Page 161 of Beyond the Badge: Crew

“Of course he is! I also caught him using Duolingo,” Torres snitched loudly from the other side of the room.

For fuck’s sake!Did no one have any loyalty to their leader around here?

Cami’s eyes swung from Torres to him. “You’re learning Spanish? I know you don’t like us speaking it around you because you feel left out, but isn’t that a bit drastic?”

“Are you that fucking paranoid, J. Crew?” Decker asked on a laugh.

“Fuck off. I’m not paranoid! It can’t hurt to learn.”

“Can an old dog learn new tricks?” Cami teased. “Let’s see…” She spoke very slowly, “¡Hola!¿Cómo estás? Me llamo Cami. ¿Y tú?”

“Even I know that much,” Crew grumbled.

“Then tell me… what did I say?”

“Hello. How are you? My name is Cami. And you?” he translated, finally getting a chance to grab back his phone from Finn. He locked it and shoved it in his back pocket.

“Hey, your name is Cami, too?” she asked with a laugh. “What are the odds?”

“No.Mi nombre es Crew.”

Torres yelled out, “Look at you, now fluent! Better watch out, the agency might put you undercover with a cartel.”

“I’m no expert. I remember that much from high school,” Crew announced.

Decker smirked. “They taught Spanish in school in the early 1900s?”

“Why are you learning Spanish now, Crewella?” A grin curled Rez’s lips as he cocked an eyebrow toward Cami.

“It’s the second most spoken language in this country. That’s why.”

He ignored the laughter and hoots.

“Are you sure you don’t have another reason?” Torres tilted his head and also raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t need another fucking reason.”

“We’ve known each other for years and you’ve never bothered to learn it for me,” Rez said, then pouted and gave him sad puppy dog eyes.

Crew needed to change the subject. And quickly. “Anyway…” He turned to Cami to see her lips pinned together and the corners of her eyes crinkled. He was sure he’d hear about this later. “Can you stick around before heading to Hawg Wild?”

ChapterThirty-One

Cami’s amusement quickly fled.“Is something up?”

“We’re about to have a quick task force meeting. I figured it would be good for you to join in.”

She glanced at her cell phone. “Since they don’t have a time clock, I’m sure no one will miss me being a little late.”

“The Demons don’t know the word punctual,” came from out of thin air.

“Ladies and…ladies… Ghost and Kitten have joined us.” Crew called out, wearing a smirk.

Finnpspspsps’d, then meowed.

A groan could be heard through the speaker phone sitting in the center of the conference table. “Yeah. We’re here and we’ve been listening in to Crew’s downfall.” Fletch chuckled.

“How’s the new apartment?” Crew rushed to ask to steer the conversation away from his so-called downfall.

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