Arriving at the modest dock, she found it was almost a ghost town. The security guard waved her through and she drove back to her container. Since it had been over a year since she’d visited the unit, she had to work the key for a while to get it to open. She had to yank on the huge doors to break through the corrosion. The hinges creaked, reminding her of an old haunted house.

Ensconcing herself inside, she emptied the spare can of fuel into the tiny silent generator and hit the lights. Seeing the interior slide into view brought tears to her eyes. She could almost see Margaret enthusiastically bustling around custom-cutting the foam for the specialized crates that kept their munitions operational. Sifting her fingers though a tub of spent casings they’d intended to rebuild drove home to Sarah the hell her sister had been probably been going through.

She quickly pulled the door closed to protect her from the view of any workers who might happen by. Scrubbing her hands over her face, she sat for a brief moment. A horrible thought flew into her mind and nested there. What if Margaret hadn’t been abducted by Dragonfly? Petrov was just the kind of snake Dragonfly would send to deliver their shitty offer for the third time. She could imagine him threatening to force her to accept the offer, not knowing that he was speaking to the wrong woman. Margaret would have gone rather than see something bad happen to Sarah.

Shit, maybe she’d spent a year looking for someone who was never really taken. Then again, if she was free, why not call every now and then? Nothing about this situation made sense. She just needed to hook up with Dragonfly. If worse came to worse, they could always tag team it just like they always used to.

Her chest constricted at the thought of never seeing Johnny again, but there was nothing to be done about that now. This was more important than her own feelings.

Sighing, she started her computer and started a search through the personal file for Dragonfly. Pulling open a huge wall cabinet, the dazzling array of weapons was enough to get her blood pumping. All her old favorite toys were looking like they wanted to come to mama. She pulled out her sniper rifle and began breaking it down and cleaning it a piece at a time. She replaced a couple of parts and then packed it neatly in its custom designed travel case.

Slipping from the civilian world she’d come to love, back into the paramilitary world that she was so very comfortable with, happened with frightening ease. Try as she might, she couldn’t quite figure out what made her so different. She’d had a normal background as a military brat, no strange abduction experiences and her parents were attentive right up to the point of their crash. By that time Sarah and her sister were already out doing their thing.

Maybe some people were just born different. Thinking back to Johnny’s words, she smiled. His reasoning was exactly why she hadn’t taken the gig with Dragonfly. She didn’t mind killing people the US government had identified as hostile while in a warzone. It was duty and therefore nothing to feel guilty about. The fighting had been intense at times and anybody who’d gone through that would probably end up with some residual PTSD. Hell, she still heard the Black Hawks in her sleep some nights. However, sniping targets hadn’t ever gotten under her skin. Still, fighting a war and killing for profit were two different things. No matter how good the money was, she was not going to pop an innocent person.

Her and Johnny were in agreement on that. In fact, they were in agreement on a lot of things. Too bad things couldn’t work out for her to stay with him. It had only been a day, but him walking out had shaken her up like nothing else ever had.

The more she thought about it the more she understood why he’d been upset. He loved the fantasy of them making a child together and the thrill of never knowing if this would be the night it happened. She loved playing that game as well. It was sexy and fun to think of carrying his child. Maybe, that’s why talking about it had been so hard. She wanted the fantasy as much as he did. Clearing the air would have spoiled the magic and maybe their lovemaking would have just become sex. Choking up, she finished with the 9mm she’d been cleaning and grabbed another. An unpredictable mission like this might warrant the use of up to a dozen or more weapons. She had a long night ahead of her.

Her mind drifted back to the man who’d completed her tattoo. Johnny’s cousin was all talent and consequently the back tat had come out amazingly detailed, though he insisted it needed more detail. She could still feel little sparks of pain when her shirt rubbed against it. Sighing, she tried to figure out what she was actually punishing herself for at the moment. Was it for not finding Margaret, screwing it up with Gino or being stupid enough to trust him with the only information that could lead her Margaret?

She jumped when the doors to came flying open. Johnny walked in with his friends on either side, each carrying crowbars.

She just blinked at them.

Well, isn’t this a turn of events.

“You could have knocked instead of fucking my unit up.”

“Shit Doll, If I had known it was all high tech in here I would have been more careful.”

“What do you want Johnny? I thought you were all done with my lying ass.”

“I don’t like it when you quote the shit I mutter under my breath when I’m angry. Those are my private thoughts.”

Rolling her eyes, she continued to work on the handgun, expertly breaking it down piece by piece. Using her specially designed cleaning kit, it was clean as a whistle in no time. “If they’re your private thoughts, zip your lips and no one will know them.”

“I honestly thought you’d be happy to see me.”

Not looking up from her next pistol, she asked blandly; “Why would you think that? Last I heard, you were done with me for good.”

He just shrugged. “This ain’t over ‘til I say it’s over. Got that, Doll?”

“You really are a Neanderthal. You know that, don’t you?”

“You’re not back on that shit again are you?”

Gino’s angry voice broke into their argument. “Look are we planning a raid or what, cause I got a warm bed and my woman at home waitin’ on me.”

Sarah smiled at him.

“No, now amscray. Tell Tiffany I said hello and enjoy your night.”

Enzo stepped forward and slammed his crowbar onto the table. “We ain’t goin’ anywhere ‘til we rescue this sister of yours.”