Page 204 of Allegiance

“My dude, are you insane? Was that a drive-by masking?” she asked.

He tried not to laugh.

“Yes. Yes, it was, and the next step is you wear me as a backpack. Be grateful I have some control.”

She snorted as she readjusted her mask over her face. Honestly, she didn’t mind him hovering. His arm had been over her shoulder the whole time, and all she could smell was his cologne.

It made her giddy.

From the front seat, Maura passed the rest of the masks out.

When she pulled hers on, it was the same one they used all those years ago when they went into the jungle to get El Gato.

It was also the same one she’d had on when they drove through El Gato’s gate, taking him down, and years earlier, when she blew up his compound.

Her whole team had worn them with the skeleton faces on them. It had been their team’s callsign, of sorts.

Old habits die hard.

Go with what you knew.

That was her motto.

“Ready?” Jagger asked when his wife and Dakota had gotten into their masks.

“Yes,” they said, together.

Getting out of their blacked-out ride, they moved toward the bar, and just as they approached, a guy was coming out of the door.

The second that he saw Jagger, the dumbass went for his gun.

Only, he wasn’t the fastest shooter this side of New Orleans. Adder was.

Eve shot him before he could even pull it from beneath his coat. Immediately, he dropped like a bag of bones.

“And that is why you always carry one with a silencer,” she said, tucking the gun back into her gear.

“It’s going to be a long night,” Dakota muttered, getting patted on the back by Zayn.

“Don’t worry. Quickdraw McAdder has it under control. More or less. I hope she doesn’t get tired of you hovering and shoot you in the ass.”

Dakota flipped him off.

“I’m gonna shoot you in the…”

Maura pointed.

“Shut it down. Focus. I want to get Chevy—not shot!” she warned.

Both men did as she said. No one was willing to backtalk the Major.

No.

One.

“Watch your backs,” Jagger said, fixing his tie and rolling his neck. They heard the pops of his bones as the tension had also shown up for the party.

Maura and Zayn flanked him, making sure he was safe as he entered the building.