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Pshaw… never! Me? It’s called creative writing (and I’m dying laughing over here)
“Once upon a time…
Long, long ago…
There was a HANDSOME knight…”
Austin
P.S. – See what I did there? Oh! And to make sure you show up tonight for our ‘fence rendezvous’. I’ve got a treat for you!
* * *
Austin lookedup in surprise as someone cursed loudly from the hallway and there was a commotion. Ricochet was getting to his feet, and he saw Copperhead running just as someone started screaming for security.
“What the…” Riptide said openly, following him as two security guards went racing into Reilly’s office… and heard more screaming as the door opened.
“I HATE YOUR SMUG ATTITUDE AND HOW YOU THINK YOU ARE BETTER THAN EVERYONE! YOU ARE NOBODY! DO YOU HEAR ME? I WILL HAVE YOUR WINGS FOR THIS STUNT AND YOU WILL NEVER…”
“Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Reilly, you need to remove your hands from First Lieutenant Merrick – now, sir,” one of the security detail began as the door started to close behind him…
Ricochet threw out both of his arms to stop them, catching Austin in the throat painfully… and Riptide caught him bodily to keep him from hitting the ground. He gagged and coughed several times, before glaring at the blond man before him.
That really smarted!
“Are you okay?” Ricochet asked quietly, before holding up his finger to his lips at the men surrounding him.
“What is the world is going on?” Riptide hissed. “Oh man, Colonel Bradford, too? Ohhhh boy, someone’s gonna hang!”
“Maestro’s in there,” Ricochet said grimly.
“Oh no… no, no, no.”
“Sup, fellas,” Paradox said from behind them as Austin turned and burst out laughing. His buddy was standing there holding a bag of popcorn – and threw a popped kernel in his mouth, chewing and grinning broadly. “Has the show begun?”
“How did you know?” Austin asked, grinning – and reached for a handful of popcorn.
Paradox shrugged evasively, but there was a glimmer of satisfaction in his face that told him the man knew exactly why security was in there.
“Shhhh!” Ricochet hissed.
“… Escort Lieutenant Colonel Reilly to his quarters, and I need a report from each of you on what has just transpired.”
All of them stepped to the side, immediately saluting – and not making eye-contact as the security team walked Colonel Reilly down the hallway.
“Merrick, you know you cannot jump two ranks, but dang, son…” Bradford was saying just before the door shut.
“… And we need to go,” Paradox chimed in quickly, grabbing Austin’s arm and dragging him into the nearest room – and the others followed immediately. “We don’t want to be caught eavesdropping on Bradford – especially if Reilly is in trouble. I’m going on vacation, and I’ll be darned if I lose my trip out of sheer curiosity.”
“What do you think just happened?” Austin asked openly, grateful Paradox was watching out for him because the temptation to go peek at the debacle that was unfolding was awfully strong.
“I think we are getting a new leader.”
“Reaper?”
“Depends if Bradford actually bumps him two ranks,” Ricochet said openly, looking at Paradox. “You just made rank – and Reaper got bumped two years ago, but he’s still BPZ.”
“You think he’ll do that with Reaper being ‘below promotion zone’?”
