40. Jamison

"You're staring, Annabeth."

Annabeth ignored her and continued to watch Rowan sauntering around the media room decked out in black tactical gear. With his hair swept back from his handsome face, and the total control he had over the room, the man was making Annabeth drool in front of everyone.

"Earth to Annabeth," Jamison whispered as Rowan moved from computer to computer. "Are you with us?"

"No." Going serious, Annabeth straightened in the metal folding chair. "No, I am not. How am I supposed to be able to listen if Rowan is walking around looking like that? Who gave him those clothes?" She flapped a hand in exasperation. "And does he even know how to use a gun?"

Loaded down with weapons, Jamison spied two handguns strapped to Rowan's waist and some sort of hunting knife between his shoulder blades. "Well, he is from Texas."

"What does that matter?" Annabeth hissed, scooting her chair closer so her mother could join them at the folding table.

"He comes from a long line of ranchers."

"Again, that doesn't matter," Annabeth huffed, not convinced. "I don't know what's happening, but I don't want him getting hurt."

Jamison didn't know what was happening either, but when Liam stepped into the media room dressed identically to Rowan, she suddenly understood why Annabeth was in such a tizzy. It had been too long since she'd seen him in what she called his "go" gear, and it hit her right where it counted.

"Jesus."

"This should not be attractive. Something big is about to go down, and we should not be sitting here ogling. We should be helping," Annabeth whispered. "What is wrong with us?"

"It's not our fault." Jamison frowned at the increased weaponry Liam wore. It was so much more than usual. "Blame them."

"But what is happening?" Abe had rolled up while they were whispering, sticking his nose right into their conversation as he always did. "I'm all for watching Izzy strut around looking like my fantasy come to life, but I have no idea what is going on."

None of them did. When they left the townhouse this morning, Liam had said all would be explained once his parents arrived.

"The not knowing is the worst part," Bernie spoke up from across the table. "You have to learn to trust, and that's not easy for humans."

"If not knowing is the worst part, we'll survive." Her father came over to sit and not so patiently wait. "But they've been at it for hours."

"Give him a minute, Ben," Bernie said, looking tired after their flight. She and Will had taken one of the Fairweather planes, but she didn't like to travel much, preferring to stay at their small farm in Virginia. "Will thinks he knows what he's doing, but I guarantee that your man Rowan is handling most of the work."

Jamison shared a look with her father. He had a soft spot for Bernie, and likely didn't care for the paleness in her cheeks. "Can I get you anything, Bernie?" he asked. "A cup of coffee?"

Bernie smiled, the chin to temple jagged scar drawing tight. "Coffee would be lovely."

As her father left to get the coffee, Bernie watched him go. "The coffee is more for him than me. I learned a long time ago that big men need small tasks when they're dropped into a situation they can't control."

Jamison chuckled. While Liam's father might be the famous behavioral analyst, it was his mother who was the real genius of the family.

Rowan shut the door and flicked the lock. "I promise to move all the seating back in here myself, Simone. It'll be arranged just as you had it."

Simone didn't reply, and Jamison hoped Rowan understood that meant he was in trouble. He and Liam had moved all the furniture out except for the folding chairs and tables.

Over in the corner, a beep sounded.

"Almost ready." Will crouched in front of a large metal box with switches and black cables protruding out of it. "Rowan, give it a ping," he said, and glanced up at Klausen hovering next to him. "Are you sure you adjusted the antenna correctly?"

Klausen rolled his eyes. "This is a highly illegal piece of equipment, Dr. Cohen, and while I am not familiar with it, I do think I am capable of propping up a piece of wire."

As the single federal agent permitted in the room, Klausen seemed to have garnered a new respect from Liam and his dad.

"No go." Rowan tapped at a laptop. "Try again."

"Let me see what I can do." Abe rolled over to help, even though he knew nothing about electronics. Izzy passed him as he went, the two of them grinning at each other.

"Here you go." Izzy handed Jamison a walkie talkie. "Everyone needs to keep one of these on them at all times."

"We can't use the burners?" Jamison asked.

"You can, but Rowan might be working with this new equipment for a few days, and…" Izzy shook her head. "Well, you'll see in a minute."

She sat with them, and Jamison eyeballed her clothing. Dressed the same as Liam and Rowan, the clothing looked utterly feminine on Izzy.

