Page 18 of Operation: Silent Angel
Mac watched him snuggle him close to his body and console him. Within a minute, the little boy stopped crying.
“Do you want me to take him so you can light the grill and get the steaks on?” Sienna asked. “I have everything else ready.”
“I’ll keep him awhile longer,” Garcia said. “You’ll have him the next week or however long this mission takes. Enjoy the break.”
Seeing the expression on Garcia’s face, he knew it wasn’t that he was trying to be fair to his wife. He could see the love he had for his son. He was soaking in the feeling of holding him in his arms. He would miss the little boy while he was away. Mac watched him go through the kitchen and out the back sliding glass door with the child still in his arms.
“Anthony tells me you’ll be in the field on this mission, Yvette,” Sienna said. Even she knew how unusual that was.
“We’ll have an on-site Ops Center I’ll staff. It’s not like I’ll be confronting the bad guy,” she answered with a laugh. “But I am hoping to get some time to sit on the balcony and stare at the ocean.”
“Yes, there’s nothing like it,” Sienna agreed. “We’re planning our Christmas trip and are leaning towards South Beach. Little T will be a fun age for the beach.”
“He’ll love it, I’m sure,” Yvette said.
“I went to the hospital and saw Kaylee and the twins this morning,” Sienna said. “Her mom will be in to help for the next few weeks. I can’t even imagine having twins!”
Yvette laughed. She couldn’t imagine having even one child, let alone twins. “Kaylee and Sloan, the Undertaker, just had twins.”
“Twins? Holy shit,” Mac remarked.
“I think that’s what Sloan said when the doctor told them there were two babies in her,” Yvette said, still laughing. “I can’t even imagine having twins.”
“She’ll have a lot of help with them,” Sienna said.
“I’m sure she will. What did they name them?” Yvette asked. She’d been so busy she hadn’t checked in to see if they were all okay.
“Jade and Melody, after her biological mom and sister,” Sienna said.
“That’s a nice way to remember them,” Yvette said as Garcia came back into the house.
“Grill’s warming up. I’ll give it a few minutes before I put the steaks on,” he said.
Garcia retook his seat on the couch, keeping the baby on his lap. For some reason, the child’s presence unnerved Mac, or maybe it was seeing Garcia so comfortable in this role that unnerved him. It just didn’t feel natural or right to mix children into their world.
“All team members going tomorrow are back in town,” Garcia said. “I’ll contact you after we land and give you an ETA of our arrival at the resort.”
Mac’s gaze went to Sienna.
“I don’t know any particulars, neither the mission nor the exact location you’re going tomorrow, just that you’ll be in or near Cancun. Not that it matters as I’d never tell anyone,” Sienna said.
“All the wives have gone through background checks and have security clearances,” Yvette piped up.
“As well as having signed NDAs,” Garcia added.
“They know exactly what the team does,” Yvette said. “Most have seen them work firsthand.”
Mac snorted out a laugh. “From what I’ve gathered, it looks like they were all part of a case at one point or another.”
“How else would we have met them?” Garcia replied. “Don’t tell me you’ve never met a woman while working that you would have liked to get to know better.”
Mac’s gaze went to Yvette. Yeah, he absolutely had. And he’d wished like hell over the years he hadn’t. On the rare occasions he was with her, he was always reminded of how in sync they were, how perfect for him she was. He always told himself, perhaps one day, but that day had never come. With theuncertainty of his career before him, today wasn’t that day either.
“Ah, Razor, no one would have pegged you as a romantic,” Mac said with a chuckle before taking a drink of his bourbon. Garcia laughed with him.
Yvette noticed he hadn’t actually answered Garcia’s question. But he had gazed her way, which answered it well enough for her. “So what else are we having for dinner?” she asked Sienna, feeling the need to change the subject. All they had been asked to bring was a bottle of wine.
“I made my vegetable pasta salad you like, Yvette, and I’m trying a new potato recipe. Anthony, the tinfoil packet with the potatoes, is in the refrigerator. Don’t forget to put it on the grill about twenty minutes before the steaks.”
