Brain

by Candace Blevins

  “Oh, my,” I told Sophia and Aaron, now sitting on a sofa together, holding hands and leaning into each other in a way that showed how truly in love with each other they were. “Your children are beautiful, and adorable, and so smart it’s a little scary.”

  Aaron chuckled. “No, they’re so smart it’s a little terrifying. With Patrice here to help, it’s three of us and three of them… I don’t know what we’d do if they outnumbered us.”

  Dinner was relaxed and enjoyable, and I didn’t feel at all self-conscious afterward as Sophia showed us to our room. Before she left, she told me, “Since we brought our children home, you’re the first person who’s stepped foot into our home who isn’t a long-time friend. After meeting you, I can see why Aaron invited you, and I’m happy he broke his unspoken rule.”

  * * * *

  Brain

  Kirsten sparred with Harmony without instruction — which was fine, because she gave my girl a run for her money. However, when Sam arrived, she went straight into teacher mode, as I’d hoped she would.

  Thirty minutes later, Sam asked me to step in and throw a punch, and Harmony and I both said, “No,” at the same time. Harmony looked to me for help, and I said, “For a variety of reasons, Harmony can’t see me as the bad guy right now, not even to spar.”

  Sam took this in stride and turned to her and said, “No problem, just pretend I’m a foot taller,” as she threw another punch, and Harmony blocked and punched back.

  When they finished, I thanked Sam and Kirsten, and Sam responded, “Happy to help. She has a good foundation, just needs to work on her reflexes and confidence.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Harmony

  Since I was certain someone in the Russian Mafia had at least one person in the NSA working on their side, we took a convoluted path to Mobile, Alabama, with the final leg from Charleston, South Carolina in the back of a small van owned by a rock group on their way to Texas for a concert.

  They dropped us off in an area of town with no cameras, and we walked a half mile to a restaurant, got something to eat, and then took a cab to the airport.

  Brain’s body went stiff as we got out of the cab, but he paid the driver and collected our luggage before taking my arm and walking towards the hangar we were supposed to meet everyone.

  Meanwhile, Brain had me on full alert as he practically dragged me to the door of the hangar, muttering, “Motherfucking asshole,” repeatedly under his breath.

  He threw open the door and went in as if he were ready to fight, his voice angry and growly as he demanded, “Why the fuck are you here?”

  I froze in the door as I saw Duke, Gonzo, and Bash. Ranger, the man who’d helped us in the range at Drake security, walked to me, herded me another step inside so he could close the door behind me, and said, “They’re part of your team, and I understand there are bad feelings, but this is Aaron’s idea of trying to fix things.” He looked at the men, who were talking not-so-quietly about why they were here, and looked back to me. “I was under the impression we only needed to worry about Brain, but I smelled fear when you first saw them, and now there’s disgust and anger along with it. Are you okay?”

  I shook my head. “I’m on board with him making up with Duke, but I can’t be around Gonzo or Bash.”

  He looked at me a few seconds and said, “Okay, I believe you.” He sighed and told me, “I’m in love with someone, so don’t think I’m hitting on you, okay? I’m in charge of the op, and it’s my job to keep you safe. I know you and Brain are tight, and have no intentions of doing anything to break the connection the two of you have, yeah?”

  I nodded, not sure where he was going with this, until he said, “Okay. I’m a wolf, like your boyfriend, and I feel the need to protect you from whoever, or whatever, terrified you when you first saw them. Stick with me, and we’ll see if we can’t get through this, okay?”

  I nodded, and he straightened and turned around, let loose a shrill whistle, and when everyone shut up, he said, “Gonzo and Bash, I need ya’ll in the airplane, please. Duke and Brain, I’d like you to come here and talk to Harmony, since this trip’s about her.”

  Ranger handed an envelope to Brain, but I was distracted by Duke who said, “Damn, Harmony, I’m sorry. What can we do to make you more at ease?”

  Apparently, I smelled terrified to all of them. I shook my head and told him, “Send Gonzo and Bash away.”

  “If we do that, we’ll have to postpone the op,” said Ranger. “Aaron can pull other guys in, but they’ll cost you three to ten grand a day, depending on who’s available, and probably only be slightly better than those two. The RTMC guys are volunteering their time, so you won’t owe Aaron anything else when you get back.”

  “I don’t care,” I told them. “I have money, I don’t need charity from anyone. Bash enjoyed humiliating me, and Gonzo was...” I shook my head, folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t want anything from either of them.” I looked to Brain and asked, “What does the note say?”

  He handed it to me, and I read:

  I know you’ll be angry with me again, and I don’t blame you, but I’ve lived a long time and I know how rare truly good friends are. I also know a genuine family when I see one, and the Chattanooga RTMC is one, and there’s a huge hole with you gone. I can see the missing spot in your heart, where your brothers used to be. Harmony can’t fill it for you. She can do a lot, but if you think she’ll replace them, you’re asking for trouble in your relationship with her, too. This is the last time I’ll play the meddling asshole. If this doesn’t work, I’ll bow out, but I had to give it one last try.

