Page 16 of Acting on Instinct
“I’m going to be honest with you, Ty,” Banyon clasped her hands and leaned forward, looking him directly in the eyes, “Iniquus is not convinced that you’re a good fit for our organization despite the high recommendations that you’ve received.” She leaned back again, regaining a bit of space between them. “This has nothing to do with your capacity to handle tactical K9, and as a Delta Force operator, you absolutely have the skill set Iniquus is seeking. It’s a matter of character.”
“Ma’am?”
Chapter Six
Ty
No one had ever questioned Ty’s ethics to his face, or as far as he knew, behind his back. He wasn’t perfect by any stretch of imagination. He didn’t strive to be. His goal was to smooth his edges while staying potent, like aging whiskey. Ty consistently worked to develop a strong character, a steady ethos, and a high level of integrity. He strove to be dependable on and off mission.
“Tell me about your current girlfriend.” Dr. Banyon unlaced her hands, uncrossed her legs, and leaned back until she rested against the cushion behind her. See? She was open to what Ty had to say. “How did you meet?” Ty had learned a lot from Johnna White and her micromanagement of him when she was commanding him to manipulate himself onto the Tanzanian mission to eliminate Omar Imadi.
Ty shut everything down. His eyes became blank. “That’s a conversation I cannot have with you, ma’am.”
Banyon quirked a single eyebrow. “Even if it means losing your opportunity to become a Cerberus handler?”
“Classified, ma’am.”
Pulling up the manila folder that she’d wedged into her seat cushion, Banyon leafed through some pages, pulled one out, and slid it, face up, along the table toward Ty. Leaning in, she tapped the bottom. “You recognize the signature?”
Ty lifted the single page and read that he had his commander’s permission to answer questions about the Johnna White mission as it pertained to Ty’s relationship with Kira, as long as Ty didn’t reveal the location, mission objective, sources, or methods.
Banyon’s having a letter from his commander made sense to Ty, after all, Iniquus had tight ties with the Pentagon and JSOC. And that tight connection was how he thought he could perhaps keep a foot in both worlds as an IMA—an individual mobilization augmentee, a twenty-eight-day-a-year gig that allowed him to use his expertise handling K9s for The Unit to help advise. And, honestly, his desire to remain connected to the Pentagon was the topic he’d thought would be hardest hammered today. But it hadn’t been brought up even once during the two days of interviews and trials.
“I’m not interested in your mission, per se,” Dr. Banyon assured him. “I am, however, interested in your conduct and choices during the mission as it applies to your relationship with Kira. Is it all right with you that we call her Kira?”
He wondered if he should insist that Kira be called by her whole name to add some formality to Banyon’s line of questions. But in the end, one of the main reasons Ty thought that Iniquus was a good career move for him was that, as a company, they were fiercely protective of their own.
And though Kira was almost two years out from the mission that endangered her freedom and survival, Ty worried that she still wasn’t safe. Every time he was out on a task with Echo, all he wanted was to get back home and be ready to protect Kira from the dangers posed by her family, which formed a perpetual cloud over their relationship.
Ty knew that if he was out on a mission for Iniquus, Kira’s well-being would be managed by the most successful private security business enterprise in North America, possibly in the world. If she were to be part of the Iniquus family, Ty should make her sound that way from the start.
“Kira is just fine.” He cleared his throat. “But I’m not going to discuss Kira without her permission.”
“I’m not asking you about Kira’s thoughts or feelings. I’m asking you about your conduct. Would you characterize your role in your present relationship with Kira as her boyfriend?”
“I would.”
“And you manipulated her into her girlfriend role with the help of the CIA, Johnna White to be exact.”
“Yes.”
“You did so willingly.”
“On a professional level, I followed my oath and accepted my orders. On a personal level, I did so hesitatingly. In hindsight, I am nothing but grateful for all aspects of that mission.”
“You were ordered to function on U.S. soil?” Banyon asked.
“My functions on U.S. soil did not use any of my soldiering skills. My job for the CIA was to develop a relationship with their asset within the United States. My domestic activity was strictly concerning a foreign intelligence mission.”
“Johnna White has a knack for human manipulation. It’s a good thing that she uses it for the safety of American citizens. It would be catastrophic if she were our enemy.”
Ty said nothing.
“White took you under her wing and taught you how to manipulate to get your way.”
“That’s not how I’d characterize this situation, ma’am.”
“No? Let me start in a different spot. Storm Meyers is an Iniquus friend. She is a woman of immense intelligence and fortitude, and Delta Force Echo views her as a sister.”
