by S. K. Lessly
I had no words to that because he was right. Deep down, I knew he was right.
If I really wanted to, I could make it work with Lexie. But I just…fuck, I couldn’t do it just yet. I had to work shit out in my head. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late once I got my head out of my ass.
I cleared my throat and gave him a chin lift. “Thanks, I’ll uh… think about what you said.”
Billy beamed at me. “Yeah, you do that. But don’t take too long. Alexis is sexy as shit. Someone might snatch her up and claim her before you do.”
“Get the fuck out of my sight before I beat you to death,” I roared, my temper shooting right up in the stratosphere. Just thinking about someone touching what belonged to me was making me homicidal.
Billy jumped and stood. He grinned devilishly down at me. “Yeah, you can manage being a badass killer and the man who will love and cherish Lexie until the end of time. Just take that rage you’re feeling now into every mission because I know the second you see her or talk to her, that shit will fall away. Trust me, I know.”
With that word of wisdom, he walked off. I watched him settle next to Jess, kiss her on her forehead, and tuck her next to him. My eyes then settled on the woman in his arms and I could see the contentment etched in her soft features. When I brought my eyes back to him, he had a knowing smirk on his face.
The fucker…
I smiled, despite the rage I felt, and closed my eyes. Yeah, I needed to get my shit together before I lost the only true woman I would ever love. She said she’d wait, and I believed her.
However, if I caught wind of anyone trying to take what was mine, I’d rip them apart with my bare hands. No one touched what belonged to me. Fucking no one.
***
Alexis
A week had passed, and my heart still ached. I missed him despite how he left. However, I wasn’t pissed. Okay, I was that morning. Hell, I was livid the entire day. But after a while, I simmered down. He’d had to leave me that way. I knew if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have let him leave without a fight.
I said I would wait, and damn it, I would. He loved me. I knew it and felt it. And it wasn’t some puppy dog love or some fleeting emotion that could disappear with time. I had been in love with him for twelve years and I knew he felt the same way. His words told me, but not only that, I saw it in his eyes when he looked at me. I felt it in his touch and in his kiss. It was just a matter of time before he came back to me. I needed to be ready when he did.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped my body in a towel. Today was apartment shopping day. I needed to stop wallowing in self-pity and start living my life. I dressed quickly for the day in jeans, a long-sleeve shirt, and combat boots. I tossed my unruly hair in a ponytail and grabbed my purse and jacket to head out for the day. Just as I started for the door, my cell rang inside my jacket pocket. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered anyway, secretly hoping it was the brooding, green-eyed asshole.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Stone?” the caller asked.
“This is she. Who is this?”
“Hello, Ms. Stone. My name is Greg Spencer. I got your name from a mutual friend that told me you were looking for a job.”
“Uh, what mutual friend would that be, sir?” I asked, knowing damn well I hadn’t spoken to anyone about a job.
“Uh, I’d rather not say over the phone. However, he informed me about what you could bring to my organization and I’m very interested in talking to you about that.”
Still hesitant, with good reason, I asked, “Okay. Ummm… can I ask what that organization is?”
“Well, you can, but again I cannot divulge that over the phone. Let’s just say I work for the good guys and we could use the ah, “special skillset,” you possess.”
“My special skillset?”
“Yes, Ms. Stone. I promise you, you will be well compensated, and I would love it if you would meet me at my office to discuss this opportunity further.”
I knew what skillset he was referring to, but I also didn’t understand how he got my number and knew about said skill. This could very well be a trap. According to the instructions the government gave me, I was to stay clear away from any job in the software engineering field. That limited me, of course, but I would follow their instructions to the letter. At least, until things died down. Unfortunately, things hadn’t died down just yet. So, this was a trap.
“How do I know you’re not just trapping me, Mr. Spencer. If you know about my special skill, you also know I was forbidden to use said skills.”
“Yes, I am aware of the stipulations of your ah... situation. But I can assure you this job opening is on the level. Please. All we’re going to do is talk. I can then prove that this is real and not a trick. Besides, you have to actually use a computer to break your written promise, correct. What would talking hurt?”
I breathed out, intrigue overshadowing uncertainty. One the flip side, Mama did tell me to take risks. Maybe this was the risk she was speaking about.
“Okay, Mr. Spencer. I can meet with you. When do you want to meet?”
“Would today be okay?”
“Today is fine. Are you in the city? You will have to give me some time to get ready and find your location.”
“Actually, no. I’m not in your city. I’m in D.C.”
“D.C.? Well sir, that will take me a little longer than I planned to get to you.”
“Listen, Ms. Stone, we are serious about needing you. I have a man downstairs in the lobby waiting for you to come down. He has instructions to get you to the airport where you will be escorted through security and put on a plane to D.C. There, you will be escorted to my office and we can discuss my proposal. What do you say?”
I was speechless.
