The Captain led us back to Fin’s office and handed him a bottle of water.
I plopped in the chair, still in my black cami and jeans. “I’m good. Thanks for offering.”
The Captain didn’t even glance my way, his full attention fixated on Fin who sat behind his desk again.
“So?” I said.
The captain glanced at Fin and anger whipped through me.
“Are we not working together on this? Just spit it out, so we can figure out what to do.”
Fin gave him a nod, and I wanted to throw my boot at his face. The guards thought me another flunky.
The captain stood at-ease and spoke to Fin directly. “One of the men found a dead body. We don’t have confirmation on the identity yet, but it’s highly likely it was one of your informants.”
“How do we know that?” I asked, trying to catch the captain’s gaze. Apparently, I’d been relegated to ornamental furniture in Fin’s presence.
“The guards said he saw the assassination through the gate where the usual meetings take place. No one could get in to check who it was though.”
Fin remained silent, studying the captain who’d stopped speaking when Fin offered neither encouragement nor direction.
“How big a setback is this?” I asked Fin.
He shifted to face me, his eyes locked on his desk blotter. “I don’t know. I can’t know until we learn the identity of who we lost. It could be a driver or...”
“Your inside man?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. For some reason, this display of emotion unnerved me. More so because I could see myself walking around the desk and putting my arms around him. I wanted to comfort him, and that didn’t sit well in my gut.
So, I shoved down the emotion, stood, and squared off with the captain. “How long until we can learn who we lost?”
He bounced his gaze from me to Fin, and I snapped my fingers in front of his face.
“Right here, G.I. Joe. How long?”
“I don’t know. We can’t exactly go in and speak to him. The territory is likely surveyed by the enemy and I won’t risk the identities of my men to find out until dark.”
“You think the sun going down and a baseball cap are going to keep your men safe. I guarantee ‘the enemy’ already knows the identity of every single person you have in the field.”
He stared at me, his eyes going hard, fists clenching. Oh, he really didn’t like me.
I crossed my arms and met his gaze unflinching. “To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.”
“Sun Tzu,” Fin murmured, still looking dazed.
Did he not expect to lose people in this little battle?
The toy soldier’s jaw clenched. “What do you want me to do?”
Finally, a direct response from him not filtered through Fin.
“Take all your guys so no-one gets hurt, but get in there and retrieve the body. Do it
before we have to deal with law enforcement bureaucracy along with this setback.”
Without another word, he marched out of the room. Hopefully to do as I suggested.
I stared at Fin. “And you. What is your deal? Didn’t you think people were going to get hurt? The Black Mage is merciless. He has no remorse, no qualms about murder, or torture for that matter. I thought you and I were on the same page here.”