Chapter 17
Clint admitted to himself that he could see both sides of Shawn’s situation.
The translators and people in Afghanistan who had helped the American military were worth their weight in gold.
He was aware of the secretive team of retired SEALs who had purchased aircraft, made their own deal with countries close to Afghanistan, and had rescued dozens of Taliban traitors and hundreds of family members.
Clint had made those same promises to several men, and even a few women, who had helped his team while he was still in the Army.
On the flipside, as a CO, he had to follow the rules.
Shawn had lied. He had gone into Afghanistan, which was absolutely forbidden by the US government.
He had broken several rules and the trust of his commanding officer.
Those rules were one of the reasons that, when Clint’s contract with the Army ended, he left and never looked back. He’d always known that whenever he was finished with the Army, his choice, he’d return to Ethiopia and join his father’s company.
When the women left the conference room, Clint had already made up his mind.
“I’m sure Hank told you that you were on probation for the first six months.
I’m going to keep you on my team for this mission.
We’ll see how things go. If anyone questions you about this meeting, I suggest that you tell them that Homeland Security had questions about your vetting, which were quickly straightened out.
It’s the truth. It’s your secret why you left the Navy, yours to tell or keep. Do you have any questions?”
“Yes. How is this dual senior NCO supposed to work?” Shawn asked.
“Has there been a problem?” Clint had been thrilled to promote Lukas Murillo. But in his own grief and the necessity for someone to fill Javier’s role on the team, Lukas was next in line.
“I’m not sure the men respect him. It’s hard on both sides when you promote someone from within.
Someone who had been your buddy for years is suddenly your boss.
That’s why, in the military, they usually imported someone from another team.
I believe that’s why Hank hired me.” Shawn was absolutely correct.
That was exactly why the military brought in someone new.
“To clarify,” Clint repeated himself from the first breakfast they’d had together, “you report directly to me, like any other senior NCO would. If you see the situation becoming volatile, come directly to me. I want to know which team members resent Murillo.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s get back to work.” As they stood, Clint wanted to reassure him.
“I’m testing you both, and that’s why I will give each of you specific jobs.
” He made a mental note to repeat that part of the conversation with Murillo.
He’d also have Dell pull his file to see whether other commanding officers, while he was in the Army, recommended him for leadership positions.
When Clint had spoken with Murillo, reminding him that he was on probation per the Riggs’s personnel manual, he hadn’t hidden his irritation.
It lay right beneath the surface. Perhaps a less experienced commanding officer wouldn’t recognize it, but Clint had seen plenty during his years in the military.
When he asked the man about working with the women, he commented, “It’s going okay, I guess.
I hadn’t expected the women to perform as good as they have.
” Clint recognized it as the backhanded comment it was.
It made him wonder about Lukas’s real opinion of women in general.
He’d keep a closer eye on him and his interactions with the female team.
Over the next few days, Clint became more impressed with how both teams blended. Even Lukas treated the women with respect. Perhaps he hadn’t heard the negative opinion he thought Murillo had.
Clint loved his nights with Ashlin. For the first time, he felt married.
On Thursday, they came straight from work to his suite and changed clothes, then went to join the others for supper.
After the first night, when both teams had eaten supper together, everyone seemed to enjoy it so much that they repeated it again.
This time, including Shawn Beck. He had a very mature way of socializing.
He seemed to blend into every group, and by the end of the night, he had mingled with every person.
He even came over and spent time with Clint and Ashlin.
Once again, they excused themselves early.
In the car on the way back to the hotel, curious, Clint asked on their way back to his hotel, “What’s your honest opinion of Beck?”
“I like him.” She looked up at Clint, and he could see honesty in her eyes. “He asks intelligent questions, is good at playing devil’s advocate, and is very respectful of my team. I’ve watched him try to get to know your team better.”
Clint nodded in agreement. “What about Lukas Murillo?” He watched her make that face, like when she wasn’t really sure about something.
She paused as though gathering her thoughts, reassembling her words.
