by T K Eldridge
Yelena hugged it to her and nodded, clearly terrified by his size and the intimidating appearance he presented.
Kit handed Yelena one of the kitchen staff’s cell phones. “This one is unlocked. We’ll get you outside the gate, then you dial 911 and tell the police you’ve escaped on your own in all of the chaos and have no idea what happened. Got it?”
“Right. You were never here, we don’t know what happened, we’re just glad to be alive,” Yelena replied.
“That’s right, you understand perfectly,” I said and we headed outside, releasing the gate from inside the house.
Once everyone was outside the walls, Kane came jogging up and smiled. “All set.”
“Y’know, brother, you enjoy your job way too much sometimes,” I told him.
“Gotta find the little pleasures where you can,” Kane said.
“Okay, people. Get walking. Down the road towards town. That way,” Cutter said, directing the women further from the house. They were about a hundred yards down the road and we were at the end of the road in the other direction when I looked at Kane.
“Wait until we’re all in the trees before you hit it. I want to be on that chopper before the police get the first call.”
Kane nodded and pulled into the brush while we jogged toward the clearing.
“Fire in the hole,” Kane spoke into his mic and then the explosion shook the ground.
About ten yards further, we found ourselves in the clearing with Gideon landing in front of us. Kane came out of the trees, climbed in and we lifted off.
“Any trouble finding the clearing?” Kane asked Gideon.
“Ha ha. Very funny,” Gideon replied.
As we rose above the treetops, the mansion that we had just left lay below us, a burning pile of rubble that didn’t have enough big pieces left to determine what it once had been.
“You’re getting really good at that,” Cutter said.
“Thank you,” Kane replied, beaming with pride.
“So, Cutter, what’s in the bags?” I asked.
“I’ll show you later,” he replied.
“Understood,” I said. That meant there was stuff in there he was unsure of and didn’t want anyone to be put in a tough spot about reporting it or not. I leaned over and tapped Gideon’s arm. He switched to the private channel for pilot and copilot, so we could talk without being overheard.
“I need you to set Cutter and I down on the road to the storage facility. We’ll join up with you all a little later.”
“Got it, boss,” Gideon said. “Oh, and it seems the signals scrambled again. Home front doesn’t have any recordings of this evening.”
“Good job, Gideon. Thanks for taking care of that. We found thirteen women and released them down the road with one of the kitchen staff’s phones to call for help. Also sent the kitchen staff out the back to the side road. So, no, we didn’t do a full wipe. We don’t kill innocents. That’s not our job.”
“No, sir, that’s not something honorable men do. I’ll make sure the police get to those women sooner rather than later. It’s gonna get chilly tonight.”
“Do that,” I said and leaned back.
I was going to have to face the Facility’s staff about tonight, but it was fine. Gideon knew how to scramble our gear so it looked like equipment failure and not purposeful sabotage.
Gideon tapped back into our private channel. “Police picked up all thirteen women about a mile from the burning mansion.”
“Thanks, Gideon,” I said and closed my eyes. Sleep where you can, when you can, as I’d learned in basic.
The dream snuck up on me as it always seemed to. Between one breath and the next, I was back in Afghanistan, three months ago.
The rifle was tucked under my arm while I scanned the terrain in front of me. “Gideon, get out front here and tell me what you see.” I watched the edge of the field in the distance where it met the line of mud-brick wall.
Gideon ran forward in a crouch and tucked into the rocks next to me. He peered up over the rocks and scanned the area, then muttered, “Four insurgents, one with a canvas bag over his shoulder and a grenade in his hand. Probably more in the bag, the way it’s bulging. Third guy from the left is Jamaal al Fuqra. Rico should be able to take him out from here.”
I patted his shoulder and turned to Rico. “Your shot, Rico. Don’t fuck it up.”
I could see some movement in the distance, but to me they were blurs. I could hear the shuffle of their feet and the rattle of the pin ring against the grenade. That’s how I knew someone was ahead of us. We’d been tracking this group for two days in hopes of getting a shot at the leader, al Fuqra. I pulled out my scope and watched.
