Free Antivirus (The Horde Series Book 1) by Michael Koogler Page A

the advice of General Hawthorne and had only returned after she knew that Bolson was gone. The major had returned early, though, trapping her in a situation that she knew could get out of hand, particularly with their past together.
    “What are you doing here?” Bolson snarled, tossing his briefcase on a lab table and folding his arms in anger. Every muscle in his body tensed, and it was all he could do to keep from killing the woman right there. She had betrayed him so completely; had compromised everything he had worked toward and had likely permanently derailed his military career. He could have his sidearm out and put several bullets into her head before she even moved and, truth be told, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t yet take that route.
    “I’m sorry, sir,” she stammered, standing quickly. “If I had known you would be back…”
    “You wouldn’t be here!” the major snapped, finishing her sentence. “What’s the matter, Dani? Are you afraid I would retaliate against someone trying to undermine my project and my command? Are you that desperate to take over this project?”
    “No!” the young woman replied quickly. “It’s not like that at all, Tom! I swear!”
    “Don’t patronize me!” Bolson yelled, moving forward threateningly. “You’ve had your eye on this since day one! You led me on! You set me up and then you betrayed me! Everything you’ve ever said was a lie and you’ve cost me everything!”
    “No, sir,” she stammered again. “You’ve got it all wrong, Tom! You have to let me explain.”
    Bolson had his sidearm out and two steps took him within reach of the young woman. She started to back away, but he grabbed her shoulder and yanked her toward him, pressing the barrel of the gun against the side of her head. “Give me one good reason not to do it, Dani,” he hissed, his face very close to hers. Memories from their relationship reared up in his mind, but he allowed his anger to blunt the emotions. He was ready to go over the edge.
    “Tom, listen to me,” Danielle said softly, tears welling in her eyes. “I swear this is not how it was supposed to happen.”
    Bolson pressed the gun barrel harder to her head. “Tell me how it was supposed to happen, then,” he snarled.
    “Please, Tom,” she begged. “Please don’t hurt me. I never wanted this to happen. Never.”
    For a moment, Bolson wavered, and that was the only window that Martz needed. An accomplished martial artist—a fact the major knew nothing about—she threw her left arm out, shoving Ayer’s gun hand hard to the side, while at the same time striking him hard in the chest with an open palm. It was not meant to hurt him, only to separate the two of them and give her room to work.
    Bolson was thrown back and nearly lost his grip on his weapon, but he recovered quickly and began to bring his gun back to bear on the woman. Only this time, she was not the helpless victim and he found himself looking down the barrel of her own sidearm, freezing him in his place, his gun still pointed toward the floor. As if to punctuate the fact that the momentum had swung 180 degrees, Danielle Martz said coolly, “Your weapon, please, major.”
    Bolson flinched visibly, expecting his head to be reduced to a puddled mass of brain matter and body fluids, but instead she motioned with her free hand for him to place his weapon on the table. Quickly becoming numb to everything that had happened, Bolson hesitated for a second before complying and backing away from the table.
    Martz stared him down for a moment and then quickly holstered her sidearm, her eyes never leaving his. “I could have killed you, Tom,” she said icily, her face suddenly a mask of stone. She picked up his weapon and then surprisingly flipped it around and presented it back to him. “Of course, you still have the opportunity to kill me if you truly feel that’s your only recourse here,” she went on, indicating that he should take his weapon from her. “I