"Did my brother lose his mind when he saw you in that getup?" Annabeth asked.

Izzy's lips twitched as she slid a laptop over to work on. "He did express his appreciation for the way my ass looked in these pants." Realizing Simone was listening, she gasped. "I am so sorry, ma'am."

"We've all noticed those little sighs you let out whenever he does something cute," Simone replied dryly. "I'm well aware that my son is not a monk, and you'll find that I'm not at all the judgmental type."

Not the judgmental type?

Jamison turned away with Annabeth at the blatant lie, not wanting to laugh outright.

"Abe is very sweet. I like him," Izzy said as she typed on her laptop. "But I'm not the only one letting out sighs. Jamison was doing quite a bit of sighing when I played Uber driver this morning."

All eyes shifted in her direction, and Jamison slouched in her uncomfortable chair. "We stayed the night at Dee's townhouse. What did you think we were doing?"

Simone did not look amused. "Please tell me you washed the sheets."

"And wiped down the table, thank you very much."

Rubbing her temples, Simone mumbled to herself, "Jesus, save me from these children."

Annabeth and Izzy grinned, but Bernie was positively beaming at the news. She reached across a grumbling Simone to take Jamison's hand. "I'm so happy."

"I think we're going to be okay."

"Here's your coffee, Bernie." Her father returned and handed the paper cup to Liam's mother. He frowned at Simone. "What's wrong with you?"

"Did you know Jamison and Liam were back together?" Simone's eyes snapped open to narrow at him. "Did you know and not tell me, Benjamin?"

"They stayed over at Dee's place last night." He backed away slowly, heading toward the all-male discussion taking place by the mysterious machine. "What the hell did you think they were doing?"

"And why was there a table involved?" Annabeth asked when he was out of earshot. "That's what I want to know."

"I don't," Simone said. "Talk about something else."

"How was Evie yesterday?" Bernie asked. "Josie was terribly worried when we stopped to pick her up on the way here. I think if she knew how to fly a plane, she would have taken over the cockpit and got us here faster."

Bernie took great delight in studying them all, fascinated by the family dynamic.

"She was better than I thought she would be," Jamison said.

"And Samuel?" Bernie tilted her head, as if already knowing the answer. "I heard how he threw out the guards, except for poor Holden."

"He's keeping it together in front of the girls and Evie," Simone replied. "But I have never seen that boy so scared. It'll give him comfort to have Josie close."

"Evie said he's making the girls sleep in their bed," Jamison added. "Like he can't let them out of his sight."

"My boys did that." Bernie took a sip from her cup, grimacing at its contents. "There was always one awake and one asleep, rotating in shifts around me until I forced them to stop. Will and Liam meant well, but the constant hovering eventually got on my nerves."

"Evie will keep distracted with the girls, and I'm telling y'all right now, that baby is going to arrive sooner rather than later," Simone said. "Fairweathers have to be dramatic about everything, and this next one will be no different."

"Hey, I'm not dramatic," Jamison grumbled. "I just have a little extra flair to my personality."

"While you're absolutely correct about Evie, she's not the one I'm worried about," Bernie said. "A man like Samuel will not do well if threatened."

"Holden can keep him in check," Izzy offered. "His mom is a nurse practitioner and Chasity specializes in mental health. I think Liam assigned him and not me to Samuel and Evie because Holden grew up learning what to do if he needs to pull someone out of their head."

Jamison studied Izzy. There was so much about her and Holden she didn't know. "Interesting."

Rowan whistled loudly to gain everyone's attention. "We're up and running." He dropped into a chair at the front of the room, intently working on a laptop with skulls all over the back. "I need thirty minutes."

As the men took their seats, Simone leaned over to whisper in Jamison's ear. "While we're discussing being stuck in one's head, I want you to talk to Annabeth about Rowan. He's been working in here non-stop, and she's kept her distance, but I think that's because he's making it known that he has no intention of going anywhere once this is over."

Rowan popped up from his seat, obviously excited. He went to grab something from another table, and snuck a quick kiss in with Annabeth, who half-heartedly swatted him away.

"Or I could just stay out of it," Jamison said, watching as the movie screen turned on. "If there's one thing Rowan knows how to handle, it's women."