by KaLyn Cooper
Fifteen minutes ago, Marcus had awakened wondering if he was in a room above a restaurant. His mouth was actually watering at the delicious smells. He slowly rolled his head, so as not to disturb Tori, yet look at the clock on the nightstand. It was nearly one in the afternoon.
He wondered if lunch indicated that the Black Swan Team Two had arrived, or if the staff was still preparing for their eminent arrival. Either way, it didn’t matter. He and Tori needed showers and to get dressed.
He kissed his way up her exposed neck then took her lips sweetly, softly. The moment she responded by reaching for him, he moved back. If she touched him, he’d be searching that damn drawer for the right size condom, again.
“Time to wake up my little jaguar.” At his whispered words, she nuzzled into him.
“Do we have time for one more?” With her eyes still closed, she scraped her trimmed fingernails down his chest. He caught her wrist before she was able to grab his growing cock.
“Sorry, jag. I think they’re about to serve lunch, then we have a full afternoon that will most likely go long into the night.” He hoped they would be right back in this bed sooner rather than later, but with the warheads expected to be offloaded in Honduras that night, Marcus doubted that he and Tori would even make it back to the compound before the end of the mission.
She grunted then her eyes flew open. “I am so fucking hungry I think I could eat every piece of food Rosita puts on that buffet.” She stood so fast he had to take a step back. Her eyes automatically fell to his growing erection.
When her soft fingers fondled him, all the blood rushed from his head straight to his cock.
She smiled and her soft pink tongue darted out to lick her lips. “Let’s shower together.”
Once again, he hated to, but he grabbed her wrist. “We’ll save that for another time. Right now, I think I’d better slip next door and use my own shower.” He glanced toward her bathroom. “Although I would like nothing more than to suds my hands and run them all over your body, my boss will be really pissed if I’m not there for the next video conference call. I also don’t think you want to piss off Jack Ashworth by arriving late. I know I don’t want to tangle with that ass again.”
He then leaned down and touched his lips to hers in the briefest of kisses. If he lingered, he didn’t know if he had the strength to leave her.
“If you must, then go.” As she turned and padded to her bathroom, he allowed himself to stare at the most perfect derrière ever seen. She was so beautiful, yet she had wanted him…three times.
Twenty minutes later, the voices of men and women rose and echoed around the large open space. Marcus felt at home. He knew so many people there, and trusted them not just as friends, but as professionals. Although he’d only briefly seen the Ladies of Black Swan—as Tori referred to their team—in action once before, he trusted them to have his back.
Picking up a plate, he headed down the buffet line behind Alex. “Marcus, I thought I’d seen you earlier. So, the ATF assigned you to this mission?”
Katlin, who was in front of Alex, turned and explained, “Not exactly. Jack, being the ass that he is, assigned Marcus.” She gave him a knowing smile. “I pulled the video from your meeting. I’ve learned that even the smallest bit of information shared during a normal briefing can be more important than the condensed version we often get in our files.” She flattened her lips. “Jack doesn’t like to be upstaged. He sent you on this mission to punish you.”
“He’s such a fucking asshole,” Alex interjected.
Marcus smiled. “I’m glad he did. I much prefer the field over riding a desk.”
“I think Jack-the-ass believes that men don’t want to be on a mission with us.” Nita, who was in line in front of Katlin, added to the conversation. “We’re your punishment.”
Jack-the-ass. It took everything Marcus had not to laugh out loud. The name was certainly earned. If being in this magnificent house, on a gorgeous beach in Costa Rica, eating fabulous food, having the best sex of his life, was his punishment, then he would do everything in his power to constantly piss off the Director of Operations for Homeland Security.
Grace and Griffin stepped into the line behind him. His name and a chin lift was his greeting from Grace’s fiancé. “Were you able to get some sleep?” Grace asked.
“Yes.” It was the truth. He’d been able to get some sleep. “The beds here are quite comfortable.” Another true fact.
