She waved her finger at him. “Negative. Your boss said I’m welcome here anytime.”

Victor stepped away and picked up his baton. “I’ll go take a close up look at the damage and get them working on the repairs.” He tossed up and caught the explosive round. “Mind if I hang onto this?” he asked Tanner.

“Go right ahead. I’ll bring you a box next time.”

Victor walked down the hall in the direction of the shooting range. Tanner and Eric stepped into the elevator. While Eric pushed the button for the floor he wanted, Tanner leaned against the center of the mirror at the back of the moderately sized elevator car. He turned and looked at her.

“What floor do you want?”

She looked at the panel and saw that the number twelve button was pushed. “Twelfth floor is fine.”

“The research labs are on twelve. Nothing up there for you.”

“It will be when you get there,” she said.

Eric frowned. “Plllease. Don’t start that.”

“Start what?”

“The tease,” he replied.

“I’m not teasing you. I’m showing real interest here.”

“You showed real interest three months ago when you came to the facility up north. Got me interested. Got me excited. Then what happened? You got your story and sayonara! I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Eric paused and waited for a response.

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