by Sable Hunter
She searched for just the right way to convey their struggle. “Of course my father wanted the best life for me as possible. His desire to protect me and give me endless opportunities was why he made the decision to defect in the first place. He just underestimated how hard the Russians would lash back and how little help the place of his asylum would offer us.”
“What do you mean?” Deacon leaned forward, seeming to listen with his whole body.
“The American operative who first approached him about defecting made a lot of promises he didn’t keep. My father made it out of the country as planned, but I was captured and used to force his hand.”
“Your mother’s betrayal must have been devastating to you.”
“Yes,” she said flatly. “Her loyalties were split…and I lost.” She met his gaze straightforwardly. “When we first came to America, my father spent much time cooperating with the CIA and other agencies. He gave them proof of Russian strategies and organized crime that directly threatened US interests. In return, they promised him protection and security, both physical and financial.”
“This didn’t happen?”
She shook her head. “Not to the degree he expected. So, when it became apparent we were more or less on our own, he sought to insure I’d be self-sufficient. In his estimation, being able to protect myself was more valuable than social or domestic skills.”
“I don’t think you’re lacking in any area I can see.” The compliment escaped his lips before Deacon was aware he’d voiced it.
Taz felt warmed by his praise. “Thank you.”
“What have you done since your father was murdered? Weren’t you living in Virginia at the time?”
The realization that he knew more about her than he’d previously let on disturbed Taz. “Yes, we lived in a rented house a few miles from Quantico where my father taught classes to FBI recruits. After he was poisoned, it took him twenty-two days to die and he used that time to tell me what I needed to know. He was convinced they’d come after me, so I liquidated what assets we had, purchased the RV and disappeared. I’ve been living off the grid, I think is correct to say. I was living in a trailer park outside of Tampa when I met Athena. My custom has been to move around, do odd jobs to supplement what my father left me.”
“What kind of odd jobs?”
She shrugged. “I’ve worked everywhere from fast food to dog groomers to hotel maid jobs.”
“Did your father think your life was in danger?” He made sure there was no emotion in the question despite the fear spearing him in the gut.
“He couldn’t know for sure, but he knew their ways intimately and prepared me for the possibility. There are those in power who would strike out at me, not only to keep me from revealing their secrets, but for revenge at my father’s betrayal.”
“Nice company he used to keep.” Deacon snorted sardonically.
“If they would torture a thirteen-year-old, they wouldn’t hesitate to come after me now.”
Deacon rubbed his worrisome knee. “Let’s sum this up. You undoubtedly have the skill. I don’t personally approve of women in these types of jobs–but let’s say I could get past that.”
“Okay.”
“When you become part of a team, you take on part of the responsibility for their safety. You have enemies–major enemies. Would you be willing to expose others to the same danger? If they come after you, wouldn’t you be risking the lives of those around you?” Even as he asked the question, Deacon was combating the urge to hide her away in his own fortress, protect her against anyone or anything who might hurt her.
Everything within Taz went flat. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I haven’t thought of it that way.”
As soon as he saw resignation flash across her beautiful features, he regretted the summation he’d expressed. Who was he to talk? When Carter hired the kid to throw the grenade at them, the traitor hadn’t worked alone. After he’d been caught and persecuted for selling stolen arms, it was well known he’d had help. There were others with reason to come after both Holden and himself. Carter and Lucky weren’t the only enemies he’d made through the years. Who was he to deprive this woman of the protection she’d have by joining forces with the Omega Team? Especially since the Omega Team had pursued her, not the other way around? She was more than qualified. The only thing truly standing between him and a recommendation was the fact he was thinking with his heart and not his brain. “Let me make some notes.” He needed to give this thought.
“No.” She stood. “It’s time for me to leave. I understand and agree with your position.” She felt hollow. There would be no Omega Team and there would be no more time with Deacon. What hurt her more than losing the job was seeing how little last night meant to him. The most emotion she’d ever felt and the one she’d lavished her affection on considered it worthless. What had been love making to her had been mere sex to him. “I thank you for your hospitality.” She bowed her head and started for the door.
