“Anyway, I got involved in your case when they found the body on the Thames. Since he was an informant for MI6 they wanted it to be handled discretely,” Kate said, dragging on her third cigarette.

          “Bastard…” Pierce spat.

          “No doubt, he sold out your dad to get out of a cage, what kind of animal does that?” Kate said. Pierce looked at her, surprised. “What? You think I agree with him? Granted, I probably wouldn’t have killed the bastard and put him on the banks of the Thames but I would’ve beaten the hell out of him. You don’t **** with family.”

          “Agreed. So how did you figure out it wasn’t my dear father but me who wanted to kill the Prime Minister?”

          “First off, I didn’t know that you wanted to kill the Prime Minister, thanks for clearing that up. I figured you might kidnap him like you did with Sarah,” Kate said. Pierce winced. “You really didn’t want to do that, though, did you?”

          “If I had had my intelligence maybe I wouldn’t have had to,” Pierce said. Kate snorted.

          “Don’t blame that **** on me, ****. No one put a gun to your head and told you to abduct a ten year old,” Kate growled. Another wave of shudders cascaded over Kate. Sweat poured from her scalp, burning the bloody wounds on her face. “Say, you think I could get some Aspirin?”

          “What’s your name again?” Pierce asked.

          “You know what, never mind,” Kate said.

          An hour after the initial meeting all of the assembled troops were on the USS Wasp, steaming towards Devils Cay. They would anchor fifty knots away, which was just out of radar reach but well within the helicopter’s range. As soon as they touched ground, Jack had requested a quiet room with a coffee maker and a stereo. Fifteen minutes later, Max brought in the crates of explosives and was shocked to see that Jack already had all over her tools organized and ready to go.

          “Max, have you ever worked with explosives?” Jack asked without looking up from her tool kit.

          “No,” Max admitted.

          “Then you stand over there and you don’t touch **** unless I tell you to, alright? I’d rather not blow up the entire ship,” Jack said.

          “Roger that,” Max said, walking to the far side of the room. He set his laptop down and began booting up. “While you’re busy not blowing us up what do you want me to be doing?”

          “I want you to start hacking into the island’s power supply. We’re going to need to scare Pierce but not so much that he knows we’re coming. Also, see what you can do about the cell phone signals. Ignoring our call will not be an option for Pierce,” Jack said, carefully opening the crates. “Oooh semtex, how do I adore thee, let me count the ways.”

          Max chuckled while pecking away at his keyboard.

          “Just curious, how did you learn to work with explosives?” Max asked.

          “My mom was a defense contractor,” Jack said. “She always had plans and books about stuff at home and I just picked it up. When I went to MIT I focused on physics mostly so I could blow stuff up. I did not intend to blow up an actual building, though.”

          “Wait, you picked up bomb building by reading a few books?” Max asked.

          “Photographic memory,” Jack said, setting a brick of C4 on the table. She then turned to the stereo and flipped it on. Harsh rap began blaring through the speakers. Jack closed her eyes and listened for a moment before bending down over the explosives. “See that timing device on the corner of the table?”

          “Yeah,” Max said.

          “Pass it over,” Jack said, pointing. Max leaned over and handed it to her, his fingers brushing hers. Jack pulled back and blushed before bending over her work again.

          “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a rap fan,” Max said.

          “Living in New York gave me an appreciation for it. Before that it was punk rock all the way.”

          “Oh, like Avril,” Max snorted. Jack laughed.

          “No, like the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash, the Pixies,” Jack listed off. Max looked up at her, stunned. “What?”

          “Not many Harvard grads rock out to the Ramones,” Max said.

          “Nor do many Yale boys,” Jack pointed out. “But don’t hate on Avril, she’s got some catchy ****.”

          “Whatever,” Max laughed.

          Emily sat with the other Royal Marines, carefully taking apart Kate’s rifle and cleaning it methodically. Iris walked up to her and sat down across from her.

          “Are you nervous?” Iris whispered. Emily looked up and grinned.

          “No, not at all. This is what we do,” Emily said, nodding at the other marines around her. Iris nodded and looked down. “Iris, you’ve been in the **** before.”

          “I know, but not like this,” Iris sighed. Emily set down the barrel and studied Iris for a moment before speaking.

