She drove her heels into his ass and shifted her hips, chasing the pleasure she knew he could give her, the release she needed. She pressed her nails into his shoulders and kissed his mouth, taking what she wanted.
Her orgasm swelled up inside of her all at once. He continued thrusting, her body pinned to the wall, at his mercy.
Isaac thrust and buried his head against her neck.
Tanya squeezed her eyes shut. Then she swallowed and glanced around the locker room.
Instead of better, more relaxed, she wanted a way out.
“Tanya?” Isaac lifted his head from her shoulder and stared at her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let me down?”
He eased her feet to the floor and their bodies apart.
“I’m going to take a shower.”
“Hey.” Isaac grabbed her hand. “What’d I do?”
“I want to be left alone.” She pulled out of his grasp and retreated into the first shower stall she found.
She twisted the knob, spraying herself with a torrent of icy-cold water. She gasped and shivered, letting her tears mingle with the tap.
Isaac knocked on the door.
“Hey—”
“Go away, Isaac. We’re done.”
“Damn it, Tanya—”
“You’ve been angry with me. Maybe I deserved it, but now I’m asking you to leave.” She covered her mouth and nose to keep from sobbing.
“All right. Fine. I’ll be outside.”
His belt jangled and he stomped all the way across to the door, as though he wanted her to hear him go.
She waited until the door banged shut before sliding to the floor.
Isaac had slipped past her defenses when they were down. He was inside of her heart in a way that no other person had been before. Being without him physically hurt.
She loved him.
That was the crux of it all.
But she wasn’t going to put herself out there for someone to rebuff her like that. She might be a fucked up, shell of a person, but she deserved more.
Tanya buried her face in her hands and let herself cry.
Tomorrow she could live or die trying to save thousands.
Tonight, she’d nurse her broken heart.
Without intending to, she’d fallen in love with the one man who would never chose to love her. For the first time in her life she didn’t want to love and leave, she wanted to be able to stay. But he wouldn’t want her. She wasn’t the kind of person he could explain to his family, she didn’t do normal, and his life was too full for her. She was strong. She’d get by, but first she had to put herself back together. This time, she wouldn’t need his help.
18.
Sunday. CIA safe house outside of Washington, D.C.
“Shit, Robert. What have you gotten us into?”
“We know the five agents killed were all attending this event today, right?” Robert jabbed at the laptop screen. He hadn’t slept since arriving, and neither had his CIA contact, Brett.
“Yeah.” He scrubbed a hand over his eyes. In time, he’d learn how to operate on no sleep for over a week.
“Did we get a hit on Tanya yet?”
“No, I told you, that alert was just activated. I’m not sure TSA would even be aware of it yet.”
“She’s here. Right under our noses.” Robert wasn’t sure how Tanya had made it into the country, but his gut said she was there. Everything he’d read, the reports he’d culled, indicated she was the kind of self-starting, take-charge agent that wouldn’t let anything keep her sidelined. Quade had never talked directly about her, but even his statement supported Robert’s findings.
“Are we trying to catch her or—what? I’m tired.”
“Drink more coffee and get with the program. Tanya and whoever she’s with, are going to be close to the weapon. You’re positive she hasn’t reached out to anyone?”
“Yeah. I told you.”
“Hey, would you grab more of these little packet things?” Robert wiggled the empty one at him.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Brett sighed and pushed to his feet.
Robert listened to the thumps of the young man’s feet down into the basement. When he was certain Brett was below, Robert pushed to his feet, closed the basement door and locked it. He wrestled the refrigerator sideways until it, too, braced the door shut.
Robert only needed a little time. Besides, if his tip was right, it would be better if Brett were stuck here.
The kid was useful, but the things Robert needed to do so no one died would be crossing all kinds of lines. Besides, he wasn’t convinced the summit was the target. It was obvious. The chances for the stolen credentials to get flagged were high, unless Orlando had someone in the system to cover his tracks. He had a CIA mole, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to think it possible. Still, Robert didn’t want to take the kid down with him if he could help it.
He snagged Brett’s CIA credentials, his phone and car keys.
Orlando was making a move, and the Americans weren’t ready. They had no idea what was coming their way. Robert had to get access to the CIA network so he could give Tanya a window of opportunity.
Sunday. Washington, D.C.
Isaac peered out the door, taking in the sun bathing the clouds over D.C. in pinks, oranges and golds. At any other time, this would be a beautiful day to see the capital, take one of those little bus tours around the monuments. There would be hundreds of people doing just that with no idea the threat that could be happening right under their nose.
He closed the door and leaned his shoulder against the wall, staring out over the Mossad setup.
They’d pulled in people awfully fast. Either they really were that quick, or they’d been prepared for such an event. Regardless of what it was, Isaac and the rest of his team didn’t trust them. They’d each taken a shift through the night. Kyle had threatened to knock Isaac out last night if he didn’t get some rest, so he’d wound up with the last shift.
