Chuckles filled the room. Trace’s lips curved slightly, but he remained silent. His thoughts were still back on the fact that Jake was leaving op work for good.
Not that he wasn’t happy for McQueen. He’d known the man a long damn time, and Jake obviously felt this was the best decision for him and his family.
But babies and all that happily-ever-after shit just wasn’t in the cards for him. The path Trace had chosen to take had no room for anyone else.
And he was perfectly fine with that.
Yeah? Then why are you sitting here feeling jealous of what these people have?
An even bigger question was why did he immediately think of Emma again when the guys started talking about their wives and kids?
Jake chose that moment to speak up again, making it easy for Trace to ignore the disturbing as fuck thoughts rolling through his mind.
“As far as the changes within Alpha Team, Trevor’s served point on ops for us before. You all know how to work as a cohesive unit, with or without me, so I’m sure the transition will go smoothly.”
“Are you bringing in anyone else in to fill your spot, or are we just going to work as a five-person team instead of six?”
Their boss looked directly at Derek as he answered the man’s question. “For now, we’ll leave things as they are. Alpha Team will continue to operate as is until we feel it’s necessary to bring another member on board. And that’s a decision we’ll all make, together.”
The others seemed to be pleased with McQueen’s answer.
Addressing the group once more, he said, “Speaking of new members, since you’re all here, I figured I’d go ahead and give you a quick run-down of the timelines I have planned for Charlie and Delta teams. Just so you’re aware of what’s happening with the other offices. I have files on all of our new operatives and had copies made for each of you...” Jake glanced down at the table in front of him and cursed. “Shit. I forgot to grab the files Emma put together yesterday. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as he left the room, the remaining members of Alpha Team immediately began discussing the unexpected changes taking place.
“Man.” Derek shook his head. “Never thought I’d see the day when McQueen would hang up his boots.”
“I still can’t believe Liv didn’t tell me about the baby.” Mac turned to give Coop a playful glare. “Actually, never mind. I totally get it.”
In a dramatic move, Coop clutched the part of his t-shirt covering his heart and let his jaw drop. “Et tu, fiancée?”
“Sorry, babe.” Mac shrugged. “Grant’s right. You suck at keeping secrets.”
“I beg to differ.”
Trace sat quietly, observing the exchange between teammates. He hoped the group he was going to start training with a few weeks from now would click as well as this one did.
Derek opened his mouth to respond when Jake’s raised voice reached them from the hallway.
“And take the stairs, not the elevator!”
Baffled by the sudden outburst, everyone—including Trace—looked to each other for some sort of explanation.
“What the hell?” Derek’s head swung toward the open doorway.
Trace followed the other man’s gaze. He was still trying to decide whether or not he should go see what caused the urgency in Jake’s voice when a deafeningboomfilled his ears.
A fraction of a second later, a massive rush of heat blew him out of his chair and against the wall on his right.
Smoke and dust filled the entire room as debris flew in every direction. Flames sparked around them, and a shower of cold water began raining down from the building’s sprinkler system.
The few lights that were still connected flickered as Trace blinked against the smoke and dripping water. Momentarily stunned, he looked around the conference room—or what was left of it—and tried to decipher what the hell had just happened.
It took a full three seconds to figure it out.
Though it was hard to see through the growing smoke, he could tell that an explosion had taken out a huge chunk of the wall running the length of the hall.
Pieces of two-by-fours, drywall, ceiling tiles, and other debris covered the entire room. Metal-framed chairs were scattered about, and there were several small fires throughout the entire space.