6. Merlin
6
MERLIN
“Merlin, we’ve got movement starboard side. Armed with what appears to be an assault rifle.”
“Copy that, Hot Sauce.”
“You gotta be kidding me. You seeing this, Phantom?”
A quiet snort of laughter fills my ear. “Yeah, I see him. Pretty ambitious if you ask me.”
“Merlin, this mofo’s taking a leak over the railing like he’s a damn sprinkler. What the hell, dude?”
The team cracks up at Hot Sauce’s comments. I swear people wouldn’t believe half the shit we see on these missions. This one being mild compared to some.
“What you reckon, Phantom? Think he’ll hit the water below?”
“With that dinky toy? Ima say that’s a negative there, man.”
More laughter.
“Well, when Water Boy’s finished, let’s help him out with a nap, shall we? Spy anymore movement?” I reply.
“That’s a negative – wait, hold up. We’ve got another tango, currently engaging with Water Boy. Seems to be a bit of a heated exchange,” Phantom replies.
“Let’s take ?em out of play and get moving then. We’ve got shit to do and not all night to do it.”
“Roger that.”
A couple of minutes pass, and then, “Tangoes are down. Repeat, tangoes are down.”
We make our way below deck and find an out-of-the-way spot for Ace to set up his geek-gear. He hands out our thermal-imaging goggles, and we once again break off in teams of two for recon.
“Cougar and Hot Sauce, starboard bow. Kansas, Blade, fore port. Phantom, you’re with me. Let’s move.”
At the door, we break off into our separate teams and head out. A little ways down the hall we come upon what looks to possibly be a restroom, and I lower my imaging goggles. Picking up one heat signature, I indicate for Phantom to cover me as I go in. Bending at the waist, I crouch over to make myself a smaller target if whoever’s inside is armed and slowly push the door open.
Going to a knee, I hold and cover for Phantom as he follows me in. The two of us look around and find the room empty, all the stall doors open. Looking around, I can’t see anywhere for someone to hide. So we search the room a second time and still come up empty.
I slide my goggles back into place to better pinpoint the thermal image I saw out in the hall.
Scanning the room, I spot the image over near the windows and advance toward the bank of glass, the image bright. It moves. Not big, so either a small man, a woman, or an older child. Sliding them back up so I can see clearly, I find nothing more than a sofa and a huge-ass mirror. Since there’s no hiding places in the room, I’m guessing there’s some kind of space behind the mirror then. A closet perhaps.
I gesture to Phantom, and he falls in behind me. Once again dropping to a knee, I run my hand along the edge of the mirror, pulling gently. It doesn’t budge. Moving over to the other side, I repeat the procedure and am rewarded with a soft click. Raising my weapon, I remain as I am so as not to get my head blown off, and pull the door toward me ever so slowly.
As the door finally swings open fully, I’m rooted to the spot. Well shit .
The most beautiful smoky eyes, neither fully blue nor gray but rather an interesting mix of the two, stare back at me. Terror momentarily clouds them. But I see the exact moment terror turns to confusion, and then disbelief.
I knew she was one of the passengers aboard the Mystique, but nothing, nothing , prepared me for looking into those bottomless pools that you could drown in. Leila Asherton, in the flesh.
“Oh, hell no. You have got to be fucking with me. Why is God punishing me like this?” Leila’s plump lips flatten in displeasure. “First, these freaking psychopaths pick this ship to terrorize, and then they send you to rescue us? God sure has a sick sense of humor.”
“Well, hello to you too.”
“Bite me, asshat.” Yeah, to say Leila isn’t pleased to see me would be a gross understatement. Surprised, pissed off, seriously unhappy, but not pleased.
“I’m guessing she’s not happy to see the cavalry,” I hear Phantom snort from behind me, then he quips, “I’m also going to guess that, one, the two of you are acquainted, and two, your charms have failed to impress our damsel in distress.”
I lose her eyes for long minutes as she shifts her gaze to look at Phantom, and I swear I see pain in those stunning eyes.
“You I do not recognize, so I can only assume you’re John’s replacement,” she says to him.
Before Phantom can answer Leila, I hear myself growl. “Nobody replaces Mav.”
Leila’s gaze snaps back to mine, and I see her eyebrow quirk. “Not how I meant it, but you don’t get to sit there and growl at me like some wild animal. In fact, you don’t get to talk to me, period. If you have something to say, you can relay it through Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broody over there.”
Yeah, I didn’t think it was going to be smooth sailing, but I’m realizing Leila’s supremely pissed. I guess I can’t blame her, but it certainly doesn’t make my life any easier. Sighing, I stand to my full height, towering over her diminutive figure sitting on the floor of the closet and, without thinking, offer my hand to help her up.
At first, it looks like she’s going to refuse, but then she puts her small hand in mine. The moment her soft skin touches me, my synapses fire like I’ve been tasered.
