by Michael Todd
“You make it sound so simple.”
“Well, it wasn’t simple, definitely not.” Oddly enough, she seemed to be able to laugh at the memory. “But it’s mostly a long and boring story, fraught with terrifying Zoo monsters and spies trying to kill me. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”
He opened his mouth to say that it didn’t seem like the kind of story that would bore him at all, but she had already turned away. It was an intentional move, he realized, something to pique his attention.
The challenge appealed to him. “Well, if you ever wish to bore me, I think that sounds like the kind of story I’d like to hear.”
Anja glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled. “I might actually tell you about it sometime.”
“Sal told me to tell you that there’s food set up for dinner,” Allen said as he pushed out of his seat and moved her coffee along the counter and away from all the electronics. “He said that if you don’t make it in time, they’ll leave some in the fridge.”
“Thanks.” She had already turned back to her computers. “I’ll be right out.”
She wouldn’t be right out, unfortunately. But she needed to focus on her work and Allen definitely couldn’t help her with that. If he wanted to visit later when she wasn’t busy, she wouldn’t mind spending time with him and sharing her story. She’d done her research so she knew he was gay and that he had a wife—husband?—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the view and the personality, right?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Anderson leaned casually into his seat as the heavy ATV rumbled toward him. It looked a little banged-up and the worse for wear, but he couldn’t mistake the heavy diesel engine that roared through the crisp morning air.
They had arranged to meet a few klicks outside the Staging Area at the halfway point on the road between the Staging Area and the Heavy Metal compound. The team were noticeably cautious, but once he’d heard what had happened a couple of days before, he honestly couldn’t blame them. It was, coincidentally, a time when his overlords at Pegasus decided that their little base needed a beef-up in security too.
On this occasion, two people were distinguishable in the Hammerhead and neither of them was Madigan Kennedy. It was a pity. Anderson sincerely enjoyed working with her, but he supposed that it was about time he met one of the brains behind the operation.
He assumed that the unfamiliar woman driving was Amanda Gutierrez, but she didn’t leave the ATV. Only Jacobs climbed out and strode to where Anderson had parked his vehicle. He moved to the passenger seat and slid in. He wore the sleek, hybrid armor that he had rapidly become famous for, and Anderson did have to admit that there was some appeal to it.
“Salinger Jacobs, I presume?” he asked as the younger man shifted slightly in the seat.
“In the flesh,” the man replied with a bright smile. “Colonel Anderson?”
“A pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things.”
“Right back at you, Colonel,” Jacobs said briskly. “So, we can either sit around all day and jerk each other off, or we can get to the meat of the matter as quickly as possible. What do you say?”
“Let’s go for the meat,” he responded, and his chuckle contained real appreciation for once. There wasn’t much to smile at in his life. “Did you guys have any luck with the hard drive?”
“Some, but not enough to report on yet.” Salinger shook his head. “I do have some info on the metal our Pegasus friends have shipped in as armor that you might want to take a look at.” He handed his companion a copy of the files that Courtney had brought him. Anderson glanced intently at them before he exhaled sharply.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked and actually seemed genuinely angry, Sal realized.
“Not one hundred percent, but all the tests that were run confirm it. I’ve run some tests of my own and they also appear to confirm everything Dr. Monroe said before he died.”
The colonel nodded and leaned his head back. “Fuck.”
“Anyway,” Sal said after a moment of silence had passed. “What’s this about a Pegasus mission heading into the Zoo?”
“They have their people on hold,” Anderson confirmed quietly. “The leader of the team advised me that they are waiting for someone to send confirmation as to when to head in.”
“What could they be waiting for?” Sal asked. “Well, unless they’re waiting for someone—oh.”
Anderson glanced at him. “You don’t think they would risk a full mission into the Zoo with armor they haven’t fully tested simply as a revenge mission against freelancers?”
Sal shrugged. “I honestly believe there are many things our friends at Pegasus would be willing to do to get rid of us.”
“All right.” The colonel drew in a deep breath. “If they send in one of our merc teams—the ones who are usually sent in to deal with people like you—I’ll message you the details. If it’s one of our regular teams, that will mean it’s simply another test run. Either way, this is the last time that I’ll work with these assholes.”
“Fair enough.”
“Be careful out there, Jacobs,” Anderson said.
Sal smiled. It was a fairly pointless exercise to tell the man that wasn’t how he and the Heavy Metal team worked. That said, they would have to deal with a much more dangerous team of Pegasus goons than they’d ever faced, which meant that even if they weren’t careful, they still needed to have a plan in place.
He stepped out of the ATV and his contact started it up and drove away as quickly as he could. They had remained together for longer than expected and needed to be very careful to avoid raising suspicions.
“Did you get all that?” Sal asked into his earpiece.
“I did,” Madigan replied.
“Do you think we can trust him?” Amanda already revved the engine, obviously anxious to leave the open location.
