As he scrambled the eggs, he decided that the best course of attack was to surprise Nicholi. Any elaborate ploy would be too suspicious after everything that had happened. He figured that once they had the intelligence of where Nicholi was staying, he would quietly slip in and take him out. Once Nicholi fell, the rest of the regime would collapse within days. CIA intelligence had informed him that they expected little to no civil war after the power vacuum was created. The Inhovakian people’s lives were terrorized by the current regime, so few would protest their loss. Brandon knew that they were already working with select Inhovakian officials in secret, to get elections ready to go.
Knowing Delilah as he did, Brandon was determined to keep Delilah close by having her help. She wasn’t the kind of woman to sit back and wait for it all to blow over. He figured that her tech skills could come in handy. In college, she had hacked into the city’s mainframe more than once to give their pizza delivery drivers green lights all the way to her house. Breaking into some Home Depot level security cameras would probably be child’s play to her. Although Olivia usually helped with those things, there would be plenty for her to do with organizing the agencies needed after the mission was a success… he hoped.
The doorbell rang and he heard Delilah move to get it. “Let me!” He demanded as she walked by the kitchen. The mafia boss may have lived in style in this condo, but he had failed to install security cams. Brandon also had to admit that he found it a bit strange that the agency hadn’t added them. Maybe they had planned to sell it right away and didn’t want the expense?
After asking for the password, he admitted Olivia, Rebecca, and Richard, his direct boss. After making introductions, they all sat down to discuss the mission. Brandon loved watching Delilah blush as they sat at the freshly sanitized table that they had been making passionate love on only thirty minutes before.
“What news do you have?” Richard asked as he blew on his hot coffee.
Rebecca reached down and pulled out a file, opening it on the table in front of her. “We know that Nicholi landed at a private airport in Concord. Our agents tailed him and he is staying here.” She ruffled through and pulled out a picture of a home in San Francisco.
Delilah laughed, “Is he Air B & B-ing it?”
Rebecca looked back at her. “Actually, yes. It turns out that the Inhovakian bratva don’t have any permanent installations in the western U.S. yet, so they are renting it from another mafia boss.”
“Santini?” Richard asked taking a sip of his coffee.
“Yes. I have the specs of the place right here.” Rebecca pulled out the blue prints of the building, which Brandon took from her.
“If we take Nicholi down, everything else will topple. Bohalov needs the bratva’s money to stay in power.”
Olivia took the building specs from Brandon and pulled out a pencil. She then looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Knowing you, Brandon, you have come up with some ridiculous plan to head in with your guns blazing.”
Delilah let out a little gasp at those words and looked over at him with shock. Brandon didn’t want her to worry. He was good at his job, despite his recent fuck-ups. Putting a hand on her knee, he squeezed it, trying his best to reassure her.
“I won’t go in there guns blazing!” He gave Olivia a pointed look to knock it off. “I am going to sneak in, but I will have you in my ear, Olivia, and,” he turned to look at Richard, “I was hoping to get Delilah clearance to practice her hacking skills in the van.”
“What?” Delilah squawked. “I haven’t hacked in years!”
“It’s just hacking into some low level security cams. Childs play for you. Besides, I trust you to help keep me safe and I know if I don’t give you a job, you would sneak out anyway to try to help.”
Delilah shrugged in resigned agreement.
“Richard, what do you say?” Brandon looked at his boss as he squeezed Delilah’s knee again. The softness of her skin distracted him from the fear that would otherwise be coursing through his body. He didn’t care what people said, each time felt like the first, knowing that it could be your last. In some ways, that’s why he liked it. It was an adrenaline rush like no other.
“I had a feeling you might ask this, so I had her run last night. She has temporary clearance to help with this one mission in this one capacity,” Richard nodded at Delilah.
Efficiency and effective planning was something that Brandon had always admired about his boss. He was always ready and two steps ahead of almost everyone.