  Aaron

  I looked to Brain and said, “Just making up with Duke won’t be enough, will it?”

  He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re never going to be around Bash and Gonzo, I can smell your distress, and I’d just as soon beat the hell out of them as look at them.”

  “So the op’s off?” asked Ranger.

  Brain answered, “Damned straight,” as I said, “Maybe not.”

  Everyone looked at me, and I asked, “Who goes into the bank with me?”

  Duke answered, “I do.”

  “Okay, then, we’ll be in a huge-assed villa on the beach, right?” It’d better be big, I was paying seventeen hundred dollars a night for it.

  “Yes.”

  “Fine, then we’ll figure out a schedule so I don’t see them. Put’em on the opposite end of the house from me, and make sure they aren’t around when I’m out of the bedroom. I plan to spend most of my time out on the veranda with a good book and a huge sun hat and glasses, since I can’t be seen around town.”

  “You sure?” asked Brain.

  “Yeah. We’ve put a ton of planning into this, and I intend to give Aaron a piece of my mind at some point, but I can also see he meant well, even if it was misplaced.” I looked to Duke and said, “I know how close you and Brain were, and I’m sorry my situation came between the two of you.”

  “Give me five minutes to make some adjustments to the plane’s interior, and then ya’ll can come on board,” Ranger told us before he walked to the plane with long, purposeful strides.

  Duke held his hand out to Brain and said, “Truce for the length of the op?”

  Brain looked at Duke’s hand a few seconds, looked at me, and I nodded. He looked back to Duke as he shook his hand. “Until we get her home safe.”

  We spent a very awkward five minutes waiting, and when we went into the plane, a section of aisles had partitions around them so we couldn’t see who was in the seats.

  Ranger motioned us to the seats at the front of the plane, and said, “I’ll be your pilot this evening, and our flight should take just under two hours. There’s no staff, so if you want something to drink or eat, feel free to raid the fridge and cabinets. I have some snacks in the cockpit, if I want a cold drink I’ll let ya’ll know.” He grinned. “I’m sure ya’ll would prefer to bring me one, rather than have me leave the cockpit to get it myself.”


  Once we were in the air, Brain unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “I need to talk to Ranger. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Duke was sitting in the aisle in front of me, though the seats were tall and luxurious, so I couldn’t see him. I’d brought my e-reader loaded with books, and planned to take the opportunity to get caught up on some reading.

  * * * *

  Brain

  “I assume you’ll create a chart for guard duty?”

  Ranger nodded. “You’ll be her personal guard while she’s inside, Duke will take over, with his face reconfigured, when she’s outside the house. The windows have a coating so no one can see inside.”

  “So, the rest of you will be alternating guard shifts?”

  He nodded. “Three hour shifts, rotated between myself, Gonzo, and Bash. We’ll likely pull Duke in for the occasional night shift when she’s with you. She’ll have two people watching at all times — either you or Duke with her, plus one outside watching the area. I know you’ve brought cameras, and will be watching with those, too.”

  “She’s good at strategy, better than Gonzo, Bash, and Duke put together times three, and possibly better than me in some areas, certainly as good as me in most.”

  Ranger nodded. “Aaron told me she needs physical protection, but she’s to be involved in all data, info, and planning. Good to know you have confidence in her abilities, as well.”

  “She’s damned good at running and evading, so it’s important we not block her from escaping, if things go to shit. She and I’ve already arranged a rendezvous point, should we become separated.”

  “I smelled the gun on her.”

  “Yeah, I’ve had her in the Atlanta RTMC’s range a few times since we shot with you. She’s faster with her taser, and will likely go for it in a one-on-one situation, but I feel better with her having a firearm, in case we run into a situation the taser won’t help.”

  We talked a little more, and I went back to my seat. Duke was sitting with his eyes closed, but not asleep, and Harmony was deep into her book.

  I took my seat beside Harmony, kissed her cheek, and pulled my tablet from my backpack.

  Chapter Forty

  Harmony

  Our villa was beyond gorgeous, and it was really too bad we weren’t here on vacation.

  Ranger had used a fake Florida ID to rent a family mini-van, which he’d driven into the hangar. The villa came with a garage, so I’d gone from airplane to van to house without anyone seeing me. To anyone watching, there were only guys here.

  The veranda was private, designed so stars wanting to be sure the paparazzi didn’t get a shot of them could safely spend time outside. I’d still wear a floppy hat and sunglasses, though.

  I had four hours until I needed to get to the bank, to be sure I made the request for cash in time for them to get it in their delivery two days from now.

  Gonzo and Bash left to rent two scooters, this time with fake New York identification, and Duke and I went out the side door of the villa. I wore a bright yellow bathing suit and blonde wig with yellow sunglasses, he wore swim trunks and a t-shirt. I carried a medium sized purse.

  We walked down the road to a bar, stopped to get a drink. His drink was real, since werewolves can’t get drunk, but mine was just a soda. We went into a family bathroom, I pulled a sundress over the bathing suit, changed to a darker wig, and swapped the sunglasses out for dark brown ones. Duke changed to casual knee length khaki’s and a collared pullover shirt, and we both swapped our lightweight flip-flops for sandals. I pulled a large brown beach bag from the purse, and put the purse and everything else into the beach bag. We’d rolled and packed everything into the purse really tight, but didn’t have time for it, now.