When she shrugged, he knew he was going to get the truth.
“I can’t pinpoint it, but there’s something about that man that rubs me the wrong way.
One minute, he’s all buddy-buddy with the men on your team, then the next, he’s trying to boss them around.
Sometimes, with the women, it’s as though he’s looking down his nose at us.
Acting like he’s better than us.” Her eyebrows shot up. “It’s how he says things to us.”
This interested Clint. “Can you give me an example?”
“Yeah. Today, while we were talking about the possible weaponry that we might encounter at the terrorist camp, Kayla mentioned manpads. Lukas said under his breath to Mack, ‘Wonder if she even knows what those are?’ Kayla carried on as though she hadn’t heard him and reminded everyone that those particular shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles were made in China.
They had a lot of problems with the barrel getting too hot if fired rapidly. ”
“Back-handed compliments.”
“Exactly,” Ashlin said while nodding.
Clint added her opinion to the mental file he was collecting. Changing the subject, he asked with a sly smile, “Are you excited about your birthday dinner on Saturday night?”
Her eyes slanted toward him. “You’re not planning a big party, inviting everybody I’ve ever known, and making me walk into a dark room so they can all jump out and yell surprise…are you?”
His smile was reassuring. “Definitely not.” He leaned down and kissed her nose. “I’m selfish. I want you all to myself, starting with the ride to the restaurant.”
“How fancy is this place?” He could see the worry in her eyes.
“I actually brought a suit to wear, including a tie. I don’t know what the equivalent of that in dresses is, but I will say, a dress is definitely appropriate.
” He smiled at the thought of her in a sexy little black dress that clung to her every curve.
He just hoped he could keep his hands off her until they made it back to the hotel room.
She turned toward him and ran her hands up his chest. “I’d know what to wear if you told me where we were going.”
He grabbed his hands in hers and placed them on his thigh. “If I told you where we were going, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
She glanced at him and tilted her head. “If we weren’t already married, I’d think you were going to ask me to marry you.”
He held up his left hand, purposely catching the gold band in the streetlights.
“We’re already married.” He looked at the simple gold band on her left ring finger.
It warmed his heart until he realized she wasn’t wearing a diamond with it.
Damn. He needed to buy her a diamond ring.
After this mission was over, he’d take her shopping and let her pick out her own ring.
The necklace was his birthday present for her. He hoped she liked it.
That night, their lovemaking was gentler.
Slower. In his mind, they were more like what he imagined a married couple after many years, still caring but not feeling the necessity to rush through every position in the Kama Sutra.
Clint smiled as he fell asleep with Ashlin, satisfied from her last orgasm, curled into his side, her bare breasts against his chest, one leg thrown over his legs, her hand directly over his heart. The heart that was now hers.
On Friday morning, as they walked into the Homeland Security building where they’d been working all week, the halls seemed to vibrate with the latest news.
“Did you hear?” A woman with natural red hair grabbed Ashlin’s arm and pulled her to the side of the hallway.
“I guess not. What’s up?” Ashlin pulled Clint over to join them.
“The FBI is going to hold a press conference at nine o’clock this morning to announce the attack they halted.
This group of anti-Americans were going to attack the President and all those people who are coming to the big cage fight this weekend on the lawn outside the White House, using commercially purchased drones and arming them.
In the chaos, they had snipers to take out the people who were running away. This is classic terrorist tactics.”
“Clara, this sounds like information we, here at Homeland, would track.” Ashley pointed out.
Her friend just smiled. “It was. We discovered this information two weeks ago, but somebody with a much bigger paycheck than mine decided the FBI needed to make this bust. We turned everything over to them ten days ago, and we were redirected…” She stepped closer and lowered her voice to just above a whisper.
“To your project. Things were moving fast there last night.” Clara fought back a yawn as she took two steps backward.
“Great seeing you again. Have an awesome weekend.” She winked before she stepped into the flow of outward bodies.
“Let me guess where she works,” Clint said facetiously.