“So when will this all take place?” Delilah asked as she forked up some of her eggs.
“Tonight,” Olivia answered.
“Tonight?” Delilah’s voice was a bit shrill with her surprise. “Don’t you have to case the joint? I mean that’s what I’ve heard it called on TV. But, don’t you need to plan a little more. I don’t mean to tell you how to do your job…”
“But you are,” Brandon cut her off as he handed her another piece of toast. “We need the element of surprise. Besides, he may not be here long. We need to get this done.”
“But couldn’t you get him at the airport? Plan something a little more thoroughly?” Delilah suggested, her eyes wide with fear. She reached over and placed a hand on his cheek, “Brandon, I’m scared for you. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Awe!” Broke them apart. Brandon looked to see Olivia with her hands under her chin, batting her eyelashes, Rebecca giving them a smile, and Richard drinking his coffee as if nothing was going on.
Olivia put her hands down on the table and then reached for Delilah. Delilah put her hand in Olivia’s, who then gave her a squeeze. “He’ll be fine. We’ll make sure of it. For all the teasing I give him, he really is the best at the agency.”
“But he was shot!” Delilah spat out.
Brandon felt a little bit like his masculinity was under question. “Everyone gets shot in this business, Delilah. It’s just a matter of where and how bad.”
Richard nodded his head in agreement before taking another sip of coffee.
“Where were you shot?” Rebecca asked.
Brandon reached around to the back of his shoulder, “Here. It was just a graze. Nothing major. I’ve had worse playing street hockey. You know that to be true, Delilah.”
“But when was the last time a hockey puck was shot at you with the intent to kill?” She arched a brow at him. He loved her sass. She never let him get away with anything.
“More often than you would know. The guys were brutal,” Brandon reminded her.
“Okay,” Richard cut in. Brandon figured that he had finished his coffee and wanted to head back to Starbucks to get another. The man was addicted to that stuff. He always supposed that it had to be a side effect of his stressful desk job. “So, we are going to have the operation tonight. Delilah, I am assigning Olivia to show you the van. Brandon, you need to come back to headquarters to get ready. Rebecca, alert your staff to be ready to take anyone else in. Are we done here?”
Everyone nodded. “I guess Operation Quickie is underway,” Delilah teased under her breath.
“Delish, you know I never just pull out,” Brandon gave her a wink. He loved seeing her off balance. It was a new side of their relationship that he hoped to be able to explore more.
“UGH!” Olivia let out. “Too much info! Meet me back at the office and we will discuss the operation in more detail.”
Rebecca, Olivia, and Richard filed out of the apartment as Brandon grabbed his keys. Pulling Delilah into his arms, he couldn’t wait until this was all over and he could have her naked and under him again. He was looking forward to taking the next step in their lives together. A part of him hated to leave his work, but for Delilah, he would do anything.
Chapter Thirty
Delilah
The CIA headquarters was less impressive than she had imagined.
“It’s just an office building,” she pointed to the four story, inconspicuous building.
“What did
you expect?” Brandon queried as he brought the car up to the security gate.
“I don’t know. Something with lasers and twenty souped up hot rods out front? Maybe a big sign that said “Bad Guys, You’re Going Down!’”
Brandon pulled out his wallet and then gave her a look like she was nuts. Rolling his window down, he showed his ID and they proceeded into the parking lot filled with regular sedans and a few mini-vans.
The inside of the building was not that impressive either. Delilah felt her shoulders slump. She knew that she was being silly. This was not a field trip for fun, this was life. She scolded herself for not keeping these feelings at bay and focusing on Brandon and his mission.
“Delilah, this is just a regional office,” Brandon’s voice had a little bit of a reprimand to it. “I’ll take you to the main one sometime, if you want. That one is impressive.”
Delilah gave him a smile. “Sorry! I know I’m being silly. Lead the way.”
Brandon led her through a series of corridors until they came to a door that had the word Garage on it. Pushing it open, Delilah saw that it was a beautiful, state-of-the-art garage with a series of service trucks.
