[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
. Sorry, what was I saying? Thierry asked as he righted his chair and settledhimself carefully into it. You were explaining to us your thinking behind this brilliant scheme ofyours, John supplied.Shawn looked at him sharply and narrowed his eyes, but John kept his eyeson the screen.He knew Shawn thought he d been behind the entire thing, but Thierryhad constructed this farce all on his own.John never would have put Shawn in thatsituation. Uh& oh! Right, right.We had two backups, Thierry continued. You two,actually.Thiago, we weren t at all certain of your loyalty any longer, considering thatyou haven t been doing a damn thing we ve told you to If you wanted someone to do your bidding you should have taken someonefrom your own fucking ranks, Thiago growled angrily. The Archer 555Abigail Roux Yes, yes, I believe we ve had that conversation before, Thierry saidflippantly. Uhh& For God s sake, Thi, don t distract him, Shawn hissed quietly. We ll behere all bloody night. John smiled in amusement and cleared his throat to center Thierry sattention.The man was a brilliant tactician, but sometimes he took the idiot bit a mitetoo far.Sure, the others in power at the Organization underestimated him because ofit, but it was just embarrassing for John to be associated with him at times.Like now. And Shawn, for a while there, we thought you d turned on us as well, Thierry continued reproachfully. Well, that was rather the idea, was it not? Shawn replied icily. My orderswere to take Remy down by any means necessary.It was a field decision to tell himeverything and make him think I d turned on you. Thiago flinched slightly at this admission, but John wasn t certain what thereaction meant, if it meant anything at all. Well, you almost played it too well, Thierry said angrily. If Mikhailhadn t seen it with his own eyes, I never would have believed you d killed the littlemongrel. Shawn s jaw clinched angrily and he opened his mouth, then closed it againand sighed. What about the others? John asked as Thiago examined his hands intentlyand Shawn glared up at the screen. What about them? Shawn finally asked as he turned his chair back to faceJohn. You let them get away, John said pointedly. I didn t let them do anything, Shawn responded tightly. They dropped afucking grenade on us. And? Thierry prodded. And I m only speaking for myself here, but I didn t feel like getting blownup at that particular point in time! Shawn yelled. Shawn, Thiago said in a soft voice.Shawn immediately calmed and satback in his chair once more. Escuche, Thierry, we re both exhausted, Thiagocontinued in a mild voice. We ve been playing mind games for six fucking monthsand we both smell like death.Why don t we do this later? Before Thierry could respond, John stood gracefully and nodded. That s a wonderful idea, my boy, he said kindly.Shawn glared up at himsuspiciously, but Thiago looked at him gratefully and stood as well. We ve arranged 556 The ArcherAbigail Rouxfor quarters for both of you on the top floor until we can move you out to the Estatefor a spell, I m sure you ll find them satisfactory, John said smoothly.Thiago acknowledged this with another weak smile.He looked up at thescreen and nodded to Thierry, then down at Shawn briefly before turning and exitingthe room quietly.Shawn remained where he was for several long moments, studying John andwatching suspiciously as John turned the screen off before Thierry could say anotherword. Don t try to play me, John, Shawn finally said quietly as he stood andfaced John across the glass expanse. Whatever you think you have with me changedyears ago.I don t trust you one fucking bit, and no amount of handling us with kidgloves is going to change that. You re home, Shawn, John responded softly. Get some rest.You veearned it. LXXVII.THE slowest week in the history of the world followed their meeting with John andThierry.Shawn and Thiago were kept apart and each forced to have four moremeetings to relate what happened during their time with the Six, as the group wasnow officially called.After John and Thierry were both satisfied with what they told them, theytransferred Shawn and Thiago from the Facility, which was nothing more than amilitary bunker in the wilds of New Zealand, to what was simply called the Estate.They had only been there for three days, and Thiago already found himself goingslowly crazy.The Estate was a huge, ostentatious place the French locals thought belongedto a wealthy oil baron.It was luxury at its finest, and Thiago was beginning to hateevery inch of it.The Organization used it for all kinds of different things; meetings,missions, training, and spying on its own spies.Thiago wasn t stupid, he knew Johnsent them here under the guise of giving them a well-earned rest, only to be able tokeep them under a watchful eye for that much longer.Thiago sighed miserably and opened his eyes.He sat on the great stoneveranda, looking out over the vast expanse of green that led to the well-tended forestbeyond, and drank every ounce of alcohol he d been able to scavenge [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]