Hell To Pay

Chapter 6: God Bless America

"I'm not impressed." Zane mumbled over the phone to Lyle. Yeah, if he could see Lyle's face he might be a little more impressed.

"Just keep an eye on him. I can trust you to do that, right? Without personal feelings getting in the way."

"Yeah, I'm good for it." Zane replied.

"Good. I know he's an asshole, but he gets the job done better than anyone else."

"So why do you want me to watch him then?"

"I told you," Lyle repeated impatiently, "he's been through hell. This is the worst possible way to bring him back to work, if Harper dies...I'm afraid it'll kill him."

Zane made an indignant, "You sound awfully concerned considering he punched you in the face. Twice."

"He didn't punch me the second time, he just choked me a little." Yeah, he knew how that sounded. He made a lot of excuses for Flint, but he'd earned the faith that Lyle had in him. He knew he could do the job and do it right. After all, he was the one that stopped the next terrorist attack after 9/11. It was the attack the general public never got to know about. The bastards went straight for Langley and the CIA was caught with their pants down.

If it hadn't been for Sloane One and Two and Flint, America would've felt the ground shake under their feet that day. Harper intercepted the messages, Flint interrogated the bastards, and then he had a tactical team en route before you could say "God Bless America." Mac had his back the whole way and patched the bastard up when he got shot pulling Lyle's ass out of the fire fight.

They stopped a terrorist attack that day, got the CIA to kiss their ass for it, and Flint saved the lives of everyone at the CIA Langley headquarters. He hadn't stopped there. His victories just kept coming. He was a lethal bastard, the best at what he did, and Harper and Mac went everywhere he did.

"Well, so far I think your boy is a loose cannon who should possibly be on anxiety medications. He's a bit uptight."

"His best friend just went MIA." Lyle pointed out. He was sitting at his desk, rolling through some paperwork that he didn't feel like doing, his mind on the Terrific Three. They'd been at their best when those three performed together.

"I know you're close to them, sorry man. I won't push it anymore." Zane told him and he appreciated that. "Whatever happened to all of that? The real story? Everyone hears some mixture of the story but does anyone actually know the truth?"

"Flint does." Lyle did, too, but he wasn't about to say it. He was silent and Lyle frowned, checking the phone's connection. "Hey, you there?"

"Um, hey, Lyle, do me a favor?

"Yes?"

"Call Flint. One of the guys from the security footage just walked into the library." His voice was somber and serious and he bolted up straighter in the chair.

"What?"

"Call Flint, I've got to go, Rancher and Archie are inside." He hung up without another word and Lyle was left with a new task. Cursing rabidly, he hurried to call Flint, tapping his foot anxiously on the floor.

When no one answered, he hung up and redialed. "Answer you bastard." He mumbled and pushed to his feet, walking to the door. He poked his head outside and spotted his personal secretary, "Linn, I need a team on standby for Sergeant Emerson, just-" a gruff voice spoke in his ear and he turned his attention to the phone and shut the door. "Flint?"

"What the hell do you want now, Lyle?"

"Why didn't you answer my first call?"

He gave a short laugh, "You really want to know?"

Lyle frowned, suddenly uncertain before every damn memory of catching Flint with another woman passed through his frazzled mind. "For fuck's sake! You're not fucking Gomez right now are you?"

"Nah," he chuckled and Lyle almost sighed but he was scared of that chuckle. "I already did that, now she's fucking me."

"No! Why?" It was like the bastard got off on Lyle's mental agony. Another deep laugh was broken off with a moan and Lyle would've cursed and hung up but the situation was severe. "Flint, you need to be at the library right now! One of Harper's kidnappers is there right now."

"What?!" He heard a thump, a short shriek from Gomez, and then it sounded like the phone dropped before Flint righted it and answered, "We're on the way. Two blocks, right?"

"Rancher and Archie were inside. Zane was outside on the phone with me and saw one of them go inside, he told me to call you ASAP."

"Great, get off the phone, we're here."

Lyle's mind flipped at how fast they got there but he wouldn't mention it, "No civilian involvement, Flint, seriously."

"I'll try to keep my gun in my pants." Why did he have the feeling that Flint was wagging his eyebrows right now? He opened his mouth to tell him to check in when the suspect was in custody, but the line was already dead.