Sunday, January 22, 2017

Sunday Snippet: Explosive Situation

Okay, I finally finished the six seasons of Hawaii Five-0 that were available on Netflix. Only a few small quibbles, the biggest being it makes me insane when actors play two different, unrelated roles on the same show. I love Ingo Rademacher, but don't make him the parent of a kidnapped child in one episode and then call him back to play a prosecuting attorney trying to bring Five-0 down. Seriously? Were there no other actors who could have played one of those roles? Ugh.

And thank the universe the whole Gabriel Waincroft saga is over. Yeesh.

I'm all caught up on Teen Wolf and aside from wanting to throw things because they brought Theo the Asshat back, I'm loving this season.

I'm working on The Librarians and should start catching up on Murdoch Mysteries and Sherlock this week.

Gotham returned and, yeah, definitely happy it's back on my screen. Now I need all my other DC shows to come back. Also looking forward to seeing what Riverdale ends up bringing to the table. That one could be really fun or truly terrible. Fingers crossed for the first option.

And that's it for television. Tonight's post is from Explosive Situation, a novella where the characters face a tense standoff and how they feel about each other.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Hadley and Tab are the go to people for explosive situations. They work in tandem and haven't lost anyone, or each other, yet. When Tab gets caught in the crossfire on their latest mission, Hadley digs deep to save him and finally faces her feelings.

And a sneaky peek…

"To another successful mission!"
Hadley Moax tapped the edge of her longneck bottle against her partner, Tab Missoni's.
Tab lifted his beer. "Another save, another win." He tilted the bottle and drained half the liquid.
Hadley followed suit, signaling the bartender for another round. They deserved the indulgence. Hell, they deserved a month of R and R after they'd pulled off a spectacularly executed rescue operation.
Tab kicked a booted foot out, resting it on the lower dais. "You know, I thought for sure Hack's team was going to blow the entire op." He drained the beer and started on the next.
Hadley shook her head. "I can't believe he tried to play the operational jurisdiction card." She held up a finger. "First, he shows up after the briefing." She added a second. "Then, he stomped around like a child when he's informed he's not going in as point." Finally, she added a third digit to the mix. "And to top it off, he thought he could pull rank after the op went mission critical." She washed the bitter taste of anger away with her brew.
Tab snorted. "When he started spouting orders in direct contradiction to briefing protocol, I wanted to shove my fist down his throat." He rested his forearms on the bar. "But you managed to shut him up at a crucial moment." Sliding her a sideways glance, his lips quirked.
Hadley shrugged. "Nothing like an elbow jab to the back of the ribcage to knock the wind out of someone." She wouldn't be on the top of Aldus Hacksure's friend list anytime soon.
And she didn't care one damned bit. The overblown ego the man carried around could trip a horse. Shutting him up earlier would be worth looking over her shoulder for the foreseeable future.
Tab sobered. "You know he's going to carry a grudge, right?" His gaze filled with concern.
Hadley's lips curved. "Aw, I'm touched. You're worried about me." She took another swallow of her beer.
Tab leaned in. "I'm worried about us, Had. He's got the connections to split our team."
The thought jarred her. And ruined her buzz. Being separated from Tab? Worst idea ever.
She shook her head. "He wouldn't dare." But would he? "No, Tab. Hack's a pain in the ass, but he's not stupid. You don't destroy a winning combination to appease some dickhead's wounded opinion." For certain if they tried, she'd put up one hell of a fight.
Tab drained his bottle then ordered another round. "I think you're giving him too much credit. He'd like nothing more than to break us up, maybe under the guise of building better partnerships with others. If the brass doesn’t go for that, he could always dig up dirt and hope that separates us." His voice took on a menacing note.
Hadley straightened. "Look, there's no dirt to dig." Not that she and Tab hadn't entertained the idea of making more of their partnership.
At least she had. Several times.
But something always got in the way. First, Tab had an established relationship when they started on assignments together. When that ended, he expressed an interest, but she shied away from the idea, their partnership being too new to test the limits. Then, once they had a handful of successful missions under their belt, she didn't want to mess with the dynamic. Finally, Hadley's breakups with short-term boyfriends never ended well. Working with Tab meant a lot to her. An ugly ending to a workplace romance didn't rate high on her list of shit to get done.
Tab snorted. "Maybe there isn't, but the lack of anything going on wouldn't stop Hack from making accusations." His lips twisted in a smirk. "You know I'm game… anytime you change your mind." He waggled his eyebrows.
Hadley barked out a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe in twenty years, after Hack retires." The thought of working with the raging egomaniac for two decades turned her stomach sour.
Tab grimaced. "Don't even. If he doesn't step in a big pile by next year, I'm making a career change." He started on his fresh beer.
The idea had merit. But the thought of not working with Tab anymore gave her pause. Tab tilted his head to one side and gave her a curious look. Caught without a solid response, Hadley recovered the only way she knew how.
She lifted her bottle in a toast. "Here, here."

If it isn't clear here, Hadley likes to live in denial. It's a good thing Tab is very patient.



That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

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