Chapter 5
Shit. Show.
I’m not just talking about the fact that my team just rescued a bunch of polo-shirt-wearing aid workers in the middle of a third world country.
The whole damned situation is jacked. Our mission is to find a missing woman.
One.
Not a stubborn redhead.
But the whole village is destroyed, crawling with earthquake teams, rebels, and aid organizations. I knew it would be a mess, I didn’t expect it to be a war zone.
And there’s her. My thorn.
I should call her Rose, not Poppy.
“What did they say?” I’m pissed and my voice is a snarl as I approach the team.
Evan nods toward the group of rag-tag people my men just saved. “The woman, Belle, is scared, and rightly so. The men are rattled, but they’ve seen this before.”
“We need to get this solved so we can get to work. The longer we dick around with this, the more time we aren’t working on locating our missing subject.”
Grunts of agreement follow. We all know why we’re here. Agile was hired by a billionaire to find his missing daughter.
Scout tugs off his ball cap and reseats it. “So, Chief, their company could be useful. Maybe we could team up.”
I stiffen.
No.
Hell. No.
All eyes are on me. Fuck.
My brand-new team is waiting for my word. I don’t want to go there and override a suggestion. I trust my men. They didn’t earn their place at Agile and on Team Falcon without proving their metal.
A rumbled question comes out of me. “What is FamFind?”
I might not know what they are, but the logo is burned into my brain. Thanks to a pair of very pert breasts with little pebbled nipples.
My body temperature goes up so high, I have to clear my throat.
I will not think about how she felt pressed against my chest. Nope, not thinking about biting one of those little pearl nipples.
Scout watches my distress and tilts his head. “They go into disaster areas and help families find lost loved ones. My understanding is they operate a communications command center and track people that have been displaced, basically providing a central hub for information.”
Damn. I fist my hair and give it a hard tug.
What are the odds?
The woman couldn’t be here handing out food. Or… anything else. She finds missing people.
“Hm.” I shift and rub the back of my neck.
I want ZERO reasons to work with their group.
Evan’s still frowning as he watches the FamFind group. “There’s still one problem with that. They don’t have any security.”
My temper flares until my ears are ringing. “What the hell is a company like that thinking sending a bunch of… whatevers into a dangerous area like this without backup?”
Silence. No one on the team says anything. We all know that people in high places make decisions that put their workers in danger all the time.
Scout adjusts his hat again. That’s how he thinks. It’s also how he gets ready to debate. And wins. The man always wins a fucking debate.
I brace myself.
He smiles amicably. “We could get them set up, one of us could take guard, and the rest of us could begin to canvas the village for the missing woman. Whoever stays with them could brief them on our missing subject, and they can add her to their missing person’s database. It expands our reach.”
One of us guard them?
I’m stuck on this. All the other words got garbled.
The protest comes off my tongue with barbs. “Not in our job description.”
But my brain turns into a web of pros and cons. The cons take up ninety-nine percent of the space.
Evan is looking at Scout nodding. “Could work. They’d be four more people to try to help us collect information, and given that they’re used to looking for missing?—”
A twinge hits my gut. It always warns me when disaster is on the horizon. Like clockwork.
“I don’t like it. She’s trouble.”
Evan, Scout, and Truck all give me blank expressions. Practiced blank expressions, I might add.
Something’s not right. I know that look because I’ve schooled my face into the same stoney fa?ade a million times.
Justice, on the other hand, chuckles. His eyes go beyond my shoulder to where I left one angry redhead. “What happened in the woods, bossman?”
Damn him. Justice is one of those guys, always joking. Always giving everyone the devil. Knew it was only a matter of time before he got around to me.
Too bad I’m over talking about the woman. “Nothing other than me threatening her ass,” I grump.
That’s very amusing to him. His chuckle morphs into a laugh. Complete with a shit-eating grin. “Man, you should see your face. That woman?—”
I level a finger in his direction. “You’re assigned to her.”
Justice’s grin turns into a high-beam smile. I’ve seen that show of perfect white teeth swoon more than one woman.
“Right on, man. I don’t mind keeping a pretty woman safe.”
I grit my teeth.
Shit on a shingle. He’s probably responsible for countless women running to Victoria’s Secret because he ignited their panties with a cocky smirk.
My muscles begin to vibrate.
What the hell is going on inside me? That can’t be the green monster.
No fucking way.
“Are we done here?” Justice asks and winks. “I’m gonna just go talk to Camile. They said she’s the boss of the operation.”
The bastard is goading me.
I dare to look to my left. Poppy…I mean the woman…and the others are gathered in a tight circle. Things look tense. A critical conversation.
About leaving, I pray.
My voice is sandpaper. “Camile?”
Justice beams a smirk my way. Not the sexy smirk he gives women. This is the I-gotcha-smirk. “Nice name, huh?”
Camile. Even her name is beautiful.
“No. It’s a pompous name.”
As if I’ve telegraphed her, she flips her eyes my way and they hold. My gut clenches.
Oh yeah.
Jealousy.
Damn, it’s been since… I can’t remember the last time I felt that over a woman.
Evan bumps my shoulder with his fist. “Got another message from headquarters. A few more details about our case. I’ll bring you guys up to speed.”
“Good,” I grunt without taking my eyes off Camile.
The space between us turns into a lightning storm.
She cocks a brow and looks me up and down. Not once. But twice as she sticks out a hip and drops her fists to her waist.
Pure challenge.
Careful little one. You don’t know who you’re messing with.
Behind me, the whole damned team chuckles. My team. That doesn’t help the hot feeling around my collar.
I scowl at all of them. “Change of plans. I’m gonna deal with her. You guys get the game plan together for finding our primary. Come talk to me before you make any moves.”
Justice isn’t getting close to her.
With that, I motion for Camile to meet me at the edge of the small opening, dead set on convincing her to get her damned team out of here.
I just don’t know how.