“Here it is,” Dan said, pulling the small envelope from under the bench. They had trained hard and were two months in, and Tasha was starting to put it all together. They were picking pockets and picking up dead drops to get their information. Today, they were outside the base exchange, or BX for short, the military version of Wal-Mart, and they had to retrieve the address for their ‘hostage’ without anyone seeing them. Not an easy task considering the near constant flow of shoppers in and out of the store.

He and Thom turned away, walking slowly to the parking lot as if they didn’t have a care in the world. That was the hardest thing they had to learn, to not act like they were on some sort of mission and to pretend nothing was happening. They hopped into the staff car as Rich pulled to a stop at the curb. As he pulled away, Dan ripped open the small envelope and extracted the card inside. 3206 Nebraska Circle. He read the address to Rich.

Tasha was watching, he was sure of it, but she was like a ghost. No one saw her unless she wanted to be seen. He grimaced. He’d really fucked up with her. She was still as professional as ever, but she had cooled noticeably toward him. Even the others had noticed something was up between them. When they asked what happened he brushed it off, and they hadn’t pried. They were professionals. So long as it wasn’t affecting the goal, they would let him keep his counsel.

They rolled to a stop well down the block on Nebraska. “Thom and I go in. Derrick, you’re on over watch. Rich, you be ready to move,” Dan instructed. Tasha had, for the first time, allowed them to use radios and had issued them tiny buds they could put in their ears. They plugged in their radios. “Ready? Mic check.”

“Check.”

“Check.”

“Check,” each man repeated in turn.

Dan, Thom, and Derrick opened their doors and stepped out into the heat. They were going in totally blind. They had no idea what waited for them, and it wasn’t a good feeling. They were in an older part of the base. The houses were empty and awaiting renovation, so they didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing them playing spy and calling the MPs.

Derrick went one way, Dan and Thom the other. They strolled down the sidewalk, chatting about nothing. More of the fieldcraft Tasha had taught them. Only soldiers moved together without talking.

“How’s your stomach?” Dan asked. It didn’t matter what they talked about, so long as they talked.

“Okay,” Thom replied.

“You sure?”

“Okay, no, not really. Most days it’s fine, like today, but other days it hurts like a motherfucker. When it hurts, I get the shits, then I feel better. I’m not used to eating real meals in an air-conditioned mess hall. That’s probably all it is. Air Force food sucks.”

“Yeah. It can’t compare to the MREs you ground pounders are used to eating.”

Thom laughed. The quality of MREs—Meals Ready to Eat—were a joke. “Maybe it’s the water. I don’t know.”

“Maybe you should get checked out.”

“I’ll be fine. I first thought I pulled a muscle or something. That may be all it is.”

Dan nodded. “Try laying off the desserts.”

Thom snickered. “You got it, Hoss.”

They walked past the address, on the opposite side of the street, to scope out the area for trouble but saw nothing. “Over watch in place?” Dan asked.

“Back is covered,” Derrick responded.

“You ready to do this?”

“I was born ready,” Thom replied.

The two men turned and crossed the road before starting back. They walked up to the house as if they owned the place. According to Tasha, nothing screamed ‘look at me’ like hesitation and sneaking around. While Dan watched for trouble, Thom picked the lock. He could do it, but Thom was faster than all of them, save Tasha. Another skill they’d picked up from her.

Dan went in nice and quiet. He pointed at his eyes with two fingers then at the door as he moved slowly through the house. Thom nodded and stepped to the side of the door and took a position to watch where he could see both the front and kitchen doors, and watch through the front windows.

Dan crept into a bedroom. A woman stood in the empty room in full hand-to-hand combat training pads. She smiled and keyed a radio. “Go,” was all she said before tossing it away. Her smile widened. “Sergeant Angela Starm. You must be the asshole sent to kidnap me. I’m not supposed to let you take me out of this room, by whatever means necessary.”

“Fuck,” Dan muttered. This was the first time the hostage was hostile. Tasha was still up to her tricks.

“Bandits!” Rich called loudly.

“Two bandits moving in at the front,” Derrick hissed in his ear.

“I see them!” Thom responded. “Rich. Get ready to move. Rich! Fuck. Derrick, Rich is down. I’ve got this. Find us a ride. Stop fucking around, Dan. We need to move.”

“Busy.”

“On it,” Derrick replied.

Angela began to circle in a crouch. “Ready to get some?” she taunted, flicking her fingers at him to draw him in.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I teach close quarters combat.” She began to move toward him, and he back-pedaled. She lunged in and he grabbed her wrist, twisting it to the side as he pivoted. She moved with him and brought her knee up to slam into his stomach. He grunted in pain as he rolled his hip and threw his opponent to the ground. He tried to put her into an arm-bar, but she was slippery as an eel and squirmed out of his grip before he could lock her down.

He tried to roll to his feet and pin her again before she could escape his grip, but she used his grip against him and reversed his hold.

“Move your ass, Dan,” Thom hissed.

He could only grunt in answer as he strained to power out of her grip while she tried to tear his arm off. He curled up, wrapped a knee around her throat, and arched his back as he used the strength of his legs to wrench her off him. They scrambled for their feet, but she was quicker than him and drove into him, driving him hard into a wall. He wrapped her up, trying to use his superior strength, but she fell back, pulling him down with her. She applied a hold, forcing his arm out and making it useless as she wrapped him up with her legs. He began driving with his legs, trying to power out of her hold, but she was attached to him like a limpet. The hold was very sensual, with his head buried in her chest and his cock pressed against her pussy, but he didn’t think about it, all his focus on breaking out of her pin.

