Page 23 of The Team (The Milvus Files #3)

TWELVE

LONDON

Director King walked up and handed his phone to Rhett the moment they cleared London airspace. Jay could only hear the murmur of Yunho’s voice and see the serious set of Rhett’s steely gaze before he closed his eyes and let out a low breath.

And Jay knew.

He knew it was bad news.

Yunho spoke for a solid two minutes, Rhett saying nothing, until he murmured his thanks and disconnected the call.

“King’s about to debrief us,” he whispered. “Kowalski didn’t make it,” he said, loud enough for his team to hear.

Jay’s heart sank, and Az, Coyote, Sid, and Echo’s faces all fell. “Fuck,” Sid whispered.

But Jay wasn’t surprised. He’d seen Kowalski and Myles on those tables in that laboratory. He was surprised Kowalski even made it to the hospital .

The way Myles had tried to speak, his laboured breathing, it sounded as if their respiratory systems were as shredded as their skin.

And Kowalski wasn’t even capable of speaking . . .

Fuck.

“And they’re gonna quarantine the plane and test us before they let us off,” Rhett murmured.

Jay sank back in his seat with a sigh.

He understood the reasoning. It was to contain any possible contagions from the greater population of London, and it was a fair call. It just sucked ass.

As soon as the wheels were down, King walked front and centre.

“Stay in your seats. They want to rapid test us all. It’ll only take a few minutes.

” Then he let out a sigh. “And I’m sorry to have to tell you that Lieutenant Piotr Kowalski succumbed to his injuries.

He died an hour ago. Myles is still listed as critical. ”

Silence fell over all of them.

King continued. “Before the medical team gets here, I want to tell you that the person, or persons, behind the intel fuck-up of your mission still has not been made known to us. So, that being said, you’ve all got forty-eight-hours rec leave, and I strongly urge dispersal until you hear from your captain or myself. You know the drill.”

Dispersal.

To spread out, to not congregate together, to minimise the impact of enemy fire.

Meaning they couldn’t take them all down if we each went our own separate ways.

Jesus fucking Christ.

The medic team boarded the plane in full PPE.

“I’ve seen this movie,” Sid said, then raised his finger and did his best ET impersonation. Which was terrible. “Home.”

But they were all instructed to stay in their seats, where they were swabbed, exactly like Rhett and Yin had been back in Baku.

“Remember boys and girls, blue is good, purple is bad,” Rhett said.

The tech didn’t even smile.

But one by one, they all returned a negative swab and were cleared for deplaning. They dropped their gear off and changed into their civvies, the mood in the change room was quiet, tense, and uncomfortable.

Being told to disperse was not good.

“Lie low for two days,” Rhett told the team.

“Get some sleep. If you think you’re being watched or followed, see anything or anyone suspicious, call me ASAP.

If I hear anything on Myles, I’ll be in touch.

And if shit gets real with whoever screwed us over,” Rhett said with a shrug.

“Well, we’ll need to reconvene to sort that out. ”

Sid gave a nod. “Understood.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Jay said as he made a face. “And have a shower,” he sniffed, “because you all stink.”

Azrael shoved him hard into Rhett. Echo laughed as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. “I need two things,” he said, holding up two fingers. “I need food. And to not see any of you for two days.”

He walked off, holding up his two fingers as a salute goodbye.

Jay snorted. “You know you’ll miss us.”

Echo laughed as he walked out. Azrael sized up Sid. “I’m gonna hit the gym. You up for it? ”

“Absolutely not,” he replied, and they bickered as they walked out.

Coyote stood there with his bag, brows furrowed. “We’ll have a drink for Kowalski soon, yeah?”

“Absolutely,” Rhett answered. “We’ll find who did this.”

Coyote gave a hard nod and tried to smile. “Two days,” he mumbled as he picked up his bag and walked out.

And that left Yin and Chen.

“Does Echo not want our faces for two days?” Chen asked. “Does he not like us?”

“Don’t take it personally,” Jay said to him. “He means it as a term of affection because he loves us. He just has a different way of showing it.”

“Needs work,” Chen said with a serious nod.

Jay couldn’t help but smile.

Yin, on the other hand, was standing there with his head down, but he eventually looked up at Rhett, waiting for whatever it was he knew Rhett had to say.

Rhett sighed. “My guy gave you the all-clear.” He took Yin’s phone out of his pocket and turned it over in his hand. “And this.”

“I shouldn’t have had it on me,” he murmured, eyeing the phone.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Rhett replied. “You could have jeopardised the mission or us.”

