Page 57 of Cross & Crown

when he was joking.

Hagan was alternately tapping at his computer and

reading a notepad on his desk, probably filling out a report

or transferring notes. Kelly glanced around the room. There

were more pods of desks like this one, in various degrees of

organization. Nick’s desk, in comparison to the others, was

very clean. It was almost empty, in fact. There was a large

doodling pad in the center with notes and rough sketches all

over it. There was the regular desktop fare, such as a stapler

and a cup of pens and a computer. Nick had been back at

work for several months, but most of that time had been spent

doing desk work. Kelly could imagine him sitting here, bored

to tears, organizing everything again and again.

A single photograph adorned the desk, in a simple

black frame. Kelly reached for it, letting a finger run across

the faces of his brothers-in-arms. It was a photo of the six

men of Sidewinder, all of them ten years younger, all of

them grinning at the camera, dressed in their combat gear.

They’d taken a picture before every mission, just in case no

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one came back. This had been their last mission before being

decommissioned.

Nick stood in the middle of the back row, a smile on

his grease-painted face. Ty had his arm around Nick’s

neck, and Nick was resting his elbow on Kelly’s shoulder.

The other three members of the team, Owen Johns, Elias

Sanchez, and the Cajun they’d called Digger, were kneeling

in front of them.

Kelly glanced at the desktop again. No pictures of family.

None of Nick’s sisters, whom Kelly knew he loved dearly.

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