28. Dax #3
“You’re as smart as they say you are,” Agent Casper commented, facing forward. “We have about an hour’s drive to get where we’re going so get comfortable.”
Yeah, like that was going to happen.
We drove out of the city and into farm county.
There were so many historical markers on the highway pointing out this or that attraction—so many plantations, farms, and homes of important dead people to go visit.
It seems I’d have to come back to D.C. another time to do some sightseeing because I didn’t think that was going to happen now.
Then again, depending on how this meeting went, I might never want to return.
The SUV turned off the highway and headed down a two-lane rural road with large, open grassy pastures.
Some had horses while others seemed to be empty.
When I couldn’t remember the last farmhouse we passed, they turned down a gravel drive.
The house was set way back, but we didn’t head there. Instead, we parked in front of a barn.
“Seriously? This is straight out of every spy TV show or movie with a secret facility under a barn. Could you be more cliché?” I demanded as I hopped out of the SUV.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone moving in on me.
When they got close enough to strike, I ducked, grabbed the person’s arm, and tossed them over my hip.
Unlike most people, he clung to me and took me down with him so we were grappling on the ground.
Cursing myself for not having a weapon, I started to feel around on the person to see if they did.
Nothing, shit. Using some of the new moves that Void taught me, I managed to flip the asshole over and slam my elbow into his face.
I heard the sound of his nose breaking, but I didn’t see the fist that was coming at me.
He clipped on my jaw, snapping my head to the right, making me groan.
Now I was fucking pissed. Rising, I grabbed my wrist and drove my elbow down right over his heart.
The blow knocked the air out of him, so I took the stunned moment and throat punched him, making it even harder to catch his breath, following it up with a blow right to his eye, then another and another.
“Dax,” Void bellowed, and his thick arms wrapped around me, hauling me off the bastard. “Enough, little demon, we can’t let you kill him.”
“The fucker came out of nowhere, and you want me to just let him live?” I snarled.
It would seem that the darkness I’d kept locked down tight for so long wasn’t as easy to control anymore. Guess letting it out of its cage wasn’t the best idea. Now I had to learn to manage it differently.
“Holy shit, she’s fucking fast,” someone said, sounding impressed.
Whipping my head around, I found a man dressed in an all-black tactical uniform. “Did you send him after me?”
His green eyes met mine, and he smirked. “Just wanted to confirm you were as badass as everyone said you were.”
“You realize if Void hadn’t stopped me, I’d have killed him,” I pointed out.
This had the man looking slightly guilty. “Okay, so my test had a few flaws, but that’s why you’re here to help us. If we’re gonna take down Marco Tesoro, then we need to get on his level. That’s where you come in.”
“The fuck?” Eagle swore, squaring up to the mysterious man.
“What? It’s not like you guys weren’t going to do it on your own, except now you’ll have our help,” he offered with a shrug. “Names Corbin, by the way. I’m the leader of a special ops team whose sole purpose is to take Marco down, aka Operation Desert Lion.”
“Nope,” I said, wiggling out of Void’s hold. “Not gonna happen. You and your team can fuck off and leave the job for people who know how to deal with sort of thing. Right now, all I’m getting from you is some gym bro, frat boy who wants to play secret agent.”
“Yeah, sorry, Dax, but that isn’t gonna happen,” Corbin commented before he let out a shrill whistle, and thirty men popped out of various places with their guns raised and pointed at us.
“Come on,” I screamed, stomping my foot. “Why me? Why does this shit always happen to me? Fuck, I could make a fortune if I sold my story to a screenwriter because you can’t make this shit up.”
Corbin walked up to his guy who I’d wiped the ground with and motioned for one of the others to grab him. “Hedrek, take him to the doc and have him checked out. As for the rest of us, why don’t we head to the house, and I can explain what’s going on? I’ll even make as much coffee as it takes.”
Crossing my arms, I looked at the guys, and they looked at me. None of us had an idea of how to get the fuck out of this mess other than to do as he asked.
“I suppose we should hear them out. They’ve gone to quite the trouble to make this happen,” Cam reasoned.
Sprocket nodded in agreement. “Who knows, maybe they have a better plan than we do, and it will save us from all the work we’d have to do.”
Not at all happy about it, I groaned and gestured for Corbin to lead the way. “I’m gonna need coffee before I’ll listen to anything you have to say. It’s been one hell of a morning.”