Catch a Tiger by the Tail (7 page)

Ash was definitely motivated. Twenty-four hours of silence from Dex? Ethan pointed at Ash.

“Really?” Calvin eyed him curiously. “You know something I don’t?”

Ethan whispered in Calvin’s ear, letting him know what the stakes were.

“Damn, you’re right.” Calvin reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty. He handed it to Letty, who was taking bets. Ethan did the same. “Our money’s on Ash,” Calvin said, receiving a wink from Letty.

Bradley played referee, making sure Sloane and Ash were in position. Once the two were ready, Bradley gave the signal, and the match started, their faces quickly growing red as they tried to take each other down. The bar erupted into cheering. The bets had been placed, and everyone rooted for either Sloane or Ash. Dex and Cael encouraged their boyfriends and engaged in brotherly rivalry, teasing and taunting each other.

Ash’s jaw muscles worked as sweat beaded his brow. His arm shook as Sloane gritted his teeth and inched Ash’s hand closer to the table. Cael whispered something in Ash’s ear, and for a moment Ethan thought Sloane was about to slam him down, when Ash growled and pushed at Sloane’s hand. Sweat trailed down both their reddened faces before Ash slammed Sloane’s hand against the table.

“Yes!” Ash jumped from his chair with a victory cry before grabbing Cael to swing him around and kiss him. Everyone burst into cheers or playful boos while Letty got to work distributing their winnings. Sloane stood with a chuckle, and Ash pulled him into his embrace, patting his back before ruffling his hair. He turned to Dex with a triumphant grin.

Dex groaned. “Shit.”

“I am so going to enjoy this.” Ash rubbed his hands together in glee. Ethan had never seen him so happy.

“Sorry, babe.” Sloane kissed Dex’s brow and pulled him against him for a hug.

“It’s okay,” Dex sighed. “You tried. Plus he has the forces of darkness behind him. Tough to beat that.”

“Screw you, Justice.”

Dex’s glare could cut through rocks, but Ash ignored him to clap Sloane on the back again. “You did good, bud.”

Sloane laughed. “Thanks. I think.”

“Maybe next time you should save your strength instead of getting your boy off in the broom closet.”

Sloane rolled his eyes and went back to comforting his pouting partner while Cael hugged Ash.

“I knew you could do it.”

Ash wiped away an imaginary tear. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.”

“I’m surprised you know the term,” Dex grumbled. “You sure you don’t mean grumpy? You might be getting them confused.”

“You know what, Daley? Not even you can spoil this for me. Twenty-four hours of silence to distribute when I please.” He let out a contented sigh. “It’s like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.”

Everyone laughed, and Ethan put his arm around Calvin’s shoulders, smiling when Calvin subtly leaned into him. After the last few months, things were finally starting to settle down. It had been rough on all of them, but now as he watched his teammates’ antics, a sense of peace washed over him. He had everything he needed right here.

“TWO MINUTES,
Agent Hobbs.”

Damn it.
Just ignore her and get it done.

“Two minutes, and the building will blow with your partner inside.”

Yes, I know. Thanks.
Ethan wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his gloved hand. Three devices down, another three to go. So far each one had required a different method of deactivation. He concentrated on the mechanism and wires in front of him and not the red numbers counting down, bringing him ever closer to losing everything. Okay, no antihandling mechanism. Enough C-4 to blow the floor he was on, along with the floors above and below him. He had to get to Calvin.

Ethan swiftly but carefully checked each wire until he found the one he needed. Blue. He snipped it and shoved the cutters back into his kit before taking off down the hall. Three armed gunmen emerged from the door at the end, the door he needed to get through. Ethan dove into an alcove to his right as the first bullet whizzed by.

“One minute and forty-five seconds.”

Ethan growled at the female voice. He did
not
need a countdown. Removing his Glock from his thigh rig, he sneaked a peek to get a visual on his targets. After a deep breath, he darted out and fired at the three Humans without hesitation, only allowing one shot per target, as he’d been instructed. He got one on the leg, one in the neck, the third in the arm. The third spun but didn’t go down. Having used up his allotted shots, Ethan charged, and with a roar grabbed the guy, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him onto the concrete floor. The guy was out.