By some miracle, he’d slept, though he missed the feel of a warm body against his. The warehouse was not as comfortable as their previous digs and he could have used a bedfellow. Tanya had kept her distance after her shower. He was pretty sure he’d achieved sleep by the time she came to bed, and this morning there was no identifying which dark lump on what cot she might have been.
Why was this thing with Tanya so complicated?
In hindsight, he could have reacted better yesterday. Given the opportunity, he’d apologize. There was something about Tanya that frustrated him and made him want to stick to her like glue. He couldn’t puzzle it out.
Luke ambled toward him, two cups of coffee in hand.
“Morning,” Isaac said.
Luke handed the coffee over and turned to watch the comings and goings of the Mossad team.
“Anything interesting happening?” he asked.
“Not that I can tell. The guy from last night just showed back up a little while ago. I didn’t get to him fast enough to ask for an update, and everyone else pretends they don’t speak English when I ask a damn question.”
“They’re efficient though, gotta give them that.” Luke chuckled and shook his head.
“Makes me wonder, did they really set this up for us, or were they waiting for something else?”
“I’ve seen the Mossad team assemble. It can be done. The real question is, what were these people doing before they were activated to come here? I’d buy that a few people flew in, but not all of them. So what are they doing here? Hm?”
“It’s D.C., maybe they work here?”
“Maybe.” Luke shrugged.
The hair on Isaacs’ arms rose. For the span of a moment it seemed as though his heart stopped beating and his lungs ceased to work.
Tanya and Abigail entered through the double doors, heads together in conversation. They crossed the warehouse to what served as the kitchen corner. The grill was going once more, cooking kosher food for the team.
&
nbsp; “I’m going to give you some advice. You can ignore me or not, but—learn from my mistakes.” Luke sipped his coffee and they both watched the women. “The man who trained them—Baron? He put them through the kind of shit that would break us. They are stronger than we are, not physically, but the whole package. You either have to support Tanya, or get out of her way.”
“What the fuck are you saying?”
“You’re holding her back. We need her at her best.”
“I’m holding her back?”
“When I met Abigail, we’d been equals. I always saw us as partners. You were introduced to Tanya as an asset, at the end of her rope and probably in the worst circumstances she’s ever been in. She might have less training and time in the field, but she wouldn’t have been activated and put into deep cover if she wasn’t capable of handling herself. You view her as needing your protection. She doesn’t. She needs you on her team.”
Isaac kept staring at Luke. Was he serious?
“We need her at her best today, so whatever is going on between the two of you, forget about it until this is over, and start treating her like part of the team.”
“You are so off the mark.” Isaac shook his head. For the duration of this job he’d been the one on her side. He was the one who’d believed her, who stood up for her. No one else on this team believed in her like Isaac did.
“Am I? Want to talk about why you came out of the women’s locker room, spitting mad?”
“None of your damn business.”
“Look, if you care for Tanya, let her do what she has to. It’s hard, and likely dangerous—”
“You’re making problems where there are none, man.”
“My bad.” Luke pushed off the wall. “I’m going to get something to eat, you want to come?”
“Nah.”
Isaac remained where he was, Tanya’s voice etched into his brain.
Leave me alone.
She’d told him, and he’d listened.
It was better this way. He liked her, but the moment she put him above the job was the second he realized things had gone sideways between them. This was a fun fling, nothing more, and deep down he knew she wasn’t the only one who’d renigged on their initial understanding. He cared about Tanya, wanted to see her get through this and go back to school, to have the life she wanted. And he wasn’t part of that picture.
Tanya pushing him away like that was a blessing, because if she hadn’t, he’d have kept coming.
Luke was right, Isaac had to stop thinking of Tanya as the asset now, and that was where Isaac was struggling. His instinct said to protect her, to make sure that if nothing else happened, she got out okay. And that went against the broader mission of what they’d be doing today, if anything actually happened.
The door to the trailer on the far left burst open and a guy vaulted down the stairs. All eyes went to the man.
Isaac started jogging before he’d made the decision that something was about to happen.
“Guys,” Kyle bellowed out, waving them to the ready corner near the van prepped for their unsanctioned operation.
Everyone all across the warehouse dropped what they were doing and circled around the electronic white board. The Mossad agent in charge stepped out of the nondescript van, expression vague.
“The signal has surfaced.” The agent’s grim expression echoed Isaac’s. Part of him had hoped nothing would happen. “The good news is that we are between the weapon and its destination. Aegis Group, you’re up.”
Isaac stepped forward, as did the others. They weren’t the people to hesitate or hang back when things were tough.
They grabbed the waiting, navy jumpsuits. Often people ignored men in blue collar uniform. Someone slapped an HVAC magnet on the outside of the van, turning them into a service vehicle.
Adam and Luke took the front seats while the rest of them filed into the back, sitting along the sides of the empty van like an urban SWAT team. Tanya and Abigail focused on a tablet showing some sort of a map.
