Onyx (K19 Security Solutions Book 10)

by Heather Slade

  “It’s okay,” said Ranger, noticing. “I was about to call it a night anyway.”

  We sat and stared at the fire for a few minutes without speaking. I was at a loss as to what to say, and he seemed just as bad.

  “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I’ve never been a jealous person. And before you say I don’t have any right to be, I know that. I can’t explain it.”

  “Maybe it’s just that you’re used to getting all the attention.”

  He turned his body so he was facing me. “What makes you say that?”

  “It was obvious your family dotes on you.”

  “That’s just because they never see me.”

  “You’re also charming and funny.”

  “I am?”

  I slugged his arm. “You know you are.”

  “What about handsome? Am I that too?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve created a monster. Yes, Montano, you’re very handsome. Another thing you know.”

  “Not as handsome as Jimmy, though.”

  “More handsome.”

  “Get out, sis. I saw you drooling over his photo on Ranger’s phone.”

  “I wasn’t drooling. I was just surprised. He doesn’t look much different than he did all those years ago.”

  “You probably don’t either.”

  “Oh, no. I do. At least, I hope so. I wasn’t a very attractive teenager.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that.”

  “I’d show you a photo, but I’ve destroyed them all.”

  The playful look on Montano’s face turned serious. “You’re beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered. “I know it’s hard…”

  He wriggled his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? You noticed?”

  I slugged him again and tried not to look at his crotch. I failed. But at least I tried not to. “What I meant was, I know it’s difficult for you since I look so much like my sister.”

  “You don’t look anything like her.”

  “Then, she must’ve really changed in the years since I last saw her.”

  Montano reached out and touched my cheek with his fingertip. “If the two of you were in a photograph, then yes, you’d look alike. But in person, flesh and blood, if she were here, I’d know in an instant who you were.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “How? There were times I swear my parents weren’t sure.”

  “So many things.”

  I rested my head against the back of the sofa.

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “It isn’t that—”

  “When we sat beside each other at Thanksgiving dinner and I looked into your eyes, I saw you, not Sofia. Every smile, I see you, not your sister. Your laughter, your mannerisms, your playfulness. I see you, not her.”

  “Are we really so different?”

  13

  Onyx

  I put my finger on Blanca’s chin and turned her head so she faced me. “Night and day. The desert and the ocean.” An angel and a demon, I thought but didn’t say.

  “Most people thought we were the same. It’s another reason I left. We couldn’t find common ground, and it broke my heart.”

  Tears brimmed Blanca’s eyes. I wanted to tell her she was better off without her sister in her life. She was better off not knowing who her sister had turned into before she died. But to do that, I had to admit I knew more than anyone else about the plane crash that took Sofia’s life. The one Blanca knew next to nothing about except that her twin had died when it crashed.

  “Maybe whatever it is you’re meant to find will bring you some comfort.”

  “I don’t know. To be honest, I’m not sure I even want to look.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m in over my head, Montano. I thought I could come here and reconnect with Sofia in a way I wasn’t able to in the last few years of her life, but I can’t. It’s ridiculous to even try. The smartest thing for me to do is to hire an agent to sell the camp, and go home.”

  “By home, do you mean back to Italy?”

  Blanca nodded. “It’s been my home for a long time now.”

  “How about another hot chocolate?”

  Her brow furrowed at my abrupt change in subject. “Sure, what the heck.”

  “That’s the spirit,” I teased.

  When I came back from the kitchen, Blanca’s eyes were closed. They opened when I sat beside her.

  “I think you should stay,” I blurted. “Get closure at the very least.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “What about you? How long will you be hanging out here at the lake?”

  “As long as you are.”

  She sat up. “Why?”

  I tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Because I want to.”

  “Don’t you have to get back to work?”

  “Most of what I do is remote anyway.”

  “How did you and my sister meet?”

  “We were contracted as pilots to fly private aircraft.”

  “Oh. You’re a pilot too?”

  “Was.”

  “Why aren’t you anymore?”

  What I was about to tell her was mostly true. “When I started out, I flew F/A-18 Hornets. There’s nothing like the thrill of piloting a fighter jet. Passenger jets, not so much. It kind of feels like driving a bus.”

  “I don’t know much about my sister’s career. When I left, she was talking about joining the Air Force.”

  “She flew F-15C Eagles.”

  “What’s the difference between the two aircraft?”

  “The F/A-18 was far superior.” I laughed and so did she. “Seriously, though, there isn’t much difference. The Hornet is newer. They’re about the same size, but the F/A-18’s wingspan is wider.”

  “You’re competitive.”

  “I’ve been called that before.”

  “Sofia was competitive too. Far more than I ever was.”

  “You have no reason to be.”

  She nodded slowly, and the smile left her face.

  “What I mean by that is, you excel without even trying.”

  The smile was back, along with a laugh. “Nice save, bro.”

  I laughed again too. “I’m serious. You’re effortless. Everything you do comes naturally, and those around you marvel.”