Almost there.
Ethan rushed through the door at the end of the corridor and took the stairs up three at a time, sweat dripping down the side of his face. He rammed the fire door, thankful it wasn’t locked. His heart caught in his throat at the sight of Calvin tied to the pillar in the center of the empty garage with the remaining two devices attached to the columns on either side of him. Ethan took off toward Calvin just as a pair of doors opened somewhere behind him. He spun and shot at the armed Therian who emerged.

Using the columns as cover, Ethan dispatched the hostiles as quickly as he could. When it was clear, he sprinted to Calvin. His partner was out and gagged. Ethan would have to carry him out.
I’ll get you out of this, Cal. I swear.

Ethan studied the device, his mind scanning through all the different schematics of the various explosives he’d dealt with over the years, along with some of the more obscure ones, until he found the one he needed. Each and every diagram was filed away in his mind. His head retained a hell of a lot of information, even if he wasn’t so good at communicating it. He could remember the most minuscule of details, from the most rudimentary homemade bomb to the top high-end multifaceted devices.

“You don’t have enough time, Agent Hobbs. Abort.”

Like hell.
He had less than two minutes to take care of this, or the place was going to blow with him and his best friend in it, because there was no way in hell he would leave Calvin behind.

“If you don’t leave now, you won’t make it out.”

Didn’t matter. He wasn’t leaving Calvin. Ethan went to work on the first explosive. No antihandling device, but there was a trap. A thin, barely visible wire ran from the device in front of him to the one on the other side of the pillar. He’d have to disarm that one first.
Shit.

Hang on, Cal.
Ethan stepped in front of the second device, his fingers moving deftly as he inspected and found what he needed before removing the cutters from a kit attached to his belt. The device wasn’t a problem, the volume and time was. It took him ten seconds to disarm both explosives. He moved fast, removing the gag from Calvin’s mouth before cutting through the ropes. Calvin crumpled into his arms. He knew what awaited him. Doing his best not to think about that, Ethan hoisted Calvin onto his shoulder, his best friend’s words quiet in his ear.

“She’s going to kick your ass.”

Ethan patted Calvin’s butt in response.
Yeah, I know.
He hurried down the stairs and out of the garage. There was no big “boom.” With a smile, he stopped in front of Sparks and placed Calvin on his feet.

Sparks’s gaze remained on her tablet. She tapped away with her manicured fingernails before raising her head, her expression unreadable. “You failed, Agent Hobbs.”

What?
Ethan stared at her. He shook his head. With a glare, he thrust his finger at the building behind them. He’d disarmed all the bombs, eliminated every threat, and gotten his partner out.

“You missed the sniper.”

Ethan’s eyes widened.
Sniper?
He felt the back of his head. His hair was wet. When he brought his fingers in front of him, his glove was stained with red paint. He’d been hit. Not only had he missed the signs, he never felt the blow.
Fuck.

“Congratulations. You defused the explosives with barely enough time to get you and your partner out. Unfortunately, had this been an actual mission, you would have been dead before you could execute the extraction. The building would have exploded next, killing your partner and any civilians which remained.” She finished tapping away at her tablet and handed it to one of her suited operatives standing silently by. “Your skills are commendable, Agent Hobbs, but you can do better. I expect more from you next time. Dismissed.”

Ethan gave her a somber nod and tried not to feel too disappointed. On the way to the BearCat, Calvin patted his back.

“You did great, buddy. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Ethan gave a noncommittal grunt. Despite his mutism, he was expected to perform at the highest of standards like any other agent, like any other tiger Therian. Like his big brothers. He’d taken Seb’s advice to heart a long time ago, promising himself that his mutism wouldn’t define him. Not in life and not at his job. At times he needed to remind himself of his oath, but it was always there, permanently etched into his brain. The THIRDS placed its trust in him, gave him a chance to be exceptional on an elite team, despite his mutism and social anxiety. He couldn’t let them down. Couldn’t let his team down. He’d have to try harder.

“Hey.” Calvin put a hand to Ethan’s chest to stop him in his tracks. “I know that look. Stop. You’re too hard on yourself. We’re dealing with TIN now, remember? Whole other ballgame. Cut yourself some slack.”

