Page 120 of What About Love

Trish had come on board after her. She’d learn soon enough that with Rossi, they were almost always dealing with “something big,” so Angie wasn’t nearly as intrigued. She was eager for coffee, however, and with a glance at her watch realized she had time for little else.

One of the first to arrive, she sat at the conference table. Hoping the caffeine would soon kick in, she sipped her extra-large coffee while trying to ignore her pounding head as the rest of the team filed in.

“Let’s get started,” Cap announced, through waiting.

Dan was on his way in and turned to close the door. Out in the hall, a familiar voice called, “Hold up.” A second later, T strode in.

Angie stiffened. Her stomach twisting into knots. This first meeting since their breakup was inevitable, but she wasn’t prepared for it, thinking she had a little more time while he was away. With two remaining chairs, she didn’t know which would be worse, having him sit across from her and having to look at him for however long this took, or taking the empty chair beside her and being close enough to smell him. Damn.

Dan slid in beside her, leaving T the only one left, straight across from her. She averted her gaze as he sat, looking to the front of the room and focusing only on Cap as he started the meeting.

“Men.” His eyes snapped to her. “Sorry, Angie, I’m still not used to having a woman on board.” She waved him off. “We have a black box E&R. Jonas, cue it up.”

As the screen behind him came to life, Angie glanced around and saw no confused faces. Other than herself, they were all military and used a distinct set of codes and slang that were Greek to her. She was still trying to decipher all the acronyms.

“Extraction and rescue.”

Her head turned toward T who had murmured the explanation. She nodded, glancing back at the screen as the picture of a pretty brunette appeared.

“Melinda Carpenter,” Jonas began, clearly on top of today’s intel. “She and eleven of her fellow college students left on a mission trip to Central America two weeks ago. Six days in, all communication with the kids ceased.”

Cap jumped in next. “Forty-eight hours ago, Senator Carpenter and the other parents received ransom notes. They are unwilling to wait for the state department to work through proper channels and have asked us to step in.”

“Where?” several male voices inquired as one.

“Guatemala.”

Jonas brought up a map. “They were working in a small village south of La Mesilla, near the Mexican border. All leads point to a guerilla group that has been menacing the region for the last year or more. There have been rumors that another, smaller group of missionaries was held hostage about nine months ago—also handled off the books. Apparently, the pickings were so easy, they came back for seconds.”

Cap waited until the grumbling subsided before he took the lead back from Jonas. “Dex met with one of the former hostages and his family. From that, we pinpointed a general area. Satellite imaging has given us a precise location. The ransom deadline is tomorrow. We go in tonight.”

“That doesn’t give us much time,” T grumbled.

“We’ve had the case for less than two days and already the senator’s beating his chest and threatening that heads will roll.”

“Cake Eater,” Dan muttered.

“What’s that?” Angie asked him.

“A career politician. A self-involved, fat cat who’s never seen a day of active duty in his life.”

Cap’s laser-intense gaze shifted to Dan. “That may be true, but I’m cutting him some slack because he’s a frantic father.” His comment had Dan grunting with understanding as the only other dad in the room. “As you can see,” he continued, “we’re a skeleton crew. Regan went into labor this morning, so Rick is out. Sean, Justin, and Fletch are all on assignment. LA doesn’t have anyone available until after the deadline. So it’s us, plus Kyle and Dex who left last night to recon to the AO.”

Angie elbowed Dan, who translated in a hushed tone. “Area of operation.”

She nodded again. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up. T was staring at her with a scowl, which he subsequently switched to Cap. “Not Angie.”

“We need her. She’ll be FFP with Pete.”

Her brows knit together as she tried to figure out yet another new acronym.

“Final firing position, a sniper term,” Jonas murmured from her other side.

“For Christ’s sake, the general, too?” T snapped, drawing everyone’s attention. “We’re going in hot with a fucking senior citizen and a girl?”

“The day I can’t give you a run for your money, youngster, is the day I hang up my rifle for good.”

Attention shifted to the low rumbling of retired general Peter Davis who had entered with no one’s notice and stood by the door, glowering at T.

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