Chapter 1:

“Four tangos, two o’clock,” I whispered into comms.

“Three more at your nine,” Kavanaugh answered from across the room.

“I have eyes on the target,” Cash said. “Southwest corner of the room. This won’t be an easy extraction.”

I huffed at that. “When is it ever easy?”

“I could think of about ten more situations that have been easier than this,” Cash answered.

That had me curious, but I couldn’t move from my position without giving myself away. Hiding out just past the hallway that led to the elevator banks, it was the only protection offered to me at this point, and we weren’t ready to move in yet. Not until Cash gave the green light.

“IRIS, we’re going to need you on forty.”

I groaned internally. If Cash needed IRIS, that meant explosives were involved. And IRIS loved to set them off more than he liked to dismantle them. I just had to hope that he wouldn’t actually set one off when there were thirty-plus hostages on this floor alone. The rest of the building had already been evacuated, as far as we knew. The police department was sweeping the rest of the building, ensuring no one else was injured if something went wrong.

“Hold your places until we can figure out what the fuck we’re dealing with,” Cash said.

“Copy that,” I answered, hearing the same from everyone else.

Normally, we wouldn’t be in the building because of a hostage situation, but this was a special case. We were called in to protect a new client just as all hell broke loose at the very building he worked in. It took an hour of arguing with the local P.D. about who the fuck was in charge, but we finally took possession of the building and hauled ass to the fortieth floor where our guy was currently hiding out. At least, we hoped he was hiding.

“We’ve got hostages moving around in there,” I whispered, adjusting the grip on my weapon. “Where the fuck are you, IRIS?”

“Hold your dick. I’m coming. It’s not like I could take the elevator up like you lazy asses.”

I could hear his heavy breathing as he climbed the stairs, probably carrying a shit load of gear with him. 

I grinned to myself as I answered. “It’s a good thing someone’s not about to blow up or anything, old man. I think Jane’s cooking has made you lazy.”

“Jane doesn’t cook. Not well, anyway. And if you tell her I said that, I’ll let that bomb explode.”

“You’re so fucking slow,” Thumper huffed. “You’re letting a man with a wooden leg beat you up the stairs.”

“That’s a bionic foot,” IRIS argued. “You’re like Iron Man or something. And you’re not carrying all the EOD gear. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Hey, someone has to watch your six.”

“You’re in front of me!”

“Yeah, to make sure your ass doesn’t get taken out.”

“I would just like to point out that I’m in the opposite stairwell,” Slider grumbled. “And no one offered to come with me and watch my back. I’m just saying, that’s kind of shitty.”

“I’m with you,” IKE answered, sounding slightly offended.

“Yeah, but you didn’t offer. You were told to come with me.”

“Why the fuck did I say I’d come work for this company?” IKE grumbled. “I could have stuck with my current profession and wouldn’t have to work with anyone else.”

“Because apparently, Jane needed you,” IRIS snapped. “Don’t ask me why. She has me. I’m not sure what the fuck she needs you for.”

I chuckled again, refocusing on the hostages in the room. One day, I’d hopefully find someone like IRIS had. Jane was a hot mess, but she was driven and fun. That was the kind of woman I needed. Although, I could do without Jane’s love of bombs. She bonded a little too much with IRIS over that particular part of his job. And I definitely didn’t want my woman, whoever she was, to have a fascination with a man like IKE. It was just wrong.

“Alright, I’m on thirty-nine. I need a sit-rep.”

“There’s no clear path inside,” Cash answered. “All exits are covered by tangos. We’re going to have to flush the toilet and hope we don’t swirl any hostages in the process.”

“Fucking great,” IRIS muttered. “I’m so glad I got out of bed this morning to face probable death. You know, Jane wants to try for a baby.”

“Seriously?” I heard Thumper ask. 

“Not really. She just uses it as an excuse to have sex.”

“She needs an excuse?” I asked. “Why are you holding out?”

“I’m not, but she thinks it somehow makes it more exciting.”

“Ladies,” Cash snapped. “Can we get back to the job? There’s a woman shaking with fear as she faces imminent death.”

“Dark and twisty, boss. I like it,” IRIS retorted. “Alright, let’s get to work. And remember, if you shoot the bomb, it goes boom and we all die a horrible death where no one will ever find our bodies.”

“Thanks for the clarification,” I muttered as if we didn’t know that already.

