Breathless: A Stalwart Security Series Military Romance: (Follow-up to The Alpha Company Women Series)

by Beth Abbott

  “The macho assholes are going nowhere, because there’s nowhere to go.” Hannah pulled a face at her husband. “She’d landed, disembarked and disappeared before we even knew she was in town. They flew into a small airstrip thirty miles from here and slipped away without going through the main arrival area, which suggests that there were vehicles waiting to pick them up already.”

  “Have you been able to track any vehicles in the area that would fit the bill?” Danny asked. “A couple of vans, or three or four SUV’s maybe?”

  “Danny, there are no cameras within a five-mile radius of the airport, and three separate highways intersect before you reach the first one.” Hannah shrugged. “They could have taken any one of them, gone in any direction, or not taken any and stuck to the side-roads. There’s absolutely no way to tell.”

  “How many men does she have with her?” Marcus asked, clearly unhappy about standing around doing nothing.

  “About twelve, plus however many were already here to meet her.” Hannah suggested, her frustration clear. “In other words, I don’t know that either!”

  “Ok, here’s what I want to happen.” Tuck said loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “Gregor’s team is supposed to have everything under control at his end, and having had numerous conversations with Kris and Yuri over the last week, I have to say, they seem to know their stuff. So, now we have to lock down the Stalwart side of things, just in case Luciana knows about our involvement.”

  “Sophia was certain that nobody mentioned Stalwart in front of Hilary.” JT pointed out. “That should mean that they wouldn’t have been able to torture it out of her.”

  “Dear Lord!” Abbey crossed herself at the thought.

  “Maybe, or maybe not. I’m not taking the chance.” Tuck shook his head. “As of now, we’re going into shut-down mode. The offices will stay shut tomorrow, and I want all the families to assemble at the safe house.”

  “Seriously?” Sara asked.

  “Dead seriously!” Tuck said with some authority.

  “Ok, first of all, let’s not call it the safe house, or you’re gonna start upsetting the kids if they hear you. Let’s call it what it is… Bella and Brandon’s place.” Candy smiled.

  “Why is Bella and Brandon’s place the ‘safe house’?” Abbey whispered to nobody in particular.

  “Apart from being gated and fenced off, and miles from anywhere, they have great security, as you might expect, and it’s a two-mile trek from the road to the house, which gives them plenty of time to figure out if someone is breaking in.” Candy smiled. “But more importantly, because Bella bought it out of the money from her previous husband’s ranch before she and Brandon got married, it’s in her previous name, and therefore not connected to Brandon or Stalwart in any way. There’s no paper trail.”

  “Aah… very clever!” Abbey nodded.

  “Clever, but not big enough.” Hannah pointed out. “If you move all the outside Stalwart team to the house and rooms above the stables, there will be barely enough space for them all to find a bed. If Danny and I were to go over there as well, we’d literally be sleeping with the horses. And let’s face it, while I’m not averse to slumming it when the need arises, I have no desire to roll in horse-shit in my sleep! I’m just thanking the stars that my mom took our kids back to the UK with her a few days ago.”

  “Well, if the families are congregating at Bella’s, I’d better join them.” Abbey nodded. “Apart from the fact that I’d rather be with Jordan and Baxter, Sam’s being ridiculously protective of Aisha at the moment. She’ll need me to run interference.”

  “Do you need me here?” Sacha turned to Hannah. “If you do, Zach can come and stay here, and Rocco can stay with Bella. He’ll just think the kids are having a sleepover.”

  “No, you go.” Hannah shook her head. “You can take a laptop and headset and we can keep connected all the while. We don’t know how long this is going to last. Vega could strike tomorrow or keep us waiting a week.”

  “We’ll stay here.” Sara said decisively.

  “Says who?” Marcus folded his arms in challenge. “We have a perfectly good house of our own a couple of miles away.”

