by Cara Carnes
And the women behind it.
The line connected. A gruff voice offered nothing aside from, “What?”
Kristof Lavrov was a long-term associate turned friend, the only relationship he’d consistently maintained over the years. The man was the only one he trusted outside family. Though he was in The Collective, he was also a broker like Jian. He was a very sought-after procurement specialist with a unique moral code only he understood. He’d done right by Jud over the years, which was why he deserved a head’s up.
“I heard it was going to freeze tonight. You’d best take your plants inside,” he suggested. In terms of coded messages, it was pretty obvious, but Jud didn’t give a shit.
“I’ve got all mine covered, man. I’m more worried about yours. You’ve been busy. Are you sure you don’t need help getting yours covered?”
“I should be good, but I’d appreciate a head’s up if you see otherwise.” He looked around. “I’m in Texas for a while, thinking it’s time to move.”
“But you’re pruning and weeding first,” Kristof said. “Be careful. It’s a tough job to handle alone, some would say an impossible one.”
“Nothing’s impossible if you’re motivated enough.” Jud thought of Danny, the fact The Collective allowed Jian to take him. The fact they probably had more to do with it than they’d admit. “I’m plenty motivated.”
“You need help, let me know. I appreciate the freeze warning, man.” Kristof ended the call.
He took the stairs down to Command Central two at a time. Jacob was in the midst of whatever made his geek brain happy. He tapped his foot in time to Vi and Mary, as if intentionally mimicking their every move. The three sat side by side in the control room, each working on something for the upcoming missions. Gage’s and Addy’s voices filled the overhead as they bantered back and forth.
All teams were in position. The overseas arm of the operation had run through enough dry runs to feel somewhat comfortable to proceed. Translation—they’d run out of time. Sundown yawned over the horizon, which meant the Mason teams overseas would be hitting the camps just after sunrise.
“We’re a go in thirty,” Vi stated over the com.
Mics checked soundlessly as dots appeared beside the teams. Both Dover teams checked in first. Jud felt helpless as everyone waited. He should be outside, stalking the perimeter, searching for whatever made nervousness settle around him like a second skin. They’d set six of the monitors aside for Jacob. He’d left the farthest exterior drone surveillance up on four of them and alternated between the rooftop drones and the other exterior building drones on the other two. He wondered which of the women had gotten him up and running. Although he sat to the side, both women looked over and scanned his monitors every few seconds, as if preparing to leap to his aid if needed.
“Do we want to know what Bree’s new toys are?” Vi asked. She flashed a smile.
“Jesus, you’re letting her test new toys while we aren’t there?” Addy asked. “Not smart, Quillery.”
Quillery didn’t have much of a choice. Jud was glad the woman offered them up. He wasn’t entirely sure what they did, but the blonde assured him they’d cover the perimeter line easily even though she’d been short on specifics. He hoped to hell so. Neither of the women would leave the room anytime soon and even though his time would be better served ensuring the perimeter was secure, he found himself heading toward the mess hall instead. They needed to eat. His nephew needed to eat.
Riley and another blonde worked alongside an older woman with the same expressive green eyes as most of the Mason brothers. Their mom. He offered a polite smile as she focused on him.
“My word, you’re a handsome one,” she commented. “You must be Jud. Everyone around here calls me Momma.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. Afraid I’ll have to stick to Mrs. Mason. My momma wouldn’t be too thrilled if you took her place.” He motioned toward the plate she handed to him. “Though you’re a better cook, but don’t tell her I said so. I came to get Jacob, Vi and Mary some grub.”
He took the bagged-up plates Momma Mason handed him with a smile and a thank you, then headed back to the computer trip he’d left.
“If I wasn’t engaged to the best man in the world, I’d kiss you,” Mary declared. “Please tell me one of those is for me.”
“It’s for you,” he said with a chuckle. “Make sure Viviana here eats something. I’ll be back later. I’m going to walk the perimeter.”