“Alright, on my count, let’s plunge these fuckers,” Cash said.

“Wait, plunge?” Kavanaugh interjected. “I think you mean we’re going to flush them.”

“Yeah, he’s right, boss,” Slider spoke up. “Plunging them would actually be like reviving them.”

“Actually, it would be reviving them, only to send them swirling down the toilet,” Red clarified. “I would say he had it right.”

“Does it really fucking matter?” Cash snapped. 

“Just want to be clear on the job, boss,” Kavanaugh laughed.

“Fuck this. You guys talk too much,” IKE muttered just before shoving the door open and stepping out into the room, firing at the tangos before the rest of us were truly ready.

Gunfire erupted and I quickly moved in, firing at the tangos to my right, taking out two of them before Kavanaugh took down the third. Screams filled the room as the hostages scurried under any surface they could for cover. I moved swiftly through the room to a closed office. Flinging the door open, I saw a man shaking with fear and a woman with a bomb strapped to her chest, looking completely calm, holding a dead man’s switch. 

“Fuck,” I swore, turning to the window where I knew Cash could see me from his sniper’s nest in the opposite building. “You could have told us she had a dead man’s switch.”

“I can’t see through doors. I only got a glimpse of her,” Cash retorted. 

IKE strolled over to where I stood and stared at the woman holding the switch. “That wasn’t nearly satisfying enough.”

“Yeah? Didn’t get to kill anyone with your bare hands?”

He shrugged slightly. “I miss the scent of fear. This isn’t the same. They didn’t even know we were coming.”

I shook my head at his fucked up perspective. “Yeah, sorry we took you away from all that.”

“What are you gonna do, you know?”

“Go back to killing people on your own?” I suggested. 

“Let’s clear the floor and get to work dismantling that bomb,” Cash said. “I’ve got the watch.”

“Copy that.”

“Yeah, you guys do the simple work and I’ll dismantle the bomb,” IRIS snickered as he walked through the door with his gear.

“Everyone, listen up!” I shouted. “If you’ll please follow us in an orderly fashion to the elevators—” But I didn’t get a chance to finish as screaming ensued and people got up, running to get out of the building. “Don’t push!” I shouted as a stampede of people pushed and shoved to get to the elevator first. I was shoved from behind, and nearly fell to my damn knees as a screaming woman swung her twenty-pound bag at my head like I was a fucking terrorist she was trying to escape. I grabbed her by the arm and almost cold-cocked her, but thought better of it when I saw the terror on her face. I had to remind myself that these people weren’t used to being surrounded by danger.

Red and Kavanaugh took over directing traffic to the elevator while Thumper and Slider grabbed the man from the office and led him out. I walked over to the tangos and started searching for identities. IKE joined me, scoffing and kicking them as he passed. 

“Eli Brown,” he read the name off. “What a fucking joke. Like the guy is actually named Eli.”

I frowned at him. “My name is Eli. What exactly are you saying?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. It’s just…who names their kid Eli?”

“My parents,” I argued.

“I’m just saying, it’s a made up name.”

“Clearly, it’s not or I wouldn’t have the name,” I gritted my teeth. “And what kind of name is IKE?”

“A really fucking awesome name,” he grinned.

I rolled my eyes and walked away when I heard the woman giggling that had the bomb strapped to her. 

“Lady, you have to stay still.”

“It tickles. What does this do?” she asked.

Something about the lilt of her voice jarred my brain. I knew that voice from somewhere, but I didn’t have a fucking clue where. I didn’t get a good look at her face before. I was too busy looking at the bomb strapped to her chest and the switch in her hand. 

“What if you take this out?”

“Would you fucking stop touching things, lady!” IRIS shouted at her.

I turned to face her, horror dawning when I saw the woman that stole my fucking wallet. “You!”

Her head jerked up and her eyes went wide. “Uh…hey,” she smiled, waving slightly.

“Would you stop moving? Do you want to blow up?” IRIS snapped.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I said, stalking over to her.

“Um…” She cocked her head to the side, pursing her lips. “I’m…currently trying not to blow up.”

Frustrated, I huffed out a breath. “You know what I mean. You stole my wallet.”

She cocked her head to the side like she was questioning my sanity. “Well, I was with you last night, and then I decided to come to work. Great plan, I know, but it happens.”

