Page 78 of Silent Comrade
“Not following. How about fill me in here,fellas? Things have gotten weird ever since Tarzan here dragged meout of the apartment fifteen minutes ago.”
Rodeo froze.
A shrug with her free shoulder. “What? It’strue. The guy didn’t explain anything, just kept grunting ‘Let’sgo,’ like repeating simple words made the situation clearer. If hehadn’t mentioned Britt, I would’ve used my self-defense moves,thinking he was some kind of unhinged kidnapper.” She wiggled hersneaker-clad feet in front of her. “I have fabulous aim.”
Rodeo snorted and lifted his chin. Then hestepped back, hand drifting over his groin.
A hiccup of laughter from Britt broke thetension in the room. “Good God, my life. Red, tell her the basicsof my family stuff and this mission.”
He shushed her and waved a hand.
“You heard me. Tachi is my roommate, soshe’s basically family. If you two are going to hang around for awhile, she needs to know why.”
“Danger, bro. Danger,” Rodeo said under hisbreath.
Red considered his options, then relented.“Okay.” He sketched a brief overview of the situation, leaving outtons of details. “So you see we can’t reveal our camera datawithout exposing our operation.”
Tachi leaned her head back on the wall, hersculpted features set in a determined expression. When she openedher eyes, the intense glint made Red want to stand up straighter.It was a similar expression his teammates wore when they had tocarry out an impossible mission. “May I personally maim Jenna?Pretty please.” She nudged Britt.
Off to the side, Rodeo rubbed his chin witha bemused half-smile.
“Tempting.” Britt gave a small nod ofapproval. “Won’t solve the problem.” She rubbed a hoop on her ear.“Look. We need to make peace with the fact that my course of studyand career just ended right here. Today. There’s no way I can dothis show now. I can’t recreate the entire collection in time. Someof those fabric pieces had to be special ordered. Besides, Red wassaying it was too difficult to provide security for the show withteen models. Too many moving parts. This disaster is a sign fromGod. Game over.” Her shuddering sigh echoed a growing ache in hischest.
The rubberythunkof the toes ofTachi’s sneakers against each other filled the empty space. Shetapped a perfect red nail against her lower lip and hummed. Rodeostared at her like a starving squirrel eyeing the last acorn in theforest.
Tachi got up and sauntered over to Rodeo,posing next to him, shoulder to shoulder. “What do you think,Britt?”
Rodeo swept his assessing gaze over Tachiand raised his eyebrows, flexing as he brushed his big shoulderagainst hers. “I know whatIthink, baby.”
When Britt giggled, the ache in Red’s chesteased.
“Jesus, take the wheel.” Tachi looked at theceiling then pinned Rodeo in place with a glare that should beweaponized. “Hey, eye candy with the empty brain box. Keep thestares up here.” She put one finger under his chin and he flinched.Uh-oh. “No talking unless it’s meaningful contribution tothis discussion. Brilliant minds are at work here.” When he openedhis mouth again, she held up a hand. “Ah-ah-ah. Zip it.”
Rodeo froze. Sure as shit, the guy shut hisbig mouth. Wow.
“So?” She spun back toward Britt, motioningtoward herself and Rodeo, who was still rocking back on his heelsin stunned silence.
Red stifled a laugh.
“What do you think?” Tachi waved in Red andRodeo’s general direction. Red held his breath. He had a badfeeling about what was developing.
“About what?” Britt said.
“How do I look next to him, image-wise?” Shestruck another high-fashion runway pose and then held up boththumbs and index fingers to make an imaginary camera. “Think:runway still shots for your portfolio.”
Britt’s eyes went wide. Her shouldersstraightened as she sat up straighter. “No. Are you serious?”
“He could pass. He looks good. It mightwork,” Tachi said.
“Baby, I always look exceptional—” Rodeo’ssentence ended with Tachi’s elbow in his ribs and a deepoof.
“Your high opinion of yourself is not thepoint. What did I say about talking?” She catwalked straight overto Red and rested her upper back on his shoulder. Casual.Fashionable. “How about here?”
Red’s gut twisted into a knot as hestruggled to understand.
“No.” Britt exhaled. “Maybe. Could itwork?”
“I could train them.”
