"I have to go. I'll call you as soon as I'm done."
"Okay, be safe."
"Always."
I hung up when it sounded like Beckett wanted to say one more thing. The man had patience. I would give him that.
"Was that Beckett?" Nyx asked as soon as I got back in position. I moved away to take the call in privacy.
"Yup. He was filling me in on where things stood with the contractors and the former deputy director."
"Uh-huh." Nyx called me out without actually calling me out. It was an annoying habit she had.
"Focus on the assignment," I snapped.
Nyx chuckled. She got the reaction from me she wanted, and I could kick myself for giving it to her. I knew she was baiting me, and every time I fell into her trap. Unlike me, Nyx didn't have a problem expressing her feelings.
"Tell me again why we took this assignment? We don't even get to do anything. Lilith is doing all the work."
She wasn't wrong. This was a simple assassination of a terrorist. Lilith would take the kill shot while the rest of us assured she wasn't met with resistance on her way back to the rendezvous spot. The only reason we were all here was because we never worked alone. If one took an assignment, we all did. This was no different.
"You know damn well we never work alone."
"I know; it's just been a while since I got to kill someone. I was starting to get antsy."
She wasn't the only one. I wasn't used to going this long without taking a life. I wasn't sure what that said about me that I missed it. A therapist would likely say there was something wrong with me. But if I never visited one, then there was no way I had to hear that.
"Target is down. I repeat, target is down." Sloane advised us over comms. She and Lilith were perched for the shot while Nyx and I covered them.
"Let's move."
We made it back to the plane without incident. As far as assignments went, this one was anticlimactic. It was why we rarely took these kinds of jobs. We liked a challenged. Except Lilith. She preferred this kind of assignment, which was why we agreed. It was only fair she got some excitement as well.
"Let's get back home. I'm sure some of us have people eagerly waiting."
I threw my middle finger up at Nyx. The bitch had the nerve to laugh.
But she was right. I did have someone waiting for me, and as promised, I owed him reassurance I was fine.
I'M ALIVE AND ON MY WAY HOME.
Home. I liked the sound of that. And I would never say it out loud, but I liked knowing Beckett was there waiting for me. Now that he no longer worked for the FBI, he would always be there waiting for me to arrive. Soon I would be used to that.
I'M GLAD. I'LL BE SURE TO REWARD YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK.
Oh yeah. Having him there definitely had its advantages.
EPILOGUE
SLOANE
I sat at my desk in my new office inside my new house.
It would take some time to get used to all the space. At first, I had no intention of moving into the house. Unlike Anita and Lilith, I had no use for a bigger living area, but after Nyx moved into hers, it seemed pointless to be the only one holding out.
The one good thing about a house with three bedrooms was the fact that I could have an office that wasn't in my living room. I had plenty of area to put a big desk and get the computer system I wanted. I was the resident nerd. Electronics were my kryptonite. I wasn't nearly as good as Hawk, but I was better than an average hacker. And right now, I was stalking Mason's whereabouts.
Did I trust that Hawk knew what they were doing when they told me to release Mason? Yes, I absolutely did. I wouldn't have let him go if I didn't.
