“Reece?” Jordan questioned roughly as he shot her a furious look. “And how the hell did he get anything on it, let alone intel?”
Bailey gave a brief shake of her dark head. “I have no idea. But he was in contact with your backup team within seconds of them going in and coordinated satellite and strike intel with them. He wants contact ASAP and he’s questioning his exclusion from the Op.”
“Fuck him,” Jordan muttered as the elevator slid to a halt.
“This way.” Lilly, moved quickly along the thickly carpeted hall to the open double doors of the suite just above the elevator hallway entrance.
She closed the door as he stepped quickly inside the room and headed to the bedroom at the far end of the suite.
“A physician has been contacted,” Lilly informed him. “He’ll be here within the hour and slipped in as well.”
Jordan stepped into the bedroom and headed for the large bed across the room
Cloud soft, gleaming white, the comforter had been stripped back to reveal a protective covering that had been placed to keep the blood from the silk sheets below.
Laying Tehya on the bed carefully, Jordan drew the serviceable sheet at the side over her.
“She’s sedated,” he told Lilly as she stood at the end of the bed, her dark, moss-green gaze concerned as she watched Jordan lay Tehya down carefully. “It’s only a flesh wound, but…” He wiped his hand over his face. How the hell was he supposed to tell her that he just couldn’t bear to see the pain in Tehya’s eyes any longer?
He was a hardened soldier, but Tehya just did thing to his heart.
“But she breaks your heart when you have to look in her eyes and see the shattered dreams,” Lilly stated softy, her aristocratic face drawn into an expression of concern and sympathy. “I completely understand why you would sedate her Jordan. It’s likely the only way she would have slept.
“Is everyone aware of what she does to me?” he smiled with an edge of self mockery. “And here I thought I was hiding it.”
Lilly’s smile was gentle, soft. “Everyone but Tehya, I would guess,” she said. “And I believe she has a problem seeing beyond her perceived beliefs of why she isn’t good enough for you to see the truth of what you do feel. Besides, being Sorrel’s daughter is a tremendous burden to her. She’s terrified it will become a burden for you as well.”
Jordan shot her a sharp look.
“She knows being Sorrel’s daughter isn’t something I give a damn about.” He shook his head faintly. “There has to be another reason why she was so determined run.”
Lilly gave a bitter snort of laughter. “No, Jordan, trust me, once you accept that you came from pure evil, getting past it is never easy. If I hadn’t had Travis to keep me centered when I learned that lesson, I might not have survived.”
Lilly had been forced to face the fact that her own mother had considered her flawed, broken. And that she had carefully planned her own daughter’s murder.
“Contact Travis and John, make certain everything is going as planned,” he ordered her as he looked around the room, searching for anything that would indicate a problem. “And tell him I want the Intel Reece provided, ASAP.”
Lilly had begun to give a quick nod when Bailey stepped into the room.
“John and Travis are here,” she told Jordan. “The doctor’s ETA is twenty minutes. He’s being met by Nik, Micah, and Noah. They’ll escort him through the rear entrance and up here.”
Jordan glanced down at Tehya, hating like hell to leave her alone.
“Go, I’ll sit with her,” Lilly told him as she moved to the comfortable recliner next to the bed, and smiled back at him. “I promise, she’ll be fine with me.”
He knew she would be, and it wasn’t as though Tehya’s problem was life-threatening. Still, pulling away from her and stalking into the main portion of the suite was nearly impossible.
When she awoke, she would be groggy and pissed the hell off. And strangely enough, he wanted to ensure he was the one with her. The only one to watch out for her until she was feeling herself again.
As he stepped into the combined living and dining room, John and Travis turned from their discussion, their gazes flickering in concern to the open bedroom door.
“She’s still asleep,” he answered the unspoken question in their eyes. “Fuck, I knew it would happen, I just didn’t expect it so soon.” Travis raked his fingers through his dark blond hair in frustration. Jordan almost wished he could just tone down whatever he was feeling to that level as well.
“Always plan for the worst,” Jordan sighed. “Though to be honest, I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly myself.”
“The backup team we were lucky enough to have in place in Hagerstown did manage to get a few prints,” John injected. “As soon as we have a hit on those from our contact at the FBI, maybe we’ll have a better idea who or what we’re looking for.”
“Remnants of Sorrel’s organization,” Jordan informed them. “I’m almost certain of it. I just can’t figure out why, after all these years. What kind of threat does she represent that has someone going to the trouble, not to mention the expense, of launching such a search and attempted capture of her?”