Ghostwalker 08 - Street Game

it go.
    Hell,” Javier said, “I want to go down and work with them and I didn’t set off her trap. I’d love to see who these bastards are and how she set the trap for them.”
    “Thanks, Javier.” He waited until Javier looked up at him. “You risked your relationship with her for me. I won’t forget it.”
    “I love her, Mack. We have to protect her. I figure we’re all in this together.”
    Mack nodded and hurried down the stairs. Behind him he heard Kane mutter, “I got a punch in the jaw for being underhanded and I was protecting her too.”
    Javier’s laughter was in Mack’s ears as he made the second-floor landing. A single light illuminated the bank of computers and screens. Jaimie stood frowning, bent over, inspecting something intently. He had always loved that particular expression on her face. He knew she was figuring out a problem, just by the little frown lines between her brows. She glanced up at him—of course she’d known he was there—and her expression changed to wariness. He didn’t want it to, but that obvious change hurt.
    “I’ve got work to do.”

    125

    It was a clear dismissal. She’d never really done that before. She’d always been glad to see him and because he knew she was serious, the words cut deep. “We have to work this out, Jaimie.”
    Her gaze slid away from him. “I know. I’m just not ready yet. I still feel a little raw from the last time.”
    “I don’t want to fight.”
    She shrugged, her fingers moving over the keyboard, her gaze fixed on the screen.
    “We seem to fight whether you want to or not. I’m not going to agree with you on this, Mack. There’s no reason to keep going at each other.”
    Mack crossed the room, knowing she was aware of his every movement, although she didn’t look up again. He came right up behind her and peered over her shoulder. It didn’t matter. The code racing across the screen meant nothing to him. It should have bothered him, but he was used to Jaimie and took pride in her abilities.
    “I’m staying until I know you’re safe, so we have to work this out.”
    She did look up then. “Really? What do you think is going to happen next, Mack?
    You’ll be sent out on a mission. All of you.”
    He studied her face. “You believe Sergeant Major is involved.”
    “I know he is.”
    He tried not to let the instant anger in his gut surface. He was good friends with Griffen and she knew it. Griffen had been instrumental in Mack making the decision to test for the psychic program in the first place. He’d also been the one to keep them all together. Jaimie had never been comfortable around Sergeant Major, but then, she wasn’t military. She loved the boys and Rhianna, but stayed away from everyone else.
    Her soft laughter was without humor. “You have such a closed mind. I can tell you’re already building arguments against anything I have to say, so really, Mack, what’s the point?”
    “I’m listening,” he replied. She always had been astute in an argument. Jaimie caught nuances others didn’t. “It isn’t easy to hear bad things about friends.”
    Jaimie caught up a pen and wrote “Whitney” in the middle of a piece of paper.
    Above his name she drew a line, put a question mark above that, and drew another line and wrote “White House Who?”
    “Someone is giving him a great deal of support. We know that or he wouldn’t still be in business. He can pull in GhostWalkers, and military personnel. He can land on military bases. We know he’s being protected and even warned when anyone gets too close to him. He has supporters, Mack. Big ones with lots of power.”
    “I’m aware of that.”

    126

    “When Kane and Brian both came back from their assignment to Whitney, what did they do? What did they tell you?”
    “That there were irregularities. That Whitney was involved in illegal experiments.”
    “But Kane wouldn’t discuss it with you. You’re more than his best friend. Brian has looked up to you his entire life, yet he didn’t discuss it either.”
    “No. They wanted to keep me out of it. They were afraid Whitney might target them and didn’t want me involved. I arranged a meeting with Sergeant Major Griffen.
    They reported directly to him. There were two others who came forward as well. A pararescue Team Four GhostWalker by the name of Malichai Fortunes and . . .”
    “Antonio Martinez from Team Two, the SEAL GhostWalker team. All of them made their report together to Sergeant Major,”