by Krista Ames
“Now that’s cool.”
“Yeah forget you saw that.”
“Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer, but motioned for her to go ahead of him. Then he shut the bookshelf and did the key thing again, in a hole she still didn’t see. Once the door was locked, a string of soft white lights lit a staircase going down. He went ahead of her, while she stood dumbfounded.
“Are you coming?” Dirk stood at the bottom of the stairwell looking up at Avery.
“Yes?”
Chapter Five
Dirk wasn’t surprised to see Avery hesitate. Coming back to his house was enough to freak her out, why would she want to go into a dimly lit basement with him? Even if it was to keep her safe. Which, by the way, he felt like he was having a tough time convincing her that’s what he was doing. As far as the basement goes, he’d spent many hours working on the construction of his security room under the house. In his line of work, he couldn’t be too safe. There were cameras on his entire property and they all fed to the monitors in the basement.
In an effort to head off whatever walking disaster approached his house, he’d hardwired the important parts from underground. Cutting the wires to the house was so cliché for any burglar but he liked them to think they had the upper hand so the everyday lights were on a separate box that hooked up via the pole outside. When they cut and everything goes dark, they are sure they have the upper hand even when they really don’t.
The entire lower room was fire and waterproof and had its own ventilation system making him completely hidden. There was also a secret escape hatch that led to an underground tunnel system leading them a mile away down by the river where he had an inconspicuous boat house for an easy getaway. There were perks to living on the Potomac River.
Avery joined him at the massive wall of flat screen monitors.
“Who are you, really? Because this,” she was pointing to all the high-tech equipment. “All of this screams spy. It’s actually a scarier than being held up in that dank motel.”
“I’m sure it is a lot to take in and I don’t have a problem telling you but right now, we just don’t have the time. I really need to figure out how these guys found me. I’m off grid and was very careful that nobody followed us.”
“What about your friend?”
“The one in your dad’s office? We’re friends but phone contact has been our only way of communication since we were overseas together.” At least as far as he knew Corey didn’t know how to find him. That was something he’d rather not think about right now.
“Not very trusting, are you? Which leads me to the question, why do you not feel threatened having me in your house?”
“I’m not, sorry, I don’t trust anybody. You’re different. If you could take care of yourself, you wouldn’t have called your dad or stopped to hide out in that hell hole in the first place. You’ve got to be bugged.”
“How would they have done that? I went straight from the square where I took the pictures, to that motel. I didn’t stop to talk to anyone, except the clerk who gave me the room key.”
“Did you see anyone in the walkway when you snuck out to get snacks?”
“There was a woman in the hallway carrying a towel and bag. I bumped into her, told her sorry and kept walking. She was just some homeless smelly person that probably paid the place to let her take a shower.”
“I need you to take off your clothes.”
Dirk came out of his chair quickly and moved to a string of cabinets against the wall where he pulled out a large foil bag and a long stick that looked like a police bully club.
“What? No way.” She crossed her arms over her chest and solidified her stance.
“I’m being serious Avery. I think the woman with the towel must have stuck a tracer on your clothes so we need to get you out of them.”
“How could she have?”
“Easier than you think. They make those things so small nowadays and sticky so she could have had it on a finger and just brushed your clothes as you two touched. Come on, off with the shirt. No time to be modest. I’ve seen plenty of naked women in my thirtyish years and you’re no different.”
“Oh, very nice, thanks. And if you don’t mind, I’d rather not hear the details of your sexcapades but thanks.”
Avery stripped off her top and threw it at him, then unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off her hips, wiggling her hips, probably to try to make him feel uncomfortable. Not that it worked, much. Just for a split second when he saw her bare skin, his heart rate kicked up a few notches. He held strong to his composure. She didn’t need to know he was a bit shaken at how beautiful she was. He just reminded himself this was a job like every other one he’d done.
But sexcapades? Not hardly. Dirk had no time for socializing or women. He was a slave to his job and the women in his immediate past only reminded him of how much he was not missing. That is until he saw Avery standing gloriously and mostly naked in front of him. He would fight it for all he was worth but whew, she was all that and a bag of chips. The difference between all the others and her, is that she wasn’t trying to flaunt what she had. She was the first woman in a while that didn’t want to take off her clothes in front of him.
“Do you have anything down here that I can put on? I’m actually not self-conscious but it is a little awkward standing here with nothing on in a strangers’ basement, watching a wall of monitors while people break into his house.”
“Shit, yeah I do, hold on.”
Dirk pulled open a drawer where he had a stack of t-shirts and threw one at her.
“This will work for now.”
He ran the electronic stick over her blue jeans very thoroughly but got no alert so he threw those back at her.
“You can put those back on.”
However, when he ran the contraption over her shirt, there was a spot right on the front of the shirt that made the stick light up with an alarming beep.
