Page 54 of Rogue Voice

Dark was on the other side of the door.

“Sorry to bother you,” he said quietly. There was a look in his eyes that told Rogue his team leader knew exactly what had been going on in this room, but there was no judgment in his eyes.

“It’s okay. Bea’s sleeping.”

“You know what you’re doing, right, Rogue?”

Rogue nodded. “I’m going to keep her safe. No matter what.”

Dark ran his hand along his hair. He looked like he was about to add something, but then decided not to.

“What’s going on, Dark?”

“We have a problem. We can’t fly out of Colombia with her. We can’t get the papers we need. It appears Cruz is more powerful even than we figured.”

“Shit. What about?—”

Dark shook his head. “Thorne has tried everything. She won’t be flying out.”

Rogue picked up on his friend’s wording. “I’m not leaving her behind.”

“I’m not asking you to. Carrie’s figured out an alternate route. There will be a flight waiting for us in Colon, if we can get there.”

“Panama?” Rogue asked. He nodded. “I can get her to Panama.”

“You’renot getting her to Panama. We’re a team, Rogue. We’ll do it together.”

“And how will Alexia feel if you get killed doing this, Dark? Something that’s not even part of the job.”

Dark’s blue stare narrowed. The man was not backing down. “That’s a low blow, Rogue. Alexia knows what we do. She knows we’re a team.”

Rogue swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“We’ll take a boat, keep her out of sight. Slate has a boating license. We’ll just be three friends out on the water together.”

“I don’t like boats,” Rogue said.

“Yeah, well, you can tell us about that on the way,” Slate said, coming up behind Dark.

Rogue nodded, his eyes suddenly itchy.

“Thank you. Thank you both.”

“Don’t thank us yet. Thank us when we’re home.”

Home.Rogue realized the word sat right. Home right now was the team’s headquarters, in Zurich. He could imagine Bea there. She would love the green, open spaces, the lake with its undecided shades of blue, the city’s historic squares and churches. Hell, he wanted to bring her there. He wanted her with him.

But that may not be what she needs.She’s twenty years old.She deserves a chance to find herself.

He was smart enough to know her future might not include him.

Fuck.

As hard as it would be to let her go, the best thing he could do for her was to give her space.

Get her to Europe, then figure out where she wants to go, and get her there.

He said goodnight to Dark and went back to bed. The sounds of her breathing had changed. Bea was awake. He sat down next to her and stroked her soft, blond hair.

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