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“Yes, Ma’am, but from what I’ve heard, it would have been even worse if you hadn’t found the other suicide bombers.”
Nikki did not make eye contact when the guard handed her the ID card.
“I know you don’t know this, but my brother was headed to the last building. If his platoon had made it to that building before you found the bomber, who knows what would have happened?”
Nikki sucked in her bottom lip and raised her eyes to see the guard. “We all have jobs to do, Sergeant. It’s what we do.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” He handed her and Blake their cards.
“I’m glad your brother survived that day,” she said.
“Yes, Ma’am. Thank you again, Ma’am.” He saluted Nikki.
She saluted, put the lanyard around her neck, and headed to the door. Blake and Lincoln followed her.
“Mr. Talbert, the rest of your team is in the second building on the left, after the first traffic circle. Go through the circle, and the building will be on the right. Your liaison will join you soon to make sure you get everything you need.”
Lincoln thanked the guard, and they walked back to his SUV.
“Are you an officer?” Blake asked.
“Major. I’ve been serving this country in one way or another since I came here,” Nikki said.
“And where did you come from?” Blake asked.
Nikki opened the back door.
“You can sit in the front if you want,” Blake said.
“I’m already back here,” she said.
Blake waited for her to answer, but she didn’t.
It took less than thirty seconds to get to the building. Four wolf shifters were inside, setting up computers, whiteboards, and maps.
“Hey, look who finally decided to come back to work,” an African American man said.
“Hey, boss-man.” A sandy-haired kid switched his attention away from the laptop in front of him.
“Hey.” A woman with long dark hair said. “I just finished tapping into the satellite. We should have visual in a few minutes.” She walked over to Blake and Nikki with her hand outstretched. “I’m Maddison.” She shook their hands.
Blake couldn’t help but notice that Madison’s face softened when she shook hands with Nikki.
Madison pointed to the African American man. “That’s Washington.” She pointed to the sandy-haired kid. “That’s Ford.” She pointed to the lower half of a woman who was half under a table. “And that’s Reagan.”
Reagan called out from under the table. “Nice to meet you.” She crawled backward, tried to stand, and bumped her head on the table. “Sonofabitch.”
“Uhh, don’t worry about it. You’ve got a hard head,” Ford said.
Reagan glared at him. “Screw you.” She ignored Blake and held out a hand to Nikki. “It’s good to see you again, Nix.”
Blake’s eyes doubled in size. Nix? Did this woman know her? How did it not occur to him to investigate Nikki’s background? He just assumed that since Angela liked her, she was fine. But he knew next to nothing about her.
Nikki stepped over to Reagan, glanced at the woman’s hand, and then back up to her face. She cocked up an eyebrow. “Really? We’re gonna resort to just handshakes?”
Reagan pulled back her hand. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be happy about seeing me.”
Nikki crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, you mean because you cheated last time, I saw you?”
