Page 100

“Fuck off.”

Fifty-Four

DAKOTA

I found her out by the lake, in her favorite spot. Down between the gnarled trunk of the ancient willow, and the small embankment reaching out over the water.

“Hey…”

Sammara smiled up at me before I reached her. She did have good ears. Good lots of things, really. But her hearing was especially uncanny.

“Can I sit?”

“Of course!”

The teak bench creaked under my weight. Probably because it had been made for her, and not me. But also because Kyle had built it… and he wasn’t much of an carpenter. At least, not yet.

“You good?”

“Better than good,” Sammara grinned. She lifted her ass and inched close enough to me that our legs touched. “Ecstatic actually.”

There was a lot to be ecstatic about. Colonel Goddard was history. He’d followed through on his retirement announcement, and four other members of Di Spatia — his, presumably — had disappeared without a word, into the night. Briggs was back in full control of the company. He’d even found himself a co-captain… Markus Ladrone.

Second chances and all that.

It had been shortly after the video chat with Goddard that Markus eventually came clean to Briggs about how they’d settle up. In essence, he wanted back in. He wanted a part of his old mercenary company back, even if it meant starting from scratch.

He’d actually asked for a deputyship. Briggs had steadfastly refused. When Markus got angry all over again, Briggs cracked a smile before he could break out laughing. Then the two of them went for a long walk…

… and Markus came back to Di Spatia on equal footing.

In way it was win-win. The company got to benefit from Markus’s years of experience, and he brought back the veterans that were loyal to him. Briggs — not to mention the rest of us — got some much needed R&R. Especially since running the company by himself had proved to be more than just a full-time job.

Making Markus co-captain was something Briggs figured the other three of us would oppose vehemently. He was actually surprised when we didn’t.

“You think Kyle and Ryan are okay with Jason’s decision?” Sammara asked suddenly.

She had the uncanny ability to pluck things out of my mind, no matter what I’d been thinking of at the time. It was almost like a gift.

“Yes and no.”

She turned to me quizzically.

“I mean no, as far as being able to trust Markus fully. He burned us. He burned others, too. And he almost hurt you…”

I took her hand reassuringly, but it was much warmer than mine. If anything, I was reassuring myself.

“But yeah, I get what you meant about second chances now. And I think Briggs does too. He wouldn’t have even considered it if he thought differently, even for a second.”

“True.”

“And Markus did stick his neck out for us,” I pointed out. “Twice, in fact.”

Sammara turned to look back over the lake. She seemed happy enough. But I could tell something was still bothering her.

“What is it?” I asked.

She shook her head. Told me it was nothing.