  “Which they may have connected to Stalwart.” Sara said calmly, glaring at her husband. “So, as I have a patient upstairs who needs me, and who couldn’t possibly be transferred to Bella and Brandon’s place because she’d never cope with so many people at once, then this is where we need to stay. Or do you have any other arguments you’d like me to shoot down?”

  Tuck watched Marcus almost bite his tongue off, wanting to argue with his wife but knowing damn well he didn’t have a leg to stand on.

  “Ok, so, JT, Danny, Hannah, Marcus, Sara, Candy and I will stay here at the house with Tulli, Lara and Mischa.” Tuck confirmed. “The rest of the family will head to Bella and Brandon’s place. I’ll have our security guys on alert at both locations.”

  “Do they have enough food for everyone?” Candy asked suddenly. “That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and Bella is six months pregnant.”

  “I spoke to Brandon earlier and warned him what might go down, and he said they’d be prepared.” Tuck shrugged. “Bella is one of the most practical and capable women I know, so I have no doubt she’ll be ready for anything, and she’ll have plenty of people there to help out.”

  “Ok, then if we all know where we’re supposed to be, I suggest we get ready to bunk down.” Candy turned to Tuck. “We need to get Sacha and Abbey over to Bella’s soonest, so do you want to organise some transport?”

  “I can do that.” He smiled, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “And I suggest that you go and tell Tulli what’s going on, even if you have to drag the phone from her hand to do it.”

  “And I’ll just go and check on my patient to see how she’s doing this evening.” Sara stood up and stretched.

  Tuck watched everyone go into planning mode, and almost chuckled.

  This was almost like being back in the military, what with all the planning and manoeuvring.

  He guessed the biggest difference these days were the number of baby bumps around.

  Not a bad thing, he smiled to himself.

  Chapter 28 –Lucky

  “When I told you to book us into rooms in a low budget hotel, what was going through your mind, exactly?” Luciana kept the smile on her face, but her facial muscles screamed at her to stop.

  “Umm…” The young man stood in front of her, clearly unsure of the correct response.

  He was one of the team that had flown in from Miami last night, and as well as setting up surveillance, they’d been tasked with one simple job… find some accommodation where Lucky and her team could rest up and lie low, waiting for the moment when she would be ready to go after Gregor Diminov, the man responsible for her father’s death.

  “What about the words ‘low budget’ did you interpret as meaning ‘flea-ridden, cockroach infested slum’?” She still smiled, but her voice wasn’t nearly so pleasant.

  “Well…” The man was a fucking simpleton, she assumed, or he simply had a death wish.

  Not carrying any sort of weapon on her person, Lucky turned to Pedro and reached inside his jacket for his gun.

  Quick as a flash, Pedro’s hand caught hers, and he slowed her down.

  “Now, Luciana, much as I can see the appeal of ridding ourselves of one more idiot… there is no silencer on my gun, and the noise will almost certainly not go un-noticed.” He said quietly, half a smile on his face but a warning tone in his voice. “Plus, this idiot has two brothers in the team who have slightly more about them, and would possibly not take kindly to you upsetting their mama, just because she spawned a jackass.”

  “Fucking idiot.” She sneered, and even she wasn’t sure if she meant the idiot who’d booked the rooms, or Pedro, for daring to stop her from shooting him on the spot.

  “We can book into somewhere else in the morning, but at this time of evening, it’s going to be more trouble than it’s worth t
o relocate.” Pedro murmured. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about going after the Russian straight away? We could go straight over there and blow the place to hell and back. We’d be gone before the police ever finished eating their donuts!”

  Luciana shook her head.

  “No, I told you, I want to keep him squirming until I’ve got the perfect moment and all the stars align.” She smiled.

  “So you keep telling me. But I haven’t got a fucking clue what you mean by the stars aligning.” Pedro shook his head. “I never had you as someone who believes in that kind of shit.”

  “Pedro, it has nothing to do with astrology or even astronomy for that matter.” Luciana shook her head. “It has everything to do with being able to maximise the carnage by waiting for the perfect opportunity. I’m waiting for new intel to let me know how, where and when that will be.”

