She sighed. “I saw Rafe the night you were hurt.” She said the words quickly as though she were ripping off a bandage.
Corbin’s brows raised in surprise as he thought over what she’d just said. “What do you mean?” He’d read the mission report from that night dozens of times, trying to figure out how things had gone so wrong so fast. He knew for a fact that Rafael Wilks had never been mentioned.
Sawyer met his gaze directly for a moment, chewing her bottom lip in a gesture of nerves that he’d rarely seen from her. Even with his mind reeling from what she’d just said, he found himself momentarily distracted by her mouth. Forcing himself to look away from her lips, his gaze landed on the beer bottle sitting on the counter behind her. He reached over and snagged it, quickly bringing it to his own lips for a drink. He tried not to think about her lips having just been on that same bottle. Sawyer rolled her eyes at him, but she didn’t say anything. She turned to the refrigerator and took out another beer for herself. She used it to gesture toward the living room.
“Let’s sit down,” she said. “There’s a lot to tell you.” Corbin didn’t like the way her words made his stomach clench with anxiety. What secrets had Sawyer been keeping involving Rafe? And why did that idea bother him so much? Rafe had been gone for years. They’d been practically kids when he’d vanished. Corbin tried to dredge up memories from nearly a decade earlier as he followed Sawyer into the living room. He sat next to her on the small couch, their legs nearly touching.
When she remained silent, he used his knee to nudge hers. “Just tell me,” he said. “Whatever it is. Just say it.”
“Promise not to get mad?”
“No. But I promise to hear you out before judging anything.”
She nodded. “Fair enough.”
She took a drink of the beer she held then leaned forward and to set it on the low coffee table. She took a deep breath then settled back into the couch. “The night you were hurt,” she said quietly, “I left some details out of my report.” Corbin felt his curiosity spike and tried not to feel hurt that she’d withheld this from him, after everything they’d both gone through. He forced himself not to interrupt her with a dozen questions.
“After that wall came down on you,” she said in a quiet voice. “When I was trying to dig you out, I was distracted. I didn’t even know there was someone there until I heard the gunshot. I was so focused on getting to you. It was Rafe. He shot one of Ephraim’s soldiers who was about to kill me. I looked up and he was just standing there, holding a gun. He took off and I didn’t try to stop him.” She met his gaze for a moment before she went on. “I pulled you out and then the building went up. I saw someone trying to climb out of the rubble. It was Rafe.” She sighed and studied her hands. “I helped him out, but then I forced him to try to heal you. I don’t know if anything he did had any effect on you, but he tried. I threatened to shoot him, but I think he knew I wouldn’t do it. He had just saved both of us and he was trying to save you again. Eventually, he gave up.” She looked back up to meet Corbin’s eyes. “I let him go.”
Corbin thought over her story and tried to imagine what he would have done in her position. He thought he would have done the same thing if it meant possibly saving Sawyer. He nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I get why you left his name out of your report. You felt like you owed him. That makes sense.”
Sawyer sighed. “There’s more.”
Corbin’s eyes narrowed again. “I had a feeling.”
“He approached me after I left here, before I found the Warrens. He asked me to get him some information on one of Ephraim’s safehouses. I said no. I didn’t trust him.” She looked back to Corbin and her eyes seemed to be asking him to trust her. “No one knows about this. It doesn’t paint me in the best light.”
Corbin studied her as she sat there. He could tell she was nervous about what she was about to tell him. She was worried about what he’d think of her. “Hey,” he said, his voice serious. “Whatever it is, I’m on your side. I’m always going to be on your side.” She looked at him for a moment longer before nodding.
“Rafe told me that he’d been captured by Ephraim more than four years ago. He’d been forced to heal Ephraim’s soldiers, but also to heal other people who had been captured by them. Corbin, I don’t know how many of our people he may have taken over the years or what he’s done to them. Rafe said Ephraim wanted them alive, but he didn’t know exactly what was being done to them. He never found out. It was his job to heal them and hand them over. When he came to me, he wanted me to give him info on a safehouse we’d scouted months earlier. After he told me everything, I still wouldn’t tell him what he wanted, but I agreed to take him there.
“When we got there, it was practically abandoned. There were only a few guards and they were easy to slip past. Once we got inside, we found out it wasn’t just a safehouse. There was all this medical equipment. I didn’t know what most of it was, but Rafe looked pissed. He said something about how he’d been hoping to be proved wrong. He started searching the place, but I don’t know what he was looking for. There were lots of files, full of photos and details of Praetorian abilities. It was weird. I don’t know what any of it was for, but I took it with us when we left. Rafe wanted to burn the place to the ground, but I didn’t want to draw any attention. I managed to convince him to leave quietly. After that, I didn’t see him again until the day I came back here. Jon was injured when we were attacked at the motel. He was bleeding out in the backseat. It was bad. I knew there was no way I’d get him help in time, so I called Rafe. He saved Jon’s life. I tried to get him to come back with us, explain things to Conrad, but he wouldn’t listen. He left, and I haven’t heard anything from him since.” Sawyer took a deep breath and blew it out. Then she reached for her beer and took a sip.
