Page 18 of Skull

Boomer smiled. “Yeah, but she didn’t seem offended. She just told me she’s no longer with that underwear model and added that she isn’t interested in…well, I didn’t let her finish, but I suspect she meant me.”

“I don’t know. She’s giving you looks that say she thinks you’re hot.”

Boomer shook his head, his eyes bright with hope he wouldn’t let himself believe. “What? Naw.”

“Yeah. I know that kind of look. She wants a piece of the Boom Boom.”

Boomer shrugged with a self-deprecating smile. He said nothing for a moment as his brain worked overtime. It all affected his heart. “What’s the point? Long distances are too hard, especially with our jobs. I’d be wasting her time. Best we just keep it platonic,” he said, as if the words were stuck in his throat.

“Look at Kodiak if you want an example of what a woman will do for her man. I don’t think you should discount her just because it’s too hard,” Skull teased in a mock whiny voice. “Remember, the only easy day was yesterday.”

Boomer didn’t reveal his true intent. The next thing Skull knew, he was airborne and then underwater in the pool. Boomer had casually shoved him in. Skull came up sputtering. “You’re gonna pay for that, asshole.”

“Yeah, right. I’m so scared,” Boomer retorted.

Skull whipped his hair from his eyes and caught the cute smile on Taylor’s face. Then Boomer took off his shirt, and Taylor’s face went slack. Yeah, right. It was obvious she was all kinds of interested in Boomer’s compact, muscular body.

Skull glanced at Bones, who was still sitting exactly where he had been when they entered the pool area. With one word, Bones sprang into action. The dog flew at Boomer, hit him with his compact body, and shoved him into the pool beside Skull. Bones landed gracefully on his four paws.

Boomer came up sputtering with laughter. “Damn, fur missile. I forgot you’re always armed and dangerous, even without any weapons.”

Bones barked and looked down into the water with a nearly gloating expression, his ears pricked and ready for action. Skull could barely keep himself afloat, his stomach aching from laughter.

“That’s right. Don’t mess with the dream team,” Breakneck said, coming forward like the tip of a spear, grinning widely at everyone who had witnessed Skull’s slick revenge. The only person missing was Iceman, and Skull knew their boss was chomping at the bit for a target package that would get them one step closer to rescuing Leigh and Hazard. If there was a secret weapon on their team, it was their leader. He was probably breathing down Anna’s neck, and it was nothing but an icy chill down her spine, he was sure.

That’s the kind of man Iceman was. He set the example, made the decisions, unified the team, and took care of them like they were his family. They were brothers in battle, thrown into high-stress situations with no place to hide, where true character emerged. They came out the other side because of their die-hard belief in having each other’s backs and the leadership of Christopher “Iceman” Snow.

The CIA had their own secret weapons in their Shadowguard, namely Hummingbird and Strekoza.

Over breakfast, Anna revealed some info about the hard-to-pin-down, sassy operatives. She said Hummingbird and Strekoza were two of the best. Each was a crack shot with handguns and sniper rifles. Strekoza edged Hummingbird out by a bit, but Hummingbird’s unique fighting style gave her an advantage. Hummingbird was a gut fighter. She worked on instinct. Skull had been on the receiving end of her style, and he could attest to its painful efficiency. Anna confided that Hummingbird was unorthodox but provided an instant advantage on the battlefield, a leveler when the odds were stacked. And she would always have their backs, something Hummingbird considered worth guarding.

This mission was no walk in the park. Most of their assignments were classified as dirt missions, but every once in a while they got a cushy Gucci mission.

Anna continued, explaining that even though details were scarce, the women had tracked down an Indonesian terrorist group, one the government didn’t even want to mess with. They had effectively dismantled every cell, diverting nineteen million dollars of high-grade heroin slush funds into the government’s coffers. That won the White House many quality points with the Indonesians.

Nineteen million gratitude points were nothing to scoff at. It was hard not to be impressed by two women who often worked without a net.

Hearing that Hummingbird could break a guy’s balls without breaking a sweat came as no surprise to Skull. He’d almost broke up in the shower and felt a surge of pride that he had survived her special brand of ball breaking, a method that was more about pleasure than pain. That was the kind of personality he was up against, and jumping out of a plane from thirty thousand feet still looked like a better alternative.

The rest of the team soon arrived, and Skull noticed how GQ trailed behind everyone. There was an uneasy vibe among them, and it was clear something had happened. GQ wasn’t himself at all. Normally easy-going, he now seemed as if the operator inside him had taken over. He looked grumpy, moody, and ready for a fight—not a good combination.

They walked toward the pool’s edge. “I don’t know what we’re fucking doing here,” GQ snapped. “Everything but going after Hazard and Leigh is a waste of time.”

“We’ve been over this, GQ, and nothing’s changed. Until we get the intel, we don’t have a package,” Preacher said in a tone that sounded like he was at his wit’s end.

“Goddamned CIA is just dicking around. It’s been two days,” GQ paced, his agitation growing.

Unfortunately, the goddamned CIA in the form of two Shadowguard entered the pool area. Hummingbird and Strekoza sauntered over, Hummingbird dressed in a white tank top and short black Lycra shorts. GQ stiffened and before anyone realized what he was going to do, he belligerently stepped in front of them, his chin out, his eyes blazing. “What the fuck is going on? Why are you here and not out gathering your fucking almighty intel? This isn’t a vacation!”

The petite blonde considered him for a moment, and without a word, she tried to sidestep him. But GQ was worked up, his adrenaline pumping. Skull saw the signs of an operator going off the rails. “Don’t you dismiss me, bitch. I asked you a question!”

“Whoa,” Preacher said as GQ grabbed her arm. Things got really hairy as Bones started barking from the tension.

She turned toward him, and just like Skull’s beatdown in that alley, GQ was soon laid out on the deck. The team rushed toward the two women. Both went into a fighting stance as Skull and Boomer swam for the edge of the pool.

As they pulled themselves out, a booming shout rang out over the pool deck. “Stand down! Everyone, stand down now!”

Iceman stood at the entrance. He strode forward like a battering ram. “What the fuck is going on here?”

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