––––––––
Nami followed me into the dim room, her breathing slightly labored.
“You should join me in the gym and get yourself in a little better shape.” I closed the door behind us, and it grew even darker.
“Eat... a... dick.” Nami huffed. “Round... is a fine... shape.”
“Never know when we’re gonna be in trouble again and you’ll have to run out of here with your hair on fire. A few people want us dead, you know?”
Nami stood in front of a large, one-sided mirror that showed us the next room. “I’ll jump on your back and ride you out of here like the horse you are.”
The voices coming from the next room got louder and angrier, cutting us off. We listened to the argument coming in from the speakers.
Through the glass, we watched as Frank Briggs, Billy Huxx, Nick Tate, and Bree Manning got to know each other.
Briggs did all the introducing. The man sure liked to talk. Whatever gift of gab he had, he must have stolen from Tate and Huxx because they didn’t say much. Unless they were pissed off. Judging from the scowl on Tate’s face and the anger baking off his mind in pulses, I’d say that he passed pissed off a few miles back.
Manning sat across from them, her shoulders tense.
She was less than pleased as well.
“Why is he sweating like a virgin on prom night?” Nami pointed at Huxx.
“He was running when we called him in. What’s with all the sex jokes today?”
“They’re fun and sexy. Like me. Guess you won’t be the smelliest dude around anymore.” Nami nudged me with her elbow. “Thanks for washing the stank off your ass before coming to my office. I like you a little better this way. Hashtag—little.”
Coming from Nami, that was a compliment. I’d opened my mouth to ask what the hell hashtag meant, when the door behind us opened.
Drew walked in.
Even though he must have rolled out of bed at ass o’clock in the morning, he still wore a nice suit and tie and his head was freshly shaved.
“Looking spiffy, Drewseph.” I looked back to Bree Manning. “I’m guessing you didn’t have any issues getting her to come along since she’s already picking a fight with Tate.”
“She was as easy as the rest.” Drew stepped beside me, watched the group of badasses through the mirror. “They all want to kill the terrorist behind Arthur’s Creek.” He leaned toward me, sniffed. “Congrats on showering two days in a row. You’re almost an adult at this point.”
Nami and Drew high-fived each other.
“Aren’t the two of you just hilarious this morning?” I watched Tate get more agitated by the second as he argued with Manning. “Where’s Nelson? Shouldn’t the boss man be here?”
“No idea.” Drew shook his head. “I got a text that he would be late, but that’s it. I’ve been out of the loop all morning because of her.”
“We got this,” Nami said. “I’ll whip them into shape.”
“I think Bree is going to do it for you.”
“Hell yeah. Girl power.”
“You didn’t search her, did you, Drewseph?” I asked.
“Did I pat her down? No, but her clothing made it obvious she wasn’t armed. Why?”
“Watch her right hand. Get ready for a show.”
All three of us fell silent as we observed Tate and Manning eye each other like a couple of wild animals.
Manning’s hand slowly inched toward her waist.
Tate leaned forward in his chair, his face reddening.
Briggs tried to pacify Tate, but he wasn’t having any of it.
“Go for it, pussy,” Manning said. “You aren’t afraid of a girl, are you?”
Tate exploded to his feet and closed the distance between them in an instant.
“Shit!” Drew spun on his heel, heading for the door.
Without taking my eyes off the two of them in the other room, I grabbed Drew’s arm and held him back. “Just watch.”
Bree had managed to get out of her chair in time to confront the furious Tate, but his speed hadn’t allowed her to meet him halfway.
He stood mere inches from her, his face angled down as he seethed at her. “I’d mop the floor with you if you weren’t a woman.”
“That isn’t what’s stopping you.” Bree gave him a small, devilish grin.
“Oh yeah? Then what—”
That was the moment I was waiting for.
“This is what’s stopping you.” Bree tapped a small blade she held in her right hand against the inside of Tate’s thigh, just under his crotch.
Tate’s muscles clenched. His gaze dropped even further, watching her hand as she continued to tap the blade against his leg.
