Read Grit and Grace: A Metal and Men Novella (Metal and Men Series Book 1) for Free Online Page A

was paying off. Apparently greed trumped love of family.
    One of the shadows spoke. "Where's the quarry."
    I took a step forward. "She's here," I said.
    He whispered something to the guy next to him, who then approached me. His eyes flickered blue as he scanned me. "Tough job, huh? Not just another day at the office, was it?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice.
    "How many others did you have working this job?" I asked.
    The man approaching me stopped. I could see his trigger finger tense on the sleek pistol he carried. It bore the golden G, just like mine.
    "Connor," I said. "You ought to get together with this guy and talk shop sometime. You tactical geniuses are all friends, right?"
    "Just give us the girl," said the shadow closest to me.
    I didn't move. "You send bounty hunters out to flush the girl, knowing full well they got no chance against her." I smiled. "But stressing her out triggers an implanted program that tells her to come here, a place where her fancy sensors can't detect you until it's too late."
    Silence drifted in the gentle wind.
    Lena couldn't sense them coming because no signal could enter or leave the bunker under that library. It was shielded.
    "Shit," I said. "Hetty."
    The closest shadow swung his weapon up, but I drew faster. The Colt thundered one shot, slamming square into the shadow's chest.
    He staggered but fired anyway.
    He missed. I fired again, slamming two more shots into his skull. He stumbled backward, but didn't go down.
    I dropped the Colt, drawing two pulse pistols.
    A dozen belches of plasma sunk into the man's chest in rapid succession. As he dropped, I stepped forward, continuing to fire, sending blue-hot force at the man who had done all the talking.
    Connor had already tagged him with the needler, but the shadow still fought. One pulse fried the end off of his weapon. The next took the top off of his skull. He slumped to the ground.
    There was a roar of explosive flame, and the blue-glow light of two enormous headlights flooded the field. The Mustang was rising slowly. I flipped my sensors off and saw Lena in the seat. Connor raised an arm to shield his eyes.
    Suzy swung sharply to the left, revealing the final shadow's hiding spot just as he pulled the trigger. A bullet whizzed by my ear, and I dropped to the ground for cover behind the rubble of the library wall.
    Hetty's voice rang in my head. "Stand up, Winston," she said. "They'll let you go, even though you've made a mess of this job."
    I shook my head. "No," I said.
    Another bullet tore through the air above me. I holstered my pistols and drew the shotgun. I rolled to the right, staying behind the low wall.
    I took a breath. Those shadows were Goodwin's men. I fingered the golden G on my shotgun. These were Goodwin's guns. All of them. How did I end up here with only Goodwin's guns hunting a bounty for Goodwin's thugs?
    A bullet slammed into the wall, spraying dust into my eyes. I blinked and tried to clear my vision. It was no use. I heard the needler going off. Connor was on the attack.
    I stood, eyes closed. I heard needles slam into whatever cover the last shadow had fallen behind. I fired at it with the shotgun, all barrels.
    Then there was silence.
    My eyes cleared. Connor was approaching, the needler raised in my direction.
    "You killed my brothers," he said flatly.
    I slung the shotgun back over my shoulder and started walking to the car. It hovered a meter up and was drifting slowly in my direction.
    "Killed 'em." Connor tried to step in my way, but I brushed past him. "Where the hell you going, Doc?"
    When I got to the car I turned to face Connor. I nodded to the gun in his hands. "You take good care of her, you hear?"
    He narrowed his eyes at me then looked down at the needler. He nodded.
    "Goodwin's given us all a raw deal," I said. "Sorry about your brothers. It wasn't my intention."
    Connor's jaw hardened.
    "You'd best disappear for a spell."
    He nodded and stowed the weapon. I felt a pang of loss. I had