“It is good to see you guys.” Terk smiled. “It’s been a rather tough couple months.”
“You think?” Merk quipped. “You do realize both the DGSE and MI6 were gunning for you to get out of their respective countries?”
“I try hard not to think about it, and I won’t give them a chance to interfere with my work. The DGSE doesn’t need to worry, as we only visit France from time to time. Now MI6 on the other hand … On another topic, I warned my team to stay in place, but I’m afraid they are pretty adamant about being on the spot and seeing this thing through.” Terk looked over at Levi and saw his lips twitch, then asked forcefully, “They already contacted you, didn’t they?”
Levi nodded. “Of course. I get that you think that they don’t need to come to your aid, but think about it from their perspective. They aren’t willing to let you get into trouble without them.”
“I was hoping not to get into trouble.”
“Yeah, right. And how’s that been working out for you?” Levi asked.
Terk rolled his eyes at his old friend. “Not very well lately. Talk about a shitstorm.”
“Exactly,” Levi agreed, “but that’s okay. We’re here to help.”
“You’ve already helped a lot. I don’t want you, … any of you, to get into any more trouble than you already are.”
Levi laughed. “It’ll just get uglier.”
“It always gets ugly before it gets better.”
“And this is what we do, Terk.”
“Sure, but you also have a lot of people here to look after.”
“And you’ve added to that,” Levi pointed out calmly, not pulling any punches.
“I know. I didn’t know anything about her, except that she was on the way here, and I’m sorry for that,” Terk said. “I didn’t have any idea what was happening, until all of a sudden she was there.”
Immediately a question came from the inner doorway. “She?”
He turned, as an obviously pregnant woman stepped into the big kitchen.
Celia. Instantly her energy—hesitant yet compelled by something she might not even understand—darted toward him. An energy glowing with a second presence, the baby. His baby. Bemused, he could only watch in fascination. He saw her, felt her, and knew what she was to him. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hello, I am Terk.”
She nodded calmly but ignored his hand. “About time you got here.”
His eyebrows shot up. He pulled back his hand. “What does that mean?”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Let’s not play games. Obviously you know more about this than you’re letting on.” She indicated the bump that she carried.
“Actually I don’t,” he said immediately, “and, for that, I’m sorry. I really wish I did know more.”
It was her turn for her eyebrows to rise. “What about all of these last many weeks in England?”
“That I know about,” he admitted, “and, yes, I knew of your existence and when you arrived at this place, but that is the extent of it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of your story. We have a lot of the pieces now but more gaps.”
“Okay”—she took a deep breath—“so why are you here then?”
He hesitated for a split second. “Because I believe an attack is imminent, and I wanted to be here to do what I could do to stop it.”
“How imminent?” she asked, her eyes going wide, as she took in the expressions on the other people’s faces.
“I was half-expecting that it had already happened, when I sensed the off security here.”
“Off security?” she asked in a low voice. “Do you want to explain that?”
“Not right now.” He studied her, wondering if she understood she was the one putting out the defensive energy bristling in the room. “How are you feeling?”
“Betterish. I mean, nothing like waking up from a coma to find that you’re … halfway through a pregnancy you know nothing about, while wired up to explosives and stumbling on a backroad, with no memory as to how I got there.”
“Do you want to explain the pregnancy?”
She snorted. “No, I don’t. And definitely not to you.”
“Why definitely not to me?”
“Because, according to Ice, you seem to think it’s yours, and I can tell you right now, it’s not.”
“Well, I won’t argue with you. Besides DNA will prove it, one way or the other.”
“Exactly. Glad we agree on that at least, and, by the way, that’s not happening until my son is born.”
He knew that her getting more upset wouldn’t benefit anybody. He turned to face Ice. “Have you got a game plan?”
Her beautiful features twisted in a wry smile. “Somewhat. Let’s go get coffee and maybe get you some food. Then we can go over it.”
“That would be nice.” Terk rotated his neck ever-so-slowly and gently widened his senses. When he came into a place like this, with many different people living and working here, it was always really hard to hold back the surge of energy around the compound. With his brother, Terk didn’t have to do it on account of his similarity and familiarity. As twins, their energy was damn near the same. But, with so many different personalities here, their energy was rampant.
As Terk followed Ice, Merk grabbed his arm to pull him back slightly. “So, do you know her?” he asked.
Terk immediately shook his head. “No, and I told you that from the beginning.”
“Jesus.”
Terk looked at him and said, “It’s mine.” And, with that declaration, not anything anybody could say. When Terk was adamant, he was adamant. Like he’d said, the DNA would prove it out, but still …
“Do you think this was deliberate?” Merk muttered, as they walked forward. “Your child, I mean. Not just anyone’s.”
“I can’t help but think that it was. I just don’t understand how it came to be. According to Yousef, it was planned.”
As they walked into the big dining room, Alfred bustled from the kitchen. A smile broke out on his face as he looked at Terk. “There you are. Now I can stop worrying about you.”
“You were worried about me?” Terk asked in confusion.
“Of course. This is a very difficult time for you, so it’s very important that you have all the support you need.” And, with that said, Alfred frowned at the sideboard and added, “I’ll go get the cinnamon buns. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the adjoining room.
At that abrupt declaration and even faster departure, Levi looked over at Ice. “So Terk gets cinnamon buns? I’ve been asking for cinnamon buns for days.”
Ice burst out laughing. “I think you’ll survive. Besides, I’m pretty sure you had some just a few days ago.”
“But that was a few days ago,” Levi argued. “Do you have any idea how much this crew eats?”
“Speaking of which,” Terk added, as he stopped at the entrance to the dining room, his senses slowly spreading farther, “the place is almost empty.”
“It is,” Levi agreed. “Threats of an imminent attack have us setting priorities and removing many of the partners—not to mention children—from the compound. And, of course, that means sending several of the men along with them. We also have others of the team off on jobs,” Levi added. “It’s become a bit of a scheduling nightmare. We’re always struggling for new members.”