Lunch had been gas station food.
God, he hoped someone was looking out for her.
Elias reached the far wall and turned as the door opened and Zain stepped in.
Oh, shit.
Elias stopped with a good eight feet of space between them while Zain closed the door. He was dressed casually in jeans and a dark T-shirt. His left arm, a high-tech prosthetic, flashed a line of red and green lights down to his fingertips.
That was new.
A festive alteration?
“Sit.” Zain didn’t exactly snap the word, but there was emphasis behind it. From the deep lines around his mouth and the hard stare, it was easy to discern that he wasn’t happy.
Elias crossed to the desk, pushed against the wall and pulled out the flimsy, plastic chair for himself, leaving the rolling desk chair for Zain, who remained standing.
They stayed like that for several moments, Zain studying Elias while Elias stared at the floor.
“What were you thinking? Seriously?” Zain finally said.
“Just... I don’t know. She called, it was a simple favor that snowballed...”
Zain yanked the desk chair out and sat down almost knee to knee with Elias. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Why didn’t you fucking call me the moment you realized it wasn’t a simple favor? Come on, man. You know better than this. We’re a God damn team, but we can’t be there to support you if you don’t say a fucking thing.”
Elias stared at Zain, unsure what to say. Elias opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
This was not what he’d expected.
“For fuck’s sake, Elias...” Zain leaned back and massaged his temple. “You are, hands-down, our best sales person. But more than that, you always seem to know how to handle clients. I need for you to talk to yourself like a client.”
“Um, okay.” Elias shifted in his seat.
“What would you say to someone who hired us?” Zain leaned forward, his prosthetic elbow on his knee.
“Well, I’d say our people will handle this. That it’s our job.”
“Okay, so if you’re part of this team, why is it any different? When has it been different?”
Elias glanced away.
“My one bit of feedback is that you seem to still consider yourself apart from our team. I wish I’d have been your first call instead of having to track your ass down. My wife’s not too happy about having to pause our holiday Star Wars marathon, I’ll have you know.”
He winced. “Sorry.”
“I’m not the one you’ll have to apologize to for that one.” Zain chuckled and leaned back again, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look, man, I can’t pretend to know or understand what you’ve been through. I’ve obviously got my own baggage. But I need you to get on board with one thing, or this isn’t going to work. At Aegis Group, we are a team. If we’re in hot water, we call each other. If you fucked up and got into something you shouldn’t, we’ll worry about that after the situation has been handled. But we are a team first.”
“Yeah, but—”
“No, buts, dude. It’s that way if you’re an in-the-field guy or if you’re a behind-the-scenes guy. We don’t differentiate. We are all a team and we can’t have one of our people going off on their own. Don’t you think we’ve all lost enough already?”
A lump lodged itself in Elias’ throat, making it impossible to breathe.
They sat there in silence for a few moments while Elias processed Zain’s words.
“Yeah, okay.” Elias nodded. Anything else was beyond him.
“We good? Will I need to have this talk with you again?”
“No, sir.”
“Okay. Take a minute and then we’re going to convene in the big conference room. Looks like we’ll be supporting this operation from here on out.”
“What?” Elias’ head snapped up.
“Yeah.” Zain chuckled. “You just can’t have an easy Christmas, can you, dude?”
“Jo. Is she okay? What’s going on?”
“She says she’s fine. I’m guessing she’s got a few bruised ribs, but she’s one tough soldier. I did hear her threaten bodily harm to Owen and Rusty if they didn’t let her see you.” Zain grinned. “I think you better save them. But, take a moment first, got it?”
Elias nodded.
Zain clapped him on the shoulder then got up, leaving Elias with the lump in his throat and feelings he wasn’t keen on dealing with. Zain was right though, Elias had held himself a little apart from the others. Some things, like going out to a crowded bar, were more about his comfort level. Others? He’d stayed out of because he didn’t see himself as part of any team. But he was. Everyone from the people who kept the office going to the guys in the field, they were all important.
Elias got up and turned toward the door just as it opened again.
Instead of Zain, Jo stood there in her blood splattered clothes.
They froze for half a second before she launched herself at him. He barely caught her around the waist and avoided being drug to the ground.
He clutched her to him and buried his face in her hair.
“Are you okay? Are you in trouble?” she asked.
He gently set her down. “I’m fine, and not really.”
Jo grabbed his head none too gently and pulled him down again for a kiss. He tilted his head, allowing himself to drink in this moment and the comfort it provided.
“Come on, you two love birds.” Someone knocked on the door. “We’ve got things to do.”
“Fuck off,” Jo said over her shoulder.
The door knocker merely laughed.
Elias peered over her shoulder at the red headed man from before.
He grinned back. Rusty. “Hey, need you both in the conference room, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re coming.” Jo took Elias’ hand, threading their fingers together.
He glanced down at their joined hands.
“Is this okay?” she asked, though her tone didn’t imply a question. That was Jo, pushing ahead and doing what she wanted.
“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand.
“Good.”
“What happened? Are you okay? What’s going on?” he asked.
“Best if we answer all of it at once. And yes, I’m okay.” She flashed him a smile, then led him out of the office and into a main area.
There were other people clustered around what he assumed had to be the conference room door. The others filed in with Elias bringing up the rear. It was a tight fit, but there were seats enough for everyone.
Rusty tapped his knuckles on the table and glanced at Zain. “Where are we starting?”
Zain shrugged. “The beginning?”
“Okay.” Rusty nodded and glanced around the room. “It’s nice to see some familiar faces again. So, Owen and I have been running a long operation trying to get more intel on the Eagle Tech company. We had plenty of circumstantial evidence, but no one has been willing to come forward. It seems like one of our undercover units got into a bit of an altercation when following who they believed to be Eagle Tech employees from the airport.”
“Wait.” Jo leaned forward. “You mean the people who shot at us were FBI?”