“It’s not detectable,” he said. “It emits no?—”

“It emits no signal, I know,” Rhett said. He scrutinised the black screen for another moment before handing it over to Yin. “If you bring it on assignment again, I’ll...”

“Shoot me in my seat and throw my body out of the plane,” Yin said with a wry smile .

Rhett straightened up, dead serious. “Yes.”

Jay sighed and looked up at Totoro. “You have somewhere to stay in London, right?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Awesome.” Jay clapped his hands, then took Rhett’s arm. “Okay, it’s been great and I’m glad we’re all good, but we have somewhere else to be.”

Like face down on my bed getting dicked for hours...

Rhett snorted but went willingly, and as they made their way into the hall, Zihao was on his way in.

He was a quiet, unassuming man. He was on the shorter side, about Jay’s height, but Jay knew that didn’t mean shit. Jay had no doubt Zihao could kick ass. He had serious eyes like a hawk and a tight smile. He stopped and bowed his head slightly.

“Yin and Chen are still inside,” Rhett volunteered without slowing down.

“Yes, thank you,” he replied quietly.

They walked to their car in silence, and when they got inside, Rhett put his finger to his lips.

Which meant don’t speak.

Which meant Rhett assumed the car was bugged. Was their apartment too?

Probably.

Well, Jay conceded, they were about to get a few hours of hot sex audio.

“We should swing past the supermarket on the way home,” Rhett said as he started the car.

“Good idea,” Jay replied.

Then he made small talk about takeout, and for the entire time, he didn’t mention Yin, or Yunho, or Kowalski, anything they’d done or seen in the last week .

He wasn’t joking about the supermarket. Rhett pulled into a spot and they got out, Rhett scanning the parking lot, the people. As they walked into the supermarket, Jay murmured, “We got a tail?”

“I think we should assume so.”

Fuck.

“Well, just so you know, I’ve already made the decision that they can listen to you rail me for hours. I have no problem with that. In fact, I might even ask them for a copy.”

Rhett snatched up a basket, giving him an uncertain look. “Not entirely convinced that’s funny.”

Jay shrugged. “Honestly, I’d be more surprised if they don’t have ears and eyes on us and have done for years.

Think of all the hot sex audio of ours they have on file.

I should get the compiled list. Hours and hours of easy listening.

” They headed straight for the produce section and Jay picked up a punnet of strawberries. “The price of these is ridiculous.”

Rhett added some more fruit and greens, not saying anything, but Jay collected some apples. “You like apples? How ’bout them apples,” he said, mimicking the famous line from a movie.

Rhett rolled his eyes. “That was terrible.”

Jay laughed, then picked up a rather large eggplant. “Oh, this reminds me, we need more lube.”

Rhett sighed. “True.”

They collected some bread, milk, eggs. Enough food for them not to leave the house for two days, all while Jay talked about the sex audio tapes and the possibility of even making a soundtrack.

Rhett threw in a notebook and a pack of pens in the stationery aisle, and he paused to leaf through a trashy magazine.

“Company,” Rhett murmured. “Blue coat, three o’clock.”

Great.

They were being tailed in the supermarket. Rhett was right.

“Oh, I forgot the lube,” Jay declared loudly. “Be right back.”

He went to the opposite end of the aisle and doubled back.

This guy was a fucking amateur at best. Luckily for Jay, the aisle he went down was the personal hygiene aisle, and he plucked a familiar bottle off the shelf and rounded the corner.

Blue coat was still standing there, pretending to look at birthday candles.

Jay had seen him before, maybe around HQ at some point. Passed him in a corridor or somewhere.

Jay, ever so casually, leaned against the shelf next to him and held up the lube. “Hey, quick question. Do you prefer silicone-based or water-based? Personally, I much prefer silicone. You can use it in the shower too, which is super handy.”

The man baulked and blinked. “Uh...” He turned away just as Rhett boxed him in. He stumbled back and Jay pushed him forward.

“This your first day on the job?” Rhett asked. “Because you’re either incredibly stupid or a decoy. Which is it?”

“N-n-neither, I just?—”

“You were just leaving,” Rhett said, his voice low. “People are starting to take notice, and causing a scene would be in the top five of basic shit not to do in this game. ”

“Top three,” Jay added helpfully. “At least. Literally learned-that-on-day-one kind of shit.”

“Who sent you?” Rhett asked, stepping in closer. “Who gave the order?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. “Someone above me. Everyone’s above me. I don’t know names?—”

Christ. This guy was worse than an amateur.

“Now, I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen,” Rhett said, staring at him with that steely stare Jay just loved. “You’re gonna leave. And if I see your face again, I’ll give you a free swimming lesson in the Thames. Are we clear?”