“Oh my Yoda! It’s true! You use the service trucks to hide!” She had always wondered who hired the electrician to her apartment complex so often. Maybe it was an agent in disguise!
Brandon held up his hands, palms up. “Guilty! Olivia should be down here. She’s going to show you how to work the control panel in one of the trucks.”
“Is she going to be in it with me?”
“No. She needs to be back here to have access to the more powerful computers to assist me with some of the other aspects of the mission, but I have asked for Rebecca to join you.”
“Okay,” Delilah shifted her feet. She was feeling really excited, but nervous to have Brandon’s life in her hands. Although she would do her best, she was more used to programming the solar flares from the Gambian Sun in the Andorra Quadrant than watching security feeds that had possible gunmen after her lover.
The doors of a white and blue plumbing truck with a cartoonish dancing plunger whose speech bubble said Take the plunge and call me to fish you out! The back door opened and Olivia popped out. “Ah! There you are! I was beginning to wonder if you had been sidetracked.” She gave them a suggestive wink which made Delilah’s cheeks flush. “Let’s get started! Brandon, Chang is waiting for you up in the fitting area. Don’t keep him waiting.”
“Ten four!” Brandon gave her a salute with a smile, placed a kiss on Delilah’s cheek, turned on his heel and marched out.
Delilah looked back at Olivia to notice that she had been checking out Brandon’s perfect rear too as he walked out.
Olivia gave her a look, “Please! I may be happily married, but I’m not dead! That man has a fine ass. I can only imagine what else is fine.”
Delilah felt her mouth drop open. Olivia laughed and continued, placing a hand on Delilah’s arm, “I’m so happy that you two have finally gotten together. I swear, you were all that boy would talk about when a mission was over.”
“Please!” Delilah laughed. “I’m sure he’s had many ladies hanging all over him.”
Olivia stopped and looked at her. “I won’t lie. He did. A lot. Really gorgeous women too. He turned them all down. I was beginning to think that maybe he was gay and was using you as an excuse. But, seeing him with you, brings out an inner light in him that I haven’t seen before.”
“Oliva, you’re going to make me blush!” Delilah protested.
“I’m just warning you to be careful with my boy. I don’t want to see his heart broken. I don’t think the next small country he is sent to could survive it.”
“I have no intention of breaking his heart, but I am worried that he will break mine by not coming back from this mission.”
“You can’t talk like that! He will come back. Believe me when I say he is the best. I have personally witnessed him take down more men than Daniel Craig takes in a movie. He is frightening with his precision and he is quick to assess. He will be fine.” Olivia’s voice was so firm and Delilah wanted to believe her so bad that she let herself accept everything that Olivia said as truth.
“Thanks. I needed to hear that,” Delilah bit back tears. She wasn’t a crier and she knew that Brandon did dangerous things, but witnessing it for herself and being responsible for him was a whole new level.
Olivia gave her a hug and then started dragging her over to the plumber’s van. “So, this van, despite the outside that advertises plumbing services, is equipped with the latest surveillance equipment. Step in.”
Delilah stepped up into the truck and the excitement that she had craved started to fill her body. The truck looked exactly like she had imagined. Screens and buttons everywhere along the two side walls. Small desks protruded from the walls with laptops and headphones lying on them. Two rolling chairs sat in the path between the two sides of the truck. “This is more like it!”
Delilah sat down at one of the chairs and immediately noticed that although they looked to be roller chairs, they were hard to move.
“Magnetic,” Olivia answered without the question. “We can’t have those chairs rolling all over the place!” She took the other seat and flipped a switch near one of the panels. The lights and screens came to life.
“WOW! I feel like I am in some spy movie.”
“Yes, well you will get it complete with bad guy in a few hours. Let’s get you up to speed.”