“She stole your wallet?” IKE asked. 

“Yes,” I gritted my teeth.

“Like, at a bar?”

“You know, a little quiet would be appreciated while I try not to blow us up,” IRIS grumbled.

“We met at the bar,” the woman clarified, “but then he took me to this hotel.”

“Last night?” IKE stared at me. “No wonder it took you forever to get your ass out of bed.”

I sighed heavily. “What the fuck do you care?”

He laughed slightly. “I don’t. It’s none of my business, but it explains why you’re dragging ass. Must have been really good.”

“Oh, he was,” the woman laughed but quickly schooled her features when I glared at her. 

“Did you get her number?”

“Actually, I snuck out,” she told IKE.

He sucked in a breath. “That bad?”

“It was actually very good. He broke my streak,” she said with a grin. It was strange that she wasn’t freaking out. She had a fucking bomb strapped to her. But despite all that, I was curious about what exactly I broke.

“Streak of what?” I asked curiously.

“Remember the ex?”

I nodded, remembering the hair job after her bastard boyfriend cheated on her. So, she hadn’t slept with anyone since then. In a sense, I popped her cherry. 

“So, you left him in the middle of the night,” IKE continued.

“Well, I had a flight to catch. It turns out I might have wanted to miss that flight. Then I wouldn’t be strapped in, ready to explode.”

“We’ll get you out,” I said reassuringly.

IRIS stopped what he was doing and looked up at me. “We? I’m sorry, what are you doing other than distracting me?”

“I’m distracting her so she doesn’t freak out on you,” I pointed out.

“Oh, I won’t freak out. Simon told me it would be quick.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, not wanting to ask the next question. “Simon?”

“The bomber,” she grinned. “He was very nice.”

“He strapped you to a bomb!” I exploded. “That doesn’t make him nice!”

“Well, he was just doing his job, trying to survive. I can’t blame him for that.”

I stared at her incredulously. I didn’t get it. What kind of person didn’t panic when they were about to die? “You do realize that if IRIS can’t dismantle this bomb, you’re going to be blown to bits.”

“Way to keep her calm,” IRIS muttered.

“Yes, I’m aware of what will happen. And it sucks, but what are you going to do? Oh, by the way, if things do go south, can you go back to my apartment and get my cat and goldfish?”

There were no words left. Either she had a death wish, or something was missing inside that beautiful head of hers. “Sure.”

“Thanks,” she smiled sweetly at me. “I really appreciate it. My cat’s name is Horatio, after Horatio Hornblower.”

“Who?” I asked, not sure I wanted the answer.

“You know, the Horatio Hornblower books? They’re amazing. See, he’s this midshipman in the beginning and he works his way up through the ranks in the 1700’s around the Napoleonic wars. They really are very exciting books.”

I just stared at her. I had nowhere to go with this conversation. “How long?” I asked IRIS.

“Uh, ten minutes.”

So, I had ten minutes more of her insanity, and then she’d either blow up or I’d have to spend more time with her. I wasn’t sure what was preferable at the moment.

“And Leonidas is my fish. Make sure you take extra special care of him. He’s been with me for two years.”

I nodded, not asking another question. I didn’t want to know the answer to anything else. But IKE didn’t keep his damn mouth shut.

“I’m guessing Leonidas was named after King Leonidas?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed. “Three hundred Spartans! It’s an amazing story.”

“Can we discuss what’s really important? Like why the hell you’re strapped to a bomb?”

“Um…”

“You say that a lot,” I snapped.

She tossed her hands up in frustration. We all watched in slow motion as the dead man’s switch slipped from her grasp and went flying through the air. Without thinking twice, I leaped for her, tackling her to the ground and covering her body with mine. I heard the metal clang of the switch hitting the ground, but nothing happened. Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at the others huddled on the ground also. One by one, we stood and stared at the switch laying at our feet.

IRIS bent over and picked it up, clicking it a few times. “It’s a fake. A very good one. What the fuck?”

“But very noble of you to jump on the girl with the bomb. Not only would you not have protected her from the bomb strapped to her chest, it would have been a direct hit to you,” IKE snorted.

“It was instinct,” I argued.

“It was stupid. You should have let her blow up.”

“Hey!” the woman snapped.