10
“Please, Vi. I need this. I need to see this through. I’m safer in here than in the cafeteria.” Riley’s imploring gaze stabbed Vi’s insides. “All my brothers are out there. I need to understand what they do. They’ll never, ever tell me. I’m their little sister. I deserve to know, understand. Mom and I are driving them nuts and they’re annoying the hell out of me. They’re constantly dodging me at every turn, and I know it’s because I don’t get what they do. Help me get it.”
The Mason brothers had made an art form out of dodging their little sister. She understood their conundrum. And hers. She wasn’t the little girl they envisioned, though. She deserved to see how dangerous what they did truly was.
“Fine, but you sit back there and remain quiet. No matter what goes down, you stay quiet. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Come on, I’m observing, too, in case Mary or Vi need me for something,” Rhea said. “Bree’s on the roof doing something. That alone terrifies me.”
Vi smiled. Jud had no idea what he’d unleashed when he’d given her science-minded friend control of perimeter security.
Everyone was in position. Vi looked over at her best friend and recognized the steadfast calm in her gaze. The Edge was in the room. Vi always admired how Mary could summon the lethal calm for an operation. It was why she was the final solution when things went to shit. No matter how bad things might be, The Edge got the teams out every single time. That was Mary’s superpower.
Vi…well, she wasn’t sure if she had a superpower. She dug, pulled info and data faster than anyone from anywhere. Knowledge was power, especially for field personnel. She hacked into every webcam and video surveillance system within one square mile of the Dover trailer park. Drones flitted overhead and offered insight into the first arm of the mission. Though it appeared the auction itself would take place on-line in one of the trailers, the true target was the large two-story Victorian style home half a mile down the road.
Apparently, Jian was too good to stay in a trailer and had rented the large mansion nearby.
Gage’s team would engage the trailers and secure the area while Addy’s handled the house. Vi had hacked into the Dover power grid and would kill lights to the area. Both teams had set up frequency jammers that, when combined with HERA’s drones, should prevent any notifications from getting through to the three base camps in Afghanistan. Vi studied the latest images she’d just received from the Delta team that’d performed a preliminary recon of all three camps. They’d even dispensed a sand crawler into each of the three camps and left it active.
She shot off the latest intel they’d gathered to Zero D, just in case. They’d already sent her links to the auction site and all data they’d collected so far.
Vi had forgotten the team even had sand crawlers. They were one of Bree’s toys, one that passed all field-testing with remarkable results. It burrowed into sand and other fine granular sediments and navigated its way around while it performed a grid-like sweep of the area for IEDs and other nasty surprises lurking beneath the ground. So far, the little monsters had flagged several hot spots in all the camps. She compiled the data and sent them to the team leaders. Fallon’s team, as standby, received all data.
You should have left Fallon’s team here. You screwed up.
Vi shoved the thought away and focused on the encampments. All three were bordered along two sides by poppy fields. The waist-high opium source was problematic at best and an outright disaster at worse. Armed militants roamed the area, watchin
g over the fields and the workers within them. She zoomed in on the emaciated, barely-clothed people working the crops and snapped images of the restraints. Thin chains around their necks and wrists encumbered movement, but didn’t seem to stop their ability to work completely. They were obviously prisoners, but she’d have to dig deeper to determine what kind. Innocents? Possibly. Political prisoners from a neighboring warlord? More likely.
HERA spewed identifications on the captured images of the armed militants and the prisoners. Her gut clenched as she pieced together the evidence they needed to green light the op.
“That’s a lot of beeping,” Jud commented.
“Beeps are good, right?” Jacob asked.
“Yeah, beeps are very good,” Mary replied. “HERA’s putting the final nails in this operation. Some of the workers in the fields are from your dad’s convoy.”
“And Dad?” The boy’s gaze moved to their monitors and away from his own.
