by Anya Nowlan
It’s all in your head. She’s not here. You’re never going to see her again. Get yourself screwed back straight and focus on the damn mission, man!
It was easier said than done.
Eight
Prowler
“This is adding insult to injury,” Price commented, as they were buttoning up their shirts.
Every single one of the Shifter Squad Nine operatives had gotten their very own Hawaiian shirt. There was nothing quite as ridiculous as a bunch of battle-hardened warriors trying to blend in by wearing shirts that were at best an assault on the eyes and at worst complete nightmares.
“Yeah, well, a uniform’s a uniform,” Ryker said mildly, looking far too pleased with his choice of shirt.
His had large red and black flowers on them and frankly, it looked exactly like something Ryker would wear. Rio had slouched down in a plush armchair in the large suite that connected all their rooms, looking pretty okay in his shirt as well – white and yellow flowers and birds mingling together to form a garish print.
“I don’t think they’re so bad,” Prowler said, shrugging his shoulders.
He leaned back, taking a tentative seat on the arm of a couch. At least he didn’t look anywhere near as awkward as Thor did, for instance. The dark and gloomy sniper of the squad was about the last man who you’d expect to see wearing something like… well, that.
Price was simply annoyed and Prowler didn’t have the energy to deal with it. While he was glad to be back on the job, he felt a bit off that day and he didn’t need Price’s negative energy to add to it. For some reason, Prowler couldn’t stop looking around himself, expecting something to constantly happen.
He’d been fine while they’d been standing around on the docks, but as soon as he’d gotten on the ship, everything had changed. There was a presence somewhere that he sensed but couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something was off, or at least it was throwing him off. He didn’t like it.
“So you going to tell us what this is all about, Slicey?” Prowler finally asked, turning his attention to Dice.
They’d been training together over the last two months, but there had been no missions. It was curious. Even when someone was out of commission in a squad, it still usually meant that the rest of the men would be put to good use.
There had been plenty of shit going down in the world lately and by the looks of things, the other elite squads were as busy as ever, but for some reason Spade had not called on any of them. In fact, the man had been curiously absent altogether.
That was never a good thing.
“It’s exactly what it looks like,” Dice said, leaning back comfortably in his own seat.
His hand still kept going to his leg, massaging it every now and then. While all of them were more than used to picking up large, devastating injuries, there were some that simply seemed to stay with a man for longer than expected. Getting half your thigh blown out was one of those, it appeared.
Prowler cringed slightly, touching his side where he’d ended up practically regrowing half a lung and two ribs a while back. Glancing around the room, he could see most of his brothers in arms doing the same. They all had their wounds to remember ‘fondly.’
“I get the feeling they’re trying to ease us back into the action, really. This is supposed to be a recon mission. We have a contact on the ship, I don’t know who yet. They’ve been here for the past month or so, in a leading position within the crew. The Firm seems to think that this cruise will be a meeting point for several high-ranking Arctics scientists and lieutenants.”
Prowler nodded quietly, soaking up the information.
“Makes sense, I guess. This place is chock full of shifters, easy to blend into the crowd for any Arctics,” Rio commented.
“And for us as well,” Dice continued. “So we’re going to do our damndest. Mingle. Don’t draw attention to yourself too much, but remember that this is supposed to be a singles cruise. If you seem violently disinterested in the idea of making a connection with someone, you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb.”
Prowler was looking down at his hands when he suddenly felt like he was in the center of attention. Looking up, he could see the rest of the squad split their attentions between him and Price.
“What?” he asked.
“They’re expecting us to take up the brunt of the mingling,” Price said, sounding a tad bit too bitter about it.
Prowler frowned, ready to continue with his questions, before the realization hit him.
We’re the only ones here unattached.
“Hey, that’s unfair,” he protested with a snort. “What if we don’t want to tear up the damn cruise ship, scouting for tail?”
The guffaws that rattled through the room made him cringe.
Should have seen that one coming.
He and Price were, after all, the biggest hound dogs in the whole crew. Even before the rest of the squad had ended up coupling up in exceedingly more ridiculous ways, it was usually Price and Prowler spending their nights out on the town, chasing hot pieces of ass. The squad couldn’t possibly know that neither one of the Renard twins had been quite up to their usual level of sexual deviancy lately.
“Fine, fine, we get it,” Prowler snorted. “Make fools out of ourselves, but not too much. Aye, aye, cap’n!”
He gave Dice a mocking salute and Price mirrored his movement. The moment their pale green eyes met one another, Prowler could read that his brother was thinking exactly the same thing as he was. They definitely were not looking forward to this mission one bit.
“Well, that’s settled then,” Dice said, scruffing a hand through his hair. “As far as we know, this one shouldn’t come with any gunfights at all. Intel seems to be certain that this mission is hands off, ears on. We only need to listen and learn as much as we can. Most of the ship has been bugged and our contact will have access to the information. If luck’s on our side, then we’re mostly just going to be sipping Margaritas by the poolside.”
