His screen name was Hawk. She wondered if that was his real name or a name he used for the website. She opened his profile and read. He was a retired military officer who lived in a quiet small town in the USA. There wasn’t a lot of detail, but his profile revealed that he was a full-time investor and spent his days trading at home on the Internet.
He was handsome and powerful and intelligent. It made her heart skip a beat thinking that she could be with a man like that. After having spent years with disciples and gurus, he seemed like an entirely different kind of person. Not that she would have minded if he were less of a traditional alpha male type. Elena didn't care about that kind of thing. But looking at his rugged face and the power in his eyes made her body tingle with desire that she hadn't felt in so long she'd almost forgotten it existed.
She sat down the phone. Her breathing had become quick and shallow and she tried to regain her balance. When she got her breathing under control, she picked up the phone and sent him a message.
“Hello,” she typed in English.
She sent it and set down the phone, her heart beat out of control, no matter the effort she put into quieting it.
Chapter 3
When Hawk was packed and prepared to depart, he threw his bags into his Jeep and made his way along the back roads to the Fate Rock military base. He was the first to get there. The personnel on the base helped load his equipment into the jet as the rest of the crew arrived.
He caught Max's eyes as the rookie carried his gun bag onto the plane. He knew it was a big ask to expect Max to leave Stephanie so late in her pregnancy. But it was a necessary sacrifice all of them would have to be prepared to make at one point or another. Hawk hoped that it would be sooner than later for him.
Everyone boarded and Rider, their pilot, climbed into the cockpit with Titus in the copilot’s seat.
Hawk sat in the back, poring over the mission reports. He learned everything he could about their target, Igor Kroll. He had a wife who had died fifteen years ago and a daughter who hadn't been in the country for over five years. He looked for recent pictures of the daughter but the only ones he saw were of her as a child. It was an oversight. But since the girl had not been seen in Poland in half a decade, Hawk decided it was a minor one.
He was about to turn off his phone for the flight but took one last look at mate.com. There was still nothing. He wished he could make himself stop looking. But try as he might, he just couldn't help it. He considered uninstalling the app while they were on this mission.
In the night, as they crossed the Atlantic, the crew all found places to sleep on the jet. They touched down in the morning at a military base in Poland where they were loaded into a car that would allow them to blend in with the local population. They started down the road with clear instructions to the compound where they would be staying a few miles from Kroll’s mansion.
Just before they arrived at their destination, Hawk felt the phone in his pocket buzz with a new text message. He pulled it out, expecting to find an update from General Partridge. But instead he had a notification from mate.com. His heart burst as he saw the text message on the screen. He had been matched with his fated mate!
He had a text from her that said one single world, “Hello.” His fingers flew over the screen as he opened the app and read his mate's profile. His eyes beheld the most ravishingly beautiful woman. Long, golden hair and big brown eyes. Full lips and slender, sinuous limbs. She’d studied yoga at an ashram in India, but was now an instructor, living in London. Her name was Yogi Girl. The word was like poetry in his mind.
“Hawk,” Jamison said roughly. “We're here.”
“Gotta keep our heads in the game,” Max said, jumping out of the van.
“What's got you so distracted?” Jamison asked, looking down at Hawk’s phone.
“I found her,” Hawk whispered. “I found her.”
“Your fated mate?” Jamison asked.
“She's so beautiful.”
“I'm sure she is, sir. But we need you here.”
“She sent me a message. I’m going to text her back. Then I'll turn off the phone. Give me a minute. Make an excuse for me.”
Jamison nodded once and led the crew into the compound where they’d be staying. Hawk’s fingers trembled as he pressed the “message now” button.
“Hello Yogi Girl. I am so happy to finally meet you. I may not be able to contact you for a while as I have a minor emergency to take care of. But as soon as I've dealt with this issue, I would love to get to know you.”
He took a deep breath and let it out as he hit send and then turned off his phone. His head was swimming, and he was full of mixed emotions. He was so happy to meet her, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. He shoved his phone in his pocket, grabbed his duffel bag, and followed the rest of the men inside.
The compound was surrounded by a typical Eastern European fence made of a stucco like material and a wrought iron gate. Inside the perimeter stood a large two-story house that appeared to be an average rural Polish home. He passed through the front door and closed it behind him, finding himself in a well-lit entryway.
The interior of the home was the opposite of the exterior. While the outside abounded with rustic charm, the interior was an ultramodern military bunker equipped with fluorescent lighting in every corner, chrome, double-paned bulletproof glass, and an abundance of tech.
He hurried down the hall to join the others in the main space comprised of a living room and dining room area. It was furnished with a large hardwood table, comfortable seating, and a large-screen television that currently showed the stream of the multiple video surveillance cameras around the compound.
He put his duffel bag in his private quarters and joined the rest of the men at the oak table where Sampson was already working away on his highly encrypted laptop. Jamison gave him a wink and a smile. Hawk nodded abruptly and called the men to attention.
