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“Oh?”
“Actually…” He turned to Lincoln. “This hasn’t been announced yet, so y’all will be the first to hear, but the Spec. Ops team is movin’ from Houston to Los Angeles.”
“I didn’t know that,” Lincoln said.
“Well, it came as a bit of a surprise to me two months ago when the director made the decision. Actually, he’s had me workin’ to recruit a whole new team for Houston because in his mind—and I suppose I have to agree with him on this point—there’s more crime in L.A. than Houston… At least more of the type of crime where a team like our Spec. Ops team is best utilized. Those boys are specialists, as you witnessed firsthand over the last couple of days. Hell, they’re the closest thing the U.S. has to a military unit operatin’ domestically. Most cities have SWAT teams that are built similar, but an FBI tac team in any field office in the nation, ain’t as good as these boys are.”
“They’re very effective, yes, I have to agree,” Lincoln said. “We’ll sure be happy to have them in Los Angeles.” Lincoln glanced at Miguel before looking back at Waters. “Sir, you do realize Miguel doesn’t work for the FBI, so I’m a little confused as to why you wanted to talk to us both.”
“Candy didn’t tell you?”
Lincoln shook his head, frowning. “No.”
“Well, he told me that Mr. Huerta comes with a Marine Recon pedigree and Candy feels he’d make an excellent replacement for one of the men who can’t make the move from Texas to California.”
“I honestly didn’t know about the offer.” Lincoln turned to me. “Does this mean you’ll be joining the FBI, Miguel?” He darted a glance at me for a few seconds, obviously picking up on the fact that if Miguel did make that choice, he and I wouldn’t be partners anymore.
I felt a little sick to my stomach. It felt wrong for me to be standing in Miguel’s way if he really did decide to take the offer. But I wouldn’t blame him if he did.
“I already turned Sorensen down, Lincoln, which is why I didn’t mention it. Raven and I have a lot of friends in the Bureau and as you and McCallahan know, I appreciate all the help you’ve been, but Raven and I just opened Trackers. Helping out on the breach with Sorensen’s team was a one-time deal, an opportunity to fill an empty spot when we went in to find and rescue the hostages.”
Waters cleared his throat. “I understand your hesitation, Miguel. However, I wanted to explain just what you’d be required to do should you decide to join the FBI.” Miguel no doubt opened his mouth to protest. “Please. It’ll only take a minute, son.”
Miguel nodded. “Okay, a minute.”
“I suppose I should tell you that the man lost—the man who chose to leave the team and stay behind here in Houston—well, he was our tracker, you see. Full blooded Navajo. Lived on the reservation all his life until joinin’ the Army in 2010. When Sorensen met you and learned what your specialty had been as a Recon Marine, I realized that you might be just the type of man who could take his place. Really, all you’d be doin’ is cashin’ a check from the U.S. government, otherwise, your job is the same as the job you do with your partner, Raven Mathis, at Trackers.”
My eyebrows climbed all the way up as I exchanged a surprised glance with Miguel who looked equally as confused. Miguel frowned at Waters.
“Mr. Waters, it kind of sounds like you’ve been doing your homework on me.”
Waters smiled and nodded. “I have. I already had an idea about you. But after you killed Castillo, and I got the full rundown of how you worked side by side with Captain Sorensen on the takedown of the Sanchez Cartel headquarters, I knew—well, we both did—you’re the kind of man we need on this team.”
Miguel was silent for a few minutes. He didn’t look at me but addressed Waters directly. “SAC Waters, I appreciate that Sorensen choosing me to be his partner on this mission was intentional—a job interview—but I can’t leave my business.” He reached for my hand before saying, “Because, you see, I have a partner of my own. And I don’t think I’d be the kind of recruit you’d really want to take your man’s place, if I agreed to leave my partner behind just because it sounds like fun to collect my paycheck from Uncle Sam once again. This man is the only partner I need. Thank you for your offer but I really hope I’ve made myself clear. Oh, and by the way, please tell Sorensen I appreciate the vote of confidence. I enjoyed working with him too.”
Lincoln snorted, and Miguel and I both turned to look at him. He wasn’t looking at us. He was looking at Waters and when we turned back to the man in question, he was smiling. He nodded to Lincoln and then focused on Miguel.
“That was nice—what you said there—real nice. It’s good to know that you have a partner you put so much trust in. I admire loyalty like that. Aside from your skills in the field, it no doubt made you a superior Marine.”
“Thank you,” Miguel said.
“One last thing.”
“Okay.”
“Because you didn’t quite let me finish before you gave that heartfelt answer to my offer.”
Miguel nodded. “I’m sorry. Please, go on, sir.”
“Because I was about to sweeten my offer,” Waters said.
“You mean something other than the fact that I’d be working with men I greatly admire and getting my checks from the FBI?”
Waters actually chuckled. “Yes, that’s right. What I was goin’ to add was that I’d like to hire you both on…as a team.”
I felt my jaw drop. When I turned to look at Miguel, he was frowning at Waters. “I’m…sorry?”
“I want to hire both you and your partner, Miguel.”