Chapter 51 Machine
FIFTY-ONE
MACHINE
“Where the fuck is Zombie?” Phantom asked as she walked into the conference room, holding a big mug of coffee in one hand while holding baby Emery in the crook of her other arm. Zombie had been MIA since we’d saved Badger from the Cartel.
Buddha rolled his eyes. “He’s probably working on another assignment, E, give it a rest.”
Phantom huffed and placed her mug on the table, starting to bounce a bubbly Emery in her arms.
“It’s not like him to be late.”
She was cut off when Chief walked in with Kade. The two were as thick as thieves now that our teams were working together. Was it problematic that the Mob was working with a government team? Most definitely. But for now, it worked.
“Alright guys, let’s get started. As we all know, Sarah has been missing ever since the explosion. As far as I know, Zombie’s team,”—he looked around the room, noting Zombie’s absence—“hasn’t been able to find her body.”
Everyone looked around the room, frowning at one another. Chief didn’t have to say it, we all knew. Her body couldn’t just vanish. Then again, maybe she had been too close to the blast to leave any identifiable remains.
“The CIA has taken our intel and is working on making a specialized team for trafficking. We will continue to work closely with them in case we get word of Sarah’s reappearance.”
Everyone nodded. Chief and Kade spent the next half hour going over updates with the new training facility’s schedule.
Lennie and Jax were working on integrating a state-of-the-art software system to ensure clients’ privacy, along with additional security measures to protect the facility from future attacks.
After the meeting was over and Badger had a half-hour playing with the baby, I walked up next to her and looked down.
She was beaming at Emery. She looked so beautiful holding Emery, it made my heart swell.
For so long, I never thought kids would be in the cards for me.
But now there was hope. Badger reluctantly gave Emery back to Phantom.
“Ready to go home, Bunny?” I asked her with a smile. Lily wouldn’t be home from school and therapy for another couple of hours, so we’d have some alone time.
“Absolutely, Tool,” she responded with her own smile, and grabbed my hand. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Good, because when I get you home, I’m going to tie you up and show you why you need to call me Machine,” I whispered into her ear.
Badger gave me a mischievous grin. “I think I need to give you a reminder as to why I’m called Badger, not Bunny.”
I pressed a kiss to her lips. “You are so on.”