Page 104 of Always Been Mine

What.

The.

Fuck?

Thankfully, he had the knife flush to his forearm and didn’t end up stabbing himself. Realizing the unknown figure was highly trained and not the random goon, Gabe scrambled to his feet to assess the man warily. By now, his assailant had risen to his feet. From the light of the full moon streaming through the bare branches, he discerned he was around his own height of six-four and probably around two-twenty pounds. The man was suited up in all black with a skull cap on his head and dark paint camouflaging his face.

They squared off.

“Who the fuck are you?” Gabe growled.

“Funny. I should be asking you that question,” came the gravelly response.

“Look, man, we could be on the same side.”

“I know who’s on my team,” Gabe could hear the sneer in Face Paint’s voice, “and you’re not. Come on, motherfucker, show me what you’ve got.”

Face Paint held out his arms in a challenging gesture. This was nuts, Gabe thought, but he’d be damned before he threw the first punch. They circled each other. Finally, his opponent got tired of waiting and spun, his leg went flying. Anticipating every move, Gabe caught the foot and twisted it. The man’s body pivoted with the leg and his other foot headed straight for Gabe’s head. He managed to duck, but he had to let Face Paint go.

Staggering backward, Gabe made a mental note to engage Sam in sparring exercises because he was barely keeping up with this guy.

They went at it, the man’s elbow jarring Gabe’s jaw, but he managed to sink a fist into Face Paint’s solar plexus in retaliation. More jabs and punches were exchanged, and although they seemed evenly matched, Gabe was breathing heavily while the other man was barely panting. He needed to end this now because the meet was starting in a few minutes and this son of a bitch was going to outlast him. With a suppressed roar, Gabe blocked the oncoming blow, and with a leap in the air for added momentum, came crashing down with his elbow into the side of the man’s head.

“Fuck!” the other man grunted and fell to one knee. Seeing his opportunity in finishing this off, Gabe followed up with a kick, and for the second time this night, found himself flat on his back.

He was really, really, getting pissed at this guy.

Face Paint straddled him; Gabe tipped him over. Theyrolled and punched. Over and over. Gabe was starting to get dizzy, and he was praying so was the other guy.

“I don’t know; they seem to be having fun,” a female voice spoke beside them.

“Damn it, Maia, we don’t have much time!”

Travis.

Gabe and Face Paint stopped fighting.

“Travis, what the fuck is going on?” Gabe growled, angry that at the end of the fight, the other guy was on top of him.

“Figured out who Porter’s covert group is,” Travis said conversationally. “Gabe, meet Viktor Baran of AGS.” His friend motioned to Face Paint.

“This, here, is Maia.” The woman with Travis was also similarly dressed as Viktor.

Viktor pushed away from him, got to his feet, and held out his hand. “Good fight, Sullivan.”

Gabe had heard of Artemis Guardian Services (AGS) and their inimitable leader. This fucker knew who he was, and they wasted time fighting senselessly. Gabe ignored the proffered hand and stood to his full-height to go eye-to-eye with Viktor. “I don’t know what the hell your game is, Baran, but we’re wasting precious time.”

“Agreed,” Viktor answered curtly. “Maia, what’s the bead on the buyers?”

“They’re arriving at the moment.” Maia pushed down on an ear piece, listening to updates. “Our team has the barn surrounded and is waiting for word to go in.”

Gabe resumed his position on the hill, surveying the activity in the barn.

Just then, a crackling of leaves and footsteps got everyone on alert. A big guy, even taller than Gabe and almost twice as wide, emerged from the trees. He had a skinny guy following in front of the business-end of his assault rifle. Big Guy was obviously one of Viktor’s men because he was dressed similarly. Skinny was dressed in dark military fatigues.

“Who’s this?” Maia asked, referring to Skinny.

“Found him skulking on the third quadrant. He was with another guy,” Big Guy reported. “His buddy got away. They were doing recon.” He ripped off the velcro holding the cover on the arm of Skinny’s uniform revealing the insignia. “Green Beret.”

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