Someone in the crowd of support staff clapped, then another and another. Their grim faces telegraphed Isaac’s feelings about the situation back at him. This might not be the sort of thing they came home from.
“Remember, the suits are in the compartments with masks and oxygen tanks. God speed.” The agent closed the back of the van, plunging them into darkness.
“Ready?” Adam called back.
“Go,” Kyle said.
The van accelerated, the tires even squealed a little bit.
They were racing the clock and an enemy who wanted to kill as many people as possible.
“The signal is coming straight at the building, but there’s traffic. We should get there with almost ten minutes to prepare.” Tanya turned the tablet to show them.
“Okay, we’ve all seen the plans for the building.” Kyle gestured to the map of the building where the summit was being held. “I want us to divide into three teams, one as lookout, one in the parking structure and one at the loading docks. The thing bringing this in has to be big, right, Tanya?”
“Yes. It’s...ten feet by... fifteen? And three feet tall. They will need something big enough to move the container, plus whatever they’re using to disperse the gas.”
“Do we have any idea what they’re going to use to do that?” Isaac asked.
“Best thing to do would be to hook it up to the air conditioning, pump it in and through the whole building in a matter of minutes.” Tanya zoomed in on the aerial view of the building. “But to do that they’d need to either get to an access point or to the air returns on the top of the building. They have to have an alternate plan for the delivery.”
“Could they have put the gas into portable containers?” he asked.
“Maybe. Like I said before anything is possible.”
“Look, we get in there, we assess what they’re doing and either we stop them or we get people clear before they use the gas,” Kyle said.
He made it sound so easy.
That’s how these things started. This gig had been all about getting the girl and bringing her home. Now they were sandwiched in the back of a van provided by an ally intelligence agency, trying to stop someone from killing an international meeting of the minds.
Isaac leaned his head back against the side of the van, watching Tanya out of the corner of his eye.
Was Luke right?
Was he prioritizing her over the new focus of this job?
There was a pull that had him gravitating toward Tanya at every choice.
Maybe he did care about her more than he should. That would explain his fucked up priorities. It was easy to tell himself to simply stop, but emotions didn’t work that way. So what was he going to do about it?
“We’re here,” Luke called back.
Kyle drew a black curtain across the front of the van, shielding them from anyone looking into the van. If security wanted to clear them, that was another issue to resolve later.
The van eased to a stop. The electric hum of the window heralded in a myriad of traffic noises.
“Took you guys long enough to get here,” a man said. “There’s a spot for you guys all the way at the end by the service elevator. Did they really only send two of you?”
“No, we’ve got a few guys in the back to help us,” Luke said.
“Good.”
Adam drove forward.
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Isaac muttered.
“I think we just stole their cover story,” Tanya said.
The van eased to a stop. Luke pulled the curtain back and Adam twisted to face them.
“Let’s assume this other team is coming in just like we did, as an HVAC crew.” Tanya straightened and stared at the map. “They’re coming right to us, then. Do we stop them on the street or in here?”
“This basement parking garage could contain the gas,” Abigail said.
“How long ‘til they get here?” Luke popped his seatbelt. “Adam and I will go tell se
curity that we have a bigger unit bringing equipment in, so they’ll wave these guys in. We need to be prepared to ambush them.”
“Minutes,” Tanya said.
“Go,” Kyle snapped.
Adam and Luke bounced out of the front seats and were gone.
“Isaac, Shane, you guys keep a look out. The rest of us are going to suit up so we’re ready to handle the gas, okay?”
“When this starts happening we have to be ready to move fast. The gas is deadly on contact, so if you aren’t in a suit—get out. Okay?” Tanya glanced around the truck
“Shane, Isaac, you guys focus on getting people out of the parking structure, okay?”
“Copy that.” Isaac straightened.
Shane opened the back doors of the van and they slid out, careful to not open them too wide.
Isaac glanced around at the cars.
“This has got to be at capacity. Event’s already started,” he said.
“That’s what I was trying to not think,” Shane said.
“Come on, let’s look like we know what we’re doing.” Isaac slapped Shane’s shoulder.
They made a quick circuit of the parking area, determining that there must be another level under them. The cars were packed in so tight it was hard to see anything bigger than the van making its way into the subterranean garage.
“Lights,” Shane said.
A large, delivery style truck with a faded logo on its side rolled in from a secondary entrance. Not the one their van had come through. This was a bigger truck, maybe even the size needed to transport the gas.
Isaac unzipped the jumpsuit, ready to reach for his weapon if need be. They moved to intercept the slow moving truck inching its way toward where the van was waiting. Behind the truck Luke and Adam crept closer, all eyes on the truck.
The driver eased to a stop about twenty yards from their van. This close, Isaac could see the driver peering at him, the other vehicle and working it out.
Isaac tapped his comm. “I only see one guy.”
The driver threw his door open and leapt to the ground.
Dangerous in Action (Aegis Group Alpha Team, #2) Page 22
