Island of Kauai, Hawaii

(JJ)

Loni and I were trotting side by side on the treadmills. We had both gotten back from our vacation and were ready to get back to work. After our last mission, we had needed some time off to clear our heads and reorient ourselves.

Thankfully, we did just that. My nightmares were gone and to both our surprise, Loni and I had struck up a relationship. Neither of us saw it coming. It sort of happened. A couple of weeks ago Loni and I had been sitting in our favorite restaurant near the beach. We ordered a lobster dinner, and we were eating when she said.

"JJ, we should go out."

I had stopped, my fork halfway to my mouth. Comically, I'd stayed frozen like that for a few minutes before I set my food down. "Do you mean like to see a movie?"

She frowned. "Don't be obtuse. You know exactly what I meant. Fine, I'll spell it out for you. JJ, I want the two of us to have a committed relationship."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why me?"

"Why not you? We've known each other for years. I can trust you with my life. Plus I always thought you were hot."

I smirked at her. "Oh, yeah?"

She flipped me off and threw some exoskeleton at me. I laughed and brushed it off my shirt. There was no reason for me to say no. I don't date much. It's had to explain to maintain a relationship when you might have to cancel dinner plans to rescue workers from an offshore oil rig. The whole flying around the world to offer humanitarian aid was cool for a while, then the women got bored with it. They understood the importance of the job, but eventually, they didn't want to share me with the rest of the world.

I mean, to an extent I got it. I'm sure I might get testy if my girlfriend was working all the time and had only a little time to spend with me. But Loni and I were in the same business. Not only would we see each other every day, but we would also go on missions together. A relationship between us could work.

"Okay. Let's go out."

She smiled at me and we clinked our beer bottles together. Since then, we'd had a few more dates. We agreed to take it slow since we both had dated little. Loni and I stopped the treadmills at five miles. I hit the showers next, and so did Loni.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

We chatted over coffee in the employee loud when my office manager Margaret came in with a flushed look on her face.

"Oh, there you are, JJ. There's an army general in your office right now." She said, pointing toward my office.

Frowning, I set my mug down and marched down the hall. Sure enough, sitting patiently in one of my guest chairs was a four-star general. One I knew all too well for my liking.

"General Silas." I greeted. He stood, and I shook his hand. "What did you do this time?"

General Silas chuckled. "Not a thing this time. Actually, I need your help. A research facility I run has gone dark. We don't know what happened, but we need the staff extracted alive. We can't go in ourselves without risking an incident with the Costa Rican government."

I rolled my eyes. "Let me guess. You're doing things you shouldn't be on that island and if you show up in force to rescue your men, they'll ask questions."

"Unfortunately, yes." He had the sense to look contrite. "But you and your people are well respected for the humanitarian aid you give. If you show up, they'll assume a disaster happened and you're there to offer aid. There's a big payday involved and the gratitude of the US army."

I snorted. "Fine. Will this situation call for force?"

He nodded his head. "Assume the situation is volatile."

I hated that, but Soaring Star was prepared for any situation. I shook his hand. "We'll save your people."

He thanked me and left to report the good news to his superiors'.

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Already I was regretting saying yes. Silas wasn't an evil man. But he was ambitious and he no doubts bit off more than he could chew and I just willingly agreed to clean up his mess. The check better be worth the trouble.

My desktop chimed. I walked over to it and sat down. I checked my email. I had one message from Silas and another from the bank I used for my business.

First, I checked the email I got from Silas. The content was empty except for a file attachment. I opened the attachment and viewed the file.

Inside was a picture of an island. The coordinates and a list of names and pictures of the research staff. I looked op the GPS coordinates and groaned. The Cinco Muertes archipelago. Isla Matanceros. My forehead collided with my desk as I repeatedly banged my head on the oak wood. If I was lucky, I'd get a concussion.

I checked the email from the bank and felt a vein pop out on my forehead. The bank was asking me to approve a transfer in the amount of 250,000,000 dollars. I tapped the intercom, calling Margaret into my office.

She rushed in, looking worried. "What's wrong JJ?"

I sighed. "Please find Loni and tell her we have a job. This is a DEFCON 1 mission. Full force and armament."

Margaret's eyes went wide, and she quickly hurried out the door. I walked to the window behind my desk and looked out over the grass field where he could see LB training his dogs. Further out, I could see Hector working on his helicopter. LB noticed me. My expression must have worried him because he started making signs at me. He wanted to know what was wrong. I signed back. 'DEFCON 1.' His eyebrows flew up. He whistled to his dog, directing them back to their kennels.