Page 31 of Evening Shadows

Ken didn’t look at her as he spoke, even with his mic on, “We’re not taking him back to her.”

As she’d expected, that had been aimed to her, and no one contradicted him. Maybe that’s why he didn’t turn off his mic. He wanted to show her they were united in this.

“I’d hoped you wouldn’t.”

While waiting for Stone to catch up, they took a sidetrack that was important to the end of this mission that surprised her. “Today, Devon will talk with our lawyers. We’ll find him a better situation.” He paused and turned to her, waiting until she did the same before he asked his question. “Do you want it to be you?” This time, he did turn off his mic so only she heard and followed his example even though it wasn’t allowed on an op. With Ken as the boss and the delicate topic, she hadn’t hesitated to mute hers also.

Her heart pounded so fast she worried her chest might explode with hope and happiness. With HIS behind her, she could make this happen. She couldn’t hold back her smile and didn’t think twice about how she’d just shifted her rifle. “Yes,” she breathed.

Smiling, he nodded to her rifle for her to be ready to reset. After they lined her back up and she’d had enough of him telling her “come up two clicks,” and more, she finally told him, “Thanks for coming along, but I know what the hell I’m doing.”

He chuckled then told the team, “While we’d have loved the time to learn the guards’ habits and schedules, with Beverly inserting herself, we don’t have the time. There’s no telling what she’s done or will do next.” He paused and no one disagreed. “Devon promised the bird will be at the extraction point in two hours, so we get the party started as soon as Stone arrives and hoof it double-time to get our asses closer to home. If we see a major change in security, we’ll know she outed us and will adjust accordingly.”

Her stomach knotted again at Bev’s stupidity in coming here. What if she had Cody hidden in the car? Damn, she wished she could’ve seen more.

While Ken double-checked that Devon had also confirmed the airplane pilot would be ready for liftoff when the helo dropped them at the airfield, Sam checked areas with her rifle for any tangos, while playing the team’s game of “find me if you can.” She had a general idea where they’d hidden, but the exact location was her goal. Their goal was to keep themselves hidden enough so she couldn’t get them in her sights. If she could, someone else could.

“I’ll be glad when we get back to the plane. I hope he restocked the chow,” Cowboy said.

“It’s food, not chow,” Franks informed him. “If we’re going to learn some of your jargon, you could at least use some normal speak.”

“We do use normal speak. Mostly it’s vowels, but still,” Doc said with a chuckle.

The joking continued until Cowboy taunted, “You’re slipping, Sugar. You should’ve at least spotted Franks by now.”

“Screw you, you PJ,” Franks tossed back.

Cowboy laughed. “Like that’s a bad thing. A DEA fellow like you requires help from someone like me to keep your ass alive.”

Sam smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, he’s screwed.”

“You don’t see me,” Cowboy said, appalled at the thought.

“Oh, yeah, I do. I’d know that hat anywhere. Just had to be different from the rest of us.”

Even the Old Man chuckled with that. As expected, said head slipped down out of sight.

She enjoyed that any team leader allowed this while they waited. Someone always watched and didn’t participate, but the rest could do a bit of both.

“Sugar,” Doc said solemnly, breaking her smile, “about Cody. We’ve got a few minutes to talk.”

Her breath caught. She couldn’t stand it if one of them told her he couldn’t go home with her.

Ken touched her to get her attention and pointed back at the compound so they could get lined up again.

“We were talking on the plane,” Doc began, and she didn’t have to ask who with. Even before the team split, her four teammates—not included her team boss—had been thick as thieves. “Since we’ve agreed he can’t go back home, we think you should petition for guardianship of Cody.”

Had they heard her and Ken? She’d thought both their mics had been off. Her heart swelled at their understanding and what would be best for the boy.

“It’d be better for your chances for guardianship if you were married.”

She choked on her own breath.

“Well,” Doc continued hesitantly, “since you don’t have a beau, we thought you could marry one of us.”

Her head spun trying to get around this conversation and the one her teammates must’ve had. While sweet of them, she didn’t plan to wed any of them, but she’d play this game. “Oh really. Who did you have in mind?”

No one answered right away, so she wondered if they were still fighting it out or hadn’t expected her to take the bait.

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