Ethan nodded, but the frown on Calvin’s face said he could see right through him. He looked like he wanted to say something, then decided against it. Silently, they crossed the large empty indoor lot to where the BearCat was parked. It was the only vehicle there. Ethan had no idea where they were. Austen had driven the BearCat from HQ to wherever this was. The ballistic windows on their vehicle had been shielded so they couldn’t see outside.

The back door opened after Calvin knocked, and Ethan helped him climb in. From the looks of it, his teammates hadn’t fared any better. Cael was in his Therian form with almost as many red paint spots as black spots. He was chirping angrily at his brother, who had one big red paint splat in the middle of his forehead. Ash was glaring at Dex, which wasn’t really anything new. There were red paint marks all over Ash. Letty and Rosa had fewer paint marks. The only one who didn’t have paint on him was Sloane. Ethan cocked his head to one side. He showed Sloane his red-stained glove, then pointed to the back of his head. With an unimpressed look, Sloane turned. There was a big red paint splat on his ass.

Ethan burst into laughter.

“Well, I’m glad someone finds this funny,” Dex grumbled. He looked Calvin over. “You look nice and clean. Did you make it out?”

“We thought we had. Turns out there was a sniper.” Calvin took a seat on the bench next to Rosa while Ethan showed Dex the back of his head. He turned with a frown and shook his head.

“Ethan didn’t see it or feel the blow.”

“Damn. You didn’t feel it?” Dex pointed to his forehead. “This shit knocked me on my ass. Fucking hurt like a bitch. It still burns.”

“You’re going to have that for days,” Ash said with a laugh.

The security console’s speakers buzzed, and Sparks’s voice came through. “Austen will get you back to HQ. I expect to see you all in the training bay. Clean yourselves off before you reach HQ. There are extra uniforms in the duffle bags.”

Rosa got up to help Cael with his shift and PSTC, hitting the button to drop the privacy screen. As Cael shifted, Ash spoke quietly. As if Sparks couldn’t hear them. Ethan wouldn’t be surprised if she’d placed wiretaps in the showers at HQ. She seemed to know every move they made no matter where they were. It was unsettling.

“Why us? Sparks hasn’t given us a reason why she’s picked us for her so-called specialist training. My fucking bruises have bruises. It’s not like we work for her. Them. Whoever the fuck they are.” Ash jutted a thumb toward the front cabin of the truck. Ethan’s frown deepened. He wasn’t crazy about Austen driving his BearCat.

“I don’t know, but it’s good for us,” Sloane replied, removing his boots so he could put on a clean pair of tac pants. Dex playfully smacked Sloane’s ass.

“They shot your ass off,” Ash reminded Sloane.

“Because someone decided he was going to be John McClane and thought the fire hose he’d tied around his waist would hold him as he jumped through a window,” Sloane grumbled, buttoning up his clean tac pants.

Ethan shook his head at Dex, who blinked innocently. “Had that wall been real and made of concrete instead of shitty plaster, it would have worked.”

“I had to save his ass and in return lost mine.”

Calvin grinned wickedly at Dex. “Did you say the line?”

Dex looked affronted. “Dude. Of course I said the line.”

“This is bullshit,” Ash grumbled as he finished buttoning up a clean shirt. “We’ve been fucking training since this morning, and now she wants us back at HQ training some more? This was supposed to be our day off.”

Sloane rolled his eyes. “We’ve been at this for weeks. Quit bitching. We agreed, remember?”

Ash’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “No. Nope. I’m pretty sure I didn’t agree to jack shit.
You
agreed for us. The CQC and Muay Thai is one thing, but all that other shit? Why? We don’t know who the hell these TIN guys are or what they do. What happens when the training is over? What are we even training
for
?”

Ash was kind of right. Technically, none of them had agreed to anything, but Sloane was also right. The extra training would be good for them. The last few months proved being better prepared wouldn’t hurt. When he’d first joined the THIRDS, their callouts had been mostly disturbances, high-risk warrant cases, and providing backup for Recon with the occasional Therian gone feral. Nowadays it seemed like someone was always trying to blow them up or shoot them down. Ethan hated to admit it, but he also agreed with Ash. Were they supposed to blindly follow Sparks? Ethan trusted her, to an extent. Their training was intense, with some disciplines far more than they needed for the THIRDS. It was rare for them to come up against a perp who also happened to be a secret spy.