  “Are you going to fill me in on what exactly you’ve got in mind?” Pedro frowned at being out of the loop.

  “All in good time, my dear Pedro. All in good time.” Luciana smiled.

  In other words, don’t think that you’re so far up the pecking order that I’m going to trust you with my plans!

  She guessed that Pedro had been able to translate her meaning by the scowl on his face.

  She glanced around the room. Of the four they’d rented, this one seemed about the cleanest, but with the stained carpet and comforter on the bed, that really didn’t say a lot.

  “Get everyone locked down in their rooms for the night.” Luciana instructed. “Nobody hits the bar or leaves the hotel. Is that understood? Everyone has to be on alert and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Any that aren’t, are welcome to remain behind to wait for the coroner to arrive with a fresh body bag for them. Got that?”

  “I think everyone understands your meaning.” Pedro nodded, and turned to usher everyone out of the room.

  The sound of her phone ringing had Luciana reaching for her bag. She could count the people who had this number on one hand. Scratch that. Since she’d shot Marta yesterday, that number could be counted without including her thumb!

  She glanced at the unidentified number and her heart thumped harder in her chest.

  “Hello?” She answered, almost praying for it to be a cold-caller, one of the ones looking to find out if she’d recently had an accident!

  “Oh, Lucky! How is it that your voice still makes me rock hard even after all these years?” Hector’s voice hadn’t changed. It was still the scariest fucking sound she’d ever heard!

  “Hector, baby? How are you? Is everything Ok?” She crooned. “Are the guards hitting you up for more money again?”

  “Ha-ha, honey… you know how much I pay them already?” Hector sounded bitter. “There’s not much more I could pay them without risking that they would take early retirement on the money and take off, leaving me to have to train another crop of guards. There’s just no loyalty anymore.”

  “So, if you don’t need money, what’s the occasion for the phone-call?” She asked. “It’s not Sunday, after all.”

  “I heard about your papa, baby. I wanted to check you were Ok, and more importantly, I wanted to make sure you weren’t about to do something stupid.” His tone was one part sympathetic, and four parts cautionary.

  “I’m going to take out the man responsible for papa’s death.” Luciana explained. “But have no fear, husband… I’m thinking this all through, and won’t go off half-cocked in a rage. This will be clean and controlled, just as my father taught me.”

  “Oh? I thought I taught you those things.” Hector didn’t sound happy.

  “No, baby. You taught me to be ruthless and precise.” She smiled at the phone. “And I promise you, I have every intention of being both.”

  “Good girl.” She could picture Hector smiling, and the thought was no less scary than imagining him snarling. “So, tell me what your plans are.”

  Unlike Pedro, Hector’s request was not one she could turn down, so she explained what she had in mind.

  “Are you sure your intel is good on this?” Hector asked quietly. “Your whole team could be at risk, including you, my Lucky. I can’t afford to lose you, as the last person I want controlling my money while I’m inside this Godforsaken place is Jesus! I wouldn’t trust my brother as far as you could throw him.”

  Me either, Luciana thought, but held her tongue.

  “I promise you, sweetheart, I will have every detail planned out before we move on this.” She scowled. “I will have vengeance for my father, and once that’s done, maybe I’ll use my time in America to strengthen some of the business ties we have over here.”

  “You mean you’ll show your face to put the fear of God into them?” Hector laughed. “I trained you well, wife, did I not?”

  No, my father trained me well!

  “You did, my love.” She crooned through gritted teeth. “And when they finally let you out, you will reap your rewards.”

  Luciana’s stomach churned even as she heard the click, disconnecting the call. Obviously, Hector’s expensively bought two minutes were up.

  Don’t worry sweet husband, Luciana thought. By the time I’m through with the Russian, it will be me that the legends say was the fiercest of all the cartel capos!

  When they talk about the great Hector Vega in future, they’ll say, ‘you know, the guy that was married to Senora Lucky!’

