by Matt Lincoln
“Yeah, I know,” Header replied with a sigh. “How the hell did they know we were here, though? I mean, I knew it would happen eventually, but not the first night. Did you turn on your phone?”
“No,” I assured him, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I called Tessa from the burner. Our call was short. That’s the only communication I’ve had.”
“What about Holm?” he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow toward me. I avoided his gaze.
“I haven’t spoken to Holm since I met you and Farr at the restaurant in Florida,” I informed him with regret in my voice. “I probably should have. I’m sure he has called me at least a dozen times already. I’m not the type to call out of work the day before and then disappear off the face of the earth. Holm is probably worried sick.”
“He’ll be alright,” Header shrugged dismissively.
“You don’t know Holm like I do,” I reminded him bluntly. “He has a lot on his plate right now, what with his parents and his sister… he doesn’t need a missing partner on top of all of this.”
“His sister Ronnie?” Header asked, meeting my gaze again.
“Yeah,” I muttered offhandedly. I paused for a moment before the puzzle pieces connected. “Wait… didn’t you and her have a thing back in the day?”
“We did,” he confirmed, a small grin crossing his face. “We still keep in touch.”
Something about his tone at the end of that statement gave me the impression that he knew quite a bit more about Ronnie’s current situation than he would be willing to admit. Her job with the CIA was serious undercover work, but it wouldn’t have surprised me at all if it turned out that Header knew more about her job than I did. That was saying a lot, considering that Holm and I had gained some serious insight into her job back in Hawaii.
A set of headlights bounced off of the rearview mirror then, momentarily blinding me as a sedan pulled up beside us. When Farr stepped out, followed by Warner and Bonnie, I knew it was safe. The three of us piled out of the vehicle, meeting the other half of our team beneath the nearby streetlight.
“So, Marston, what exactly happened?” Farr sounded calmer now, although his eyes kept darting over to Tessa. If I had to guess, I’d venture to say that Tessa neglected to tell him about our upcoming date. Seeing as how I hadn’t mentioned it either, I could understand him being surprised and annoyed at seeing her here.
I recapped the evening for him again, and he stared at me thoughtfully.
“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen,” he stated confidently, looking around at the five of us. While Tessa and I were dressed for a night out, Header was dressed simply in a black t-shirt and dark jeans, and Bonnie and Warner were both in their pajamas. They’d apparently rushed out of the hotel suite in a hurry. We looked like a motley crew, and none of us had been ready for this turn of events. We all looked at Farr expectantly as he continued.
“I have the keys to a guest house,” he informed us calmly. “It’s sparsely furnished, but it has four bedrooms.” Farr eyed me carefully as he mentioned that last part, and he stole a glance over at Tessa, who I noticed was staring intently at the parking lot blacktop. “It’s the best I could do on such short notice.”
“Are you kidding?” Header announced, beaming. “I thought we were headed for the barracks.”
“Not today, Header,” Farr replied. “I’ll do everything I can to keep you all comfortable and out of the barracks.”
The barracks weren’t bad, per se. They were usually furnished pretty simply, complete with fresh sheets and a clean bathroom. They had a fridge, a microwave, and a television for basic provisions and entertainment. As far as a safe place to sleep was concerned, it definitely fit the bill. There was nothing luxurious about it, though. The sheets were usually thin and the blanket scratchy. I remembered needing my own bath towels and hand soap during my most recent experience, which had been some time ago since the base didn’t provide any. If we were being presented with the keys to a guest house, our experience would be far greater than if we had been placed in the barracks, so for that, I was incredibly grateful.
“Come on,” Farr grumbled, waving us back toward the cars. “Follow me, and I’ll lead you there.”
We all piled back into the cars and followed Farr out of the parking lot and around the corner toward the water. Along the far edge of the base, rows of houses sat looking out over the highway and the water beyond it. Near the end of the road, Farr pulled into a driveway, leaving room for Header to pull up beside him. After a bit of shuffling and unpacking, we all made our way toward the front door and into the house where a spacious living room awaited us.