“Trust him? Nah,” Kennedy replied. “But I’d still trust what he says. If Pegasus is waiting for us to head into the Zoo to take us out, they have to have some kind of confidence that their people have a better chance to eliminate us in there than their previous teams did. That means mercs trained in the use of top-of-the-line suits and experienced in the Zoo.”
“We can only hope that they’ll use the new metal in their suits, right?” he asked. “Does it make us terrible people for wishing for that to happen and blow up in their faces?”
“I think that’s fairly standard for people in our line of business,” she replied cheerfully. “Head on back to the compound. We need to make a plan to deal with these bitches.”
Andressa sighed in real irritation when the phone in her pocket buzzed. She’d really hoped that she could have some time to herself while she was on the plane, but damned if technology hadn’t caught up with her. The damn planes needed to have Wi-Fi for some reason. If she hung up, Carlson would know that she was avoiding him, and she didn’t need that kind of headache in her life.
With another heavy sigh, she retrieved the phone, pressed the accept call button, and smiled as the man’s face came appeared on the screen.
“Andressa, what’s this about you heading down to the Zoo?” he demanded and leaned forward in his chair. The lighting behind him showed her that it was nighttime in New York City. “Please tell me this is some crazy joke and that you’re simply on your way to Monaco to blow off some steam and spend that bonus of yours.”
“Nice to see you too, Carlson,” she said urbanely. “And how nice to hear from you. How have you been?”
“Cut the crap,” the CEO snapped. “You’ve already had too many of our people killed out there in pursuit of your idiotic vendetta. Anyone else would have simply folded and left the game in exchange for a pleasant time on a beach with no extradition. What the hell are you doing that will fuck me over even more?”
“Please,” she retaliated, her tone sharp with disdain. “I put too much work into Pegasus to back out of it now, and don’t pretend that Rodrigo’s death wasn’t
your fuckup. Admittedly, I sent some people in, but they were the ones who underestimated what those assholes at Heavy Metal can do. And when I look at your track record, I would comfortably say that’s something of a running theme. I’ll go in with our people—all of whom are highly trained and highly motivated—to rid us of those pricks once and for all. Hell, I’m doing you a fucking favor.”
“If you fuck up, Andressa,” Carlson said and his voice lowered venomously, “not only will you have exposed your position at your own company, you will have left Pegasus open to reprisals that I can’t afford.”
“Please, Carlson, have a little faith.” She sipped a glass of champagne and avoided the urge to roll her eyes. “There’s nothing in the Zoo that can take our armor out. It should be more than enough to handle them.”
“I only hope that you aren’t the one doing the underestimating this time, Andressa,” he responded and cut the line abruptly.
Yes, this was something that needed to be done, and since outsiders had tried and failed repeatedly, it meant that if she wanted something done, she would have to do it herself.
That said, she would have been lying if she said that there wasn’t any kind of personal revenge on her mind about this.
“The father’s metal will kill the daughter, not save her,” Andressa said to herself, happy that the topic of her missing laptop hadn’t been raised. “How fucking delicious is that?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sal shifted off Courtney and his muscles burned and ached as he lay down beside her. He took a moment to look at the ceiling and catch his breath. The truth was that he didn’t mind these marathon sessions. The need to push himself to the limit was a part of the new him that he had slowly accepted, and that was something he needed to bring to every side of life.
Courtney, for her own part, had a hard time breathing as well. Her heavy breasts rose and fell as she draped her arm over Sal and rested her head on her chest.
“Fuuuuck,” she whispered before she pressed her lips to his nipple for a moment and wiggled so she could look at him. “I thought I could easily get to ten again but hot damn, man. Has Madigan worked you overtime lately?”
He shrugged. “Well, a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, does he?” In truth, he still wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle the whole crazy situation. Both women knew that he was sleeping with the other and seemed to have reached an understanding, which raised the question of what he was supposed to do about it. He didn’t want it to seem like he bragged too much, but at the same time, he didn’t want to create the impression that he was hiding anything.
The conflict immediately vanished when she slid herself on top of him. “I have to say, though, that using my mouth feels like cheating.”
“There’s no cheating in this game, lovely,” he responded said with a grin. He used his strength to pull her thighs down so that she straddled him and would feel him hardening again. “And there’s no time like the present for getting back in shape, right?”
“Oh, my God,” she said softly, unable to stop herself from grinding gently against him. “I’ve fucking missed you, Salinger Jacobs.”
“Likewise, Dr. Courtney Monroe.” He flipped her quickly onto her back.
Madigan leaned back in her seat. This was her little corner of heaven, one she had set up for herself by hauling one of the couches that had been in storage all the way to the roof of the main building of the compound. That had been the hard work, and it took little additional effort to include a couple of creature comforts that made it almost a living room away from the living room. A little tent erected over the area ensured that there wasn’t too much sun damage, but damned if it wasn’t worth it to open it wide and watch the sun rise over the green of the Zoo in the distance.
She turned when the door opened and someone joined her out on the roof. Her smile slid into a grin as Courtney evidenced a definite tendency toward a bow-legged walk.
