Chapter 23
John felt resolve click into place when he saw his sister’s name on that board. Resolve and another emotion—anger. She’d been living her life when he’d been grieving her loss. The hours, days… hell, months he’d spent wondering if there was something he should have seen, something he should have done in those first few moments. It was sickening the hours he mourned her, mourned her loss when she was alive and thriving in the layers of Stratus.
“Why wouldn’t the Agency where you both worked not know she’s alive?” Shae asked him as they were deplaning in New York. The bitter cold sliced down the runway as they huddled into their coats and trotted to the small terminal building.
“Why would they look for a dead person?” John asked as he pulled open the door.
“Well, there is that,” Shae answered as they stomped snow off their shoes.
“About time you decided to get your ass in here.” Luke walked forward and extended his hand.
“Luke, good to see you. I’m not sure if you remember her, but this is Shae Diamant, we met her in Canada about a year ago.”
The man’s head snapped back on his shoulders. “No way.”
Shae laughed, “Way. Nice to meet you, Luke, and thank you for your part in liberating me from that pit.”
“Man, I never wanted to kill someone as bad as I wanted to kill that bastard that worked you over. Lucky for his fat ass that I don’t do that for a living.” Luke winked at John. He chuckled and nodded as Travis, Sierra Team’s skipper, walked up.
“John, been a hot minute.”
“It has indeed. Travis, this is Shae Diamant. We met her in Canada about a year ago.”
The man blinked and swung his gaze from John to Luke back to Shae. “Ma’am, I must say you look much better today.”
“I’m sure I do.” Shae nodded to the men standing behind Travis.
“Sorry, this is the rest of us. Ricco, Scuba, Harley, and that guy over there is Coach, our medic.”
“Ma’am.” Coach smiled. He turned to John. “I see you’re still holding her hand. Good job, my man.”
John glanced down to their intertwined fingers and remembered Coach telling him to hold her hand and talk to her. “Don’t figure on stopping.”
Coach smacked Travis on the back. “Score one for the Coach.”
“Whatever. We’ve got a van waiting and a secure connection at the other end of the ride.”
John settled into the vehicle beside Shae and dropped his arm around her shoulders. Travis drove and the team settled into seats with Ricco in shotgun. “So, I’m sure the question on everyone’s mind is why were you where you were?” Luke twisted in his seat to ask the question.
She glanced at John. He shrugged. “You can tell him to mind his own business, but everyone here has the clearance to hear.”
Shae drew a breath and glanced at the men who were all twisted to look at her. “I was a Mossad agent tracking Stratus.” She stopped and shrugged. “I found them.”
“No shit,” Scuba snorted.
“Did a damn good job of it, too,” Ricco laughed.
“Well, if you’re going to do something…” Harley chuckled.
Shae laughed with them, but when they quieted, she leaned forward. “Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t have survived much longer.”
The somberness of the Canadian mission returned in full force. “Well, I’m glad we were able to reach you in time,” Luke spoke, and the men nodded.
“So am I.” John tucked her under his shoulder and the rest of the ride was made in silence, although John watched Shae react to the drive into the city. Her eyes were glued to the cityscape and the awe in her eyes as they drove deep into the belly of New York City was akin to a child’s wonder at Christmastime. Subtle gasps when landmarks came into view were heard only by him. He moved slightly so she could see out the window. She glanced at him and smiled. “I’ve always wanted to go to Times Square and a Broadway show.”
“I’ll take you.” And he would, damn it. If his sister could live her life in the open, Guardian could make sure he could live his. Granted, he was going to live in South Dakota, but he would take Shae to Times Square and to a Broadway show and anything else she wanted.
Her smile widened and she squeezed his hand as they walked into the downtown office building. The New York offices for Guardian Security were unsuspecting, but the professionalism he’d always encountered with Guardian echoed down the tight halls of this portion of the company, too. A gentleman with grey hair at his temples extended his hand to Travis. “I’m Ross Stapleton, Chief of Guardian’s branch here in New York. Follow me.”
The team of seven walked down the corridor single file and into a conference room. Stapleton closed the door and motioned for them all to take a seat. He clicked on the screen and nodded to them. “This briefing is classified and Jared King has provided all of your clearance levels to me. Skipper, can you attest to the identity of your team and that these are the passengers you picked up from the arriving aircraft?”
Travis nodded. “I can.”
“Authenticate pitch.”
“Screwball.”
“Good, now that the pleasantries are over, here is the latest we have from HQ. The woman in question is Lorelei Wilde. Guardian’s computer folks are still digging, but there is nothing on her to indicate any connection to Stratus.”
“How can that be? She was the one who gave the order.” Shae leaned forward.
“Guardian backtracked her financials to the dates you were located in Canada. They show she was in New York City the entire month, credit card usage throughout the city. Taxis, shopping, meals.”
“That can’t be right. John, I know I’m not wrong.” Shae twisted grabbing his arm.
“What about the sale of the deep covers?” John threw out the question.