  Chapter 29 – Gregor

  Gregor sat on the sofa in his office, his feet bare as he’d long since kicked off his socks and shoes. The coffee-cup Dmitri had brought him an hour before, was sitting on the low table beside him, long since emptied.

  Yuri was standing in the doorway where he’d been waiting for the last ten minutes, his arms folded across his broad chest in obvious impatience.

  Both Yuri and Kris had opted for the typical macho appearance that was so popular amongst their countrymen, especially the former military types, with heads shaved and muscles aplenty, and from where he was sitting, he had to admit that they carried off the rough and rugged, ‘he-man’ persona beautifully.

  Gregor might even have believed it himself if the brothers hadn’t been working for him all the time his kids were growing up, and he hadn’t seen how Sophia and Serge could wrap the two of them around their little fingers with just a smile. Besides, he’d known them since they were snot-nosed kids. It was hard to be intimidated by the brothers, when you could call that image to mind any time you wanted to.

  Gregor glanced at the clock above the mantle showed it was almost eight o’clock, telling him that he’d been talking to Tulli non-stop for almost three hours.

  Three hours!

  Had he ever had a conversation with one person that had lasted this long?

  Nope! That was the truth of it.

  He had business meetings, of course, and he’d been part of family gatherings, but he genuinely couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a one-on-one conversation with anyone that lasted more than half-an hour.

  If you’d asked him this morning, he wouldn’t have thought you’d find enough to talk about to stay interested in a conversation with someone for that long.

  And yet, not only had they almost hit the three-hour mark, but he really didn’t think they’d run out of things to say yet.

  He glanced at Yuri who was now busy studying his watch. The man wouldn’t know how to drop a subtle hint if his life depended on it.

  So far, in his conversation with Tulli, Gregor had discovered they had a mutual love of books, both enjoyed nature documentaries, and they had a shared love of the theatre. Neither of them had any time for opera, but both rated Hollywood musicals as some of their favourite films.

  The biggest surprise though, was not that they both enjoyed watching sports, but that they each rated soccer as their favourite team sport.

  Of course, each had at heart the connection with their birth country, with Tulli supporting Poland and Gregor supporting Russia, but that just added to the conversation.

&
nbsp; Gregor glanced back at the door to see that Kris had now joined his brother, and both were staring at him as though he’d grown a second head.

  Kris was nowhere near being the more ‘subtle’ of the two brothers, and he immediately tapped his watch and started twisting his fingers round and round each other in a sign obviously meant to tell Gregor to wind up the conversation.

  As Tulli’s laughter trailed off, Gregor knew he would have to wind up the call, much as it pained him to do so. Whatever Kris and Yuri wanted him for obviously couldn’t be ignored any longer.

  “Tulli, I really hate to bring our conversation to an end, but I have two very unhappy looking Russian bulldogs staring me down, and judging by the looks they’re giving me, I think they have something they want to talk to me about.”

  “Oh dear. Have I gotten you in trouble with Kris and Yuri?” Tulli chuckled.

  “Not yet.” Gregor laughed. “But if I keep ignoring them, I think they may up and quit on me. They can get sulky like that if they’re not the centre of attention.”

  Tulli’s snort of laughter was almost as priceless as the identical look of indignation on each of the brothers’ faces.

  “Well, I’d hate to be responsible for them quitting on you, especially as I have no doubt whatever they need you for must be far more important than listening to my endless chatter.” Tulli offered. “But before you go, can I just say thank you for wasting so much of your time talking with me. It’s been the most enjoyable time I can remember, for… well, for longer than I can even recall.”

  “Tulli, I don’t consider a minute of it was wasted.” Gregor insisted. “In fact, if I can quickly resolve what seems to be a pressing issue, if Kris’s scowl is anything to go by, then I’ll try and call again later. If not, I’ll send you a message anyway, to say goodnight.”

  “That sounds wonderful.” Tulli said cheerily, and he could almost imagine her smile, and her eyes a light clear grey.