  Her laughter turned into giggles. “You’re so full of shit. You can stop blowing smoke up my skirt now.”

  I leaned forward so my mouth was near her ear. “It’s true. You have no idea how amazing you are.”

  “You don’t even know me,” she whispered.

  “Don’t I?” I shouldn’t kiss her. Everything in me knew that, but did that stop me? Hell no.

  Blanca’s tongue felt wet and hot as it twined with mine. I nipped her bottom lip, eliciting groans from her that reverberated deep in my chest. I pulled her onto my lap, holding her head with one hand so she didn’t try to break the seal of our mouths. She did anyway.

  “God, you’re a good kisser,” she mewled before angling her head and coming back for more.

  “Good as the guys you write in your books?”

  “Better. In fact, you’re giving me lots of material.”

  I sneaked my hand under her sweater but rested it on her back. I was desperate to feel her bare skin, and as much as I wanted more, I knew I was already going too far just by kissing her.

  I was breaking every rule, not just of my job, but that of my conscience too. I was seducing the twin sister of the woman who’d tried to kill me. The one I’d confessed my love to right before she pulled the trigger.

  I knew that made me a sick fuck, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted Blanca in a way I’d never wanted another woman—including and most especially, Sofia.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this,” said Blanca, pulling away from me. Perhaps she sensed the struggle taking place in my head.

  “My brain agrees; the rest of me doesn’t.”

  She smiled. “That’s honest, an
d I agree. Maybe we should call it a night.”

  “Good idea,” I said, diving in for another scorching kiss.

  I don’t know how much time passed before we both pulled back, eyes glazed, lips swollen, bodies on fire.

  “I should show you to your room.”

  She raised a brow.

  “I promise I won’t cross the threshold.”

  I stood, gathered her into my arms, and carried her up the stairs. As pledged, I stopped at the bedroom door and set Blanca on her feet.

  “If you need anything, my room is the second door down the hall on the left. Second. Not first.”

  “I take it Ranger’s is the first.”

  “You catch on quick.”

  “Montano—”

  I stopped whatever she was going to say with another kiss. “Good night, angel.”

  She touched her lips, stepped inside the room, and closed the door behind her.

  Angel. That’s the way I saw her. The opposite of her twin, a demon incarnate.

  Rather than going to my room, I went back downstairs, cleaned up the kitchen, and made sure the fire was almost out. When I turned to go back up, Ranger had come down.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “About as far from it as it gets.”

  “We need to talk.”

  “Agreed. What I’m not certain we’ll agree on is the topic.”

  “I have nothing to say about you and Blanca. You’re both adults, and you need to handle this mission the way you see fit.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  “Follow me.”

  Ranger led me out onto the enclosed porch and shut the door behind us.

  “Damn cold out here, bro.”

  “This won’t take long. What’s the plan now that we’ve gotten her out of the camp, at least temporarily?”

  “Her father told her it was imperative she find whatever Sofia left for her. His word choice confirms, at least to me, that it’s some kind of evidence, most likely on a micro SD card.”

  “Which could be hidden just about anywhere.”

  “Sofia wanted it found, which means it can’t be buried too deep. My guess is her father received a message about it after her death.”

  “It was an insurance policy.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “Her plan was to kill you along with Tackle and Halo, land the plane, and complete her mission.”

  I nodded. Instead, Halo shot and killed Sofia first. At which point, we all should have died when the plane went down.

  “I was serious earlier when I asked if you’d checked in with the office. Any word on Hatchet’s whereabouts?”

  “Hasn’t moved.”

  “Has Wasp laid eyes on him?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “As I said before, that means whoever sent him is arranging for a replacement.”

  “Do you want Wasp to stay on him?” Ranger asked.

  “For now.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Have Diesel come in undercover tomorrow to deal with her power outage—which will stay out as long as we need it to.”

  “Roger that.”

  Given most of the camps sat empty at this time of the year, it wasn’t like Blanca would get suspicious about hers being the only one without power.

  Ranger put his hand on the door. “There’s something I want to say before we go inside.”

  “What happened to you having nothing to say, bro?”

  “I changed my mind.”

  “Change it back.”

  “Hear me out.”

  I nodded.

  “I was trying to remember the last time Blanca was at the lake, because there was an incident with Sofia and my brother.”

  “What kind of incident?”

  “Sofia made a play for him. I think at first she wanted him to think she was Blanca. When he called her out on it, she said it was a joke, but Jimmy was pissed.”

  “Did he tell Blanca?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure he ever heard from her again.”

  “That it?” I asked since he still had a grip on the door and didn’t appear to be going inside.

  “I should’ve said something.”

  “I see.” I motioned to two chairs. “Have a seat.”

  Before he sat down, he turned on the portable propane heater and cracked a window.

  “Let it go, man. Someone making a play for their sister’s boyfriend would never constitute a warning when we’re vetting an agent, Ranger.”

