Page 59

“Your man?” Darby finally spoke. “He doesn’t even like you.”
“Look again.” Storm’s voice was like the rage of a thousand hurricanes.
Darby jumped a foot in the air and jerked to face Storm. It was almost as if he’d forgotten Storm was there.
I caught him by the neck and yanked him back to look at me.
“He’s not the one you should be afraid of.” I reminded him. “Now, I need to know everything you know.”
“I’m not telling you anything.”
I smiled and pulled a silencer from my back pocket. Slowly, I screwed it unto the tip of my gun and stretched my back before leveling my eyes on my old friend.
“Is that your final answer?” I asked.
Darby said nothing.
“Bummer.”
“You won’t shoot me.” Darby announced, lifting his chin. “We’ve been friends for too—”
Before he could finish, I shot him in the top of his left foot.
He opened his mouth to scream but I lunched forward and clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Shh.” I shushed him. “This bit of foreplay requires silence.”
Darby groaned against my palm, but I couldn’t find an ounce of sympathy for him or his pain.
“You the man, right?” I asked, my voice cracking in anger. “Take your punishment like you stabbed me in the back—with your entirefuckingchest. As a matter of fact—put your back into it.”
I pushed away from him, toppling him backward.
Darby immediately sat up to grab his injured foot.
“Do I need to repeat myself?” I snapped. “Why do the Frogs want me back in Australia?”
Darby wailed.
“Would you like another hole to breathe out of?” I demanded.
“Taz—he can’t talk if he bleeds to death.” Storm’s voice held a warning.
“Ask me if I give a fuck.” I glared at Darby.
“You know they were disbanded?” Darby asked.
I nodded.
“After what happened in Corvei the military couldn’t take chances on them anymore.” Darby explained. “That’s one of the reasons they didn’t want to do the whole court marshal thing with your case. The Frogs have been known to be out of hand when they’re deployed. Clive was gathering information on the different times they were accused of things—”
“What kind of things?” I asked.
“Pillaging and looting, mostly.” Darby replied around a whimper. “Then there are the rapes. There were at least twenty before you joined the team. When you joined, they knew they wouldn’t get away with any of that shit anymore. Sheriff thought they placed you on the Frogs to keep an eye on them.”
I frowned.
That wasn’t why I was on the Frogs. I was there because I scored higher than the other recruits—because I was the best at what I did, and the Frogs were considered the best.