Halfway Between (16 page)

Harper felt a shiver run through her.  The guys kept saying it was their friends lending their support but she wasn
’t so sure.  She kept thinking about what her dad taught her on self-defense, moves she had not thought of for years, and suddenly they were foremost in her mind. 

They had decided to split up.  There were four hotels they had to look at and they wanted someone from the team at all of them.  Thane and Vince went to one.  Mason and Alex went to another, Gage and Tank to the next when they hooked up, and Harper, Drake, and Joel to the last.  All had on their fun little ear wicks, she loved hearing all of them bitching.

As they approached the entrance to the hotel, they were supposed to be checking out, she grinned, her first real mission. 
How fun.
  They asked the desk clerk who told them a man matching Diego’s description had just left.  Drake reported as they went to the floor to keep watch.  She was stationed down the hall, as Drake and Joel took either side of the door, trying to listen and see if they heard voices.

Drake said into her ear,
“Movement.”

She grinned at his husky tone. 
“Very sexy and manly, will you talk to me like this later, in the bedroom, with the candles lit?”

Joel chuckled and said,
“I will.”

“
Oh good,” she whispered and then the men stood quickly, she dropped the teasing as she watched.

“
ETA?  Someone is coming to the door,” Drake said.

The guys gave times anywhere between ten and fifteen minutes.  They didn
’t have time, if they lost them, it would be a disaster.  Joel and Drake pulled back a step or two and prepared. 

Harper put a hand on her knife and got ready, she couldn
’t pull a gun yet, it would first of all make noise, and second she would feel like she was cheating.  She took in three breaths and the door opened.  Someone said something about getting drinks and Joel and Drake charged in.  Harper followed quickly and she took in the scene as she entered the room.  Eight men, three of them, both of the guys were taking on two each which left four who were trying to jump in. 
Hells to the no
, she thought and jumped in the fray.

She caught the first one by surprise that was her only redeeming feature.  It took it down to three, and made it a much more manageable number.  They didn
’t have their guns out, which went also in her favor.  They must have set them off to the side somewhere.

She swung her knife keeping them back and allowed one to get behind her.  It was a plan, not a smart one. 
But hey, first mission, duh.
  She kicked back and caught him in the knee.  She heard the roar of anger from behind her, but it gave her enough time to move. 

Harper heard the scuffling around her and the thud of fists hitting skin, she only hoped it wasn
’t Drake or Joel.  One guy tried to rush her, she struck quickly, her knife entering in his shoulder, and he frowned but continued.  She kicked the other in the stomach and saw the guy she had already taken down get up.  Making her decision, she went in a round robin—hitting one and moving to the next.  It worked until knife guy pulled her knife out of his shoulder and lunged at her from behind.  She felt it slice the back of her thigh and she yelled in anger.  She fought—they fought, and she knew at this point she would so not make Ms. Universe finals.  Her hair was flopping around her head, she could feel the bruises already forming and basically she was covered in someone’s blood, could be her own, but she wasn’t stopping to look.  She had had enough.

Harper reached to her chest and pulled her pretty pink gun.  Her hand was bloody and it almost slipped.  Thank goodness for the good grip.  She lifted it, and then remembered, no killing, one at least had to make it out, so she lowered it to her side for a second.  Her
three looked a little stupid and she wasn’t sure she should chance it, they probably had no information. 
This really sucked.  Decisions, decisions.
  Finally, one of them pissed her off by punching her in the face and grabbing her ass at the same time.

“
Oh no, you did not just grab my ass,” she yelled and lifted the gun, not to high, not to low—just right.  And turned in a circle and shot them all in the knee.  Then when they were on the ground she wanted to make sure they would stay, because adrenalin could be a bitch.  She turned again and shot the other knee too.  When she was done, she grinned and turned back.

Sometime during all this the guys had gotten there and they had all four men tied up on the floor, without a bullet wound in them.  She frowned.

“Hey,” she said and put her hands on her hips because they were relaxed and leaning against walls.  “Did anyone think to help me out?”

Drake laughed and stepped forward. 
“Sweetheart, we were going to when everyone got here, but we were all afraid 'cause you kept turning in a circle, it was like TAZ on steroids.  You were magnificent.”

“
Extremely sexy,” Joel laughed and smiled.  “I think you are gonna need a little stitching up though.  Why don’t we take you back to the house, while they take care of all this.”

“
Hell no,” she said.  “I got me some prisoners to talk to.”

The guys laughed. 
“You let your left arm drop though when you kicked, can’t do that, it gave that other guy an opening,” Mason said.

“
And the cute little cussing words, kinda took the sting out of smashing their balls,” Alex laughed.

“
All in all, I would give you a B,” Jessie said.

She stood with her mouth open and then Thane finally stepped up. 
“Shut up, you guys.  Mini-Me worked just fine for her first time out.  All hail the Dame!”

“
All hail the Dame,” the others yelled.

“
Awww…how sweet,” she said and limped toward the door to find a place to clean up.  Maybe she should let them take her home.  She could feel the blood on her ass, it was an uncomfortable place.

