Free I Spy a Naughty Game by Jo Davis

grabbed his gun from the holster on his hip. “What’s wrong?”
    “Dietz fucking escaped! He’s heading for the roof and he’s got a hostage,” he shouted, pushing past Blaze.
    “Shit! How’d the bastard get loose? Who’s the hostage?” Yanking his own gun from his holster, he sprinted after Bastian.
    “Don’t know yet. Goddammit!”
    They ran full out, legs pumping, taking the stairs at the end of the hall. Waiting for the service elevator to return would burn precious seconds. Blaze raced up the stairs after Bastian, the rush of adrenaline powerful enough to keep him high into the middle of next week.
    But that feeling was nothing compared to the terror that awaited him when they burst out onto the roof to join several other agents, weapons drawn.
    Dietz. Clasping Emma’s back against his front. Using her as a shield.
    The muzzle of a gun jammed into her temple.
    “Emma!” His scream was lost in the thunderous noise of the waiting helicopter. Dietz shoved her inside and dove in after as the skids lifted off the ground. “No!”
    He ran, heedless of placing himself in the line of fire, of the barely audible shouts at his back. Too far. The distance was too damned far, and he wasn’t going to make it. But that didn’t stop him from launching himself at the closest skid as it rose and turned.
    His body twisted as he arched through the air, arm stretching. His fingers grazed the metal and missed, and he fell hard. Lost his gun. Skidded across the rough gravelly surface of the roof, slammed to a stop against the hard barrier of the short wall—the only divider between him and falling several stories to his death.
    He hardly cared. The only thing that mattered was the helicopter escaping with America’s number one enemy.
    And with his woman.
    Leaping to his feet, he lunged, only to be held back by several pairs of hands. “Motherfucker! I’ll kill you!” He fought them all as they sought to calm him.
    “Agent Kelly, stand down!”
    “Sir, stop! You’re too close to the edge!”
    “Blaze, listen to me,” Michael said in his ear, voice calm. “The helicopter has a tracking device on board. We’ll find Dietz, and Emma, too.”
    That softly spoken promise filtered through his rage to the rational part of his brain. For several long moments he stood still, breathing hard. Finally he nodded and shook off the hands holding him, which seemed to let go reluctantly.
    “You’re damned right we will. And you’d better pray you get to Dietz first, because if I do . . . there won’t be anything left of the son of a bitch to take to trial.”
    Retrieving his gun, he spun and strode away. Wisely, no one tried to stop him.

Five

    E mma hated riding in a helicopter. On the handful of occasions she’d had to climb aboard, it had been on scheduled SHADO business. She’d been able to calm herself beforehand, find her center.
    “I need a sack or something,” she informed her captor as the wretched aircraft banked sharply to the south.
    “Excuse me?” He gave her a haughty look, face still flushed from the narrow escape.
    “A sack. Now.” She panted, trying to stave off the nausea, his weapon the last thing on her mind. After all, if this thing crashed, the stupid gun wouldn’t be a factor any longer.
    “What for?”
    “I’m going to be sick, asshole.”
    “No, you’re not,” he replied in a reasonable tone. Almost conversational.
    “Yeah? Why not?”
    “Because if you do, you will move beyond merely ceasing to be useful to being a disgusting waste of space. And it’s a long, long way down. Do we understand each other?”
    Her blood froze. He might’ve been commenting on what to eat for dinner, he showed so little emotion. She had no doubt whatsoever that he’d push her out.
    “Yes,” she croaked. Don’t get sick. Please.
    The threat of learning to fly without feathers did the trick, taking her mind off her stomach. Determined to keep herself distracted, she studied Dietz’s profile. The man