“There you are,” he said with a grin, his deep voice making her feel like she’d been wrapped in a soft, fuzzy blanket. “Everyone’s here. Jake and Forrest are about to start the briefing.”
As they walked inside, he rested his hand lightly against her lower back, his palm warm through the T-shirt she wore. It was difficult to describe how much that little bit of contact affected her. They’d been moving nonstop since Yegor’s crew had attacked the hospital, and opportunities to talk, much less touch each other, had been nonexistent. She leaned into his hand, her body coming to life under his fingers.
If they weren’t on their way to the mission briefing, she would have suggested finding a quiet, out-of-the-way place so they could talk. And yeah, make out, too.
Not that there were many places in the brewery to find that kind of privacy. The place was more warehouse than bed and breakfast, with big, open rooms full of cots in place of separate bedrooms. While the microbrewery was large enough to hold everyone from STAT and MI6 combined, along with their respective support teams, it didn’t make it easy to spend a few moments alone with Sawyer.
She glanced at him as they passed a collection of large stainless steel mixing and brewing kettles. “If there’s time after the briefing, do you want to get out of here for a little while? Maybe take a walk?”
Sawyer reached out and took her hand, giving it a little squeeze, mouth curving into a smile again. “I’d like that.”
As they stepped into a big room that had been used for tastings when the microbrewery was operational, Harley noticed all the new support people STAT had brought in. There had to be at least twenty agents. Maps and briefing charts were pinned to every available surface along the walls, and analysts were busy clicking away on computers set up on one of the larger tables.
Brielle stood off to one side, looking tense and uncomfortable. Thanks to some convincing from Caleb of all people, she’d agreed to come help them in return for Julian’s immediate release and a promise STAT would let her go as soon as they took down Yegor. Was she concerned they wouldn’t be able to stop him? Or worried they’d go back on the agreement now that she’d told them everything she knew?
McKay was standing near the map board with Weatherford, Jake, Jestina, and some other guy Harley didn’t recognize dressed in a suit and tie. About McKay’s age, with a mustache, he gestured wildly at several points on the map. From listening in on their conversation, it sounded like he was worried about how close their current location was to the Channel Tunnel and London. Based on the map they were looking at, the city was less than a hundred miles as the crow flies. Any other time she’d consider that far away, but not in this case.
“Weatherford and McKay arrived together from the airport a few minutes ago,” Sawyer said in a low voice as they grabbed seats in between Rory and Caleb. “MI6 and STAT must be nervous as hell if they’ve sent both of them here.”
All Harley had time to do was nod as Jake spoke. “Now that everyone is here, let’s get started.”
“Wait a moment.” Weatherford looked around the room with a frown. “Where the bloody hell are Erin and Elliott? I haven’t seen them since I walked in.”
Beside her, Sawyer tensed. Harley knew without asking this was the moment he’d been dreading. Harley had no idea why Erin and Elliott had yet to return to MI6 headquarters or even call Weatherford and tell him about Sawyer. But for some reason, they hadn’t, and now it was on Sawyer to explain everything.
He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to answer when movement by the door interrupted him.
“Sorry we’re late,” Erin said, walking casually into the room.
Elliott followed, scanning the room until he saw Sawyer. Their eyes locked, and Harley couldn’t help but hold her breath.
“We were dealing with some stuff,” Elliott said as he and Erin slipped into seats that allowed them to keep an eye on Sawyer as well as the briefing maps. “It took a little while to work through all of it, but we’re good now.”
Silence filled the space, and from the corner of her eye, Harley could see the confused expressions on both Weatherford’s and McKay’s faces. But no one said a word as Sawyer and his teammates continued to study each other.
“Are you sure you’re good?” Sawyer asked quietly. “This isn’t something you can do halfway. You’re either in or you’re out.”
“We’re in all the way,” Erin said firmly. “It took a while to figure it out, but in the end, it wasn’t as complicated as we thought when we remembered what was important.”
Weatherford looked even more baffled than he had before, but thankfully, Jake spoke first.
“Everyone, I’d like to introduce Dr. Tristan Jones,” he said, gesturing toward the blond man in the suit and tie. “He’s a nuclear physicist from the Office for Nuclear Regulation in London. He’s here to help us figure out how we’re going to stop Yegor.”
The man nodded awkwardly and moved a little off to the side, like he had no interest in being involved in this any more than necessary.
“And this is Brielle,” Jake added, motioning toward the Frenchwoman.
McKay and Weatherford both regarded her sharply.
“It seems we have you to thank for the information on Yegor,” Weatherford said thoughtfully, then looked at McKay. “Though I understand you had to give up a lot to procure that information.”
McKay nodded, mouth tight. Even though he hadn’t fought Jake on agreeing to a deal with Brielle, he wasn’t happy with letting her get away. Who knew? Maybe if STAT approached Brielle in the future with an offer that didn’t involve giving up her freedom, the woman might reconsider working for them.
“Indeed,” McKay said. “But I think you’ll
