Page 54 of Tactically Acquired

He shrugged. “She didn’t tell me the live-action shoot was with OPS. If she had, I would have made some suggestions.”

I ran my hand over my head, frustrated as hell with this clusterfuck. “And now she’s been taken again. Where the hell were you the first time?”

“She gave me the wrong day. I heard about her disappearance and knew something bad had happened.”

“Obviously, douchebag,” IRIS snapped. “Did you think she got kidnapped by someone else and maybe it wasn’t that bad?”

“Maybe we could take things down a notch,” Alec muttered, rubbing his temples. “The point is, we need to figure out who the hell keeps trying to take Spencer and Audrey, and why the fuck they want them so badly.”

“Not me,” Spencer spoke up, walking forward. “I was only kidnapped twice.”

“We didn’t kidnap you,” I pointed out. “We were saving your ass.”

Rae stepped into the fray, whistling loudly before things got out of control. “Alright, boys, this is how it’s going down. We’re gonna get to a safe house and get as much information as we can. I need to run down some sources and then we’ll have something we can go on.”

“No offense, but we always work with Becky. She’s very good,” Craig said.

Rae’s eyes narrowed at the competitive remark. “I bet she is, but she’s not here, and if she were, I would still kick her ass. In more ways than one,” she grinned. “So, while I’m doing the real work, you two can take a shower and…do something about this—” she said, waving her hand up and down their bodies. “You look like you were run over by a truck.”

“We sort of were,” Alec muttered.

“And we’ll go in when we find her and retrieve her while you keep Spencer?—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Craig snapped. “If anyone’s going to retrieve her, it’s going to be me. She called me for help.”

“Yes, and you nearly got her killed in a car accident,” Rae pointed out.

“Better than her slipping out with a kidnapper from a bathroom,” Spencer laughed. But when we all turned and glared at him, he swallowed hard and took a step back. “Not that my opinion matters in any way. I just do as I’m told.”

Craig glared at me, his whole body tense. “You let her slip out of the fucking bathroom?”

“You let her jump onto the hood of the SUV from a moving vehicle,” Alec muttered.

“You what?” Thumper shouted.

“So, clearly, we’re all at fault here,” IRIS said, holding up his hands. “I mean, aside from Thumper and me. We were actually doing our jobs. But the rest is something we shouldn’t focus on at the moment.”

“Thanks for having my back,” I muttered.

He slapped me on the back with a grin. “Any time, man. So, like I was saying, we’ll do what Rae suggested and get the job done. Then we’ll take Spencer and Audrey back to OPS and?—”

“Not a fucking chance in hell!” Craig shouted. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

He rushed me, trying to tackle me, when Rae stepped in and used her tiny body to maneuver into position and flip him over her shoulder and slam him into the ground with very little effort. When she was done, she stomped her boot on his chest and stared down at her nails.

“Now, if you gentlemen will all stop behaving like hormonal teenagers?—”

“Fucking hell, woman. I was just in a car accident,” Craig moaned.

“He was,” Alec nodded. “I was there.”

“Then he shouldn’t have tried to take control of the situation,” Rae snapped. “You boys may think you’re in charge,but from here on out, the only person calling the shots around here is me. Is that clear?” she asked, glaring at each of us.

I would have argued with her, but the look on her face brooked no arguments. And I really didn’t want to end up in a body bag. So, I nodded and stepped back, giving her the floor. When she was sure we all agreed, she removed her boot from Craig’s chest and held out her hand to him, hauling him to his feet.

He groaned, holding his back as he hobbled back to Alec. “Thanks for having my back out there.”

Alec scoffed. “I barely have my front.”

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