Sam walked away, Hawkins behind her. “We did it,” he whispered. “Sam, we actually did it! I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever use those two particular skills in whatever comes next but at least we did it. All those nights out here in the rain, in the cold, in the killer humidity. I have nightmares sometimes about it. Hey, by the way, thanks for the lamb’s wool. Wrapping my feet in that stuff worked wonders. They feel really good, no blisters. How’d you hear about that stuff anyway?”

“Kyros told me they used to use it in the old country. I bought out the drugstore when we were in New York. Glad it worked. See you later,” she said, walking away.

Inside the barracks, Sam stripped down. She hit the shower and let the steaming water soothe her weary body. As she poured shampoo onto her hair and lathered up, she wondered why she wasn’t feeling more elated. She’d just successfully accomplished the very thing she’d washed out of the FBI for. But it had taken her ten months to do it when she only had five and half months at Quantico. On the other hand, she and Hawkins had mastered the wall and rope before the holidays, so that wasn’t a fair comparison.

She’d done it!

Sam stepped out of the shower and slipped into her robe just as her team barreled inside, whooping, hollering, and high-fiving each other. She joined her teammates and accepted a glass of wine Hawkins produced from somewhere. It was not the time to ask questions as to where he got it. They clinked their glasses and downed the contents.

“Six more weeks, and we’re outta here,” Olivia chortled.

“A piece of cake,” Zoe said.

“I, for one, am not going to miss this place,” Kayla said.

“I heard that once you leave here, you never come back. I heard Lukash telling Kate that a while back,” Slick said fretfully. “I wonder how he knows that, or if he was just talking to appear like he knows what’s going on.”

Hawkins looked at Slick, his tone curious when he said, “Who cares? Or are you saying you want to come back here?”

Slick bent over to untie her boots. “I don’t know. I might want to come back someday. Think about it. It’s really nice up here. It’s self-contained. It’s peaceful. You can commune with nature twenty-four/seven. The food is better than what you get at a five-star restaurant. For the most part, everyone is nice. If we weren’t in training, I think we’d all admit this is like a mountain Shangri-la. I’m not ashamed to admit I like it here, and yeah, damn straight I’d want to come back.” Her voice was so defiant the others stared at her before she stomped off to the bathroom.