“We have satellite surveillance of Igor Kroll’s compound. Infrared imaging has determined that the gun room location is most likely here,” Hawk said as he brought up the images on the big-screen TV. “I’ll be posing as a hyena shifter gun buyer using an advanced scent masking technology, just in case Kroll has any shifters in his employ. I will be infiltrating the compound in an effort to confirm the location of the gun room, and to glean any additional intel before the raid. We have three days to prepare.
“Sampson will be sending out micro drones to get better footage of the compound while I infiltrate. The raid is scheduled for seventy-two hours from the moment we have boots on the ground in Poland. That means we only have seventy more hours to prepare. You will each be positioned in your customary role. I know it’s been eight months since our last large-scale raid, but that is why we train like we do. To always be prepared. I will be leaving for my appointment with Kroll in one hour. Sampson, will that be enough time to get your micro drones in the air?”
“Affirmative, sir,” Sampson said, checking his tiny dragonfly drones.
One of the drones lifted from the table and shot into the air, zipping around the crew. The men reacted with laughter and gasps. None of them had seen anything like it, including Hawk. The micro drones were the newest, highly-classified military technology that the Justice Squad was privy to. And it came just in time for this mission. After everything Hawk had seen since establishing the Justice Squad, he was more determined than ever to shut down the hyena terrorists’ gun supply. And every piece of tech, and every bit of intel, would only make this important mission that much easier.
Max opened the sliding glass door and the micro drones zipped out into the cool fall air. The big-screen TV now showed the views of the micro drones while the other half of the screen still showed the security cameras around the compound. “We’ll reconvene in fifty-six minutes,” Hawk said, checking his watch.
He went to his private room and found his disguise pressed and ready in the closet. He donned the white tailored sports suit, a black silk shirt, and a thick gold chain aro
und his neck. He dabbed on some spicy cologne and pressed a gold tooth that contained a microphone into his mouth. He then spritzed on the hyena scent spray. No other shifter would be able to pick up the scent of his bear. Anyone with the ability to scent a shifter would be completely fooled.
Hawk looked at himself in the mirror, running a handful of gel through his hair, making it smooth at the sides and spiked up on the top. He raised an eyebrow at himself, not liking what he saw. While not on duty, Hawk was the kind of guy who wore well-worn denim jeans and comfy plaid flannel shirts. Once in a while, when attending a big event or convention, he put on a suit.
He didn’t mind dressing up, but he was more of a navy suit and black-tie kind of man. This outfit made him look, in a word, cheap. He replaced his heavy–duty, waterproof sports watch with the gold one provided to him. It contained a recording and transmission device that worked with the gold tooth in his mouth. He shook his head. Between his new look and the scent of hyena wafting into his nostrils, Hawk was feeling mildly nauseated.
Hawk called his crew to attention exactly one hour after the previous meeting had commenced. They joined him at the big oak table. Views of the Kroll compound were scrolling on the big-screen.
“Do you have any additional information to share, Sampson?”
“It seems as if Igor Kroll is hosting a female. Long blonde hair, and slim physique.”
“You have facial recognition on the female?”
“Negative, sir. The drones were still too far out to get a high-quality image of the woman’s face before she went inside. I spent the last 20 minutes trying to zoom in and reconstruct them but have not had any luck. She’s remained in the interior of the main house and has not been outside since. This should no longer be a problem as my drones are much closer now. We will get clear images of all the comings and goings of the Kroll compound for the remainder of our mission.”
“Very good. I will now be leaving for the compound. You will hear everything I say through m y gold tooth microphone and it will be transmitted through my watch. The gold necklace I’m wearing isn’t just a fashion statement. It also contains a tiny video camera, also transmitting through the watch. So, this should give me eyes inside even if the micro drones are unable to gain access safely.”
“The vehicle is prepared, sir,” Rider said.
“Very good, men. Stay on your toes while I’m at the compound. We can’t get complacent. Even if we are at an advantage. Is there anything else I should know before I depart?”
“With my drones in the air, I’ve been able to make out the areas of the compound that have their own surveillance. It appears that this area,” Sampson said, using a laser pointer on an image of Kroll’s compound, “and this area here, are without surveillance. I will inform you immediately if I am able to pick up any additional information.”
“Excellent, Sampson. Keep up the good work. It’s time for me to go.”
“Sir, there seems to be more cars arriving at Kroll’s compound.”
“From the information we received from General Partridge, it appears Kroll is turning sixty-two today. Is it possible this is his birthday party?” Zander asked.
“That is a distinct possibility,” Hawk replied.
“Does the arrival of these guests change our plans?” asked Max, taking a break from brooding over leaving Stephanie.
Hawk needed his men’s attention front and center for the mission. But even he had been tempted throughout the last hour of preparing for the meeting to turn on his phone and read his new match’s profile over and over. He’d resisted that urge, but he could now understand Max better than he could have earlier that day. And he was beginning to regret how he had reacted to Max’s initial response to going out on a mission this close to Stephanie’s delivery.
“Kroll scheduled our meeting for today. Nothing changes.”
