I jumped when Claire breezed into the briefing room, saying my name as she did so. She sent me an apologetic look as I pressed a hand to my chest and glared.
“Sorry. I thought you heard me coming.”
“No, I was a million miles away.”
Claire sat sideways at the oval table facing me, set her elbows on her knees, and leaned forward. I scooted my chair back a fraction to offset the proximity, then waited for her to start.
Her piercing blue eyes lifted to meet mine. “I’m worried about you. The girls filled me in on what went down in Chiapas. What a fucking shit-show, but we’ll get into that in a moment. I’ve put the four of you on paid leave for two weeks. That time is your own but attending counseling during that time is mandatory. In person or via video link, I don’t care as long as it’s done. We need to get on top of what’s going on in here before we move forward.” Claire pointed to her head, then leaned back in her chair.
I sighed. “You spoke to Avery?”
She nodded. “I did.”
“I’ll be staying with him.”
Both her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Like, just for the night or…”
“All of them.” I shook my head clear. “All the nights. We’re uh… we’re together.” It was the first time in my entire adult life that I’d announced an official relationship and it felt so foreign that it had me shifting in my seat.
“He’s only here for another week and a bit, so…” I shrugged.
Claire, with her mouth still ajar, let out a puff of disbelief. “I never thought I’d see the day. Your history with Mister Montgomery must run deeper than what it appears to on paper.”
I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes. “Don’t fucking analyze me.”
“I’m not. I’m actually impressed, van Staden.”
“Well, this is the only time I’ll discuss my relationship, so if you’ve got any other questions ask now or not at all.” I toyed with my braid while I waited.
Claire shook her head. “Not at all. Gotta admit though, it’s somewhat of a relief that your bed-hopping has come to an end.”
“It was never ‘bed-hopping’. My arrangement with those other men was mutually beneficial and—”
She cut me off with a quick raise of her hand. “Hallie, please, you don’t need to explain. I understand.” Claire then redirected the focus back to the need for counseling. “Please make an appointment with Lorna. No doubt she’ll want to see you a couple of times a week, so it’s best to get in early to arrange that.”
“Of course,” came my automatic response.
Lorna was my psychologist. I found her when I moved to San Diego right after we wrapped up the first Phoenix Force mission of rescuing Ty—Claire’s husband—from Ailinia. The whole team had their own psych, and Claire was happy paying the bills as long as we attended sessions after each assignment.
I drew in a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and made a snap decision. “I’m going to Cape Town next week. Alone,” I emphasized.
Claire snapped forward in her seat again. “Absolutely not!”
My voice rose. “This is something I need to do for myself. These are my own ghosts, Claire. I can’t have the team involved in them.”
Annoyance radiated off her in waves. “No, Hallie. Completely blind is out of the question. At the very least, I need you linked to Tiffany. It’s something I willnotcompromise on.”
Our glare-off persisted until she blinked. Internally celebrating this small, and absolutely fucking pathetic win, I hid the smirk by running my hands down my face. “I’m free to go now?”
Claire shook her head, halting my rise to stand. “Not quite. We still need to go over the debrief from Op Nahual. But, Hallie, please; I need to know you’re going to take precautions when in South Africa. Yes, you’ll fit in over there, but you’ll still be a stranger in a foreign country.”
My stomach plummeted at the mention of Chiapas, then churned at the mention of SA.
I huffed and reluctantly agreed to her wishes. “Fuck, fine. I’ll make sure I’ve got comms with Tiffany while over there. And I’ll make sure that I keep in contact—with her and Lorna,” I added when Claire went to interject.
Seemingly satisfied for now, she stood and made her way to the large filing cabinet tucked against one wall of the briefing room. She selected a file, then returned to my side with seriousness pulling her features tight.
The file landed on the table in front of me. Written across the front in bold, black pen, were two words that propelled the ominous pitch in my stomach into my throat.