Free Fire and Ice (an extended epilogue) by Victoria Paige Page B

her life. Scenario
3: The old adage that if you can’t lick them, join them, came to
mind. Invest in AGS and keep tabs on her for the rest of her
life.
    He was seriously psycho. And he didn’t give a
fuck.
    “ What do you propose I do?” Jack
asked quietly.
    “ She asked for space—”
    “ No way,” Jack growled. “I give
her space, she’ll take three weeks again to figure out what the
hell it is she wants.”
    “ Then give her three
weeks—”
    “ No fucking way,” Jack repeated.
“We’re getting married in two months, Derek. She doesn’t need three
weeks to make up her mind if I’m her ever-fucking after. That time
has passed. She’s got two days to sort her shit, and then I’m going
after her.”
    “ Jack—”
    “ She can’t do this every time
she’s pissed at me,” Jack said.
    “ What you did was underhanded,”
Derek pointed out. “She had every right to be pissed at
you.”
    “ I’m not saying she can’t be
pissed at me,” Jack replied. “We can rationally discuss the
situation like mature adults.”
    Derek rolled his eyes. “Maybe the discussion
should have taken place before the MDI-AGS
negotiations.”
    Jack glared at Derek. “I screwed up—OK? I know
I should have consulted her first. Pfft. Told her.” He paused.
“Shit. I’m doing this all wrong, aren’t I?”
    Derek nodded slowly.
    “ Fuck. I’m going to have to
grovel, aren’t I?”
    Derek nodded slowly again.
    Jack sighed. What a mess you’ve made McCord . What
gave him the idea that Maia would meekly submit to his latest
interference? He had been looking forward to the showdown. It was
almost foreplay for them. They’d fight, and then they’d make up in
a big way. At first, he had been bothered by this cycle, but his
Mom, of all people, pointed out that it was inevitable at least for
the short term. She warned that two strong-willed people in a
relationship usually resulted in serious sparks, and in this case
his possessive, overprotective streak would be vying with her
independent nature. His mom cautioned not to let the sparks catch
fire and leave their relationship in ashes. Did Maia burn out? Had
he pushed her too far? It would take an ungodly amount of patience
to keep him from going after her. Two days. That was all he was
giving her.
    *****
    The
datacenter was in an uproar after Maia had walked in. When she left
MDI, she headed back to their apartment, mulling over the
circumstances. She knew in her heart that she wasn’t breaking up
with Jack. The mere thought of it inflicted physical pain because
that overbearing man was the love of her life. He also infuriated
her more than any man, and she feared her own temper. So she packed
a bag, intending to hole up at a hotel somewhere, order room
service, and just avoid Jack for the next few days. On the bright
side, she wasn’t feeling a betrayal. But she hated having the rug
pulled from under her.
    At around 7:30 p.m. though, she received a 911
text from Tim, summoning her to AGS stat.
    “ What’s going on?” Maia asked, as
the data analyst flitted from screen to screen, fiddling with
multiple keyboards.
    “ Lucy Cortez got hit,” Tim said
grimly. “Nathan said she’s critical, and we have another
problem.”
    Maia was confused.
    Tim continued, “I’ll backfill you later on the
Cortez case. A call just came in from Manning. We need to assemble
a strike team against the German arms dealer. Something is going
down tonight. Stark was working with Manning on that
case.”
    “ What do you need me to do?” Maia
asked quickly. In the back of her mind, she was worried for Lucy.
The poor girl. And Nathan. Just when they were moving on from a
rocky start, their worst nightmare happened.
    “ Manning suspects there’ll be a
pickup at Port of Baltimore at 11:00 p.m. tonight. The intel I’ve
gathered confirms a specific crate, so there is a high probability
we could close this deal,” Tim said.
    “ Sounds good. Where do I
rendezvous with Manning?”
    “ Coffee