“Oh, shut up,” the woman muttered when she caught the mocking look on her friend’s face. “I brought coffee.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Madigan replied, but the grin remained as the other woman dropped beside her on the couch and handed her one of the steaming mugs. “I don’t really have to, though, do I? We could hear you scream all the way from the server room.”
“Shit. It’s…uh, been a while, is all. I needed to release. You didn’t happen to hear Sal too, did you?”
“No, Sal is annoyingly quiet in the sack. He more than makes up for it in other ways, though.”
“Oh, absolutely.” It was such a strange situation—one she would never have believed was possible. She knew that with them both involved in a relationship with Sal, things should be far more rocky and uncomfortable, so she was thankful that they were still on speaking terms and even friends. He was really important to her, but that didn’t alter the fact that she really wanted a girlfriend to discuss this stuff with, and Madigan was as close as she had. Well, maybe Allen too, but that was different. He was an employee.
“It’s really fucking beautiful out here,” Courtney said to cut into the tension that had crept up in the silence.
“You’re damn right. It’s times like these that I wonder how I could ever consider leaving this place. I mean, it totally has it all. Money, decent food, adrenaline, and gorgeous views.”
“I know what you mean. Research is great, and the house my dad left is beautiful and comfortable to live in. Still, I find myself craving a situation where there’s sand up my crack and I miss the screech of animal monsters. But yeah, my dad left me a mess to clean up, and if I’m not there to pick up the pieces, everything goes to shit. Worse, that only helps Pegasus.”
Madigan smirked and took another sip of her coffee. “Even when our parents are gone, they still leave chores for us to do, right?”
“Right.” Courtney laughed. “But let’s not talk about that. Let’s enjoy this beautiful morning, acceptable coffee, and each other’s company.”
Her companion turned to look at her. “I think I can do that.”
Chapter Thirty
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go in there with you?” Allen asked and a small frown betrayed his anxiety. “I mean, I’m sure you could find some use for a personal assistant out there in the Zoo, right? It’s not like one more person wouldn’t be some kind of help.”
Courtney smiled, leaned in, and stood on her tiptoes to press a light kiss to his cheek. “Sorry, Allen, we can’t risk it. We need to be as light and loose as we can, and between the four of us—Madigan, Amanda, Sal, and me—I think that’s already enough. Any more, and we’ll attract all the wrong kinds of attention. But the fact that you can stay here and keep an eye on the compound while we’re gone and while Anja tries to decrypt the laptop is awesome. Thank you so much.”
Allen grinned. “If anything, I need to thank you for bringing me here. I…well, now I understand where the steel in you comes from.”
“You might say that it’s where the…uh, Heavy Metal in her comes from,” Sal said with a grin. Allen chuckled but she groaned softly and rolled her eyes.
“Fuck, you’re such a geek,” Amanda said in full agreement with the eye roll. “Okay, it seems the news has already spread. Pegasus knows that we’re heading into the Zoo and Anderson says that their troops are standing by. He says there are almost thirty of them. All armed with the best armor Pegasus has to offer and all the best assholes that the worst places in the world can dredge up.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Sal grinned wickedly. “It looks like we have our hands full on this trip.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Madigan said as the four of them mounted up in one of the heaviest and best-armored Hammerheads that Amanda had worked her magic on. She still didn’t let anyone else drive the vehicles, though. “This is the first time that we’ll go into the Zoo with the express intention to kill people—humans—with no kind of profit. We simply lure the motherfuckers into a trap, yes?”
Sal
nodded. “That sounds about right.”
Amanda eased the vehicle ponderously out of the compound and a moment of silence passed as the reality sunk into everyone’s heads. Courtney wore a light yet agile hybrid suit like Sal’s, while Amanda took a heavier approach and used a suit of armor intended for gunners similar to Kennedy’s. She’d claimed it from one of the Pegasus gunners they’d taken earlier, but she’d made more than a few modifications. Sal could tell that she felt excited to try it out in the field. This was also the first time she’d had the chance to go into the Zoo since she’d broken her leg.
“Good.” Madigan drew a deep breath. “So long as everyone’s clear on what we will do in there. There’s no time for guilty consciences while we’re in the thick of it.”
Again, he felt like he should feel something about this. Guilt over killing humans outright. Fear over having to stage it in the Zoo. Nothing lurked beneath the calm. He looked at his hands that usually shook with adrenaline by now, but which remained still and motionless—dead still and calm as a Spanish afternoon.
Was he too used to this shit?
Andressa grimaced at the suit she wore. She’d encountered a fair number of questioning glances when she first joined the team that would head into the Zoo and she’d prepared herself for what she thought would be the inevitable protests. Instead, from the way the men remained silent and went about their preparations, she deduced that they were used to the exotic demands of their employers. She had taken the time to read each of their files and so was well aware of the fact that her insistence that she be on the team was, in point of fact, tame compared to some of the other ridiculous demands that they’d had to deal with.