Page 88 of Her Fearless Warrior

“So, one or two didn’t get dismantled, huh?”

“Sounds like.”

“I’m going to call Mom and check on Dad. Then I’m going to grab a shower, and I’ll meet you down there.”

“I’m making breakfast. What do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

She leaned over and reached for her smartphone and pressed in her mom’s number. Linc left her to it.

When he got back downstairs, Jase had already found a waffle iron and was mixing up some batter. Linc smelled bacon.

“Where’s the bacon?” Linc asked.

“I’m broiling it. That way grease doesn’t get all over everything, and it cooks more evenly,” Jase said.

Linc nodded. “Gideon? Kostya?”

“They’re calling Lark and Jada. Kostya checks in a lot. Have you noticed?”

“Is there something to be worried about with Lark’s pregnancy?” Linc asked Jase. “Something they’re not telling us?”

“That’s not the vibe I’m picking up. I think he worries about her, sure. But I really think he wants her to know he’s thinking about her.”

“My stepfather is like that. That’s the kind of husband I want to be.”

Jase poured some batter into the waffle iron. He looked over Linc’s shoulder to check out the stairway. “You thinking about marriage with Leila?” Jase asked quietly.

“She doesn’t know it yet, but we’re destined to grow old together.”

Jase smiled. “Kind of like my parents, too.”

“That’s the plan.”

* * *

“Don’t you think the PowerPoint presentation for three people is over the top?” Jase asked Gideon.

“Don’t mess with his mojo,” Leila shushed Jase. “I like a good PowerPoint presentation. Thanks for creating one, Gideon.”

Linc enjoyed having Leila sitting by him on the couch in the office. He was thankful that Gideon found a way to project the presentation on the wall. This way he could snuggle with Leila.

“These are the different sites where Russia used to have all of their retired atomic missiles that they had in the queue to dismantle. As of three years ago they haven’t let the International Atomic Energy Agency into any of their sites to see if they are being dismantled in accordance to their international treaty.”

“This is a shitty time for there to be any nuclear weapons out in the wild. This needs to be stopped.” Kostya got up from his chair and actually patted his pants. Linc knew he was looking for a cigarette, but there were none. He had quit smoking years ago. But whenever Kostya looked for a cigarette, you knew he was stressed.

“Seems to me, the selling of the nuclear weapon is higher than any of our paygrades,” Gideon said. “And with the state of the world right now, having nuclear weapons stolen from Russia will cause a huge uprising. One finger will point at the other to blame them.”

“You’re right. During my stint in Russia, that is exactly how certain people think. It would be best for everyone involved if my name didn’t come up,” Leila said.

“Agreed,” Linc said. “But right now, we’re not concentrating on the nuclear weapon, are we?” he asked Kostya and Gideon.

“No,” Kostya answered. “We’re not. I’ve already bumped this up to Captain Hale. I would be surprised if he won’t be talking to the Chief of Naval Operations today.”

“Holy hell, that’s definitely high on the food chain,” Jase said.

“Okay, so we’ll be in charge of stopping Vugar, right?” As soon as Jase opened his mouth, Leila gave him the hand. “I don’t need any more smart remarks out of you today, got it?”