Charming Mackenzie (Rebel Renegades #6)

Chapter 1

Barry headed into Dr. Shane’s office. He needed her to fix his arm after he’d tried to do some modifications on his own which had been stupid on his part since he was a soldier, not a mechanic.

But he hadn’t wanted to bother her with making a few tweaks he thought he could do himself.

Only he’d made it worse than better. Now he needed to doc to fix his error and make it the correct way.

She wasn’t going to be happy with him messing with her design, but it couldn’t be helped now.

She always assisted him and his teammates with modifications to their prosthetics, not only for easier function but also for weaponizing.

She was one of the few people in the world who knew what he and his friends did for a living.

To the world, they were just broken soldiers who worked day-to-day jobs.

Dr. Shane had helped with the original prosthetics when he was medically discharged.

She was a renowned prosthesis specialist, and he had come to her to try and get his life back on track when his arm had been destroyed by an IED.

The surgeons back east had been great at keeping him alive, but Dr. Shane had given him a new arm and his new job had given him a new purpose.

All of his friends were medically discharged military service members from all the different branches.

Active duty hadn’t seen a need for them anymore and discharged them.

Barry hadn’t known what he would do with only one arm, but luckily, he hadn’t had to worry about it for long.

Nick Weber, a Colonel in the Army, still saw something in him and gave him a new job.

His job was something out of a spy movie sometimes, but he loved it.

It was daring and dangerous, things he had missed doing when he’d been medically discharged.

With Dr Shane’s help, he’d had modifications made to his prosthetic arm so he could weaponize it and help his friends in battle.

It had been small things at first, but Colonel Weber had given her a contract to assist their outfit, so now she could do many different modifications, not only something on a standard prosthetic.

He could store knives or guns in his prosthetic arm, and no one was the wiser. It couldn’t be scanned through an x-ray machine, and only those who knew how to open the slide could find the weapons within.

Barry didn’t know what he and his teammates would do without her; Dr. Shane was a genius.

But they really owed everything to Colonel Nick Weber.

Nick specialized in technological advancements, and he had always had a soft spot for veterans and tried to keep as many as he could from suicide or ending up homeless.

That was the reason he’d created a special group of veterans to continue to serve their country.

The only catch was that if caught, the government wouldn’t acknowledge any of their involvement, leaving Barry and his team for dead. It was a risk they were all willing to take.

Barry didn’t know if there were other teams around the US like them, but he had never asked. They never saw Nick; they simply received their assignments via Luke, their team lead.

They could get another job if they chose to, since there was no set time when they would get assignments, but between their discharge pay and what Nick paid them, none had to seek other employment.

Also, there wasn’t anything else any of them would rather do than still be able to service their country.

“Hey, Doc,” Barry greeted Dr. Shane and stopped in his tracks when he noticed she didn’t look up at his entrance.

She sat at her desk staring at a piece of paper in her hands.

Her knuckles were white from clenching them so tightly.

Her eyes looked pained as if she were on the verge of tears but holding them back by sheer will.

Barry had known her for years, and she was nothing but ever composed. This was new, and at first, he didn’t know what to do. Should he stay and comfort her or slowly back away? His mouth made the decision for him.

“Doc?” he called out softly.

Dr. Shane’s eyes finally rose to meet his. Her features smoothed out of as she tucked the note into her drawer. “Barry, hi, sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“You okay?” he asked, taking a step further into the room and shutting the door.

Whatever was in that note had upset her, and he wanted her to know she could tell him in confidence.

That was if she wanted to tell him. They had known her for years, but she had never spoken to any of them outside business hours or tasks.

She knew about a lot about them, but none of them knew anything about her.

He wanted her to feel comfortable to tell him anything.

“I’m fine,” she responded, looking away from him. A tell of a lie. “What brings you in?” She looked back at him with the air of confidence she always wore back in place.

Dr. Shane was in her early forties if Barry had to guess. He was smart enough to never ask. Her hair was still chestnut brown and pulled back into her usual bun. He had never seen any gray hairs but figured she could pluck or color those to hide them.

Her brown eyes held a world of knowledge with only a hint of crinkles at the corners when she smiled. Truth told, she was a beautiful woman, but he wasn’t interested in her like that. He just liked her brain and her hands. The things she could create between the two were scary and awe-inspiring.

“I need a few tweaks on my arm.” He held it up so she could see the damage he had inflicted upon it.

Dr. Shane’s eyes widened in shock as she stood up and came around her desk to take his arm. “What did you do?” she asked in horror.

The damage wasn’t all that bad, he thought. A few scratches and the pulling of wires. “I tried to make my own modifications.”

“Like what? See how much damage these things can take?” she questioned, giving him a scathing glare. He had the grace to look away sheepishly. Okay, so doing the modification himself and with only one hand hadn’t been his smartest decision.

