Page 47 of Bound in the Dark

“Okay enough.” Hawk probably had meant to sound stern, but he just sounded exasperated. “We are going to head over to the garage and get everyone up to speed. You,” he pointed at Nadya, “will go back to Tek’s place.”

“Papochka!” Nadya’s voice held more whine then she probably intended.

Hawk’s eyes softened, but his face remained stern. “You can have a rifle. Your job is to help defend the kids. If you stray off your assignment again, I will lock you in one of our cells until this is done. Ponimat'?”

“Yes, I understand.” Nadya strode away in the teenage equivalent of stomping her feet.

“Is that what we have to look forward to someday? Are you going to make me be the bad guy with our kids?” Highdive whispered into her ear.

The idea shocked Diana. She had never considered having a baby. Not just because she hadn’t ever had a serious relationship, but because she didn’t think she was the type of woman who would make a good mother. Was that still the truth?

Could she picture herself raising a child with Highdive? He would make a good father even if she imagined he’d be painfully overprotective. She still wasn’t sure she’d be a good mother but the idea wasn’t as impossible as she once believed. It wasn’t the time for life altering decisions like that, but she could tease him.

“Kids? How many do you think you can handle as a stay at home dad?”

Highdive looked as if she had hit him in the face with a fish. She gave him a kiss on the cheek, then walked away to let him stew on the idea for a bit. She joined her sister who was heading out the door with the woman named Cat.

The ex-DEA agent gave her an up and down look. “Rambolina didn’t say she had a clone. I’m Cat.” The woman held out a hand.

Diana took it with a smile. “Rambolina. I like that. But we are just half-sisters, not clones. I’m Tishina, nice to–”

“Your name is Diana. Cat is a friend, not a client,” Alena interrupted.

“It is a habit. You and Nadya were the only ones who ever called me Diana.”

“But things change and we are both married women now.”

“You and Highdive are married? Damn, you work quick.”

“Please ignore my sister. I’m his Old Lady. Unlike her I didn’t get my man drunk, drag him to a chapel, convince him to pretend to get married for fun, then file the paperwork and not tell him for two years.”

Alena laughed. “Such sweet memories.”

“You did that?” Cat asked.

Diana smiled. “When we’re not under immediate threat I’ll give you all the dirt on her.”

“This is not fair. You are boring. I have no good stories to share about you that don’t end in blood and violence.”

“Tishina, that means silence right?” Cat asked.

“See, even her moniker is boring.” Alena moaned.

“Because ‘Shark’ is so much more exciting.”

“You guys are a trip. Where are the rest of the Old Ladies?”

Diana looked around before answering. The men were about fifty feet behind them having their own discussion. They were almost at the garage but she didn’t want to risk giving anything away if Petrov had a way to listen in. “They’ve been put in a secure location with the kids.”

“None of them wanted to help?” Cat seemed shocked.

Diana laughed remembering the snippets of fights she had overheard while they were scrambling to get everyone moved. “Wanted to, yes. But it was determined they didn’t have the skills necessary to help in a more active roll.”

“Is that a polite way to say their men said no?” Cat sounded upset.

It wasn’t hard to understand why she would be offended, but Diana had agreed with the decisions. While most of the women knew enough about how to shoot to be useful in a pinch, the kind of fighting they would soon see would test even a soldier's ability to stay calm. She had even agreed to take a back-up role since she didn’t have experience working with a unit. Her place would be as a roving asset patrolling the area near the houses.

Alena chuckled. “Probably.”

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