“Don’t fuck it up, he says,” Rico muttered. “Like to see you take this shot, asshole.” And yes, he knew damned well that those of us with enhanced hearing heard every word. Rico settled against the rocks, shifted the rifle, and blinked. Between one blink and another, the lenses in his eyes shifted and brought the target into sharp relief. The shot was almost a let down. The man dropped to the ground like the proverbial puppet with the strings cut.
“Fire in the hole!” I called out and we all dropped and covered our heads, or ears, as the case may be. One of the disadvantages of enhanced hearing is that loud noises could really really hurt. When Jamaal dropped, the guy with the bag of grenades startled and the pin got pulled on the grenade in his hand. The subsequent explosion took out the three remaining jihadis when the bag of grenades blew. There was nothing but a crater where the four men had once stood.
“Goddamnitall!” I snapped as I got to my feet. “Now how are we going to prove we got the fucker?” I slung my weapon over my shoulder, gestured to move out, and we headed towards the smoking hole in the ground nearly two miles away.
“DNA?” Kane suggested as he moved up beside me, eyes on the surroundings as we walked towards the crater.
“Oh, sure. You got the swabs and testing gear?” I shook my head. “We’ll just see if we can find a scrap of something that looks like his clothing to bag up and bring back. If they don’t trust our word on it, fuck’em.”
The crater was easily ten yards wide. Scraps of bloody cloth and bone were scattered around the edges. I found a swatch of bloody cloth that looked like the head wrap Jamaal had been wearing before Rico shot him. “Here, bag this. The blood is hopefully his and will give them the proof they need. Time to head ho…” My teeth clacked together with the force of Kane’s grip as he pulled me down. Everyone dropped as the sound of gunfire rattled the leaves where my head had been seconds before.
“Over there,” Aden said as he jerked his head towards a cluster of debris along the side of the field.
“I’ve got him,” Rico said as he lined up his shot and fired.
Aden got up into a crouch off to the side and hurried towards the debris when another round of automatic fire roared from the brush and cut him down.
“Man down!” I yelled. Kane pulled out the launcher and sent a missile into the debris pile. We both heard the scream that suddenly cut off and I didn’t dare look at Rico as I raced towards Aden, med kit in hand. Gideon was already calling in our evac as Cutter and I worked on Aden. The kid was the youngest of us, with the best sense of humor. I saw death in his eyes and knew there was nothing that we were doing that would help, but we had to do something. I held his hand on the chopper ride and felt his fingers go slack when he died. That’s when I always woke up.
Being asleep on a chopper meant I woke up confused. Took me a moment to realize that Aden had been gone a while and we were stateside with no wounded. Not this time. No, Aden was not the first soldier I’d lost under my command, but he was the first from the Facility. I was the leader and his loss was my fault. I should have been faster in my commands, stopped him and waited. Something.
Either way, I really needed to get out of this gig. It was well past time.
Chapter Four
The dirt trail wound through the grounds and it was a favorite
of my team for our endurance training. They called it training, but we all knew how to run with gear and packs on. For us, it was a chance to be outside and talk openly with a lot less chance of being overheard.
Kane and Kit were back at F-Block, called in to get some testing done. That wasn’t a new thing. We were lab rats, as far as Facility staff were concerned, and ended up giving blood and various body fluid samples on a regular basis. Sometimes it was just sensors and scanners while we ran on a treadmill or lifted weights. Weird shit, but something we’d all grown used to after the first couple of years.
Cutter ran beside me with Rico and Gideon about half a mile ahead. We could faintly hear their chatter as they ran and talked about some TV show they both liked.
I dropped to a whisper that I knew Cutter would be able to easily hear, but no one else would pick up on. “You and I have a mission overnight. Starts at sixteen-hundred and goes until about eighteen-hundred tomorrow. Suit and tie tonight, jeans casual tomorrow. We’re protection for some political person or something. Supposed to get the packet on the way out the door.”
