“You’re putting me in charge? Just me?”
“You’re the first vigilante I’ve ever had to deal with. This is me, dealing with you.”
Tripp was certain Alex had just called him a dumbass. “So basically, I’ll be doing the same thing I’m doing now, except with your authority, more people, and…” He cleared his throat. “…more restraint?”
“No, you’ll be in charge of men and women who, like you, aren’t willing to stand by and watch our country crumble,” Alex snapped. “You know damned well how easily evil triumphs when good men choose to do nothing! Your people won’t have the authority to arrest or shoot anyone, but they can be the eyes and ears of local law enforcement. They can prevent idiots from damaging property or harming innocent bystanders. Choose your team wisely. I did.”
Your people. Tripp liked the sound of that. Made him feel like he belonged to something bigger than himself again. “I can hire former military?”
“And physically able civilians capable of serving and following orders. Can you do that for me?”
For me. Tripp recognized Alex’s request for personal commitment. Swallowing hard at the faith this fierce man had in him, Tripp nodded and almost replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ But that would’ve landed him in a steaming pile of shit. He caught himself in time and said, “You bet, Boss.”
And a more loyal motherfucker had never been born.
This was Alex’s true talent, getting badassed former warriors to follow him into Hell and back. Damned if he hadn’t just finessed Tripp into accepting one helluva lot more responsibility and a fuck ton more work. Precisely what he needed.
“Boss, Mom’s really struggling over what you’ve done for Trish,” Tripp segued quietly. “Would you have time to meet with her later today?”
Alex settled back into his chair like a contented beast, the ice in his blue eyes not as sharp as earlier. “For you and Andy, anything. Let me know when she can make it here, or I can go to her.”
“Ahh, err, no.” Tripp cleared his throat. This man just kept giving, and that open-door policy of his was damned humbling. “It’d be better if she came here. Andy needs a break, and… Thanks for everything you and your wife have done for my mother and sister. Trish might not deserve it, but—”
“We’ll never know that for certain, will we?” Jumping to his feet, Alex grabbed hold of Tripp’s hand, his grip a damned USMC vise that would’ve brought tears to Tripp’s eyes if they hadn’t already been misty.” Every second counts in death struggles, Tripp. That’s just the way it works in our business. Now get the hell out of my office. Staff meeting’s in five.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Alex folded his trim, athletic frame between the armrests of his executive chair in his Situation Room, straightened his tie, and watched his TEAM take their places around the oversized, black walnut conference table. Ember and Rory Dennison were still on family leave after the birth of their little girl. Walker Judge and his wife Persia were in East Asia, along with David Tao and several other operators. They were working a highly illegal, covert op to intercept yet another child smuggling ring running underage girls between Cambodia and China. Sex trafficking had become the twenty-first century’s blackest plague. No country was immune, not even America.
Two of his three senior agents arrived first. Mark Houston took his place at Alex’s right side; Harley Mortimer took the chair to his left. Tripp nodded when he followed Jameson in, pulling Alex back to the reason for this staff meeting. When the last to enter—Mother—took the only available seat beside Jameson, Alex lifted to his feet and began.
Sliding a poster in Braille of all upcoming changes across the table to Jameson, he opened with, “As you know, I’ve closed our Seattle office. Those agents are relocating to the East Coast as we speak. But we can’t accommodate that kind of growth here in Alexandria any longer. A new TEAM Headquarters is under construction in far western Virginia.”
“Are all of them moving out of Seattle?” Izza Maher asked. “Even Cassidy?” Izza had begun her TEAM employment in Seattle, but moved East when she’d married Connor.
“Yes, Cassidy and Jude accepted my offer,” Alex replied. “Last I heard from Murphy, all but twelve agents are coming with him.”
Murphy Finnegan and Roy Hudson had been Alex’s first senior agents. Both resigned at the same time, but Murphy had re-upped, after retirement proved boring.
Alex activated the big screen on the wall behind him, and stepped to the side to let his TEAM absorb the blueprint of their future. “We’re moving this January, and this is where we’re going.” The overhead map displayed five major buildings under construction in a large tract of land in western Virginia, plus three buildings already completed. “The two large outbuildings are barns.” He highlighted them with his laser pointer. “This one is where Harley will oversee the breeding and training of work and comfort dogs; the other’s for Maverick’s therapy horses.”
Between Maverick’s horses and Harley’s dogs, Alex was establishing a safe haven where returned vets could rehab among warriors who understood what they’d been through. The cottages for those men and women hadn’t been built yet, but the barns were already occupied.
“My monsters can’t wait to move,” Harley added, his hazel eyes bright with excitement. The monsters were his rambunctious twin boys.
Maverick lifted one hand from the table. “And Kiri’s got another batch of kittens if anyone’s interested. Just offering.” His daughter
