After exiting the vehicle, he made a call. “We’re here. Who can let us in?” He listened. “Gotcha.”
Teddy stood in front of the scanner by the entry door. The light turned from red to yellow. He punched in a code and the light flashed green, the door slid open.
He gestured for her to enter, but she said, “If this place is what I think it is, someone might shoot me on sight. You go first.”
He entered, she followed. As he escorted her through the quiet hallway, she craned her neck left and right. After turning the corner, she said, “This is great.”
“You think?”
“Absolutely. It’s huge. How many people can stay here?”
As they got closer to the men’s and women’s locker rooms, the door to the women’s opened. Slash and Addison stepped into the hall.
“Hey, Tank,” Slash said before shifting her focus onto Sydney. In a flash, she pulled her firearm, pointed it at Sydney. “Oh, whoa, Tank, whatcha doing?”
“Easy, Slash,” Teddy said. “You remember Sydney, Caroline’s sister. Greystone gave her the nod to stay here for a few days.”
“Sorry.” Slash re-holstered her weapon. “Seeing Sydney out of context, I overreacted.”
Teddy raked his hand through his hair. “You didnotthink I was bringing a woman here to give her a tour, did you?”
“We’ve had some shit go down here, so I’m hyper-vigilant about keeping us safe,” Slash replied.
“I get that,” Sydney said. “Gotta protect the home turf. Thanks fornotshooting me.”
“Sydney, I’m Addison.”
“Why are you going underground?” Slash asked.
“I work at Langley, and someone on my team got gunned down,” Sydney replied. “Tank was with me when I found her. My boss wants to ship me out of the country, but that’s not happening. Tank offered me protection ‘til I figure out next steps.”
Teddy hitched a brow. “That was easy.”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t point your metal at me,” Sydney said, her gaze locked on his.
The air became charged with electricity as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“Are you a Special Op with the Agency?” Slash asked.
Sydney tucked her hair behind her ear. “How do you know about that group?”
She didn’t answer the question.
“Greystone used to be with them, but he came over to the dark side,” Addison added.
Slash grinned. “With us.”
Again, Sydney’s gaze found Teddy’s. “So, you’re notjustthe GM at the family restaurant, huh?”
“No.”
“And you didn’t have lunch with Grey’s mom at the White House.”
“We did,” Teddy replied, “before we briefed the President.”
“Look at you stepping into the Oval Office,” Sydney said, her snark front and center.
Teddy chuffed out a laugh.
