Page 178 of Covert Mission

Nyx is smiling from ear to ear from across the room. She winks at me, beaming her excitement toward us.

The bathroom door creaks open and Belle walks with a puzzled expression. Her eyes dart around the room before zeroing back in on me. “What’s wrong? What did I miss?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Nyx says on a laugh. “Beast just said they’re getting married.”

Belle’s mouth drops open before she quickly recovers with a laugh.

I blush all the way to my toes. “It wasn’tthatfast.”

The room erupts in laughter. It takes a while for it to die down. Once the guys aren’t holding their guts any longer, Evan drops into his seat and starts tapping on his keyboard again. “Can we get back to work?”

Lucas pulls me in front of him, snuggling me as he places me so I can see the computer. He sighs happily behind me.

Excitement rolls through me at the idea of working with his team. What was I thinking going to work for a company like PCI where I’d be isolated, under cover? This feels right. A team. Brotherhood. Friends.

I let that settle into my chest alongside the warm glow that Lucas has planted there as Evan eagerly points at the screen.

I let that settle into my chest alongside the warm glow that Lucas has planted there as Evan eagerly points at the screen.

He glances up at us before he starts.

Evan eagerly points at the screen. “Let me recap and bring everyone up to speed since Camile wasn’t there last night. While we were with Beast at the office building where we suspected FamFind’s cash had been taken, we had a coincidental sighting of a woman that we think is MZ. Beast went to complete his mission, while Scout and I went after the car. Unfortunately they had a head start, and the road conditions caused us to lose them. This is the spot where we saw them last.”

Scout drops a piece of paper on the table. “I got part of a tag, so we’re going to meet with the sheriff today. But that spot on the map that Evan indicated is our new starting point.”

A paper map crinkles loudly as Scout spreads it on the table. He uses his fingertip to make a large circle. “The place where we lost the car is equidistant between two small towns. It’s also close-ish to several of the archeology sites.”

“I’ll take this one.” Evan drops a pin on his computer screen with his mouse cursor, marking one small town. “I have a good feeling about this one. I mean, a town named Karma has to be good, right?”

I squeeze Evan’s shoulder. “Depends on if you have good karma or bad karma.”

“She has a point.” Scout folds the map into a smaller rectangle.

“Wait!” Evan’s frowning. “I only have good karma!”

Scout, unconcerned with Evan’s karma, taps the map, trying to keep us on track. “As Evan said, he’s taking Karma. Anyway, I’ll take El Dorado.” He glances at Lucas, suddenly looking concerned. “Wait, are you our TL now?”

Lucas shrugs one of his muscular shoulders, drawing my eye to the way the muscles ripple. “I’m ready to take over again if you guys want me back. Marshall gave me the green light but both he and I want to make sure you guys are in agreement.”

There’s a resounding yes from all of his team.

Scout is pointing to the map again. “Okay, TL, where do you want me?”

Lucas glances around the room. “Evan wants Karma, you take El Dorado. Take Nyx with you to help your sorry ass interpret. I know you suck at languages.” I can tell from Lucas’s tone he’s teasing, and he gets a chuckle from everyone but Scout.

Lucas goes on. “I’ll take the sheriff since I need to wrap up some stuff with Camile’s case. We’ll work on chasing down the car tags. Camile can help me dig into anything that might build a paper trail for MZ here in Vandemora. Truck, you can go with Evan and Levi?—”

Truck lifts a hand, stopping Lucas. “Guys, about that, I’m going to have to step back for a few days. I need to go to the States to have this wound looked after.”

Everyone turns to look at Truck with worry creasing their faces. Lucas goes tense behind me. “I saw that you were limping more. Is it infected?”

Truck nods. “I’d rather see one of our contacts back on US soil.”

“Copy that. Let’s get you to the airport today.”

Levi stands from the chair next to the wall and moves across the floor toward us. “Team, I’ve also got bad news. Well, not bad news, but it’s not good for the mission. My sister’s getting ready to deliver her first baby, and her husband couldn’t get home from his deployment. I just found out about an hour ago. I want to be there for her.”

“Of course,” Lucas quickly says. “We’ll get you boys on a plane tonight.”