Page 37 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

I looked back over at Grady, working in the hangar. As everyone else was watching the destruction of the city, he was still working from his laptop. Sprinting from where I was taking cover, I knew I had to reach Grady and find out what exactly he was doing. But I barely made it twenty feet before gunfire erupted around me.

“I gotcha, boss!” Rock shouted in my ear. Ignoring the bullets flying around me, I ran until I reached the safety of the hangar. Grady looked up at the last minute and saw me coming, pulling out a weapon I didn’t even know he had. I came to a screeching halt, holding my own weapon on him.

“Grady, put the fucking gun down,” I commanded. Based on the way he was holding his gun, I knew he wasn’t a serious threat. But a madman with a weapon, and no knowledge how to use it could be just as dangerous as a man fully trained.

“You have no idea what you’re messing with,” he laughed.

“Because you fucking lied about your true intentions. You wanted to take down the power grid. Why?”

“You’re so blind. All of you have no vision. You stand there with your gun and think you’re doing something for your country. It’s pathetic.”

“And what are you doing? You’re a domestic terrorist.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Your vision is so narrow.”

“Step away from the computer,” I growled, irritated with this bullshit.

“Boss!” Rock shouted through comms. “We’ve got more company!”

I shifted until I could see the front gate out of the corner of my eye while still keeping Grady in my sights. More vehicles pulled into the private airfield. Men poured out of the vehicles, all in tactical gear and armed to the teeth. I didn’t know who exactly I was supposed to be protecting right now, our team or Grady. If he was right, and this equipment was really as dangerous as he said, then the obvious choice was to protect him for the time being.

But as I swung my gaze back to Grady, my overwhelming instinct was to take him down at all costs. He’d already taken out a power grid. Grady’s gaze flicked over to the men, and that’s when I made my move, shooting him in the bicep. As he went down with the hit, I raced toward him, leaping over his work table and pinning him to the ground. I yanked out my zip ties, pulling his hands behind his back for good measure.

He screamed as I wrenched the arm that I’d just lodged a bullet in. Blood poured from his wound, and I pulled out my packet of my combat gauze— a fine, white clay we used in combat to stop bleeding. It burned like hell, but he’d survive. Spinning around, I grabbed his computer to protect it from any potential damage.

Edu, who was hanging out on his lazy ass in the corner after being struck with a metal canister, was finally starting to rouse. “Edu! I’m coming to you. Get your ass up!”

“Fuck, my head feels like a fucking boulder.”

“Maybe that’ll teach you to watch your surroundings,” I huffed, grabbing Grady by the shirt and dragging him across the floor. I shoved the laptop into Edu’s arms. “Don’t fucking lose this. Looks like Fox needs to do some work with you.”

“Fuck, I hate that guy,” he grumbled, stumbling to his feet as he grabbed his weapon.

Gunfire could be heard from outside the hangar, but as I moved further back, I couldn’t see what was happening. “Rock, check in,” I commanded.

“Friendlies finally arrived. I think we need to have a talk with Thumper about his tardiness.”

“Fuck off, I had to change my shirt,” Thumper said, joining our conversation.

“How many fucking times do I have to tell you not to wear pink?” Lock asked. “You’re a fucking target in the field.”

I snorted at that. Thumper was anything but subtle. In Afghanistan, he lost the lower part of his left leg, but now had a fucking bionic foot. He was a workhorse, but insisted on wearing fucking bright colors to draw attention to himself. Almost as if he was daring someone to fuck with him.

“It’s pitch fucking black out. Who the hell is going to notice I’m wearing pink?”

“Edu is taking a nap,” I responded, getting back on track. “I need to get Grady out of here now.”

“We’re still protecting his ass?” Lock asked.

“Right now, he’s our only lead on finding out what the fuck is going on. I need cover fire.”

A few seconds later, two dark figures came running in, weapons drawn as they approached. They looked like ours, but the hangar was dark, and I wasn’t about to assume anything. I kept low, protecting Edu with my body. As they got closer, I recognized the way they moved as our own. Slider and IRIS nodded as they passed, clearing the rest of the hangar before returning to me.

“Sitrep,” I snapped as IRIS approached.

He huffed out a laugh. “FUBAR, boss. FUBAR.”

“Fuck, why couldn’t this have been a simple job?”

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