I had never been so aggressively sought after like this. My guard started to rise again, but I stopped the doubt from taking hold. I was certain the government wouldn’t go to these types of lengths just to trap me. Plus, I just decided I needed to start living my life. I needed to make the decision now or I would be stuck in this deadbeat of a life forever.
“Sir, with all due respect,” I began, feeling my confidence getting stronger. “I’m just not sure about this. It would really help if I knew the mutual friend we have.
“Ms. Stone, do you like movies?”
“Uh yeah, I… do. Why?”
“Well, one of my favorite actors is Hugh Jackman. I love the anti-hero he plays. Do you know the one I mean? The rough scary hero who could also be a villain? Do you catch my meaning?”
Shit, I knew exactly who and what he meant. Ethan. The only sort of anti-hero Hugh Jackman played was Wolverine from X-men and Ethan’s last name was Wolf. Very clever, Mr. Spencer. But why would he recommend me for a job knowing my situation?
“Listen, the guy’s name downstairs is Salas. He’ll come up to you and introduce himself. He will also ask you the last thing our mutual friend said to you when you two were together. If you’re interested, answer his question then I’ll see you in a few hours. If not, it was nice talking to you.”
He hung up the phone and I stared at the door, blushing from the memory of the last thing Ethan said to me. “I love you, Lex.”
My decision made, I grabbed my bag and left my hotel room. The elevator ride seemed to take forever but the second, and I mean second, I stepped off the elevator, a tall man dressed in a black shirt, black jeans and a leather jacket walked right up to me. He showed me his identification and told me that Greg sent him. He also said the very thing Ethan said, albeit while turning beet red. I couldn’t help but laugh. Silas gave me a small smile before asking if I was ready to go.
Was I ready? Yes, I was. I sent a nod his way, and he directed me out of the hotel and to a waiting black car.
Shit… I guess I was going to D.C.
This was going to be very interesting…
Chapter Twenty-Four
Alexis
Several months later…
It had been a
lmost a year since my life went to shit and a lot has changed for the better. First, I relocated to D.C., which was huge for me. It was an easy move. It wasn’t like I had anything to bring with me. I was starting over with nothing but a bag full of clothes and an open mind. The best decision I ever made was going to D.C.
After spending ten minutes with Greg, I knew I had found where I belonged. He offered me a job working for the National Security Agency, better known as the NSA, in their special cybercrimes unit under the Office of Tailored Access Operations division. He even helped me find a place to live, a great two-story brownstone in Georgetown about fifteen minutes away from the job.
Can I just say that I love my job! I was surrounded by like minds and I felt right at home. My department collaborated with other agencies to locate and apprehend hackers that were a threat to any sensitive infrastructure of the government.
Our unit’s success rate was on a steady climb. Ever since I started working for the NSA, we had captured over five very deadly and serious hackers as well as countless bad guys who thought they were smarter than the United States government, namely me. I had no problem locating them by any means and aiding in putting them away for good.
Greg was right, when he said in the interview, that I wouldn’t find a more rewarding job. He offered me something I couldn’t refuse, great benefits, better pay, and a way to make a difference.
It didn’t take long for me to become a lead tech on the team. I worked my ass off day and night putting bad guys away. I was rewarded for my hard work and dedication by getting assigned some of the toughest cases our office had seen. My team and I had a reputation as being the best. We actually had the highest closed case ratio in the unit, which I was very proud of.
For the past two months, however, I had been working on one of the toughest cases the agency had ever seen. We were looking for a man who called himself the Celik which meant “the steel” in Turkish. His real name was Anil Sadik, a Turkish-American born and raised in the U.S. His parents immigrated to the US from Turkey right before he was born.
Anil went to all of the finest schools around the world and grew up to become one of the smartest people I had ever came across. He shut down NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, for three days just because he was bored. The only reason why he got caught on the third day because he wanted to.
He was a genius and a goon for higher. For the right price, he would shut any system down in a blink of an eye. He didn’t have a heart nor did he care how his actions affected people. All he cared about was money.
Most of our cyber techs had been trying to find this guy for years. Newbies, or new hires fresh out of MIT or some other high-priced tech college would come on board and try to make history by finding this guy. The feeling among everyone joining this team was that the Celik wasn’t smarter than we were. People took this case as a challenge to solve and be the hero. Unfortunately, they learned the hard way that the Celik was smarter than we were. Until, that is, I came into the picture.
Granted, I hadn’t made much progress after joining the team. I wasted months trying to find this guy but I refused to give up. I believed this asshole would mess up and I would be the one to be there when he did. I was determined to get this guy. Did I think I was smarter than him? Yup. Would I fail like the rest? Fuck no!
Regrettably, the powers that be wouldn’t let me be great.
We recently received a directive from the CIA instructing us to drop the case. Anil Sadik wasn’t a person of interest for the US any longer, they said, which was complete bullshit. How could an agency bend over backwards to capture or kill this guy, then all of a sudden, they didn’t want him anymore?
