Reaching into his bag, Nir pulled out a ball cap. The team traded off putting hats on the Wookie. The one Nir placed on his head now read Erbil Beach Club.

Nir looked into his office and saw a stack of papers that needed his attention. Instead of walking in, though, he closed the door and took his seat at the head of the conference table.

“Okay, bring it in,” he called out.

“We still have two minutes,” Liora said. She was rapidly typing on one of several keyboards on her desk.

“Did I say five minutes? I meant three, which means”—Nir looked at his watch—“it’s time.”

Liora gave an exasperated sigh and pushed the keyboard away. Before rising, though, she pulled open a file drawer, then brought out a large metal bowl and plunked it on her desk. Then she lifted out a very large bag of Skittles, which she tore open before noisily emptying it into the bowl.

All the while, she was mumbling, “They give you work to do. Then you can’t get it done because they fill your day with stupid meetings all the time.” Walking to the table, she slid the bowl to the middle.

“You okay?” Nir asked.

“I’m good.”

“You sure? Because you seem a little unhappy.”

“I’m sure.”

“You know, we don’t need a snack every time we meet.”

“Okay, Boomer.”

“Boomer? How old do you think I am?”

“Age is not a number; it’s an attitude,” she said, snatching a handful of candies. She held one up to throw to him.

He glared at her, but she wouldn’t put the candy down. The rest of the team arrived at the table and saw the standoff.

“Nir! Nir! Nir! Nir!” they chanted.

Even Nicole had joined in. With a sigh, he opened his mouth.

Liora threw the candy, and it bounced off a front tooth and skittered across the table to the floor. Sounds of disappointment filled the room.

“That one is on you and your big old buck teeth,” Liora said.

“What? I don’t—” Wait. Was she grinning at him?

“You are so easy.”

There were nods of agreement around the table, and he could hear Nicole say, “It’s true.”

Shaking his head, he said, “First, I want to thank you guys. And that’s not just from me but from all the ops team. We wouldn’t have made it out of there without you.”

“Well, we would have missed Lahav,” Dafna said with a smile.

“Liar.” Yet Nir had to admit that, as irritating as the man could be, Lahav had garnered his respect in Iran.

“Let’s get right to it. Despite the fact that I didn’t blow up the robotic gun and almost got my team killed, the ramsad has okayed our continuing to develop the plan for our killer art.”

Cheers sounded around the table.