Page 21 of Covert Operation
Thursday
Savannah
I hope everything is going relatively okay.
Also, there are three hundred forty-five rolls of toilet paper in the storage room. Just in case you were wondering.
Friday
Savannah
Elise mentioned you like the little pretzel packs she orders so I stole a bunch as soon as the delivery came in and stashed them in the bottom drawer of your desk.
Savannah
Have you ever noticed how often Pierce goes to bother Intel? I swear he’s walked past your office a hundred times today. It’s annoying. I wonder what he would do if I shot him with a squirt gun…
NINE
SAVANNAH
I SEND ZEKE the text about Pierce then shove my phone into the top drawer of his desk. I need to stop messaging him. He’s busy and I’m starting to get obnoxious. When he has time, he’ll get back with me.
I pull in a deep breath of the sandalwood scented air, letting it calm the nerves that have been multiplying over the past few days.
When I first started working in Zeke’s office, I could smell him and trick myself into feeling like he was here. Close enough to protect me from anyone who tried to hurt me.
But it faded. Quickly.
The closest I could come to duplicating it was the woodwick candle crackling at the corner of his desk. It looked so lonely there, so I ended up digging through the piles of crap dominating my condo in search of some decorations that might flesh that area out a little.
As luck would have it—or, more likely, my love of shopping—I found the brass swing arm lamp I kept on the entry table in myold house and a tray I used on my nightstand. I arranged those and a few knick knacky things with the candle and now Zeke’s office looks a little less sterile.
And it almost smells like him.
Going back to the laptop in front of me, I pick up the coffee Elise bought me as we came in this morning and suck the last bit from the bottom of the cup, getting more whip cream than anything, as I scan the grocery order I’m trying to get submitted before lunch. Elise wasn’t lying when she said these people know how to eat. I almost can’t believe the store can keep up with us.
I’m adding a stupid amount of milk to the basket when a commotion outside the open door drags my attention away from the screen.
“They’ll be here in five minutes.” Pierce stops in the hall and turns to someone out of my line of sight. “Eli’s prepping rooms for everyone who’s injured.”
Injured?
I stand, one hand pressing to my stomach as it bottoms out. “What’s happening?” I can’t hide the panic in my voice. Alaskan Security is one of the safest places I can be, but it still has its limits. I’ve heard the stories of snipers shooting through the trees and vans blasting through the gate and it has my feet moving fast, following behind Pierce as she strides down the hall in the direction of the medical wing. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing is going on now.” He slows just a little so I can catch up with him. “There was a small issue with a few of our men who were out on an op.”
My skin goes cold. “What men?”
Pierce’s eyes skim my face as we continue moving. “Everyone is okay, Savannah.” He takes a deep breath before saying the last words I want to hear. “Zeke and a few others were shot.”
“What?” I grab his arm, yanking hard to pull his attention back to me. “What do you mean he was shot?” Zeke didn’t tell me where he was going after he left Nashville, but I assumed he wasn’t in Alaska. “Why isn’t he in the hospital?”
Pierce lets me hang onto him but doesn’t slow his hurried steps. “We avoid the hospital whenever possible. They tend to have questions when people come in with gunshot wounds.”
“So he’s just been sitting there shot and bleeding?” I’m practically yelling at him now, unable to control the volume of my voice as my earlier fear shifts to full-on panic.
“There’s always a trained medic on every op. If he couldn’t be stabilized, they would have taken him to the hospital.” Pierce turns us down the hall leading to our destination. “The fact that they were all able to fly home means no one is seriously injured.”