A Job Like Mine

I watched as Lace moved from the room, my mind still set on trying to figure out where she had learned that dirty trick. And it was a dirty trick, one that some of the older groups would kill to have the ability to do. Lace had just shown herself as an asset, one that I would be an idiot not to use, no matter how much I objected the idea of putting her in danger.

Lace might hate the thought, but she was always going to be protected by her brother and his friends. She was the baby of the group, though she had started to grow in the past months. She had also started to change in behavior as well, her personality going from shy to over the top.

Shaking my head, I moved into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water. Turning, I narrowed my eyes when I saw that the other three men had followed me into the kitchen. “What?” I asked when I noticed the three of them exchanging glances.

Will cleared his throat as he stepped forward; apparently he had been chosen as spokesperson. “The Brat is good, no doubt. She tricked you, and that’s damned hard.” He told me. “Before she put up a pretty decent fight, and yeah she made mistakes, but real training can fix that; and the fight was after running twenty-two miles.”

I listened to their argument without interrupting, knowing that they were only putting up the fight to be fair. Once Will had finished speaking, I recapped my water before setting it on the counter. “I’m aware,” I told them before I crossed my arms. “However, I’m also aware of the fact that Lace would be a security risk. We would all be trying to protect her, no matter how much danger it would put us in.” I told them.

I had left my words open to include all of us, but my eyes had been directed towards Mathew. He would be the most likely to endanger himself, as Lace’s older brother he was fiercely protective of her.

Matt met my eyes head on, his eyes hard and his face set in a scowl. “With enough training, she would be better prepared to protect herself. However, I do accept the fact that I would be a security risk. Ideas can be drawn up as how to lessen the risk, but if we ignore the skill Lace has just shown, and the possible others, we would be weakening ourselves.” Matt told me, his eyes hard as he tried to give his sister a fair fight.

I nodded, my eyes hard. “If I turn her away, would I have problems?” I asked if I would, then it would be time for Lace to go. She could be as skilled as possible, but if she presented a problem to my lead then she would have to leave.

Matt tensed a second before he shook my head. “No, but I know my sister. If we turn her down then she will go elsewhere.” He warned as he gave a grim smile. “Lace doesn’t like not getting her way.”

Nodding my head I finished off my water. “I’ll tell her when she wakes up; you’ll get your new schedules tomorrow.” I told the three men before I gave a small smile. “Dismissed,” the word was the only one that would revert me from leader to friend.

Relaxing from their tensed positions the three men went from deadly to joking with ease. “So, I couldn’t hear what it was the brat was saying, but her expression was easy enough to read.” Marc said as he trailed after me as I moved towards the living room. “You mind sharing?”

Shaking my head at the other man I collapsed on the couch and grabbed the remote. “Matt you need to monitor what Lace watches or something; she was way too good at the whole seduction thing.” I snapped towards my friend, instead of answering Marc’s question.

Matt scowled as he dropped down on the other end of the couch. “No, what’s bad is how fast you fell for it.” He growled as he turned his eyes towards me. “Man, leave my little sister alone.” He snapped.

“Matt, I’m a big girl; I can take care of myself.” A female voice sounded from the doorway a second before Lace entered the room. “Do we have food in this place?” She asked.

Immediately my eyes moved onto the woman, watched as she yawned and moved into the room. She had changed out of her workout clothes and into one of her brother’s t-shirts, and had let her hair out of the ponytail. Her pretty copper colored hair formed a cape around her hourglass shape and stopped above the curve of her butt. Long shapely legs stretched out from under the shirt, which stopped at her thighs.

“Yeah, there’s some leftover pizza in the fridge.” Matt called over as Lace moved across the room. “Once you finish eating go take a shower or something, you seriously stink.” He called out at his sister’s retreating back.

Lace turned and scowled over her shoulder as she moved into the kitchen. There was some banging before she reappeared, a plastic plate and a can of soda in her hands as she moved to sit between Matt and I. “So what are we watching?” She asked as her attention focused on the TV.

