And good ones.
Finding three of them here, in this out-of-the-way little bar that Echo Team had just happened to pick, felt like too big of a coincidence.
Top looked back toward Bunny and Warbride, but neither of them had noticed — he was too busy lining up his shot, and she was too busy trash-talking to make him mess up. With a sigh Top turned, figuring he’d go brace the trio on his own — and stared.
They were gone.
But he’d glanced away for only a second. There was no way they could’ve left that quickly, and they’d been near the back corner, not the front, which meant they’d have had to cross his path in order to reach the front door or even the small side door by the bar that he guessed led back to the place’s kitchen.
So where had they gone?
“Damn!” Bunny shouted, banging his fist on the table. “Girl, you cheat!” he accused Warbride, but he grinned as he said it.
“Just using what the good Lord gave me,” she replied with a saucy wink and twist of her hips. “Yo, Top, you’re up, man.”
He nodded, forcing himself back to the game at hand. “Yeah, all right.”
He still scanned the area before and after his shot, searching for that trio. Something told him that whoever they were, he’d be seeing them again.
Twenty minutes later, Bunny declared that he needed to see a man about a horse.
“What, you want me to hold it for you, Farm Boy?” Top asked, gathering pool balls to rack the next game.
“Hold this,” his best friend replied, giving him the finger as he turned and made for the bathroom. When he came back, he looked puzzled.
“What, things not where you expected?” Top inquired, raising an eyebrow. “Need me to explain them to you? Your daddy really should’ve covered that, you know.”
But Bunny ignored the dig. “There was a guy in the bathroom,” he started. “Didn’t get a look at him, but your height and build, I’d say. And armed, if I had to put money on it.”
Neither Top nor Warbride mocked him for being able to give such details despite “not getting a look” at the guy — in their line of work you learned to gauge such things by footfall, shadow, breathing, and other measures, and you did it on a subconscious level all the time, with everyone.
“He was over in the corner, I figured he was just taking a leak like me, but then he said, ‘Nice night for an echo, huh?’” The frown marking Bunny’s face deepened. “When I glanced over, he was gone. And I don’t mean ducked out the door, ’cause it was on my other side. He just wasn’t there anymore.”
An hour ago, Top might’ve joked that his partner was losing his marbles. But not after his own experience. “Something funny’s going on,” he said instead. “And I don’t mean ha ha.” He told Bunny and Warbride about the trio he’d seen — and about how they’d vanished as well.
“What’re we looking at here, Top?” Bunny asked, rubbing at his face. “An ambush?”
Top shook his head. “You picked this bar at random, right? ’Cause of the sign?”
“Yeah, I saw it one time and thought it’d be a kick,” his partner agreed. “No way anybody knew we were headed here.”
“We should call it in,” Warbride suggested.
But Top didn’t agree. “And say what?” he asked. “That we’ve seen some shady characters who pop in and out? Nah. Besides,” he added, “we’re off duty.”
She didn’t seem entirely happy with that, but Top was team leader and it was his call. So instead they ordered more drinks and started the next game.
But all three of them were wary now, and Top noticed that the other two had both automatically checked the smalls of their backs, where their shirts covered their holstered Mark 23s. He’d done the same, and was reassured to feel the pistol there, as always.
It never hurt to be prepared.
They were nearly done with the game — with Warbride beating the pants off them yet again, proving that the former SEAL was a serious pool shark — when she announced that it was her turn to use the facilities.
Top pretended not to notice Bunny watching her go. Lydia Ruiz was a fine-looking woman, no question about it — she had the perfect combination of curves and muscle, and the deadly grace of a panther, coupled with dusky skin and dark, wavy hair. And although in any normal military unit fraternization within the ranks was frowned upon, the DMS was hardly normal, and didn’t have to play by the standard rules. Top figured as long as those two kept their relationship from interfering with the work, he was fine with ignoring it. Hell, Ledger’d had a thing with Major Grace Courtland, who’d headed Alpha Team and been Church’s second back at the Warehouse, where Echo Team had begun. It hadn’t ended well, but that was because she’d given her life to save the world, not because the relationship itself had gotten ugly. Nor had anyone seen any evidence that their relationship had jeopardized either of them, or either of their teams. So there was precedent.
Still, he felt better acting as though it weren’t happening in his own team. At least, as long as they were keeping it on the down-low. This way, if anyone did ask, Top could claim he had no idea what they were talking about.
But when Warbride returned she didn’t just look confused, she looked downright pissed. “How long was I gone?” she demanded.
“Maybe three minutes,” Bunny answered. He glanced at Top for confirmation, and he nodded. He hadn’t checked his watch, but most soldiers had a decent time sense and it had been about that.
“Motherfuckers!” Warbride slammed a hand down on the pool table, making both the balls and their drinks jump. “Must’ve been fast-acting, then.” She looked ready to kill someone.
“What was?” Top went from puzzled to concerned. “You think somebody drugged you?”
“Must have,” she replied, still scowling fiercely. She lifted her shirt to show off a tanned, toned stomach. “Because it’s gone.”
Top didn’t know what she meant at first, but Bunny obviously did, because he started. “What the hell?” the big guy blurted out.
“My belly-button ring,” Warbride explained. “It’s an anchor — I got it after leaving the SEALs.”
Now that he looked more closely, Top could see the puncture marks. “You had it earlier?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer to that.
Sure enough, she nodded. “It was there when we changed out of our gear,” she replied. “Most of the time I don’t really notice it anymore, you know? But when I went to do my business, it was gone.”
Top hated to ask, but knew he had to. “Did they—?”
“No!” she almost shouted, then visibly forced herself to lower her voice. “No, nothing like that.” Top breathed a sigh of relief, as did Bunny, but Warbride was still clearly pissed off. She banged the pool table again. “Somebody’s just screwing with me, and they’re gonna pay for it!”
Bunny looked as if he were ready to take the whole place apart with his bare hands, and Top didn’t blame him, but he put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder anyway. “Slow your roll, Farm Boy,” he warned, but gently. “We don’t know the lay of the land yet, so no sense going off half-cocked, am I right?”
It took a second, but his friend nodded. “Yeah, I hear you,” he answered. “But promise me when we do find out who’s behind this…”