“How many men does he have with him?” Gino asked. “Did Major General get that out of the VP?”
“They’re looking into it,” Joe said. “I would imagine it’s a small group. They wouldn’t need too many. The less, the better. They wouldn’t want anyone talking.”
They looked at one another in exasperation. Malichai was beginning to think the vice president knew a little more than he was letting on. “Looking into it” was code for the paperwork was lost and someone else was ultimately going to take the blame if they couldn’t bury the entire mess under a top security clearance.
“Can he get to the president?” Ezekiel asked.
Joe shrugged. “My guess is, whatever enemies want to get rid of the GhostWalkers are going to block Major General the way they always do, without even knowing what he wants, from seeing the president. He’ll also have whoever Liam Hamilton’s friends are blocking him as well. With both keeping him from seeing the president, we’re not going to see much help from that direction. The only other thing we can do if we think we’re going to need it is to call on the other teams. They can be here immediately, but we’ll have to call them in now if we want them. If necessary, one of their commanders may be able to reach the president when Major General can’t.”
Malichai resisted the urge to rub at his thigh. His leg hurt all the time and with Rubin working on it, the pinpoints of burning heat that moved slowly up his bone turned his stomach, adding to his discomfort, but he would have endured anything to save his leg. He knew Rubin was giving him his best. At times, there was pain etched onto Rubin’s face. He hated that for his foster brother. Hated that he had to take on whatever he was healing, if only for a few moments. The breaks in the bone were painful, Malichai could attest to that.
“We can’t afford to allow this to get away from us,” Ezekiel advised. “I think we should handle it with the ones we’ve got now. Our team and Team Two, and the SEALs—we’re lucky enough to have Ken and Jack know the men running those teams so they’re willing to help us out. We need to know the faces of those on our teams. If we don’t, one of Callendine’s can slip through.”
Malichai tried to concentrate on what his brother and Joe were saying. Ezekiel made a good point. They usually worked in a tight unit, with only their own people. They worked fast and efficiently and didn’t worry about using their skills or enhancements because all of them were enhanced. They would be in a public situation and some of those they were working with were not classified to know about GhostWalkers and what they were.
He rubbed his temples and immediately Amaryllis put her hand on his jaw, her thumb sliding across his lips. He glanced down and found himself caught by the look in her eyes. She had unusual eyes, shaped like a cat’s, so blue they looked as if she wore tinted contacts, but they were real, a deep, shining blue like the deepest sea. Dark lashes, thick and long, only enhanced the feeling of looking into two mysterious, hypnotizing jewels. He blinked and tried to laugh at himself for the nonsense he was thinking, but it was impossible to look away from her.
“We’ll stop them, Malichai. Whatever those people are planning, we’re going to stop them,” she said softly. “Whatever it takes. That’s what we do.”
In spite of the constant pain in his leg, in spite of the growing fear that he would lose his limb forever, his gut stopped the terrible churning. She was right. They had no choice. They were Ghost-Walkers. They were soldiers. They stood in front of those who couldn’t defend themselves. They would do whatever it took to stop Callendine and his men from blowing up a building with innocent people in it.
Malichai tucked a stray strand of her silky blond hair behind her ear. Just looking at her face gave him a semblance of peace.
“I’m glad you chose our bed-and-breakfast, Malichai,” Amaryllis said. “How did you choose us?”
He knew she was trying to continue to distract him from the work Rubin was doing on his leg. It was taking so long. Rubin was so silent, but little beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead and a couple of times, it looked as if he might have swayed with weariness. Ezekiel had moved closer to him, as had Mordichai, just in case he needed support. Neither touched him, or distracted him from his work, but both looked somewhat anxious.
“The girls and Nonny chose,” Malichai said. “And the little vipers. They had various places, one in Hawaii, a couple in Florida, I don’t know. I was letting them find vacation spots for me because I really didn’t care, and they were having a good time doing it. I never heard such laughter and nonsense as those girls trying to send me away.”
“That’s true,” Gino said. “I was with him and even Zara, my wife, was in on it. I love to hear her laugh, and the women were in the kitchen at the table with maps and brochures of resorts, and they had all kinds of plans for Malichai’s vacation. I believe ocean fishing was involved. Then they’d go off into some crazy fantasy about what would happen to you, like the fish pulling you overboard, and that one would be nixed, but laughter would ensue big-time.”
“Was it Pepper who actually chose San Diego and this bed-and-breakfast?” Malichai asked. “She was there with the little vipers. They’re never left out. Thym was on the table next to Cayenne. And little Cannelle, we call her Elle, was sitting in Nonny’s lap and Ginger was in a chair, hanging over the table, right by her mom. They were holding court as usual.”
“It wasn’t actually Pepper,” Gino said. “It was Thym. She told them you had to go right here. And she held up the brochure with the bed-and-breakfast advertised. She kept saying it every time someone chose somewhere else. Once, she got tears in her eyes and insisted. Finally, Nonny took the brochure and said Thym had chosen and that was where you were going. Thym’s little face lit up like you wouldn’t believe.”
“That’s right,” Malichai said. “I forgot that. I knew Nonny had the last word. Thym doesn’t talk much. Neither does Elle. Ginger does all the talking for the three of them. It was Thym. Those little girls are gifted.”
“Maybe in more ways than we ever suspected,” Mordichai said. “You say Thym was very insistent. Is it possible she knew you would meet Amaryllis?”
“How could she know that?” Malichai asked. He tucked Amaryllis’s hand close to him, the one with his ring on her finger.
“Hell if I know, Malichai, but how do we do what we do?”
Malichai didn’t have an answer. He shrugged. “If that little one can figure out where we can find the right woman, you need to sneak her those little round cinnamon candies she loves so much and Pepper frowns on. Maybe she’ll point you in the right direction for finding your woman.”
“You just want me to make Pepper mad,” Mordichai protested.
“You ever see her angry? Pepper doesn’t get upset and she doesn’t get angry.”
Ezekiel cleared his throat. “When she’s in labor, that might not be true,” he clarified. “Especially if your name is Wyatt and you were the one who got her pregnant.”
“With twins,” Gino said. “That seems to be a trend with Ghost-Walkers. Quite a few have twins. I’m fairly certain my woman wouldn’t be thrilled if I got her pregnant with twins.”