Page 14 of Cold Silence
Still, Claire often had to remind herself to hold back. Like now when Julie seemed genuinely interested and wanted to help.
Business, Claire. This is business.
Julie shifted in her chair. “I hope you didn’t let that get to you and you sent Travis home for the day. We all want to and need to question him about the simulation.”
“I’d never let my personal concerns get in the way of CATS.” Claire hoped she sounded more convincing than she felt. “He’ll join us after he changes.”
“Ooh, back in his dress uniform, huh? That’ll be no hardship for us.”
“Julie! Eric wouldn’t be too happy to hear you say that.”
Julie wiggled her fingers. “He hasn’t put a ring on it yet, so there’s no harm in looking.”
If only Claire could say the same thing, but she was certain looking would get her in all kinds of trouble that even with her best effort would be nearly impossible to avoid. Plus, she couldn’t afford to be distracted now. It would take all of her focus to find the prototype. To keep it out of the hands of unscrupulous soldiers who, with the proper training, would pose a serious threat to U.S. armed forces.
And soldiers could die.
4
Travis waited with a very quiet Claire in the conference room as the remaining staff packed to leave for the night. Veritas was due on site in an hour, and it would be his and Claire’s job to make sure no one entered the facility and saw them processing forensics. To that end, once her team was gone, Claire would disable all key card access for the doors until after Veritas departed.
He hadn’t had a chance to tell her about Gage who’d texted while Travis was changing to say he would arrive tonight at two a.m. Now was the perfect time to tell her.
He swiveled his chair to face her. “I have a buddy coming tonight to help with our investigation and your protection detail.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “One of your teammates?”
“No.” He explained.
“Will you pick him up at the airport?” she asked, her fingers taking a death grip on the edge of the table.
So shewasafraid but had been putting on a brave front. Just like her to do so. To keep him at arm’s length? Or maybe a defense mechanism. Either way, he didn’t like seeing it.
Travis gave her a reassuring smile. “He’ll need a vehicle to participate in your protection detail and rented an SUV.”
She arched a brow. “Tell me the truth. Is this because you don’t want to be in the same room as me?”
“What? No.” He shook his head for emphasis. “It’s because I honestly think I need help.”
“Then why not someone from your team?”
“They spun up last night on an op I was supposed to be on.”
“Then another team?”
“I didn’t ask. Don’t know the other guys real well, but I’ve worked with Gage in the past. We know each other’s rhythms. Something that could mean the difference between life and death.”
“You mean my life? My death?” Her voice squeaked.
“I think this prototype is highly valuable but only if the thief has you or your information. Which means it’s a given that whoever took it will be coming after you. And after you give them the information they want, you have no value to them anymore.”
Grim reality settled in her expression.
He leaned closer to her. “Sorry. I hate to be so blunt, but it’s the truth. You need to recognize that so you do as we ask when we ask. No questions. Just compliance.”
“I will. I promise.” She clutched her hands together, her gaze flitting around the room.
He’d terrified her. Had to be done. She had to see the danger, but now that she did, he would lighten the mood. “Gage can pose as someone here to test the prototype too. Then we’ll finally see that I’m a more superior operator than he is.” He laughed.
