Page 99 of Gryphon

He looked at Holly, still rapt at the replay. Not that anything in Georgia became news here in the States, but that bolt of flame or explosion or whatever Holly wanted to call it, racing toward the camera, made for damn good film. No one would be changing the channel soon and the broadcasters knew it.

Hope did go a long way. Was it strong enough that he might want to spend more of his life with…what had he called her, a daily royal pain in the ass of a woman? Perhaps that was something worth hoping for—even worth fighting for? He’d never fought for much in his life, always following the easy flow. Maybe the time to try had arrived.

He looked up at the ceiling, where Miranda remained ensconced in her room.

Hope.

He slipped out his phone and, without asking Holly, sent a text message.

Tomorrow. 0700. Same place.

Sometimes a Team of One was right and at other times desperately wrong. But what if something could be right for him, Holly, Miranda, and for the team?

He risked a small prayer that this time, acting as a Team of One himself, he would not be so very wrong.

Epilogue

“I’m here.” Andi didn’t offer anything more than the simple statement in a dead tone. Not even to ask why Mike had contacted her. It was the same spot they’d found her watching the team house from the week after Holly threw her out, a block from the team’s house in Gig Harbor, Washington.

It was a cool, crisp Pacific Northwest morning, a welcome relief after the deep chill of Sweden.

Mike had trouble believing the change that had come over Andi in these last months. A glance at Holly, the pain in her eyes, said that she hadn’t missed the change either.

Andi came from serious money without flaunting it. She’d chosen the Army over law. Which had turned out to be a good choice when the family’s San Francisco law firm had been caught selling military and Silicon Valley secrets to China and Russia en masse. She’d been one of the few members of her extended family not to be facing treason charges and decades in prison. Her mother and grandmother would never walk free again.

But the money and upbringing had always showed through. She’d had exceptional taste and always appeared as neat as a pin. Casual in high-end jeans, maybe a plain jewel-tone blouse of Indian cotton, and a fine-leather bomber jacket. Her black hair cut neat to her shoulders; her Army boots polished.

Now, the petite Chinese woman looked worn. Nothing major: a tattered cuff on her jeans, a small stain on her blouse, her hair hanging long and in need of a trim. And definitely worn down in one, far more important, way. Like Jeremy, she’d always been a positive force on the team. Unlike Jeremy, she’d done it from a steady, calm core that the Army had trained all the way into her bones. Or perhaps she’d been born that way.

Not now.

“What have you been doing, Andi?” Mike kept his voice soft.

“Flying,” her voice as flat as her expression. None of the light that had so defined her remained in her face. “Robinson R-22s. Flight instructor.”

Mike managed to suppress his gasp of horror. She’d been one of the best helicopter pilots—anywhere. Captain Andi Wu had been a lead for the 160th Night Stalkers Special Operations Aviation Regiment next-generation rotorcraft testing program. Making her perhaps the best small-helo combat pilot in any branch of the service. Coming to Miranda’s team only after a horrid attack killed her copilot and the resultant PTSD ended her career prematurely.

For her to give lessons to beginners in the simplest of all helicopters was worse than any punishment he could have imagined.

Holly’s action, and his own inaction, had damaged far more than breaking her away from Miranda.

“What are the rules?” Andi didn’t look up, but she was facing Holly.

Holly’s face was contorted in pain and indecision. She looked as if she wanted to embrace Andi herself and welcome her back with no other questions, as well as beat the shit out of her for what Andi had done. Holly turned to him with a desperate plea for help written clear in her eyes.

A team of two? Holly had listened to him—for once. Maybe it was a new beginning. There was that hope feeling again.

“Andi,” he managed to suppress the tightness in his throat and speak normally around it. “There’s only one rule: Miranda’s.”

Andi glanced up at him sideways through narrowed eyes.

“If she says you leave,” Holly found her voice though he heard the tight pain in it, “all I wanna see is your soldier’s ass hustling over the next ridge.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

Again Holly was struck dumb.

Mike shrugged. “It’s her team, her life, and…” he took a steadying breath, “…her call.” Whatever the consequences—which scared the crap out of him, though he remained vigilant not to show it.

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