Page 77 of Balls to the Walls

I snatched my hat off the floor and tossed it right in the face of the first man coming at me. He swatted it away, giving me enough time to land a punch right across his jaw, then knee him in the nuts.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I spun and slammed my fist into the next guy. I was grabbed from behind and used my momentum to kick up and back, kicking the next guy in the face. Then I leaned forward and tossed the guy holding me over my head. He landed on his back with a thud, wincing in pain as he tried to move. A hard punch sent me scrambling toward the door where none other than an umbrella hung from a coat rack. I grabbed it and turned around, swinging with all my might and stabbing the man right in the stomach. He doubled over in pain, exposing his face to my foot. I winced when blood gushed from his nose. I really did feel bad.

I tipped my hat to the Frenchman holding my girl and turned on my heel, racing out the door with only my umbrella. “I really fucking liked that hat,” I muttered as I ran down the stairs. Bursting onto the street, I turned right and headed back to my hotel. I just needed to grab my bike and then I was out of here. I walked at a steady pace, doing my best not to draw attention to myself. With quick glances over my shoulder, it appeared I was in the clear.

Everything I needed was on me. I didn’t bother going inside once I reached my hotel. I hopped on my bike and roared out of the parking lot, heading for the hill at the end of the street. I was so close to getting out of town, but I knew I hadn’t seen the end of the Frenchman.

Once I hit the outskirts of town, I opened her up and sped down the road, taking the turns faster than I should in order to get away. My jacket flapped around me with the wind, making it difficult to move the way I needed to. I came around a particularly sharp curve and bent my knee out, skimming the ground just slightly. When the bike was straightened out, I knew I’d fucked up the pants.

As the road straightened out, I hit an even higher speed, desperate to get away from whatever situation I’d gotten myself into this time. But it was not meant to be. Just as hope blossomed in my chest that I would get out alive, vehicles swarmed the road up ahead, cutting off all chances of getting away. I slowed, but didn’t stop as I assessed the situation. There was a slight gap between two of the vehicles. It would be close, but if I made it, I would stand a chance of getting out of here.

I cranked the engine and hit the gas. My hair flew back from the force of takeoff. The men yelled at me in French, waving their hands at me, but I refused. I wasn’t going down this way. If I got caught, it would be on my terms. The men grew panicked the closer I got, jumping out of the way as I barreled right toward them. The space between the cars looked a little more narrow the closer I got. I was more likely to cut off my legs than actually make it through this unscathed.

I jerked the bike to the left at the last second, then maneuvered right. The tires squealed and the smell of rubber filled the air, but I made it, shooting past all of them, home free and on my way to wherever the road took me. I grinned, laughing at how hard my heart was pounding from that little adventure. It could have turned out so differently.

A high-pitched noise caught my attention. I looked up, wondering where it was coming from, and that’s when I saw it. The metal hit the ground, bouncing only once. It was as if everything happened in slow motion. I jerked the handlebars to the right just as the explosion went off just in front of me, sending me flying through the air, skidding across the pavement.

31

DASH

I sat in my chair,my ankle crossed over the other thigh as I stared at the man with a bored expression. Where he came up with this shit, I would never know. His tall tales were becoming a bit much to handle. Who would actually believe this shit?

Why couldn’t he just say that he had to get away and faked his death? Or tell us that he was on a mission for Rafe? It was ridiculous to think that he went on a mission for maybe a week and then was just missing for over a year. Nobody around here was stupid enough to believe that. He stared at me, waiting for me to respond in some way, but I still didn’t have a single logical thought to come back with.

“Don’t you have some questions for me?”

“Do you want me to have questions?”

“Well…” He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I mean, I’ve been telling you this amazing story and you haven’t interrupted me once or asked any questions. Don’t you have questions?”

“Oh, I have questions all right, but not about the story.”

“Then what?”

“Your sanity.”

I turned back to the computers and got to work. Yeah, it was a fun story, but like all good things, they had to come to an end. I had a shitload of work to do, and the only way to get back into the field was to make sure they could hold down the fort without me here. And I desperately needed to kick some ass.

“Hold up,” FNG said, rolling over to me. He stopped when the chair smashed into the desk, nearly knocking over my water. “You don’t have a single question for me? Maybe about who the lady was or what happened after the bomb went off?”

“You’re still here, so I’m guessing you survived.”

He frowned at me. “You know,clearlyyou don’t understand anything about storytelling.”

“Obviously, I do if I already know how the story ends. Maybe it’s you that needs to brush up on your storytelling skills.”

He scoffed, shaking his head at me. “It’s like no one cares that I was gone for a whole fucking year.”

“That’s because you haven’t told us anything we can believe yet. I mean, come on. Even that story about how you were dropped down onto the property from a super secret spyycraft is just ridiculous. Rafe is out of the FBI now. He doesn’t have the same access to the equipment he used to.”

“How do you know he’s not working for someone else? Maybe he’s got someone else funding his jobs.”

“Yeah, and maybe I don’t give a shit. Look, you had fun. So, you needed some time off and didn’t want to tell anyone. I’m not saying a word. You broke. It could happen to any of us when the pressure’s on.”

“I didnotbreak. How could you even say that? You were with me on that job with Thumper!”

“That wasn’t a job. That was…some weird, completely unnecessary spying expedition that went FUBAR overnight.”

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