Double Dose (Research & Desire)

by Katie Allen

  Swiveling his chair around, Cal gave a rare grin as he smacked Lauren on the butt. “Listen to you—’get a visual.’ You’re growing up to be a real militia babe. But you don’t have to lock the doors. I put the lodge in lockdown when I saw the first lab fucker. All entrances are sealed.”

  With a yelp, she dodged his hand a little too late. Rubbing her backside, she narrowed her eyes at Cal. “Enough pandering to your masculine insecurities,” she said, grabbing Daphne by the hand and hauling her toward the interior door. Benjy’s arms had tightened around her at first, but he released her after she gave him an entreating look. “We’re going to do something badass and useful.”

  “Stay away from the windows!” Ari’s shout followed them.

  “Wait,” Tom called, hurrying after them. “I want to help.”

  Lauren and Daphne stopped, allowing him to catch up.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I couldn’t take sitting in there any longer, just waiting for those lab guys to move in on us.”

  “Yeah, I like having something to do,” Daphne agreed. “Speaking of that, what exactly is the plan?”

  “I think we should stop in Claire’s lab first.” Lauren led the way. “She’s been working on some less-than-lethal weapons, so I figured we could raid her stash.”

  “Oh!” Daphne remembered something from her first tour of the lodge. “She was doing something with flash-bang grenades.”

  Tossing a grin over her shoulder, Lauren pushed open the door to the lab. “And tranquilizer darts, using a variation of the drug Ari used to knock you out. She got the idea when one of the lab guys shot Cal with a tranq gun. She prefers—and I have to agree with her on this one—to have self-defense options that don’t result in dead guys, even if they are the bad ones.”

  “Sounds smart to me,” Tom said. “If we start leaving dead bodies, we lose our moral high ground pretty fast.”

  “Especially if we’re going to try to spin this to the FBI so our guys look like innocent angels,” Daphne added, then paused. “Not that it’s not true—them being good guys, I mean.”

  Tom gave her a dimpled and wicked grin. “I can’t speak for the rest of them, but Darwin’s definitely no angel.”

  Lauren and Daphne laughed.

  Turning a slow circle in the center of the lab, Daphne made a face. “I feel weird digging around in here, like we’re trespassing in Claire’s private space.”

  “She won’t mind.” Lauren opened a closet and pulled out a couple of empty duffel bags. “Let’s fill these to bring back to the workshop.”

  It was easy to find the flash-bangs, stored carefully in plastic storage boxes lined up against one wall. The five unloaded tranquilizer guns were stashed in a closet, but the darts were trickier to find. Daphne finally located them in the refrigerator.

  “Here, you guys,” she said, using her foot to hold open the fridge door while carefully pulling out two wire racks. Each one held a dozen darts. “They must need to stay cool.”

  Tom hurried over to take one of the racks. “Should we put them in a cooler? There are a couple of portable ones in that cupboard.” He gestured with his chin.

  “Good idea,” Lauren said, hurrying to pull one of the small plastic coolers out of the cupboard. “This will help keep them from breaking too.”

  While Lauren arranged the racks to fit in the cooler, topping them off with a couple of cold packs from the freezer, Daphne took another look around the lab. “Is there anything else that might be useful?”

  “I’m guessing there is, but I’m not sure what. I’d want to check with Claire before using anything else, just so we don’t blow up the place by accident.” Lauren lowered the lid on the cooler. “What do you think is taking them so long? Claire, Ed and Darwin, I mean?”

  Tom paled, staring blindly at the duffel zipper he was closing.

  “I’m sure they’re okay,” Daphne hurried to reassure him, giving Lauren a meaningful look.

  “Of course they are!” Lauren immediately chimed in, although her words were a little too vehement to be reassuring. “I imagine they holed up somewhere else—in one of the billion emergency bunkers, probably. If anything went wrong, Cal and Ari would’ve noticed on the cameras. Those things cover almost the entire property.”

  “Right,” Tom said, although he didn’t sound too sure as he shouldered the duffel’s strap. “He’s not helpless. If anyone can take care of himself, it’s Darwin.”