Sheer unadulterated panic struck Deacon like a sledgehammer to the head. “Absolutely not.” He stepped straight into her path. “We both owe Grey and Athena a thoughtful answer. I said I need to make some notes and look at the facts in an organized manner. You will wait while I do just that.”
“You aren’t going to change your mind. I see no need to delay the inevitable.” All she could think about was getting away from him. Being this close and not wanted by him hurt.
Deacon’s reaction to her decision was a mystery he didn’t have time to contemplate. All he knew was that he couldn’t let it happen. Not until he came up with some idea–some answer–that would keep her safe and him sane. “I’m telling you to stay. This isn’t over.”
Taz felt like a puppet on a string, jerked in every direction and never under her own control. “Since I arrived, I’ve been the one who wanted to stay, you’ve wanted me to leave. Now, I’m ready to go and you’re asking me to stay.”
Deacon nodded, having to clutch his hands into fists to keep from reaching for her. “I’m just asking for time to do this right.”
“But you’re not going to change your mind, again we are at a stand-off.” He didn’t say more and she knew nothing else to add. “I’ll be in my…the second guestroom if you need me.”
Watching her go, Deacon knew he needed her more than anything. What was he going to do about it? Hell, if he knew.
* * *
Taz couldn’t stand it another minute. Being in the same house with Deacon, yet so far apart, was killing her. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t even take a full breath. Leaving the room where she’d been sequestered, she fled downstairs. She wouldn’t leave, but she couldn’t stay either. The only compromise was her RV. No matter how many steps she took away from him, she still felt the pull. Too bad he didn’t feel the same way.
When she reached the garage, she opened the rickety old door and entered. A sense of peace settled over her. She was with her with her father’s thing, his writings, the few items they’d been able to bring from home. Silently she walked through, touching photos and picking up her father’s pipe from a crowded bookshelf. Her life had been hard, but she knew if given a chance, she could have a worthwhile purpose.
The silence inside the concrete structure was deafening. She felt so alone. Last night in Deacon’s arms, she’d had the audacity to dream of more. Setting down the pipe, her eyes were drawn to a faded photograph. The only one she’d kept of her mother. It was a family portrait, she and her parents–before everything had gone crazy. Taz had thought they were happy, she hadn’t been aware of the underpinnings of deceit and treachery threatening all she held dear. Was it wrong for her to want some semblance of normalcy? She replaced the photograph where she’d found it, but this time she turned it upside down.
Still in his office, Deacon drained his coffee cup, then chunked it as hard across the room as he could. “Fuck!” He was between a rock and a hard place. How had his world changed so drastically in just a couple of days? Exhaling loud and l
ong, he went to clean up his own mess. He could answer his own question. The reason he felt like his heart was being squeezed in a vice was the woman he’d just hurt. The one whose dreams he could crush in his hands. The woman who had asked nothing more of him than a recommendation for a job she was imminently qualified to hold. A woman who’d come to his bed and healed him with her kiss. A woman he didn’t want to walk out of his life–even if he had to hold her against her will. Hell!
The ringing of his phone shattered the heavy silence. “Yea!” He didn’t even have the heart to identify himself.
“Deacon?”
Grey Holden’s voice cut through his brooding. “Hell, Grey, I’m not ready for this.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say?”
“Yea, you want a verdict–one way or the other on Natasha Levin and I’m not ready to give it to you.”
“Feeling torn?” Deacon thought he heard a faint chuckle.
“This isn’t funny. Levin is a class-act, more than capable…”
“But, she’s a woman.” Grey stated the obvious.
God, was she ever.
“And you don’t want to be culpable in case she gets hurt or killed on the job.” Grey continued. “I got it. However, something has come up that puts this discussion on the back burner. I’ve got a job for the two of you.”
