I glared at him. Recriminations were unwelcome, given I had no idea what fresh hell we were delivering Kensington to.

As we drove to the guest house, I looked for Kensington. While the driver unloaded her bags, I went to the front door and knocked. Hearing nothing, I tried the handle and found it open like that of the main house. “Kensington?” I called out.

“There she is,” said Grinder, coming in behind me and pointing toward the water.

I knew from the long hair blowing in the wind that the woman speeding away from the estate, alone in a motorboat, was her.

“Let’s go,” I snapped.

“Edge has been released and is on his way to Texas,” Grinder said, looking at his phone on the drive back to the airfield. “Lynx is with him.”

“We’ll meet them there.”

We’d been on a mission in China three months ago with Lynx, Edge’s older brother, during which the younger Edgemon was shot.

In the midst of what seemed an easy in-and-out op, we were met by a hail of bullets moments before we left the building with the agents we’d been hired to extract. Edge was the only one of us hit. A bullet had penetrated his right arm, requiring three surgeries in order for him to regain full use of it.

It was Lynx I was most anxious to talk to. I’d made him an offer to join our firm, knowing perhaps better than he did himself, that he would soon make his permanent home in America. Currently a high-ranking MI6 officer, he was the perfect candidate to be the Invincible’s managing partner for US operations.

Presently, we were comprised of four founding partners—myself, Grinder, Edge, and Decker. I had not intended to add a fifth partner until I intuited that Lynx might be available. Before making him the offer, though, I’d called a partners’ meeting; the decision to proceed had been unanimous.

While I could’ve remained with MI6 until the end of my career, I had no desire to go further up the ranks. I much preferred the idea of working with independent agents, picking and choosing the missions we agreed to accept. It was with that idea I approached Decker Ashford first and then Grinder and Edge.

I named the firm the Invincible Intelligence and Security Group. My partners weren’t enamored with it, but I was. There were few other instances I exercised power or authority as the founder of the firm. I suppose that’s why they agreed to live with the name.

Decker’s wife was the first to call us the Invincibles, back when our inaugural mission was to find her sister’s killer. I doubted any of them would admit liking the moniker, but I sensed they did.

I was anxious to grow the firm and had several agents, officers, and independent operatives in mind to join us. Given several of those individuals were based in the States, I could use the time in Texas to set up meetings.

“You’re deep in thought,” said Grinder when we arrived at the airfield.

“Business.”

“I thought you were going to get into it with Kiki.”

“Yes,” I murmured. “Thank you for preventing me from doing so.”

“I wish there’d been an alternative.”

As did I.

6

Rile

Grinder and I arrived at King-Alexander Ranch a few hours after leaving Kiki’s, and were seated at the dining room table in the ranch’s main residence. We were chatting with the ranch’s owner, Quint Alexander, his wife, Darrow, and Decker Ashford, when Edge walked in with Lynx. I sensed something was wrong, but it wasn’t with Edge himself, or Lynx.

I watched as Darrow, an MI6 agent in her own right, code name Shadow, greeted the two men.

When Edge turned to me, I stood and embraced him. I took a step back, held out my hand, and he shook it. “Good,” I murmured. His grip was strong. “Back to normal?”

He nodded. “Mostly.”

“You all right?” I heard Grinder ask him when they too embraced.

When Edge shook his head, I studied him, but still couldn’t get a read on what was troubling him.

“Can I get you both a drink?” Quint asked.

Tags: Heather Slade The Invincibles Suspense
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