Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“You thought if the sergeant was bad, the rest of us were,” Big Tag said.
“I thought there was a possibility that something had gone wrong,” Oliver admitted.
“Look, the truth of the matter is we have a long family history of being betrayed by people we should have been able to trust,” Samantha said, her expression grave. “Not only did my father’s partner try to kill him, Ollie and I had a colleague who nearly cost our whole team their lives. I’m afraid we came into the situation with what you Americans would call baggage, and I apologize for that. I don’t think recriminations are going to help us at this point. I think the better plan of attack is to lay our cards on the table and hope that Mr… What do you go by these days?”
Samantha was doing an excellent job keeping their ties hidden.
“Mr. Lemon works, but he can call me Ian. Everyone at the Agency does, after all.” His uncle wouldn’t give away his last name ever. No matter how much he trusted another operative. “Tell me how you came to the conclusion the sergeant is involved with the arms dealer known as The Jester.”
“I’d like to know why it was specifically your team that rescued him,” Ben countered. “I know he was kidnapped a few days ago by a German mobster who is trying to find the true identity of The Jester. I found it interesting yours was the team the Agency sent in.”
“He’s my boyfriend. Of course my team saved him,” Lou said suddenly. “I would have done it myself if they hadn’t come with me.”
A brow cocked over Ben’s eyes. “Boyfriend? That doesn’t seem like a good idea when you have to work with him.”
“Yeah, well no one listens to good ideas on this team,” Big Tag muttered under his breath.
Her hand came out, covering his. “We’ve been off and on for a long time. It might not be a good idea, but it’s the way we are, and I wouldn’t leave him behind any more than he would leave me, so if you think you could turn me against him, you’re wrong.”
She was covering, giving them a reason beyond being childhood friends and family members for the team to come after him.
“And I help Lou since she always backs my questionable decisions,” Kenzie added.
“We’re a team, and I’m well aware that Lou has questionable taste,” Zach said, but he gave her a wink as though he thoroughly approved of what she was trying to do.
And TJ approved because it meant whenever Ben was around, Lou had to play the doting girlfriend. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I thank the heavens for her bad taste otherwise I might still be in Germany getting tortured.”
“Not at all,” Oliver countered. “I had started making plans to get you out the minute we realized they had you. I was surprised they moved so quickly.”
“Our intel came from the Dark Web,” Sami explained.
“We connected the dots when we realized someone put out feelers to kidnap your sister or your mother,” Ben continued. “I take it you managed to switch them out for another operative and she saved you.”
“Lou saved me.” He wanted to make that plain.
Suddenly he was okay with Parker hanging around for a while. In a couple of weeks, Lou would be used to him being on top of her all the time and she wouldn’t feel the need to date anymore because she would have a boyfriend.
Parker turned his attention to Kenzie, who looked cool and calm with boobs half hanging out. There was no way to miss the fact that Parker had to force himself to look her in the eyes. “I would have thought they would send in the infamous Ms. Magenta. Or do you only offer saves for your boyfriend on the team?”
Kenzie frowned. “I don’t have a boyfriend on the team. I don’t have a boyfriend at all.”
Parker nodded toward Cooper, who was already sighing. “That’s not what he thinks.”
Well, at least Parker proved he didn’t know they were twins.
Kenzie’s nose wrinkled. “Ewww, Coop is like my brother. I wouldn’t touch him. Ewww.”
Coop sat back. “Yeah, that was for the op, man. Lou and TJ are the only couple on the team, and TJ won’t be on the team for long.”
He didn’t have to put it like that. “I’m still Army. I work on Special Forces teams dedicated to helping the Agency. I’m on assignment here until we figure out why someone thinks I know an international arms dealer.”
“Now that we’ve figured out who is sleeping with whom and who is potentially available to sleep with, can we get to why we’re here?” Zach asked, and his uncle grunted, obviously handing the meeting over to the captain. “If anyone needs a checklist, I’ll pass one out at the end of the meeting. Until then, let’s shove those hormones deep.”