“You are in control. I’ll even let you pick all the positions for our sexual acrobatics tonight,” Bull replied.
“I think I like this ‘being in control’ thing.”
“Yeah, don’t get too used to it,” Bull warned playfully.
“I’m stressing a little over planning our wedding, too,” Chaise admitted.
“What’s stressing you about it?”
“Several things, honestly. Not knowing what’s going to happen with my dad, if he’ll be able to give me away, or…if he’ll even still be with us. Trying to coordinate everything around Noah and Brianna’s baby. Now this guy is after us and could be part of a terrorist sleeper cell. All of this on top of the normal stress of planning a big event like this is just a lot,” she explained.
“Baby, if you want a big wedding, we’ll have the biggest fucking wedding ever imagined. If you’d rather run away and elope, we’ll still have the loudest honeymoon anyone’s ever heard. As long as you’re mine forever, I’ll do this however you want,” Bull replied.
“You’re right,” Chaise decided.
“About?”
“Everything. Starting with the acrobatics tonight. Hurry up and get me home.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Bull saluted.
The next morning, Bull and Chaise met the others at Noah’s house to begin the assessment, strategy, and planned reconnaissance part of their mission. Bill and Joe rejoined them and brought the files they’d collected on Turan. Each man began by reviewing every page in an attempt to identify any other ties to past missions they’d been on.
“Here you go,” Joe said and handed Brianna a plain, black cell phone. “Liz will call you in a few minutes. That woman is a handful. She hasn’t let her guardian have a break since we told her she can call you.”
“Thanks, Joe. I appreciate this. She was my only friend for a long time, and she’s very special to me,” Brianna replied.
Brianna and Chaise retreated to another room in the house to wait for Liz’s call. When the phone rang, Brianna immediately put it on speaker and answered excitedly. “Liz! Are you okay? Chaise is here with me, and we’ve been so worried about you,” Brianna exclaimed.
“I’m fine now, sweet girl. I felt like I’d been run over by a semi when I first woke up in the hospital, but all the side effects are gone now,” Liz assured her. “How are you and my beautiful Chaise doing? How’s my baby?”
Chaise laughed at Liz’s reply. “I’m fine, Liz, and I’m glad you’ve healed now.”
“The baby’s fine, too,” Brianna replied. “What do you remember about the attack, Liz?”
“Not much at all,” Liz said disappointedly. “This was before the poisoning, but I remember Lee coming to see me more often than he had before. Now I know why—he was studying me closer so he could pull this shit on me. I hope Shadow finds him and kicks his ass.”
Chaise and Brianna both laughed at Liz’s reply. “I’m sure he will, Liz. He’s pretty easygoing until you rile him up, then he’s lethal,” Brianna said.
“Good. Just how I like my men,” Liz giggled. “Do you know where I am? These damn men won’t tell me anything.”
“No, Liz, I’m sorry. We have no idea where they’re keeping you. But, if I can arrange it, would you want to stay here with Noah and me?” Brianna asked. “Chaise will be here with us whenever the guys have to leave for the night.”
“That would be heaven. This place is nice, but these guys are boring as hell. They won’t even play strip poker with me,” Liz huffed. She raised her voice to ensure they heard her when she continued. “It’s because they know they’d lose!”
“Okay, let me see what I can do,” Brianna laughed. “But, Liz, we’re not playing strip poker here either.”
“Fair enough. Unless everyone else leaves and Rebel or Shadow has to babysit me. Then we never had this conversation,” Liz replied.
The three ladies continued talking and catching up, with Brianna asking the probing questions she’d learned as a reporter in her attempt to gather anything that could help them. After they disconnected with Liz, Brianna and Chaise rejoined the men in the den to share her suggestion. With the team on her side, she knew there was no way the CIA would stand a chance.
“We just hung up with Liz. She’s doing great. Bragged on her son a lot for saving her.” Brianna smiled. “We have a great idea.”