  Daphne grabbed the other bag as Lauren picked up the cooler. They exited the lab, closing the door behind them. As they crossed the dining room, Daphne had to resist sneaking over to one of the windows to peek outside. She felt blind to what was happening, and she hated that.

  “Get your asses in here!”

  Ari’s bellow made her jump and then freeze. For the first panicked second, she thought he’d read her mind and knew about her impulse to check out the view from the dining room windows. Then her brain snapped back into logic mode, and she moved toward the workshop. Ari came barreling through the door.

  “They’re moving,” he snapped, sounding pissed rather than scared, although his eyes were fierce as they landed on her. “Get in here. We’ll get you to one of the bunkers through the tunnels.”

  “Darwin’s still out there,” Tom objected, and Ari turned toward the other man.

  “He’ll have taken cover,” Ari assured him, just as Lauren had tried to do a few minutes earlier. “Darwin knows how to get out of a tight spot. Don’t worry.”

  Even in the scary, stressful moment, Daphne wanted to smile at how Ari could turn a phrase like “don’t worry,” which should have been reassuring, into a forceful command.

  A scream from outside drove all other thoughts out of her head.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Grace!” Ari shouted as she bolted through the dining room to the door closest to where the cry had originated. She expected him to grab her and drag her to safety at any second, but maybe Tom and Lauren being between them had slowed him down.

  As she dashed past the line of windows, she saw Claire struggling with a camouflage-wearing agent, her body between his and an unmoving Ed, who was sprawled on the ground.

  “Oh crap,” Daphne muttered, heading to one of the windows that actually opened. She dropped the duffel bag on the floor by her feet and shoved at the sash. When it didn’t budge at her initial push, she remembered Cal mentioning lockdown, and hoped everything wasn’t electronically controlled. To her relief, she saw two heavy bolts securing the window in place. She slid both open and shoved again. This time, the sash slid up several inches.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Grace?” Ari was kneeling next to her, sheltered by the wall beside the window. He’d unzipped the duffel and was hauling out tranquilizer guns and flash-bang grenades. Despite his question, he didn’t order her back to the workshop again. “Laur, do you have the darts in your cooler?”

  Still hovering in the dining room doorway, her face as pale as snow, Lauren nodded.

  “Then get your ass over here. Let’s go!”

  She jerked into action at the command, hurrying over to the window and crouching next to them, opening the cooler with shaking hands. Tom had joined them, as well, rooting through his own bag of weapons.

  “Stop putting my woman in danger, Ari, you asshole!” Calvin roared from the workshop. “Lauren, get the fuck in here!”

  “Suck it, Cal!” She handed darts one at a time to Ari as he loaded all five guns. “I told you—I’m being useful, damn it!”

  Daphne choked on a hysterical laugh, which she quickly smothered, focusing on the situation outside the lodge. Claire was punching and kicking the agent, who mostly just dodged the blows. Daphne wondered if he was reluctant to fight an unarmed woman or if they’d been warned not to harm them, in a don’t-damage-the-merchandise kin
d of way. Her eyes fell on the immobile Ed, and she quickly revised that theory. It was obvious from his unconscious—or worse—state that someone was willing to hurt them.

  She turned her head when Ari nudged her, offering her a tranq gun. “Flash-bang first. It’s going to take me out of the game for a few seconds, so you’ll need to be the one to dart him. He’s wearing a vest, so aim for the neck or below the waist. These all have a scope, so it’s pretty simple, but take your time aiming.” He passed Lauren and Tom a gun. “First, though, cover your ears and close your eyes.”

  It took a second to realize he’d just tossed a flash-bang toward the agent struggling with Claire. She quickly squeezed her eyes closed and clapped her hands over her ears, the tranq gun clunking her painfully in the head when she did so. Even with prior warning, the bright light and heavy boom stunned her into immobility for a moment.

  “Shit, that hurts,” Ari grunted, pressing one hand against his ear with his eyes squeezed shut. The sound of his voice made her refocus on what she needed to do.