“Dom Ops is interviewing the people who had assumed the covers. We’ll have more on who and how later.”
“We have to bring her in.” John leaned forward. He drew a breath and laid it all out. “She’s a dead woman who isn’t dead, the only person with access to my work other than myself. We have an eyewitness placing her in Canada in charge of a kidnapping, assault, and attempted murder.”
“Oh, she’s going to be brought in. That’s why you’re here. What we need to do is figure out how to extract her without creating a small war zone in Tribeca.” Stapleton pointed his remote at the screen. A street view flashed up on the screen. “The area she lives in is residential and populated with upper-middle-class families.” He hit the remote again. “This is a drive-by photo of the building where she lives. This is her floor.”
“Is that a garden terrace?” Luke spoke as he squinted at the screen
Ross Stapleton nodded. “It is. She’s one of two apartments on that floor. We have no information on the second tenant. Guardian is digging.”
“Do both apartments have access to the terrace?”
Stapleton nodded. “From the blueprints we were able to pull from the city, yes.”
“Think we could do it?” Luke asked Travis.
The team leader leaned forward. “We could, the wall has limited windows. We could gain access from the rooftop.”
“Rappel down?” John asked.
“Yeah.” Travis nodded. “Not a tactic we like to employ, especially in a highly visible environment like this. What is the lighting at night? We could be caught on video by a thousand phones.”
Shae turned from the photo and asked, “Why not cut the power?”
Ross rubbed the back of his neck. “To the building? That’s doable”
Shae shook her head. “No, to the entire block.”
“Oh, I like her,” Luke chuckled.
“The entire block?”
John smiled and nodded in agreement. “It would put the entire block into darkness. As soon as the power is cut, we’d move.”
“We?” Travis laughed, “Oh, no. Not happening.”
“It’s a fifty-foot rappel.
We’ll sign a waiver.” Shae threw up her hand dismissing the team leader’s concern.
Travis crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair staring at both Shae and John. “And if you drop to your death?”
Shae snorted. “A waiver, you know what this is, yes? It means you aren’t responsible.”
“I’m not worried about the rappel, I’m saying no because of the way we’re going to get on top of that building.” Travis leaned forward.
“And how is that?”
“Zipline.” Travis nodded to the taller building to the right. “From that rooftop to this one.”
John leaned forward and stared at Travis. “I’d freefall jump from that rooftop to this one if it meant finding out what the fuck is going on. This is my life, our life, not just a mission. We are going and I don’t care what gymnastics we have to go through to be there. You’ve worked with me; you know I’m not rash or stupid. Neither is Shae.”
“Didn’t say you were, but I don’t know her skillset and I don’t want to jeopardize my team because you need closure. You can wait until we take her down and bring her out.”
“That’s not going to happen.” John leaned forward. “Call Archangel if you doubt my word.” He tossed that trump card out and slapped it on Travis’ desk.
He glared at Travis until the man sighed, “Your funeral.” He looked over at Ricco. “Dude, Google how to write up a waiver.” The rest of the team chuckled at the request.
“Guardian will still have to approve the tactic and get the city to black out a full city block,” Ross spoke as he stared at the photograph.
“If I know Guardian, they won’t ask for permission.” Luke leaned forward. “Tonight, then?”
Ross turned off the screen. “I have men trying to get eyes on her now. Once we make contact, we can verify location and set up the takedown.”
“Then we wait,” John said. He’d hold until the boiling rivers of Hell froze over to get answers.
Waiting had never been her strong suit. Shae walked the ninety-seven strides down the long hallway of Guardian’s offices in New York. There were electronic locks on a few of the doors and lights that were illuminated indicating people were working inside the secure areas. She pivoted at the end of the hall and started the journey back to the other end of the passageway.
“Guardian’s going to have to replace the tile.”
Shae spun at the comment. Luke leaned against a door jamb. “Restless.” She moved so one of the New York Guardians could pass.
“Are you ready for what’s going to happen tonight?”
She leaned against another door jamb out of the way of those who wanted to pass by. “I believe I am.”
Luke cleared his throat and glanced both ways down the hall before he spoke, “You and I have similar experiences. I don’t know how long you were held. They had me for three years.”
She froze at the admission. “My God.” The words whooshed out of her escaping breath.
He nodded. “It isn’t as easy as you’d think… going back out into the field. There could be triggers. Anger. Rage.” He shrugged.
“Yet here you are.” Shae nodded. “Proof it can be done.”
“True. If you need to talk or if you want to stop at any point, let me know. I get it. No questions, no hassle, just tell me.”
Shae nodded. “Thank you. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The man shrugged. “I’ve known John for a few years in passing. Got to know him better last year. He thought she was dead.”
“There are a lot of unanswered questions.” She had no idea where this conversation was going or for that matter why she was talking about John with a stranger.
“Finding out a member of your family has turned against you, transgressed on that relationship, can be difficult to deal with emotionally. Some people find it hard to believe that family could be… treacherous.”
Shae narrowed her eyes at him. “John has no such doubts. He’s well aware of what she’s done.”
