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She went. She sucked. It hurt like hell.
But when she figured out how to do a move, victory was so sweet.
And that’s when Mary made up a new rule. If she thought something looked fun, no matter who it was “made for,” the athletic girl, or the talented guy, or the math genius, whatever. Whatever pairing of words that tried to stop her from even trying, she’d try. Not once, but twenty times. As a matter of fact, Mary had yelled at Deidre, I will find twenty things to try twenty times.
Sipping a Margherita, Deidre had lounged back on the couch, watching Mary pace back and forth in her living room. “Why twenty?”
“I pulled that number out of my rear. Maybe because the boys are turning twenty. And,” she held up a finger, “and twenty times will make it a habit to look for things that might be fun. And,” she thrust that finger toward Deidre, “Twenty times will let me know if I really don’t like something or that I just didn’t want to go through the pain and humiliation of wobbly first giraffe steps.”
“Hear, hear!” Deidre had raised her glass. “And don’t get pissy when I hold you to that.”
“I do think, actually. I’m tired of meeting people when the only stories I have to tell are me watching from the sidelines. And you’re absolutely right that we were going to support each other out of that by generating a bunch of our own stories. It would be fun to say I was skiing in Switzerland over the summer. And there’s no reason to tell them it was on the baby hill. Not many people can say that they skied the Alps in summer.”
“That’s the spirit. Next cute guy who wants to buy you a drink, you can impress the shit out of him with that.”
“I’m not in this to impress guys. I’m in this to stretch myself and figure out who the heck I am when I’m not ‘hey, honey,’ or ‘Mom!’ I need to be just me for a while until I get that figured out.”
“I’m reserving our spots and boots. It says they only let so many people on the mountain.”
“I can’t imagine that it’s going to be packed. Europeans are done with their summer vacations, and it’s a Monday.”
Chapter Four
September Third
Helsinki, Finland
“Halo?” Without moving from his position in front of the hotel room door, he extended his hand. “Welcome aboard. I’m Thorn Iverson.”
“Halo St. John.” If ever a man was properly named, it was this Thorn Iverson bloke. With a few furs thrown over his shoulder and perhaps long braided hair instead of his tight military cut, Thorn could easily fill the Viking role in any movie. His grasp as they shook hands was confident with none of the bone-crushing grips Halo often received from men who wanted to make some point about their strength. Halo always read that move like a rowdy dog—all bark, no bite. Here with Thorn, though, or really any of the blokes at Iniquus, Halo didn’t pick up on any of the hazing, prove-yourself energy that tried to establish a pecking order. That might have something to do with the hiring process; each person was thoroughly assessed to ensure they deserved a place on the team.
And Halo was as proud of making that cut as he was of becoming a Commando.
“Command doesn’t mind throwing people in the deep end, understanding they already know how to swim and prefer it that way.” Thorn swept his gaze toward a door opening down the hall.
“That’s me all right,” Halo said with a smile.
“Cerberus is a tight team. You’ll enjoy working with them.” As an elderly couple left their room, heading toward the elevator, Thorn shifted his gaze back to Halo. “I bet you feel one limb shy without your dog by your side.”
“It’s an odd experience. But Max’ll be back with me soon enough. Titus brought me up to speed on the Helsinki security overview. And my tasks with Mrs. Sutton this morning.”
“He’s on the ferry back to Tallinn now. He’ll let us know if he learns of any concerns.” Thorn spoke with the kind of special operator’s timbre that was just loud enough to reach Halo’s ear and no farther. No one behind their hotel room doors would be able to pick up this conversation. “In the meantime, After I introduce you to Mrs. Sutton and you take over close protection duties, I’m going to grab some grub and then some shut-eye.” He looked at his watch. “She’ll be leaving in the next five minutes. The company sent a car. They’ve already pinged me that they’re waiting out front. I’ll forward the pictures of the driver and license plate to your phone. Did Titus go over the schedule with you?”
“Affirmative.”
“Okay, well, Mrs. Sutton will be at the office building until lunch. I’ll gather the luggage and meet you at the harbor. Our shirts will direct us to each other.” He lifted his arm.
“It’s been an interesting learning curve using the navigation shirts.”
“Nutsbe’s been on you to drink more water?”
“As soon as I got off the plane,” Halo said with a grin.
“Operators try to be camels. The doctors say that affects cognition. Command hones every plane to give us the edge. Once Nutsbe’s been in your ear, calling your attention to your hydration for a while, you’ll start making drinking a better habit. While it might feel a bit intrusive, trust the process.”
“Even with that said, mate, I do see the benefits of the technology. Nutsbe programmed my route through the maze of the airport and getting here. I was able to move with relative ease.”
“It’s a trust issue?” Thorn asked.