Fallout day, plus two.
Hollywood glanced at his colleagues and wondered how many of them were feeling the tension.
As far as he knew, only he and Kellen were aware of the bust up between Hannah and JT, but they were all aware of the friction between Hannah and Logan, and while there hadn’t been any disagreement since, there had certainly been no settling of differences.
Hannah didn’t seem to be any more convinced that Logan could keep his opinions to himself, and Logan didn’t seem any more inclined to say or do anything to convince her.
Hollywood caught Kellen’s eye and his friend glanced towards Logan. He casually changed the way he was sitting so he could get a better look at the Scot.
His tablet was on the table in front of him, but Logan wasn’t paying it any attention. His phone was on his lap, and he was typing away like he was writing a sequel to War and Peace.
Hollywood looked back at Kellen who rolled his eyes. Ok, so it was annoying that he was probably sending messages to that chick he met with the other day, but was it really up to Kellen or him to say anything?
They were team-mates, and as such they were equals, so not one of them was higher in rank than any of the others. Unfortunately.
“So, are your family Ok, Logan?” Yuri didn’t bother to lift his head before speaking. He kept his eyes on his tablet, his finger still swiping the screen.
Logan looked up at the Russian with a puzzled expression.
“As far as I know they’re fine.” He shook his head. “Why d’you ask?”
“Because the only reason I find acceptable for you to have been messaging on your phone for the last hour, is if someone really close to you was at death’s door.” Yuri explained, in quite a friendly way. “Of course, now you’ve said that’s not the case, perhaps you could put your phone down and get on with some of the work you’re being well-paid to do.”
Logan’s eyebrows moved an inch closer to his hairline as he sat back in surprise.
“What the fuck has my phone usage got to do with you?” He scoffed. “Who died and appointed you God?”
“My brother doesn’t think he’s God.” Kris chuckled. “But when he sees someone not doing the job they’re being paid to do, then it’s in his nature to speak out. As it is in mine.”
“So, it’s a Russian thing, yes? This interfering where it’s none of your business shit?” Logan growled. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“Actually, I don’t think it’s something that’s unique to one particular country.” Hollywood spoke up. “Yuri and Kris aren’t the only ones unimpressed with the amount of time you’ve spent on your phone, when you should have been finding out everything you can about the mission. I don’t like putting my life in the hands of someone who may or may not be capable of saving it. It leaves me nervous, and I don’t like being nervous.”
“Have you ever thought that I might have been reading quicker than you?” Logan sneered. “Or that I might have been going over this shit in my free time?”
“Well, you certainly haven’t been spending your lunch breaks doing any reading.” Hollywood shrugged. “Not when you’ve been having your meals across the road.”
He’d spotted Logan with company just that one time, so it was pure conjecture on his part that it might be a regular thing. But judging by the way Logan blushed, it looked like his guess might have hit a bullseye.
“Perhaps you should ask your wee lassie to give us all a test, then.” Logan snarled. “Just to see if we’ve all been doing the job properly.”
“I’m happy to do that.” Hannah’s voice at the door made them all turn around. “Assuming, that is, that I’m the ‘wee lassie’ you’re talking about.”
She turned around as though looking for someone else.
“Judging by the lack of other ‘lassies’ in the room, that’s not an unreasonable guess.” Evan grinned at Hannah. “And you have to admit, the description does kinda suit you.”
Hannah smiled back at the Welshman.
“I can’t argue that I’m a small female. It would be pointless.” She nodded. “But I do have concerns about why you feel a test of your knowledge would be necessary. Is there a reason why some of you don’t feel like everyone is up to speed?”
Hollywood kept his eyes averted, not prepared to be the one to ‘snitch’ on Logan. When nobody else spoke up, he guessed they were all in the same mood.
“Ok, if it’s going to be like that…” Hannah dropped the pile of things she was holding onto the table and pulled a notepad out of the pile. She walked around the table and ripped some pages out of the pad, placing one in front of each of the men.
“I’ve just had word that we may have to split you into two teams of three, rather than have three teams of two as expected.” She explained. “I want each of you to write down the names of two people you’d want on your team, and why.”
“Seriously?” Kris laughed. “Like we’re back in school or something, and we need to tell the teacher who we’d like to sit next to?”
“Not exactly.” Hannah smiled. “It’s more about knowing what skills you bring to the table, and who you think brings skills that complement yours. So, if two of you are expert marksmen, it doesn’t make sense to keep you on the same team. But where one of you is expert in hand-to hand combat, you might be better paired up with someone who has a completely different skillset.”
“And you want us to say who we want to be teamed up with?” Kellen grinned. “You mean, this might be my chance to finally get away from Hollywood after more than a decade? Yee-haw!”
Hollywood glanced up at his friend and flipped him off.
“I said that I wanted your ideas. I didn’t promise that you’d get what you asked for.” Hannah pointed out. “It’s as much an assessment of your observational skills as anything else, to find out whether you’ve actually learned anything about the men you’ll be working with. Remember, it’s not a popularity contest. It’s about recognising what skills you each possess and figuring out how well different people might work with you.”
Hannah walked back to her things and picked them up.
“I’ll leave you to think about it and will come back in an hour to pick up your suggestions.” Hannah pulled out a small box from her pocket, flicked the switch on the back and placed it in the middle of the table. “In case any of you are struggling with your focus, I’ll just leave that there to help you out.”
Kellen went to reach out to pick it up and examine it.
“What the…?” He murmured when the box started to emit a loud whine.
“Please don’t touch it. It doesn’t like to be tampered with.” Hannah pulled Kellen’s arm back and the whining faded to silence.
“What the hell is it?” Evan scratched his head, possibly trying to come up with some inspiration.
“It’s a little something I came up with to help my daughters with their homework.” Hannah smiled. “It blocks signals to mobile phones, to prevent you making or receiving calls, or sending or receiving text messages. It really helps focus the mind on what you’re supposed to be doing. It’s tamper-proof because you can’t get close to it without it making that awful whining sound.”
Hannah spoke directly to Evan, as he’d asked the question, but you really didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that the message was a clear one aimed at Logan.
The Scot didn’t say a word, but from where he was sitting, Hollywood could see Logan’s neck and ears were turning scarlet. Obviously, Hannah had heard their conversation, or why would she be doing something to get him off his phone?
Hannah turned for the door.
“I’ll be back in an hour to collect your lists.” She smiled. “Let’s see how imaginative you can be.”
Hollywood wondered whether any of the lists would include Logan’s name.
He wondered if Logan was having the same thought.