One of the tech guys on my team, a guy named Rick Mooney, agreed with me. He told me one day, “The CIA is probably trying to turn him or something and that’s why they told us to back off.” It made sense to me. It was what the CIA did. I learned that pretty quickly.
Speaking of Rick, he and I had become pretty cool since I arrived. He was the typical dedicated geek who did nothing all day but sit in front of a computer writing code or TV playing video games.
The guy was decent looking in the face. He had a strong jaw, a thin nose and a small mouth. His hair was long, black and unruly, which he kept in a ponytail. He had gorgeous intelligent and curious brown eyes that hid behind small framed glasses. He was also tall, lithe, and strong but dressed in rumpled clothes, which made me wonder if he was allergic to the iron or something.
I loved hanging out with him and talking to him. He had an eclectic personality with trust and conspiracy issues out the wazoo. But the difference between him and any other techie was his game, and that wasn’t code for his gaming skills. No, Rick dated hot super models like all the time. The man was a magnet for tall, very attractive, women. I had seen it first hand when I went out with him for drinks. Watching him in action, pulling women was a sight to see. He was the epitome of a mac.
Anyway, what Rick said had me thinking. How could we turn our backs on one of the most dangerous terrorists in the world? That didn’t sound right at all, which had my spidey senses tingling.
I decided to up my snooping game; after all, that’s what I got paid to do. I’d had my ways of hacking and not getting caught in the past. Now, after being around these extremely smart and talented people, my skills had elevated to scary, freaky heights. I honed and perfected skills that I never knew I had. It also made me a target for the higher ups in other agencies, but I wasn’t concerned. I was never a sloppy hacker. Whatever I got myself into, I was confident I could get away clean.
Speaking of getting away clean, I’d been looking for the Celik on my own for weeks. No one had a clue and I would bet my left and right kidney no one ever would.
Today began like any other day. I started my routine, searching for anything that could lead me to the Celik, a money trail, footprints or chatter about him on the dark web. On occasion, I would troll the CIA’s database to see what I could find and back then, I hadn’t found a thing. So, I was pleasantly surprised when today, I found something.
I clicked on a folder and started scrolling through a list of documents and folders. I happened to stumble on a live video feed from an unknown security source. Looking at the feed, I noticed I was staring at someone’s property. The surrounding area was dark, the sun fading over distant mountains. The feed suddenly switched to another angle, displayed various parts of the property in a green hue, while other angles were lit up with sporadically placed street lamps.
Who on earth would have this up and running on the CIA database?
I searched for the location of the feed and found its origin to be in Turkey. My heart started picking up its pace. The hairs on the back of neck and arms suddenly rose to attention. I sat up, my hands flying over my keyboard.
I dug a little deeper, trying to find something, anything, that would tell me who’s property I was staring at. Just when I was about to dismiss what I found as coincidence, six figures, dressed in black, suddenly appeared on the screen. I stared at the screen, and my body suddenly began to tingle as understanding dawned. This was an operation. But whose op was it?
With renewed interest, I picked apart the CIA's mainframe and feed, trying to find a better angle of the figures approaching a gated structure about fifty or so meters away.
I was able to catch a vantage point that showed the entire property, facing outward toward the street. There was a huge cement and brick gate surrounding this monstrosity of a structure. Dark shadows sat along the boundary of the gate. Small track lights traced walkways and the perimeter of the building itself, and that was it. All was still and quiet.
I was about to switch to another angle but I caught movement in the shadows along the gate. I zoomed in closer and caught sight of a team of men, also in black, making their way to one of the gate entrances. They were armed to the teeth it looked like, and getting ready to defend against—
Realization flooded my body and my eyes went wide
as hell.
Oh shit, shit, shit!
Panic seized my lungs, my chest, squeezing the hell out of my heart. I wasn’t sure what to do. I had hacked into a restricted site. If I told my boss, he would have my ass. But if I didn’t do something…
I brought up one specific view of the six figures, hoping I could, I don’t know, figure out who they were. I could use facial recognition to try and identify them.
If they were Mossad—Israel’s National Intelligence agency— I knew what to do. I had a friend there I could secretly get ahold of and warn them. If they were any other foreign agency or paramilitary group, they were screwed. I had no idea what to do.
However, if they were ours…
I contemplated how to proceed as I steadied one of the feeds directly on the people dressed in black. They were hunched down behind a panel van, taking cover from the building they were about to breach. They were huddled together, probably talking out the op, no doubt thinking the coast was clear.
I willed for one of them to look up or turn or something, and when one of the guys started to turn, I smiled. Finally. However, my relief was short-lived when a handsome, yet very familiar, red-bearded face came into view. I mean, his face was covered in war paint, but I knew those green eyes anywhere.
Oh god! No, no, no!
“No, please,” I whispered, bringing my hand to my mouth. This couldn’t be. I shook off my shock and started to figure out what to do next.