As he finished going through the line, Tori floated down the stairs with the grace of royalty, learned from walking runways. Marcus had to fight the urge to stop and stare, so he kept moving down the buffet line. He scanned the table for two seats side-by-side just as Katlin and Alex sat down, taking the last two. He noticed that the table seemed to have grown, with more chairs added.
Grabbing a tart-like dish with colorful fresh fruit topped by what looked like real cream, obviously set out as a dessert, he found a seat beside a man with red hair who was talking to a woman across an empty chair. Marcus had never met either of these two, so he briefly wondered if perhaps the man worked for Guardian Security and the other woman was part of Black Swan Team Two. She was the only new woman in the group, though.
As soon as he worked his way to the far side of the table, they had returned to their meals. Once settled into the chair, he held out his hand when the woman looked his way. “Marcus Hernandez.”
“Ryleigh Davenport,” she said with a smile that reached her crystalline amber eyes. “You work for Guardian Security, too?”
“No, ATF.” Marcus took the linen napkin and laid it in his lap. “I’m temporarily assigned to the joint agency task force headed up by Homeland Security. And how about you?” He certainly didn’t want to be presumptive.
“I work for Guardian Security in the New York City center.” With a huge smile she turned toward the man next to her. “And this is my fiancé, Blake Albright. We work at the same place.”
That’s when he noticed the sparkling diamond ring on her left hand. He was slipping. Unattached was one of the first things every bachelor looks for. Had he subconsciously already taken himself out of the game? He certainly didn’t want any other woman except Tori. She had found a spot on the other side of the table near the end.
Blake leaned back and the two men shook behind Ryleigh’s chair. “Nice to meet you, Marcus.”
“Congratulations.” As they both leaned forward Marcus added, “When’s the wedding?”
Ryleigh blushed. “We haven’t really set a date, yet. We have an apartment together, but with our jobs, we…are both very busy.”
“I didn’t know Guardian employed any women,” Marcus admitted.
From across the table Alex spoke up so they could hear over the multiple conversations, “Ryleigh was my first female field agent. It became quickly evident that most women prefer a female bodyguard. There are several female CEOs who won’t leave the country without Ryleigh at their side.”
Blake grimaced. “She’s more requested than I am, especially for international travel.”
Katlin gave Alex a side glance. “I told you employing women was a great idea.”
“I hired her, and we’re looking at a few more for some of the other centers,” Alex said defensively. He glanced around the table, his eyes landing on the man to his left. “Marcus, have you met Jonathan O’Neil? He’s the assistant manager at our Dallas center.”
The two men shook hands with noncommittal greetings.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few of our local ATF agents.” Jonathan glanced at Alex before he added quietly, “And we were in Tikrit.”
Marcus was surprised. He had no idea that Alex’s team was involved in the demolition of the Iraqi nuclear bomb facility. He looked at the man he’d known for more than two years for confirmation.
Alex simply nodded.
“Yeah, that almost became a clusterfuck.” She leaned over and kissed Alex on the cheek. “I’m glad you were there, even though we didn’t n
eed your help until the end.”
What. The. Fuck? Had Katlin’s team been there, too? Tori had been involved in that mission? No. A SEAL team had taken out the terrorists building the nuclear bombs. He would have remembered reading in the after-action report about the involvement of American contractors. Wouldn’t he? Marcus’s International ATF Team had gone in a week later to assure the United Nations that the site was completely destroyed. He’d seen the devastation. The cleanup team was still dealing with all the dead bodies. Perhaps he’d ask Katlin about it later.
For the next thirty minutes conversation ebbed and flowed. Many of the guardian security men seemed to be quite familiar with Tori’s teammates. They joked about several places around the world that they had obviously worked side-by-side. It was almost as though he were the new kid entering high school in the middle of the year.
At a knock at the door, all talking stopped. The room was dead silent. Almost everyone had a weapon in their hand, including Marcus.
