The Operator
Page 40

Damn it, I’m a fool, she thought, but her gut said to trust her, and that was all she had anymore. “I got a call,” she said, head down to hide her moving lips. If Harmony had a bug, she was screwed, but she didn’t think she did. “I know where Michael will be tomorrow, midnight. I’m leaving. Right now. You want to come? I get Allen, you get Michael. Win, win.”
Harmony’s lips were parted when Peri looked up. “You’d still work with me? After I lost my entire team?” she whispered, then leaned back into the cushions, gaze going to the distant men when Peri nodded. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” Harmony said loudly. “I don’t want you in a cell. You can do more good out of it.”
What is she playing at? Peri mused, fighting to keep the confusion off her face when Harmony shook her head.
“Maybe next time,” Peri said as she stood and picked up her bag, not relishing the eight-hour drive ahead of her to Detroit. Maybe she could bum a ride with a trucker and get some sleep.
Calls rang out, and outside, the agents quickly arrayed themselves. Annoyed, Harmony stood.
“Back off! She’s not going anywhere!” Harmony shouted, and Peri spun, fist set to hit flesh when the woman’s hand landed on her shoulder. It never fell as Harmony had jerked back. Peri hesitated, poised on the balls of her feet as Harmony smiled wickedly—suddenly very much awake. “There’re different ways to the same end,” Harmony said, glancing up at the watching cameras. Then softer, “I want Michael, but I can’t get you out of here until we go off high alert. That won’t happen until you’re in a cell. Make it convincing, okay?”
She wants to put me in a cell? Peri’s breath came fast. “You back off,” she threatened, no longer sure she knew what was going on. Was Harmony helping her or not? “Or I’m going to break your nose and then take your building pass.”
Harmony nodded almost imperceptibly. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Well, I can.” Peri threw her bag at her, following it up with a palm thrust.
Pulling her punch at the last moment, Peri stumbled when Harmony shifted sideways, blocking Peri’s strike with one hand and punching out with the other.
The heel of Harmony’s hand connecting with Peri’s wrist was a quick shock, followed by a sharp blow of her second hand with Peri’s middle. Air huffing out, Peri caught her balance and fell back, eyes watering as she struggled to breathe. “Nice,” she wheezed.
“You sure you want to do this at four in the morning?” Harmony asked, her eyes bright.
Behind and around them, bets were being made as the watching agents gave them room. As Peri pulled herself up, her confusion strengthened. It is a ploy, isn’t it? “Very,” Peri said, then feigned a kick, shouting as she launched herself.
Peri’s teeth clenched at the resounding thump of contact, but Harmony didn’t go down. Instead, the woman spun to slam her elbow into Peri’s ear. Head ringing, Peri dropped back, missing her follow-up strike. Harmony was still smiling. Son of a bitch, that hurt, Peri thought, her anger stirring.
Teeth clenched, Peri went at her again, in earnest this time: front kick, front kick, side, and crescent, backing the woman up to a thick pillar. Harmony blocked them all. Her arm had to be numb, and with a resounding cry, Peri kicked her coffee at Harmony, right off the table.
A brown rainbow flew in a beautiful arch. Peri followed it a half second behind, aiming for Harmony’s bad leg. In the distraction, it would land.
But Harmony stepped into it, not back. The coffee splattered across her, and shock reverberated up Peri’s leg as the woman blocked her with enough force to send her stinging back. Panicked, Peri thrust out, getting a softer blow to Harmony’s side.
“Damn it!” Peri cried as brown fingers clamped onto her wrist and pulled her off her feet. Gut tensing, she went with it lest she get her wrist broken, and the watching agents cried out in approval as Harmony levered her over her shoulder and slammed Peri onto the tile.
What the fuck! Not breathing, Peri kicked up, forcing Harmony to let go. Harmony couldn’t outfight her in hand-to-hand—not with her weight confined to one leg—but that was exactly what she was doing. Still on the floor, Peri rolled.
Harmony jumped to evade it, and Peri reversed, cutting her legs out from under her on the return. Swearing, Harmony fell right on top of her. Harmony’s elbow hit the stone tile instead of Peri, and Peri couldn’t help her grin as she grabbed her by the cornrows and slammed her head down.
Groaning, Harmony brought her knee up, jamming into Peri’s groin. Peri hesitated in shock, and in that moment of distraction, Harmony got a solid grip on Peri and spun her facedown onto the floor.
Pain lanced through Peri, so hard and fast she couldn’t tell where it came from. Her face was on the cold tile. Blood slicked it, coming from her lip. Harmony had her knee on her back, and Peri’s arm was wrenched behind her. Her breath came in with a gasping pain as Harmony let up, and she lay there, caught. Damn, the woman is good.
“Go ahead. Draft. I don’t mind kicking your ass twice,” Harmony said, leaning to put her lips inches from her ear. “Great, I think they’ll believe it now,” Harmony said around her whispering pants. “You’re going into a cell—”
Peri bucked wildly at the sound of the metal cuffs. Harmony fell back, and Peri lurched upright, spinning to a crouch as the watching agents cheered them on. Coffee covered Harmony, and she looked ticked. The elevator dinged, and Harmony’s expression shifted to annoyance when it opened to show Steiner and his aides. “I don’t have time for a pissing contest,” she muttered, then launched herself.
Peri’s eyes widened. Screaming, Harmony jumped onto the glass table, using it for momentum and speed as she flew right at her, feetfirst. They hit Peri square on, shoving her back into the pillar. Her head hit with a thunk and, dazed, Peri leaned against it, trying to remain upright. Before her, as if in a dream, Harmony hit the table as she fell, shattering it.
Peri could do nothing as the agents urged Harmony to finish it. A primitive fear struck her as Harmony dragged herself upright, shoving pieces of the table aside as she crawled forward. The urge, the need maybe, to jump was a faint tickle, and she shoved it away.
“I’ll be down to get you in an hour, okay?” Harmony muttered, clearly in pain even as she pushed Peri over and yanked one, then the other of her arms behind her back. “Just sit tight.”