Hawk felt a flush of anxiety as he walked out of the compound. Going into the proverbial lion’s den alone was dangerous, no matter how prepared, skilled, or well-informed he might be. There was always a possibility of mistakes. And danger lurked at every turn. Men like Igor Kroll were not to be underestimated.
Hawk slipped behind the seat of the brand-new red Lamborghini. He turned the motor and listened to the engine purr. He could feel the raw power reverberating through the vehicle. He smiled to himself, raising an eyebrow. He might be on one of the most important, most dangerous missions of his life, but his job definitely had its perks.
Chapter 4
Elena’s father’s guests arrived one by one. Most of them were his goons and their wives. Some were the local government officials from the nearby village. People that her father had blackmailed, intimidated, or paid off over the years. Elena recognized most of them. She recognized the fear and loathing in the eyes of the villagers. And she recognized the contempt, hatred, and pure evil in the eyes of her father’s goons. This was less of a birthday party than a gathering of the denizens of hell. She asked herself once again why she had returned.
From the moment she’d stepped into her father’s home, she had begun to think she’d been delusional to return here. She had convinced herself that it was better to forgive and forget; that the cycle of karma always had a way of coming back to bite those who had done wrong. But her father had been at his wicked business her entire life, and he had never been caught or brought to justice.
The guests gathered in the dining room at the long hardwood table, covered in the most expensive and garish dinnerware and gold forks and knives. The cook had been preparing a feast of grilled meats all day and the house smelled of the most delicious scents Elena had smelled in five years.
“So are you home for good Elena?” asked one of her father’s goons’ wives.
“I have a job waiting for me in England,” she replied. “I returned for my father’s birthday. But I’m afraid it is a temporary visit.”
“Nonsense!” Her father lifted a glass of brandy in the air. “We will work on convincing my daughter to stay, won’t we?” he said to his assembled guests. “We can’t have her running off again.”
A shiver of anxiety went down her spine. Elena was beginning to feel as if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. But she was going to play it through. He couldn’t keep her here. She had a life of her own, no matter what he wanted. She had left for India without telling him she was leaving or where she was going until she’d arrived at the secluded, rural southern province. It was so difficult to find, and she had covered her tracks so well, that he had made no attempt to bring her home.
She had been lulled into complacency, believing she was safe enough to return. But what if she had been wrong? The question echoed through the recesses of her mind. She tried to keep a straight face, not wanting to show the fear she now felt etched on her soul. She knew what her father was capable of.
Since her mother’s death, she’d had the sinking sensation that he had been responsible. It was a thought she had never allowed herself to entertain for long. The years of yoga and meditation at the ashram had made her more apt to let go and move on, but now that she was back in this environment, all the memories, all the emotions, and all the knowledge of her youth flooded her brain like a tidal wave. She was slammed with an unshakable, unmistakable sense of dread.
“Of course we won’t let her get away,” said one of her father’s goons.
“What we need is to find our Elena a husband. Someone to help her settle down and think right for a change.”
There was a rumbling of agreement from all around the table. Elena lifted a bite of lamb chop to her mouth and took a big bite. She would need all the strength she could get to escape from the danger she’d plunged herself into. She had learned so many valuable, beautiful, spiritual things during her time in India. But part of what she had learned had brought her back here; a place she never should have allowed herself to return to.
“That’s exactly why I left the ashram,” Elena said, trying to go along with the subtly threatening co
nversation. “I’m ready to find a husband and have children and settle down. It’s what I plan to do when I arrive in England for my job at the yoga studio. It’s what I’ve always wanted. And it’s what will make me happy.”
She said the last words looking her father dead in the eye. If he truly cared about her, he would want her to be happy. She wished to the depths of her soul that what she saw in his eyes was the love of a father for his child. But instead, all she saw was a desire for control.
“Of course I want you to be happy,” he said in an overly boisterous voice. “I’m sure we can find you a good Polish man to keep you warm during our cold winter nights.”
He looked around the table at his goons. Most of them were married, but a few were single. He smiled at the two young, boorish dolts. They looked up at him stupidly, understanding washing over their idiotic faces. Elena shivered with disgust. Her father frowned, possibly realizing that his intelligent, independent, beautiful daughter would never settle down with one of these buffoons.
After everyone had finished eating, the cook brought out the cake. It was ablaze with candles for her father’s sixty-second birthday. He blew out the candles and the cook cut the cake, serving everyone at the table. Elena took a bite and savored the sweet, buttery flavor of the icing and the cake. It had been so long since she’d had such delicious food. And with every serving of traditional Polish cooking, she felt herself getting just a bit stronger.
After the cake was eaten and gifts were offered, the guests began to file out into the patio with after dinner drinks. The fire had been lit in the stone hearth and the guests were milling about having conversations about who had given the great Igor Kroll the best gift. Elena could barely stand the preening and sucking up of the guests. And her internal warning alarms were blaring in her head to the point where she could barely hear herself think. She hadn’t had a drink in quite some time but grabbed a glass of vintage white wine and began to walk around the compound.
C.O. Bear (Justice Squad Book 4) Page 2
