Page 37 of Judgment Day

Exa

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“Don’t look at me likethat,” Arson told her.

“What did you do to Julien?” Exa asked again.

“Why do you assume it was him I did something to?”

“Was it one of the other guys?” Exa winked. “Look at you, playa.”

“No! It wasn’t anyone because I didn’t do anything.”

“Mmmhmm,” Exa hummed. “When I have time to interrogate you properly, I’ll find out what you’ve done. Right now, I need your help with something.”

“If it involves convincing Nova to let the guys help with the Letisha mission, I can’t help you.”

“Arsonnnn!” Exa groaned. “How did you know I was going to ask that?”

“Because I know you.”

“Why won’t you help me?”

“Maybe it’s because I agree with Nova on this.”

Exa leaned back in her seat. “You do?”

“I do.”

“Traitor.”

“Never. I like the guys. And I like their wives. But, I think we can handle this case better if we do it ourselves. I definitely think we have a higher chance of success if we do it ourselves. With them, there are too many moving parts. They want their entire team to go in. There’s not enough of us to monitor all of them.”

“They’re grown men. They don’t need to be monitored.”

“Theyshouldn’tneed to be. Given their track record, they should be. Especially Nik. He’s unhinged right now. That makes him a liability. I understand he’s going through a lot. However, in his current condition, he shouldn’t be cleared to go into the field. I definitely wouldn’t trust him to guard my back. Do you trust him to guard yours? What about the twins?”

Exa knew there was truth to Arson’s words. They still didn’t sit well with her though.

“Seriously, Exa, do you trust him to guard the Dark Duos’ back in his current state of mind?”

She wanted to. If she was the only one involved, she’d trust him to guard her back because she could handle her own. The duo was still learning. They were still honing what was already instinctual to Exa and Arson. Nik may be an amazing fighter, but she wouldn’t trust him to watch the Dark Duos’ backs. She couldn’t.

“Exa, you know I’m right. You’re letting emotions cloud your judgment. One of the first rules we learned, and one of the first rules you taught the Duo was that the mission comes first. Emotions come after the mission is complete.”

“I know,” Exa admitted. “And you’re right. I wouldn’t trust Nik to watch Seven or Skye’s back. Not while he’s like this. What if we didn’t take the entire team with us? What if we took three of them as backup. And they’d have to follow our rules, or they’d be out. That could work, right?”

Arson thought for a second and then said, “Maybe. I’ll have to ask Nova. And you know her. She’ll want to decide who those three are. She won’t choose Nik to come.”

“I know.” They’d deal with that problem when they came to it.

“Still,” Arson continued. “That’s better than nothing. Maybe Scar and the others can convince Nik to sit this one out.”

“Does this mean you’re going to talk to her for me?”

“I guess. But only because you have your hands full with the judge. Even if she agrees, that doesn’t mean it’ll be smooth sailing for you and Scar from here on out.”

“What are you talking about?”

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