Page 54 of What Remains

Zoey leans in over him, and Gideon straightens to give her some space as she takes a look while I do my best to keep it together, not wanting to think about those pricks ever again if I can help it. Not possible I know, but still.

“They’re the men from the room. One was outside the door where Gwen was being held, and the other one . . .” Zoey’s voice shakes slightly and her words trail off. She shuts her eyes and sits back. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I rush out, holding up a hand. “They didn’t”—I gulp as Dad squeezes my knee, trying to keep himself together, same as me—“hurt me. You two got to me in time.” I’ll keep reminding everyone of that if I have to.

Zoey opens her eyes and peers at Gideon. “Julian was right,” she confirms again in a sharp tone.

“Well, that’s a solid lead, then.” I hope. Something tells me Zoey needs a reprieve from talking about what almost went down in that room, so I switch gears. “And, um, is there anything new from the Australians about the compound strike?”

Before anyone can answer me, Easton and Julian finally return. Neither seems to be bleeding, so I’ll take that as a good sign fists weren’t thrown. And why would they be? Not over me, of course, because neither has ever been under or on top of me, and⁠—

Oh. My. God. I’m probably beet red by now.

Easton drops onto one of the leather armchairs. He looks like he just weathered a storm.

What in the world was said back there?

I’ll probably never find out. Well, not unless I bother the hell out of him to get it out. And knowing me . . . I won’t be able to stop myself from doing that. Just not now.

“So,” Easton says around a hard swallow, “what’d I miss?”

CHAPTER 18

Gwen

“According to my father, because of the compound strike in Vanuatu, that case is now with the Aussies,” Natasha shares. “They’ll do their best to identify the bodies, but it’s going to be hard given they blew up the place.”

“I take it you told the secretary everything we already know?” Easton asks her, keeping his eyes away from mine.

“I did,” she confirms. “And he relayed as much as he safely could to the Aussies without giving anything away about us specifically, of course. Not easy to do without sacrificing the identities of everyone on this plane, but he managed.”

“He needs to protect himself, too,” Carter says. “We can’t let anything we do ruin his chances of winning the nomination.”

Huh. Looks like he’s on the same page as his wife in not wanting Diana’s mom to become president.

“He’ll be safe,” Natasha promises. “And it’s not exactly his first rodeo in keeping our work buried.”

“I assume the case is also in Falcon’s hands since Gwen was abducted, and your dad couldn’t tell the Aussies she was taken,” Julian says while sitting. “Unofficially, of course?”

This is my first time seeing—and now, I suppose, operating—with Julian since the mission we worked together in August. We’ve spoken here and there, sure, but that was mostly because he was checking in on my recovery.

For a man who’s “dead” to the world, I appreciate he came running when Carter called for an assist. It looks like we’ll need all the help we can get.

“Unofficially our op, yes,” Natasha says. “Not that any of Falcon’s ops are ever official,” she adds. “Someone had to have betrayed you all, though.”

“There’s no way Jezebel knew so much about everyone at Falcon Falls without an insider,” I say in agreement, hating to think about that woman and that bloody room.

“What about your source?” Easton asks Zoey. “Any leads on her whereabouts?”

“Source?” I mumble, because this is news to me.

Zoey’s mouth tightens, and she forces out a breath through her nose. “Someone I used to work with at MI6 provided an intel package about a trafficking ring on that island.” Her voice is tight and controlled, like she’s fighting to keep her emotions from breaking free. I can relate to that. A lot of us on this plane can. “We were there because of me.”

And now the apologies make sense. Not her fault, though, of course.

“Her source is missing. Either on purpose, taken, or dead,” Gideon drops the bad news on us.

“My program is searching for Molly, as well as the two Aussies at the hotel we believed might be part of the operation,” Julian continues, and I assume Molly is Zoey’s source. “I’m combing through the last six weeks of CCTV footage, starting with Brisbane and Dubai. I’ll expand the search and timeframe if I don’t get any leads.”