Page 60 of Peace Under Fire

Grumpy’s amused bark almost passed for a laugh.

“No,” Crusher said, ignoring Squish’s command. “Mutants are the X-Men. Umbrella Academy is about this family of kids that some weird old rich dude collected because they had special abilities.”

Mandy twitched again, but he suspected that this time the movement came from surprise rather than hurt. He suspected Crusher’s description was eerily accurate.

“They’re supposed to save the world or some shit. The kids in the academy, I mean,” Crusher continued, his gaze flitting from one side of the road to the other, like he was waiting for someone or something to jump out from behind the snowbank and ambush them. “So, if your one sister can kill with a thought, and the others can lift cars or blow them up, or send their attack birds against their enemies, what can you do?”

Surprisingly, Crusher sounded curious, rather than skeptical. But then the bastard had spent years rotting his brain with all those crazy science fiction shows like Star Trek, and Star Wars, and—apparently—X-Men and The Umbrella Academy.

Up went Mandy’s chin, and back went her shoulders. Squish gave her an absent-minded pat to soothe the obvious spike of anxiety.

“I can share in people’s dreams,” she announced stoutly before adding, “Although only a couple of people, like my sister Giulia’s.”

She didn’t mention Squish, or even look up at him. Why that bugged the shit out of him, Christ only knew. But it did. So, he rectified the omission.

“And mine,” he announced deliberately. “She’s been uncannily accurate with details taken from my dreams. Plus, she saw my immediate future in a dream.”

Grumpy suddenly turned around again and stared at Squish with raised, mocking eyebrows. “So, which one of them can read minds?” he asked out of the blue.

“How did you come up with that?” Squish asked. It was always an interesting journey when one mapped the logic leaps Grumpy’s razor sharp mind took.

“You’re hoping one of them can identify our traitor.” Grumpy’s voice was matter of fact, his dark gaze shifting between Squish and Mandy. “It’s the only scenario that makes sense. You’re hoping one of these gals can finger the bastard. But throwing cars or communing with birds isn’t going to do the trick. So, it must be a different talent you’re all looking for. And the ability that would be the most effective in solving our mole conundrum would be the ability to read minds.”

Well, Grumps had sure figured that out quickly. It shouldn’t surprise him. The dude had one of the sharpest minds on the team.

“Please tell me you don’t actually believe all this mind reading bullshit,” Grumpy drawled. His sharp gaze locked on Squish’s face, then dropped to the arm Squish had around Mandy’s shoulders, then back up to Squish’s face again. His gaze turned to flint and his face hardened. “I mean, fuck, brother. Even the best pussy in the world isn’t worth falling into that kind of mind rot.”

The car went dead silent. Squish didn’t think anyone was even breathing. His arm tightened around Mandy’s shoulder. He forced himself to relax. Hell, he would have asked the same question if their positions had been reversed. No one pulled their punches on his squad.

“This isn’t about pussy—” Squish started to say.

“And you can trust him on that,” Mandy inserted in a dry voice. There was no hurt or mortification in her tone at all. “Because if you’re referring to me, you couldn’t be more wrong. Jacob and I don’t have that kind of a relationship. I was his neighbor. That’s all. We aren’t even friends.”

Goddammit to hell. Was that ridiculous lie going to haunt him for the rest of his life?

“No shit?” Grumpy’s skeptical gaze dropped to Squish’s arm, which was still tight around her shoulders. “Then why’s he so willing to believe your spiel of crap?”

“He doesn’t believe it.” Mandy didn’t look at Squish. “He’s desperate, that’s all. He’s willing to try anything to find your spy, and his friend Lucky, no matter how farfetched.”

Which was true, or it had been. Now Squish wasn’t so sure. That tape had been damn convincing. The fact Tex had sworn to its authenticity made it even more credible.

Grumpy frowned, his gaze flickering back and forth between Squish and Mandy’s faces. “Something’s off here,” he finally said with an assessing cock to his head. “Why did you even believe her when she came to you? Why bring Tex in on this bullshit? Fuck, man, you spent the last year avoiding her. Why would you believe her crazy story now?”

Yeah, of course Grumpy would zero in on that.

Squish grimaced. This really wasn’t his secret. Sure, he’d told Tex, but that was different. He’d been desperate to find out if he’d imagined that voicemail.

Mandy apparently knew exactly what he was thinking because she scoffed beneath her breath. “You might as well tell him. It’s not like it’s much of a secret anymore. Your buddy Tex knows, your Commanding Officer knows, Navy Intelligence probably knows.” Her head turned until she was staring at Brick. “I bet even Brick knows.”

Brick shrugged, his beautiful, oh-so-blue eyes smiling at her. “Guilty.”

The skin of Grumpy’s forehead knitted. “Stop being an ass and tell me. You got your woman’s permission,” he added dryly.

“I’m not his woman!” Mandy snapped, shrugging Squish’s arm from her shoulder. “I’m nothing to him. We’re not even friends.”

Squish gritted his teeth. Son of a bitch—that bullshit again.

“Fine.”

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