Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Full Series Omnibus: Nobody’s Fool, Nobody Lives Forever, Nobody Drinks That Much, Nobody Remembers But Us, Ghost Walking, 12 Book series...

by Michael Todd

  Her gaze moved to the reflection in the mirror and she smiled. Hidden beneath the old woman’s face was Billie, disguised so well that they had welcomed her with open arms onto the plane. Riding back with that hot mask wasn’t her idea of luxury travel, but it was the only thing she could do to avoid discovery. As she rolled the mask up and pressed the edge down beneath her wig, a smile crept over her lips.

  She grabbed her cane and shook it in the air. “Grandma just got wild. Take that, Shou, you fucking dicks. Oh, I mean, you young whippersnappers.”

  Billie chuckled and bent over slightly as she adopted a more serious expression. She opened the lavatory door and wobbled down the aisle to a seat between an old man who gave her a wink and a woman with a child. She grumbled as she put her cane under her seat, “Just my fucking luck.”

  Chapter Nine

  Hickok leaned back in her chair and held her bag in her lap, looking very much like an old nanny. The old man next to her smiled and eased his chair back. Billie cleared her throat and leaned toward him. “Don’t get too close, old man. I have a cane.”

  He did a double-take and turned his head to the other side. Billie smiled and unzipped her bag. She tapped the secret compartment inside to confirm that the drive was tucked snuggly and safely away. Holding her bag tightly through the rest of the trip, Billie allowed herself to fall in and out of sleep. When the plane finally started the descent, she sat up quickly and ran her fingers over her face to make sure her mask was still in place.

  The plane landed smoothly, and she exited, still using her cane but moving a little faster. This airport was not bustling, and the smell of the Zoo was prominent. She hurried into the bathroom to change, knowing an old woman out there would get more than a few stares.

  When Billie emerged, she had a bright smile plastered on her face. She looked familiar but still not like herself. A bright blonde wig was tied to the side in a low ponytail. She had added some cheek and jaw prosthetics and applied a thick coat of makeup. That done, she buttoned her uniform, choosing the skirt and heels this time instead of the dress pants. It definitely wasn’t the disguise that would keep her under the radar, but no one had a clue she was anyone other than a hot blonde military officer. That was the idea to get out of the base and to the van.

  She giggled her way through the small building and out to the gate of the base. The guys watched her walk through but no one stopped her. She turned the corner and dropped the smile when she saw the van parked down the street in front of the cigar shop like she had instructed.

  Billie walked up to the driver, who straightened and cleared his throat. “Well, hello there. How may I be of assistance?”

  She rolled her eyes and slammed the second envelope into his chest. “It’s me, you idiot.”

  He blinked for a moment and then exhaled noisily as he nodded toward the back. She looked around and jumped in. The driver eased the vehicle forward and made his way off the base. There was no need to hide this time. No one would stop them until the border, and even then, the driver knew the gate guard. Billie was anxious to get back and pass the information she had to Holly. It was of the highest priority and she had definitely been through enough to get it.

  Once the van was safely out in the desert, Billie pulled out her regular clothes and laid them on the floor. She held the handles at the roof of the van and began to strip, removing the wig and prosthetics and replacing them with her brown wig and usual clothing. She grabbed a package of wipes from her bag and rubbed them across her face to erase every last bit of makeup. She hated the way the stuff felt, and unless she was on a job, she did everything she could to not wear it.

  When she was done, she sat and clicked her phone. There weren’t any messages yet, but she knew it wouldn’t be long until they tried to track her down. Her face might have been blurry in the picture, but she wasn’t positive one of her people wouldn’t recognize her. They would never ID her—she really didn’t exist in the eyes of the country—but she was still concerned. They had to know at that point that she was at the Zoo, which was fine because they obviously didn’t care. As long as she didn’t have an assignment, she was free to be wherever she wanted. It was when she started breaking rules that things could get ugly.

  Going to the States was the riskiest of all because they had such strict rules and were able to track her at any time. Most of the operatives who worked with her stayed away from the States unless they were assigned there. Billie knew it was imperative that her people not find out she was there working on an unapproved operation that lifted valuable information from people who probably paid their bills. She would definitely be released and probably killed.

  Billie tapped her fingers on her leg and looked at the different disguises. She still felt bad that she’d tossed the blue suit, but had she been caught, that would have been incredibly hard to explain. Another reason she’d left her suit behind was that they would be very confused by it. The main reason, though, was because of the tracking system inside it. They would assume she was at the Zoo, and it would keep them off her trail for a little while at least. If they saw her there, they wouldn’t have any reason to look unless she gave it to them.

  Marcus had promised to do what he could to help with what she was doing. It was the first time in her life she had gone rogue. He knew that it had to be important. And while he could fudge some small data like where exactly she was and what her movements were, he couldn’t go as far as the U.S. They would catch on to that in a heartbeat and he would be decommissioned even faster than Billie would be. She knew he would never survive without his lab and toys.