Luke nodded. “But when it comes time, if we aren’t there, if shit turns south…”
Realization of what he was saying landed on her shoulders with the weight of a tombstone. She held the man’s eyes and vowed, “I have his back.”
Luke dipped his chin. “Stapleton wants us back in the conference room in five.” He turned on his heel and headed back down the small hall to the conference room.
She took a deep breath and released it, counting to ten. Tonight wasn’t going to be easy for her, and frankly, that was what she’d been focusing on. Luke shifted her thoughts from herself to the man she loved. How hard was it going to be for John to confront his sister? What damage were her actions doing to him? What explanation could justify what she’d done? Rolling her shoulders, she lifted away from the door jamb and followed Luke. Only time would tell.
Chapter 24
John checked his rigging one more time before he moved to where Shae was standing. “Secure?”
She nodded. “You?”
He tugged on his shoulder harness. “Good to go.”
They stood in the darkness watching Sierra Team do a dance they appeared to have done countless times. Travis called them all over and sank to a knee when everyone was around him. He spoke to everyone, making eye contact with each of them as he spoke, “One more time with the game plan. Two lines. Ricco and Scuba will deploy the cable. The stairwell entrance on the target building is made of cinderblock. That’s where you’ll sink the cables. Once you secure the line on both sides, you’re over the wall first. Then Shae and John. Luke and I will be behind them. Coach and Harley are bringing up the rear and will make sure that cable is released so we can pull it up from this rooftop after the mission is over. Luke, you man the inside stairwell once we are over there. We don’t want any unexpected guests.” He glanced around. “We aren’t going into this looking for a lady. This woman is Stratus, and from the sound of things, she’s high up in that organization. Comms are on as soon as we are at the garden terrace. Guardian will be able to hear everything but communicate only with me.” He focused on John. “We take no chances.”
John nodded. He got why Travis was zeroing in on him. He was a weak link in the chain. His sister, his emotions, his problem, not theirs. “I’m solid. No chances.”
Travis nodded. “All right, we have one minute. We wait for the power outage and then we move in. We all go in alive, we all come out alive.”
“Whatever it takes,” the team said in unison.
“As long as it takes,” Travis finished for them.
Shae and he took their places to the side of Ricco and Scuba. He leaned over and whispered, “I love you.”
Shae turned to him just as the lights went out. Her words, if they were said, were wiped away by the sound of rocket-propelled cables being fired.
Ricco and Scuba secured the lines and clipped their safety gear onto the cable. In unison, they swung their legs over the wall, clipped a zipline handle to the cable and their rigs, and with a nod to each other, were screaming across the darkness to the rooftop below.
When they saw the signal, John and Shae assumed the same position. He attached the handle to the cable and his harness. He glanced over as Shae completed fastening her handle to her rig. He nodded and they moved as one, sliding from the wall into the cradle of the harness as they flew across the darkened street below. It took only seconds to land with a jolt on the roof of the building across the way. They unhooked and moved out of the way. Travis, Luke, Harley, and Coach sped across the cable in the same way. Harley and Coach worked to release the cables from the cinderblocks as Ricco and Scuba anchored rappelling lines into the roof of the building.
Luke hissed from the stairwell door. “Incoming. You have a minute, maybe less.”
Travis cussed and motioned for John and Shae. “There must be an alarm with a generator backup on this rooftop. You two down the side and take cover in the garden. Do not engage. Copy?”
John nodded and hooked h
is harness into the rappel line in perfect synchronization with Shae. They stepped over the wall and lowered into the darkness.
Several breathless seconds later, he landed on his toes and unclipped from the harness, pulling his nine mil out to cover as Shae unhooked. “Let’s go.”
Shae snapped her head up. He could barely see her in the darkness when she hissed, “What part of don’t engage didn’t you understand?”
John moved into the darkest area of the garden, not to hide but to move closer. He could feel Shae following him. He stopped and waited for her to get closer. “We’ve both got plenty of missions under our belt. Don’t tell me you want to hide in the dark.”
She withdrew her weapon and flicked the safety off and whispered, “Not in the slightest.”
The sounds of a muffled shout and the muted scuffling from above paused their advance for a moment. The distinct whap of a long-range bullet hitting the rooftop fifty feet above them caught and held his attention, but there was nothing he could do if the men were pinned down. John crouched down and moved quietly toward the plate glass doors that they’d seen in the photographs and on the blueprints of the building.
There were a few candles lit, casting a warm yellow glow about three feet into the garden. Shae put a hand on his shoulder. “Look.” She motioned to the frame of the door.
“What?” He didn’t know what she was looking at.
“Laminated polycarbonate. Bulletproof glass. If it is locked, we can’t get in, not without an army.” Another rifle shot echoed into the night, causing someone to stir in the apartment.
“We left our army upstairs.” John watched from the darkness as Lori walked up to the plate glass door. “Then we need to have her ask us in.”
John (Guardian Defenders Book 3) Page 20
