“Why didn’t you tell them who you suspected?”
“By that time, I was already worried about Whitney, and Paul had applied and been accepted into the program. I wanted to do some investigating of my own.”
“So when Kane came to you and asked you to provide a guard for Jaimie, you just thought you’d take advantage of that and get something in return.”
Griffen shrugged. “I was happy he came to me, Mack. Someone had to keep an eye on her. Joe Spagnola is a good man. I knew him personally and I trusted him. If anyone came after Jaimie, he would protect her.”
“And if he found any incriminating evidence against Whitney and his supporters, he could turn it over to you, just as you’d instructed Kane to do.” He sat forward, putting both hands onto the table. “You should have brought me in on this, Theo.”
“So now I get a ‘Theo.’ I thought maybe you’d forgotten we were friends.”
“I wasn’t being friendly.”
“I got that.”
Mack didn’t reply, just continued to stare down the sergeant major. Griffen sighed. “You were my ace in the hole, Master Guns. I didn’t want you anywhere near this mess. I sent you Paul because I knew you’d keep him alive.”
“And Kane and Brian?” There was a challenge in Mack’s voice. “Did you expect me to keep them alive as well?”
Griffen’s teeth snapped together impatiently. “Damn right I expected you to keep them alive. And you did.”
“We’re in the middle of a maze, Sergeant Major. There’re only a handful of people we know we can trust. We have to rely on one another.” Mack leaned across the table. “Know this. Jaimie is not a pawn. I don’t want you to think you can use her as a bargaining chip with these people.”
Griffen burst out laughing. “Do you think I’m stupid, Mack? Do you think anyone in this room, anyone who knows you, would make a move against Jaimie and not kill you first? No one wants you for an enemy. Even Whitney wouldn’t be that stupid.
He’s the one who wrote the profile on you. I protected Jaimie. I wanted her data, yes, but only to add to my own. What’s she going to do with it? Take it to the newspapers?” He gave a snort of derision.
Silence once again descended. Griffen’s eyebrow shot up. “Not to the newspapers.
Come on, Mack. Within hours they’d have an entire history of her being in mental institutions. They’d discredit her so fast she wouldn’t know what hit her.”
“She knew that. But it would still be out there and the evidence would be where everyone could see it. She’d ruin them.”
Mack. Joe Spagnola’s on the rooftop across from me. He’s spotted Shepherd’s men and I’m afraid he thinks they’re watching Jaimie, Gideon reported.
Mack sighed. “How well do you know Spagnola?”
“He’s my best friend’s son. A good man. I’ve known him since he was a kid.”
“And you trust him,” Mack said.
“Yes.”
Mack turned around. “Paul. You feeling better?”
“Not much. I need to lie down for a while.”
“How much can you tell about a man by his energy? Can you tell if he lies?”
“It depends on whether or not he believes the lie. In other words, if he believes he’s telling the truth, there’s no way of knowing differently.”
Signal him in, Gideon. Tell him we’re running a couple of missions and could use some help.
“I hope you’re right about him, Top,” Mack said, finally giving his friend a title of friendly respect. “Paul, after you see Spagnola and tell me what you think, I want you to get some sleep. All of you will need to rest up. I’m going to need you, Kane. We’ll hash this out and come up with a plan of action.”
“Plan of action?” Griffen echoed.
“Let’s take the guns,” Mack said. “We’re GhostWalkers. We get in and get out like the ghosts we are. No one knows we’re here. Madigan loses his shipment and Shepherd either is dead or goes home empty-handed. We don’t have a lot to lose.”
“You have to track them,” Griffen said.
Mack shook his head. “We don’t have to track the weapons. We’ve got four of them here. We only need to let one of them get away. We just have to figure out how to put one of those nice little homing chips under his skin.”
“I see your point.”
“Is Rhianna still out of the country?” Mack asked.
Griffen nodded. “There’s no way to use her. She’s still on loan to the Mossad, Mack. I can’t pull her back. Can we use Jaimie?”
“No way. Don’t even think about it. Jaimie doesn’t work as a field operative.
Rhianna can handle it, but not Jaimie. It was just a thought because we know her.
We’ll find another solution.”
Joe’s coming toward the warehouse, Mack. Don’t let Javier kill him.
He is over six feet, Mack pointed out.
The sound of Gideon’s laughter pushed into his mind, lightening his mood. There is that, boss. He’s a pretty bastard, isn’t he?
Jaimie looked at him.
Gideon’s amusement increased. Well, I could see why he needs to die, then. Six feet, good-looking, and Jaimie looking at him. He’s a dead man walking.
Mack laughed softly. “Joe’s at the door. Kane, you want to bring him up? Gideon thinks Javier might do him in and, although I tend to agree with Javier on who needs killing most of the time, we might have need of Joe.”
“I read in the reports that many of you have become more aggressive,” Griffen said. “I’m beginning to think it’s true.”
Mack stayed silent. He might trust Sergeant Major with his own life, but he was not going to report that their psychic talents were growing stronger. Or that Gideon and Joe had a different energy that helped make it impossible for other psychics to spot them. Jaimie was amazing with the things she could do—especially that. The GhostWalkers, including Paul now, had to stick together and believe in one another.
They had no other choice. The deck was stacked against them. In the end, Sergeant Major had spent a lifetime in the Corps. He might feel compelled to report when asked, and Mack wasn’t going to put him in the position of choosing between his men and his career.
Coming in, Mack, Kane sent.
“Paul, can you manage to make it over here to the table?” Mack asked.