Page 25 of Watch Over Me

Finally, he got into the back seat of the company car and met Clay's gaze in the rearview mirror.

"I've got him, he's safe and sound," Clay said. "We're heading back to the HQ."

Eddie disconnected his call with Jasmine before uncovering his watch again.

"I'm here." He tugged at the damn bow tie until it came loose and he could pull it off completely. "Nobody tried to approach me."

"Good," Jeremy said. "Jas, the two of you should handle it as if Eddie was a field operative tonight. You handle hisequipment and the files."

"I can do it," Eddie protested, but Martinez spoke up next.

"We're not questioning that. Still, we always use separate people to do separate things, so. Let Jas handle this."

Eddie half-expected James to weigh in here, but the man stayed quiet.

Was he trying to be mindful after their fight? Or was he ceding ground to Jeremy and Martinez, since, technically, CyberMode was their case?

Either way, both assignments were now bound together in a way that seemed impossible to untangle.

They were all in this mess together.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

James was glad Ryan was the one driving after they'd dropped Corners home, because if he was behind the wheel, he'd be breaking the speed limit for sure.

Logically, he knew Eddie was safe, hanging out in the comm center as he waited for them to be done for the night. But logic had nothing to do with the tense, unforgiving knot in his chest telling him that he wouldn't be able to settle down until he had Eddie in sight.

Over the comms, Martinez reported that he and Jeremy were leaving the party now, too, so they weren't going to be that far behind.

Which was good, if any of them wanted to catch any sleep tonight.

Ryan, to his credit, stayed quiet the whole way back to the HQ. He was throwing James looks every once in a while, but he knew better than to ask him anything, especially while their mikes were still on.

What a mess this whole thing turned out to be. Yesterday morning, their assignments were totally separate. Now, their clients were apparently in cahoots together, plotting to steal a fortune from the government right under everyone's noses.

Including the noses of their security detail, which was either colossally stupid or genius, in a way.

The former, if they don't succeed, the latter, if they do, he finally decided.

Even with Ryan keeping to the speed limit, it didn't take long for them to get to the HQ, and after leaving the car in the garage, they headed straight for the comm center.

Both of them tugged their earpieces off and deactivatedthem on their way up. Ryan opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then the elevator paused on the right floor, and James rushed out of there, Ryan on his heels.

James basically barged in, not caring about how it might look. He had more important things to worry about.

His gaze immediately landed on Eddie, sitting in his usual chair and dressed in his everyday clothes. Safe and sound, but also a little freaked out, if the little shaky movements that immediately caught James's attention were anything to go by.

"Hey." Eddie waved at them and gave them a half-smile, a shadow of his usual one. He was clutching a stress ball in his right hand.

"Hey." James stepped closer, resisting the urge to pull him into a hug. "You okay?"

Eddie grimaced. "Yeah. I'm worried about my brother, though. If they get him involved…" He shook his head. "I need to warn him."

"Somebody will," James said and shook his head when it seemed like Eddie might protest. "He's going to be fine. We need to figure out how best to approach this, so we should wait for Jeremy and Martinez. Also," he added, glancing at his partner, "we have to bring Kalei in."

Ryan pulled out his phone.

"I'll tell him to give us an hour to come up with a plan, so we have something to discuss with him."

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