Page 104 of Statler

“Yeah? And what are we going to be in this dynamic?” Two more females approached with grins on their faces.

Talia snorted. “Whatever you want.” She gave a shrill whistle to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up team Statler. These two overachievers are Sandrine and Briar, and you better not cross them.”

Statler loved the way the SWAT members interacted like family. It reminded him of his own people.

Mason continued with the introductions now that everyone was paying attention.

“I’m not sure who else you’re all familiar with, but going down the line, we have Welker, Amos, Mike, Cisco, Hops, and Alvero.”

“A nice even dozen,” Statler approved, making sure to greet everyone with a firm handshake. “And on the flipside, on my team we have Blue, Dizzy, Pipes, Tonka, Sherbert, and Hazard.”

Once the niceties were all done, it was time to get down to serious business.

Statler called it. “If you’ll all join me over by the barbeque pit, I think we’ve scrounged up enough chairs that we can fit everyone, and Tonk is providing food.”

“Damn right,” the man said. “You don’t want to see me if I don’t eat.”

He went inside, and came out with over a dozen pizzas as everyone found their seats.

Statler began by addressing the crowd as people began eating.

“You know me and my crew as general contractors for a commercial building firm. That’s true. But we also go deeper than that.”

“You think?” Mason snorted. “I’ve had my suspicions for a while that something else was going on with you guys.” He picked up a slice of pizza. “It will be good to finally get details.”

Statler would gladly fill the SWAT team in.

“As some of you know, my team and I served together in the Army Corp of Engineers.”

There were a few nods.

“When we separated from the service, one by one, we were thrown into the private sector, fairly unprepared for what we’d find, and like a lot of you, we floundered for a while.”

Now the agreement was unanimous. Most of these people knew what it was like to try to integrate into civilian life after being married to the military.

“Getting our construction firm started was a godsend. That was eight years ago, but our trajectory changed almost immediately to undercover work.”

“Just curious,” Mike asked. “How did that come about?”

“We were approached by a man we know as General Dark. He gave us an opportunity to use all our skills, both building and combat. The offer was something we couldn’t resist; helping him as a covert faction, working for the government on the East Coast.”

“There’s a West Coast version of you guys?” Cisco asked.

“There is, but we’ve never met them. Dark likes to keep his apples in separate baskets for security purposes.”

“Yet he said it was okay that we got brought in?” Mason posited.

“Yeah. He thought it was an excellent idea.”

Thank cripes. They’d come close, a few times, to being in tough situations where they’d been outnumbered.

“Since there are only seven of us on this team,” Statler explained, giving words to his thoughts, “there’s often the need for back-up, which we haven’t previously had. So, the minute I mentioned you, Mase, and your SWAT team to Dark, I found out that the sly dog already had you all on his radar; with background checks having been completed, like he knew this collaboration would be inevitable.”

“Huh. This dude sounds scary,” Kyle snickered.

“He is,” Statler agreed. “But not as scary as whoever is above him on the food chain. Dark hasn’t shared names, but whoever pulls his strings is very high up in the government.”

Statler had often speculated that it was the Vice President—in conjunction with someone at the FBI—who authorized their incursions, but he had no proof, and Dark wasn’t talking.