          “You remember the first time we met?” Emily asked.

          “Yeah, your unit was covering me and another spy as we bugged a building,” Iris said. “Thank God you were, otherwise I’d be dead.”

          “That was nothing,” Emily said. “Easiest **** shot I ever took.”

          “Easy for you, he had a knife to my throat!” Iris said.

          “Only for a moment,” Emily grinned. “As I recall, he didn’t have a head for much longer.”

          “Yes he did, only it was sprayed all over me,” Iris shivered. Emily laughed again. “Seriously, that took forever to get out of my hair.”

          “Wear a stocking next time,” Emily said.

          Kelly sat studying the plans for the island alone. Greg was busy coordinating with Pete, Gibson and Jordan across the ship. Neil walked over and sat next to her.

          “For the record, you shouldn’t be going on this mission,” Neil said.

          “For the record, you can kiss my ****,” Kelly replied.

          “Been there, done that,” Neil scoffed. Kelly looked up at Neil and fixed him with a glare. “Allow me to explain, please.”

          “Fine,” Kelly said.

          “We’re going on that island to rescue Kate. What are you going to do if you run into this Pierce?”

          “Follow the rules of engagement,” Kelly said, looking back down at the plans.

          “****. If you get a shot you’re going to take it, and I don’t blame you…” Neil said. “But Kelly, I’ve been around you when you’ve killed people before. It’s not pretty. And now you’ve got two kids to go home to and a husband who loves you… you can’t just lose your ****. You’ve got a family to think about.”

          “I am thinking of my family. I’m thinking about my little sister being in unimaginable pain and the bastard who’s responsible for it. I’m also thinking about how she shouldn’t be there because some low-life prick I used to **** was too chicken-**** to tell me she was being followed,” Kelly growled.

          “Hindsight is 20-20,” Neil said.

          “So is the sight of my rifle,” Kelly said. “And if you ever **** around with my sister or any of my team members again you’ll find that out first hand.”

          Neil stared at Kelly, shocked. She had punched him and called him all sorts of foul names before but she had never threatened to kill him before. Neil nodded.

          “Fair enough, Senior Agent. But don’t let your opinion of me color your opinion of my team. They’re good men and they’ll be risking their lives to protect your team and save your sister. So show some respect, alright?”

          “I always show respect to those who deserve it, Neil.”

          Everyone glanced up nervously when the ship slid to a stop. Pete entered the main holding area where all of the marines and Dogs were waiting.

          “We’re in position, we still have an hour before nightfall, though.”

          “Do we have proof of life?” Gibson asked.

          “SOS will make contact in an hour. As soon as we get the proof we roll out,” Pete said. “Get your gear and break into loading teams.”

          Kelly entered the room where Jack and Max were finishing up. On the table rested fourteen identical bombs.

          “Holy ****,” Kelly muttered. “You did that in four hours?”

          “I had a good assistant and some really strong coffee. Marines don’t **** around,” Jack said. “Get these to the helicopters; they need to be dropped on the defensive structures. They don’t need to worry; these things won’t detonate until I tell them to.”

          “Have you figured out proof of life?” Kelly asked.

          “Oh we got that,” Jack laughed. “Pierce is going to piss himself.”

          “Tell me something, Jack, is there anything that you’re not good at?” Kelly asked. Jack pursed her lips in thought for a moment before grinning wickedly.

          “No.”

          Max busied himself with his laptop, blushing bright red.

          “You still haven’t told me how you managed to figure out it was me behind the assassination attempt and not my father,” Pierce said, lighting his own cigarette.

          “You still have me chained to a chair,” Kate said. “I mean, come on, I’ve got a broken wrist and heroin withdraws, how much damage can I do?”

          “Enough, I’ve seen what you did to the others when you were untied,” Pierce said.

          “Fair point,” Kate nodded. “Alright, let’s just say that you have a really nice study. And that pool table is freaking sweet…”

          “You bugged my house?” Pierce asked, his tone going cold.

          “Technically, I bugged your father’s house,” Kate said. Pierce jumped to his feet and reached back to hit Kate when his phone rang. He froze, confused.

          “Now, see, that’s just rude. When you’re torturing somebody put your phone on silent!” Kate said, shuddering with cold.