She screamed in effort as she tried to hold him, but he kept driving with his leg, grunting and gasping as he thrust at her. He felt her grip slip, then slip a little more, and he exploded free. He was panting hard and his legs felt like rubber bands, but he rolled away from Angela and bound to his feet. She wasn’t quite as fast getting up this time, and she was panting as hard as he was.

“You’re strong as shit,” she panted as they gathered their strength for another attack.

He smiled. “Ready to get some?”

“You take me down, I might give it up willingly.”

He charged in. She blocked his feint, realized her mistake, and tried to recover, but he had her, drawing her in as he slid past, pulling her arm around and pivoting to apply pressure to her shoulder. She turned with him and fired a vicious kick at his leg. He grunted in pain as the blow connected and he stumbled. She nearly slipped his hold again, but he hauled her back and body-slammed her to the floor. She tried to scramble away, but he threw himself on her and wrapped her up in the same hold she’d used on him only moments before.

Sergeant Starm began to drive with her legs as he had, trying to break his hold. She was strong as hell but not strong enough. She screamed again as she strained, then relaxed and tapped him on the shoulder in surrender. He immediately released her.

“Fuck,” she gasped.

“Come on,” he snarled as he took her hand and hauled her to her feet.

“What the fuck were you two doing in there?” Rich asked.

There were two MPs standing to the side with paint splatters on their helmets.

“Negotiating,” Dan replied as he paused at the door.

“Derrick. You got us a ride?” Thom asked.

“Say the word.”

“We’re ready.”

Moments later, a Hummer skidded to a stop at the door. Dan shoved Angela out first and into the Humvee, his hand on her ass as he pushed her into the vehicle. Rich followed a moment later and scrambled over them to the front seat. As they bounced over the curb, a glob of white paint splattered off the windshield, another off the side glass, then they were clear.

“You okay?” Dan asked their prisoner.

She grinned back at him. “Fine. My shoulder will hurt like hell in the morning. How’s your leg?”

He chuckled. “It’s going to hurt like hell in the morning,” he said, deliberately parroting her words back to her. “You’re damned good at your job.”

“Thanks. I would have had you, but you’re so damned strong, and covered in sweat like you were, I couldn’t hold you.”

“Sorry to disappoint.”

Her smile widened. “It was my pleasure.”

“Jesus Christ,” Derrick muttered. “Get a room, you two,” he added, glancing back and smiling broadly so she would know he was kidding.

Everyone was still smiling when the four stepped out of the Hummer. Rich was already there, standing beside Tasha.

“What happened to you?” Derrick asked as they approached.

“Damned ambush. You’d just gone in the house when a Humvee showed up with four guys.” He tugged at his white-splattered shirt. “I never had a chance. Sorry, guys.”

“Good idea to leave someone for an escape, but much of the time it’s better to keep your team together so you don’t leave a man hanging out. You can always return to the car or find another, as Derrick did.” She nodded at Derrick. “Good job on finding the ride so fast and not wasting any time on taking it.” She then looked at Thom. “Nice. I like how you let them come into the house before you took them out. You couldn’t see a thing from the street.” She smiled at them. “Only one casualty and an otherwise clean extraction. Great job. I was watching you at the BX. Even though I knew where and what to watch for, I didn’t see a thing. Score another win.”

She turned her attention to Dan. “How’d you like my little surprise?”

“You might have warned us. If I knew she would call in the cavalry, I would have handled it differently.”

“You never know. Someone can say they want to be extracted, then change their mind. The important thing is, you got her out.” She looked at Angela. “You didn’t hold back, did you?”

“No. You said to stop him if I could. I tried like hell.”

“And I’ll have the bruises to prove it.”

Angela laughed. “Ready to go another round?”

Derrick rolled his eyes. “Again?”

“What?” Rich asked when Thom started laughing.

“I thought they were going to start fucking right there in the Hummer,” Derrick said and gave Angela a playful push on the shoulder.

“You should have heard them in the bedroom. I couldn’t tell if they were fucking or fighting, the way they were screaming, grunting, and banging around in the room,” Thom added with a grin, piling it on.

“You two shut up!” Angela snarled, but she was smiling. “He was a handful.”

“Oh, yeah, I hear that’s what all the ladies say,” Derrick said, rubbing it in good.

“Let me buy you a beer?” Angela purred, looking at Dan in a way that made his cock twitch. “Or, I’ve got some Chinaco Reposado at home if you like tequila.”

He thought about taking her up on her offer. After she had shed her training pads, Sergeant Angela Starm was a damned attractive woman. He wanted to take her up on her offer. He wanted to go to her house, pour that tequila over her naked body, and lick it all off, but Gretchen came to mind again, and he felt the desire slip away.

He smiled at her. “Thank you. Maybe some other time.”

He felt sick at the disappointment in her eyes, the same disappointment he’d seen in Tasha’s eyes. What the fuck is wrong with me? he snarled to himself, but he knew. He knew all too well.

Her smile flickered. “Sure. Some other time.”

“Hey, I missed all the fun. How about I buy you a beer and you tell me all about it?” Rich offered.

Angela turned to Rich and smiled. “Okay. You’ve got a deal.”

Dan glanced at Tasha. She was looking at him strangely.

“Okay, I think we’re done for the day. Thank you, Sergeant, for helping us out,” Tasha said.

She glanced at Dan. “My pleasure.”