Noah raised his eyebrows and looked at her. “Is that a problem? If there’s a rule against it, I never heard about it.”
Allison sat there and looked at him for a long moment, then shook her head. “Normally, I would say it would be a bad idea for a team leader to become romantically involved with a teammate,” she said, “but you are an entirely different case. I’ve already spoken with Sarah about it, and she seems genuinely aware that you’re not likely to have any kind of feelings for her, and she insists that that’s exactly what made you so attractive to her.”
“That’s what she told me, too.”
Allison grinned. “I did caution her about one thing, that sex is actually something that we use as a tool in this business, so there may be times when you seem to be involved with other women. She assured me that her relationship with you is purely physical, and that she won’t let jealousy become an issue. Noah, if it does, I want to know about it immediately. I would try removing her from your team, but if she can’t be salvaged…” She let the rest of the sentence hang in the air, unsaid.
Noah nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I won’t let anything affect a mission, and especially not that.”
She looked at him for another moment, then nodded as if dismissing the issue. “Okay, then, we need to go ahead and get this show on the road. I’ve already sent Jefferson to El Paso to make sure everything is ready for you when you get there. He’ll provide you with your burner IDs, phones, weapons and anything else you need. We’ve got you booked into the Holiday Inn, each of you with your own room.” She looked meaningfully at him for just a moment, and said, “For the record, we do discourage any kind of intimacy between teammates when you’re out in the field. That doesn’t mean we’ll be watching, but it’s just a guideline to prevent problems.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Noah said.
Allison laughed once, then went on. “You and your team will fly out of Denver tomorrow afternoon, and meet Jefferson in El Paso tomorrow evening. He’s got vehicles and everything waiting for you, so just let him know what else you need for your plans.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Noah, this is the part where I have to say that if you or any of your team is compromised, as in captured or killed, our government will deny any knowledge of you. You don’t exist, so there won’t be a rescue mission. As far as Mexico would be concerned, you would probably be treated as a criminal, which could mean anything from prison time to execution, depending on what the charges are. Unfortunately, I can’t even offer you the chance to back out. This is the reason we recruited you, and I’m hoping, really, really hoping, that you will turn out to be as good as I think you will.”
Noah gave her his best grin. “Relax,” he said. “I’ll be even better than that.”
She grinned back. “Good. Now, go prove that to me.” She handed him an envelope. “These are your plane tickets. Everything else you’ll need, you’ll get from Jefferson. Noah, I want you guys to be careful down there. This is your first mission, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an important one. It’s got to be successful, but I want you all to come back. I have high hopes for this team.”
“I appreciate that,” Noah said, “and I promise you I’m going to do my best to make sure we all come back safe.”
She nodded once. “Excellent,” she said, and then picked up the file from her desk and began reading through it.
Noah recognized a dismissal when he saw one, so he rose from the chair and walked out of the room. Jenny looked up at him and smiled as he passed her desk again, and he returned it out of habit. When he got to the elevator, however, there was no sign of a smile on his face.
He rode the elevator down to the parking garage, and walked to his Corvette. He fired the powerful car up and backed it out of its space, then made his way out to the street and turned right. That took him out to the road that would let him head for home, and since he had nothing else to do for the day, home sounded like the place he wanted to be.
He took out his phone, and sent a message to each of his team members to meet him at his place for dinner. By the time he got to the county road, all three of them had replied that they would be there. Since it was only a little after three, he decided to fire up the grill for some barbecued chicken.
Neil was already at home, in his trailer, so he wandered over to the house when Noah got there. “Hail, Caesar,” he said. “How goes it with Queen Allison?”