Page 30 of Tactically Acquired

As soon as we were clear, Thumper hit the gas and all four wheels hit the road. We passed the Reed Security vehicle, waving with a grin as they watched us pass with confused expressions on their faces.

“Florrie. It’s Florrie, you dumbass,” Thumper snapped. “That was her husband, Alec.”

“Whatever. I knew she was a girl.”

“Congratulations for knowing your genders,” IRIS muttered.

“Get me up there, Thumper! I can get in there!” I shouted.

“There’s a goddamn truck in the way.”

“Hit him.”

Thumper swung his head back to glare at me. “You hit him. Some of us would like to not have a fucking airbag deploy in our faces.”

Right. I forgot how fucking sensitive they made them nowadays.

Thumper laid on the horn until the asshole finally moved. But just as he was stepping on the gas, Wolf came flying into the spot, swerving right the fuck in front of us.

“That son of a bitch cut me off,” Thumper snapped.

“We don’t have time for this,” I argued. “It’s now or never, Thumper. “Make the call.”

The interchange was a few hundred feet away. If we didn’t catch them now, we were fucking screwed. We needed to get there now and Reed Security was in our way.

“Fuck it.” He put his foot down and rammed the front of the truck into the back of the Reed Security vehicle. When they jolted forward and to the left, Thumper used the opportunity to squeeze between them and the vehicle to the right.

“TVI!” IRIS shouted, banging his fist on the dash, grinning with glee.

Thumper rammed the tail end of the side of the vehicle, sending Reed Security into a roll instead of a spin. The vehicle flipped over and over until finally coming to a stop in the middle of the fucking road.

I winced, knowing that was mostly my fault. “Oops.”

“Yeah, they were going a little too fast for that,” IRIS chuckled. “But hey, it was all in good fun.”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll see it that way when they get out of the hospital,” Thumper gritted out as he hit the gas and flew down the road. With the traffic thinning out, we would be able to catch up in no time.

“Just get me up alongside them.”

I started climbing out, gripping the doorframe as I prepared to jump across the expanse to the other vehicle. Other than the rails on the top, there wasn’t anything to prevent me from falling to the pavement and becoming roadkill.

“Closer!” I shouted.

As soon as Thumper got me close enough, I jumped, gripping the rails and holding on with everything in me. I could feel the plastic bending, unable to hold my weight for long.

My feet were slipping. I had to move now. Grabbing my gun, I slammed the butt of it into the window, smashing it in two hits. Glass shattered and the vehicle swerved, nearly sending me flying. I tucked my gun away just in time as the frame of the rail bent. I grasped the inside of the door just as the rail tore away from the roof and flew into traffic. Horns blared and cars swerved to avoid the flying object.

A man scrambled away from the door, staring at me with terrified eyes. He was lucky. At least he was on the inside.

“Get your ass in there!” IRIS shouted.

“I’m working on it!”

“Move faster! This isn’t a fucking picnic!”

I rolled my eyes and started hauling my ass up and over the frame, but just as I was about to crawl inside, a shot rang out, missing my ear by a fucking centimeter. I lost my grip, dropping back outside the vehicle. My wrist torqued as I held on with only one hand. My feet dragged along the road, burning as they skidded along the blacktop.

A tortured scream ripped from my throat as my wrist twisted. Fuck, I wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Shots fired and the SUV swerved, slowing enough for me to regain my grip. I glanced over my shoulder and saw IRIS firing at the driver. This was going to end badly if he took him out with me still hanging out the window and our clients in the back seat.

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