Page 32 of Challenging Luke

"So nothing on that end either?" He was starting to sound like a broken record.

"Nope. Sorry, man."

"Not your fault." He cleared his throat and looked around the office. "Where is everyone else?"

"Dom and Ryker are watching Monica, per your request. They checked in and said she hasn't left the office all day. Jayce and Austin are meeting with one of Jayce's buddies from the Secret Service. His friend might have a job for us," Nash explained.

"What kind of job?"

The Secret Service wasn't one of the government agencies they would usually work with because they liked to keep things in-house and were known to walk a very straight line.

"No clue." Nash lifted his shoulder. "His buddy didn't say, so we will have to wait to ask him when they get back. They flew out to California today but should be back within a day or two."

Luke merely nodded his head. The office was almost completely ready, so it was good that his partners were starting to take assignments. Or potential assignments. They wouldn't take anything official until they all agreed on it. There was no team leader. All seven of them had equal parts in the group and wanted to see it succeed.

"I should probably relieve Ryker and Dom of their duties. I'm betting they’re bored stiff."

"Dom may have mentioned that Ryker was getting on his nerves." Nash chuckled.

Of course, he was. Ryker excelled at that. Always had. Even in their early days together in the Army.

Luke stood up and rapped his knuckles on the table before telling both of his friends goodbye.

He had just stepped out of the office when his phone rang from an unfamiliar number. According to the screen, the person was from Texas.

"Luke Matthews speaking."

"Matthews. Care to explain to me why a security company from Seattle that specializes in government contracts is looking at two of my men?"

He looked at the phone number again. "May I ask who this is?" he countered.

"Don't play dumb with me. I'm well aware that your information provided you the name of their employer."

"Westley James, I presume, and just exactly how do you know what my search results were?"

The man on the other end of the line chuckled.

"Because no one gets information about me unless I want them to."

Interesting. He would need to remember to ask Caden about that just as soon as he ended this conversation.

"If that's the case, then you probably already know why my team looked at Bentley and Erik."

"He prefers Falcon. Using his real name tends to piss him off."

Noted. This time he would be asking Monica more about that.

"Was there a point to this call? Because we both know why I was looking into them."

"A man who gets straight to the point. I like you."

Luke wasn't sure he felt the same way. He was starting to feel like he was being tested, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

"What's your relationship to Monica Cole?"

Now things started to make sense. Monica's friends were checking up on him, just like he had about them.

"What concern is it of yours?"