All eyes swung to her, and they waited for her to continue. She met Noah’s gaze and held the connection to him as she spoke.
“I’d like for Liz to come stay here with us until this is over. I think it’d be best for all of us. We’d all be in the same house to help each other. Maybe talking with us can help jar her memory of that day. She also wouldn’t be there to harass the agents guarding her, even though Rebel and Shadow would have to bear the brunt of it.” Brianna smiled.
“I think that’s a great idea. She can flirt with me all she wants.” Shadow grinned. “It’s good for the ego.”
“If that’s what you want, I’m fine with it. We have plenty of room,” Noah agreed.
“We had just decided that Reaper and I would stay here for the recon that requires more than a couple of days of travel. If that frees up two agents to help travel, it only makes sense to do it,” Bull interjected.
“If you’re sure you two don’t mind, I can have her here tonight. She has to be in full disguise to leave the house, though. So if she goes to a doctor’s appointment with you—” Joe motioned toward Brianna “—she has to be completely incognito. Turan can’t know that she’s still alive until we want him to know.”
“We can handle that,” Chaise agreed and Brianna nodded in agreement.
“Okay, it makes sense. It’ll be late tonight when we move her. But if you’re willing to live with her, who are we to deny you?” Bill deadpanned.
“Have you boys solved all of our other problems yet?” Brianna asked jokingly.
“Absolutely,” Rebel replied. “Right down to the country’s deficit.”
Easy laughter rolled through the room. “We’re developing a plan. One step at a time so we don’t get ahead of ourselves.”
Chaise’s cell phone rang and she glanced at the screen. “It’s Mom,” she said as worry instantly infused her tone. “I’ll be right back.”
When Chaise left the room, Noah looked at Joe. “You have eyes on my parents right now, right?”
“Yes. He won’t get to them,” Joe replied confidently.
When Chaise rejoined them, her color had paled and her hands were shaking lightly, though she tried to hide it. “That was Mom. She wanted us to know they’re admitting Dad back into the hospital because he’s not eating enough. She said it’s just a precaution and for us not to worry.”
“That means she’s not telling us everything,” Noah replied.
“Exactly. He must be in worse shape than she’s saying.”
“And he must feel pretty bad to agree to go back inpatient,” Noah guessed.
“We’ll put extra surveillance in the hospital. We have a few agents who used to be nurses who can take a few shifts and watch over your father,” Bill said and retrieved his phone from his pocket. After a clipped conversation, he had everything lined up as promised. “Everything’s being put in place as we speak.”
“Okay, let’s get back to work and put an end to this,” Rebel spoke up. “Turan needs to be stopped before anything else happens.”
“Damn straight,” Shadow said, and the men began their discussions again.
“Where’s the file that has his work history in it?” Noah asked.
Joe and Bill exchanged glances, and Noah quickly stood, knowing immediately that they were hiding information from him. “We told you we don’t have much on him.” Bill avoided answering the question.
“Where is the fucking file?” Noah asked through gritted teeth. “So help me God. Withholding vital information from us is the fastest way to getting your ass kicked.”
Bill retrieved a single sheet of paper from the
stack and reluctantly handed it to Noah. He quickly scanned the page before advancing on Bill and Joe.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! Why didn’t you tell us this before now?”
Shadow and Bull jumped up from their seats and physically restrained Noah when he suddenly lunged for Bill. Even as strong and muscular as they both were, it took all of their strength to hold Noah back as he continued pushing, intent on plowing through them until he reached his target. With the icy tone of a killer, the fiery eyes of a madman, and the low tone of seriousness, Noah issued his warning.
“This is my family you’re fucking with. I don’t know you, I don’t like you, and I don’t trust you—especially after this. If you know anything else, you’d better speak up now because I’ll cut your fucking tongue out if I find out later.”
* * *
“Lee Clover is now dead,” Ali said as he shredded his fake license. “Good riddance.”