“This will do,” Header joked as he looked around the room. He dropped his bags into a corner and walked around the couch to face the rest of us. “First things first, before we start staking out our sleeping arrangements, let’s put our heads together to figure out how the Mezzanotte crew knew we were here. How did we lose the element of surprise?”
“I have a sneaking suspicion that I know exactly what happened,” Farr interjected, stepping forward. Bonnie and Warner dropped their bags near the entrance while Tessa and I approached Header. I quietly gestured over to a comfortable-looking armchair, and Tessa took it, trying to stay out of the way.
“Oh, yeah?” I muttered, more out of curiosity than anything else. “What’s your suspicion?”
Farr looked pointedly over at Tessa. “Have you been keeping in touch with Marston since the last time you worked with him?”
“Sure,” she shrugged. “Why?”
“I’ve taken every precaution I could think of,” Farr replied thoughtfully. “Assuming I didn’t miss anything, which I don’t tend to do, our execution was flawless. The only unforeseen addition to my team is my niece.” His sharp gaze turned to Tessa, and her eyes widened.
“You think I had something to do with this?” she gasped. “How?”
Farr began to pace as he spoke. “The Mezzanotte family knows who Marston is. If they know who he is, then they will want to dig in and find as much information on him as possible. If they dig deep enough, they will find ties to you, Tessa, which then links to me. They will keep an eye on you as well as Marston and the rest of his MBLIS team, to ensure they get a well-rounded image of what Marston’s skills and habits are. So when he fell off the grid but called you, he put himself right back on the grid. I’m willing to bet that the two of you ironed out the details of your dinner plans over the phone, as well. You basically told them where to find you while you did that.”
“Oh, no,” Tessa moaned, looking up at me with wide, tearful eyes that damn near broke me. “I am so, so sorry!”
“That’s a well-thought-out theory,” I announced. “It seems like a bit of a stretch, though.”
“Is it?” Farr spun around and shot daggers at me. I was taken aback but stood my ground. Farr didn’t scare me, or at least I didn’t want him to think he did.
“Yes,” I responded confidently. “Do you really think they’re tracking all of the women I’ve spoken with for the past however many years?”
“You don’t know this family like I do.” Farr’s voice was almost a growl now. “They will not leave a single stone unturned in the pursuit of what they want. If they want you, if they want your partner, they will get it… by any means necessary.” Spittle shot out of his mouth as he over-enunciated each word in order to drive his point home.
I looked over at Tessa, who still looked terrified. She shrank back into her seat. “I didn’t know,” she whispered.
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I know. This isn’t on you.”
“No,” Farr spat. “It’s on you, Marston. You’re here on the most important and dangerous mission since you’ve left the SEALs. You broke ties with MBLIS to be here, to avenge your partner, no matter the risk, and the first thing you do is call my niece?”
I had no rebuttal. Farr was right. It had been damn foolish of me to rope Tessa into all of this before I really had a handle o
n what was going on.
“No.” Tessa stood up defiantly, braving the brunt of her uncle’s glare. “Ethan called me before he had even gotten here. I wanted to see him despite the danger. Don’t punish him for keeping his word. This… this family, whoever they are, if they are listening in, then they knew that all of you were coming well before you got here.”
Farr paused for a moment as he considered Tessa’s words. Tessa did have a point. If the Mezzanottes were listening in, then we lost our element of surprise well before we ever set foot on that plane.
“We need a plan, and we don’t have time on our side now.” Header’s voice lent some relief to the tension in the air, and I was happy to turn my attention over to him. “They know that we are here, so they will be expecting us to do something soon. Marston, what did you tell Tessa over the phone? Did you elaborate on who is flying up with you or what your trip entails?”
I shook my head vehemently. “No, I purposely left everything vague. I might have said that I’m coming up for work, but I didn’t tell her when I was showing up, how, or with whom.”