“I have no doubt you could beat me in a fair fight,” Bree said. “The problem is that I don’t fight fair. Now back away unless you want to be pissing out of a tube for the rest of your miserable life.”
“Holy crap.” Nami clutched her chest. “I think I’m in love with her.”
“Keep it in your pants.” I grinned at Bree through the mirror. “She is pretty badass though.”
Manning had just pulled off a masterful play. Tate had seen and done more insane shit in the wars in the Middle East than everyone else in that room combined. He’d cut more throats than a Columbian drug lord. For Manning to get the drop on him was ridiculously impressive.
“Where did she even pull the knife from?” Nami asked. “I completely missed it.”
Drew closed his eyes, shook his head. “From her belt. The buckle has a hidden blade. She pulled it out while his attention was elsewhere.” He looked at me out of the corners of his eyes. “You’re lucky she didn’t slice and dice him, Ashley.”
“Wasn’t a concern.” I tapped my temple. “I knew Tate wouldn’t lay hands on her, and I knew she wouldn’t cut off Little Tate unless he did. He was just jockeying for his role as the beta of the group.”
Through the window, Tate slowly backed away, his permanent scowl a little deeper than usual. Manning sat down at the same time he did, both of them watching each other like predators circling a downed kill.
“Beta?” Nami asked. “You mean alpha?”
“No, I mean beta.”
She looked up at me. “Because this Manning chica is now the alpha?”
“Nope. She’s the beta at best.”
“I’m super confoosed then. Who is the alpha?”
I turned and walked to the door. After I opened it, I stood in the frame, letting the light from the hallway bathe me in a dramatic silhouette. I glanced over my shoulder at Nami. “You’re looking at him.”
“Oh for fu—”
I closed the door, cutting her off.
The grin on my face was so wide that it hurt. It wasn’t every day you could set up a wisecrack like that and then walk someone as sharp as Nami into it.
I strolled around the corner to the door of the interrogation room and went inside.
All heads turned toward me.
The glares they gave me would have made a weaker man cry.
But not me.
I was too awesome for that.
“Sup?” I pulled up a chair, sat down. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get into fistfights with each other on the first day. That’s usually a second day kinda thing.”
“Who are you?” Tate asked. He glanced at the mirror. “How many of you are watching us in there? And why do you have us just sitting here?”
“Ease down, tough guy.” I held my hands up in a pacifying gesture. “I’m going to answer all of your questions as best I can.”
“You’re in charge of this operation?” Briggs asked.
“No way.” Tate shook his head as he looked me over. “You look like a POG who lifts weights and then sits in an air-conditioned office all day.”
POG stood for People Other than Grunts and was used by enlisted men to shit on officers. It was usually fairly accurate. Considering the ordeals I’d gone through, I didn’t think it really applied to me anymore.
They’d learn that soon enough.
The door behind me opened.
Nelson stuck his head through it.
“A word, Lieutenant.” He receded back to the hallway.
“Lieutenant,” Tate grumbled. “Told you he was a POG.”
“I’m not an LT anymore.” I got up and stepped into the hall.
Nelson, Nami, and Drew stood in a semi-circle. All of them had worry lines a mile deep etched in their brows.
Albert Nelson was a former CIA officer they’d sent over to restart the Psych Ward. I often referred to him as a pencil neck due to his slight frame and narrow face, but the man was a tireless worker and had earned a begrudging respect from me.
Most of the CIA employees I’d met were real assholes. Nelson kind of was too, but I tried not to hold that against him. He genuinely wanted to put Smith away, so that gave us at least something in common.
He wore a suit and tie, though the knot was loose and pulled down. Normally, he donned a dress shirt, but shunned the jacket and tie. Seeing him in such formal attire made me wary of what I was about to hear and where he’d just come from.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Smith’s men were spotted in Washington, D.C. this morning.” Nelson grabbed his tie and undid the knot. He folded the fabric and stuffed it into his pocket. “They used a mobilized version of the signal in a subway platform. Fifty people are dead.”
