Adael nodded. “So, you guys want me to go forward with the plan?”
“Yes,” came the cacophony of responses in Jarrett’s ear.
“Mac? Nico? You okay with that?”
“No, but what choice do we have?” Mac grumbled. “You guys just better come up with a plan to get us out after he has the information. We sure don’t stand a chance of breaking out without help.”
“Yes. It’s worth the chance to put these assholes in prison and out of business forever,” Nico said.
“Okay, Evans. Tell Dayan to move forward,” Stanger said in his ear.
Jarrett eyeballed Adael feeling incredibly worried. “They think you have to go forward but I’ll tell you right now, if anything happens to my friends, I’ll personally put a bullet in your brain, Israeli. Ya hear me?”
Adael smiled lamely and shrugged. “You could try, Marine. You could try.”
Chapter Fifteen
“You’re not going in there,” Mac argued vociferously. He and Nico were standing in Nico’s room shortly after Jarrett and Adael had ended their argument in the warehouse. “We’re getting you out of here now. I don’t care if we have to fight our way out of this fucking building, I’m leaving with you. Archer knows who you are and he’s setting you up.”
“Mac,” Nico tried to reason. “If I leave without that information, this mission is completely useless. We’ve got to complete it tonight. Surely he doesn’t realize I know that he knows who I am, if he really does. We’re never gonna have a better chance to get to those disks and the longer we stay here, the more danger we’re in. We have to get done and get out.”
Mac was holding him in his arms, and his massive biceps surrounded Nico, caging him in as he stared down into his face. Nico knew the risk was insane now that there was a possibility Archer knew he wasn’t Josiah Flynn but he wanted to play it out and see where the whole thing went.
“Besides, Stanger and Diaz are in agreement. We have to go through with the mission, Mac,” Nico pleaded. He reached up and caressed the Green Beret’s cheek. “I’m going to be fine. I know I have you watching my back. You can accompany me down to Archer’s office. The cameras will be disabled and it may be the only time we get the chance, Mac. You know that.”
“What I know is that you’re in even more danger with every minute that goes by, Nico. We have to go now.”
“No, Mac. If Archer doesn’t know I’m an imposter, we still stand a chance of the plan working for us. Besides, you know we won’t get out of the building. They’ll stop us if we even try. That will definitely get us both killed. No, we’re getting this done. Now.” Nico pushed at Mac’s arms but it was like trying to break free from iron bars. He glared at him. “Let go!”
Mac sighed and finally relented. “Fine, baby.” His arms loosened and he lifted his arm to check his watch. Nico knew it was five minutes to two and they had to go. “Let’s go, then. I’ll wait outside and alert you if I see anything suspicious.”
Nico smiled and lifted his face to kiss Mac’s cheek. “Come on. Let’s go.”
****
Adael went straight to the security office control center when he got back to Stryker-Dunn after his meeting with Jarrett. He forced himself not to grin as he thought about how flustered he’d made his former lover. He’d known nothing would come out of their private meeting because for some fucking reason, Jarrett had fallen in love with his partner and then married him, but it had been fun to mess with Jarrett’s pretty head. He had to admit, Thayne was a good-looking man and he suspected the guy was a great lay as well. Jarrett would have accepted nothing less and he had married the prick after all.
The truth was, he missed Jarrett. When he’d found out he’d quit the Corps after their failed mission in Gaza, Adael had been shocked. He suspected Jarrett hadn’t been able to deal with the collateral damage from that mission. The unintentional death of children was never easy to deal with but it must have happened many times in the Marine’s career. He supposed there was a tipping point for everyone somewhere, though. He’d tried to contact Jarrett several times after his exit from the Corps but his attempts at reaching out were ignored. Adael knew Jarrett had gotten the missives and had chosen to ignore them. So, without any recourse, Adael emotionally archived their two weeks of intense connection as a sweet memory… that was until he’d accidentally run into him in San Diego during that fucking fireworks case. Adael’s attempt at rekindling their connection hadn’t worked, however. Apparently, Jarrett had fallen for his partner in the ATF which had been disappointing as hell.