“For the two of us? Grey, haven’t you heard a word I’ve said?”
“Just listen. There’s a stand-off on the Texas-Oklahoma border. What we want to prevent is another situation like up in Oregon. This is a dispute between citizens and the federal government over the feds intent to seize land these ranchers hold the deed to and have paid taxes on for generations.”
Deacon went to his desk and sat down, listening. “An imminent domain issue?”
“Close. The Bureau of Land Management has informed a rancher named Charles Ainsley that about half the acreage constituting his ranch is no longer his. The feds are rejecting the deed on file, saying the state made a mistake. The Ainsley homestead is built on the disputed acreage the BLM claims to be public land.”
“I bet that didn’t go over well. I don’t understand, this doesn’t sound like our normal case. What can we do?”
“Give me a second, I’ll explain.” Deacon could hear muffled voices in the background, then Holden came back to continue. “Sorry, about that. Athena said Natasha called and said she no longer wished to be considered for the job. What did you do to scare her off? Sleep with her?”
Deacon knew his friend was joking, but he wasn’t laughing. “I thought we weren’t going to have this discussion now.”
“If that’s the way you want to play it. Anyway, Ainsley and his son took a stand and barricaded themselves in their home, refusing to vacate it. What started this all is that the Red River has changed course over the years, so the line separating public land from private has slid south for about half a mile, swallowing a good portion of Ainsley’s ranch.”
“This sound complicated,” Deacon sighed, not really seeing the urgency.
“Well, it gets worse. There’s a cloudy rule whereby if the river’s course change is due to natural erosion, the feds can pursue the land grab and if its due to avulsion, or change in course due to a flood or some other catastrophe, the landowner prevails. No one has settled this argument over why the river changed course to anyone’s satisfaction. The Ainsley’s were staging a peaceful protest, a lot like that stand-off between the Texas Rangers and a guy named Ponder who assaulted a DPS officer down in Henderson County. Heard of him?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Deacon propped his good foot up on the desk. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me about it.”
“Yes, I am. Ponder just holed up in his house for fifteen years and nobody went in after him. He’d said they better bring body bags if they ever came. Truth was, most just forgot about it. They weren’t willing to put their officers in danger over a simple assault charge. He and his family patrolled their property line with rifles to keep people off their land. During that time, the charges were dropped against him but he didn’t believe it when someone tried to tell him. I guess you could say he put himself in prison and stayed there for fifteen years.”
Deacon let his head loll back against the chair. He’d forgotten how long-winded Grey could be when he got started. “So what’s the problem? If this is peaceful and he isn’t hurting anyone, who’s calling in the Omega Team?”
“Well, the game seriously changed not long after it started. Ainsley isn’t necessarily the problem anymore. The publicity over this deal–Rancher VS the Federal Government–has drawn the wrong kind of attention. Three radicals who just love a fight have come and joined Ainsley. One is named Ron Helmer, he’s a former mercenary from New Mexico. He’s anti-Islam, anti-Obama, just generally anti and angry. Another is a man called Paxton Rice, a plumber from Wyoming. He claims to be a Navy Seal, but we’ve found out that claim is false. The last guy is a former wildcatter, Curtis Burgess, he voluntarily patrolled the US/Mexico border. Anyway, these three are there at their own instigation and we understand Ainsley has even asked them to leave and they won’t. They seem to have something to prove.”
“Sounds like it could turn into another Ruby Ridge.”
“Oh, it gets much worse. The Bureau of Land Management Agent, Tex Zachary traveled down from Amarillo to Wichita Falls to negotiate with Ainsley personally. They met on neutral ground at a neighbor’s house. Zachary is just a guy trying to do his job. He decided to take his family with him and give their seven-year-old a treat by taking him to the Six Flags amusement park close to Dallas afterwards. The problem is that while he was talking to Ainsley, Rice and Burgess crept out and snatched Zachary’s kid right out of the car with his mother screaming and crying, running after them. They’re holding this little fella hostage on the Ainsley ranch and demanding the BLM back-off or they’ll kill him. But listen to this, they’re also demanding the release of a friend of theirs who’s in jail for killing four women and a doctor outside of an abortion clinic.”
