Page 97 of S.O.S. Mizzay

Cobble stepped forward, nudging Andy gently out of the way.

He calmed his outward appearance, putting on an affable face as he stood in front of the posturing asshole.

“Are you, by any chance, Special Agent Beranger?” Cobble asked lightly.

“Yeah,” the man confirmed. “And I’m sorry this bitch didn’t make things easy on—”

Cobble punched the man right in the nose, sending him sprawling backward to the courthouse steps with a thud.

Beranger had never seen it coming.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Cobble snarled, standing over the prone man. “No. Better yet, don’tevertalk to her again you jackass, or I’ll do worse next time.”

Beranger clutched his bloody nose, wailing, “You broke by dose.” He looked at the small audience that had gathered, which included Baskins and a few other agents. “Did you all see dat?” he whined. “I want hib arrested on assault and baddery charges.”

Cobble snorted. He didn’t give a fuck if he was hauled in. After all the things Andy had relayed to him over the years about how Beranger had been such an ass to her, Cobble would takewhatever the law dished out. Then he’d punch the motherfucker again in a heartbeat, and enjoy every minute of it.

Chuck stepped forward, and with what looked like some reluctance, helped Beranger to his feet while the man continued railing.

“You hear me?” Beranger cried, holding the bridge of his steadily dripping nose as he regained his balance. “This ban needs to be jailed.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Chuck asked, stepping back to affect a calm smugness that had Cobble silently cheering him on. Clearly his cousin had something up his sleeve.

“Ob course. Why nod?” Beranger looked momentarily confused.

“Well, you know those hard-drives of Oliphant’s?”

“Yeah,” Beranger nodded slightly, looking pained.

“He was a traitor, for sure, but a damned thorough one,” Chuck mused. “He made sure to keep records onallthe agents he felt might get too close to uncovering his guilt. He catalogued a lot of dirt on all of them to use as leverage if he needed it,includingsome pretty juicy stuff about you.”

If the contrast between Beranger’s pasty skin and the blood dripping down his face had been apparent before, the paleness that suddenly dropped over his visage after that statement was downright ghoulish. He could have easily doubled as a vampire whose meal had gone awry all over his ugly mug.

“D…dirt?” Beranger repeated, almost whisperingly.

“That’s right,” Chuck stated with surety. “So,Special AgentBeranger, unless you want me to make that interesting stuff part of public record, which I don’t think you do, you’ll take this little altercation as a lesson learned, and walk away.”

Beranger blinked twice, then carefully—with one last glower at Cobble and Andy—inched his way down the stairs, never looking back.

“Damn, Chuck. That was awesome!” Andy hooted.

She stood on tiptoes and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, which had him blushing. But before he could respond in any way, Andy turned her elation toward Cobble.

“And you. What a bad-ass,” she squealed.

Right there in front of everyone, she grabbed his head, pulled it down, and planted not just a kiss on his lips, but an all-encompassing, soul-stealing, tongues-included smooch that had Cobble rocking and reeling.

Had there been an earthquake?

Cobble growled against her lips. “You are so, totally getting lucky when we get home.”

“La-la-la-la-la.” Nik, Andy’s brother, stuck his fingers in his ears. “I don’t need to hear that. We’re talking about my baby sister, here.”

“Payback’s a bitch,” Andy snickered at her brother. “Do you know how many times I’ve caught you and Bevvy making out in the bunkers and had to sneak away? Do you?”

Nik had the good graces to look a little sheepish, then reluctantly let it go. “Fine. But please save any more bodily contact for later, when I’ve gone, okay?”

“Yeah,” Chuck agreed. “Ditch the PDA for all our sakes.”

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