The Spy in 3B

by Nana Malone

  Chapter 15

  Marcus

  I had Lyra on the brain. I was in the office for a briefing that had temporarily pushed Stannis Prochenko to the back burner, and I could swear I still smelled her coconut and lime scent.

  It was wishful thinking.

  For the first time in a long time, I hadn’t wanted to get out of bed. I’d almost been late to the briefing, thanks to my need to be near her. That gravitational pull that I couldn’t fight anymore.

  Leaving her to come deal with a South African drug runner, Logan Brodick, who had kidnapped the daughter of an oil tycoon, Max Teller, had put me in a shite mood. The American government couldn’t be involved in this situation for political reasons, so Exodus had been tasked to collect her.

  Brodick planned to auction her off to the highest bidder. The girl was only twelve. What the fuck was wrong with people?

  On the monitor, Curtis signaled that it was my turn to speak, so I stood at the head of the table, looking at the other agents around me. They were all good men. I’d worked with most of them on missions before. The only one I didn’t really know was Matt Williams. He was from the Canadian Secret Service. Pretty quiet, but he did his job and did it well.

  “All right, so we have the location of the girl. This is the compound.”

  I clicked the remote and accessed the map. “The girl is the priority. We would like to capture Brodick, but that’s not priority number one. The girl’s safe recovery is, so we don’t go in hot. I repeat,” I said as I glanced at Rhodes, “we do not go in hot.”

  Rhodes threw up his hands. “Fuck, you know how to cripple someone’s hard-on, don’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Team one, you’ll go in here.” I pointed on the monitor to the east entrance. “Supported to the south by team two. Team three, you’ll be on the west side. You will have the difficult task of clearing us an exit. We cannot leave the scene in the same way we came in.”

  One of the other agents, Bill Garret, raised his hand. “Right, who’s getting the girl out?”

  I nodded. “One of you will need to get her to me over here,” I marked the spot on the map, “and we will all exit that way. The rest of you,” I circled another egress route, “will go out this way. Hopefully, they won’t be chasing you. But if we’re discovered and they give chase, that’s where they’ll go to follow you, and we will get the girl out through the other egress point. There is an airstrip over here, about five clicks out.” I pointed to the northern end of the compound.

  There were nods all around. Matt Williams raised his hand. “You’re not going in?”

  “No, I’ll stay out this time around.”

  Curtis nodded on screen. “We all have our roles.”

  Matt scowled at me, and I frowned. What the fuck was that about? I barely knew the bloke.

  “Any other questions?”

  There was silence around the table, so I continued. “Updates are on your tablets. We know the auction will happen in forty-eight hours, and they’re planning for it to be live and in person. There will be some heavy hitters present as well. Again, their capture is not our immediate concern. We are planning to go in tomorrow, the day before the auction, when we know for sure they will have the girl on the premises. If other targets can be captured that’s fine, but if it turns into a firefight, we have clearance to eliminate them. But I’ll remind you again that the safe extraction of the girl is our prime directive.”

  Everyone nodded their assent, and then I ended the meeting.

  When Rhodes stood, he grinned at me. “Look at you, leading mission briefs and everything.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been doing this for months.”

  “Yeah, you have. But you’re starting to settle into your skin a little. The look is good on you, mate.”

  I lifted a brow. “Ah, you slipped into a mate there.”

  Rhodes frowned. “Fuck. Don’t tell Curtis. He’ll make me go in for retraining.”

  No one ever wanted to go back for retraining. Two retraining sessions and you were removed from assignment. Rumor was that when agents were decommissioned that way, no one ever saw them again.

  It worked in everyone’s favor if you lived and breathed your training and had zero slips.

  Rhodes had nothing to worry about with me. I knew he was solid. “You’re fine, mate. Question for you. What’s Matt’s problem? He seemed displeased when he asked me that question.”

  “He’s miffed about the mission at the Bacchanal. And he went to Curtis about it.”

  I frowned. “Why?”

  “He said you were distracted. Off mission script. If it makes you feel better, I don’t think it’s personal. He had a partner die six months ago. Jack something or other.”

  I frowned. “Jack Abbott was his partner?”

  Rhodes nodded. “Yeah. The mission lead had other shit going on, and he lost his focus. Jack got killed. So Matt’s probably just putting you through your paces.”

  “Bloody fantastic. All right, I’ll deal with him later.”

  He nodded. “Were you distracted at the Bacchanal though?”

  Yes. I’d been worried about Lyra. “No, I wasn’t distracted.”