“No, I was trying to make a spot for a poison holder or even a flash drive.”

Dr. Shane arched an eyebrow at his suggestion with a hint of a smile on her lips. “Are you trying to become the bionic man?”

Barry snorted at the idea. “It’s my arm not my body I’m trying to modify.”

“Let me see.” Dr. Shane pressed the release on the arm and removed it.

Barry rubbed the spot on his upper arm where the sleeve sat.

He felt naked whenever his arm was off. The titanium weight of it had become a comfort.

Without it, he felt naked and vulnerable.

Dr. Shane had made incredible advancements to it to make it an almost fully functioning arm.

He could bend it just like a normal arm.

The fingers even opened and closed so he could grab things.

Technology sure had come a long way to giving him a normal life.

She sat down at her desk and studied the fingers. “The damage doesn’t appear too bad,” she mused. “I can repair it.”

“What about making the modifications?” he inquired instead of worrying about fixing his error.

“Barry…” She stressed his name, reminding him of a mother scolding a child for telling a tall tale.

“What?” He blinked innocently. It was a simple question. She was already fixing his error; it couldn’t be that hard to make a few tweaks.

“You don’t need all these changes.”

“I know I don’t need them, but I want them.” Anything to make his job easier and make him deadlier. Most people were unassuming since he had an impediment. That was their first mistake. No one would suspect him when he opened the tip of his finger and poison could be added to a glass.

“I can’t make those changes without impacting the functionality of the fingers. They need the mechanics in them to work.”

“But I saw—”

“What, something in a movie?” she cut him off, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe,” he hedged, shifting from one foot to the other, not willing to admit the truth.

Dr. Shane rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Barry, that’s fiction and CG. If you want something like that, I can do it, but you won’t be able to use the finger. It won’t curl to assist in grabbing.”

“You could do it to the pinkie,” he suggested. “It’s not like anyone uses them anyway.” If it gave him a poisoned finger, he’d sacrifice the pinkie.

Dr. Shane shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“Alright, so maybe it wasn’t my best idea,” Barry admitted. None of the missions he’d been on had required him to have poison in his finger, but he wanted to be prepared for anything.

“You think?” she asked in exaggeration. “Next time you get a bright idea like this, call me instead of trying it yourself.”

“Will do, Doc.” He probably should leave something like this to the professionals.

He had been a ranger, not a mechanic in the military.

“Did you receive bad news?” he questioned after a few moments as she started working on his arm.

He didn’t know how long it would take her to fix it, and she hadn’t told him to leave, so he tried to fill in the silence as he waited.

“What do you mean?” she asked instead of answering. Her focus was on his arm, but he could see the tension return to her body.

“You seemed upset when I came in.”

“It’s fine,” she replied, though by her tone, it was anything but. “It’s my sister,” she finally said.

“What about her?”

“She’s a shark biologist in the Caribbean.

She’s been there for years. She wrote to tell me that sharks have been going missing for a while now.

She’s blaming someone and has plans to confront them without proof.

I’ve urged her to let it go, but she won’t.

Says it’s her mission to protect them.” Dr. Shane rolled her eyes as if she didn’t believe the sentiment.

Barry didn’t agree. The woman was obviously passionate about what she did. That shouldn’t be held against her. He could relate. “One should always protect the ones they love.”

“I’m worried she’s going to end up in jail or worse.”

“I can go down there and check in on her, if you’d like,” Barry offered.

Dr. Shane looked up at him, speechless. A kaleidoscope of emotions crossed over her face. “Really?”

Why not? Give Dr. Shane some peace of mind after all she had done for him and his friends.

It was the least he could do. “Yeah, we’re in between assignments right now.

I can fly down and check in on her. I can find out what the trouble is.

If she’s causing trouble, I can extract her or help her with her problem. ”

A sense of relief washed over her face. “You don’t know what that would mean to me.

I’m worried about Mac. She’s headstrong, independent, and stubborn as a goat.

She won’t listen to anyone. I’m worried she’s going to upset the wrong person one day and I’ll never see her again.

She’s never been one to back down from a fight, and I just have this awful feeling something could happen to her in all this. ”

“Don’t worry, Doc. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Barry assured her. How hard could it be keeping an eye on a woman and making sure she stayed out of trouble? This would be a walk in the park for him. Less dangerous than some of his more usual assignments.

Dr. Shane started working on his arm again then stopped and looked back up at him. “Oh, and one more thing. Don’t tell her that I asked you to come. Just pose as a tourist.”

“Why is that?” he asked, confused. Why couldn’t he tell Mac her sister was worried about her?

“If she thinks I sent you, she’ll just ghost you or make your life hell.”

Since she knew Mac best, he’d take her advice. “I’ll be discreet, Doc. Don’t worry.”