Ali had driven to Miami and arrived undetected. He had no intentions of keeping his presence here hidden, though. On the contrary, he had every plan of letting the four men and their loved ones know that he was very much alive and well, right there in their city.
“I could be right behind any one of you, and you’d never even know,” he sneered.
Retrieving his multiple suitcases, he began setting up his own network in the small, furnished house he’d rented. His numerous laptops had all of the most advanced features since he’d built them himself—from the hardware parts to the operating system and the software programs. He arranged each one in the exact optimum location. The self-designed models weren’t traceable like store-bought systems were—the first rule of being a genius in computer science. They also didn’t have the quirks and limitations that prevented him from carrying out his commands with the speed and precision he required.
When the first one was powered up, he located several close Wi-Fi signals and ran his decryption software to retrieve their passwords. “The second rule is never use your own Internet connection, always access someone else’s, then bounce the signal all over the world. By the time anyone with any intelligence locates your area, you are long gone,” Ali muttered to himself. He continued to make one connection after another, projecting his unique address into different countries and making the signal zigzag in a jumbled mess that more closely resembled a mass of cooked spaghetti noodles.
He repeated the process with each machine he set up so that no two machines had the same pattern and, therefore, wouldn’t have the same signature. For the average computer analyst geek employed by the government, it would take years to unravel his schematic. Ali was positive that he had plenty of time to exact his revenge and have a little fun at the team’s expense along the way.
“First, let’s see if you were smart enough to change your cell phone numbers.” Ali shook his head. With the stroke of a few keys, he located every cell phone that had been in their possession at Liz’s house. “Idiots. How can you not know to change your cell phones?”
Tapping into the cell phones’ cameras remotely, he switched between each of them until he found one that was out in the open. He then activated the microphone so he had complete video and audio. He was so pleased to know they were already talking about him.
“You didn’t tell us he worked as an information tech for the Army Corps of Engineers,” Noah bellowed. “You knew that he’s had access to all of our confidential information this whole time and didn’t tell us.”
“You know as well as I do that your top secret information isn’t housed in the same system. It’s in a stand-alone, self-contained system that couldn’t be breached, even by the most notorious hacker,” Bill replied.
“My family’s information has been accessible to that asshole. I’m not afraid of him—let him face me like a man and he’ll run home crying to Mommy like a little whipped pussy. But he’s had access to my family’s information and that’s not all right with me,” Noah replied loudly.
Noah pulled his phone out of his pocket and angrily punched a few keys. “Roman, I need you, Blake, and Alex over here immediately with every security upgrade we have available and some we haven’t even offered yet. It’s past time to lock this place down tighter than Fort Knox.”
“Yes, by all means, bring in your best and see if you can barricade yourself away from me. I love the challenge,” Ali replied to his computer screen.
An idea sprung to mind that was simply too good to resist. Quickly killing them when they had no clue he was there wasn’t a true test of his superiority. He would torment them first, keep them on edge and constantly looking over their shoulders as they feebly attempted to outwit him. With each step and every turn, he would show them that he was better than them in all ways imaginable. Then, when it was time, he would look them in the eyes and watch the terror fill their faces as they died alone, realizing he’d beaten them.
“Yes, I know you told me to do it years ago, Roman. Just get over here and spruce it up,” Noah said into the phone. “Bring extra men if you need to. And Brad. Bring Brad with you.”
“Okay, they’re gathering the supplies and will be here as soon as possible. Bull, do we need to up the surveillance at your place for you and Chaise?” Noah asked as he turned.
“No, we’re good. I already have the most state-of-the-art system there is. And I have a lot of big guns,” Bull replied. “I also have Chaise. Any man who messes up her decorating touches should be more afraid of her than he is of me.”
“Very funny, Bull.” Chaise elbowed him in the ribs. “You’ll pay for that later.”
“See?” Bull laughed and pulled Chaise to him for a kiss.
