By May, her knowledge of diplomatic relations and strategic intelligence had impressed Tommy so much that he promoted her to Director of Strategic Operations for Sloane Consulting, with Thorn’s enthusiastic approval. With Nissa in place and the business thriving, Tommy finally felt ready to startrecruiting operatives for Sloane Contracting, shortly after Evie’s twenty-first birthday on May 8.
Thorn had already begun joining veterans’ groups and online forums across the country, quietly searching for people who might be a good fit. He avoided the loud or self-promoting types, the ones whose politics were plastered all over their profiles. Instead, he looked for those who stayed quiet, people who posted the occasional dark-humor meme or calm, reasoned comment in the middle of heated debates. Once someone caught his eye, he’d start digging, checking service records, reaching out to contacts in the military brass, and vetting every detail before adding them to his pile of potential candidates.
The day after Evie’s party, held after she finished her exams and received her grades, to celebrate her birthday, finishing her second year of Computer Science at the top of her class, and the start of her first summer internship with Sloane Tech in the Artificial Intelligence & Research Division, Thorn tapped on the door of Tommy’s office and heard a faint grunt that he took as permission to enter. He opened the door and let a low chuckle as he walked into the dark office and found Tommy face down on his desk.
The party had started Saturday evening and gone til early Sunday morning, and he’d never seen Tommy get so drunk in the year and a half he’d been employed as his bodyguard and it had taken Thorn and Nissa a good hour and a half to convince him to go to bed after Evie had passed out, more exhausted then drunk, on the couch. He’d made toast after toast to Evie; to her turning twenty-one, to her strength, and to her landing one of Sloane’s coveted summer internships, which he insisted had nothing to do with him. To keep things fair, he’d handed the selection process to a committee of department heads, and Kara had stripped all identifying information from the applicationsbefore review, making it a blind evaluation based purely on merit, grades, and letters of recommendation.
Evie had pulled herself out of bed around two and helped Thorn and Nissa clean up, but Tommy had spent the entire day in bed, only getting up to eat dinner, which he threw up, then going back to bed, so the fact that it was now almost noon on Monday and Tommy was still suffering through his hangover was proof he had completely overdone it in showing off his excitement and pride over Evie’s accomplishments.
“Maybe you should try a little hair of the dog,” Thorn teased, flicking on the lights as he crossed the room to drop into the chair opposite Tommy’s desk, smirking when Tommy let out a low groan and buried his head in his arms.
“Never again,” Tommy muttered. “I’m done with alcohol. Consider me a teetotaler from this point forward.”
Thorn raised an eyebrow, fighting back a laugh as Tommy slowly straightened and glared at him through bloodshot eyes.
“This is your fault,” Tommy grumbled. “I tried to keep up with you.”
Thorn burst into laughter. At five foot eight, Tommy was over a full foot shorter and at least a hundred pounds lighter, making his attempt to keep up with Thorn’s alcohol consumption a very stupid choice. Add in that Thorn came from a culture whererakijaflowed at every celebration and drinking was practically a social art form, and it was clear he’d long ago learned how to hold his liquor. For Tommy, the attempt had been borderline suicidal.
“I hope you have learned your lesson, then.” Thorn chuckled, sliding a folder across the desk. “In the meantime, I have found your next operative.”
Tommy reached for the folder, curiosity sparking in his bloodshot eyes. “Really? And you’ve already looked into him?”
Thorn nodded, smirking. He’d made a habit of chatting with the brass whenever Tommy met with military procurement or defense officials. While Tommy discussed contracts and R&D timelines, Thorn swapped small talk about deployments, personnel, and training programs. Within a few months, he’d built a quiet network of officers who could confirm a man’s record faster than any database.
“Cole Wright,” Thorn said. “Joined the United States Army right out of high school, earned his Green Beret in three years, and spent the rest of his enlistment with the 5th Special Forces Group out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Finished his contract in December and recently eloped with his girlfriend of three years.”
“Good for him,” Tommy murmured absently, skimming Thorn’s report. “Why do you think he’d be a good fit here?”
“He is a talented special ops soldier. His CO practically begged him to re-enlist, but his new wife didn’t want to be married to a man who would be gone half the year.” Thorn gestured at the folder. “Her information is there too; she works as an administrative assistant at a thoroughbred breeding farm.”
“And you think she’ll be fine with him being a soldier for hire?” Tommy frowned, flipping another page. “He’d still be away for long stretches.”
“Not nearly as long as he would have been in the Army.” Thorn ran a hand through his shaggy, straw-blond hair and leaned back. “He probably spent most of their relationship apart between deployments, training, and overseas rotations. I cannot blame her for not wanting to do that again. Plus, he has been struggling to find work since getting out, and she has beenposting on social media, looking for ‘cheap things to do in New York.’ I’m guessing they would jump at the chance to make his annual Army salary in a couple of weeks.”
Tommy paused, a slow smile crossing his face as he looked up at Thorn. “They’re in New York?”
“They are.” Thorn’s answering smile was almost smug. “Wright’s from Albany. They are spending their honeymoon upstate but will be in the city for three days before flying back to Kentucky on Sunday.”
**********
Tommy
“Are you sure they’ll be here?” Nissa murmured as they strolled through the Central Park Zoo. She paused at the sea lion enclosure, scanning the crowd gathering for the feeding.
“According to her Twitter feed, yes.” Tommy nodded, draping an arm casually around her shoulders and glaring at a man who was ogling her. His relationship with Nissa was something he still couldn’t quite believe he’d gotten lucky enough to have. Maybe that was why he sometimes found himself possessively guarding it, even though she’d made it clear she was happy and completely his.
“They watched the penguin feeding earlier,” he continued, pulling out his phone, “and her last photo was from this area.” He opened the app and showed Nissa Lana Wright’s Twitter feed. “She’s very excited about the sea lions.”
“Whooo, boy.” Nissa took the phone, scrolling back through the posts with an amused grin. “I’ll say she is.” Handing it back, she scanned the crowd again. “Judging by the pictures, they’re moving that way.” She nodded toward the left, and they began weaving through the people. “They shouldn’t be this hardto find, they’re both over six feet tall.” She tapped her comms discreetly. “Thorn, do you see them?”
“Don’t look for him,” Thorn’s low rumble came through Tommy’s earpiece, nearly making him jump, he’d forgotten the big Serbian was shadowing them from a distance. “He’s used to blending in. The woman will stand out more.”
“Excellent point,” Tommy murmured. He pulled up a picture from Lana Wright’s page. “A tall, blonde Amazon like her won’t be hard to spot.”
Nissa’s elbow found his ribs. “Stop.”
“What? She looks more like a wrestler than an administrative assistant.”
