Page 269 of Wild Card

Her face softens, all worry gone in her eyes. “Good luck.”

“Just formalities, babe.” I disconnect, and a second later, a heart emoji pops up on my text.

Fuck if it doesn’t make me smile.

I walk back in and directly to Boyd’s office. The other guys are already waiting.

“You get your emails?” Boyd gets straight to the point.

We nod.

“You’re interviews scheduled?”

“Friday,” Ace confirms.

Boyd jerks his chin. “I got a shitload of pissed-off cops out there who have been on the list for years. Whispers on the lane say I’m facing an HR nightmare.”

I gawk at the man a beat before openly laughing. “Whispers on the lane? What the fuck kind of statement is that? “

He scowls. “Always a fucking horse’s ass.”

“Seriously, since when the hell do you care about that shit? SWAT sets their standards. Anyone who feels slighted needs to step up their game or move on,” Major announces loud enough for anyone within hearing distance of the office.

Boyd casts his gaze to the open door, his lips twitching. “Jesus help your next supervisor.”

“Aww, Peewee, you getting nostalgic?”

His eyes heat, shooting daggers at me. “I will miss you least, Simms.”

I stumble back, covering my heart and gasping dramatically. “You slay me.”

The heat turns to humor and he shakes his head. The man isn’t fooling anyone. Everyone is ready for the next steps.

Nothing stays a secret for long in our crew. We know Boyd met with James this morning.

Any backlash or Human Resource nightmare won’t land on his plate because he’s officially retiring from the force and joining Hayes Security.

“Come on and admit that we made your job entertaining,” I goad. “We made you look good.”

“Entertaining is one word for it. Running off to play Rambo, three of you getting shot, the kidnappings, the cartels, all of it was so muchfun.”

“We brought the spice to your senior years.”

He rolls his eyes. “I have a feeling I’m not done with you four. Now get out of here and try to stay out of trouble until you get reassigned.”

A thrill of adrenaline shoots through my system. We’ve worked toward SWAT since the day we started, knowing it was our endgame. But hearing it and knowing it’s coming soon is fucking awesome.

We file out, going to the desks we claim as ours. I stop in my tracks at the pillowed insert in my chair.

“What the hell is this?”

“Figured you may need a little cushion for your back and hips after that fainting incident,” Boyd calls out, setting off Ace, Ford, and Major into roaring laughter.

Fuckers ratted me out.

I can’t help but chuckle along with them.

A text chimes in, making me smile wider.

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