  We made our way a half-mile down the street, wandered in and out of some boutique and souvenir shops, stopped to get ice cream cones, took our shoes off and walked down the beach as we ate our treats, and finally made it to the public parking lot where Bash and Gonzo had parked our scooters.

  Duke didn’t look like himself. Not even a little. His waist was smaller, his arms were bigger, he was a little taller, and his face was totally different. He also had stuff sprayed in his hair to make it look a lot lighter, and it was styled different.

  So, it was easier for me to cut up with him, talk to him, and be natural, even though I kept remembering him coming at me with the needle to knock me out, when I heard his voice. Still, seeing him as different helped make it easier.

  We rode to the bank and I pulled my wallet out before I walked in the door, so no one could see inside the zipped beach bag. We asked to speak with the manager, told them I didn’t have an appointment but I had several million dollars in their bank so I assumed he would see me. They asked for my name and account number, and a few minutes later we were taken to the back.

  I was going to leave fifty thousand dollars in the account, because closing it completely didn’t give them incentive to make sure the cash arrived in two days. I filled out the request and handed it over — if this had been a public bank, I’d have needed to answer a bunch of questions, but I’d done my research when I found a private bank, so the request didn’t faze the manager in the least.

  Duke and I didn’t have a cellphone on us, though we each had a two-way radio — currently turned off — for communication if things went sideways. However, we left the bank, got back on our scooters, drove a good ways outside of town where there were no cameras, and met the guys in the van.

  Gonzo was dressed as Duke, Bash was dressed as me, and they donned our helmets and took our places on the scooters while Duke and I got into the back of the van.

  The asshole duo would ride the bikes to a hotel parking garage, park them and start walking to the elevator. Brain would kill the cameras, and they’d put the scooters in a truck with a cab over the back, then go into the hotel, change clothes in an empty room (thanks to Brain forging a key card for them), hang out in the restaurant a while, and then take a few taxis back to the house, leaving the truck in the garage to move later.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Brain

  Longest four hours of my life. It was as if my own heart was out riding around, in danger.

  And I had to trust Duke, of all people, to keep her safe.

  I’d meant to be waiting for her in the villa’s garage when they pulled in, but the bank manager received a phone call I needed to hear.

  I switched it so it came across on the speakers as well as my headphones, so they could hear as they came in.

  “Yeah, I called about the account you asked me to keep an eye on. A girl came in with the right ID, right passcodes. She’s drawing all but fifty grand out in cash. Will be back day after tomorrow to get it.”

  I smelled Harmony’s terror when the Russian’s voice came over the speaker, but I didn’t mute it — she wouldn’t thank me for it, later.

  I’ll need your video feeds showing her pulling into the parking lot, walking and talking inside the building, and then pulling out of the lot. Did you give her a time frame to come back?

  The truck usually delivers by ten in the morning.

  Thank you for the information. When we receive the video feeds, I’ll wire the money to you. Same account as last time?

  Yes.

  The call disconnected without either saying goodbye, and I left the audio feeds going to the speakers in case there was another call, and took my headphones off so I could walk to Harmony and hold her.

  She shrank away from me, and I let her, but I bent down so we were eye level and said, “Hold me, Buttercup. He’ll never hurt you again, I promise.”

  She threw her arms around me, held me tight, and as I stood, she wrapped her legs around me, too. I touched the sides of her hips, enough to comfort without trapping her, and walked back to the armless chair I’d been using as my command central chair.

  “The rest of you can go, I’ll keep an eye on things in here, and let’s plan to meet in an hour and a half for a sitrep.”

 
; Duke and Ranger left without another word, and Harmony sat in my lap with me holding her a good five minutes before finally lifting her head to say, “Thanks. What can I do to help in here?”

  I pointed her to another laptop and answered, “Watch the network traffic coming and going to the bank. Odds are the manager will send a link so the Russians can see all the feeds and take the parts they want, in which case we should be able to easily see their IP address. If he emails it, we’ll have to monitor the email to see where they log in from to retrieve it.”

  She needed to get her mind on something else, be productive, and I knew she was as good as me and wouldn’t miss anything.

  Fifteen minutes into us working side-by-side, I told her, “My wolf needs me to hold you again. Are you going to be okay?”

  She turned to me, threw her arms around me from the side, and I slid sideways and pulled her to me, holding her, but smelling for distress just in case.

  Thankfully, she saw my arms as safety and comfort, and she let me hold her until I let go and kissed her cheek, then her forehead.

  “Do you want me to keep his voice in my headphones, if we hear him again? Just tell you what’s said so you don’t have to hear him?”

  She shook her head. “No, I know him, and it’s possible I can glean something from his tone of voice the rest of you would miss.” She held my gaze, let me see her strength. “Don’t shield me from anything, Brain. I’ve done this on my own long before you came along. It’s great to have help, but you have to know I’m not going to let anyone cushion me from reality.”