My chest tightened.
Jaw clenched.
“Considering you aren’t stuffing us into a chopper and flying us to D.C., I’m guessing they got away.”
Nelson grimaced.
I wanted to punch a hole in the wall. “Damn it.”
“We’re still waiting on a copy of the surveillance footage, but early word is they were chasing someone. We don’t know who or why, but hopefully, the footage will give us some kind of a clue. Identification of the bodies is underway too. Once we have names, maybe we can find some kind of a connection.” Nelson stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I was just in a teleconference with the White House. President Thomas is about to pull the plug on us.”
“What?” Drew’s head snapped around. “We just got the team together five minutes ago.”
“He says that’s part of the problem.”
“Are you kidding me? He gives us almost no budget, a building in the middle of nowhere, and a list of operational requirements that—”
“I’m well aware of our limitations, Detective.” Nelson looked at all three of us in turn. “He’s going to shut us down unless we come up with some actionable intel ASAP. He doesn’t see the point in running the risk of having Lieutenant Benson around if we aren’t producing results.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I was a commodity to the government. Commodities that lost their worth were cut loose. That usually meant said commodity might find some new housing in a concrete cage with a beautiful view of a chain-link fence.
Our facility had dozens of armed guards surrounding it at all times. They weren’t there to keep us safe. Their job was to watch me. Until it wasn’t. A call from the White House might turn those guards into aggressors.
“What good is having a goddamn telepath help us if he isn’t even allowed to leave the base?” Nami put her hands on her hips. “He can’t figure out why we haven’t found Smith yet? What kind of a—?”
Nelson cut her off. “President Thomas has temporarily lifted the travel restriction from Lieu—”
“I’ve been telling you to call me Ash, Asher, or Sir Badass for a long time now.”
Nelson closed his eyes, took a deep breath. It was plain to see that his stress levels were reaching the head-exploding point. “Fine. Asher’s travel restriction has been lifted. We’re allowed to begin operational missions effective immediately.”
I loved the way they called my lockdown a travel restriction. They made it sound like I wanted to take a jaunt to the Caribbean instead of hitting up a bar or something.
Up until now, our primary jobs had been less than exciting. Drew and Nami scoured over what little evidence remained from the old Psych Ward. They recovered data from hard drives and tried to dig up old personnel files.
Nelson and I put together the team of misfits in the other room. I also drank beer and wallowed in self-loathing.
Good times were had by all.
“Decent timing.” Drew gestured to the door behind me. “We brought Bree Manning in just now. The whole team is here.”
“With minimal training together,” I grumbled. “Sure, they’re a bunch of tough guys... people. Tough people. But their experience and training is all over the place. They might as well speak another language when it comes to pulling off an op. The three bros in there have only known each for a few days. Bree has known them for thirty seconds and already threatened one with castration.”
“That was the tits.” Nami giggled.
All three of us slowly turned toward her. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure if I should give her a high-five or inspect her brain for obvious signs of trauma.
Nelson inspected his feet for a moment. “I interrupted you in there just now—did you debrief them on the situation?”
“No.”
“I guess we better get started.”
“What about their training?” Drew asked. “Are we going to throw them to the wolves without ever having worked together?”
“Normally, I would say no.” Nelson glanced at me. “But if they can take Lieut... Asher... with them, then that’s going to have to be good enough. He can provide advance warning to them before they engage hostiles.”
Drew’s frown deepened. “But—”
“I’m open to suggestions, Detective.”
Drew stood motionless for several seconds, then shook his head.
“Then let’s inform the team what they’re up against and get busy. Either we catch Smith with the meager resources we’ve got or we’re shut down. God knows what they’ll do with us if we aren’t useful to them anymore.”
“I’m so glad that knowing Ashley has made me a liability to Washington.” Nami looked up at me. “Balls.”
That about summed it up.
We followed Nelson into the room.
You’re going to get them all killed, Asher. Every last one of them, Sammy whispered.