“Okay,” Header nodded in acknowledgment. “If that’s the case, then Farr and I are still off their radar.”
“No,” Farr replied firmly. “I am on their radar, I assure you. Even if you ignore my name and my position, Tessa is still my niece. We need to tread lightly when I’m involved.”
“Okay,” Header sighed. “So, me then. They don’t know that I am here. It’s late, and there is no way we will be able to come up with a comprehensive plan when most of us just want to be in bed. Let’s reconvene at zero seven hundred and work through the details. As long as I’m the face of this mission, we could still be able to pull this off.”
Warner yawned his agreement. Bonnie nodded, and I noticed the dark circles beneath her eyes for the first time all night. I sincerely hoped that we would be able to put a solid plan together in the morning, but for now, I was very much looking forward to getting some solid sleep.
Chapter 8: Ethan
Sleep did not come to me until the early morning hours. I had tossed and turned for most of the night, unable to let my mind settle. When Header shook my awake at seven the next morning, my bones felt heavy as I tried to peel myself out of bed. It’d been a long time since I’d had to function on so little sleep, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.
This place was a five-bedroom house, and I assumed based on the size that we were in officer housing. The housing for the officers tended to be a bit roomier, and knowing Farr, it shouldn’t have surprised me that this was where we had ended up.
I got dressed and brushed my teeth before following the strong aroma of fresh coffee down to the kitchen. When I rounded the last corner, I saw everyone already sitting around the dining room table with a steaming carafe in the center beside a couple of boxes filled with fresh doughnuts. Disposable paper cups were stacked off to the side, and after mumbling a half-hearted good morning to everyone, I swiped a cup off the stack and poured myself some coffee. I eased into an empty chair before reaching forward and snagging a sugar-coated doughnut.
As I sank my teeth into the warm, soft dough, Header set his cup down firmly and drew everyone’s attention toward him. As he began to speak, I noticed Tessa sitting at the far end of the table. For better or worse, she needed to stay with us now for her safety, although having her listen in on mission briefs would take some getting used to. Another glance around the table told me that Bonnie and Warner had both been awake and ready on time, but Farr was not around.
“So, the plan is to cut off the head of the Mezzanotte family,” Header began. “From there, we can work our way down if we need to, but theoretically, without a boss, the entire hierarchy will disintegrate.”
“Agreed,” I nodded, completely on board so far.
“What do we know about the Mezzanottes?” Header asked. “We need to compile our collective data so that we can approach this the smartest way possible.”
“We don’t know much,” Bonnie piped up first, wiping haphazardly at the white powder at the corners of her lips. “They weren’t the immediate target in our Hawaii case. We caught the people directly responsible, but there weren’t enough threads to link them all the way up to the Mezzanotte crew.”
“No,” I added, “but we did interrogate that one guy. Remember Sugar Fingers?”
“How could I forget?” she laughed. “A name like that doesn’t escape notice.”
“Good point,” I continued. I turned to face Header. “He ended up getting killed, but before that happened, he talked. A lot.” I sipped my coffee before continuing, willing the caffeine to speed through my veins quickly so that I could snap out of my tired daze.
“What did he say?” Header propped his elbows up on the edge of the table, and I could feel all eyes on me.
“He talked about the Mezzanottes. It was his family. He mentioned their bakery.”
“What bakery?” Header looked over at Bonnie and Warner, but both of them were still fixated on me.
“Mellens, of course,” I replied confidently. “They have the best mini pies. At least, they did when I was a kid. I’m not sure how much or how little the Mezzanottes changed things around.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Warner pull out his phone and begin typing.
“There are three Mellens locations that pop up on here,” he muttered distractedly. “There are two in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn.”
“Where in Brooklyn?” Header sat back with an intrigued eyebrow arched over his alert green eyes.
“Coney Island,” Warner announced. “Although, that wouldn’t be the largest location. The one in midtown Manhattan would be the biggest.”
