one person whose good side he wanted to be on, it was Zain’s.
“What’s going on?” Logan nudged the door shut before easing down onto one of the leather chairs across from Zain’s desk.
“A lot.” Zain flipped a binder shut, tapped a key on his keyboard, then turned his monitor around. “You want a drink or anything before we start?”
Logan blinked, taking in the serious way Zain regarded him. There was no pause for chatting. No asking after family or the team. Just let’s get started.
How bad was this job?
“Let’s jump right in,” Logan said.
Zain nodded. “This is not a normal job. I want you to know right now I’ve been...struggling with it. This is me telling you, not the team. This job has potential to be great for us-the-company, but... I don’t know, man.”
“What is it?”
Zain tapped another key and his monitor displayed an email. “This is from Zora Clark. She’s with the NSA and is helping head up a joint task force. You can skim what she’s saying here, which is a lot of nothing. Come work for us. Here’s a contract. We promise to pay your guys well. That’s it.”
Logan skimmed the email. “Why us? Does she ever say?”
“I asked her that. We had a very brief phone call. By brief, I mean maybe a minute and a half. All she said was that they needed the best, and we’re it.”
“What’s the joint task force for? Any idea?”
Zain shook his head.
“Hm.” Logan propped his elbow on the arm rest and read the email slower.
The offer was a good one. Government contracts were a solid way to build the business and reputation. They didn’t have to vet and verify things as much when working with them either, not like private sector work.
His gaze hung up on one of the last lines.
What the hell?
Logan gaped. “They want a decision tomorrow? And for everyone to move?”
“Yeah.”
He stared at the screen without reading it again.
Zain wasn’t saying no to the job. If he were to do that, Logan would have never heard about the offer to begin with. That meant Zain was seriously considering it to the point that the rest of the guys were going to be looped in.
Zain couldn’t order them to take the job and move. Which meant he was leaving it up to the team to decide. The ball was in Logan’s court. And Tucker’s. And Evan’s. And Jamie’s. And Harper’s.
In that moment, Logan knew one thing for certain.
If the majority of the guys wanted to take this job, he couldn’t leave them.
He pressed his elbow against his side, just enough to feel the paper crinkle.
They were a team. They wouldn’t be the best if they weren’t together.
“I can’t make this call,” Zain said. “I wanted to talk to you about it first, then the guys and let you make your own decision. I figure if three or four of you say yes...”
If Logan put in his notice, it would throw the team into disarray. Even if Logan’s top pick to replace him said yes, it would be weeks—months—of working together before the team was ready for a job like this.
Harper, Evan, Tucker—those three stood a good chance of saying yes. With Jamie it all depended on how close his current girlfriend was to dumping him what he’d say. Zain had likely made the same determination, only he had no idea Logan intended to leave.
But not now.
If the guys agreed to it, if they wanted to do this, Logan would do it with them. They were the best because of how they worked together. Not because of a company name or their equipment. It was the people that made all the difference.
“Okay.” Logan blew out a breath then nodded as his decision took root. “Okay, let’s do this.”
1.
Six months later. Monday. Logan Muller’s Apartment, Washington, DC.
Meeting planner wasn’t part of Logan’s job description, but it should be.
This meeting should have happened last week. Logan had pushed for them to act immediately after Zora Clark had come to his office to show him some of the new intel they’d decrypted from the servers their team had hacked after the last operation.
Fuck. It felt like these things were happening so quickly. How were they this far behind?
Instead, Zora had given everyone a much needed long weekend for Thanksgiving. With any luck, however, they’d have all the details ironed out.
Where the hell was everyone?
He glanced at his watch, then the gurgling coffee maker. He’d had to upgrade when they started moving