“Keeping it pretty hush-hush, aren’t they?” Cutter said, his voice a whisper in reply.
“Yeah, and I’m not sure why. I’ve also been left alone by Meyers and the others. It’s weird.”
Cutter looked over at me and then stopped in the middle of the trail. I turned and jogged back to him, with a confused expression on my face.
“You’re being played,” Cutter said, his huge hands on his hips.
“What do you mean, I’m being played?” I always felt small next to Cutter and I was six foot three and muscular. He was six foot eight and one of his thighs was nearly the size of my waist. It puts into perspective how I felt when he put his hand on my head, palmed my whole skull, and shook me a little.
“What the fuck, Cutter?” I slapped his arm and backed out of reach.
“Just checking to make sure your brains were still in there. How can you not know? They’re fucking with you by not fucking with you.”
“Try again, I’m missing something,” I said.
“Jericho, your biggest weakness is your team. You’re the ultimate leader. It’s why your team is one of the most-requested and has the highest success rate of any other Facility group. And, before you ask, I know because I hacked their files about eight months ago or more.”
I had so many questions, but Cutter kept talking so I shut up and listened.
“You take ‘no man left behind’ to an extreme, my friend. That’s not usually a bad thing, but when it impacts your ability to be objective with the bigger picture, it can be bad. Seems to me that they’re using your weakness against you. Don’t let them. Remember that we’re all just tools in the arsenal you’ve been given to do your job. Sure, I appreciate that you think of us all as family, and that’s why we’re friends – outside of the job. In the job? We’re tools.”
I heard him. I knew he was right in what he was saying, but it went against everything I’d been taught since I was small. I’d been raised by my mother as my father was active duty military. She was full-blooded Mohegan and he was a mix of English, Irish, and African-American. It’s where I got my looks from. Permanent dark tan, straight black hair and eyes that used to be brown. Mom taught me that family was more than blood – it was anyone we were sworn to protect or who we claimed as family. This team? They were my family, now that I’d had to give up my other one. I don’t know if it was the wolf cells in me or what, but I needed my pack.
“You’re right, but I don’t know if I can go against everything I am. I’ll do my best to keep my tendencies from playing into their hands, but I’m gonna need you to help me with that,” I finally said to Cutter.
“You’re my brother, and you’re my boss. I’ll help you as best I can. Now, let’s get a move on before they think we’re out here playing grab ass in the bushes or something.” Cutter’s smile was white against his ebony skin, and I laughed.
“When you smile like that, I’m reminded of the Cheshire Cat. White teeth in the shadows.”
Cutter snorted, amused. “I am that, a smile in the shadows. Unless you’re my target.”
Our laughter followed us down the trail as we raced each other back to the Training block.
* * *
I didn’t see any of the team, other than Cutter, the rest of the day. It was a little unusual, but not enough to worry me. We rested, got our gear together, and signed out one of the SUVs to get on the road. We were to meet our protection targets at a hotel in DC and watch them through an event, then escort them back to the hotel room where their usual team would do the night shift. The next morning, Cutter and I were to escort the targets from the hotel to a breakfast event, then back to their home in Maryland.
“Who are we supposed to be watching, again?” Cutter asked as he drove while I did paperwork.
“I don’t know. We were just given A and B in the Blue Suite,” I said.
“I should’ve got into the files to find out before we left,” Cutter said.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll make sure whoever they are, they’re alive when we’re done, and then we’ll go back to hell.”
We pulled up to the hotel, let the valet park the SUV and carried our own bags inside. I checked us in and Cutter found a couple of take-out menus before we got to the room.
“I want Chinese tonight. Beef and broccoli, house fried rice and three egg rolls. Oh, and get some of that crab rangoon stuff?” I asked Cutter as I headed into the bathroom.
“Will do. I’m going with Indian.”
I heard him on the phone as I got the shower started.
“Be here in twenty minutes or so,” he said, then I heard the TV come on.
I took my time in the shower. Being able to take a long, hot shower and know that no one was watching, was one of my favorite parts of these gigs. There was also a huge tub and I knew that before he slept tonight, Cutter was going to take a long hot bath and read a book.
