“It’s not going to work.” Hannah flopped down into a seat in JT’s Guardians’ office, and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples as though to ease an aching head.
“Care to be more specific?” JT watched her intently, not used to seeing Hannah be negative, or act in any way defeatist. “Are we talking about the new microwave oven the guy is fitting into the staff kitchen as we speak? Or something a little more life-threatening?”
“You can jest!” Hannah growled. “But I am indeed referring to something life-threatening, and the lives in question are our new Guardians.”
JT stared at Hannah in surprise.
“Ok, I’m all ears.” He sat back in his chair. “What’s on your mind?”
Hannah stopped rubbing her temples and opened her mouth to speak, before pausing and shutting it again.
In JT’s experience, that meant that Hannah had been about to let loose a tirade, and she was even now trying to temper her words to make them more balanced.
“What do you think of Logan?” When she finally spoke, Hannah’s words left him stunned.
“Logan?” JT asked, more than a little confused. “He’s a fine soldier, or, I should say, he ‘was’ a fine soldier before he left the military. He came to us by way of Delta company, and all of the reports from his peers and superiors speak of a great team player, a man of courage and integrity, and someone you can turn to in a jam. I wouldn’t have hired him otherwise. Why?”
“Did you ever hear anything about a problem with his attitude towards women?” Hannah asked, frowning.
“What attitude?” JT leaned forward now, frowning as hard as Hannah. “Has he been rude to you? Disrespectful?”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not rude to me, exactly.” She explained. “But I was telling them about Ilya Federov and his sister Nikita, and the comments Logan made about Nikita were absolutely awful. He had nothing but contempt for her, and worse, he seemed to have made up his mind already that she must be as big a scumbag as her big brother, if not bigger. He doesn’t even know the full facts.”
“Do we know that she’s any different?” JT asked.
“JT, that’s not the point!” Hannah protested. “It doesn’t matter what she is or isn’t, or whether she’s straight out of the convent or a devil in hot-pants. What matters is that Logan can’t go around scowling at her and treating her with contempt. The essential point is that she’s Ilya’s sister, and the Guardians have to treat her with neutrality or risk putting the whole mission in jeopardy.”
JT nodded, but stayed silent for a moment, unsure what he could share with Hannah.
“I’ve never known Logan to be disrespectful like that, but I do know of something in his past that might influence his thinking in this case.” JT admitted. “I’ll speak to him about it, and make sure it won’t affect his performance.”
Hannah stared at JT for several seconds before her jaw dropped open in surprise.
“That’s it?” She huffed. “You know of something that could affect this operation, but you’re not going to share it with me? You’re just going to ‘speak to him about it’?”
JT knew Hannah didn’t like people keeping secrets from her, but sometimes there were things you just couldn’t share.
“I don’t think Logan is going to be a problem to you or the operation, Hannah.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry I can’t give you any more detail than that, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. It won’t affect how you go about doing your job.”
Hannah sat in his office glaring at him, leaving JT in no doubt she was well on the way to an eruption. What he wasn’t sure about was whether he should be preparing for evacuation, or whether earplugs would suffice.
“How many years have we worked together.” Hannah asked quietly, taking him by surprise.
“I’m not sure.” JT shrugged. “Maybe ten or eleven?”
“And in all that time, have I ever given you any reason to believe that I can’t be relied upon to keep something confidential?” Hannah continued. “Have you a reason to not trust me?”
“None whatsoever.” JT leaned his arms on the desk. “But I also have to respect that our employees have a right to confidentiality as well, and that includes who their information is shared with within the company. You know that, Hannah.”
“Even if it could have consequences for the operation?” Hannah asked. “For the safety of the men?”
“I understand your concerns, honey, I really do.” JT nodded. “And I will speak to Logan myself to see if there is really anything to worry about. But I don’t think there is. And once I’ve confirmed that, I’ll give Logan the green light to carry on as planned.”
Hannah continued to stare at JT, and once again, he felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
“I have worked this case from the beginning, nurturing the relationship with the contact, getting everything to do with the Guardians up and running, and getting the fake auction set up.” Hannah pointed out. “And you expect me to take your word for it that Logan, about whom I have serious reservations, is fit for duty, simply because you’re going to have a little ‘chat’ with him?”
“Hannah, I…” JT didn’t get a chance to finish.
“Because, I am not prepared to put our team’s lives, or the lives of all those women, on the line. Especially not if you’re going to brush real issues under the carpet and pretend your little Delta buddy just needs a little ‘chat’ to get him on board!” Every word was now coming from between Hannah’s gritted teeth. “Because if this is more than an attitude problem, and we’re talking about a veteran with PTSD, then you owe it to Logan, me, and the rest of the team to make sure that we do something to help him, and not put him in a situation which will cause him further problems and endanger our men.”
JT stared at Hannah, and could never recall having seen her so angry, and, well, hurt.
“Hannah, I honestly don’t think that’s what we’re looking at, and you might be seeing problems that don’t exist because you’re so vested in this operation.” He said calmly. “But, just in case it is in any way a factor, will you accept my assurance that I will explore the possibility with Logan when I see him. If necessary, I’ll insist he has a conversation with Drew, so I can get a second opinion before I send him out into the field.”
Hannah bit her lip before finally nodding.
“Ok. I’ll trust that you will speak to Logan, and you’ll involve Drew if there’s the slightest suspicion of PTSD or other psychological problems.” She stood up. “But can I just remind you, that while the decision rests with you, so does the responsibility. As an employee of the company, I believe I have the right to voice my concerns, and I’m formally notifying you, as my employer, that I have very serious concerns which I expect you to take seriously. If you send Logan on this mission and it all turns to shit, and people get killed, then the buck stops with you, JT. You need to decide whether those shoulders of yours are still wide enough to carry that sort of responsibility.”
Hannah didn’t wait for him to respond, she just stood and walked from the room, leaving JT feeling like crap.
Logan was entitled to his privacy, but Hannah was JT’s equal, in every way that mattered.
Should he have explained to her what Logan’s problem was?
He picked up his phone and called up Logan’s contact details.
“My office. Now!” He typed and sent the message before he could call it back.
Hannah was right. If Logan fucked up this operation and men got killed, it would be on JT’s watch, and he was damned if he was going to let that happen.
He needed to get to the bottom of what was going on with the Scot, and then he had to go and apologise to Hannah.
He called up his contacts again and hit the call button. The call connected within two rings.
“Drew? I’ve got a problem that requires your expertise. Can you meet me in my Guardians office right away?”