“It’s time,” Cody said, and Keira’s eyebrows rose in a silent question that was also an accusation. Apparently the men had discussed some plan when they’d been outside together, a plan they hadn’t bothered to clue her in on.
Cody caught Keira’s expression and said, “McKinnon’s taking Mandy and the children to the agency’s safe house in Casper. He’ll rejoin us after that.”
Keira hadn’t thought about that before, but it was the smart thing to do. Even though it appeared Mandy could protect herself, the three young children were at risk, so it made perfect sense to whisk them out of the way to safety. She was surprised Cody had picked Trace for the job, though. She would have expected him to give that task to her, the woman on the team.
Then she knew. Callahan, she thought with a wry twist to her lips. He probably voted to have Trace, the known element, protect his family, leaving what he probably considered the weaker link—herself—with Cody and him. And Cody had gone along with it.
A burning sense of injustice swept through Keira, but she suppressed it. I’m not the weaker link on the team, she told the two men in her mind. You think I am, but you’ll see.
Trace knew better. Her partner knew what she was capable of, and Keira drew some comfort from that knowledge. But she couldn’t tell Cody and Callahan—they wouldn’t believe her. She could only show them when she got the chance. If she got the chance.
* * *
Callahan and McKinnon had left to take the suitcases out to Callahan’s four-by-four, which the team had decided was the best choice for McKinnon to drive, since the children’s car seats were already set up in it.
Mandy was fitting her daughter, Abby, into the baby sling to make it easier to carry her along the rough path. When she was done, she touched Cody’s arm to get his attention. “I’m trusting you,” she said. “Don’t let anything happen to Ryan. I’ll never forgive you if—” Her voice broke, but she didn’t have to finish the sentence.
Keira read the expression on Cody’s face and knew he didn’t want to make promises he might not be able to keep, especially not to Mandy. She saw compassion there, and something more, something that twisted her insides when he told Mandy in a deep voice, “I’ll do my best.”
“That’s not good enough,” Mandy whispered. She glanced down at her two boys, then put a protective arm around the baby slung in front of her. She raised her face to Keira’s, tears she couldn’t prevent springing to her eyes. “Please,” she said as if her heart was breaking. “Please, take care of Ryan.”
“I will,” Keira promised her, ignoring the frown on Cody’s face and the slight shake of his head. This was between Mandy and her. If Keira had anything to say about it, Ryan Callahan would return to the wife who loved him more than her own life. Even if it meant Keira had to sacrifice her own.
Callahan and McKinnon returned just then. Each man picked up one of the boys, and Callahan put his arm around his wife, ushering her toward the door. “I’ll be right back,” he told Cody and Keira without a backward glance.
* * *
Once the others had left, Cody told Keira, “Probably wasn’t a good idea to lie to Mandy.”
“I wasn’t lying,” she replied coolly. “Special rule seven, remember?”
“Yes, but...” He didn’t know how to explain without offending her. Cody had seen Callahan in action, back when he’d gone by the name Reilly O’Neill, and Callahan could almost assuredly take care of himself. If he couldn’t, then it was a fair bet no one else on the team would be in a position to do it for him. All in all, it wasn’t likely that Callahan would need Keira’s protection.
He caught a flash of something in Keira’s eyes, but all she said was, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Then she asked casually, “So, did the three of you discuss anything else while you were outside, other than who was going to take Callahan’s family to safety?”
Cody almost answered without thinking, then caught himself. But he knew from her expression that Keira somehow already knew the answer to the second part of her question without him confirming it in words.