  Coming up onto her knees, she steadied the gun on the bottom of the window frame. The agent had dropped his hold on Claire and was staggering as if he were drunk, his hands clapped over his ears. Since the agent’s neck looked a lot smaller than his butt, she decided to go with the bigger target. He turned so his back was to her, which made lining up the shot easier. Before she could think about what she was doing and the many, many ways it could go wrong, she pulled the trigger.

  The agent yelped, twisting around to grab at the dart planted in the back of his left thigh.

  “Nice shot!” Ari commended, but she didn’t have any time to glow in his praise. There was a roar, and Darwin ran out from behind one of the cabins toward Ed’s limp body, crossing the ground at an inhuman speed. The flash-bang had knocked Claire back onto her ass, but, blinking and shaking her head, she had managed to scoot on her seat until she was next to Ed, her upper body draped protectively over him.

  Agents came from every direction, emerging from between the trees and from behind cabins. Darwin didn’t hesitate, but tackled the one nearest to Ed and Claire. Although Daphne couldn’t see what Darwin did to the other man, it must have been something serious, since the agent stayed down while Darwin launched himself at the next approaching agent.

  “Fuck!” Ari said, jumping to his feet, leaving the tranq gun. As he reached the door, Ari unbolted it and yanked it open, barely pausing to order, “Lock this behind me!” before he was outside. Daphne took a step toward the door, not sure if she was about to follow him or obey his command to re-bolt it, when Cal and Benjy flew past her after Ari, making her stumble back against the wall by the window.

  Daphne rushed to lock the door before crawling back into position. There, she saw Darwin, Ari, Benjy and Cal kicking and punching as if they were in a martial arts movie played at fast-forward, knocking dazed agents to the ground as if the lab guys were cardboard cutouts. Other agents hid in the trees and behind buildings, firing tranquilizer darts when they had semi-clear shots. The four bionic men dodged and ducked, moving so quickly they almost seemed to blur, and two agents went down from friendly dart fire.

  A movement next to one of the garages caught her eye. It was an agent peering around the corner of the shed, aiming what looked like a real gun—not just a tranquilizer gun—at Darwin’s back.

  “Watch out,” she screamed, although Darwin most likely couldn’t hear her over the noise of the fight. Daphne took aim, trying to steady her shaking gun, but the agent dropped to the ground before she could squeeze the trigger. She looked between her unfired gun and the agent lying on the ground, confused.

  “Take that, motherfucker,” Tom crowed, and Daphne finally realized he’d shot the agent with a dart before she could.

  “Nice,” she said, holding up a shaking fist. Tom bumped it, looking more ferocious than she’d ever seen him.

  “No one messes with my man,” he said with satisfaction, and she let out a nervous burble of laughter.

  “Three o’clock,” Lauren said, adjusting the angle of her dart gun.

  Daphne turned to face where Lauren was aiming, since her brain was too amped to figure out clock-face directions right at the moment. Three agents were running out of the trees toward the cluster of men. Ari, Darwin, Benjy and Cal had formed an outward-facing circle around Ed and Claire, fighting in their fast, efficient style. It was so fascinating to watch that Daphne had to drag her attention away to focus on the approaching agents.

  She took aim and pulled the trigger, her stomach dropping as the dart bounced off the nearest agent’s helmet. After reloading, she focused on her target again, trying not to think about how close he was to their men. This time, her dart buried itself right above the agent’s collar. He tripped, falling forward, and landed on his face. Once he was down, he didn’t move.

  The other two agents were also on the ground. Daphne assumed that was due to Tom and Lauren. She didn’t have time to think about it, though, since there seemed to be an unending stream of agents. Daphne didn’t allow herself to dwell on what was happening to the men—her men—fighting for their lives. She just shot darts at the agents, reloaded and shot again, until Lauren’s cry brought her out of the zone.

