Ah, hell. Agony zipped through him like knives. Raider slammed his elbows down onto Rutherford’s shoulders and angled in, hitting the sides of the agent’s neck. Rutherford dropped like a stone, and Raider landed on his feet, leaping between the man and Brigid just in case. He’d choked the guy out; maybe the agent wasn’t in his right mind yet.

Rutherford rolled again and stood, but this time, Fields grabbed his arm. “Knock it off,” Fields growled. “I ain’t taking you to the hospital tonight. Have a big date.”

Rutherford straightened to his full six-foot-something height and brushed back his light hair, his eyes throwing daggers. It was the first time Raider had seen the spit-and-polished agent anything but perfectly put together. “At some point, you and I are going to finish this,” Rutherford snarled.

Raider lifted a shoulder. “I’ve been fighting since I was seven years old. Something tells me you haven’t.” While the guy had decent moves, he’d learned in training and not in reality. Definitely not on the streets. “My shoulder was out of joint yesterday, I have seven stitches in my left hip, ten in my right thigh, the remains of a concussion, and I just choked you out. If you really want to fight, this is probably your best chance.” Man, he hurt right now. Bad.

Rutherford yanked his arm free.

“Everyone calm down,” Brigid said, tossing her purse on the back of the sofa. “We’re all on the same team.”

Rutherford angled his head to see Brigid past Raider. “Don’t forget what’s at stake here, lady.”

Heat spiraled through Raider, and he took a step toward the agent. “You’re not threatening her, are you?” He’d be more than happy to choke the asshole out again. Maybe for longer than thirty seconds this time.

“He’s not threatening me,” Brigid said, moving forward and taking Raider’s arm. “Well, that’s not true. They threaten me all the time. I’ve been working with HDD for five years.” Her voice lowered to soft and oddly sad.

Raider partially turned toward her, forgetting about the agents. “What about when I picked you up from prison two months ago and brokered such a good deal for you?”

She winced. “Staged. Orange jumpsuit and all.” Her eyes glowed a dark green. “I mean, I did get in trouble hacking five years ago, and those records are accurate. But instead of going to prison, I made a deal with the HDD that I’d work for them instead. I was undercover for another case in the prison when Force found out about me and made the request for me to join the Deep Ops team.”

She was a spy? A damn spy?