to your defense in the past, he isn’t here now to do so. I see your machinations, and once we return to the command center, I’ve no doubt Nemesis will as well. You aren’t so clever as to be able to hide from other female agents. It’s only the men who think with their penises as soon as you make your play for them.”
It was interesting that the woman was accusing me of playing stupid when she was careless enough not to consider she was being overheard.
“I’m getting all of this.” I heard Magnet’s voice in my ear. “I will deal with it once we’re back in the UK.”
“I hear you, Ehren,” I said, standing and walking past her, intending to leave the room. As I did, she grabbed my arm, digging her fingernails into my flesh.
“You took someone very important from me. Someday, I’ll make sure the same thing happens to you.”
I jerked away and kept walking. I held my head high and didn’t respond.
Magnet didn’t return for another thirty minutes, and when he did, he announced we’d be leaving Gozo via helicopter within the hour. Once on the main island of Malta, a plane would be waiting to transport us to the airfield at Gatwick. He spoke to us as a group and said nothing to me directly. Exactly as it should be.
The three-hour flightwent by quickly since I kept busy every moment I could, preparing a brief specifically detailing my interactions with Francesca Vella. No one had asked me to do it, but when either Magnet or someone else did, I’d be able to deliver it straightaway.
Iavoidedinteracting with Magnet and Rogue, but Ehren was invisible to me. I didn’t as much as look at her. And, given we had witnesses she was aware of, she didn’t say a single word to me, either.
Upon our arrival in Gatwick, I was last to grab my bags since I sat the farthest back on the plane. When I reached the front, Magnet was waiting.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Fine as always,” I said, avoiding making eye contact.
“I feel like I’ve done something wrong. That I’ve upset you somehow.”
“Magnet, you are the commander of this task force. I highly doubt you achieved that position by worrying that your orders or actions may have upset someone who reports to you.”
When I swept past him, he put his hand on my arm. It was a gentle touch, not like when Ehren had grabbed me, but I still winced when his fingers landed in the same place her nails had dug into me. I jerked away like I had with her.
“What happened?”
“Nothing. Excuse me.”
Rather than touch me again, Magnet blocked my way. “Let me see your arm.”
“No!” I snapped.
“Schön, I am ordering you to show me your right upper arm.”
My eyes bored into his, silently begging him not to force me to do as he asked. He didn’t waver.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said under my breath.
“Who did it?”
“Don’t you understand you’re only going to make things worse?”
“Not for you, I won’t be.”