Page 3 of Beyond the Badge: Crew

It sucked but Crew understood that family came first. However, that left him a team member short. The whole reason he sat on the other side of the desk belonging to the supervising special agent in charge of group one’s investigation.

And the man Crew reported to.

“No,” Bob Williams answered.

“I picked the rest of the team.”

“And I picked your newest member.”

Crew stared across the desk, not liking Williams’ tone. It made the fine hairs on the back of his neck rise. The SSA was normally an easy-going guy but something was up. “Do I know him?”

“No.”

That meant this agent was most likely brought in from another field office. “Where’s he from, or is he new to the organization?”

“She’s newer but not quite wet behind the ears new.”

She?He had to choke that down because it almost burst free from his lips and that would not go over well.

He had no problem with women in law enforcement.

None.

Not even a little bit.

He cleared his throat. “How new?”

“She graduated in the top one percent of her class.”

“That means nothing.” And didn’t answer his question.

“To you, maybe, since you weren’t in that top one percent.”

Damn.“I did well in the academy.” Graduating was all that mattered, not being an ass-kisser.

“‘Well’ is a subjective term.”

Jesus.Williams was out for blood today. “When did she graduate?”

“A year ago. She has more grit and determination than a lot of our senior agents.“

Had he walked into a massacre without a bullet-proof vest? Crew had enough gaping wounds now that he was beginning to bleed out. “That’s because she’s fresh and determined to make the world a better place. Once she learns that’s an almost impossible battle to win, she’ll be as tarnished as the rest of us.”

“How about letting her keep that enthusiasm for a while? You could take her under your wing. I see great things in her future and believe she’ll be an asset to the agency, as well as your task force.”

“How old is she?” If she graduated the academy only a year ago, she could be as young as twenty-one. A complete baby needing a whole lot of hand-holding. Right now, he didn’t have to micro-manage his team.

He also didn’t want to.

“She’s young, so I think she would do well dealing with the Demons.”

Dread filled his chest. “She can’t go undercover. They’re,” he bit backan F-bomb, “bikers!”

Williams leaned back in his leather office chair. “They don’t have women hanging around their organization?”

Organization?Williams made them sound like a legit business.

“Not without putting out. Hang-arounds and sweet butts don’t get the pleasure of spending time with those lovely gentlemen without paying a price. I doubt she wants to bend over for a bunch of outlaw bikers. And I’m not talking only one.” Crew shrugged. “Unless she tries to become an ol’ lady. Even if she does that, do you want her having sex with even one of them?”

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