Page 1 of Once a Killer

Chapter 1

Bree sat next to Alex Conway in the Blackhawk Security dining room, swirling pieces of pancake through the puddle of maple syrup on her plate. She nudged the bacon out of the syrup, then chewed the pancake slowly, savoring every bite.

After living on MREs for too many years, she appreciated real food.

“Hey, Brynn, stop hogging the syrup and pass it over,” Cody Parker called from the other side of the table.

Bree took a deep breath, set her fork on her plate, then stared across the table at Parker. He knew damn well what her name was, but Parker liked to tease. To taunt. And right here, in front of everyone, including the new recruits, he’d used that hated name.

Enough.

Pushing away from the table, she climbed up on her chair and scanned the dining room. The chatter of conversation died away, until the room was silent. Everyone was staring at her. Good. Maybe she’d finally straighten out these idiots.

“My name,” she said, making it a point to glance at everyone in the room, meeting each set of eyes, “is Bree. B R E E. Since none of you bought the farm on any of your assignments, I assume you’re intelligent men and women. I know you know my name, because I’ve corrected every one of you, with a couple of notable exceptions, many times. But you keep calling me Brynn.

“Brynn, short for Brenda. That’s my birth name, but I’ve gone by Bree since I was old enough to have an opinion about my name. Which was more than twenty years ago.

“Brenda was my grandmother’s name. Wonderful woman, heart of gold, but I amnotmy grandmother. I do not want to be called Brenda or Brynn. And since none of you knuckleheads can seem to get that through your thick skulls, here’s the deal.

“From now on, if you call me Brynn, I’m not responding. Not answering. If you’re on fire and you yell, ‘Brynn, turn on the water?’ I’m walking right past you.” She looked around the room, trying to meet everyone’s eyes. “Clear?”

Several people laughed, including Cody Parker. Her blood began to boil, but she tamped down the anger and said in a flat voice, “Okay. If that’s the way you want to play it, fine with me. You want to keep calling me Brynn, go ahead and do it. Because I now have new names for all of you.”

She pointed at Cody Parker, who’d called her Brynn moments ago. “Parker, your new name is Tiny Cock.”

“Not what my wife says,” Cody shot back.

Bree raised one eyebrow. “Really? She’s the one who suggested that name for you.”

Laughter and hoots came from everyone else in the room, and Cody sank down in his chair, his face red.

Bree looked around the room. “Anyone else want to know their new name?”

Diego Lopez called out, “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

Bree jumped off the chair and stormed over to Diego. “You have any idea how many times I’ve corrected your sorry ass and almost everyone else’s in here? Too many times to count. Didn’t do squat. So now it’s my turn. You want to know your new name, Diego?”

“Nope. Nope, I do not. Bree,” he said hastily.

She nodded at the former Delta Force operative. “Thank you, Lopez.”

She looked around the room. “Anyone else?”

The room was silent. Finally, Nico Elliott, who was in from Seattle for a meeting, said, “I apologize, Bree. We were stupid. I don’t think any of us,” he glared around the room, “will call you Brynn again. Anyone here disagree with me?”

The room went quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Bree nodded. “Thank you, Nico.”

She turned to leave the dining room, and Mel stood up from where she sat with Dev and followed her out of the room. Once they were outside the building, Mel said, “Nice work, Bree. Well done.” She smiled as she shoved her hands into her pockets and walked faster to keep up with Bree. “You’re a woman working with a bunch of men. Glad to see you can stand up for yourself.” She glanced at Bree. You got a name for me?”

“Yeah, I do,” Bree said, watching her boss from the corner of her eye. It didn’t sound as if Mel was angry about the scene in the dining room. But if she was? Too bad. Those idiots deserved to be raked over the coals.

“So what’s your name for me?” Mel asked.

“It’s Mel. Mel, because you’ve always called me Bree, unlike the rest of those sorry fuckers.”

“Those sorry fuckers are your teammates,” Mel said, no condemnation in her voice. “You have to work with them.”

“I can work with them. As long as they call me Bree, I’m good. If they want to be an ass like Parker, they get a new name.”

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