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“Outfield, welcome to our team,” Reaper continued stoically, “And you’ll be flying at my side as my wingman.”
Sparky snorted and Killian felt his lips twitch – drawing Reaper’s sharp gaze.
“My apologies, sir. Allergies,” Sparky said openly, standing completely still, almost ramrod straight in his body’s alignment. The man could have been a posterchild for how to salute or stand at attention – so long as he didn’t have to hold a conversation. He was a wild one, down to his very core.
“Sparky and Copperhead – you are now paired up.”
“Thank you, sir!” both men said in unison, saluting.
“Paradox and Inferno – you are paired up,” Reaper continued as the two men immediately stepped forward, saluting. “Riptide and Scarecrow – you are also paired up. Welcome to our squadron, Scarecrow.”
“Proud to be here, sir.”
“Does anyone have any concerns that should be addressed at this time?” Reaper said quietly, commanding attention with the simple rhetorical question. “Perfect. Men, please take a moment to welcome our new pilots, and I will see you all at thirteen hundred for a surveillance run. Dismissed!”
Ricochet immediately moved to say hello to the new pilots, shaking their hands and knowing it was expected of him – because it’s what Reaper did when he took over after Thumper left. Those were strange times, and he’d just arrived in Ghazni a week prior to the other man’s departure.
“Welcome aboard, Outfield,” he said simply, shaking each of their hands. “Cajun, nice to see you again. I think we’ve passed each other in the chow line a few times.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Please, call me Ricochet.”
“Will do.”
“Ricochet?” Reaper said bluntly. “I’ll need to see you please. Colonel Bradford, I will update you later this afternoon, and I appreciate you taking time out of your day for this matter.”
“My pleasure, son.”
Reaper nodded and saluted Colonel Bradford – and Ricochet stopped in his tracks, doing the same, before continuing his path towards Reaper’s side.
“Congratulations, sir,” Killian began, and saw Reaper shake his head slightly.
“My office.”
The two men walked silently towards the building and Killian felt a bead of sweat running down his back between his shoulder blades. He really wanted to call Destiny to tell her what was going on – and couldn’t yet. Now, he would have to watch everything he said around the other men because he was technically in charge while in the air on a mission, if Reaper wasn’t there.
As they walked down the hallway, Reaper opened the doorway to the office that already had a new placard on the door, making things official. This had obviously been in the works for over two or three weeks now, and every trace of Reilly was gone.
Reaper shut the door and looked at him.
“Breathe… and relax,” he said openly, smiling faintly. “Let’s talk.”
“What is going on?” Ricochet blurted out, reeling.
“I like that about you – straight to the point,” Reaper chuckled and nodded. “Let’s be frank about things and shoot straight from the hip. No holding back, my friend. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Killian said quickly, crossing his arms and looking at him. “That’s a heckuva promotion.”
“You too, I might add.”
“Thank you – and much appreciated, but what happened with Reilly?”
“Gross misconduct,” Reaper said simply, not looking away from him as he sat on the edge of the desk, his palms resting beside him. “In here, ask and say anything you want when we are alone – and I’ll answer if I can. If I cannot? I’ll tell you that I can’t, and you can draw your own conclusions.”
“Are you still going home when your contract is up?”
“Yeah. I hate being away from Sophie, and we are trying for another baby desperately. You?”