While I was arguing with IKE, IRIS was checking out the work on the bomb, rubbing his hand across his jaw. “Agreed, you should have let her blow up.” His fingers ran along the wire, pulling at one that was now free from the vest. “You just yanked the wire on the timer!”

“What?” the woman shrieked.

“How much time do we have?” IKE said.

“Two minutes,” IRIS said, immediately getting to work on the vest again. “If we’re lucky.”

We didn’t have time for the elevator. This was going to be a fast extraction. I ran to the window, grabbing a chair on the way and tossing it at the window. It bounced off, nearly hitting me in the process.

“That was very effective,” IKE said.

I pulled my gun, irritated, and fired off several rounds. IKE joined in, and soon the window started to shatter. This time when I grabbed the chair, the glass shattered and the chair fell forty floors beneath us. I ran over to my bag, pulled two parachutes, and tossed one to IKE.

“You have a parachute? Why the fuck do you carry around a parachute.”

I quickly started attaching it. “Because we flew with Scottie.”

“That doesn’t explain anything.”

“It would if you flew with him,” I said, buckling myself in. I ran over to IRIS just as he was cutting the vest from the woman’s body. I grabbed her hand and hauled ass to the window. “You’d better hang on tight.”

She pulled her hand from mine, staring at the gaping hole plunging forty floors in sheer terror. She shook her head slowly, then looked back at me. “You want to go out the window?”

“It’s either that or get blown up.”

“I’ll get blown up!”

“Lady, we don’t have time for this!”

“My name isn’t lady.”

“Where’s my parachute?” IRIS asked.

“I only had two. You’re riding bitch,” I answered.

“I’m not going out that window,” the woman argued.

“Hey, if you get blown up, it’s no skin off my nose,” IKE said to IRIS.

“Why do I have to do this?” he whined. “I’ll trade you. You like danger.”

“You blow things up for fun,” I retorted, grabbing the woman and strapping her to me as best I could. I scooted us closer to the window as her fingers dug into my shoulders.

“I can’t do this!”

“You can do this.”

“We’ll take the elevator!”

“Are you ready? Take a deep breath.”

“Can’t we discuss this?” she shouted as I stepped off the ledge and plunged us to the depths below. The cars and people on the street came rushing up at us just as I pulled the cord and the parachute deployed. I kept a tight grip on her, keeping her snug to my body. I glanced to my right as I heard a male scream that sounded way too girly. IKE went shooting past me with IRIS barely holding onto his waist. Then the shoot deployed and they jerked before continuing their descent.

I could hear the woman breathing heavily as she clung to me, her eyes squeezed tight. “Are you okay?”

“This is not normal!”

“Lady, you just had a bomb strapped to your chest and you were pulling at the wires!”

“That was different! We’re literally falling to our death!”

“And you were about to be blown up,” I said, pulling the cord to direct us away from the building.

“Yeah, but that didn’t actually happen. This is actually happening!”

“It’s about to—” I didn’t get to finish my sentence as an explosion tore through the building, the force of it hitting my body like a full speed car. My fingers tightened on her body as we went swirling in the wind, narrowly avoiding hitting another building.

“Hang on!” I shouted, grasping at the cord just as it slipped free of my grip. I grabbed it, but it was too late. We crashed into the glass of the adjacent building, my back taking the brunt of the hit. Then the chute caught on something and tore. “Fuck,” I muttered as we started falling faster to the ground. 

“Why are we speeding up?” she shrieked.

“Um…funny story,” I chuckled.

Her eyes finally flicked up to mine and she glared at me. “That’s my line!”

“We’re about to hit the ground,” I shouted over the wind. I glanced down, hoping we hit the awning that was quickly coming up to meet us. She screamed as she buried her face in my chest. We hit the red awning and bounced, falling off and hitting the ground hard. I groaned as I finally released her from my grip and rested my head back on the ground.

Moments later, IKE appeared before me, grinning like this was all so fucking funny. “You made it.”

“Is IRIS still alive?”

He shrugged. “More or less.” 

Then he walked away. The heat from the fire licked at my body even from this distance, but I was too fucking sore to move. The woman sat up, her nose twitching slightly as she stared at me.

“So…funny story. I should tell you my real name.”

“I’d rather have my wallet back.”

“Um…there’s a slight possibility it was in the building.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. “And you didn’t think to tell me that when we were inside?”

“I sort of had a bomb strapped to my chest. There were more important things to think about.”