Page 7 of Evening Shadows

“It’ll suck not working side by side with you.”

“I’m sure we’ll have some ops that require both teams.” In fact, Ken knew one was in the offer stage. Once Jesse accepted it, most of the team would be gone for as long as it took. Due to the need to expedite everything since it included a child abduction, Ken expected to hear about it shortly.

“I imagine that’d be the case.” Rob half stood. “I’ve gotta debrief.”

Per Jesse’s orders, Ken was to delay Rob while he pulled the specifics for that op and ensured Rob accepted the new team leader role. “We thought, since everyone was here, we could present the team concept to them.”

“Christ, Boss, the team is exhausted.” He really didn’t care for “Boss,” but he’d been dubbed that and that’s what the team called him. Except Sam, in private. And the Hamiltons. Maybe because they’d grown up together, the brothers had never stuck with any callsigns they’d been given either in their careers.

“I know, but this is important and shouldn’t take long.”

Spotting paperwork Ken had dropped on the desk, Rob scooted forward. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Including us, there’re twelve agents. We’ll each have a sharpshooter and a field medic.”

Rob looked up from his perusal of the list Ken had handed him. “But we only have one medic—Rodney.”

Reaching across the desk, he tapped his finger on a name listed on the paper. “We’ve hired Ash McNabb. Casper was a D-boy and a paramedic before he became a Green Beret then Delta.”

Rob whistled, as he should for someone with such elite experience. Respect and all.

“As for team designations, I’ll lead Alpha team and you’ll lead Bravo team.”

A grin split Rob’s face. “Still making me second, aren’t you?”

“Filling these big shoes is hard,” Ken jested.

“Big shoes, my ass.”

Ken chuckled. “You’re just jealous.”

Rob snorted. “You just keep thinking that.”

“All right, let’s get back to this so we can get you out there and announce it to the group.” Motioning his head toward a single sheet of paper, he explained, “That’s the suggested breakout. But this will be your team too, so it’s not set in stone until we both agree.”

“So your sniper is Sugar, while I have Nemo.”

Ken nodded in agreement. “We’ll beef up that position to two on each team as soon as we can find sharpshooters that fit.”

Looking up from the list, Rob smiled slyly. “How about we switch?”

Without warning, Ken bristled at the remark. Although it felt like jealousy, he refused to admit it. “What’s wrong with Nemo?” Neftali, aka Nef, aka Nemo, had also been a SEAL, so he and Rob should get along great.

“Nothing. Sugar’s just better to look at.”

Anger raged through him, and he could’ve sprung over the table and strangled the man if his hip and professional restraint hadn’t held him back. Sam was millions times better to look at, but he didn’t want anyone else believing that. He’d try Jesse’s approach to when he’d attempted to resign. “No.”

His second-in-command laughed. At him. What the hell? He hadn’t done anything that warranted the humorous response. He decided moving on would be the best option. “For a medic, I’ll keep Rodney and you can use Casper. He shouldn’t need any training.”

Sober again, Rob nodded. “That works.”

Glad to be back on track, Ken proceeded with how he’d split the once larger team. “I’ll keep Franks, Cowboy, and Stone. That’ll leave you Romeo, Celeb, and Speedy.” He looked up from the list. “Any issues?”

“You have more former spec ops than I do.”

“Remember, you’re gaining a Delta for your team.” To move him off that topic, he added, “Also, we each have someone formerly from the FBI—Stone for me and Romeo for you—which can help in investigations when the Hamilton clan isn’t available. The rest are a mix of backgrounds.”

Rob leaned back and nodded. “That works for me.”

---