Corbin was silent for a time, thinking over everything he’d just learned. He understood why Sawyer hadn’t reported seeing Rafe. It would have only caused Lydia and Conrad more anger and pain. Rafe had been such an important part of this compound before his sudden disappearance all those years ago. He’d been well-liked and respected. Conrad had trusted him and treated him as his son and second-in-command much of the time. Everyone had been devasted when he hadn’t returned from retrieving Lydia. Knowing that he’d been alive the whole time but had stayed away was nearly impossible for Corbin to understand. He couldn’t imagine choosing to stay away from the people he loved, from his home. He looked back to Sawyer who seemed to be waiting for him to say something. In her eyes, he could see a mixture of hope and dread.
“There’s something else,” she said, looking down at the bottle in her hands. “One of those files was all about Declan’s parents.”
Corbin’s eyes widened. “What?” He knew his voice was raised, but he was so shocked that she would have kept this information from him and the others. “You didn’t think that was important?”
She sighed. “I know! I’m sorry.” She leaned forward and put the beer on the table, then turned to face him. “I should have told Conrad everything a long time ago and I don’t know why I didn’t. I think part of it was me trying to keep my word to Rafe. I felt like I owed him something. I don’t know.” The look in her eyes was pleading. She was begging him to understand her side of things and he was trying, but it wasn’t easy.
Corbin took a deep breath and blew it out, counting in his head as he did so. He was angry, but he didn’t want to lash out at her. When he looked at her again, she looked as though she was bracing herself for an explosion from him. Instead, he spoke calmly. “Is there anything else you need to tell me? Sawyer, I’ve always trusted you and I thought we’d always been honest with one another. If there’s anything else you haven’t told me, you need to say it now, because I can’t handle any more secrets.”
She looked at him for a long moment and shook her head. “There’s nothing else,” she said softly. “I swear. From here on out, no more secrets. I promise.” She reached a hand out and placed it on top of his where it
rested on the couch. “Corbin, I’m sorry.”
He glanced down at her hand lying on his own and he fought the urge to twine his fingers with hers. He felt that strange spark that had only recently come alive between them and he once again struggled to ignore it. He looked back to her face.
“You have to go to Conrad,” he said. “Tell him everything. Tonight.”
She nodded. “I know,” she said, and her voice sounded small, unfamiliar. He put a hand on her shoulder.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
She gave him a grateful smile that seemed to hit him straight in the gut. “Thanks.”
Corbin and Sawyer knocked on the door to Conrad’s quarters and waited. After a few seconds, the door opened, and Gwynn stood there. She smiled at the two of them, but there was a question in her eyes.
“Hey guys,” she said. “Is everything okay?” She opened the door wider and gestured them inside.
Sawyer gave her a small smile. “Everything’s fine. We just came to talk to Conrad. And you, too, really.”
“Okay,” Gwynn said, wariness evident in her voice. “Have a seat in the living room. We just got James down for the night. I’ll go get Conrad.”
Sawyer watched as Gwynn padded barefoot down the short hallway and disappeared into the bedroom at the end. She turned to Corbin and motioned him toward the living room. “Thank you for coming with me,” she said. “It means a lot.”
He gave her a smile. “I’ve always got your back.” She nodded as they moved to sit on the couch.
It didn’t take long for Gwynn and Conrad to return, their faces wearing matching looks of curiosity. Conrad looked from one face to the other before his gaze settled back on Sawyer. He sat in one of the chairs opposite the couch and Gwynn leaned against the chair’s arm.
Conrad spoke first. “Did she talk to you?” he was still looking at Sawyer who gave a little nod.
“Some,” she said. “I have a lot to tell you and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
Sawyer began to speak. She started with the night Corbin was injured and ended with what Stella had told her earlier that day. She didn’t leave anything out and neither Gwynn nor Conrad interrupted. When she finally finished, she turned her gaze to Conrad, looking him in the eye.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have told you everything months ago. I understand if you no longer trust my judgment.”
Conrad’s brow was furrowed, and he looked as though he was thinking about everything she’d told him. “Rafe is alive,” he murmured. It was almost as though he was testing the words, trying to come to terms with the truth of them. He turned and glanced down the hall to the partially-open doorway where his grandson slept. Gwynn reached over and took his hand in hers and he gave it a squeeze before he looked back to Sawyer.
“This is a lot to take in, Sawyer,” he told her.
Gwynn looked worried. “Especially with the council breathing down our necks.”
Sawyer was startled. “The council?” she asked, turning her attention to Conrad. “Since when do they bother with individual compounds?”
Conrad sighed. “Since one of our agents came back from the dead and another was killed inside the facility. They want someone to answer for it.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Corbin asked.
“It’s my responsibility to deal with the council,” he said. “Not yours. Let me worry about them.” He turned back to Sawyer who still looked worried. “Does Rowan know about what you just told us?”
She shook her head, bringing herself back to the original subject. “No. I never told anyone,” she said. “It was my secret and I didn’t want anyone else to have to keep it. The Warrens and Declan only know that Rafe healed Jon. They don’t know his history or any of the rest of it. I only told Corbin tonight and we both knew I had to tell you. I should have told you a long time ago.”
