Page 7 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“Apparently that’s controversial here.”

Jackal quietly pointed toward Wolf. “Everything is controversial here.”

Viper pulled out a chair without waiting for Hawk. His brother remained on the other side of the table. I looked between them. “People usually ask which one is which?”

“Constantly,” Hawk said, and the ease in his expression faded enough that I understood the subject wasn’t as funny to them as it probably was to everyone else. Viper opened a bottle of water.

“People hear twins and decide that’s enough information.”

“I wasn’t going to,” I said.

Hawk gave me a small nod. “Appreciated.”

Jackal leaned against the table beside Viper. “They’re very sensitive.”

Viper looked at him. “You cried when Bear broke your sunglasses.”

“They were expensive.”

“They were twelve euros.”

“They had sentimental value.”

Bear shook his head. “He’d owned them for two days.”

Jackal sighed. “Nobody here respects grief.”

The conversation continued naturally around me while Raven worked. Bear asked Hawk something about a vehicle in the garage. Viper complained that somebody had moved equipment out of his locker, which Jackal blamed on an unspecified conspiracy. Wolf barely participated. He just sat at the end of the table reading my report.

The contrast was hard to miss. The other five moved around one another like people who had spent too much time together and no longer bothered with formalities. Wolf didn’t need to join every conversation to remain at the center of it because every so often, someone looked toward him without seeming aware they’d done it.

Raven finally turned his laptop around.

“Mia’s right about Romania.”

Wolf looked at the screen.

“The warehouse started shutting down earlier than we’ve been treating it,” Raven continued. “Prague might be the same, but I need to go farther back before I’m willing to swear to that.”

Wolf looked at me.

“You’re with Raven.”

Three words were enough to assign me a new working partner.

Raven smiled. “Congratulations.”

“To which one of us?”

“Me, obviously.”

Wolf ignored both of us. “Start before the missions reach ARC. Find out who knew enough to make Cerberus nervous.”

At least he had given me a direction I could actually use instead of another formal briefing.

“How far back can I go?” I asked.

“As far as Raven clears.”