Page 95 of Fire for Effect

If I hadn’t seen her efficiently kill a squad-sized element with nothing but a hair pin, I would almost be fooled. There’s just something about seeing a person covered in that much blood, her eyes full of sadistic glee, that sticks in your head.

Taz was a killer too. I knew that. But she didn’t derive a damn near erotic pleasure from taking life. Not like Sierra.

“Kai?” Taz said, leaning into my side.

“I’m Daria Savchenko.” Agent Sierra introduced herself by her real name. I was surprised she wasn’t going to give a fake name, but I guess it wasn’t necessary. “I’m so glad to finally meet you, Wifey!”

“Sierra, I swear to God…”

“Wifey? Sierra?” Taz asked me, completely ignoring the walking red-clad tornado on her lawn.

“Agent Sierra,” I explained. “Of Cerberus. We all got assigned letters.” I wouldn’t need to explain the phonetic alphabet to Taz. “And the Wifey thing is because–”

“Agent Kilo and I are partners. What’s his is mine, and you are his wife. Therefore…”

“Wife?” Taz asked again, her eyes growing as wide as saucers as her fingers curled into my shirt as if she needed to stay grounded in that moment.

“You’re scaring her, Sierra! Quit the wife talk.”

“What?” Daria twirled her painted fingers in the air. “Listen, you are leaving all of your worldly goods to her if you–” She ran her fingertips over her neck, to mime her throat slit. Then, because if it’s worth killing, it’s worth overkilling, she placed her finger to the side of her head to mimic a gunshot to the temple, making the appropriate cartoonish sounds with her mouth. “She better be a wife, at least. I mean… you’re worth some serious money there, Kilo. If she hasn’t married you, I will, and then I’ll kill you myself.”

“Kilo?” Taz asked.

“I’m Agent Kilo,” I quickly explained.

“Okay.” Taz nodded as if it all made sense.

It did not. Not even to me.

“I clocked five men near the road, one of them followed me up here. In fact, he’s right there,” she pointed her red nail towards the darkness. “Prone position, behind the cedar with the branch that looks like it’s flipping me the bird. See him?” She went into her Louis Vuitton purse, pulled out a flashlight, and its powerful bright white beam slashed through the darkness, to the cedar, and a man cussed under his breath.

“The fuck!” Taz’s hand went to her back, where the pistol was back its rightful place.

“Don’t worry, they’re not here to harm you. They obviously cared more about keeping people out. As I understand, they’re Paradigm, trying to protect you!” She finger-waved to the man in the tree, then blew him a kiss.

“How the fuck did they get through her cameras unseen?” I was fucking livid. What was the point of security cameras if they didn’t even alert her when these Paradigm pricks were in the wood line.

“I’m guessing they have them on a loop, except for on the main road,” Sierra said. “It’s not your fault, Wifey.” She came over and stroked Taz’s cheek. I grabbed Sierra’s wrist and flung it away, her threat to sleep with my wife still fresh in my mind. “One woman against the resources of Paradigm? I don’t think you stood a chance. But let’s go ahead and talk inside the trailer anyway, yes?”

I was more nervous than a worm in a hallway full of hooks.

But Sierra - err… Daria - went into the trailer, impressively not stumbling on the dirt in her stilettos. Taz and I followed. Those damn things were so tall, if they pierced the ground, she’d strike oil.

Huddled in Taz’s modest living quarters, and growing wearier by the second, I watched as the two most important women in my life looked at each other, complete opposites in almost every way, and I wondered how this would go.

“You’re prettier than I thought you’d be,” Sierra started. “Kristin was all fake tits and frizzy hair. You’re naturally pretty.”

It sounded like an accusation.

“It’s good to finally meet you” Sierra’s eyes suddenly hardened. “So, tell me, do you really love him or is he wasting his time pining for you? Is he going to eventually wake up heartbroken, and become a huge drag on our operations?”

I was ready to jump up, but Taz raised her hand to stop me.

“I’ve had that already. My last partner was a complete dud.” Sierra’s eyes flicked to me. “Not like this guy. He's good to work with, but if he ends up all mopey and becomes a liability, I’d like to mentally prepare for that now, please, so I can find some other bitch for him to whine about.”

“Hey!” I said, stepping between them, my back to Taz. “No one gets to–”

“Talk shit about her except for you. Yes, I heard that.” Sierra rolled her eyes. “You’re irrelevant to this conversation. Let the women talk.”

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