“Ten days to wrap up our lives. That’s what he said. I liked that six-person training class. Four of them and two of us. That’s the part that doesn’t appeal to me. How about if we even up the odds and ask him to take on the three Rainford wives. Assuming they would want to do something like this. Personally, I think they’ll jump at the chance. You can tell they all work out. They looked in damn good shape to me. What do you think, Sam?”

“Look, let’s not kid ourselves. This invitation is a way for us to prove maybe, just maybe, we can cut it. I for one am never going to forget our exit from the Academy. We left there knowing we weren’t good enough. We washed out. No matter how you look at it, those we left behind at the Academy are now referring to us as wannabes. If what this guy is saying is true, I think we owe it to ourselves to give it a chance. If we’re lucky, we might ace the training. I’m damn well sick and tired of being a failure. As for the others, they look to me like they’re ripe for an adventure. And they are in excellent shape. Donovan said it’s better that the others weren’t trained by the FBI like we were. I guess it means they’ll be easier to mold and shape into what his organization wants.”

I guess it’s a go then?”

Sam grimaced. “A belly dancer, a cartoon artist, and a female plumber as secret agents. Who would have thought the plumbing business was a six-figure-income job,” she added as an afterthought.

Slick leaned across the table. She dropped her voice to a low whisper. “I don’t know about you, Sam, but I’m thinking our lives are going to be…to be different if we don’t agree to this. As in maybe dead. I think I might make a good mercenary. For the good guys of course. Let’s do it, Sam. If we don’t like the training program, it’s just a year out of our lives. It will be something to tell our grandchildren. And like the man said, we’ll be doing something great for America in the bargain.”