“Only partly,” Gage clarified. “Long story short, I work for an energy company, and some shady potential business partners were sniffing around. Kat thought I was shady myself, so she seduced me for information.”
“That is not—that’s it. No more wine for you.” Kat laughed as she took his wineglass and drank the last swig. “But I did rescue him from the bad guys.”
“It was like something out of a Bond movie,” Pasco said. “Sorry,” he mouthed to the doctor. “I was running the comms systems for the operation.” He smiled at Ben. “Mai and Cynthia were on that one. Came through like superstars, per usual, but Kat really stole the show.”
“That’s no lie,” Gage said. “She dropped out of a ceiling vent, dressed head to toe in black, and took out two guys with guns like she was a fucking Ninja or something.”
I widened my eyes. Kat was average height, just an inch orso taller than me, which is why the green dress I’d borrowed from her fit so well. And she was definitely fit, a little buff. But it was hard to picture her as a lethal force of one.
“I’ve seen the three of them in the field together,” Ryan said. “Thing of beauty. And I’m not saying that in a smart-ass kind of way. It’s one of the reasons I jumped at the chance to join Kat’s team.”
Beside me, Ben scowled. I was pretty sure there was nothing Ryan could say that wouldn’t make Ben pull a face. He turned his attention to Gage. “Did I hear Kat mention you still have a place in New York?”
“Yes,” Gage said. “We knocked down the wall between our two apartments and made one bigger one. We spend about half our time there.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Kat said, but she didn’t sound like she minded. “Gage’s brother and sister-in-law have two kids, a three-and-a-half-year-old and a little-over-one-year-old. They’ve informed us that Mr. Fuzzy and Miss Fancy are really their cats, and they just let us do the hard part of taking care of them.”
Gage added, “We love the kids, the kids love the cats, and as long as we feed all of them, they tolerate us, so it works out.”
I smiled, picturing two small kids trying to carry the supersize fuzzball that was Mr. Fuzzy. Kat and Gage’s happy, settled life and extended family brought on the familiar pang of homesickness, not for a place but for the parents I’d lost, and reminded me Ben had been right: My aunt and uncle loved me. They probably were worried about me. And I definitely owed them a call.
“Evan and I have talked about getting a second place here,” Bond said. “That’s my husband,” she told Ben and me. “He’s on the Chicago PD, and with his schedule, I don’t think he’d be able to spend much time here with me.”
“Ben’s planning to take a job in Chicago,” I said.
“Is he?” Gage raised his eyebrows.
“He’s on temporary assignment to us,” Kat said.
“That’s…” Gage didn’t finish his thought.
“Keeping two places.” Pasco shook his head. “I have enough trouble keeping one clean.”
“Youareallowed to hire cleaning people,” Ryan said.
Pasco frowned. “I don’t like people touching my stuff.”
“True story,” Kyle said. “I tried to borrow a router from the IT room once—”
“HEAT electronics are not for your personal use,” Pasco responded.
As the conversation continued, I noticed Gage glancing at Ben. He’d been surprised at Kat’s announcement that Ben’s HEAT role was temporary. Maybe he knew something I didn’t. Maybe I needed to find out what that was.
The conversation turned to a discussion of Mai’s previous team, including someone named Jensen.
“HEAT’s other hotshot IT guy,” Ben told me.
Pasco shook his head. “Poor guy. He’s a little less good-looking than me and has fewer mad skills.”
The other team members laugh.
“Do not say that in front of Jensen,” Bond cautioned him. “I don’t appreciate refereeing between you two egomaniacs.”
“Speaking of that asshole,” Pasco said with undisguised affection, “he’s sent along some of his most popular drink recipes. I think we should try one tonight.”
There were gagging noises from around the table.
“Those drinks are not suitable for human consumption,” Bond said.