A few hours later…
Delilah felt confident that she would be able to help with the mission. The controls weren’t nearly as daunting as she had expected, plus she was used to dealing with lots of moving pieces at once.
As they exited the van, Delilah was delighted to see Brandon coming through the door. He looked incredible in all black. The shirt he had on fitted him perfectly, outlining his muscular arms, perfect pecs, and taunt belly.
“YUM! Lookin’ good, Brandon!” Olivia catcalled.
Delilah saw a hint of a flush run up to Brandon’s cheeks, which made him all the cuter. “How are you ladies doing?” His deep voice bounced off the walls of the cavernous garage.
“She’s all ready to go. I think we should try to nab her after this mission is over. Man! She caught on quick!” Olivia gave Delilah a wink.
Delilah couldn’t help but to smile. Such praise was rare over at Nebula One. Over and beyond excellence was expected, not appreciated.
Brandon smiled largely at the compliment and casually eased his arm around Delilah. Every time he showed her public affection, she was surprised. In all the years that she had known him, he rarely, if ever, touched anyone. Sure, he had touched her a few times, the way that friends do- helping her up, brushing something off her, etc. But this was new territory that made her feel special and treasured. Who knew that Brandon Ryker had such a soft side?
Planting a kiss on her forehead he pressed his lips against her skin as he spoke, “Ready for lunch, love?”
Delilah felt her body still. Did he really just call me love in front of someone else? She would have expected her brain to shut down, but instead was firing rapidly, trying to process his meaning, her emotions, and what to do next all at once.
“Don’t overload there,” Olivia gave her a teasing smile. She then pulled out her phone and read something, then put it away. “Rebecca’s here with the Chinese takeout.”
Delilah’s stomach growled at the thought of food. Brandon pulled her closer, “Don’t worry. I asked her to get you Mongolian Beef, just like you like it. No hot peppers.”
Delilah’s heart flipped over. Here was a man about to go on a dangerous mission where he could die, and yet he still thought of her and her crazy dietary likes and dislikes. Wrapping her arm around his waist, she gave into the need to hold him close as well. She had been holding back for fear of making him look unprofessional, but obviously he didn’t care. “Thanks, honey,” she quietly said.
He stopped suddenly, bringing her t
o a halt next to him. “Did you just call me a pet name?” His smile went all soft and lopsided. She loved how his chocolate eyes shone at her like she had just given him the greatest gift in the world.
“Well, I figured I should try something more endearing than ‘Bond.’”
Brandon chuckled. “I don’t care what you call me, as long as you call me. By the way, my favorite nickname of yours is Sandy Vajayjay.” With that he wiggled his eyebrows at her making her laugh and give him a playful slap on his arm.
“Come on you two lovebirds! My Cashew Chicken’s getting cold!” Olivia chided from the doorway.
Squeezing Brandon one more time and reaching up to plant a kiss on his cheek, Delilah smacked him on his fine ass. “Chop! Chop!”
Chapter Thirty-One
Brandon
Brandon knew that he should be going over his strategy for tonight in his head, but he couldn’t take his eyes or mind off of Delilah. She just fit into his life so perfectly, he almost believed that she was a dream. When he had walked into the garage after getting fitted with his equipment for tonight, he had been taken aback by how she melded into all aspects of his life. For a moment, he allowed himself to picture a future where they worked side by side by day, and stayed connected intimately throughout the night.
However, his job did have a lot of drawbacks. The danger had already touched her and that was something he would have to live with the rest of his life - no matter how long it might be.
He imagined giving up being an operative and getting a desk job so that he could come home to her each night, but his brain just couldn’t form the picture. It wasn’t that he didn’t see her by his side, he just hadn’t seen himself doing a nine to five. Hell, he had barely made it out of high school and that was from eight to three. Coming home and beginning this romantic relationship with Delilah made him realize that home was wherever she was. It was as if in all those years living the nomadic lifestyle, he was searching for home, when it was really waiting back where he started all along.
Spy Fall Page 10
