Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

74

THERON

SALZBURG, AUSTRIA

We were standing in a warehouse in Salzburg. Weapons were strewn around tables mixed with the maps of the terrain. A disassembled AR sat in front of me as I cleaned it under the dingy lights. Nyx strode across the main floor with another man in step behind him, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

He pushed shaggy brown hair out of his eyes and looked around the room. He looked like a tech version of Bruce Wayne—tall, muscled and calculating.

“Guys, this is West Blackwood,”

Nyx said, clasping the man on the shoulder. He pointed us out in turn for introductions. “That’s Atlas Sterling, Trent Knight and Theron North.”

Knight walked over and took his bag, shaking West’s hand.

“Welcome to the team,”

Knight grinned.

“Thanks,”

West said. “So a treasure hunt, huh? That’s a first for me.”

Before anyone could answer, I heard a motorcycle rumble to a stop outside the warehouse doors and looked over at Knight.

“She’s here,” I sighed.

A moment later the door slammed and the storm herself sauntered across the room. All black leather hugged lethal curves and aviators flashed as she pushed them to the top of her head. Dark auburn red hair fell down her back in tousled waves, messy from her helmet. She smirked around a cigarette smoking gently between her lips.

“Hello boys,”

she said, extending her arms out.

Blue eyes flashed with amusement as she took in the room. Her gaze lingered on Knight before fastening on me. Dragging her eyes down my body and back up she stopped in front of me. We stared at each other. I took the cigarette from her lips, took a deep pull and exhaled the smoke into the space between us before I dropped it and stubbed it out with my boot.

“Hello, Mads,”

I said. “You look good.”

The smirk widened. “So do you, T,” she said.

We stared at each other for another moment before she winked at me and walked over to Knight, throwing her arms around his neck. He lifted her up and twirled her around, kissing her cheek lightly before setting her back down.

“Hey, gorgeous,”

he said. “Glad you could join us.”

“I’m sure not everyone is as excited,”

she said dryly, flashing a look in my direction.

Knight chuckled. “Well, you know how convincing I can be.”

She barked out a laugh. “Nah, there’s just no denying I’m the best.”

She looked around at the others and I could see her hungrily assessing them.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

She asked no one in particular.

Nyx stepped up, holding out his hand and flashing her a charming grin.

“Nyxon—but you can call me Nyx,”

he nodded across the room. “That brooding hottie is Atlas and this is West.”

Atlas didn’t move but nodded to her from where he was leaning back against a table, cleaning a sniper rifle. West waved a hand without turning around, concentrating on setting up his computer.

“Lively bunch you have here,”

Mads said with a look back at me. “Is this all of us?”

As if in answer, the door slammed again and a tall man in a light blue t-shirt and jeans with combat boots strode into the room.

“Knight, you bastard,”

he said with a grin. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.”

“Can’t get rid of me that easily,”

Knight laughed as they embraced. He turned to the group and gestured to us again. “Everyone—this is Lachlan Frey—former Austrian special forces and the town drunk.”

“I seem to remember you matching me shot for shot,”

Lachlan said, shaking hands with everyone. “North—good to see you again, man.”

“That must be why he doesn’t remember,”

I said dryly. “Good to see you, Lachlan.”

I watched Lachlan’s eyes land on Mads and instantly his smirk turned feral. He took her hand and stepped closer.

“Ah, and who might this be?”

“Rebel Madigan,”

she said, looking at him with equal curiosity. “I go by Mads.”

“A dangerous name—”

he let his gaze sweep her lazily from head to toe. “For a dangerous woman.”

In all my years of knowing Mads, this was the first time I’d ever seen pink tint her cheeks.

“Wow,”

Knight said, catching on to what I saw. “I think you’re the first person to ever make her blush.”

“Fuck off, Pyro,”

Mads said, not looking away from Lachlan.

“Okay, well if you two are done eye fucking each other, we have work to do,”

Knight snickered.

We gathered around one of the center tables where I’d spread a map. We’d already sent the other documents and historical information to them earlier so they could familiarize themselves with what we were going after.

“Besides environmental logistical problems,”

I said. “There are the contractors to contend with. Lachlan.”

“Yeah, there’s a company that services that area. They’re hired by the government. Nothing much happens out there besides the occasional tourist so as you can imagine that’s a recipe for a trigger happy finger.”

“How many?”

Mads asked.

“Hard to say, but I did take a peek around there a few days ago and it looks like they built a semi-permanent compound on the border of the mountains to make rotating the shifts easier so we have to anticipate plenty of company.”

Lachlan held Mads' gaze again for so long I finally cleared my throat to get his attention.

“Anyway—”

He turned a wide smile on me. “Should be fun. There are some access roads once you make it into that area but there’s only one leading in and out. The terrain is difficult so let’s hope we can stick to the plan and don’t have to improvise.”

“Alright, West will hang back and operate the drone so we have constant eyes in the sky,”

I said. “When we find the gold, it’s going to require multiple trips to the loading point. We’ll take out the two outposts here and here—”

I pointed to the map. “Lach, you said the shifts are twenty-four hours so we’ll have at least that before they’re alerted that something is wrong and send backup.”

“Helo will be multiple trips,”

Mads said. “The bird can only hold so many kilos at a time, but what we need to talk about is the weather.”

“There’s a storm coming in,”

Lachlan agreed. “I don’t think it’ll hit until we’re out of there but—”

he shrugged.

“I can handle it,”

Mads smirked. “But the helo has its limits.”

“It’s your call,”

I said. “If we delay, it’ll be a few days until it looks like the weather clears.”

Mads turned to Lachlan. “This is your country. What do you think this storm will look like?”

“We have thunderstorms frequently—one of those could be a problem. Little snow up at altitude…maybe hail. But if it’s just a rainstorm, nothing you couldn’t handle I’m sure.”

He winked at her and she smiled back.

“It doesn’t look like it’s a thunderstorm, more like rain showers and maybe some snow higher up.”

She dragged her eyes away from Lachlan. “If I see anything concerning, I'll let you know.”