Her head whips up, and her startled gaze meets mine. Yeah, I’m guessing she felt it too. Chemistry never was our problem. We never could keep our hands off each other when we were together. Some things don’t change, it seems.
When she’s standing, Leila stretches. Working the kinks out from being cramped in that small space, I assume. She bends over at the waist, and I about swallow my tongue. She’s tiny – barely five-two — but there is no lack of curves on her. She’s all woman.
Call me a dog, but I’ve always been an ass man. And damn, does Leila have a lush ass. I hear Phantom’s sharp inhale, and my entire body locks. Mine , my brain snarls, and I have to bite my lip to prevent the word from slipping out.
I look over at him to find his hot gaze locked on those fine globes and bite back another growl. I clear my throat instead, drawing his attention away from Leila and onto me. I give him a death stare. He gives me a grin. Asshole . Straightening, she looks at Phantom and then me and blushes when she realizes what just happened.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here and to safety,” I say instead.
For a moment it looks like Leila’s going to refuse, but then she simply nods.
“Phantom, you lead, and we’ll sandwich Leila between us.”
I see his body jerk, as if I’ve just jabbed him with a live wire. His mouth forms an “O”, and his eyes shift to Leila. Our story is no secret amongst the team. Everyone other than Phantom lived it, but he’s heard about The One I let slip through my fingers.
He’s only been part of the team for the past five years. He was the poor shmuck who had to fight to earn his place when he joined the team in John “Maverick” Henderson’s place after we lost him on a mission that went south so fast, we never saw it coming. So he knows who Leila is to me, but I have no intention of getting into any discussions on the topic. Especially not in a restroom on a ship that’s under siege. His startled gaze comes back to mine.
“Damn, dude. She’s gorgeous. Nobody told me she was so beautiful. And you ...”
His words die as I pull my lips back in a snarl, and it takes a supreme effort not to punch the man. Biting back that one word, “Mine” is difficult. “If you want to live long enough to collect pension, I’m going to strongly suggest you leave it right there,” I say instead.
Two equally surprised expressions meet my irate gaze. Fuck. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, reaching for my usual equilibrium. Phantom recovers quickly, letting out an amused chuckle.
“Yeah, keep laughing it up, jackass. You and I can take it outside when we get off this floating tub.”
This time he flat out laughs in my face. Flipping him the bird, I turn back to little Miss Sunshine. Although, to be fair, she has every right to be mad at me. Now’s just not the time to be getting into personal issues. We’ve got hostages to save.
“Leila, I know I’m the last person you want to see –”
“Always said you were quick on the uptake.”
“But now’s not the time for us to get into this.”
“Merlin, we found the party,” I hear Blade murmur in my earpiece.
“Copy that. What we looking at?”
“From our vantage point, eight armed, looks to be approximately two hundred and fifty hostages, and seems we’ve got casualties. At least two bodies we can see, but our view is limited.”
“Entry points?”
“Stand by.”
A couple minutes pass before Blade reports back.
“Copy. Cougar, Hot Sauce, sitrep.”
“Got a few more hidey-holes to cover and then make our way back, sir.”
“We’re about to head back to the rendezvous point. We can talk strategy there. Ace, you copy?”
“On our way. Meet you back there, Chief,” Blade replies.
“Loud and clear, Merlin,” I hear Ace reply.
“Get there as soon as,” Cougar answers.
“Have they found the others yet? Are they okay?”
“Yeah, they’ve found a group of passengers in the dining room. Don’t have full details on the situation yet.”
“So, what’s the plan to get off this godforsaken boat alive and preferably in one piece?
“We’ll figure that out back at the command point once the team gets back and we can compile the data.”
Leila nods but doesn’t say anything more. Just worries at her bottom lip. She always did when something weighed on her. My girl never was one to voice her concerns or fears. Always buried it behind a stoic fa?ade while mauling that poor bottom lip.
Hold up there, tiger. Not your girl anymore. You fucked that up a long time ago, so you don’t get to call her that now.
“What’s on your mind, sweetness?” The words are out before I can stop myself.
I watch tears well in her eyes before she quickly looks away. “Please, Kyle. Don’t. Don’t call me that,” she whispers.
I feel like such a heel for making her cry. It slays me. But hearing her ask me not to call her by the nickname I gave her when we were together? That shit slices me open as effectively as if she’d slashed me with a blade.
“Let’s move out,” is all I say through gritted teeth, as I catch Phantom looking at Leila.
A single nod and Phantom takes up point, moving to the door into the hallway. With a quick glance over his shoulder to ensure Leila’s behind him, he slips his goggles in place to check for any heat signatures beyond the door.
Obviously satisfied with what he finds, he reaches out and eases the door open and slips into the hall. It’s clear she’s reluctant to follow, but Leila does so anyway. Heading back the way we came, we cautiously make our way down the hall back to the small room where Ace is set up.