This was standard procedure when the entire K19 team met, but as the only woman in the room, Dutch wondered what Malin thought of them.
When he looked over at her, she had her head buried in his computer and didn’t seem to be paying attention to any of them.
“Hey, can we get Kilbourne her own technology sometime soon?”
McTiernan nodded. “I have a complete set up with me. Give me a hand, Copeland?”
Dutch watched as Malin’s handler and McTiernan left the room.
“He’s hella smart,” Razor said once they were gone. “You might want to remember that too. Kinda like not insulting the waiter at a restaurant.”
Gunner nodded but didn’t bother hiding his smirk.
* * *
Once McTiernan and Copeland returned with a phone, computer, and gun for Malin, it took them less than thirty minutes to craft their plan.
Razor leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “I like watchin’ the youngins do all the work, don’t you, Gunner?”
“Until shit gets real. Then it takes the old guys to come to the rescue.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Dutch was being held captive by someone loosely connected to al-Qaeda who had an equally loose connection with sanity. If it weren’t for Razor and Doc, he might’ve died at the hands of Zamed Safi. He’d never take the “old guys” for granted.
“If we’re done here, I’d be up for finding out what kind of food Doc promised Sorcha was preparing,” said Dutch.
Malin smiled and
shook her head. “Let’s go, then. We wouldn’t want you to starve to death.”
Dutch hung back while the rest of the men filtered out of the room.
“I’m damn proud of you, Malin. I want you to know it, too.”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she smiled. “That means a lot to me, Dutch.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of anyone.”
“Yeah?” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Not even the French pilot?”
Dutch bent his head and kissed her. “Not remotely close.”
Malin pressed her tongue against his lips, and he opened to her while, at the same time, lifting her up so her body rested against his. “I want to be alone with you,” he muttered against her lips.
“More than you want to eat?”
“I don’t think those two things are mutually exclusive,” he answered, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Come on,” she said, pulling him from the room by the hand. “The sooner we get some food in you, the sooner we can politely excuse ourselves and be alone.”
“I like the sound of that.”
—:—
When they walked out, the winery’s tasting bar was covered with platters of food, and a lot more people had arrived than were there earlier.
Malin recognized Doc’s brother Naughton and his wife, Bradley, as well as his other two brothers, Maddox and Brodie, and their wives. She remembered Burns saying something about the two women running a tasting room together in Cambria, which was right on the coast.
Once this mission was over and she retired, maybe she’d have more time to visit places like the seaside village. She looked over at Dutch, who was surrounded by the rest of the K19 junior partners, talking and laughing. She smiled at how much fun he appeared to be having. When he looked over and she waved, he winked and held up a finger.