“That doesn’t sound too grueling,” Ryker commented with a smirk.
“Yeah, because we’re so good at staying out of trouble,” Price added with a sigh.
“Intel hasn’t been right about most things lately,” Thor said suddenly, drawing glances from the rest of the squad.
Silent nods backed up his assessment and Dice’s expression was grim. Their fearless leader couldn’t exactly disagree with an obvious truth.
“You’re right about that,” Dice nodded, his tone kept even. “But we can’t do much about that, can we? This did come from Spade, but through one of his assistants, not him directly. I haven’t heard from him lately much. And that last mission? That intel wasn’t his either, it came from one of his lackeys.”
“They might not be his lackeys anymore,” Prowler said, scowling as he mulled over that possibility.
What Amy had told him had stuck with him. The more he thought about it, the more right she seemed. It didn’t feel like Spade to let things go to hell for no reason. The fact that Shifter Squad Nine had gotten into a few scuffles as of late that almost killed them was also worrying. Either Spade didn’t give a shit about them – which was probably always true – or things were getting so bad that he didn’t have much of a chance to keep his own private squad out of the worst of it.
Or he trusts us to stay alive through all this shit.
All of the options made sense in their own way. It didn’t exactly make zeroing in on the actual reason very easy.
“You mean you think someone’s ousting Spade?” Dice asked, his voice dangerously even now.
“Could be,” Price said with a shrug. “He used to be a lot more in our face and lately, it looks like The Firm isn’t behind him anymore, more like in his way.”
Murmuring voices struck up, everyone having something to say that added to the topic. Every man in the room had gone through a rather large pile of bullshit because of Spade and it wasn’t like they trusted the guy much. The question was whether t
hey thought that The Firm would be better or worse off without Spade.
The problem there was that despite the fact that Spade was sort of a crazy despot, he was their crazy despot. Shifter Squad Nine might as well have been called Suicide Squad Nine for all the missions they picked up and the men it consisted of. The only man who had given them a chance, however twisted it was, was the shadowy intel operative of The Firm.
“That’s enough,” Dice said suddenly, brown sneaking into his eyes, his bear coming up to the surface. “We’re done theorizing about that. Whatever we think we know, it doesn’t really matter, does it? It won’t change anything. Let’s focus on getting through this mission, enjoying the damn sun on our way to Acapulco, and hoping that this time intel was right. You’re welcome to pummel Spade with questions the next time he waltzes in to ruin the life of one of us.”
The squad settled down, nodding their agreement. Prowler’s stomach was in knots, and it had nothing to do with the topic of conversation. He felt a sudden and unbeatable urge to get up and roam.
At that very moment, the last horn sounded and the ship jerked forward, signaling that the port was going to be left behind for the open seas.
“I think it’s time to mingle,” Prowler said, getting up from his seat.
“I think you’re right,” Price agreed, his gaze steely.
As they were both reaching the door of the suite, Prowler’s step faltered for a moment at the question that Rio raised.
“Do you have any guesses on who the contact might be? Anyone we know?”
“No clue,” Dice said with a shrug.
But something told Prowler that he knew exactly who their contact was going to be.
Nine
Amy
“Everything in order?” Amy asked her first mate, the small, squat man working tirelessly around the bridge.
Jorge Ramos was a fox shifter with all the beady, haphazard energy that seemed to identify his kind. He paused, looking up from the tablet he was holding in his hands, his brown eyes meeting those of Amy’s.
“Yes, ma’am. All engines running as expected, crew and passengers accounted for and the festivities are about to begin on the lido deck. Anything that you would like me to check on?” he queried, giving her an easy smile.
“No,” Amy said, meeting his smile. “That’s perfect, Jorge.”
“Ma’am,” he nodded, skittering off to handle the departure from port.
While Amy oversaw everything from the bridge, it was the people working under her that ended up actually doing most of the tasks. It came with the territory of being a cruise ship captain.
She rolled her eyes privately, stifling a smirk.
Who would have thought two months ago that this would be my next mission?
“Nice and easy there, Peter,” she said, clapping her hand on the shoulder of the man at the controls, who was busy guiding the cruise ship out of the port now that the pilot ship had unhooked itself from The Pearl Princess.
“Aye, ma’am,” Peter confirmed.
It made Amy smile. She’d been on the post for around a month now and despite the fact that she hadn’t worked together with these people for too long, she was beginning to feel that familiar camaraderie that she’d hated to leave behind. Shadow Two had gotten a new lead – Tatiana had taken over – and Amy couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about having left them.
Orders are orders. It wasn’t your choice. You were needed here, she told herself.
She was rattling off all the reasons she’d been giving herself to make the whole thing make sense in her head since she got news of her reassignment.
