Page 42 of Securing His Obsession

“Any idea why Bayden is coming in?” He asked and tapped his keyboard to give the impression he was relaxed and not stressed about the meeting.

Andy eyed him speculatively. There wasn’t much that got past any of them, which was why his friend had been able to pick up on the lovesick look on Damon’s face. “No idea. Whatever it is, you know we’ll make sure Margot’s safe. Even before you and her got together, she’s always been one of ours.”

Damon sat back, being honest seemed to be the theme of the day, and if he couldn’t be open with his friend, then he really had issues. “I know. It’s just…” He shrugged, unable to put in words what he was feeling and why he was feeling it.

“I get it. If we go away, this will be the first time you’re away from Margot.”

He scoffed. “I’ve been away from her before.” Not once had he gone away and given anyone a second thought. He was by himself, the only people who would miss him were the ones he worked with.

“True, but it’s different now. In your mind, it hadn’t mattered if something happened to you. Now, though, you know that if you got hurt, or worse, it would affect someone who is more important to you than me and the others.”

It was as though Andy had gotten into his mind and extracted what he’d been thinking. “How about you? How do you deal with it? What does Narelle think?”

Since Andy and Narelle had gotten together, the team had been away a couple of times. Even Reed joined them without balking, and he had a wife and daughter. “Narelle worries, of course, particularly after everything she went through. But she also knows that doing this is who I am and makes up a large part of me. She loves me enough to not try and change me. As for me, we were all careful before, and that hasn’t really changed, but I guess I do have a bit more awareness. I’m sure Reed thinks the same, as well. If you’ve noticed, we always take a few extra seconds before we breach a property.”

Damon thought back over the last few missions since everyone had partnered up, and it had been so subtle that it hadn’t been obvious, but they’d taken more time and had been extra careful. The last mission, though, the one where Bayden had been hurt, had been fucked up from the moment they landed. He’d been glad they had the guys from Alliez Security helping them on that one. They might have succeeded, but there’d been a heavy cost, because Damon was sure getting hurt had affected Bayden more than he let on.

“I get it,” he said, eventually.

“Look, just take it day by day. What you do isn’t a surprise to Margot. She’s worked for us for a while, she understands it more than anyone. And I know she’s had some issues since what happened to her, but I think you can help her with that. We should’ve been more aware of her mental health after what happened. We all know how something like that can mess with the mind.”

Damon nodded, again not surprised that Andy had picked up on Margot’s anxiety. She may have thought she had been hiding it, but the change in how vivacious she had been before the kidnapping had been obvious.

“What are you two gossiping about?” Reed strolled up, coffee in one hand, and a pastry in the other.

The last thing Damon wanted was to share everything he and Andy discussed, not that he was ashamed of the open and honest conversation he’d had with his friend. He just didn’t want to go through it again.

“Shooting the breeze before our meeting,” Damon said. “But I can see Steve’s brought some treats in, so I’m going to grab one before they’re all gone.”

He pushed back from his desk and headed toward the breakroom, still feeling unsettled about the upcoming meeting.

Damon observed Bayden as he talked to Steve. There was still a stiffness to his gait from where he’d been shot in the leg. There were also shadows cloudy his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Not surprising, considering his mortality was shoved in his face and he’d had to face death before he was ready to.

Bayden took the seat next to him, and Damon lifted his chin in greeting. “Hey man, how are you?”

“Can’t complain,” Bayden said with a wry smile.

“Not many will listen, but we will.” Damon hoped Bayden understood the hidden invitation he’d issued.

“I know,” Bayden returned, before turning to speak to Andy, who’d walked in.

The invitation had been issued and acknowledged, it was up to Bayden what he did next.

“Okay, let’s get started,” Steve addressed them. “Bayden is here to give us an update on a couple of situations. You’ve got the floor.”

“Thanks, Steve.” Bayden nodded over to Wilt who sat behind his laptop, and a few seconds later, the large, wall mounted television lit up with a flow chart with a picture of Margot at the top, and various lines leading from it.

Damon clenched his fists at the sight of Margot up there as if she was unimportant, which wasn’t what Bayden was suggesting, it was how they did things, but because of his feelings for Margot, he didn’t like it.

“Let’s start with someone easy. I can confirm after analyzing the photos and the angles they were taken, that most of the photos sent to Margot were taken by someone in close proximity to her and not with a drone.” Bayden made eye contact with all of them, something he always did, and Damon appreciated it. “I know you had already decided on this, but I believe we can rule out any connection to the person Louella had paid to get those shots of Indigo while on Rottnest Island. I also think there’s no point pursuing whoever it was. The person got paid, and they probably don’t give a shit about who they were paid to spy on.”

Damon noted that Wilt’s shoulders visibly sagged at the news. His relief that Indigo was safe wasn’t something he begrudged his friend. “I have a feeling that’s not all you’ve got to tell us.”

Bayden shook his head. “I think we can also take the sniper off the list. I’m not doubting that Margot saw something, but reviewing the information taken from that day, and the angle of where the bullet hit and its trajectory, it would’ve been impossible for Margot to get a clear look at the person who did it. They were a professional and cleaned up after themselves.”

“How reliable is that information though?” Damon countered. “It was chaotic with so much other stuff happening. I feel like they could’ve missed something vital.”

“I agree it wasn’t the best,” Bayden said. “But with what we had, and looking at maps of the area where Margot was, it would’ve been difficult to get a clear face view. It would be likely they wore a face covering, anyway.”