“Rebel? Shadow? What about you two?” Noah asked.
Shadow smiled. “Nah, man, I’m good. I hope he comes to see me first.”
“I’m good, too, Reaper. No way I’m hiding from that little sissy,” Rebel replied.
Part of him was entertained at how they spoke so boldly about him when he wasn’t there to defend himself. They would soon learn what he could do. But another part of him needed the rage that their insults fueled. It reminded him of why his mission was so important, why he couldn’t let them have the upper hand even once, and why he had to remain patient until the time was right.
In the meantime, he would still have a little fun with them. Ali opened the cell phone’s speakerphone to address his captive audience. “Yes, by all means, men. Call every security specialist you can find and have them fill your homes with their pathetic gadgets. It’ll be all the more entertaining for me in the end. I’ll walk through the front door of your homes as easily as if you left the light on for me and a key under the front door mat.”
Ali chuckled at their confusion while they attempted to locate the source of his voice. When they followed the sounds and Noah picked up the cell phone, Ali continued with his taunts. “Aren’t you the clever one? You found me in the cell phone, very impressive. Do you feel any safer yet?”
Noah’s reply wasn’t what Ali expected. He smiled at the blank screen of the cell phone. “Ali, I have no reason not to feel safe around a sorry little pussy like you. Picking on little old ladies doesn’t take a big set of balls. How about you meet up with me somewhere? We’ll see who feels safe then.”
“That’s a very tempting offer. Really. Alas, I will have to pass,” he mocked. “However, I will accept a date with that sexy wife of yours. It may seem odd, but I’ve always been attracted to pregnant women. They just glow with radiant beauty.
“Or maybe your gorgeous sister? I’d bet my life that her beauty would rival the brightness of the sun if she were pregnant. Perhaps I can help her with that since your friend seems to be unable.”
“What the fuck did that little piss ant just say?” Bull demanded as he jumped up from his seat beside Chaise. “I’ll tear you limb from limb, you little piece of shit.”
“As much as I’m enjoying our little chat, gentlemen, I’m afraid I have more work to do. But don’t worry. You’ll hear from me aga
in very soon,” Ali promised as he cut the connection.
He leaned back in his chair, laced his fingers behind his head, and smiled from ear to ear. This would be his favorite mission by a long shot. In fact, he was already looking forward to his next interaction with them.
He opened the image he’d saved from the live video feed of Brianna and Chaise standing side by side to stare at them longer. His smile crawled across his face before he spoke. “How about a nice game of cat and mouse, my beauties?”
8
CHAPTER EIGHT
October
“Where is he?” Brianna asked, staring out the window.
Ali had systematically sent packages to Brianna over the past few weeks. One arrived at the same time every week, but a different courier delivered each one. The first package had caused a major scene outside the gate. When the agents on duty scanned it and decided it was safe to open it, a flurry of activity quickly ensued. Cars swarmed in from every direction, agents and police cornered the deliveryman to interrogate him, and Noah moved Brianna as far away from the windows as possible.
Ali had sent her an early Halloween present—a fake finger that appeared to have been cut off. He added corn syrup tinted with red food coloring to make it look more realistic. When the package was finally delivered to Brianna, she cleaned off the extra “blood” and stuck it on her middle finger. She took a picture and posted it on her social media site, knowing he was most definitely monitoring it.
The second week, he continued the theme and sent a dozen black roses to her. Not willing to be one-upped, Brianna carefully painted each one with a different color of nail polish before posting a picture of her “beautiful, multicolored roses.” After the second delivery, she’d had a talk with Bill and Joe.
“Every time a package is delivered, it draws your men from wherever they’re stationed. Ali’s watching every one of them and waiting to see where they’re coming from. You need to take the packages to them or get a new way to scan them here. Just don’t fall for his games anymore,” Brianna suggested after they’d opened the second one.
Wicked Nights Page 7
