Sunday Snippet: Explosive Situation

Happy Mother's Day to all who celebrate. For me, this includes those who mentor others because being a mom isn't always about giving birth to a person or have fur babies.

Had another busy work week and I'm thrilled to have multiple projects to dig into. I love what I do and being freelance means being happy when the work is rolling in.

Had a limited viewing week with so many other things going on. I sadly lost one of my aunts I've been particularly close to and needed some quiet reflection time.

I did get the double-header of the last two episodes for the first season of Battlestar Galactica in, and they held up as being one of the most perfect season finales of all time.

I also finished up the episode of Only Murders in the Building. Gotta say I had a feeling the artist would do something creepy and she totally did.

Other than that, I watched my classic standby of Perry Mason and also caught some early seasons of Midsomer Murders.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Explosive Situation, a novella where the characters get caught in a situation and have to face their feelings then navigate the fine line between personal and professional.

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 for the man she calls partner.

And a sneaky peek…

Hadley appreciated Tab's promise to have her back. "That's incredibly—" She started to thank him but their comm units went off.

Shit. Not good.

Tab shot to his feet and accepted the call from the command station. Hadley's gut tensed. Shit had to have gone sideways. The only reason command would reach out this soon.

The chief didn't mince words. "The three hostages are safe, but Hacksure's crew isn't." He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I wanna know how Hack's team got trapped."

Hadley rolled her eyes and gave a point-blank answer. "Because Hack forgot unstable doesn't mean stupid and he went in with his ass hanging out, which is SOP for him." An image of Aldus thinking he had the upper hand filled her mind.

He'd be wearing a smirk, thinking he had everything under control. With the hostages out, the only thing left to do from Hack's point of view would be hauling Magnus in for evaluation to see if an arrest or a trip to the psychiatric clinic worked best. He wouldn't consider Magnus had a different scenario in mind. Like cutting bait because he had the big meal served up on a platter.

The chief sputtered. "Listen, Moax. I've known Aldus Hacksure for a decade. The man doesn't go anywhere with his pants around his ankles." His shoulders tensed and he leaned closer to the monitor. "You'd do well to stop ripping him and get on board with a plan to extract fellow team members."

Hadley sent Tab a sideways glance. "Be happy to, sir. Just wanted to be clear about not taking the necessary precautions. Because his team didn't." They couldn't have if they were now barricaded inside the space with Magnus.

The chief grumbled under his breath then pointed a finger at the screen. "We can hash that out in the after-action briefing. Right now, you can either help or step back." He turned his focus to Tab. "What's your take on this situation, Missoni?"

Hadley hoped like hell he backed her up. Because Hack had been sloppy lately. This crisis could've been avoided if he didn't strut around crowing about his accomplishments all the time and he remembered what he trained for.

Tab backed her up. "She's not wrong, sir. In fact, she left out a few recent incidents. All due respect, you only see one side of him."

The chief's shoulders slumped. "Fine. Duly noted." He squared his shoulders. "What's your plan?"

Tab gave him a brief rundown of how they would approach the situation.

The chief grunted. "All right. You have a go." He signed off.

Hadley grabbed her pack and hefted it over her shoulder. "Uh, thanks for not letting me twist on the pole with the chief." She started for the door.

Tab gathered his gear and caught up with her. "Told you I had your back. Always will." He held her gaze longer than necessary.

Hadley gave him a wide smile. "Appreciate it." And she wouldn't doubt him again.

I like where this story is going. Hadley and Tab are about to step into a really hinkey situation and I can't wait to see what happens when they do.

 

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

ML Skye