  “I had a bad feeling about her. I should’ve spoken up.”

  “So did Dutch and he did speak up. I shot him down.” I sat back in the chair, looked up at the ceiling, and back at him. “You wanna know how many times I ignored my instincts when it came to Sofia Descanso? Enough that Doc and Merrigan should fire me rather than have me head up a new K19 unit.”

  “Blanca is different.”

  “You sure about that? Cuz right now, I’m not certain my gut is trustworthy.”

  “You know she is. I do too.”

  “I hope to hell we’re both right about her, bro. If not, and I manage to live through it, I’ll be heading to somewhere in the Keys and run a fishing-boat business.”

  “That sounds pretty damn good either way.”

  The next morning, Diesel Jacks showed up after Ranger placed a call to the “electric company” on Blanca’s behalf.

  “It isn’t just your place. We’ve got broken poles and primary wires down. You could be out for days.”

  “Days? As in, how many?”

  “Hard to say. We’ve got lines down all over from this storm. Could be several.”

  “Great,” she said after he left. “I guess I might as well head home.”

  “Nah. I have a better idea.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Why don’t you show me around the Adirondacks instead?”

  “I didn’t spend any time here in the winter. Which, I suppose is obvious, given I didn’t know the camp wasn’t winterized.”

  “So, we play tourists together.”

  “What about Ranger?”

  “He has work to do.”

  “Don’t you?”

  I put my arm around her shoulders. “I’m the boss, remember?” I turned her around. “First stop once we dig out of here is to get you some proper boots. While we’re waiting, let’s map out a plan.”

  14

  Blanca

  It took two days before the plow came to dig us out. During that time, we researched what there was to do in the area during the winter. The list was a lot longer than I thought it would be.

  “The winter Olympics were in Lake Placid several years ago,” Ranger reminded us. “Plus, Lake George is close by, as is Saratoga Springs.”

  “I remember going to horse races there.”

  “This afternoon, we can head out on the snowmobiles if you’re up for it,” he added, looking from me to Montano.

  “Sounds good to me. We gotta get Blanca better boots, though.”

  Ranger hit the side of his own head. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. My mom has all kinds of stuff she keeps here. It might be a little big on you, though. Come with me, and you can try some of it on.”

  “If you don’t think she’d mind…”

  “Of course she wouldn’t. It’s upstairs in the back bedroom closet.”

  When Ranger took a step in that direction, Montano grabbed his shoulder. “I’ll take it from here, son.”

  “But—”

  “Back bedroom closet, right?”

  “Right,” Ranger grumbled.

  “I doubt he planned to stay in the room while I tried clothes on,” I said, smacking Montano’s arm.

  “Not about to risk it.”

  “You’re being a dork.”

  “What did you just call me? A dork? You’re in big trouble now, sis.”

  I ran toward the stairs, giggling all the way, but didn’t make it to the first step befor
e he swept me up and tossed me over his shoulder. “Ouch!” I shrieked when he smacked my bottom playfully.

  He carried me all the way upstairs and down the hallway as I tried to wriggle my way free. When we got to the bedroom, he set me down on my feet and opened the door.

  “Go ahead. I’ll be out here if you need my help with zippers or anything.”

  I play-swooned and put my hand on his chest. “So gallant. My protector and my savior.”

  Montano put his hand on top of mine and looked into my eyes. “I’ll always protect you, angel. That’s one thing you can count on.” He let go and took a step back. “Get going before I change my mind and follow you into that room.”

  Everything I tried on fit me almost perfectly, even Ranger’s mother’s boots. It might have worried me since he thought his mom’s clothes would be too big on me. However, I remembered her as always being petite.

  “Whatcha got?” Montano asked when I came out of the room carrying two pairs of pants, two sweaters, and a pair of boots. “Doesn’t look like much.”

  “If I need more, I know where to find it.”

  “What about a jacket?”

  “I have mine.”

  “Which looks like a decent enough raincoat, but not something you can wear on the back of a snowmobile.”

  I rolled my eyes and shoved the clothes in my arms into his. “Fine. I’ll grab a jacket.”

  “Look for snow pants too, sis,” he shouted after me when I shut the door in his face.

  An hour later, I was grateful for Montano’s insistence that I borrow a warmer jacket, since even with it on, I was freezing.

  “Let’s stop in at the Canada Lake store and grab some sandwiches,” suggested Ranger when we came off one trail that ended near the road.

  Admittedly, I was starving, and as soon as he mentioned their sandwiches, I remembered how good they were. “Do they still have the Canada Laker?” I asked.

  “The one with roast beef, cream cheese, and peperoncini?” Ranger asked. “Sure do. It’s my favorite.”

  We ended up getting two Canada Lakers, a Wester—which had Italian cold cuts, provolone cheese, and oil and vinegar—along with the Caroga special, which was a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and stuffing.

  Once we were back at Ranger’s camp, we cut them into several pieces and shared them all. It was something I remembered my mom doing when we used to order out from them.