Thankfully it was empty with most of the team busy training. He checked his watch. Almost time for the teams to switch out at the shooting house but this was another opportunity to gain this woman’s trust and he wasn’t sure how many more chances he’d get. He could watch the guys anytime.

“Any trouble after I left last night?” he asked.

“No one came around asking to borrow a cup of sugar if that’s what you’re worried about.” Her dark eyes flashed with unexpected humor.

“You can never be too careful.” He smiled.

She dropped her gaze.

Was she shy? He thought that might be part of her story, but not all of it.

He opened his locker and scooped his keys off the top shelf. He removed Yael’s keyring from the fob to his truck. “Here you go. Why Myrtle by the way?”

She shrugged as she took them from him. “She felt like a Myrtle.” She gave him a quizzical glance. “You don’t name your vehicles?”

He grinned. “I might name my guns but never my truck.”

Her eyes widened. “You name your guns?”

He laughed because she looked as if she thought he’d lost his mind when she was the one who’d named her freaking scooter.

“Nah. Not really. The snipers name their long guns though, but assaulters are not as sentimental as those softies.” He closed his locker door and headed to his cage to put the carbine on the rack. He needed to clean all three weapons before he left for the day but considering his useless arm, he figured he had time. He planned to visit the joint task force headquarters later and see if they had any updates.

“This is where you keep all your stuff, huh?” Her eyes widened when she took in the biological weapons suit and the heavy equipment go-bags.

“Yeah. The whole team can be wheels-up in four hours. That includes loading vehicles, helicopters and gear into the transport plane out of Andrews Airbase.”

“That’s impressive.”

He nodded and then frowned as he received a notification on his work cell. It was a code red which meant he had to report immediately to the main classroom for a briefing.

“Damn. Sorry.” He looked up and she seemed to realize something was going on. “I have to report in.”

“No problem. I have what I came for.” She dangled the keys from the chain and slipped it into her tight jeans pocket. His fingers itched to follow their path.

“I’ll walk you to the main office and someone will show you out.”

“I can find my own way,” she protested.

“Rules, I’m afraid.”