Vi cursed fate as she studied the images. There’d been six teams spread out to cover the three camps. With no idea what was in each, it’d been a crap shoot at best—one that’d showed fate was a twisted little bitch sometimes. Jesse’s team was one of the two in the camp most likely to hold Danny. Jesse and Nolan’s teams were in position and ready to move, but she still wasn’t sure Jesse had any business in this operation.
She called up his record, reviewed the file of his capture and subsequent rescue. What he endured was unfathomable. The fact he was still out there, doing what kick ass operatives did to keep people safe proved he was a hell of a man.
She keyed in Nolan’s personal com and turned the others off so only he’d hear what she said as she fed the images she’d pulled out of the primary feed and sent them to him. “Your site is hot.”
“Roger.” Nolan’s grim voice filled the speakers. He didn’t go into detail on what she’d sent.
She felt Jacob’s attention on her. Jud approached and put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Get to work, bud. I need you focused on keeping them safe. Quillery and Edge are working to get your dad out.”
“Drone surveillance puts the exfil at twenty-one, three of those in immobile status.”
“And the other camps?” Nolan asked.
“More militants, less than ten exfil in each once the dust settles,” Mary added. “We need Fallon’s team on camp two. There’s enough firepower there to light up half the country. I feel like a fireworks display is in order.”
“Roger,” Nolan replied. “Will send data shortly.”
“Data?” Jud asked.
“His team is primary. He’ll assess the data I provided and decide who goes where. He’ll send his plans to me and we’ll program each person into the schematic so HERA can do her thing.” Vi motioned toward the schematics. “HERA will do a SWOT analysis of Nolan’s plan and offer feedback to his field device. He’ll see each person’s strengths versus the anticipated skirmish and provide feedback from there. The biggest piece of data he’ll have to provide as the battle ensues is the physical and emotional status us his team members.”
“You’re worried about Jesse. I saw his file pulled up earlier.” Jud sat in a seat he’d dragged over at some point.
“He’s one of the best soldiers around.”
“You’re still worried,” he whispered.
“It’s my job to worry.” She focused on the op and tuned out the man looming near enough for her to reach out and touch him. “All camps, we’re a go in three. Release drones for first phase clearing.”
Team leads in all the camps tapped their assent. Green dots appeared beside their team numbers on the display overhead.
“Power is down in Dover. Jammers are operational. Both teams are a go for entry,” Mary said as she stood.
Vi ignored her best friend’s standing stance. Mary always stood. When things got bad, she paced. It was her thing. Vi was the immovable force behind the computer. Come hell or high water, her ass was planted in the seat. Drone feeds streamed in, so much between all the encampments, Vi almost couldn’t keep up.
Eliminate the unnecessary. Let HERA guide you.
And she did. The system was a genius at dispensing warnings, offering a clue where attention needed to be. Dover was the first problem at hand. There were too many unknown variables in too wide of a space. Unlike the three militant camps overseas, innocents surrounded the two targets stateside. Civilians who had no idea there was a sex trafficker of women and little kids living next door.
She zoomed drones toward lots twenty-eight through thirty, in the back at the top of the horseshoe-shaped park. Audio mics picked up angered shouts. Flashlights flickered back and forth, up and down as the combatants attempted to figure out what was happening. Vi flicked the floodlights on the two larger drones on, flooding the area to offer Gage’s team an easier take down. Gunfire echoed from the area as one of the men aimed his semi-automatic rifle at the drones and fired.
So much for a clean take down.
She aimed. Fired. One sleeper dart down.
“They’re all yours, Dover one.”
“Roger,” Gage replied. “We’re moving in.”
Mary was helping Addy’s team penetrate the two-story Victorian, so Vi focused on the overseas teams. With two teams per encampment and enough drones to take on the Death Star, the teams had the situation well under control for the first phase—which focused on taking down as many of the armed baddies as they could before the teams actually moved in.
