Reid - Maddie Wade Page 0,3

while.

His recent stint in the US had been a welcome opportunity to visit with his mom and sisters, and he’d relished the time with them. Nessa had shown improvement he thought. Cancer—Large B-Cell Lymphoma—had struck not long after he made it to the UK, just under four years ago now.

His initial instinct had been to quit and head home, his family meant everything to him. His sister had other ideas though, convincing him that she couldn’t live with him giving up a job he loved for her. Jack had been understanding and put him on as many jobs as he could in the US, giving him plenty of chances to go home for some R and R.

Being part of a company like Eidolon was more than just a job. He’d found himself here, in this country where everything was green and any sign of sun was, even in the dead of winter, a chance to get shorts on. He missed his family, well his mom and his sisters.

His deadbeat father probably had no clue he’d even left. He only paid them a visit when he needed cash or a place to stay. The man was a loser, and Reid only tolerated him because, for some reason, his mother wouldn’t hear him bad mouthing the sperm donor. Reid was a momma’s boy, always had been, and he didn’t give a shit who knew it.

She’d brought him and his sisters up to know the difference between right and wrong, to do the right thing if they could. He’d gone through a phase of thinking he knew best, but she being the good Southern mom she was, she’d knocked that shit right out of him.

Which was why he couldn’t get over his teammate’s betrayal. The entire team dynamic had shifted as they’d tried to fill the void Gunner had left. Each one of them was struggling to negate the feelings of guilt. Why hadn’t they seen it, why didn’t anyone know what was going on until it was too late? Then there was the doubt he’d caused. If Gunner could turn, would others?

Jack had been quick to jump on that. He had them running drills every waking hour. When they weren’t on a job, they were training. Firearms training, tactical assault, hand to hand combat with Sensei Dave and his Systema team. Diving, underwater assault, fast roping, HALO jumping, rock climbing. Every single skill set they needed to be better than the best.

Then there were the training operations they ran with the SAS and SBS up in the hills of the Pen-y-Fan, just over the border in Wales. Jack was working them harder and harder, the only concession being the one day off every two weeks he gave them. And it was working, forcing them to work together against exhaustion and anger. Training them harder than ever so when the time came for them to go after Gunner and the people who wanted to take them down, they’d be a seamless unit with no weaknesses and no exposed wound of betrayal.

After the hundredth lap, Reid pulled himself from the pool and towelled off. Five minutes later he was headed to the firing range for some target practice.

“Hey, Reid.”

Reid turned to see Liam headed his way. He stopped and waited for him to catch up. “Hey, man. You look like shit.”

Liam chuckled without humour and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Well, aren’t you just a ray of fucking sunshine.”

Reid shrugged. “What can I do you for, Liam?”

“Fancy a Ruby Murray later?”

Reid stopped as he tried to filter through his cockney slang for the translation. “A curry, right?”

Liam beamed. “You, my septic tank are getting the hang of this.”

Reid shook his head at the term septic tank. The cockney name for a yank which, Liam used on him, Lopez, and Decker but never Waggs. Ever the class clown, Liam had more sense than to piss off the medic and especially an ex-Delta medic.

“Yeah, count me in. Who else is going?”

“Gonna see if we can get the boss man out and maybe Alex and Evelyn and Mitch, Lopez, and Decker.”

“Cool. Usual place and time?”

“Nah, gonna mix it up and try that new place on Whitecross road. Say around seven-ish?”

“Sure. I’m headed to the range, wanna join me?”

Liam peeled off. “I wish I could but I have a telephone conference with Princess prissy knickers.”

Reid winced and walked away. Liam had been stuck babysitting a Saudi Princess after a hostage situation had come up during a recent