I ended the shower when I heard the food delivery arrive. Wrapped in a hotel bathrobe, I joined Cutter at the table to eat. This was another thing we always did. Good quality take-out that didn’t resemble anything the Facility would feed us. They paid for it and we took full advantage of it.
Within an hour, we were both dressed in black suits, white dress shirts, black ties and black shoes with traction soles. Hey, dress shoes were useless when you had to run. I checked our gear, and we made sure our weapons were ready before we headed out the door.
I hated having to wear the contacts, but wearing sunglasses at an evening event would look too obvious. Cutter’s eyes didn’t look too different, but he still wore contacts just in case someone got too close.
We were in the same hotel as our targets, so we made our way to the elevators and up to the private suite. Secret service agents were up our butts before we even got off the elevator. Our credentials calmed them down enough to let us into the suite where we had to clear our way past three more.
“Who the hell are we supposed to be watching?” Cutter asked me, voice barely audible.
I shrugged and looked around. Then I saw her. The most beautiful woman I had ever laid my eyes on. She had hair the color of wildflower honey and eyes a green I had never seen before. Her skin glowed against the green silk of her gown and the matching silk ribbon that held a green and white cameo against her throat. I couldn’t look away until Cutter stood in front of me and blocked my view.
“What the hell, Jericho?” he asked, concern etched on his face.
“Sorry, I just saw something amazing,” I said.
“Yeah, I saw the lady in the green gown, and the girl beside her in the blue gown. Vice President Wilson’s daughter, Sarah.”
“Woah, is that his wife?” I asked.
“No, that’s the girl’s governess or something. Peyton Adams.”
“Are they our targets?”
“Yep. We’re to keep them safe and keep our eyes on them all night. Are you going to be abl
e to multitask or do I need to cause you pain now and then to keep you on your game?”
I just glared at Cutter, then looked over at Peyton Adams one more time. “I’ll be okay. I’m also going to have some damned good dreams tonight.”
Cutter groaned and laughed before he turned and walked towards the pair. “Good evening. I’m Cutter and this is Jericho. We’re your bodyguards for the evening.”
Sarah Wilson was a cute kid who was going to be a gorgeous woman someday. Auburn hair and hazel eyes, freckles across her nose, and the gangling awkwardness of a girl who’d grown a few inches recently and hadn’t figured out how to navigate it yet.
“Hi. I’m Sassy and this is Pey. Did you know that Jasin Bailer was going to be performing at the gala tonight? We’re even going to get to sit next to the stage and he’s going to autograph a few CDs for me. This is going to be epic.”
I smiled at the girl, but my gaze went back to Peyton.
She blushed when she saw me glance her way and gave Sarah’s arm a pat. “Easy, Sassy. Remember, elegance, poise and charm.”
“Right, poise and charm,” Sarah said, then clapped her hands together and bounced on her toes. “Absolutely epic!”
Cutter chuckled and leaned in to whisper to Sarah. “Remember, the Bailer has girls squealing over him all the time. You want to stand out? Be elegant and calm. He won’t ever forget you.”
I snorted a soft laugh and looked up at Peyton again. Yeah, tonight was going to be beyond difficult if all I could do was stare at the gorgeous creature in front of me. “He’s good with kids. You’ll both be fine and have a chance to enjoy the evening.”
“As enjoyable as it could be with having to listen to Jasin Bailer’s music. I’m not a fan, but that’s not a discussion I care to repeat with Sarah,” Peyton said.
I was so screwed. Even her voice was alluring. “Honestly? I couldn’t name one thing of his. I don’t follow pop music much,” I said.
“Don’t tell Sarah that,” Peyton murmured as she moved in front of me to follow Cutter and Sarah. The scent of her flooded me and I knew that no matter how much time or distance passed between us, I’d always be able to find her by scent alone. It was intoxicating and invigorating all at once. I let out a slow breath, squared my shoulders and moved to follow them. Yep. It was going to be a long-assed night.
