Page 9 of Stolen Salvation

“I’m very sorry to hear that, Bishop.”

Bishop nodded, not trusting himself to speak for a moment. “We called him Freddie.” He blinked away the sudden dampness and stood, pushing away to pace the floor and get himself together before he responded to Bás’ question. The truth was, he didn’t know why he needed to help Charlie, just that when she’d asked, he felt an overprotective streak. A need to fix whatever was causing her pain and wasn’t that fucked up? She was in the wrong and he wanted to fix things. “I can’t turn my back on her, Bás. No matter what she’s done, I can’t let her do this alone if we can help.”

“I understand. I’ll put it to the team and see what they say.”

Bishop closed his eyes relief washing over him.

“But if we do this, I won’t have her going solo. My first priority is the team and always will be. You’ll have to keep her in line and make sure she plays as a team member.”

“I can do that.”

Bás nodded as he folded his arms over his chest. “Good, then call everyone into the briefing room.”

Bishop walked to the door but turned back. “Bás?”

His friend looked up from the piece of paper on his desk. “Yes?”

“Thank you and thanks for not giving up on me in the beginning. I know I was a mess.”

“You had your reasons, and I could see your potential and I was right. I’m sorry you went through that.”

“Me too. Can you keep it to yourself, please? I don’t want to have to explain it.”

Bás paused as if considering. “Yes of course, as long as it doesn’t affect the mission if we take it. If that happens, I expect you to tell the team yourself. It’s not lost on me that we’re going into a case involving a pregnant woman. That’s close to the knuckle for anyone, but I imagine doubly hard for you after what you’ve suffered.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I know that, but if you need any of us, we’re here. That’s how this team works.”

“Agreed.”

Bishop walked out of the room feeling like he’d been put through the emotional wringer and the evening wasn’t over yet. The halls of the underground compound where the Shadow team lived and worked for the most part were brightly lit. The lights would dim around midnight allowing people to relax and retire to their apartments.

Each was designed to be what the occupant had instructed when the building was built. Some of the team, like Bein and Snow, and now Reaper, had property outside of the compound where they lived when they weren’t on a case, but this was perfect for his needs. He had the privacy he needed without the loneliness he knew would cripple him.

Heading towards the sound of voices in the communal kitchen area where a lot of them ate, despite each apartment having a fully functioning kitchen, he saw Hurricane, Bein, Watchdog, and Titan talking with Duchess. For a second he wondered if Watchdog had told the others Charlie had been in the pub but dismissed it. Watchdog would never gossip like that, which was why his question earlier about Duchess had Bishop watching her closely now.

He hadn’t expected to see her back when she’d arrived yesterday. She was working a really long case and had been for the best part of a year. He wasn’t sure how she did it, but Duchess was a force to be reckoned with. As he looked more closely he could see the strain she carried in the tightness of her shoulders. Perhaps his friend was onto something.

“Bás wants us in the briefing room.”

Bein clapped his hands together with glee. “We got a case?”

Bein was always lost when his fiancée was away in Birmingham studying nursing at Uni.

“Maybe. Are the others around?”

Duchess thumbed behind her at the apartments. “Val is in her apartment, Reaper is on his way back from Hereford still, but shouldn’t be long. Snow is in the tech room doing something or other, and Lotus is talking to Rykov on the phone.”

“We probably need them too.” Nerves twisted his stomach at the thought of the focus being on him, even if it was through Charlie. He’d made no secret of what she’d done, being extremely vocal about his dislike of his ex-wife, but the truth was so much more complex than that.

He hated her for what she’d done. Not shooting him as much as the betrayal and the fact she’d thrown him away like he was nothing after all the promises they’d made to each other. She’d cheapened every single second they’d spent together, and that was what he couldn’t forgive.

“I’ll call them.”

Bishop offered Duchess a grateful smile as he headed toward the briefing room and took his usual seat between Bein and Hurricane. Bás was already waiting at the head of the long table, his hands clasped in front of him. A stable, steady leader who they all looked up to, there was nobody better to lead Shadow. It might have been Jack who gave him this job, but it was Bás and his unflinching leadership and support that had made him the man he was today. A man who was about to face his past whether he wanted to or not.

His mind went back to Miss Rose and what she’d said to him tonight before he dismissed it as coincidence. That was all her warnings were, the ramblings of an old lady.