  She tapped the bag where the drive was again and reminded herself exactly why she was there in the first place. JB needed to get better. He needed people like her and Holly, and even Paula, to go above and beyond to find a cure for whatever the hell was attacking him. Had it been left up to him, he would have continued to struggle until he died. The innovation she and Holly had come up with could not simply change his life, but many others as well…if they could get it right. That was why the information on that device was so damn important. It held the secrets to saving lives.

  Billie was so used to taking lives that she didn’t know how to deal with saving them. “Fucking morals, rolling up deep on you every time. Turning me into a fucking softie.”

  She shook her head and allowed a smile to move over her lips. When she clasped her hands together, she felt the strain of the scars forming on her shoulder. She could still remember the first one she had gotten on one of her first trips in when she had fallen during a fight and had been bitten by one of the nasty little rodents. She knew she would eventually have to go back in there. Billie laid her head back against the box behind her. She’d thought she was done with the Zoo and that the organization she worked for had their fill of it. She hadn’t gotten assignments for the place for a very long time.

  It was an exhilarating place to be, that was for sure, but not really her cup of tea. Not that she honestly thought it was anyone’s favorite place to be. The place tried to eat everyone who got near it. She started to think, though, that the Zoo might be her future, especially if she was caught in what she was doing. It would be the only place she could go and still make a living.

  She shrugged and examined her hands, then tilted her head to the side and began to laugh. Her hands were still old and wrinkly. She had forgotten to remove the prosthetics. When she held them in the air, she could see every single wrinkle. Part of her wanted to keep them on to freak Holly out. She understood now why people looked at her strangely at the base. It wasn’t her tight skirt so much as her ninety-year-old hands on a twenty-something body.

  The van slowed and moved through the gates of the French town. The driver pulled up in front of the apartment and she hopped out and nodded to him as he drove away. She heaved her bag onto her shoulder and scratched her forehead. The guy walking past slowed and stared in horror at her old lady hands.

  “Grrr,” Billie growled as she raised her
old hands up like claws and scared the kid down the street.

  She laughed as she opened the office door and headed up the stairs to the apartment. As always, she unlocked the door with her skill and walked inside, waving her hands around. Laughing, she stopped and looked around when she realized that Holly wasn’t actually there. She was, in fact, acting like a complete idiot in an empty condo. For some reason, the lack of people to laugh at her was more embarrassing than if the whole place had been packed with hot men.

  Billie walked to the desk and looked out the window. Holly was still at FUBAR, working her shifts. She unpacked her stuff from her bag, peeled off the old lady hands, and set them up on Holly’s laptop to look like they were typing. She snickered as she stood back and studied her handiwork. While she really liked messing with Holly, she wasn’t quite sure why. Probably because she gave it back just as hard. She didn’t take Billie’s shit and didn’t let her have an attitude. Nobody but Marcus put up with it, and even he turned off comms once in a while to get away from it. Holly seemed right at home with her morbid sarcasm.

  It was refreshing. Still, common sense overrode the humor and she removed the creepy hands. Holly was working and likely wouldn’t appreciate the weird when she stumbled home.

  When her bag was empty, she opened the secret compartment and withdrew the drive. She walked to the computer and bit the inside of her cheek. They had two computers, but one was connected to the internet and the other had been there long enough to be untrustworthy. She tapped the drive against the desk and thought about what she had just pulled off to get the damn thing. “Leave it to me to pull off an awesome heist then not be able to use the merch stolen.”

  She sighed and shrugged as she slid the drive back into the secret compartment. Deciding that she needed a really long, hot shower, she grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom, As soon as she turned the shower on, though, she knew that might be asking more than could be delivered. The water was almost cold, and she hurried through it so she could get warm again. Even in the middle of the desert, a cold shower was the last thing she wanted.

  She crawled out pruny and almost frost-bitten, snatched up a towel, and dried off. Her tired face looked back at her from the mirror, and she took her brown wig with her into the main area after she peeked out of the door first to make sure Holly hadn’t come back in. She was still alone, so she took her time getting dressed and drying her hair.

  When she felt all back to normal, she grabbed her keys and whistled her way down the steps. Amanda stuck her head out the door and narrowed her eyes. “You are awful cheery. Who did you torture to death?”

  Billie laughed. “I only ever torture myself these days. It’s a shame. I was pretty good at it.”

  Chapter Ten

  Holly waved goodbye to Paula, opened the door, and walked out into the night air. She pulled her feet along beneath her, exhausted yet again. She hadn’t seen JB all day, which made her think things were getting worse. Paula had, of course, checked on him, but he didn’t come down at all. She looked both ways and crossed the sandy street and up on to the curb. It was the only time since she’d moved that she wished she was still in the hotel. It was only two blocks closer but that seemed like forever when she felt as tired as she did.

  She kept her head low as she walked forward and barely noticed the alley beside her. Billie walked out and hurried forward to draw level with her. “Hey there.”

  Holly jumped, grabbed her chest, and turned to the other woman. “Holy fuck! What in the hell are you doing? You have got to stop jumping out at people.”

  Billie smirked. “And you need better situational awareness. I could have pulled you into that alley and done horribly wonderful things to you.”

  She grumped, “And you need some fucking manners!”