“Shit.” Deacon sat up straight at this news. A kid was involved. “What can I do?”
“The situation is getting heated. The Texas Governor, Kyle Chancellor, called me. He’s a friend of mine and he knows what we do. He has his own team, the Equalizers, but right now they’re in Mexico tracking a human trafficking ring. But know this–Texas, being Texas, is never going to support the Federal Government snatching land, but that’s not what this is really about anymore. It’s turned into a stand-off between armed homegrown terrorists and a few Texas Rangers. Kyle doesn’t want to call in Federal troops, this could turn into another Waco siege, but he does have the full support of the President and if all else fails–that’s what will be done. Are you too young to remember when the Branch Davidians and David Koresh clashed with the ATF outside of Waco? Seventy people ended up dying. It was a fiasco.”
“It was 1993, I was about nine years old. But yes, I remember, it was all over the television. Now get specific, this sounds dangerous and I don’t see any reason to involve Natasha. You just tell me what you need and I’ll do it.”
“It’s not that simple. A hostage negotiator from Dallas is there and he’s attempting to work out some kind of deal. What I need is for you two to get up to Burkburnett, not far from Wichita Falls. Once I’ve ironed out the plan with the Governor, I’ll contact you. Be prepared for anything.”
Deacon was far from satisfied. “I’ll go, there’s no use for Taz to be involved.”
“I’m not giving you a choice. I don’t send an agent in without back-up and there’s no one else to send right now. We’re up to our eyeballs in alligators here. We’ve found a house full of explosives, a tip that ISIS is involved, and a couple of missing bombs.”
“I don’t like this, Grey.”
“Let me ask you something, Deacon. With your guidance, is she capable of handling this?”
Fuck! “No. Yes.” Suddenly, he was feeling sick at his stomach. “If she
gets hurt, Holden…”
“Well, make sure she doesn’t. I’ll be in touch. And don’t think you can override me on this, Athena has already let our girl know. She’ll be gunning for you for sure.”
* * *
A few minutes earlier…
“Yes, I appreciate your confidence in me, Athena. I wished things had worked out. Clearly, I’m not Omega Team material. Deacon is right. Like the game show I watch sometimes, I come with far too much baggage.”
“Nonsense. We all have baggage. Deacon has a full matching set himself.”
Taz smiled sadly. “Hopefully he’ll be able to let go of some of his now.” She rose from the bed to open the closet door where she’d hung a few items.
“I wanted to call and let you know I’m moving on. I think I’ll head up north, maybe west. I’m thinking of changing my name, something more American.”
“Just hold on a minute.” Taz waited hearing the sound of subdued voices. She didn’t try to eavesdrop. Instead, she anchored the phone between her face and shoulder so she’d have her hands free to fold her clothing. “I’m back,” Athena said. “Look, I need to tell you something.”
“Okay. Sure.” She placed the clothes in a pile, then walked across the hall to get her toothbrush.
“You’re need to postpone your hasty exit. Something’s come up and we need your help.”
Taz immediately became alert. “What is it?”
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the news lately, but there’s a situation unfolding in North Texas. I won’t go into the details, but it’s a hostage situation. A child. The authorities are fearful things will escalate. I’m sure you realize things are tense in our country. Race relations. The country is split on politics and ideology. There’ve been more mass shootings than days of the year lately. This stand-off is between ranchers and a bureau of the government who wants to seize their land based on some obscure law. But that’s not important, what is important is that the men who’ve aligned themselves with the rancher have kidnapped the son of the government representative and they’re threatening to kill him if their demands aren’t met.”