“Ha, thought so.” He immediately wadded up the shirt and placed it inside the foil bag and sealed it, then put it inside a box that looked like a washing machine.
“Are you going to wash my shirt?”
***
“That’s actually not a washing machine but it does look like one I guess. Its lined with a material that is impenetrable by any tracking devices so first, by putting your shirt in that bag it made the bug go static. It’s probably buzzing in their ears now if they’re listening to it but they would have also lost track of it on a monitor. The lined box will take it off the grid for good.”
“Seriously, I’m back to asking the question, who the hell are you because this is all pretty scary and like covert ops military sounding.”
“I’ll explain later.”
Dirk sat down at a computer and Avery watched while he studied the monitor. Men were walking through his living room with goggles on their heads, probably night vision since it was dark. She did know a few things. She looked down at the shirt she was wearing, it only had an insignia on the front which she believed was the Marines. She’d been around the block once or twice but didn’t know a whole lot about the military.
“Were you a Marine?”
“Yes.”
Straight to the point. He answered questions like a military sergeant, yes and no but nothing additional.
“Okay, it’s time for us to go.”
She could barely make it out but it looked like they were standing in the office where they’d entered the basement from.
“Uhm, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you we are in a room in the basement, where are we going to go? If we go up there, they’ll get us. I really don’t want to die this young.”
“We aren’t going up, we’re going out.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”
Dirk retrieved a duffle bag from yet another hidden cabinet that looked like a painting and threw it on the ground toward Avery.
“Can you hold that open for me while I throw you some things
to put in it?”
A change of clothes plus a couple extra t-shirts for her, some cash and several gun clips then he had her zip the bag. His phone vibrated so he stopped to look at the message.
“Okay, grab your bag, I’ll carry this one and we need to go now. This situation is getting out of hand. I may need to call in reinforcements.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just a bigger group that does kind of the same thing I do. Have you ever been to Florida?”
“Only on vacation once but I was five. What’s in Florida?”
Instead of answering, he pulled on a large metal rack in the back of the room. She shouldn’t be surprised that it was attached to the wall which wasn’t a wall at all, but opened to a doorway. She couldn’t see what was beyond that, only darkness and he stood there as if he was waiting on her to go first.
“No way. You go first.”
“I’ll step through first but then you need to go. I’ll need to seal off the doorway once you’re through it.
Avery wondered where this corridor would take them. She couldn’t imagine he’d put himself in any danger purposely. She was impressed. He was much higher tech than he led on originally, must have been someone special in the military. He hadn’t admitted as much but she knew. It was in the way he handled himself and any given situation. He was focused and smart, and cute too.
He didn’t waste any time moving thru the tunnel either. She looked behind her and saw nothing but dark but could hear nothing other than their footsteps. It was the same ahead of them. Only in the five feet around them were they encompassed in a soft light, same that had lit up the basement staircase.
“Did you do all this yourself?” It was the first time they’d talked since walking in to the tunnel.
“Yeah, needed to keep myself busy.”
“What branch specifically were you in?”
“Marines, Force Recon.”
“How long?”
“Fifteen years. A lifetime.”
“But you loved it?”
“Yes, ma’am I did.”
“And now you’re in private security?”
“Like I said, I needed to keep myself busy.”
“Who are you calling for backup?”
“The Omega Team.”
Chapter Six
The Omega Team was the Elite. He’d only ever heard rumors of such a group existing during his tour days. Come to find out everything he’d heard and more was true. With a threat to their nation’s security and possible corruption within, Dirk needed a little advice. He’d met their leader Grey Holden some time ago when Dirk had suffered the injury that would eventually lead to his honorable discharge. The man was a machine in the military and out and had approached Dirk about working with his team. He’d politely declined because he was anxious to start his own business but promised to keep them in mind if there was ever a need.
The Omega Team headquartered in Miami but traveled all over the world to help those in need so D.C. wasn’t out of the question. He was hoping it wouldn’t come to that but it was an option if necessary. After being pushed out of his main command center and home, he would need someone that could essentially access higher security. Grey was that man.
“Where are we going Dirk?”
“We’re almost to the end, I have a boat waiting. We’ll head down river.”
He knew she checked out clean on the sweep but he was conflicted. While he was surprisingly comfortable around her and wanted to tell her about things, he also wanted her safe and the less she knew about him and what he did the better off she would be. He was used to working that way. Safety had always been his top concern, even in the military. They did a lot of crazy off the wall things but they always had each other’s backs. She was his responsibility and he took that very seriously.
After they were both safely out of the tunnel, he bolted the door and loaded their things in the speed boat he kept in the small building at the waters’ edge.
“Are you good to be on the water? Any motion sickness?”
“It’s been a few years but I think I’ll be okay.”
