She drove through them, holding her hands against her head for protection, trying to reach the door. The African grabbed her around the waist and threw her onto the bed. The other two dove on top of her. She shrieked the code word over and over, and for the first time felt genuine fear.

Two things happened that restored her courage. One, the man on top of her explosively shit his pants. And two, she heard her name shouted.

From her personal wrecking machine.

9

I paced in a tight circle, waiting on either Jennifer to call or Retro to tell me she was coming back out. Neither happened.

Knuckles said, “Easy, slayer. No news is good news.”

“I know. I know. But this is killing me.”

Retro came on the earpiece. “Security chief just came running out holding his stomach.”

Knuckles smiled. “See. Told you. Let her go.”

The words brought great relief. Somehow Jennifer had managed to separate the two, and was driving on with the mission.

I paced about for another five minutes, then heard Retro say, “One of the three remaining went to check on the security chief. The other two are getting antsy. Standing up and pacing. Staring at the door. They don’t have the courage to go in yet, but it’s building.”

I looked at Knuckles and said, “Get ready. Which one do you want?”

“I’ll take the Arab.”

Brett said, “I’ll take the white boy. Kick some cracker ass.”

I said, “Okay. This goes bad and I’ll jump in to help either one of you that’s losing.”

Retro said, “He just came back out. He’s shouting in Arabic. They’re moving to the door.”

Knuckles understood the same thing I did. He said, “It just went bad.”

I flicked my eyes to the men outside and said, “Get to it.”

Brett and Knuckles started walking toward them, me falling in behind. They glanced our way and Knuckles said, “Hey, we got a question about the timeline here. We got some boozing to do. How long does your boss take?”

The Caucasian smiled and said, “He’s quick. Trust me. Even with the Viagra, he can’t last more than thirty minutes. Your girl will be making easy money.”

Through the earpiece, Retro said, “They’re in. . . . Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo. She’s calling buffalo.”

I said, “Execute.” And unleashed a little bit of hell.

Brett darted inside the reach of his target and drove his knee into the man’s groin before he could react. The European doubled over and Brett grabbed his hair and redirected his knee to the man’s face. He collapsed.

Knuckles’ man saw the movement and had a split second more time to react. His brain realized a threat, but his reaction time was nowhere near what was necessary. Knuckles came in full bore, forgoing any submission holds for total destruction.

The man snarled and snapped out with a jab. Way too late to do any good. Knuckles blocked the ineffectual blow and slammed his fists forward like a pile driver, one, two, three, four, snapping the target’s head back so hard it hit the wall and left a dent. I saw him slide to the floor, his face a bloody mess.

Doesn’t have the callsign Knuckles for nothing.

I moved to the door and said, “Get their weapons. Give me an up. Hurry.”

I held the keycard from Retro, ready to swipe. They ripped through the clothing and pulled out two SIG 226 pistols. They nodded and I said, “No killing unless necessary. We can still get out clean.”

I swiped the card and nothing happened. I swiped again. Nothing.

Retro said, “She’s screaming. Get your ass in there. She’s in trouble.”

I said, “You fuck! The card isn’t working.”

Brett went back to a body and started ripping through pockets. I felt the fear grow, my imagination running wild. He found a card and tossed it to me. I swiped, and the door light went green. We flowed in.

I entered on the run and saw the size of the room, a bedroom on the right. I said, “Brett, hit the bathroom with the security chief. Knuckles on me.”

We ran to the back bedroom, exploding in and seeing Jennifer on the bed wearing nothing but a black lace bra and panties, three men on top of her.

I lost my mind.

I reached the first man before he realized I was there. I snatched him by the collar and the groin, hoisted him in the air over my head with rage alone, and threw him directly into the mirror on the wall, shattering it. I turned to the next man and saw Knuckles applying a submission hold, the man screaming in pain, bent over with his arm in the air, his wrist locked up. I took a hop, gaining speed, and kicked him in the face as violently as I could. His head snapped back, a spray of blood blooming.

Knuckles dropped him, looking at me in shock. The mirror man was rolling around on the floor, and I returned to him. Giving out a little rage.

He held his hands up, woozy from the impact with the wall, and I whipped my leg, catching him just behind the ear and laying him out. I whirled to the final man and saw that Jennifer had wriggled out and was now standing on the side of the bed, breathing heavily.

The man rolled onto the floor, holding his stomach, groaning. Then I noticed the odor. The man farted, his bowels letting loose a wet sound. Jennifer said, “He’s no threat.”

Knuckles said, “What the hell was that? Why didn’t you just shoot my guy? Easier than beating him to death.”

I said, “Hey, like you said, she’s a teammate. You fuck with my team, you get my heat.”

He shook his head and said, “Uh-huh. Yeah. Right.”

I turned to Jennifer. “You okay?”

Brett entered the room, weapon at the ready. He nodded at me.

Jennifer said, “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”

Brett sized up the situation and lowered his weapon, saying, “Oh, you’re better than good. All sweaty and wearing lace. Pike’s not going to sleep tonight.”

I snapped my head to him, not believing what had come out of his mouth. He said, “What? Are you blind? Am I wrong?”

Knuckles gingerly picked up her dress and said, “No, you’re definitely not wrong.”

He handed it to her and said, “I’m not touching the zipper. No offense.”

Brett moved to the laptop and said, “I got green. We have it.”

Jennifer wriggled into her dress, using her gloves on the zipper, and I said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

We started to the door, with Jennifer still rummaging around the room. I said, “Jenn, get a move on. What are you doing?”

She looked up at me, in between one body with significant damage and another rolling around on the floor voiding his bowels, the odor almost overpowering.

She said, “I’m not leaving my Jimmy Choos.”

10

Kurt stopped his Oversight Council briefing at Kerry Bostwick’s outburst, not wanting to believe what the director of the CIA had just said.

The room went quiet, and Kurt’s triumphant update on the successful mission in Nairobi crashed against the very data that Pike had obtained. On the screen was a graphic uncut video of the beheading of the CIA source known as BOBCAT, found on the Saudi facilitator’s computer, but that wasn’t what had the room shocked.

President Warren said, “You’re telling me that the man holding the knife is LEOPARD?”

“Yes. I believe it is.”

“But their faces are blurred out. How can you be sure?”

“Before LEOPARD was inserted, he bought a shirt for the rock band AC/DC. It said ‘Back in Black,’ just like the one that man is wearing. He thought it was funny. And LEOPARD had a tribal art tattoo on his forearm. Just like that man.”

Kurt thought, That’s not good.

President Warren said, “So a source who was recruited, trained, and vetted by the CIA was inserted into Syria and never reported. Instead, he ends up beheading the one CIA source that was reporting? BOBCAT?”