I snapped my own head away from her and towards the screen, to see a crime show playing out. The others must have done the same, because I heard Will say, “I think its Criminal Minds.”

Immediately Lace perked up. “Turn up the volume.” She ordered as her eyes focused on the screen.

There was a snort from Marc. “Why the hell do you like watching these?” He asked causing Lace’s head to snap around as she glared at him.

“I like them because they give me a challenge.” She snapped as she glared him. “And I don’t judge you for watching Burn Notice, which is so stupid, so don’t judge me for watching this.” She told him before she picked up her pizza and took a bite, her attention going back to the screen in time to see someone get their neck cut open.

I winced, I hated shows like this, it gave too much of a reminder towards my other life. However, Lace had asked and I, like the other three, was a sucker to her.

That reminded me. “Lace, we need to talk about these skills you claim to have.” I told her as a commercial came on, apparently the killer liked to take his victims eyes.

Lace’s head snapped up, her attention moving towards me as her forehead crinkled. She starred at me for a few seconds before shrugging. “I can act, lie, and I know how to use weapons; although I prefer not to.” She said as she flashed a small smile.

I was quite for a few minutes before coming to a decision. “You’re on probation, after a test run we’ll see how you do and how we work with you. If all goes well, we’ll see about making this a more permanent arrangement.” I told her a second before I was tackled.

Lace’s arms went around my neck, as her weight landed on my lap. Long hair managed to get into my mouth as Lace’s voice sounded right next to my ear. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She chanted.

Looking over her shoulder I saw three laughing gazes. “Uh, you’re welcome.” I mumbled as I tried to separate myself from the over exuberant hug.

However, Lace was already moving off my lap, her brown eyes smiling as she turned to her brother. “You owe me fifty bucks for a bet you probably don’t remember, but you still owe me.” She told him before she plopped back on the couch and picked up her food.

Matt, however, was still hung up on what she had just said. “Whoa, what do you mean I owe you fifty bucks?” He asked.

Marc, Will, and I were following the conversation with rapt attention. It was always amusing when Matt and Lace got into arguments. Matt always went for trying to bully her into giving into what he wanted, while Lace used reason. It’s not hard to guess who won most of the time.

Lace turned to look at him. “When we first got here, and I was bored and begging to go with y’all, you told me that one day I would get to join. When that didn’t work on getting me to leave you alone, you told me that if I shut up about it, when I did get to join that you would give me fifty bucks.” She told him as she kept her tone even.

It was nice to watch her argue, the way she did it without raising her voice. Also when Lace argued, she made you want to give into what she was saying, convinced you to agree with her. The one time I had made the mistake of getting in an argument with her was when there was a storm coming and we had just let our dog out.

Lace had wanted to go out and get the mutt; I had argued that it was too dangerous. I remembered arguing with her for about ten minutes before giving in. However, instead of letting her go out looking for the rotten dog, I had done it. I had spent three hours out in the pouring rain before finding the dog dead, and upon delivering the news to Lace, held her while bawled her eyes out.

Matt’s forehead was crinkling as he tried to remember. “Lace, I never made that bet. I didn’t even have fifty dollars back then.” He informed her, his temper starting to slip. Matt hated arguments, because when he lost his temper, the yelling that ensued was pretty scary.

Lace waited until she had finished off her pizza before she answered her brother. “I know, in fact I pointed that out to you. You responded with, by the time I got in, you would have fifty dollars.” She told him, her voice calm as if they were discussing what to have for lunch.

In fact, Lace never lifted her head. Instead she was concentrated on opening her soda and drinking from it. None of her motions were jerky; in fact there was nothing to show she was losing her own temper.

Matt however was tense, and when he moved, the motions were short and sharp. “Lace, I think I would remember something like that.” He grit out. For some reason he had managed to lose his temper faster than normal, I would have to check that out during the next training session.

“Just like you would think you would remember my birthday was three days ago or that you said you would take me to go fishing?” She asked, her eyes rising from the can of soda she had been focused on. “You have an awfully poor memory, big brother.” She told him before putting her attention back on the screen; the show had just come back on.