Still, he’d waited for another opportunity and when a case involving stolen nerve toxin happened right in Jarrett’s backyard, Adael figured he could try to connect with Jarrett again. He’d gone to the ATF to loop them in on what Lang was doing, knowing they’d jump at it. Mills Lang had been on the top ten list of federal criminals for years. Adael had done everything he could to get close to Jarrett that time as well, even boxing him into a corner to try to kiss him which had failed miserably. He really hadn’t been prepared for Jarrett’s admission that he was desperately in love with Thayne. What an idiot. Who falls in love with their screws? Adael worried his bottom lip. He’d pretty much broken his own rule, falling hard and fast for the gorgeous Marine, so he really could understand how it might happen.
For now, though, he had other things to do to accomplish the evening’s work. He checked in and headed straight for the security office where his part-time lover, Logan Knight, waited for him. Knight was a hot fuck but dumb as a bag of hammers. He was the perfect foil for what Adael had planned that night. He walked up to the security office door shortly before two in the morning when he’d told Nico to enter Archer’s office. He had to have the camera loop ready by then. He blew out a breath and turned his face up to the camera, smiling. A second later, a familiar click sounded as the door was unlocked. Tonight wasn’t the first night Adael had come to hook up with Logan. It would however, be the last… because after tonight, there was a pretty good chance Drake Archer and his company were going to lose all their government contracts.
Adael pushed into the office and was met by Logan. The man was strapping, cut with muscle, and handsome in that American boy next door look. Tall and blond, with a short buzz cut and a great cock, Logan was beautiful. They’d flirted for about a month before getting together in the quiet security office where Logan worked the overnight shift. His job was to man the cameras that monitored everything in the building. Adael liked military guys because for the most part, they were in the closet but when they came out, they came screaming out. He smiled as he shut the door, opening his arms as Logan walked over.
“I didn’t expect to see you tonight, Isaac,” the man purred. His voice was deep and resonated in the room as Adael pulled him into a hug. He slanted his mouth over Logan’s, tasting the minty freshness from the gum the man liked to chew as he began to grow hard in his uniform. The way Logan’s body felt against his always had that effect on him. Adael considered trysts with beautiful men just a perk of being an operative. Mossad didn’t care how he accomplished the job as long as he was effective and Adael knew he was one of the best. They kissed for several minutes and when Adael was worked up and ready, he pulled his mouth away. He rested his forehead against Logan’s and smiled, staring into gorgeous light blue eyes.
“I missed you. It’s been several days so I thought it was worth the risk.” He punctuated the next kiss by sliding his hand down to cup Logan’s impressive cock in his hand. Logan groaned as he bucked his hips, forcing his dick to press hard against Adael’s hand.
“Did you bring lube?” Logan asked, breathless as he pulled his mouth away. “I want you inside me.”
Adael shook his head and frowned. “Shit. I forgot it.”
Logan smiled and nodded his head. “I have some in my locker. That’s closer than your room. I suppose I can go get it but I shouldn’t leave.” The guy was so sweet, Adael almost felt bad for taking advantage of him.
“Go
get it. I’ll watch the console while you’re gone,” Adael offered, waving a hand at the monitors.
Logan frowned. “Well, are you sure?”
Adael nodded. “I’m sure. No one’s around at this time of night.”
Logan nodded and then smiled again.
Nothing upstairs… nothing at all.
“Well… okay but if I get caught, Isaac… I mean, it’s a dereliction of duty and…”
Adael squeezed his cock again. “Go on, baby,” he purred. “I promise I won’t leave. If anyone comes, I’ll tell them that you had to piss.” He pumped Logan’s cock through the uniform. “Hurry up. I need to get inside you. I’ve been thinking about you for days.”
