“Hey, Mae. We good to sign in and box for a bit?”
Mae jumped, quickly smiling as Beau and Hayes Ford walked towards her.
“Yeah, of course. It’s good to see you both. I feel like it’s been forever.”
“This guy never has any time off.” Beau threw a punch at Hayes, catching him right in the upper arm.
“The firehouse is short staffed. I basically live there right now.”
“Well, I’ll speak on behalf of all the citizens of Silver Springs and say thank you for your sacrifice.”
Beau laughed. “Eating chili and lifting weights nine out of ten nights doesn’t really feel like he’s making that big of a sacrifice.”
“He’s still a bachelor, not like you.” Mae teased.
“I’m single as a Pringle, Mae.”
“Still? God, what the hell are you doing with Birdie?”
The sexual tension that rolled off of Beau and Birdie whenever they were together was truly unbearable. Mae had spent the last few months volunteering with Birdie at Beau and Nash’s youth soccer program, and the way they seemed toorbit around one another without effort tugged deep at her heart.
A flush hit the high points of Beau’s ears. “She’s just my friend.”
“Yeah, yourbest friend.” Hayes jabbed back. “We all know how it’s going to end. They seem to be the only ones unsure.”
“You got a problem with guys and girls being friends? Nothing’s going on between us. Besides, I barely see her anymore. She’s in her last year for her midwifery training. It’s all baby this and baby that…”
Mae’s heart sank. One of the things that kept rolling through her mind before the miscarriage had been where she’d choose to have the baby. At home? In the hospital? Would Birdie have been there? It was comforting to think that a friend would have been the one to deliver her baby… but it didn’t matter any more.
“Mae? You good?” Hayes’s question snapped her out of her spiral.
“Yeah. Sorry. It’s been a crazy day around here.”
“I saw the article.” Beau’s head tipped towards the hallway where the guys were tucked into the conference room having their meeting. “Everyone doing okay?”
“They’ll be fine. You better get to beating the shit out of each other, though. I’m not sure if they’ll want to just call it an early day or not once they’re done in their meeting.”
“Sure thing.” Beau tapped his fingers on the reception desk. “And for what it’s worth, we don’t believe what was written. This town will stand by them. We won’t let them get dragged for whatever this person is after.”
“You guys should have told me.” Stone grunted for the fiftieth time. He got it. They were trying to protect him. Hisrecovery. But this? Someone was targeting him, and the whole team because of him. It made his skin crawl.
“For what it’s worth, we know that now.” Sebastian answered. “But your doctor was clear about limiting your stress, and we were just trying to follow orders.”
“You’ve always been a great leader, Cap. I’m not… I don’t think I’m mad. I’m just at a loss as to why someone would go to these lengths to discredit us. It doesn’t make sense.”
“This feels like something more than just running a juicy story.” Gunner said, his head shaking as he lifted his coffee mug to his lips.
“It feels like Pool Comp. Someone is fucking with our lifelines. They’re trying to make it impossible for us to come up for air. Are we drowning and we don’t know it?”
“Fucking Pool Comp.” Hawk shivered. “That shit was insane.”
“Did we fuck up, Cap? Should we have issued a statement?” Nash asked.
“No. Hell no. We don’t talk about specific missions. We don’t give those details to anyone. We did what we did, and it’s done. But we certainly don’t sit by while someone spreads false information about us and defames us and this business.” Sebastian stood, pacing at the front of the room.
“Mae said three clients already called in today. Two from the gym, and a group from St. Louis that were coming in next month for sim time at The Trident. We’re already losing business.” Stone added.
“Tracker, you gotta get on the paper trail here. What source is out there spreading these lies, and what evidence did they share? I’m going to go through my corporate competitors, put feelers out for anyone who may be trying to take me out of a specific game for their own gains. Reaper, Doc… I want you guys to sit down and go through past missions. Think about anything that might be lingering out there from our time in the Teams. Everyone else, focus on the mission the article calls out. Try to remember what the fuck went down, because I have a version in my mind that I recall. We’re going to write them down and make sure they match. Because for all we know, this could be someone pissed at the way I made a call that night and they decided it was time to retaliate.”