“Does size matter?” Header asked, and I heard Tessa snicker beside me.
“Yes, it does,” Warner responded with a straight face. He paused, cleared his throat, and continued. “In this case anyway, it does. The midtown location is either their legit location with the tourist facade or where they work their business out of. If you ask me, I’d say the midtown location would be a legit front, and the second-largest location would house their illegal activities.”
“Which one is that?” I asked, watching Warner work on his phone.
“That would be… Coney Island, it looks like,” he announced.
“Great,” Header announced confidently. “Looks like we are headed to Coney Island.”
“You’re not going in by yourself,” I asserted, tearing into my doughnut. It was just as delicious as it looked, and I quickly took another bite.
“I’m not?” Header looked at me questioningly. I knew that he was a one-man show on a regular basis, and would have no problem going into the dragon’s den alone. That wasn’t my issue, though.
“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?” I asked pointedly. “If the Mezzanottes know we are coming, who do you think would stand out as suspicious to them? A couple? A group of friends? Or a lone tough guy that looks like he left the SEALs the day before?”
Bonnie chuckled next to me, and when I glanced over at her, she shrugged. “You’re not wrong. He fits the stereotype to a tee.”
Header opened his mouth to argue, but he shut it again. He knew damn well we were right.
“Fine,” he spat, challenging me with a glare. “I’ll bring Tessa with me to soften my appearance.”
Tessa’s eyes widened, and she turned to me for help. “I… what?”
“Absolutely not,” I argued. “Tessa did not volunteer to be a part of this mission. She got caught up in it, and the only reason she is still here is that we need to keep her safe. Besides, she is already on their radar. She won’t soften anything. As a matter of fact, all Tessa will do is put a bigger target on your back.”
Tessa looked back and forth between us, still looking terrified. I didn’t know how to assure her at that moment that there was no way Header was winning this argument. She wasn’t going anywhere, and I would fight tooth and nail to make sure of it.
&
nbsp; “Fine, Bonnie, then,” Header retorted. Bonnie sat up a bit straighter as she processed her new mission. “Bonnie is tough, so I know I can count on her. She’s in forensics, so she will catch details that other people may miss. The fact that she’s a woman helps to tell the story of us being a couple, thereby softening my image appropriately.”
“Well, don’t I sound like the perfect catch,” Bonnie muttered good-naturedly.
“That could work,” I mused, although I didn’t like the idea of Bonnie getting too involved, either. We were running out of options, though, and Header was right. Getting Bonnie involved was a smart choice. “I’ll stay behind with Tessa and Warner. We will be your backup in case you need any additional help.”
“Hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Bonnie replied, glancing up at me. She looked a bit nervous, and who could blame her? She was walking onto enemy territory, which was a far cry from spending the day in her lab.
“Hopefully,” I tried to assure her, but I knew from Bonnie’s facial expression that I hadn’t been very convincing. To her credit, she didn’t say anything further about it or try to wiggle her way out of this assignment. She had committed to coming up here and taking the Mezzanottes down, so she was ready and willing to do whatever it took to make that happen.
“Alright,” Header declared, looking around the table. By now, half of the doughnuts had disappeared, and the coffee carafe was empty. “Bonnie and I will get ready to go out and check this place out. The rest of you stay behind and enjoy the view.”
The view was pretty decent, considering we were on a military base. The large sliding glass door at the far end of the living room had hinted at the view when I had walked past it earlier, and as Bonnie followed Header upstairs to get ready to head out, I grabbed my coffee cup and wandered outside, ignoring the chill in the morning air as I took in my surroundings in the daylight.
We were at the far end of the base, so nothing stood between us and the chain-link fence that surrounded the entire property except for the expansive green lawn. Beyond the fence was the Belt Parkway, and beyond that was New York Harbor. The Verrazzano Bridge loomed off to the side, looking much larger than it had the night before.
