Page 52 of Hollow State

"If you want, I'll go get Gideon. He can create a channel, and you two can talk while they're moving. Fifteen minutes, easy."

"Thanks, but no. It's not a good use of the equipment or of Gideon. Besides, it puts one more signal in the air on a night when we're already putting a wanted man inside a very busy hospital." Wynn picked up her wine. "And if I say it to him for the first time over a radio while he's driving into that, then it isn't me telling him I love him. It's me giving him something to carry."

"I get why you see it that way and respect that you want to wait until he gets back."

"You know what I struggle with even more?" Wynn asked. "All this time, I've been going out on missions, taking risks, and he kisses me goodbye in private. I could tell it affected him, but it wasn't heavy. This feels heavy."

"Gideon stresses every time I walk out that door, and he's not with me."

"I know." Wynn laughed. "Darwin once told me Gideon yells at the tech like it's capable of talking back."

"We all handle these things differently."

"I never thought about what it might be like for Darwin when I left the bunker." She turned the glass. "I've never dated a man who put his life on the line. I've never been in this position before."

"It's not easy."

"I wanted to tell Darwin not to go. To let me go instead. And if he loved me, he wouldn't get in the vehicle."

"And not a single one of those statements is fair," Zadie said. "I've gone out that door a dozen times and never asked Gideon for permission. And when he goes without me, I would be mad if he asked me if it were okay."

"That's very evolved for someone who was making airplane noises at a fuel can an hour ago."

"I was entertaining myself." Zadie stuffed a cracker in her mouth. "Both Gideon and Darwin have military training. That just doesn’t leave a person."

Wynn snorted. "Have you seen Darwin shoot?"

"Yeah, but he's getting better." Zadie smiled. "Darwin and the rest of the team will be okay."

"I'll drink to that thought." Wynn raised her glass and forced only positive vibes to swim in her brain. It was about time this team had something go their way.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Darwin stuffed his hands in his pockets and kept his head down as he turned the corner into the courtyard.

"I don't see anything that looks suspicious," Coulter said in Darwin's ear. "Just keep walking like you've got somewhere to be."

Darwin tried not to crack a smile. He figured that might draw attention to himself, and that wouldn't be good. He ran his fingers through his damp hair.

It wasn’t raining, but a slight mist had been falling ever since they got to Vancouver. The first month he'd been on the run, he thought he'd missed this city. But being back here, he realized, not so much. He enjoyed living out in the middle of nowhere.

Even if it was in a bunker.

He lifted his gaze for a moment. A few people were out, and they shuffled their feet quickly toward wherever they were headed. No one wanted to stay out in this miserable drizzle. But he enjoyed it. And coming back to Vancouver General was nostalgic, even if his anxiety sent his pulse through the roof.

The trees along this stretch had been in the ground at least fifty years.

The buildings were packed in so tightly there was barely a lane between them.

"It looks like you're coming up on the right turn," Coulter said. "Are you ready for me to have Gideon contact Liam?"

"Yes," Darwin said softly.

"Before you get to that door, take out the comms device."

"Understood."

"As soon as you're back outside, put it back in. We'll be waiting."