Page 163 of Shadowfox
My fists clenched beneath the table. “We were there. We watched it go under. We saw the current drag its shattered parts away.”
Silence.
For a beat, it was just the rain against the windows and the sound of Will’s fingers tapping the tabletop.
“I believe you,” Manakin said at last. “But belief isn’t enough. You’ll be interviewed separately. We are no longer in the good ole days of the OSS. This new CIA, the one that isn’t fully formed yet but is still in charge, thinks and acts differently. This isn’t a change in leadership; it’s a whole shift in philosophy and direction. We’re all . . . adjusting. The Agency wants a full reconstruction.”
“That sounds fantastic.” Egret’s sarcasm stripped the shine off the table.
Manakin cocked one brow.
Sparrow sighed. “When?”
“When what?”
“When will they want a deeper dive?”
“Tomorrow. Tonight, you rest. There’s a secure house waiting for you. Wear civilian clothing—and no comms for forty-eight hours. Standard lockdown.” Manakin looked at each of us in turn. “You’re a fine team. I’m supposed to spend another few hours making you replay every detail of your mission, but I think we all know how that would go. Take my advice, and don’t play games with these CIA guys. They’re pros, and they don’t give a shit about you or me, only their mandate.”
“And Eszter?” I asked.
“She’s already on her way to Paris. We have her under protective custody with the French Directorate. She’ll be safe, educated, and watched. No one’s letting that mind drift far.”
Will leaned closer to me. “So she made it.”
I nodded.
“She made it,” I whispered.
Manakin stood and gathered his folder. He looked like a man whose job required him to clean up blood with paper. “I’ll be filing this as a partial success. You kept a weapon of unfathomable power out of the hands of our adversary. It was unorthodox execution with maximum disruption.”
Will snorted. “He already sounds like those CIA guys.”
Manakin’s lips almost curled. Almost.
“We all do what we must.”
He paused at the door.
“Get some rest. Our country needs you, each of you.”
Then he was gone.
The door clicked shut.
None of us moved for a long time.
Then Egret broke the silence with a soft, bitter chuckle. “Partial success. Is that like half pregnant?”
Sparrow jabbed him with her elbow, but her eyes glimmered with amusement.
After a moment, her features smoothed, and she said, “We made it out. We saved the girl. That’s not partial. That’s everything.”
I looked down at my bandage, the remnants of pain still clinging like smoke from a fire.
“She’s the future,” I said.
Will nodded. “And we gave it back to her.”