Drake and Joel took their beat up little girlfriend home proudly.  It was disgustingly sad that they were proud of her.  However, all of them alas realized that none of them were normal, and would never be normal.  Watching Harper in action had been sexy, but also reassuring that she had been calm and protected herself.  It made them realize they didn
’t have to smother her with protection, it would never work.  No, they were going to protect each other.  It would be the only thing she was ever going to get slack on though.  Looking at her face, it was unacceptable she had taken on four guys at the same time and so they argued.

“
Seriously you say I can take care of myself, and in the same breath tell me I have to wait for back up.  Really, cause that seems like a double standard.”  She pouted as they carried her up the stairs.  Of course, she refused to point out that at this moment she probably couldn't have made it up the stairs but tomato, tomahto, whatever.

“
We are just saying that in the future you and your partner need to make sure you are both aware of the numbers.  If there are ten, then get back up, okay?  More like if there are four, think about it,” Joel conceded, they didn’t want her to get the number ten in her head or they would be up shit creek without a paddle.

“
I love you too,” she grinned.  Then she waited, it was the first time she had said it aloud and she wanted them to respond.  They didn’t fail her.

Both men paused at the top of the stairs and looked at her battered face.  Even with a broken nose, she looked amazing. 

Drake smiled and said, “Love you too, babe, but if you break this sexy little body again so I have to wait to show you.  It is on.”

Joel laughed. 
“I love you too.  Now let me get the med kit,” he said and walked in front of them.  He paused at the door and looked to the end of the hallway.  Drake did too, as did Harper after he didn’t moved.  She sucked in a breath.

Seven men stood smiling at them.  And one woman who waved.  She looked at Drake who was smiling again and shaking his head.

“Is that them?” she whispered, afraid they would disappear.

“
That’s them,” Drake said proudly.

She smiled and waved back, and then the woman stepped up and held out a hand.  Harper frowned and her parents appeared for a brief second, long enough to throw her a kiss. 
Damn it, why did they keep trying to make her cry.

“
When are they leaving?” she asked curiously.  Her parents left right away.

“
No worries, I will warn you, 'cause there will be a lot of tissue, a lot of wine, and a lot of laughter,” Drake said and began walking.

Brian yelled at them and clapped his hands,
“Not too much time, they are coming back.”

“
Yeah, yeah, can we clean up the blood before we keep going?” Joel yelled.

“
I don’t know, kinda sexy,”
Brain said and laughed.

“
Okay, now I get it, the three stodges,” she said.

“
Maybe,” Drake said and walked into the room, but paused and nodded to their friends.

“
Well, can I have some chocolate, I feel like it would make the swelling in my face go down,” Harper asked hopefully.

“
Chocolate and swelling,” Drake said and laughed.  “Sounds about right.”

“
See, we are already settling in, when do I get a ring?" Harper teased.

“
As soon as your hand swelling goes down enough to fit a ring on your finger,” Joel yelled.

“
Well shit, that may take a while.  We still have to get the boss,” she grumbled.

“
No worries, we can always get a dog tag with it attached,” Drake compromised.

“
Is it gonna be pink?” she said.

“
Of course,” Joel said, walking out of the bathroom with a large box.  “It is your signature color.”

“
Damn straight,” she said and then rolled on her stomach on the bed.

“
Aw…sweetheart, your pretty pink underwear,” Drake said sorrowfully.

“
Well, someone is gonna die for that then.  My first pair of pink underwear and they are ruined in a day?” she said.

“
We thought ahead, there is a whole drawer full over there,” Joel said.

Thane and the rest of the team went to where they were supposed to meet Melanie and Dario.  As they pulled up, the lights across the street drew their attention.  Police, ambulance, and a fire truck.  This did not bode well for the people they were looking for.

“
They were probably watching for us,” Jessie said.

“
Let’s go find out what happened,” Mason said and crawled from the car. 

Thane looked at his silent phone and was almost afraid to find out. 
Fuck
, he thought and looked out the window.  He just waited with the others as Mason and Alex talked to no less than three people.  When they finally came back to the car Mason said quickly.

“
Not ours, but I would bet it was a few of Diego’s.  Three dead, all with K-bars in their chest.  It is Dario, he was here, and made it out,” Mason assured Thane who was gripping the steering wheel tightly.

“
Back to square one?” Alex said.

“
Hell no, we have a few presents back at the house to get info from.  By this time tomorrow I hope we know what they are up to,” Jessie said.

Thane nodded and put the car in gear. 
“We need to get read in on what happened with Vince, and how Harper is.  We wait until when they contact us again and this time, we move immediately.  In the meantime, we get as many answers as we can.  Maybe it will tell us where they will most likely head.”

They agreed and were silent on the ride back to the house.  They knew at this point that the rest of their journey was going to be dangerous.  All of them silently promising they wouldn't let another of their friends die.  They would work together and make sure that when all was said and done.  Team TEN was going to be the last one standing.