In the beginning, she’d tried to find out who it was that decided to move her, but all her queries on the matter ended up in a dead end. No one was telling her anything and it only took so long for her to understand that pressing the matter would get her nowhere. She just had to live with it and hope that in the long run, it would all settle down and that the reassignment wasn’t a sign of some hidden animosity from the higher ups that she wasn’t yet aware of.
Not that it has panned out in my favor already, she thought lightly, running a hand over her stomach.
She bit her lip, letting her hand drop back to her side a moment later. Having spent slightly more than a month on The Pearl Princess now, she’d been spared the regular physicals that The Firm rigorously ran on its operatives. Her last blood draw had been months prior.
No one could know that she was pregnant yet. No one but her.
So how come she kept feeling like she had been the last one to find out?
You’re being ridiculous. No one knows yet.
Taking a soothing breath, she walked around the large bridge of The Pearl Princess. The ship really was a marvel and as much as she missed Shadow Two, Amy had quickly taken to her new life. It was a lot less deadly at least and she had to admit that there was something about starting a day not worrying about the body count she’d have to rack up that really put a spring in her step.
Before she started running recoup missions for The Firm, she had done a lot of undercover work. It came naturally to her, blending into a new existence and taking on a guise for as long as was needed. She’d found that not only was she good at tasks like that, but she also thoroughly enjoyed it.
The excitement of the unknown really got her blood pumping fast and her excitement levels spiking. Even if more often than not, the ‘excitement’ currently came from managing a bowling tournament or giving a speech at the dinner table. It wasn’t the same as running through jungles, fearing for her life, but Amy was smart to know that not all challenges in life had to look the same.
Now, of course, things were a little bit different from what they had been back when she was younger. Not only were the stakes higher than ever with the threat The Arctics were putting on the world increasing with each passing year, but she had someone else to look out for other than herself as well.
Who would have thought I’d end up here? she thought with a shake of her head.
As much as she would have liked to forget about it, she knew she was here on a job. Sometime in the near future, something was going to go to hell and she was going to have to be prepared for anything The Arctics or anyone else could throw at her.
When the ship had safely left the Miami harbor and entered open waters, Amy excused herself from the bridge. She was dressed in the white captain’s uniform and she couldn’t help but smooth her hands over the fabric of her skirt, reaching down to her knees. Though the uniform was crisp and clean, she still felt odd wearing a skirt instead of a pair of slacks, and pumps instead of combat boots.
It had taken her a few days to get used to those things, even though Amy had told herself that nothing should surprise her anymore.
Part of the flavor of life was getting surprised by things that you didn’t expect to happen, right?
“Captain,” a crewmember greeted her, stepping out of her way as she headed down the corridor that would eventually take her to the main outdoor decks.
She nodded her thanks and passed him. His name was Jonathan, from what she remembered from poring over the crew files. It had been her job to try and figure out if any of the people currently on the crew could be considered security risks, among other things. She’d flagged a few of them and kept a closer eye on them, but Jonathan wasn’t high on her list.
All this went through her head as she stepped out onto the deck, greeted by laughter and a gentle, salty breeze.
The Pearl Princess was a marvel, it really was. Not only was the ship absolutely huge, but it was state of the art, built for entertainment and comfort. Amy had never been in such lavish luxury, constantly surrounded by what she could only describe as opulence. One thing was clear, people didn’t spare any change on making their luxury cruises truly luxurious.
The first week she’d spent on the ship had gone under the guise of getting to know the vessel inside and out. During that time, she also had two techies on the ship, setting up surveilla
nce methods. They left as soon as their job was done, but hers was ongoing.
It seemed that no matter how well she knew the ship, there would still be something that would completely surprise her the very next moment.
It felt nice, though. There was a kind of stability to it.
Her career had kept taking her from place to place. Though she’d only been on The Pearl Princess for a short while, it was still a lot longer than she’d been anywhere else over the last… almost a decade. Her life had been in her duffel bag ever since she joined the Navy and things hadn’t changed a bit after she got recruited by The Firm.
A bit of stability might be just what I need, she mused, nodding to a few eager travelers as she walked along the decks.
The party was already in full-swing and she could thankfully pass through, observing, without being observed too heavily in return. While the first month had been all about acquainting herself with the vessel and letting the crew get used to her, now it was time to get down to brass tacks.
The cruise wasn’t going to stop at any ports other than to restock, which meant that whoever wanted to be on this ship and meet up had to already be here. That made everyone a target of her interest, regardless of how innocuous they looked. If the intel was right, The Pearl Princess was currently crawling with werewolves with less than pure intentions.
On top of that, she still had no idea who she was to rendezvous with. The gear for the elite team had arrived in bits and pieces over the past month and it had been a bitch trying to find locations for all of it, to tuck it away without causing a lot of raised eyebrows. Amy was beginning to feel like The Firm had emptied their entire armaments reserves onto The Pearl Princess, along with lightweight naval vessels and reconnaissance tech.
Whatever was going to go down, Amy was entirely sure that it was going to be much bigger than the initial mission prep had allowed her to assume.