  Following Lauren’s horrified gaze to the center of the fighting, she saw that four agents had Cal pinned to the ground. They were on the far side of the group, and too many bodies blocked the attacking agents from the reach of their tranquilizer darts. Grabbing a handful of darts, Lauren dove for the door, fumbling open the locks and then dashing outside.

  Daphne looked at Tom and, as if by mutual, unvoiced agreement, they snatched up the remainder of the darts and followed Lauren through the door.

  * * *

  Daphne had never even been in a shoving match as a kid. If she had to guess what a fight would be like, she could never have imagined the chaos and confusion of the battle happening outside the lodge.

  Lauren had waded into the thick of the fight, wielding the darts like daggers and working her way closer to Cal. One of the agents swung the butt of his gun toward her, and Lauren’s head jerked to the side. Daphne lost sight of her then, as Lauren was swallowed by the fighting crowd.

  She had to believe that Lauren was okay. Otherwise, Daphne knew she’d just be hysterical and useless. Trying to slow her breathing as the ground tilted beneath her, Daphne ran for the closest agent, reaching up to plunge a dart into his neck. He went down fast, and she had to jump out of the way to keep from being flattened.

  Looking up to find her next target, she saw Benjy fighting twenty feet from her. As his gaze met hers, his eyes widened and looked past her. His swinging fist faltered halfway through a punch.

  “Behind you!” he bellowed, his voice scratchy from years of disuse.

  Despite her shock at hearing him speak, instinct had her twisting and ducking, just as an arm wrapped around her neck. She plunged a dart into her attacker’s forearm. It tightened around her throat, cutting off her air for a panicky second, but then loosened as the person behind her fell backward, dragging her to the ground with him.

  As soon as they hit the ground, she scrambled away, batting at the arm still slung around her chest. She rose to her knees next to him and watched as the lab agent’s eyes rolled back and his head flopped to the side. Scrambling to her feet, she fumbled in her pocket for a dart that wasn’t there, trying to focus her blurring vision on the scene in front of her.

  She blinked. The fighting had stopped. Limp bodies were strewn around the ground, and Darwin had his knee in an agent’s back as he wrapped something around the man’s wrists. Ari was striding toward her, although there appeared to be more than one of him. She gave him—them—a loopy smile.

  “Did you hear Benjy talk?” she asked, and then everything went dark.

  * * *

  She woke to angry voices yelling something about
seeing hands. It didn’t make any sense, and her confusion made her brain hurt. With consciousness came pain, her head throbbing with each beat of her heart, and she was tempted to fall back into the syrupy darkness. Her brain didn’t allow her the option, though, and she reluctantly blinked open her eyes. The blurry blobs finally coalesced, and she realized she was cradled in Ari’s arms, with Benjy hovering close by his side, his eyes fixed on her face.

  “What the hell just happened here?” Turning her head, Daphne saw Agent Banner striding toward them.

  “You have a medic?” Ari barked, rather than answering the question.

  “Two,” Banner answered with barely a pause before barking over his shoulder. “Anderson! Baldwin! You’re needed over here!”

  A man and a woman ran toward them, wearing FBI jackets but carrying medical bags. When they got close, they looked around with wide eyes, taking in the multitude of downed lab agents. Some were groaning and moving slightly, pushing up to their knees or shaking their heads, but the majority was still unconscious.

  “Ah...who first?” the male medic asked, and Ari strode forward, still carrying Daphne.

  “This one,” he said, but she started shaking her head.

  “I’m fine,” she protested. “Check Ed first. And Lauren—one of these guys hit her with his gun. Oh, and Claire’s pregnant. She needs to be checked.”

  “Grace,” Ari muttered, a warning in his voice, but she put on her most stubborn expression and shook her head.

  “I decline medical attention,” she said in a loud, clear voice. “So go help the others. Just don’t give priority to any of those guys in camouflage.”

  “Here,” Cal said, bringing everyone’s attention to him. He was sitting on the ground, Lauren in his lap. She was conscious and talking—arguing, by the looks of it—and Daphne let out a relieved breath. The female medic headed toward them, while the other one made his way to where Claire cradled Ed’s head in her lap. He was still unconscious.