Page 8 of Killer Clone

And Hagen did look smoking hot in a suit.

But it wasn’t only Hagen’s new look that had changed. The team had changed too. Before her first day, Stella had looked up her new colleagues and run background checks. She’d wanted to know who she was working with and whether they’d be able to help her find the man who’d killed her father.

That help had come, even if it hadn’t come from the places she’d expected.

So many of those people were gone now.

Dani Jameson, who’d been kidnapped, went on maternity leave and hadn’t come back.

Chloe Foster transferred, taking a promotion in Florida.

And Martin Lin, poor Martin, was dead.

Hagen drove with one hand on the steering wheel. Stella reached for his other and squeezed. He rubbed the back of her wrist with his thumb, and for a moment, all was right with the world.

They parked in the garage and made the short walk to the glass doors of the entrance.

As they headed down the corridor to the bullpen, the heating system hummed under the faint whir of computer fans. No one else was in. They’d turned up thirty minutes early.

Stella took her seat and logged into her computer for the first time in over three months.

As she checked her messages, the sound of light footsteps came from the corridor. Stella looked up to find Mackenzie Drake, the team’s cyber expert, passing by their desks on her way to her office. Happiness struck Stella like a blast of warm air.

But Mac’s face was buried in her phone. It was a miracle she hadn’t slammed her shin on a rogue office chair.

“Mac!”

Mac froze mid-step, jerking her head up. “Stella? Hagen?” A smile bloomed across her face as she pivoted and rushed toward them. “You’re back!” She flew across the bullpen and greeted Stella with a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you.” Straightening, she held Stella’s face, smushed her cheeks, then hugged her again before finally stepping back.

“Slade has been fretting for days about you not being here. He should’ve told us.”

“We didn’t know ourselves until the day before yesterday.” Stella rubbed her friend’s shoulder. Claymore had been good. But coming home and seeing her friends was wonderful. “How have you been?”

Hagen grinned at Mac from above the monitor on the opposite side of the desk. “Hey, Mac.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess Hagen’s back too.” Mac winked at him. “I’m kidding. We’ve missed those steamy exchanges around here. I’ve had to make do with Ander, and he’s been a lot less fun since he and Alessandra started getting all serious.”

“Those two moved fast, huh?” Stella sympathized with her friend. Mac had liked Ander, and she could see how their colleague’s long curls and muscular body held appeal. But Ander had a son he rarely saw and often mentioned. He needed someone with a similar history. Mac wasn’t it.

“Sorry, Mac. Win some, lose lots.”

Mac jabbed Stella in the ribs with her elbow. “Shut up. Yeah, Ander’s cute…but only if you’re into guys who look like Scandinavian gods with magic hammers.”

“At least your pictures would hang straight.”

“True. But at some point, Ander was bound to cut his hair, and I’d wonder what I ever saw in him.” She leaned closer to Stella and lowered her voice. “And I told you about the guy I met at the library, right?”

There was a twinkle in Mac’s eye that Stella hadn’t seen before. She mentally crossed her fingers this relationship might go somewhere perfect for her friend. “I think you might’ve mentioned him. But I’m starting to believe there’s a lot more to know.”

“There might be.” Mac laughed and put her arm through Stella’s. “All in good time. But I want you guys to meet him.”

Stella raised her eyebrows. “Wow, meeting the family already. That’s fast.”

“Meetingfriends! My brothers can wait. A little. Come on. Let’s go get some coffee.”

Mac led her out of the office just as Ander came through the entrance. He flashed a wide, toothy grin at Stella and flicked hishead so that a long, blond curl flew away from his face. Stella remembered what Mac had seen in him. She waited.

“You’re back!” His grin widened, and his arms wrapped around her. “That’s awesome. So Hagen’s here too?”

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