Levi frowned at that. “That is the most telling part. Absolutely you would have. If there were any bad guys to hunt down, and you had hidden weapons, you would have used them in a heartbeat.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Believe me. You’re not the first one to doubt me when it comes to this, and that has made my life a whole lot different. Even my brother didn’t understand why I don’t have the same abilities, and he wanted me to, especially as twins. We were identical, except for that part, and I was jealous for a long time. Then I began to see just how twisted and difficult it made his life, but, even then, I still wanted to be special, like he was.” He shook his head. “It definitely took us some time to sort through that.”
“If you even got through it on your own,” Levi added, “you’re doing well. Your brother is tortured and yet incredibly talented.”
Merk smiled. “That he is. He’s also a really good man, and we have to help him.”
“That’s in the works, and anything they need, we’ll come up with, and that includes a safe place.”
“What do we have for locations in Paris? Or are you thinking maybe England? They’ll need to move fast, whenever they have to,” Merk noted, “and it’s only a matter of time before things go sideways there again.”
“You know what? He really needs a steel building and thick concrete, but something I’ve never really understood,” he added, “is how he needs that level of barrier to stay safe and to make sure no one can access anything, yet he can still get through all that to use his skills.”
“He’s created some psychic tunnel, and I can’t even begin to understand it,” Merk admitted. “But it’s his way of getting in and out of cover.”
“Sometimes I think we’ve been playing undercover agents for way too long,” Levi noted. “Because, honest to God, when did some of this bizarre stuff start sounding normal?”
Merk laughed. “See? You’ll come along with us on this crazy-ass ride regardless,” he noted. “That’s just how it starts.”
“And I get it,” Levi agreed. “It’ll be harder for Ice though because she wants so badly to keep him safe.”
“Ice wants to keep the world safe,” Merk noted, “and giving birth herself hasn’t helped that.”
“No, it hasn’t.”
“And having another child won’t stop that protective mother feeling either. Did you tell her that you know yet?”
Levi looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“That you already know the sex of your child.”
“How is it I’m supposed to know?” Levi asked, his gaze boring into him. “When she doesn’t?”
Merk smiled. “You already know you have a second son coming,” he stated. “A matched set – at least according to Terk.”
“Hell no, I don’t know that, and she’s really hoping for a girl.”
“And you?”
“I don’t care, as long as it’s healthy.”
Merk nodded. “Well, Ice will be happy with a healthy baby boy.”
And, with that, Levi turned and walked out.
Merk stared down at the phone, sent his brother a text—a warning to watch his back—and then Merk walked over to the sideboard and grabbed a coffee. It would be a hell of a long day. But, if he could do anything to help Stone set up things for his brother, then Merk was on it.
With that, he walked up to the control room.
Chapter 5
Tasha thought it would take a couple hours, but instead it took six, and she still had multiple laptops upgrading drivers, downloading software, with the physical security setup ongoing. But, at that point, all three of them were working on it, with Stone and Merk on the other end. By the time she sat back at her “desk” and looked around to see what else had to be done, she couldn’t even remember the last time she had eaten.
“I need food,” she announced, then looked over at the others. “What are we doing about things like that—and sleep?”
The two men looked at each other, then over at her. “We need to find a place for the night.”
“You don’t have one?” she asked in surprise.
“No, it was more important to focus on setting this up.”
“I get that,” she noted, “but, short of me crashing in the corner, I’ll need some rejuvenating rest, and before that I need food.” She got up and walked to the door.
“Wait.” Damon was two steps behind her.
She turned, looked at him. “What?” She’d be the first to admit that she got angry whenever she got hungry. “I need food, and I mean it.”
“I get it.” He held up his hands. “I’ll drive you wherever we need to go, and we’ll bring back enough for all of us.”
“Fine, but we need it fast.”
He opened the rear warehouse side door, which she didn’t even realize was locked. Then she stepped out to see complete darkness all around her. “Jesus, we’ve been working all day? No wonder I’m starving.”
“Pretty much,” he agreed, “but also a hell of a storm is moving in.” They got into his truck, and he asked, “What kind of food are you looking for?”
“Something substantial,” she said in a curt tone, “and definitely something with carbs.”
“Pasta?”
She hemmed and hawed at that. “That could work, but I’ll also need meat to go with it.”
At that, he burst out laughing. “So, just lots of everything.”
She grinned. “That would help. You know what? Even a grocery store, where we could buy some French bread, maybe some salamis and cheeses. A selection of easy-to-eat finger food like that wouldn’t be a bad idea to just keep around.”
“We can do both,” he suggested. “This isn’t something that we want to come out for on a daily basis.”
“So both then,” she stated, “but I don’t really know where to go. I don’t know what’s safe anymore.” And then she looked at him and frowned. “Did you change the color of your hair? When the hell did you do that?”
“Yeah, not enough color to really change it, change it. Just enough to make you question it.”
“Huh, I didn’t even notice.”
“You were a little busy.”
She nodded. “That I was, and that’s why I’m so damn tired and cranky right now.”
“It’s all right. We’re getting food.”
And, with that, he took a couple corners, drove down a main street, and pulled off to a small area, where she saw a grocery store up around the corner. “Are we walking?”
“I’m just waiting to see if we’re being followed.”
That silenced her. She sat back and waited quietly, the gloominess growing inside the vehicle. When he turned the engine back on again, she asked, “Does that mean yes or no?”
“It’s clear.”
“Good, we’ll need more trackers then because we need to keep track of all of us.”
“Yes, and that’s something that we haven’t had to do up until now because it was something Terk could do.”