“The four of you look dead to the world,” Julia Nesbitt said, glancing sideways at Damien as she did. “Why don’t you get some rest and we’ll start fresh at 0800 tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Jed said, praying her offer wasn’t lip service.

She nodded. “I’m sure. We’ll be much more productive if your minds are rested and alert. Damien and I have plenty to do that doesn’t involve your input.”

Damien nodded his agreement at this last statement.

“All right, we appreciate that,” Jed said and gave Eli’s shoulder a squeeze to wake up the veteran. “C’mon, guys, we’re making it an early night.”

No one argued with him.

“Remember the new protocol,” Damien said. “Door-to-door covered transit only. We have a vehicle assigned to this detail now. The driver’s name is Sam .”

“Roger that,” Jed said and led his weary crew out of what he’d come to think of as the Shepherds’ N2 shack.

A silver Chevy Tahoe waited outside the building, idling along the curb. In the hours since the leadership meeting this morning, Trinity Loop’s facilities team had been busy. A covered walkway from the front entrance of the building all the way to the curb had been constructed out of scaffolding and sheets of corrugated metal roofing. It wasn’t pretty and it certainly was no magic shield, but it complicated targeting if the Dark Ones were gearing up to assassinate Shepherds from the sky. Unless they were using thermal imaging and targeting personnel indiscriminately, this simple mechanical obstruction and protocol change would make picking off specific personnel difficult.

Jed’s phone rang in his pocket.

“You guys go ahead and load up. I’ll be there in a second,” he said to Eli, and then pressing the phone to his ear, he took the call. “Jedidiah Johnson.”

“Hi, Jed, it’s Gayle James,” a woman’s voice said on the line.

“Hi, Gayle, how are you?” he said.

“I’m great. How are you holding up?”

“Fine,” he said. “FYI, this is my mobile, so we’re talking on an unsecure line.”

“Roger that, and I’m sorry for calling after hours, but, um, I was hoping to arrange a face-to-face with you and Nisha.”

“Gayle, we’re back in CONUS and have no plans to return to Peru in the foreseeable future.”

“I know. I’m back in CONUS too,” she said. “In fact, I’m going to be in Nashville tomorrow, if you’re not too busy.”

He hesitated, his mind running through a half-dozen nefarious scenarios before settling on an impromptu challenge-response authentication he could use to validate he was talking to the real Gayle. “You know, that sounds great, but before I commit, I was wondering if you remember the name of the entrée that I ordered for dinner the other night in Cuzco?”