“Correct! And now, I’m your asshole… Ma’am!”
She looked at Jericho for support. He shrugged. “He’s your problem… Ma’am.”
“Oh, don’t you start…”
They all stood and headed for the door, but Schultz spoke and they stopped, turning to look at him.
“Rest up. It’s been a long few days, for all of us.”
They nodded and left the room. Julie walked behind the men, all the way to the elevator. They got in, and as the doors dinged shut, she said, “So, who wants a drink?”
Collins laughed. “I’m gonna enjoy workin’ for ya, Jules.”
Jericho smiled. “I’ll give it a miss, if you don’t mind. I could use some rest.”
Julie nodded and shrugged. “That’s fine… maybe when you wake up, you’ll have grown your balls back?”
Collins laughed again, and Jericho shook his head. “Mature.”
Julie shrugged again. “Don’t make me give you a direct order, soldier.”
“I didn’t think it worked like that in the private sector? I figured we’d have annual performance reviews and a designated lunch hour, et cetera.”
The doors dinged open again, and Collins stepped out, followed by Julie.
She turned and looked at Jericho, smiling. “We’re celebrating, so quit being a pussy.”
Jericho followed them out, accepting defeat. Collins moved next to him, putting his arm around his colleague’s much taller frame as best he could, gesturing to Julie as she walked on ahead. “Jerry, she’s a woman, and she’s in charge… no use fighting it — just learn to live with the fact that things are always gonna be done her way.”
“And you’re the expert on women, are you?”
“I try not to argue with public opinion,” he replied, modestly.
They left the building and headed down the steps. Julie was waiting in the back of a transport vehicle. She leaned forward, patting the driver on the shoulder.
“This kind man has agreed to give us a ride to the bar,” she said. “Get in.”
The two of them climbed aboard, and they headed out of the compound and down the road.
Julie walked back over to their table, holding three bottles of ice-cold beer in her hands. The condensation on the glass dripped over her fingers as she put them down and slid one to Collins, then another to Jericho.
They were huddled around a small, round table. The bar was crowded, and the music was loud. She raised her bottle, holding it between them.
“Good to be home, boys,” she said.
Jericho and Collins did the same, clinking their bottlenecks and taking a swig.
“I’m with ya on that one, love,” replied Collins. “Bottom line, we got our arses kicked over there. We were lucky.”
Jericho shrugged. “I don’t know about lucky. We did the job and got back in one piece. My old D.E.A.D. unit had us in a tight spot, sure, but it was being in this unit, this team, that got us out of Prague in one piece. Any other outfit — military, government, whatever — and we wouldn’t have made it out of there alive. That’s a fact. It was being in the private sector that gave us the option of simply handing ourselves over to the authorities and arguing our case with the U.S. Embassy. It was a refreshing change not having to worry too much about liability. Like Schultz said, I think the only thing we were missing was leadership, and now we have it.” He nodded to Julie, raising his bottle to her. “Congratulations on your promotion.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Sure you don’t mind taking orders off a girl?”
Jericho laughed. “It doesn’t bother me. I’ve spent many years being in charge… it’s nice to get a break. Besides, you might be a… girl, but out there, where it counts, you’re twice the soldier of any man I’ve served with.”
Julie blushed a little, but said nothing. She took another sip of her beer and stared at the table.
“Well, there’s one more important matter that needs resolvin’,” said Collins. “Now we’re all official, this special little group of ours needs a name.”
“I thought we were supposed to be keeping it discreet?” countered Julie. “Do we really need a name?”
Collins was taking a sip of his drink, and feigned choking on his mouthful of beer at her response. “Of course we do, sweetheart! People need to know that when we’re on the case, they better watch out. We need a name that will…I dunno, inspire confidence in our clients and… y’know, instill fear in our enemies, et cetera.”
She shook her head and smiled. “You call us whatever you want, I’m easy.”
It was Collins’ turn to smile. “Are ya now? In that case, can I buy ya another drink?”
He laughed, and Jericho hung his head, feeling slightly ashamed of his gender.
Julie took another pull on her beer. “I tell you what, you beat me in an arm wrestle, you not only get to name our team, but you get to walk home unaided tonight after that last remark.”
Jericho laughed and smiled at her. Collins laughed too, although he felt a little nervous. “And if you win?”
She shrugged. “I get to name the team, and I get one free shot at you.”
Jericho put his hand on Collins’ shoulder. “I wouldn’t do it if I were you, Ray.”
“Are ya kiddin’ me, Jerry? Has covering that eye up halved your intelligence as well as ya sight?” He looked at Julie, clearing the bottles out of the way and resting his elbow on the table. “Bring it on, Boss.”
Julie winked at Jericho, and he took her bottle off her as she leaned on the table, grasping Collins’ right hand in her own. “Are you ready?” she asked.
“Always,” he replied.
She turned to Jericho. “Would you mind?”
He nodded, placing one giant hand on top of theirs. “On three…”
Julie and Collins stared at each other, half smiling, half serious.
Jericho lifted his hand. “Three!”
Both their arms and muscles tensed simultaneously as they pulled to their respective lefts. They remained central for a moment, but then Collins slowly began to gain the upper hand.
Jericho flicked his gaze to Julie, who seemed to be really struggling.
She breathed deep, holding on with her arm pushed back at a forty-five degree angle.
Collins laughed. “Come on, just give it up. It’s okay — I’ll still respect ya!”
Julie raised an eyebrow and smiled, then moved her left hand slowly to her chest. She moved it down, massaging between her breasts. “Man, I’m working up a… real sweat here…” she said, putting an ache into her voice.
Collins’ eyes went wide, and he couldn’t stop his gaze moving to her body.
“Fuck me…” he whispered.
Jericho put his head in his hand as he heard Julie mutter, “Got you.”
With a massive exertion of strength, she slammed his hand all the way to her left. The sound of his knuckles banging on the table was loud, even in the busy bar, and people standing nearby turned to stare.
Collins was silent, as Julie simply looked at him, smiling.
Jericho handed him his beer. “I can’t believe you fell for that,” he said.
“Ah, bollocks,” he said to himself, taking the beer and downing it.
Julie looked at Jericho. “You wanna go, big guy?”
He held his hands up and smiled. “Nah, I’m good, thanks.”
They held each other’s gaze for a moment, before Julie turned back to Collins. “You okay there, champ?”
He chuckled, tipping the neck of his bottle to her, which she graciously clinked with her own. “My pride hurts more than my hand does, but I’ll give ya that one, sweetheart.”
Julie nodded. “Okay, here’s how it’s going to work. I’ll let you off the free shot if you don’t ever call me sweetheart again.”