Logan’s face flushed as his cock grew harder inside the fatigues. He nodded jerkily. “Okay. I’ll be like two minutes, okay, Isaac?”
Adael smiled and then pecked his lips. “Yeah, go on, love. I’ll be right here.”
“Okay,” Logan said. He stepped back, looking so childlike, Adael almost felt bad for taking advantage of him. He gave him an encouraging nod, then watched the blond turn and hurry out the door. As soon as he was gone, Adael pulled a flash drive out of his fatigues and sat down at the console. He switched to a view of the empty corridor outside Archer’s office and cut and pasted a minute’s worth. After doing that, he switched to Archer’s dark empty office footage and grabbed a minute of that. He quickly called up the program he needed and inserted the footage to run in a constant loop.
He glanced at the clock. It was almost two a.m. Nico would be arriving in another few minutes so he set the camera footage to repeat in a loop for an hour and then loaded it. Nico had assured him he’d manage to locate the list on Archer’s computer, pull the disks, run them down to the server room, read and memorize them, and return them to Archer’s office, all within that hour. Adael really hoped Devecchio could do what he said he could do. He’d just finished and put the flash drive back in his pocket when Logan returned. The kid had a big happy puppy look on his face. The next ten minutes were definitely going to be fun.
****
Nico left his room to head for Archer’s office with Mac following. He knew if Dayan had done as he was supposed to do, he’d have returned to the office after his meeting with Jarrett and gone straight to the control center where he would copy empty hallway footage outside Drake Archer’s office along with the interior of the dark room from security’s camera feed. Adael had promised to keep the guard busy or out of the room beginning at 0200 so they could exit Nico’s room without being seen on camera.
Though Nico didn’t know exactly how the Israeli planned on pulling it off, he had no doubt he could get the security guard out of the room long enough for him to plug in a flash drive to loop the blank footage he needed. Maybe he’d send him for a condom or lube or something. When the guy returned, he’d have to keep the guard occupied while the footage uploaded and then get him back out of the room while he set up the loop. Jarrett had assured him that Adael was a good spy and that he’d figure it all out, but Nico didn’t like having to trust the Israeli. He couldn’t see a way around it though.
They climbed the stairs to the fifteenth floor and stepped out of the stairwell. When they got to the corridor leading to Archer’s office—the same corridor that led to the server room—Nico glanced at his watch. It was 0207. He stepped into the corridor and walked over to Archer’s office, praying the Israeli had done as promised and set up the cameras on a loop. He figured he was about to find out. If security guards arrested him breaking into the office, he’d know soon enough. He glanced at Mac who stood thrumming with nervous energy beside him and took a deep breath. He removed a set of lock picks from his black fatigues. Working for the LAPD had been an education for him. He could pick his way into just about any lock made and that’s exactly what he did.
Within thirty seconds, he walked into the outer office and shut the door behind himself, leaving Mac to guard the door outside. He walked over to Drake Archer’s door and did the same thing, bypassing the electronic keypad with the lock picks. Had there not been a manual lock on the door, he would have had to hack the keypad which would have taken more time. He hoped he had been right about the Minnow disks because there was always the chance that he’d been way off base. He turned on the light in Archer’s office and went to his desk, sitting down at his laptop. Getting through the firewalls went quickly and then he sat down to search the folders on the laptop, looking for the list. He started by checking the most recent activity logs, easily locating a file that had been updated shortly before Archer left the office that afternoon. He grinned as a list of bands and albums popped up the moment he had the document open. Nico printed the list and stood up to begin his search for the disks.
The first album listed was Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, one that Nico had at home. He began to hum “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing” as he began searching for the album among the thousands in the office. Once he found it, Nico pulled it from the shelf and removed the album from the dust cover. Along with the record came an 8x8 Minnow disk. He wanted to whoop for joy but he set the disk on the desk and moved on to the next album on the list. It took him nearly twenty minutes to pull twenty disks. He hadn’t gotten more than halfway through the list but he had no more time. He quickly lifted the stack of disks, leaving the albums hanging halfway out of their proper slots and rushed out of the office. Mac was waiting for him and he held the disks up, showing them to him.
