Free Finding Grace by Rhea Rhodan Page B

the
little tree that had broken his fall. He heard Paul pick up the
phone.
    * * * *
    Goddamnit. The tree was supposed to just break her
fall, not snare her. She was stuck like a bunny in a hedge. She
couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t seem to stop the waves
of panic rolling through her. Then she felt Jack’s powerful grip
around one of her wrists, then the other. He lifted her up like she
weighed about as much as a rabbit. She grunted when her left side
hit the window frame, the wave of pain reminding her that she was
being pulled back into the wolves’ den. She struggled until her
feet hit the floor and he surprised her by letting her go. She went
for the door, but Paul was blocking it. There was nowhere to go.
Trapped and helpless, she slid down into the corner, hugged her
legs and concentrated on breathing, on silencing the roar in her
ears.
    She barely heard Paul’s voice. “Easy now. It’s okay,
Thorne. You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you. None of us would
ever hurt you.”
    Her breath still choppy and hoarse even for her, she
watched him standing in the doorway. “Liar.” She breathed in
through her nose. “I saw it in your eyes. You were going to tell
them because you were angry and you don’t believe me and you don’t
trust me. Because you think I’m fucked up.” He’d intended to tear
away the only layer of protection she’d had all these years and he
didn’t think that would hurt her?
    She saw his right eye twitch, but he ignored her
words and said, “Hawks called. The tent they were in was blown to
bits by an IED eleven minutes after Dagger called them.” He pushed
himself off the door jamb and took a step toward her. “How did you
know, Thorne?”
    What he was looking for, she couldn’t give him. “You
know how I knew. You all know how I knew. You just don’t want to
believe it.” She paused to catch another breath and pushed herself
up using the walls, her shaky legs barely holding her. “I can’t
trust you if you don’t trust me, boss. This whole thing was a bad
idea. Tell Captain America I appreciate—”
    The deep rumble of Jack’s voice stopped her. “So
what if he didn’t believe you? Give him a break. Paul wasn’t here,
he didn’t see it. If I hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have believed
it, either. But I was, and I did, and two good men are still alive.
You’re crazier than you look if you think we’re gonna let you go
now.” He crossed his arms like he had the last word, the arrogant
bastard.
    A strong gust of wind drove a sling of ice pellets
through the broken window.
    “Farley, why don’t you go down in the basement and
find something to cover this up until I can get someone in to fix
it. Oh, and see what’s left of that chair on the sidewalk, will
you? I need to contact the local CO over there and set up an
extraction. Then I’m calling FedCo.” Paul turned back to the
door.
    That was it? That was all he was going to say?
Another arrogant bastard.
    He stopped and turned to face the room again. “For
what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the misunderstanding, Thorne. And
I’m glad Dagger listened to you.” He smiled at Jack but barely
looked at her when he added, “He’s right, we want you to stay. Go
ahead and take the rest of the afternoon off. We’ll see you
Monday.” He turned and paused in the doorway. Without looking back,
he said, “Or better yet, join us at O’Leary’s as soon as I’m done
here. Drinks on me.”
    He waited, not moving, his back still toward her.
The big chicken. She knew guilt when she saw it and an apology when
she heard one, half-assed though it was. Still, she couldn’t. It
was too much for him to ask.
    “Sorry, I’ve had enough excitement today, this week,
whatever. But I’ll see you on Monday.” She tried to sound cool.
    He finally turned around and made an obvious effort
to smile. “Sure. Oh, and you’d better be wearing a real winter
jacket next time I see you.”
    “Yes, boss.” She threw