  Her companion shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Was it really that bad?”

  Holly snapped her head toward Billie and narrowed her eyes. “I’m walking home, minding my own business, and you pop up like some leprechaun and scare the shit out of me.”

  She flailed her hands all around and Billie had to duck to avoid them. “And let’s not even go into you always busting into places, skipping the locks and shit,” Holly continued. “It’s like you have zero regard for personal space or privacy, for that matter. I’ve kept my mouth shut up to this point, but you go too far. Every time. You are that girl. The one who always steps over the line.”

  Billie raised her eyebrows. “And are you sure this whole outburst is only about me scaring you?”

  She did a doubletake and stuttered, “Do not psychoanalyze me, woman. I am allowed to be pissed when you almost make me shit my pants on the street corner.”

  Holly tried to skirt the question, knowing full well that only one percent of her frustration toward Billie was for the right reason. In reality, she was relieving stress and worry about both JB and Hickok. There was so much going on, and so much of it was completely out of her control. She hated being out of control with a passion.

  She finally took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, it’s not all about you. But some of it is.”

  Billie smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Trust me, I understand completely. The difference is I’ve had the chance to whale out my fears and worries on some animals in the Zoo. You bottle it all up and work yourself to death in the meantime. Don’t worry, I’ll try to stop jumping out at you all the time.”

  Holly nodded as she reached the front door of the shop. She opened her bag and stuck her hand inside to search around for the keys. Billie stood to the side and leaned against the building to give her the space she needed. She could tell Holly was about to blow. After about five minutes of searching and practically pouring her bag out on the sidewalk, she groaned and tilted her head back.

  The other woman leaned forward cautiously. “What’s the matter?”

  She looked at her angrily and gritted her teeth. “It seems that in my tired stupor, I locked myself out of the apartment.”

  Billie stuck out her bottom lip. “Do you think Amanda is still up?”

  Holly scoffed. “Yeah, right. She is out when she gets done at the office, unless there is liquor offered, of course. I can’t wake her up. She will be so pissed. Besides, I don’t even think she’s in town.”

  They both stood there in an awkward silence for several moments. Finally, Holly sighed and moved back. “Please, be my guest.”

  Hickok smirked and stepped in front of her. She hunched her shoulders forward to hide what she was doing. Holly tried to look around her, but it was impossible as she made sure to block her at every angle. She wasn’t about to give up one of her most prized secrets.

  After a few seconds, she looked at Holly and smiled widely as she pushed the door open. They climbed the steps to the apartment door but before Holly could say anything, Billie held her hand up and allowed the keys to dangle from one finger. Holly grabbed them from her. “You bitch. You had the keys the whole damn time.”

  Billie shrugged. “You left them in the apartment and I came to give them to you, but you lost it on me for walking out of the shadows like my nature compels me to do.”

  Holly ignored her and walked into the apartment as she threw the keys in her purse. She walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, then another one to hand to Billie. Her companion gave her a look and reached past to grab a beer instead. “What do I look like? A health nut?”

  She dumped the water bottle inside the refrigerator and rolled her eyes. “You are something else. Seriously. You are like the thorn in my thumb. You are the sun when you are trying to drive and it blinds you.”

  Billie lifted both eyebrows. “And you are the biggest downer I have ever met. What the hell is wrong with you tonight? I mean, you’re usually cynical and angry, but this is deep.”

  Holly stared at her, blinking as she took that in. “Thanks for that. How was your trip? I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”

  Hickok chuckled, walked over, and grabbed her b
ag. “Yeah, well, there was a little hiccup and the silent alarm is no longer silent. And my toys had a hard time.”

  “Did you get caught?” Her eyes went wide.

  The other woman lifted her eyebrow. “If I did, would I be here right now?”

  Holly shook her head. “Oh yeah. I’m really fucking tired. My brain is only half working at the moment.”

  Billie reached into her bag and pulled out the drive. She handed it to Holly. “I think I got everything that you will need to do your research. There are even manuals on the procedures in here.”

  Holly went to take it, but Billie pulled it back. “You can’t put this on any computer that is connected to Wi-Fi. You have to use one that has never and will never be connected.”

  She tapped her foot impatiently. “Yes, we’ve had this whole conversation before. Thus, the air-gapped computer.”

  Billie shook her head. “It’s been here too long. It’s been searching, and you never know what could have happened. We have to be as safe as we can be with this stuff. They will track me down and kill me in a heartbeat for this information.”

  Holly raised both eyebrows. “Jesus, I feel like I got hooked up with the mob.”

  In response, Hickok brandished a new air-gapped computer. “More like you got hooked up against the mob.”

  She handed her the small laptop. “Never been used and needs the Wi-Fi set up, so don’t do it. Cancel anything that tries to get you to do it.”

  Holly groaned and snatched the laptop and drive. “I got it, relax.”

  She sat at the desk, started the computer, and canceled everything about Wi-Fi. Satisfied, she opened the drive and sifted through the thousands of files that were on there. After about ten minutes, she pushed back from the desk and looked at her companion. “This is all mind-blowing information but it’ll take me days to collate all of it.”