“Relax, it’s only Team Two.” Katlin jumped up and headed for the door. “I told you don’t bother knocking,” she chastised the dark-haired woman in the black flight suit.
A blonde with short hair that seemed to spike on top stepped around Katlin and the other woman and went straight to the end of the table where Daniel and Nita sat with their two children. She held out her hands to the infant in the swing. “May I?” She looked back and forth between Nita and Daniel. Nita gave the new arrival a brief hug. “Kira, it’s so good to see you.”
“Nice to see you, too, Dr. Banks.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the baby. “May I hold Bella?”
“Of course, you can,” Daniel said as he stood. He threw an arm around Nita. “And it’s now Dr. Callahan.”
Playing gently with the baby, Kira smiled at the couple. “I’m happy the two of you got together.” She blew raspberries on the baby’s belly who giggled with joy. “I can’t believe how much she’s grown.” Holding Bella in the crook of her arm, she looked at Daniel and Nita. “You guys live here now?”
“No, we live in D.C..” Nita surveyed all the baby gear. “But it sure looks like we’ve moved in.”
“Well, if we have any downtime while we’re here, I’ll be happy to babysit,” Kira offered. She looked back over at her teammates who were headed down the buffet line. Putting the baby back into the carrier, she remarked, “Food. I’m not going to turn down the chance to eat some of Rosita’s cooking.”
As the women stood in line, Katlin whistled sharply. “Listen up everyone. I want you to meet Kayla Scarlatto. She’s Black Swan Two Team Leader.” Turning to the woman at her side, she ordered, “Introduce your team.”
Half-filled plate in hand, Kayla started down the line. “Mia McCormick, Ashlin Cartwright, Piper Knight, and the blonde who has been fawning over the baby, is Kira Frost.” Her gaze swept the huge table. “How about you let my team eat, since they haven’t had a real meal in over twenty hours, then we’ll finish the introductions.”
Agreeable mumbles filled the air. Several of the men and women who had already completed their meal got up giving their seats to the newly arrived team. Many refilled their drinks and took them to the adjoining sunken living room.
As soon as everyone had finished eating, the room was quickly transformed for the teleconference. Seating was a little tight, but everyone seemed to manage a space at the table. Rosita’s daughter, Maria, had arrived and taken the children.
The same faces from early that morning appeared on the large screen. When Jack tried to open the meeting, General Lyon interrupted, “I have new, and important, information.”
A map of the world appeared on the screen and zoomed in on Central America. A blue dot pulsed on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Marcus recognized it as their location. The screen moved focusing on the Guatemala and Honduras border.
“The ship containing the warheads was seen twenty minutes ago leaving Puerto Barrios in Guatemala headed for Puerto Cortes in Honduras.”
Jack looked extremely smug. “Just as we expected. The ship should then arrive at Puerto Cortes for offloading tonight.”
The general fought a smile, or maybe it was a grimace. “You are absolutely correct, Jack.” He tilted his head. “But the warheads are no longer on board.”
“What? How could you know that?” Jack sat forward in his seat placing his forearms on the desk. Indignation radiated from him.
“I was ordered by the president to find the correct ship and verify the presence of the warheads,” General Lyon snapped back.
“When did he do that?” Jack blustered. “I just briefed him a few hours ago.”
“What’s important is that we identified the ship and tracked it.” The general had his act together in Marcus’s opinion. He was glad someone did. “I had a SEAL team verify the existence of the nuclear material on board.”
Jack acted as though he wanted to say something, but kept his mouth shut. Marcus was also curious as to how they accomplished that feat.
“When the ship turned toward Guatemala, I diverted a Delta team to Puerto Barrios. They showed up on the docks as longshoremen and it’s a damn good thing they were there.” The general glared at the screen as though he were shooting death lasers at Jack. “My men helped unload the warheads and put them into trucks. One of the armed guards said that they were headed to Santa Ana, El Salvador. He talked about a compound the Salvadoran Vipers have there for training the new Army. It was the same Salvador libre shit they were spouting when Black Swan Team One captured the first terrorist cell.”