“Got ‘em.”
“Hurry,” Mac encouraged.
Nico nodded and took off down the hallway. He made it down to the server room and used the key card Adael had given him to gain access. Once again, Mac waited outside the server room. Nico didn’t think anyone would be walking down that corridor at this time of morning, so he figured there was no better time. They had to get this done.
Nico searched the stacks, not seeing the Minnow disk reader anywhere among the hundreds of servers. He was becoming desperate, jogging up and down the rows of servers over and over again when he stopped to slow his racing heart. It had to be here. He started at the beginning of the first row, walking slowly down the line, examining each computer. When he got to the end of the row, he noticed one of the servers at the end was slightly taller than the others. He walked over to it and set the stack of disks down on the floor. He grabbed both handles and pulled the computer out toward him. A flat screen popped up and a tiny cursor began flashing at the bottom left of the screen. Relief rushed through him as he pushed a button. A light on the front of the reader popped on, lighting up the drive. He slid the first disk in and began to read.
By the time fifteen minutes had passed, Nico had read and memorized eighteen of the twenty Minnow disks. He couldn’t believe the shit Stryker-Dunn had their fingers in all over the world. The disks had been a wealth of information including conflicts that had been sanctioned by the US government that had required the company’s support, but others as well. The list of company personnel Nico had found on one disk, placed them at the scenes of several conflicts his own government had sworn they’d steered clear of. Yet another disk, was a list of foreign bank accounts which Nico quickly memorized. He’d been told to follow the money so his team could look for a paper trail. The disks were quite damming, and Nico absently wondered what the FBI would do with the information once they had it. It was no doubt highly classified, code-word clearance type stuff.
Stryker-Dunn had their hands in some pretty off the books bloody wars as well. Their mercs had carried out bloody coups where the US had fervently denied any involvement. Stryker-Dunn mercenaries had overthrown unfriendly dictators and assassinated leaders in places his own government denied ever going. Technically, they hadn’t ever been there but the payouts he’d seen on those disks disputed that. No wonder US leadership worked off the books with fuckers like these. Some of the missions made Nico want to bleach his brain.
He wished he could have had the chance to look at all of them but one glance at his watch tol
d him he’d run out of time. He had to get the fuck out of there. He picked up the disks and closed the server, leaving the server room quickly, and heading for the door. He stepped into the hallway expecting Mac to greet him. His lover was nowhere in sight. Dammit. Nico felt a little bit of fear rush through him but he had to finish what he started. He decided to concentrate on the here and now. He could speculate about Mac’s absence later.
Nico ran down the hallway to Drake Archer’s office, pulled out the lock picks, and let himself in. He reached out for the light switch and stopped as he heard the unmistakable sound of a handgun as the slide was pulled back and released. His fingers brushed the light switch and his heart nearly burst. Standing right in the middle of the room was Drake Archer. He was pointing the barrel of a 9 mm directly at his heart.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
****
Mac had been standing outside the server room keeping watch for nearly fifteen minutes when he heard low voices and rapid footsteps coming down the corridor where the bank of elevators were located, around the corner. He had only moments to react. If he stayed on guard, he might call attention to the fact that he’d positioned himself outside the server room. If he walked away, they might round the corner and stop him anyway. He had no business on this floor where only Drake Archer’s office and the server room were located. Should he stay? Should he go… try to lead whoever it was away from Nico who was doing what they came here for? The latter was probably the best option. If one of them was to be caught where they weren’t supposed to be, Mac was, by far, the better of the two. At least then, Nico might stand a chance to get away to return the disks to their hiding place.
Endings and Beginnings (Death and Destruction Book 8) Page 23
