Page 23 of Evening Shadows

Devon continued. “The man seems to fly under the radar.”

Collective groans over the speaker matched his own. Nothing at this point equaled something bad. One of two things came to mind, either Alejandro was truly spotless and had in many ways rescued Beverly’s neglected child or he was into something they needed to uncover. For Cody’s sake, he hoped the first one fit. While not religious, before each op he sent up a silent prayer that they were successful. His one for Cody was the same.

Devon forwarded the photo of the kidnapper to the agents’ handhelds. The man looked like a regular guy. Never before had he wished someone had a distinguishing scar or feature.

“Here’s the best part,” Devon said with what could be interpreted accompanying a grimace, “or worst part, considering your preference; he’s surrounded by the Lacandón rainforest.”

Great. He’d prefer the blazing desert heat to the unwelcoming air in a rainforest. High temps, moisture clinging to your skin and humidity that could choke a horse were what they’d be challenged with handling. “We’ve had worse.” Although he couldn’t think of a single op to support that statement. Getting shot at and being on the run held more appeal than traipsing through that mess.

“You’re high if you believe that.” No one disputed Stone’s statement.

Franks snorted. “At least we won’t have to lie down on the wet ground as long as Sugar.”

“Huh. If your job was so all-fired important as mine, you’d survive that little inconvenience,” Sam joked along.

“Inconvenience? Is that what you call it?” Stone laughed.

“Whatever it takes,” she shot back.

“How often do you roll around in the wet grass?” Stone asked.

“She probably does it for fun,” Franks butted in.

“She probably calls it combat training,” Cowboy added.

“Come now,” Doc interjected in a soothing voice, “we have to give the little lady her due.”

Ken guessed it’d be five seconds or less before Sam blew her top over that jest.

Sam sputtered, and from the passenger seat, he looked over his shoulder at her, strapped in the back seat. “Little lady?” Her voice rose with an edge to it. “Little lady?”

Chuckles sounded over the speaker from the other two vehicles. Like Kate and Rylee, the team had opened their arms to Sam and treated her like one of the team instead of a woman they needed to protect. That self-imposed rule of protection fell to him alone.

“When I think of a good non-curse word, you’re all in for it. And, Doc, know that I won’t forget.”

“Don’t get your panties in a wad,” Doc said with a chuckle. “I was just funning. You know I’ve got a lotta love for you, honey.”

“Hmph.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her cross her arms over her chest. He couldn’t be certain, but he thought he saw a smile on her face. Something inside told him she enjoyed it when the men joked and even when Doc called her honey. Of course, he also called Kate and Rylee honey, so maybe that’s why she didn’t fight it.

Thinking of her response to their kiss, he wouldn’t believe she broke it off because he was her boss. Perhaps he shouldn’t have imposed his rule of professionalism at work. By doing what he’d thought had been the right thing in not giving her more attention, he’d separated their personal and professional lives too much when in fact they were entwined.

“We’ve got two snipers this time. Who’s going in with us?” Ribbing set aside, Franks’s question brought them back to the op.

Without much thought, Ken responded without consulting the snipers on his team or his boss. “The Old Man goes in under Franks’s command,” he started, referring to Jesse. “Sugar’s our team sharpshooter.” Calling her that didn’t flow well, but if the team used it once they were in operations mode, he needed to do the same. Keeping her out of the thick of it would keep Sam safer, and he’d be acting as her spotter.

“I don’t know,” Stone hedged, “she’s a fine shot in close also. She almost kicked our asses in the mock scenarios.”

“She’s even better at long range,” Franks countered. “She did beat the Old Man after all.”

Jesse didn’t argue the point. Instead, he grinned.

“It may’ve been just luck,” Stone countered.

“What is this? Pick on Sam day?” she asked.

Someone snorted. He couldn’t be sure but he thought it might be Cowboy.

“You’re the newbie,” Franks answered.

---