Page 46 of Tactically Acquired

13

SLIDER

“How do you fucking lose a client?” Thumper yelled at me for the fiftieth time.

“I was watching two of them in different bathrooms!” I shouted. “I had to piss. It wasn’t like either of you came in to help out.”

“You were taking her to the bathroom. Not on a four day holiday,” he retorted.

“And obviously backup was needed.”

“Obviously.Clearly,” IRIS chuckled from the back seat. “Man, we’re getting into all the good stuff today.”

“And where were you?” I asked, spinning in my seat to glare at him.

“I was getting shit.”

“Shit? You were getting shit?”

“Groceries! That’s what I told you.”

“Yeah, so I could cook for you. I’m supposed to be close protection and do all the cooking.”

“Yeah, while Thumper and I risk our lives on the perimeter. We’re the last line of defense.”

“That’s me, asshole.I’mthe last line of defense because I’m right beside the fucking client!”

IRIS grinned at me. “Youwereright beside the client. Then you went to the bathroom.”

I was gonna strangle that fucker. Actually leap into the back seat and wrap my hands around his fucking throat and throttle him to death.

“I don’t get it,” Spencer said, breaking his silence. “If the first guys didn’t take her, and you’re not the actual bad guys, then who is after us?”

“That’s a really fucking good question,” Thumper muttered. “Know of anyone who wants the both of you dead?”

“More like Audrey,” I corrected. “They only took her.”

Thumper glanced over at me. “That’s a good point. Why would they take only her?”

“Because I was in the bathroom with Spencer. She was the easier target. Taking one is better than taking none.”

“Or she was the target all along and he was just collateral damage,” Thumper speculated.

I turned back to Spencer, hoping to pull some answers out of him. He’d basically been staring out the window for the past two hours. I was lucky he wasn’t in a catatonic state.

“What about old boyfriends? Anyone who might have a grudge against her?”

“Audrey isn’t exactly the type to let anyone in.”

“Not trusting?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nah. She was always more focused on work.”

This was getting us nowhere fast. I glanced at my phone, willing it to ring with an update from Rae, anything to tell us where the fuck Audrey had been taken. Hours had passed without a word. I had never fucked up so badly on an assignment before. Hell, at any time in my life, and I knew I was about to pay for it.

A text chimed on my phone from her. “Finally,” I muttered, opening the message.

Five miles ahead. Exit 63. Windstar Motel. Room 118.

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