Drones in the three overseas camps weren’t armed with sleepers. Anyone hit wouldn’t be getting back up. She focused on Nolan’s camp first, helping down as many baddies as she could by taking control of the drones. Once they were out of juice, she flew them toward Jesse’s team, who got to work refueling them.
With a few moments to spare, she focused on the second encampment. With two of the best operative teams around involved, she felt relatively confident she wasn’t needed. She scanned data from the drones and field operatives. So far so good, but the fight hadn’t really started. This was the shock and awe stage—the moment when the other side hadn’t figured out they were in someone’s cross hairs.
Camp three had a heck of a lot of baddies, almost twice as many as the other two combined. Did they have enough juice? Probably not. Dallas and Dylan had this camp. Mary was already engaged, moving drones into position to take down militants until Fallon’s team arrived to assist. Vi shifted her attention back to Dover. Gage’s team swept the trailers with precision speed.
Addy’s team met resistance.
Vi activated control of two drones and got to work knocking out baddies. One idiot chose to run, but she chased him over a fence and through a neighbor’s yard. Spotlight on, she waited until he fell to the ground, hands in the air. There was no running from HERA. She aimed and fired a sleeper dart. She keyed in the coordinates so someone would come and haul the trash away.
“Team two, where are you going?”
“Sweeping the upstairs. I heard movement.” Addy’s voice was barely discernible. “I’m handling the side mission, Quillery.”
Side mission? What the hell?
“I asked her to go up there and get something,” Jud said.
“When?” She remained focused on the feeds, alternating between camp one and Dover. Mary had camp two and three well under control, even though the number of red dots at the latter was growing. More baddies were moving in. “Team two, what’s your status?”
“Operatives three and four have the target secured in the southwest corner, first floor,” Addy said. “Target is immobilized.”
Thank fuck. They had Jian.
She ignored the side mission, though anger seeped into her thoughts. How dare Jud order her teams to go somewhere without telling her? And for what? The niggling doubt she’d nurtured grew a bit stronger as she spent a couple seconds figuring out what his objective really was with this entire operation. Why was he here instead of there?
Then she noted the camera feeds from
Jesse’s headset and froze. Son of a bitch.
“Bravo one, team four has eyes on packages.”
“Dad?” Jacob asked.
“Eyes on the monitors, bud,” Jud ordered.
The view from the camp was dark, clouded with dust and debris. Gunfire echoed in the distance. Someone beside Jesse flicked their headgear light on.
“We have three DOA and four in critical. Need medical evac. Be advised primary objective has been located.” Jesse’s voice offered little emotion.
Crap. They’d anticipated medical evac, but she’d hoped it wasn’t necessary. The Delta team helped her secure medical choppers and a couple SEAL teams standing by at the rendezvous. Though having SEALs swoop in and help at the camp itself would be awesome, this wasn’t a sanctioned mission. The less they were involved, the better.
Vi switched monitoring of Jesse’s view to her laptop. A couple keystrokes later and she was seeing exactly what he was. Son of a bitch. Angry red lines ran along the men’s torsos. Untended wounds seeped. Bled.
“You have antibiotics available, team two?”
“Roger, Command.” Jesse’s voice lowered. “I’m not going to hurt you, sir. I’m Jesse Mason. I’m here to get you out.”
“Stay back from him!” an angry voice shouted. “It’s not his turn. Take me instead, you son of a bitch. Keep away from him.”
“Don’t mess with him,” another voice shouted. “He’s had enough. They both have. Take me.”
“Jesus,” Jesse let the visual in his headset sweep through the room. Vi studied the situation. Her gut clenched when she realized who the two resistant prisoners were protecting. Chains rattled as the other prisoners surrounded the man Jesse was trying to give aid to.
“Give one of them the headset,” she ordered.
The drones were slow establishing identities. Facial recognition scans proved problematic when the person was mired in filth and prolonged, repetitive injury. The first man’s identification came through. She closed her eyes as Jesse tried to give the com to him.
