Page 94 of Reaper Razed

“You can take them off now.” Bran or Dane says, and when we open our eyes, Ray is gone.

“Where the fuck is she?” I bark out.

“She thought you might feel more relaxed without her here!” Dane tells me with a soft smile.

“I feel more on fucking edge not having her in my line of sight.” I mutter.

“No one’s ever been here. This is top secret. Ray fought tooth and nail to be able to bring you in, and she’s vouched for you! If this goes to shit, it’s all on her. No one else who we deal with knows who we are. You’re the first!” Bran tells us all.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I look around, as I don’t think it does.

“She’s got as much riding on this as you guys have. If you don’t trust her, say now. We can end this and take you back. Once you see behind the curtain, there’s no going back.” Dane barks out as his hand grips the door to stop us from getting out.

“I want her here where I can always see her!”

“That doesn’t sound much like trust!” Bran sounds dejected as he sits back down. “Blindfolds back on, guys. We’ll have you back home in no time.”

“Pres?” Tank spits out. “Are you seriously questioning Ray's loyalty right now? After everything she’s done for us? Don’t you think she’s proved herself time and time again, and she told you there were things she couldn’t tell you. You don’t get to decide whether we trust her or not for the rest of us. I will follow her to the bowels of hell. I’m going with or without you!”

“And how do the rest of you feel about all this?”

They all look at each other and nod. Steel speaks for them all. “We’re all with Ray. Always have been!”

“Of course you fucking are. But what about the rest of you?”

“Pres. I say this with the utmost respect. You’re acting like a butthurt lil bitch! Get over yourself and go talk to her!” Blade tries to reason. “But we’re with her. She’s one of us!”

“Fine,” I snipe as I cross my arms over my chest and sulk like a fucking toddler. I’m fucking hurt and upset, and I feel deceived, but I also feel so stupid that I didn’t see this, stupid that I feel hurt and betrayed by it, as deep down I know she would die for me, and I would her. “I wanna talk to her alone.”

“Come on then, we’ll start the tour, and when we get to her, you can… chat.” Dane shakes his head as we step out of the chopper. We’re surrounded by massive aircraft hangars. We can’t see anything other than those. As we head off to the first one, we reach the door. Bran places his hand on the scanner, and we walk through what looks like a tiny room. There's a desk with paperwork in piles on it. “NDAs read them, sign them. We can’t go any further till you all sign them. We will take you back if you don’t want to sign! Last chance to get out, gentlemen.”

After a few grumbles from me, I do the same after the others pick up the pens and sign, no questions asked. “This way, gentlemen!” Dane leads us through the door. At the end, it’s a massive hangar of armoured trucks lining each side, probably sixteen in total.

“Just how big is this operation?” I grumble at no one in particular.

“This is our main base. We have five others, slightly smaller ones, around the country,” Bran informs us like he’s just told us what he had for breakfast.

Stepping out of the doors at the end, there’s just open space, nothing! In the distance, we can see the perimeter fence, but it’s just open grassland.

“Well, that was a short tour,” I grumble.

Dane shakes his head at me.

“You really are a miserable bastard, aren’t you?” Bran laughs, and everyone joins in once the noise dies from them all laughing at my expense. I can hear a vehicle approaching. When I look over to my left, there’s a big enclosed back truck. Bran and Dane climb in the back, and we all follow like the fucking sheep we’re obviously turning into. There’s a bench seat along either side, and as we all sit, Bran bangs on the back of the cab, and we set off.

“Where are we going?” It seems everyone else is happy to go along for the ride. I’m kinda freaking out inside, which is manifesting itself as a major dickhead on the outside.

We stop and get out. As we round the truck, we’re in front of what looks like an office building of sorts. As we head through the doors, there’s a reception area, and we must sign in. Visitor badges are waiting for us with our pictures on. All the guys have nice pics, and when it comes to mine, it’s awful. I mean, it looks like I’m trying to multiply the square root of pi with a rhinoceros while smelling an eggy fart!

“What the fuck is this?” They all look, then bark out laughing. “Who’s in charge of sorting this shit out?” They all laugh again. “It's her, isn't it? Fucking bitch!”

“Hey, watch it!” Steel barks, so I pull the lanyard around my neck and shut my mouth before we end up scrapping.

We head up to the third floor as we push through the doors. There are offices on either side of the room. There's one large room at the end, and there’s a row of cubicles, two cubicles wide down the middle.

When we get halfway up the room, Steel stalks off ahead, throwing open a door marked “Delta 1”. When I reach it, Ray’s in there, and Steel throws his arms around her, pulling her in for a filthy kiss. There’s nothing PG about it as he grabs her ass and pulls her to him. There’s a slight cough, someone clearing their throat from behind the door as we all swing and look at the bloke in a suit with a clipboard.

“DA, this is my husband.”

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