I glanced at Savannah, who frowned.
“Kyle, Ben, and Ryan have a song they do as a trio,” she shared.
I arched my eyebrows. “How have I not heard about this?”
She grinned. “You kept the team busy, so they haven’thad time to bring out the karaoke machine. Ben brought it along today.”
I smiled, too. “This sounds interesting. I have to know what the song is.”
“The rickroll,” she said. “You remember that internet trick from the aughts, where you’d click on a link and instead of going where you expected, it would take you to a video of an 80’s song?”
“Oh, I do.Never Gonna Give You Upwas the song, right? I can’t wait to hear their rendition.”
“Don’t get too excited,” she whispered “Honestly, they’re all a little pitchy. But they’re alsosodamn cute.”
“Before anyone sings,” Pasco’s voice rose above the crowd, “it’s time for a special toast. I promised Cami a drink in her honor.”
Everyone clapped, then fell silent as Pasco and Jensen circulated through group. They handed a rocks glass, to everyone except Savannah, who cupped her belly and grinned. Lucky woman.
I took my ice cold glass. The liquid was clear. Innocuous-looking. How disgusting could it be? Then I made the mistake of smelling it.
I pressed my hand over my mouth and nose. “It smells like an uncleaned dog kennel.”
Everyone else was becoming aware of the vile odor as well, as one by one our guests turned pale.
The glass door to the house slid open. “Pasco, are you seriously passing out horrible drinks without me?” Ryan, wearing his aviators pushed up onto his blond hair, stepped onto the deck.
Rocky followed him, and Bella raced over to greet her favorite dog friend.
Then someone else emerged from the house.Recognizing a familiar face, Kyle and I exchanged a glance. I wasn’t sure if she’d arrived on her own or was here as Ryan’s guest. Ryan dated a lot of women, but he didn’t tend to bring them to HEAT gatherings, so, either she was just his friend, or she was very special to him.
Ryan put his arm around her and grinned. They were definitely more than friends.
Kyle
“When your teamand my team get together, they kiss ass and take names,” I told Cami as we surveyed the spotless kitchen. “It’s almost like we never had a party.”
“Really?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Have you seen the ten pounds of food stuffed into the fridge?”
I stretched my arms over my head, then settled one over her shoulders. “Well, if I’m going to fire up the grill, I might as well get some good use out of it.”
“And enough food to feed both our teams for the next week.”
From her new favorite dog bed in the dining room, Bella let out a snort, followed by a snore. Our sweet girl was sacked out from the excitement of the day, and content in the knowledge that after a long night’s sleep, we’d be here in the morning to take care of her.
“God, you two make me happy,” I told Cami.
“I was just thinking the same thing. Well, that, and wondering about what Kat said.
When my boss had gotten a moment alone with Cami and me, she’d shared that the FBI had located Riker’s accomplice. Our team would take the lead in bringing inRiker’s buddy, and maybe we’d finally start getting somewhere. He was the next rung up on the criminal ladder that we hoped would lead all the way to the cult leader, swindler, and all-around piece of shit Anson.
“Do you think you’ll have to go out of town soon?” Cami asked.
In the time we’d been together, our team hadn’t been sent on any operations that were very far afield, and I hadn’t been out of town for more than a couple of days out a time. I tugged her closer. “Maybe. Are you ready for that? Ready to be fully in charge of Bella?”
We both knew that wasn’t what I was asking. She’d been worried sick about the fallout on her staff from Riker’s dangerous stunt at the clinic. But she was the one who’d had nightmares for the first couple of weeks. I’d been so happy to be sharing a bed with her—sometimes at her place, most of the time at mine—so I could hold her until she went back to sleep.
She’d been doing well for weeks now, helped by the fact that Gina and Darla had each had a few sessions of therapy and the three of them had even attended one as a group. And Doc and his wife were both in a facility where he’d been evaluated and had a treatment plan in place.