Conrad nodded at that. “Yes, you should have.” His voice was hard. “I’ve got to find a way to brief the council on this that doesn’t get you booted from active status. This is a bigger mess than it needed to be, Sawyer.” He sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed and a bit angry, but that’s not what’s important right now. We need to figure out what Ephraim is up to and I think Stella can help us. If I can go to the council with some useful information, maybe they’ll back off and let us handle things. I just don’t know how to get her to talk to us without Rowan and he’s hiding out in his office. I’ve done everything but beg or flat-out order him to see her. I was hoping you could get through to Stella, but maybe it’s time to force Rowan.” Conrad sounded like he hated the idea and Sawyer remembered him telling her that he wouldn’t have ordered her.
Corbin leaned forward and said, “Give me another chance to talk to Rowan first. Maybe I can get through to him. He might listen to me. If not, you may have to give him a direct order, although he might still say no.”
Conrad sighed and nodded. “It’s worth a shot. Go for it.”
Corbin and Sawyer stood with the intention of leaving, but Conrad held up a hand and gave Sawyer a dark look. “Sawyer, if you ever withhold information again, you’ll be removed from active status and I don’t care how short we are on agents. Understand?”
Sawyer swallowed down the lump in her throat, but her voice was still unsteady when she said, “Yes, sir.”
Conrad gave a single nod in answer and the two of them left his quarters.
When the door closed behind them, Sawyer blew out a shaky breath.
“You okay?” Corbin asked, studying her profile as they walked. Sawyer nodded, but she didn’t trust her voice yet. She hated that she’d disappointed Conrad. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to look at Gwynn while she was speaking. She knew Gwynn had a temper and she’d seen it on more than one occasion over the years. She and Stella had gotten into plenty of trouble as kids and Gwynn had often had to discipline the two of them. Still, Sawyer always felt worst when Gwynn gave her that look of disapproval. She imagined it was on her face tonight. She hated letting her down and she knew she’d done it this time.
“Hey,” she heard Corbin say beside her. “Look at me.” When she stopped walking and turned to face him, he said, “It’s going to be okay.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “How?”
He sighed. “I don’t know yet, but we’ll figure it out. I’m going to talk to Rowan in the morning and try to get through to him. He’s stubborn and I know he’s going through a lot right now, but I think he’ll come around.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said.
Chapter Five
Corbin walked into Rowan’s office without knocking the next morning. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had knocked because Rowan was sound asleep on the small couch. He wore clothes from the day before and they looked the worse for it. At least, Corbin hoped he’d only been wearing them for one day. He sighed as he walked further into the office, studying the clutter that had accumulated over the last several weeks. He shook his head at the mounds of crumpled paper that had never made it to the overflowing trash can, the empty soda cans, the random files strewn haphazardly across the large desk. Rowan had never been known for neatness, but this was taking things a bit too far in Corbin’s opinion. This had to stop, and he was tired of tip-toeing around the issue with him.
He walked over to the couch and gave it a kick. His foot made a solid thump when it connected and had the added bonus of jostling both the couch and Rowan. Corbin heard a grunt and then Rowan squinted up at him.
“What the hell?” Rowan’s voice was rough from sleep and his tone wasn’t exactly welcoming.
Too bad, Corbin thought.
“Get up,” he said and gave the couch another kick for good measure.
Rowan grumbled but moved to sit up, scrubbing his hands over his face. He raked his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his face while his red-rimmed eyes located his discarded glasses. Corbin studied his friend as he went about the business o
f waking up. He hadn’t realized how much Rowan had changed over the last month. His hair was too long and he looked thinner. He clearly hadn’t shaved in several days and there was a faint odor wafting through his office. Corbin didn’t bother to hide the disapproval in his expression when Rowan eventually tilted his head up to look at him.
“What the hell is right,” he said. “When did you start sleeping in here?”
Rowan waved a dismissive hand and stood on somewhat unsteady legs. “I was working late. Got tired.” He mumbled the words as he walked past Corbin to the bathroom.
While he was gone, Corbin attempted to tidy the room. He gathered the obvious trash and disposed of it. He folded the rumpled blankets and laid them on one end of the narrow couch. He wondered how tired Rowan must have been to sleep all night on that uncomfortable piece of furniture. He tried to remember the last time he’d seen Rowan outside of this office and realized that it had been more than a week. He knew Sawyer was worried about him, but he’d assumed she was just overreacting. Now, he felt a trickle of worry himself.
The bathroom door opened, and Rowan emerged looking only slightly less rumpled than he had previously. When he saw that Corbin was still in his office, he rolled his eyes.
“You’re still here,” he said as though he’d been hoping for a different outcome.
Corbin folded his arms across his chest and glared back. “What are you doing to yourself?” When Rowan ignored his question and tried to walk past him, Corbin grabbed his arm. Rowan spun around to face him, his eyes blazing with anger.
“Don’t,” he said through gritted teeth. He shrugged off Corbin’s hand, but only because Corbin allowed it. They both knew who would win in a contest of strength. They were both also aware that Corbin would never use his ability against Rowan. Instead he let out an exasperated sigh.
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