Page 43 of Out of the Shadows

“Morning,” she said.

“Hey, Bean.”

“It is morning wherever you are, right?”

The corners of his lips twitched. “Yeah.”

“And where exactly are you?” She saw him hesitate, so she added, “You know I could figure it out in like a minute, so you may as well just tell me.”

He grinned. “Denver.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” She popped the tab on her energy drink and took a sip. “If you ever want to work on-site, even temporarily, we do have extra workstations here. Secure lodging too.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“So you and I have worked together over the years, but it’s always been contractor work. With the incident last night, I feel like you’re kind of getting thrown into the deep end here.”

He was nodding before she’d finished speaking. “Tell me about it.”

“Have you even had a chance to meet with Esme to get all your paperwork sorted?”

“Yeah, we had a video call Thursday afternoon. She had all my employment stuff squared away within a couple hours.”

Bean chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, the woman’s intense.”

Her chuckle turned into a laugh. “Oh, my friend, you have no idea. Let’s start with the basics. I know you’ve worked a lot with MacKay over the last few months. What has he told you about Hudson Security?”

“Not much,” Tiny said. “Basically, he said that I’ll most likely continue to work with him on his projects, but I’ll report to you, and all my assignments will be dictated by you as well.”

“That sounds about right.” With her elbows resting on her desk, she laced her fingers together. Not quite sure where to begin, she tapped her hand to her lips. She’d been flying solo for so long...

“Let me give you a quick structure rundown first. Head and founder of Hudson Security is Gavin. Next in line is MacKay. Esme is our director of logistics. As you’ve witnessed, she coordinates everything. And I mean everything. All the company’s logistics from HR to individual rescue missions.”

“MacKay mentioned she was with the CIA.”

Bean nodded. “If you thought she was intense over a video call, be prepared if you ever meet her in person. She looks all demure, but?—”

“She’s a badass who can kill me in nine different ways.”

“And no one would ever find your body.” Bean shrugged, grinning.

Tiny chuckled. “Good to know. Don’t fuck with Esme. Got it.”

Okay, fine. The guy wasn’t half bad.

“As far as the rest of the team goes,” Bean continued, “we have three security teams of three operatives each. We’re looking at adding at least one more team, maybe two, but it’s slow going to find the right fit. Frazier and MacKay are particular.”

“Understandable. Hudson Security’s reputation is renowned.”

“It’s something we all take pride in.” Meeting Tiny’s gaze, she was reassured by the sincerity she saw. “So Team One is obviously our lead team. Those three are Xander, Tash Silver, and Bennett Wilson. Xander also oversees all the personal security operatives. They’re also the only ones authorized to do solo assignments. Team Two is Carmichael, Riviera, and Bonson. You’re probably most familiar with Team Three since Hanniger, Rizzo, and Schreiber are the ones that tend to get teamed up with MacKay.”

Tiny’s eyes narrowed. “I’m familiar with Team Three, though I’ve seen them take on solo work.”

Bean shook her head. “They’re always either in pairs or as a trio. There may be one individual assigned to a client, but the others are lurking around somewhere.”

“Gotcha.”

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