《A Life to Save - Protection Detail Series Book #2》Chapter 19
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Valencia sat in Michael's office, watching him take one phone call after another. Jesse sat propped on the arm of the chair she occupied.
"Are we in trouble for protecting ourselves?" Birgit whispered to the silent pair. She could see why Valencia and Jesse liked each other.
"No idea," Jesse sighed, "the one-sided conversation isn't telling enough."
"This is infuriating," Valencia cleared her throat, "Breanna ended the fighting outside. The group is on the way to chat with Michael."
"We'll have to wait and be told with the others," Jesse shifted as Michael closed his eyes as the phone rang once more.
A knock at the door caught their attention, "When does Breanna knock?"
"Since it isn't Breanna," Valencia smiled, "Craig is waiting for admission."
"Really?" Birgit said with an exaggerated sigh, "this is his brother's study."
"Yes," Jesse said, "but they have a volatile Breanna on the other side. Anything can send her off again."
"We do not need that inside," Birgit said, "I could hardly believe she is capable of ..." Birgit cleared her throat, "all that."
"She can do a lot more than just that," Jesse said, "I was surprised at her being able to read Chuck's ability."
"I think that is a relatively new ability," Valencia said.
"Come in," Michael shouted as yet another knock came, and he went back to his conversation on the phone.
The wooden double door opened wide, admitting the sweating, dirty group still dripping in weapons. Michael gripped the receiver tightly after ending the last call. Breathing in before carefully replacing it. Immediately he picked it up and placed it next to the phone on the table. The dialling tone hummed for a minute before falling silent.
Michael leant back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling before looking at the people in front of him and shaking his head.
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"Apparently, we are not permitted to defend ourselves under any circumstances," Michael rose from his chair. "We are not permitted to do anything not authorised. We are not permitted to ..."
"Breathe?" Breanna finished his sentence with a single word question.
"Apparently," Michael nodded.
"They shutting us down," Craig stated flatly.
"Not yet," Michael said, "but they are sending the military to contain us."
"Contain us?" Clio frowned, "we didn't do anything but protect ourselves."
"Yes," Trevet said, "and the world saw it."
"They also saw what we are capable of," Breanna sighed, "how long until the military arrives?"
"Six hours," Micheal sighed heavily, "we are expected to go quietly."
"Clearly, they don't know us," Simon muttered.
"We won't be here for them to contain us," Breanna said, looking around the room, "get cleaned up, pack what you need and get your gear together."
"Where are we going?" Tania asked.
"That is for the walls never to know," Breanna shook her head, "we move out in an hour."
Valencia watched as the group turned as one and left the office. Looking up at Jesse, she reached for his hand, wrapping it in his.
"You'll be invisible again," she sighed, "won't you?"
"No," Jesse threaded his fingers through hers, "never again. I go where you go now."
Joy bubbled through Valencia as she found herself smiling for the first time in a while.
"We will need to chat about how the whole Birgit situation works," Jesse watched their fingers flex together before meeting Valencia's gaze. "What happens if she falls for someone?"
"You haven't told him yet," Birgit hissed, "do I have to do everything? Jesse, I don't hold the emotional side. Valencia does. When you two want to be alone, just say so."
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"That simple," Jesse nodded a little pulling the two to their feet, "we have a lot to do, but we will have to discuss this a little later."
Smiling between themselves, they left the office.
Michael raised his head at the silence. The earful he had just received from his Commanding Officer was not good, but the pleasant side was that the bodies were being cleared away right at that moment. Rubbing his hands over his face, he blew out a breath.
"What will happen next?" he muttered, standing and moving to his computer and communications panel. Working quickly, he transferred all data to the necessary secured servers. Secured servers that no one but himself knew of; if the military wanted this information, they would never get it. He was not selling out his family, friends, or loyalties. Never again would he turn a blind eye to what is right. Pulling out his drawers, he pulled the files of everyone in the Agency, putting them into the duffel bag he kept for evacuation. Michael looked around before punching in the lockdown code and moving to the door.
Glancing over his shoulder, his hand on the doorknob, he watched as his "control centre" returned to what one would think of as an everyday study. Nothing would be found, no matter what was done to the phone or the cabinets. When the door closed, the telephone deleted all the information from its system, and it would be as though he had never been here at all. The house would go back to its "normal" abode mode when the security code was entered into the security panel at the front door. The home would be closed and locked.
Michael smiled at the memories of his father telling him about his inventions and showing him how they worked. Their father was proud of what he had accomplished in his lifetime, proud of being able to hand down something valuable and beneficial to his children. Something that could be put to good use since he inherited the entire estate after their disappearance. Knowing what the houses could do and held had stopped him from selling when learning his parents were dead. The frustration of those who thought he was making the biggest mistake of his life was enjoyable. Looking down at his watch, he sighed deeply and closed the door before turning the knob with an anti-clock motion, securing the room's contents.
"Dad, thank you," he whispered, striding to the stairs and foyer, "now to head into more uncharted waters. This has been a journey and very close to being a roller coaster ride."
Stopping at his father and mother's picture hanging in the general living area, he took in their smiling faces. There was a little of each of their children shining on their faces. Smiling, he remembered his mother's determination to have her children do exactly what she wanted them to do. Often using emotional manipulation to get her way. It should have been no surprise that Darcia had turned out as she had? Craig had their father's eyes, Breanna, their fathers, love for others and depth of honour ... leaving himself. Frowning, he analysed himself ... finding his father's love of family, the inclusion of others and his strange ability to always have another place to hide.
"Onward and upward we go," he said, saluting them, "never give up, never give in and never go back."
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