The Recruit: A Taskforce Story
past operation, and Knuckles had accidentally gotten it on himself as well as the target, and had suffered the consequences.
    He said, “It’s fast, but if you get it on yourself the mission’s over. Then you’ll both be fighting for the toilet.”
    I said, “But we don’t even know where the computer’s located. What if it’s not in the bedroom?”
    “Then we call it a wash and she leaves. Panda will be in no condition to do anything either way. The only risk is that Jennifer’s potentially out of play for future operations.”
    I said, “You’re good with this?”
    “Well, yeah. It’s just a mission, and Retro’s right. Unless that guy’s asking for a male, I’m the only one who can do it. You’d do the same if he was gay, right?”
    Not on your life.
    “Uhh . . .”
    Brett cut in, saying, “She’s already proven she can sneak in and out of hotel rooms at night. She’s a natural.”
    I whipped my head to him, catching a smirk, which wound me up. He said, “Whoa, why are you getting pissed? She’s climbed walls as slick as marble to access rooms all over the globe. That’s all I meant.”
    I glared, seeing all of them trying mightily to stop from grinning. Even Knuckles. Jennifer said, “Yeah, Pike.
You’re
the one that’s always making me climb and break in somewhere. Let’s do it.”
    She started walking to the door and I felt the shame of her being the butt of a joke she wasn’t even getting. I was disappointed in the team’s lack of respect.
    I gave them a death stare, then caught up to her with the team trailing behind. I stopped her, wanting them to admit they were secretly giving her a slight. “That’s
not
what Brett meant.”
    She rolled her eyes and said, “Pike, I know exactly what he was saying. I just didn’t think it required a response. They’re juvenile boys playing juvenile games. Just like you do. But it’s the first time they’ve ever made fun of me to my face. Progress.”
    And it dawned on me she was right. It wasn’t a lack of respect. It was the opposite. They felt comfortable enough with her on the team to actually start ribbing her. Just like the guys on the team did with one another. As I had done when I’d entered the room with Brett.
    She continued, glancing from man to man. “But they’ll be a Taskforce team tonight. Wired for the mission. Right?”
    Knuckles smiled. “You better believe it.”

6
    Under his breath, I heard Knuckles say, “Holy shit.” I turned and saw Jennifer coming out of the bathroom of the cheap hotel room we’d rented to prepare for the mission. She looked stunning. I mean, I might be biased, but she was breathtaking. I wondered if it was just me, but I saw that Brett was slack-jawed. Mesmerized.
    She caught the looks and said, “What? Is this not what a high-end escort would wear? Should I look sluttier or something?”
    Nobody said anything, and she said, “Hey, what’s the problem?”
    Knuckles finally managed to find his mouth. “Man alive, Jennifer, you clean up nice.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Nothing . . . It’s just that you’re always wearing jeans or something. Hair in a ponytail. No makeup. I’ve never seen . . . I mean, you never . . .”
    “So my natural state is ugly?”
    He started stumbling over his words, and I saw her smile.
    She’s going to have no trouble with Panda.
    We’d spent the better part of the day getting ready for our little adventure, going to the Westgate mall in Nairobi, the same one those assholes from al-Shabaab had assaulted in 2013, slaughtering over seventy people. The men had spent all of thirty minutes buying cheap suits. Jennifer, on the other hand, went hog wild. She was allowed to shop on the Taskforce dime, and she’d spared no expense, buying a black cocktail dress with a modest décolletage, jewelry, makeup, a mani-pedi, a high-end wig, and some sort of ridiculously expensive high heels called Jimmy Choos. I had no idea how she knew what to

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