Ghostwalker 04 - Conspiracy Game

I think Whitney had nearly given up on getting us together.”
    “And he was counting on the fact that I’d walk if he did manage it,” Jack added.
    “I don’t like that idea, that some woman could still be held prisoner by Whitney,” Ken said. “Jack, let’s get ahold of Lily and her team and find out how much they know. If they have an idea where he is, we can do a little recon.”

    “The problem that we’re facing, Ken, is that we don’t know who we can trust. Whitney always had contacts. Hell, he knew the president. If he’s alive and pulling all the strings in this experiment, he isn’t alone. We don’t know who’s behind any of this. Whitney may have the know-how and the money, but he’s in solid with someone directing all this.”
    Briony cleared her throat. “If Whitney really has contacts in the military, and there is some huge conspiracy going on, if they thought I was with you, wouldn’t they send you out on a mission so I had nowhere to go?”
    The twins exchanged a long look.
    “Oh God.” Her hand went to her throat. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
    Jack pulled her hand to his heart. “We were contacted late last week, but we’re on leave.
    We were both injured and neither of us has a doc’s okay to return to service, not that that ever stopped us before, but we said no.” I said no because Ken needs far more recup time.
    Jack made sure his barriers were up against his twin to keep him from that private contact.
    “Both of us intend to extend our time with personal leave as well.”
    “They can’t make you go back?”
    “I think they counted on us never turning them down. We never have. And they figured the target would be too personal for us to resist. They want General Ekabela taken out,”
    Jack said. “My guess is, the man knows too much and they need him dead.”
    “In other words,” Ken added, “he isn’t useful to Whitney anymore.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    Jack raised her knuckles to his lips. “You were a bit upset, Briony, and you needed sleep last night, and in any case, we didn’t think about why they would send us into the field, we go all the time.” He shrugged. “I thought they offered it to us because of what Ekabela had done to us.”
    “But that means they know I’m with you. How would they know?” She nearly jumped out of her skin as the waiter approached.
    Jack laid his hand on her arm. Gently. Just touching her. Warmth flowed into her mind, and almost at once she felt calmer, more able to breathe away fear. “Not necessarily. They may have wanted to make certain we were out of the country in case you did try to contact me.”
    “It makes sense,” Ken added.
    As the waiter hovered, Jack glanced up, eyes suddenly going from warm gray to ice steel. Briony buried her face in her menu to hide her expression.

    The waiter cleared his throat. “Are you ready to order, ma’am?”
    Jack drew out the paper on nutrition and began to study the menu, comparing items with the paper. “The chicken pasta looks good, Briony,” he ventured. “And the vegetable salad.”
    Ken nudged her foot under the table and flashed a quick grin from behind his menu, winking at her.
    “Yes, it does, Jack. I think I’ll have that.” Briony gave the waiter her menu and smiled at Jack.
    “And she’ll have a glass of milk as well,” he added.
    Ken nearly spit water over the menu. “Milk? You having it too, Jack?”
    “Sure. Why not? And I’ll have the chicken pasta as well,” Jack said, handing the waiter his menu.
    “I’m driving, so I’ll have a very hot cup of coffee,” Ken said. “And a steak, rare, with a baked potato and everything on it.”
    “Ken?” Briony widened her eyes in helpless innocence. “That might make me sick just to look at it. I’ve been feeling so nauseous lately.”
    Ken jerked his head up, a suspicious frown on his face. “You wouldn’t joke about something like that, would you?”
    Briony covered her mouth with a delicate hand. “Just saying steak and rare made my stomach upset.”
    “Fine. Give me the chicken pasta as well. But hold the damn milk.” Ken glared at her.
    “Just how long do you plan on being sick?”
    She grinned at him. “A long, long time, now that we’ve had the good news about the baby and all.”
    “Babies,” Jack corrected.
    “Comes in useful, does it? I had no idea you had a mean streak in you, but I should have guessed, with Jack adoring you and all.”
    Briony took a sip