“Please tell me that someone planted a tracking device on that shipment,” Jack interrupted.
Marcus couldn’t tell if the general had rolled his eyes or simply looked off to the side. “Of. Course. We. Did. The Deltas are following the trucks as we speak.”
Jack clasped his hands together as though to hold in his excitement. “Excellent.” He rubbed his palms together. “So, your Deltas can capture the convoy. Katlin and her team will retrieve the warheads and escort them back to the United States.” His hands flew open as if it was a brilliant plan.
The look on General Lyon’s face told Marcus that he wasn’t done briefing. “That’s an excellent plan.”
Jack beamed as though he had just been made the teacher’s pet.
“There’s only one problem.” The screeching of the general’s chair as he leaned forward made Marcus’s teeth hurt. “Only half the warheads were there.”
Mumbled oaths from everyone at the table sounded like a low growl. Deputy Director Callahan didn’t seem surprised.
“My team on the docks overheard some men talking about a similar shipment that had been unloaded last night.” General Lyon sipped his coffee. “Using the new Geiger counter provided by the Navy, and yes, Marcus, they were given detailed instructions on its correct use, there were too many positive hits to differentiate the two loads.”
“So, what exactly are you suggesting, General?” Jack crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“My Delta team will continue to follow the trucks. Once they determine where the warheads are being stored, it would be necessary to get someone on the inside and verify that all of the warheads are there.” He went on to suggest, “I think Lady Falcon and Marcus should go undercover claiming to want to join the revolution. Once inside, they can verify the location and the number of warheads. At that point, perhaps we’ll have direction from the top whether we are to destroy the warheads in place or retrieve them.”
“Sir, you’re talking about destroying nuclear weapons,” Katlin interjected. “That’s a damn big hole.”
The general smiled. “Not the first time you’ve done that.”
“Yes, sir. But last time there was a lot of human life lost,” she reminded him. Marcus had been at Ground Zero in Tikrit. Most of the bodies of the terrorists had already been removed by the time he and his team had arrived. Several outbuildings were completely flattened and the ground was contaminated for centuries to come.
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br /> “We don’t have a problem with you eliminating a Salvadorian Viper training facility,” Tom Callahan added to the conversation. “Given their activities right here in the United States, it might send the rest of the gang a message.”
Jack brightened. “We could have Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement—and pull in Department of Justice so we can get the ATF included—and coordinate a sweep of all known SV-16 cells in the U.S.” Jack looked directly at him. “Marcus, would you handle the liaison to make that happen?”
Harper leaned forward. “Mr. Ashworth, that’s my job. Marcus is our field agent.” Her smile looked forced. “But I would be more than happy to handle that part of this operation. Our intel on SV-16 has shown them stockpiling illegal weapons for the past two years. If any of those are found in these raids, it just adds to the charges.” Her smile grew real. “The ATF is more than happy to help clean up the streets.”
“Mrs. Silva, my apologies.” Jack seemed to scan the entire table as though seeing it for the first time. “I wasn’t aware that you were working this week.”
Harper sat up straighter in her seat. “I am now.”
“Very well, Mrs. Silva, please liaise with your superiors.” A devilish look crossed Jack’s face. “We need to move quickly on this matter. I’ll expect an answer no later than five o’clock D.C. time. If they agree, I would like to see any intelligence reports they have on SV-16 and a possible list of charges we can bring against the members.” At Jack’s forced smile, Marcus watched Harper visibly bite her tongue. “By five o’clock today.”
Another example of how Jack Ashworth didn’t think much of women in this business. He obviously hadn’t researched Harper Tambini Silva. That woman could kick ass and take names just as fast as any man. Perhaps even Jack Ashworth would learn that lesson later that afternoon.
As though the rest of the conversation just caught up with him, Marcus remembered the general’s recommendation for Tori and him to go undercover. Talk about trial by fire. They would be walking straight into a gang that considered a beat down as initiation.
