Page 15 of Final Exit

“In other words we have nothing.”

“Pretty much. All we know is that some guy in black clothes helped our Enforcer escape.”

“You’re the best video guy on the team. If you couldn’t get a good frame out of that footage, I don’t expect anyone else could.”

Cord nodded as if the praise was no big deal. But he seemed to be standing a little straighter, a little taller. Which reminded Kade yet again that he needed to stroke these kids’ egos more often.

It was hard to remember just how tough it could be when first starting out, how fragile his own confidence had been when he was just a few months out of the academy. He might not always approve of his team’s lack of decorum. But he couldn’t complain about their work ethic, or their enthusiasm. They just needed more guidance.

His gaze slid to Dominic and Jack who were standing apart from the others near the SUV’s bumper, deep in conversation. Now those were two newbies who never seemed to need a word of encouragement. And they seemed a bit older than he’d expect recent Quantico graduates to be. Of course, this could be a second career for them, which would explain the age. Still, they seemed too confident to just be starting out as new agents. And it was time for Kade to find out why.

He started toward them. His bum leg chose that moment to finally give out. He fell against the Caddy, barely catching himself before he could slide to the ground.

Cord grabbed his arm, his eyes wide with alarm. “You okay, boss?”

Great. Twice in one night, the same agent had seen him at his very worst. Kade shook Cord’s hand off, mumbling a thank-you as he glanced around. Thankfully, the others didn’t seem to have noticed his disgrace. Then again, they’d all seen him fall to his knees on the back porch earlier.

Tonight was not his finest hour.

When he started toward the SUV again, he was more deliberate and slow. It almost killed him to make that concession to his weakness. But it was better than ending up sprawled on the concrete again.

The conversation stopped as soon as he drew close to the back bumper.

Dominic’s dark eyes met his and he tapped Jack’s shoulder to get him to turn around.

“Something we can do for you, sir?” Dom asked.

“You can explain why you were both so trigger-happy tonight. You do remember our objective is to bring Enforcers in alive?”

They exchanged a glance with each other before Dom spoke again.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?”

“Of course.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. The tail end of a serpent tattoo on his biceps peeked out from under his shirtsleeve. Why hadn’t Kade noticedthattattoo before?

“Jack and I were just talking about how we both screwed up. Adrenaline rush, I guess. After losing our target at her hideout and then receiving your call that she’d stowed away in your car, well, I think we were both a bit too... anxious, excited, and wanted to turn a failed mission into a successful one. My apologies that we got carried away in the heat of the moment.”

Jack nodded. “It won’t happen again, sir. Lesson learned.”

They’d said all the right things. If they were Nichols, or Alice or any of the others, Kade would probably give them some advice on how to handle the nerves and stress that came with a tense mission. But he’d never met two menlesslikely to cave under pressure. Anxious? These two? He wasn’t buying it.

Trying a different approach, he said, “Thought about getting a tattoo when I was younger.” He smiled and gestured toward the snake on Dominic’s arm. “But they would have kicked my butt out of the academy for something like that. I didn’t know they’d relaxed those rules.”

Dom exchanged another silent glance with Jack before answering.

“Got this the day I graduated. As a celebration.”

“Ah, I see.”

He was about to ask another question when the replacement Suburban pulled up in front of the house with a flatbed tow truck behind it. Warning beeps sounded as the truck shifted into reverse and began backing up the driveway. Kade glanced toward the nearest houses, worried that the noise would wake his neighbors. A block full of curious onlookers was the last thing they needed right now.

“Guess we should get our gear.” Dominic urged Jack forward. They circled around Kade to grab the duffel bags piled next to the house.

In a few short minutes, all of the agents were settled in the replacement Suburban. They’d be taken to the usual rendezvous point and from there would transfer into their personal vehicles and go their separate ways. The sabotaged SUV had already been loaded onto the tow truck and was on its way back to town.

Kade stood in the open doorway behind the driver, exchanging a few last words with the team.

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