Page 39 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

I switched positions with IRIS, ready to lay down cover fire for him.

“You got it?” he asked.

“In position. Haul ass.”

As soon as he took off, all of us were firing at the enemy as he sprinted across the landing strip to where the SUV was hidden off to the side. I was running dangerously low on ammo at this point, and if he didn’t hurry the fuck up, I was going to be a sitting duck.

“Get your ass moving!” I shouted.

“Geez, you’re so cranky when things don’t turn out the way you want,” IRIS huffed as he finally reached the vehicle. “Give me two minutes.”

“You’ve got thirty seconds,” I answered, firing off another few shots. It was nearly impossible to see in the dark, but it was even worse with the lights of the city completely gone. Something was happening by the gate, but I couldn’t tell what exactly. Men were moving around, getting into different positions, but it was unclear right now what they were trying to achieve.

“Time to burn some rubber!” IRIS said a little too gleefully.

“Did you get my lucky charm?” I asked, worried that he was going to burn the very thing I always carried with me in any vehicle.

“Relax, I’ve got Betty,” IRIS answered. The SUV came barreling out from where I’d parked it, the wheels squealing as IRIS yipped loudly, shouting as he picked up speed and drove straight for the vehicles blocking the gate.

“Now, IRIS!” I shouted.

“One more minute,” he said gleefully.

“You don’t have a fucking minute!”

“You have no faith in me, boss. Oops.”

“Oops? What the fuck is oops?”

“I dropped Betty. Don’t worry, boss. I won’t leave her behind.”

I watched as the SUV careened out of control for just a moment. Enemy fire was raining down hard on him, but the windshield should hold. Then I saw the trunk pop and IRIS jumped out the back, rolling a few times before jumping to his feet and hauling ass out of there. The SUV crashed into the first vehicle going at least sixty miles an hour. Men scattered as the SUV flipped, taking out another vehicle in its path, effectively flushing them out for us.

Grinning, I was ready to move out of position when I heard the rack of a gun behind me.

* * *

There arethose times in your life where you look back on things that just happened and wonder how the hell you missed something so big. Here I stood, gun in hand and hardly any bullets left, and I had a fucking gun to my head. This was what I did for a living, yet I somehow managed to fuck this up.

“On your feet, Grady,” the voice snapped from behind me.

Even without looking, I knew who this asshole was. He was throwing his voice on purpose, trying to keep me off his scent, but I’d know him anywhere. Turning, I smirked at him, daring him to fucking shoot me.

“He’s not going anywhere with you.”

The man stood before me, covered from head to toe in black. He even wore a mask, like that would keep his identity a secret. “You’re outnumbered. I’d say you don’t have a fucking choice in the matter.”

“If you had just picked up the fucking phone, none of this would have happened. We could have worked together,” I argued.

“Yeah, but you know me, I don’t really work well with others.”

I grabbed Grady off the ground, holding him against my body. “You have no fucking clue what I just went through with this asshole. There’s no way I’m handing him over to you.”

“You also have no fucking clue what you’re dealing with,” he retorted.

“Then tell me why the NSA is involved.”

“I’d think that’d be pretty fucking obvious, but I’m not exactly here on their behalf.”

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