Hello, May! I'm having a momentary freak-out because we're a month away from June, which means half the year is almost gone. Seriously, time goes fast sometimes. Jeez.
Busy week for television. I caught the third episode of Krypton and, yeah, I'm hooked. I love this show. Also caught another episode of Ghost Squad and enjoyed it more than the second one. Started watching episodes of Classic Who too. My Roku is working overtime right now. LOL
Tuesday's viewing included Endeavor, more Classic Who, Midsomer Murders, and the CW Seed original Freedom Fighters: The Ray, A Hero Rises. I also caught up on an episode of Gotham and seriously… I've said it before but season four is kicking so much ass. This show is rising on my list of favorites and entering the top tier. It's awesome.
Wednesday ended up being a little light on viewing. I caught The Flash a little late because I missed it Tuesday. Not a bad episode. That said, I kind of don't care at all about how DeVoe arrived at his batshit crazy decision to "enlighten" the rest of the world. Thankfully there aren't many more episodes to get through. Just saying. Also caught an episode of Chicago Fire and Jessica Jones. At this point, I'm totally done with Trish. Season three will have a long way to go if they want me to ever like that character again.
On Thursday, I caught Arrow in real time and ended up loving the episode. The twisty turns were terrific and I'm truly thrilled Oliver and Rene arrived at a better place. Watched two episodes of Blindspot and almost finished the second season.
Friday included the last episode of Blindspot's second season and an episode of Chicago PD. I'm so excited to start season three of Blindspot and can't wait to see what happened to get Jane in Nepal and covered in bioluminescent tattoos.
Saturday's viewing included the first episode of Blindspot's season three. Getting the team back together with a completely new dynamic is great. I'm very interested in what the hell Roman is doing. I also caught episode twelve of Jessica Jones. No, I haven't changed my mind about Trish. I'm still really pissed off at her. I did rather like the intimate takedown Jeri pulled. That was actually kind of brilliant. Finally, I started to get caught up on Riverdale.
Whew. What a week! Tonight's post is from Glutton for Punishment, a novella that began with a writing community prompt of getting the main characters into a sparring session to work out their issues.
Here's the mini-blurb:
Willa and Karl have issues. She acts out to keep him at bay and he finally calls her on the destructive behavior, stepping into the ring so she can work out her aggression. A glutton for punishment, Karl pushes Willa into making a choice between risking her heart or losing him for good.
And a snippety peek…
Karl Radcliffe finished the initial debrief for their failed operation. "Not the best outcome, but we cut a significant blow to their labor force by evacuating the refugees and have the diamonds as proof of what they're doing." He shot a glance toward Willa.
She'd been detached and shut down since she got back to base about twelve hours ago. Something happened out there… something she hadn't revealed. Her secretiveness bothered him. She almost always dumped whatever baggage she collected in the field directly on his doorstep. Not this time. He hadn't seen her since she unloaded from the extraction.
Gathering up his notes, he delivered one final message. "The board is still reviewing information, but unofficially, we're done in that area. We won't be making any return trips." He closed the file and made a move to stand.
"They can't do that. We have to go back." Willa shot to her feet, all but breathing fire.
Karl jerked his head toward the door. "Everyone else is dismissed." He focused on Willa. "This is out of my hands, Willa. They're basing this one your report. What is there to go back to?" She'd blown the entire encampment.
Willa threw an arm out. "I don't mean we go back to the camp, but we could return to the general area, look for more refugees." She folded her arms over her chest, her gaze angry.
Karl cocked his head to one side. "What's really going on here? You know we can't return. Too many people know what happened now. It's not feasible. We'd never get back in." Why… why did she want to go back?
Willa heaved a sigh and turned away from him. "We left people hanging. I left people hanging. Everyone didn't make it out." She paced back and forth.
Her keyed-up energy hid something deep and Karl needed to dig down and find out what. She'd left people behind before. The nature of their work often required making hard choices. What had her twisted up now?
Maybe the length of the operation played into her mindset. Normally, they moved quickly. Maybe some initial back and forth to cultivate assets, a few weeks in then back out for recon. Schedule mission, execute action plan, get the hell out, all as covertly as possible. Willa spent almost six months deep undercover, working the field and gathering intel.
Karl finally clued in. "This isn't about everyone, is it? Someone didn't make it out and you're wrecked over it." When her shoulders went rigid, he got his answer.
Well, damn. He almost dropped the topic. No way he wanted to hear his suspicions confirmed.
Willa turned around, her gaze tortured. "Yeah, okay. I made a promise to my asset, alright?" She glanced away, probably realizing she'd given him more information than she meant to.
Maybe he'd been wrong…
Karl kept his voice steady. "What did you promise Akbar, Willa?" Her penchant for writing checks her ass couldn’t cash landed her on the hot seat more than once.
Something his dad, the head of Pygmalion Enterprises, railed about often. Then again, Dane Radcliffe hired Willa because she had a gift for recruiting long-term assets. When they asked for the moon, she'd try to deliver.
Willa snorted. "Nothing you need to bring Dane into." She rolled her eyes.
Karl lifted his chin. "Ah… so it was that kind of promise, then." Not wrong.
Willa lifted a shoulder. "Not specifically. Thought I might test the futility of starting a relationship with someone again." She met his gaze. "Won't happen now." She waited a beat. "Unless we go back."
Karl shook his head. "I can tell you now, it won't happen. We sanitized the location for a reason." Meaning Akbar would've been lucky to get out.
Willa's features hardened. "Yeah, I just wanted—" She cut herself off. "Doesn't matter what I wanted." She stormed out of the briefing room.
Karl sighed. He could almost picture exactly what happened. Willa got close to Sorrel. Why wouldn't she? She'd spent half a year working day after day with him.
The bite of jealousy, when it came, didn't last long. Willa would never give Karl a shot. He didn't fit her criteria of hopeless cause, never gonna go long-term, not long for this earth kind of guy. The woman had three dead exes… a sad pattern if he thought about it too much.
Which he didn't.
"Yo, what crawled up Willa's ass and bit down hard?" Harvey Mendat propped his shoulder on the doorjamb. "She nearly took my head off and all I said was hi."
Karl blew out a harsh breath. "Expect more of that, Harv. You know her last mission went sideways and she's pissed." He tucked his files under his arm and moved to stand beside Harvey. "Keep an eye on her and be there when she needs someone." He kept his voice pitched low to avoid eavesdroppers in the corridor.
Harvey nodded. "Always, man. But what about you? You planning on not being around?"
Karl snorted. "Oh, I'll be around. In a different capacity. She'll target most of her hostility on me, which I'll deal with, but she'll need someone to act as a buffer for everyone else." He slapped Harvey on the shoulder. "That job is yours, my friend."
Harvey crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. I can be Willa's buddy and manage her moods, but why do you have to take the brunt of her latest rage fest?" He pushed away from the doorjamb. "I get acting in Willa's best interests. We all love her. But you gotta start acting for your own benefit sometime."
Karl frowned. "When do I not?"
Harv rolled his eyes and strolled back out in the corridor.
Yeah, okay. The non-answer went further than a verbal slap would any day.
I like where this one is going. I'm a huge fan of having a character not see the forest because of the trees. LOL
That's it for this week. Happy reading!
Skylin
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