Once they were moved away from the dock, Dirk made his way down the river at a decent speed considering how dark it was outside. About a half hour later, he pulled the boat into an area covered with shrubbery. Once or twice he’d seen Avery’s eyes drift closed. She needed to get some sleep. While she did that, he would make some calls and go through her camera.
He tied off the boat and helped her out, motioning for her to go ahead up the steps.
“Is this your place as well?”
“It is. I just use it for work but there is a pull-out sofa to sleep on, which is what you’re going to do when we get in there. You must be exhausted.”
“I am, and hungry. Any chance you have any food here?”
“I’m pretty sure there are some fudge pop tarts in the cabinet and bottled water in the refrigerator.”
“Perfect.”
Avery went in search of the pop tarts while Dirk honed in on his desk area. His first call was going to be Grey Holden. Something felt off about this whole thing with the Deputy Secretary of Defense and he was hoping the Omega team might have some different contacts than he did. The details sounded eerily familiar to an incident that happened a few years ago. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions but he had a terrible feeling it was an inside job. Using only one tracer to plant on Avery was child’s play. It was almost like they already knew where they were going but wanted to make it look like she’d led them. How they would know to go to his home though, was the mystery. And if they knew about his home, they probably knew where he was now.
Literally no one knew about his personal life after the military or anything that he owned. His cell number was even designed to be untraceable. He tried to recall anybody that he even talked to on a semi-regular basis but only one person came to mind. He didn’t want to even consider it.
When his cheap cell phone rang, he looked at the display first. He didn’t know why because he had no one saved in contacts so he wasn’t really surprised when it said unknown caller. His cell was a stealth phone which was untraceable and he already knew Avery had only used burner phones and Wi-Fi to connect instead of cell towers. The last time she used hers though had been at the motel and they already tossed it.
“Hello?”
“Dirk, it’s Corey, glad to hear your voice.”
“Why, did you miss me?”
“Hell no, just wanted to make sure you were able to get your charge to safety.”
“How did you know we were in any danger?”
“What?”
“What made you think we were in any danger? I haven’t talked to you since you gave me the license plate info.”
“You told me you thought someone was following you.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t. What’s going on Corey?”
“I don’t know what you mean. I’m just trying to help you out. I guess just with the situation and the case file I sent you I assumed. Sorry Dirk, I need to go.”
“Sure. Yeah, we’re doing fine. Tell the Undersecretary not to worry, everything is under control.”
His friend hung up rather quickly. How could he not think that was strange? And he was positive he did not tell his friend they were being followed. He never told anybody anything.
Dirk dialed the number he had for The Omega Team. He needed a little more information he couldn’t get on his own.
***
Avery cleaned up her dishes in the kitchen and went back to sit beside Dirk.
“This is the best pop tart I have ever had.” She quickly shoveled the first piece into her mouth.
“It’s loaded with sugar. You just haven’t eaten much is all.”
“Lots of sugar for sure, don’t think I’ll be sleeping for a while. Did you find anything out?”
Dirk crossed his arms over his head and remained silent for a good minute. He looked deep in thought and trouble etched
in the curves of his handsome features.
“Sorry if I’m bothering you.”
“You know, when I first found out about you, I was focused and knew what I needed to do but I’m starting to question some of the things I’ve believed in and have based my career on. I’m frustrated. The people I thought I could trust are letting me down and it really disturbs me.”
Avery stood and moved behind Dirk, pushing at his shoulders till he moved his arms down and she started to massage his shoulders. They were tight and she wasn’t sure if it was from stress or that he was just that solid. His t-shirt sleeves didn’t quite cover the biceps bulging and his pecks were visible under the tight material. He was deliciously touchable but he didn’t want to be another girl that came on to a military hunk.
“Jesus, that feels good.”
The more she worked her fingers into his skin the lower Dirk sank into his chair.
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“Don’t laugh, I have a massage therapy degree.”
“Why would I laugh at that, you obviously earned that degree, my shoulders are tingling.”
“My dad laughed. He didn’t like any choice I made in college, or out as a matter of fact. I’m surprised he even helped pay for it. He hates the photography too. I think the only thing he’d be happy with is if I went in to politics. It’s just not my thing.”
“Well just a little advice, take it or leave it, but as an adult, you need to do what makes you happy. I stopped trying to please my parents a long time ago. My mom had a mental break down when I joined the Marines and my dad rooted me on. They never agreed on anything, including me. Needless to say, they weren’t the best role models in the world.”
“Weren’t?”
“Yeah, cancer. They died a couple years apart from each other.”
“Oh my god Dirk, I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks, it’s ok. I wasn’t home for most of it unfortunately. My little brother was there and it beat him up somewhat badly. We’re estranged now because of it.”