  “You sure? Your new girlfriend wasn’t a distraction?”

  I stopped and stared. “For months, you, Michael, Curtis, Command, everyone has been riding me to get with the program. Get settled with someone and evened out. And what, now you’re giving me the third degree?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Look, a partner is meant to be your show piece. The pressure release valve. You can’t pick someone you actually want an emotional connection with. Fuck them all you want, but you need someone you can compartmentalize. You’re not meant to fucking fall in love and shit. You clock?”

  I frowned at that. I did clock what he was saying. I just had no interest in it. “I like her. There’s something about her, but I’m not falling for her.”

  Liar.

  “Good. Then you won’t mind a double date.”

  “With you and Pam? No thank you.”

  He chuckled low. “It’s not a request, bro.” He was back to his Americanisms.

  My gut clenched. “Fuck. Seriously?”

  Rhodes shrugged. “Yeah man, I’m sorry. After the mission, I’m supposed to do an assessment for Curtis. See if this woman is capable of compromising you.”

  “The target got away, but she had nothing to do with it.” I realized my voice was rising, and I quickly modulated.

  “Yes, it happens. Don’t worry about it. Like you said, she’s easy and accessible. Not a big deal. Curtis is just dotting his I’s and crossing his T’s.”

  But I didn’t like it. They were assessing my relationship with Lyra.

  So, it’s a relationship?

  Fuck. This wasn’t a big deal. I liked her. She was fun. I could do this, have a personal life and work too. It was the first time I’d even considered that. Ever. So I’d make it work. And I’d warn her ahead of time. But how? What to say? I needed to check myself. As much as I wanted her, there could be no falling in love here.

  You keep telling yourself that you can control that.

  I did control that, because not falling in love with her was the thing that was going to save her life.

  Or you could stop seeing her completely.

  Absolutely not. I’d been pushed into this. I hadn’t wanted it. But now that I had her, no one was taking her away from me. I’d figure out a solution because I wasn’t giving her up. And Command was just going to have to get with the program.

  Chapter 16

  Lyra

  “Lyra, don’t make me tell you twice. Retrieval of the girl is your first directive. And I repeat, we’re not to terminate the target. We want him alive. Do you understand me?”

  I sighed as I triple-checked my weapons. “I hear you. Don’t kill him. Yup. Take him to the black site. I understand.”

  “You’re to deliver him to me yourself, Lyra.”

  I sighed. “Yes, m
a’am. Jesus, I heard you. I’m not going to go off book. It’s not like I’m in wet work.”

  James, our wet work specialist on the assignment, muttered under his breath, “You wish.”

  I could hear the exasperation in Roz’s voice over the comms. “God, you’re always so obstinate.”

  “You know, you coached me. So I feel like you had a hand in this.”

  With a sigh, she added, “Could you try to be, you know, less obstinate?”

  “And what would be the fun in that?”

  When I was ready, I rolled out of the van, gave Addie the peace-out sign, and then closed the door behind me.

  We found the compound where the auction was to take place, and while it looked like a beautiful secluded mansion, I knew it had more security than a military stronghold.

  My avenue to enter was the maintenance entrance at the side. Security was focused on what was coming out, not what was going in. According to our schematics, this entrance would wind through the gardens and lead me to the servants’ quarters. From there, along the east side, was the laundry delivery area. All I had to do was follow the corridors leading into the main house.

  The place had been built in the 50s when people still wanted their servants out of the way.

  It had been remodeled, according to the blueprints that we had, but not much had been changed.

  On the comms, Addie’s voice was clear. “Comm check.”

  I adjusted my earpiece. “I hear you loud and clear, Addie. I am here at the north entrance.”

  Tyler’s voice was low. “Roger. I’m watching your six, Lyra.”

  “What? That’s a first.” The words slipped past my lips of their own volition. I knew it was immature, but he was here, on my turf, messing with my controlled world.

  Roz’s voice cut through sharply. “Take your grievances offline. Right now, we have work to do.”

  I winced. She was clearly tense about this mission. I was too, but she wasn’t acting like herself. I’d talk to her about it later.

  At the side entrance, I scowled when I spotted a padlock that hadn’t been there two days ago when I’d scouted. “Houston, we have a slight problem. I’m going to improvise though.”

  “What’s wrong?” Roz asked, her voice filled with apprehension.

  “There’s a padlock on the side door now. A good one.”

  The litany of curses spewing from Roz’s mouth was unusual. “For fuck’s sake.”

  “It’s okay. I have this.”

  On my hip, I had a retractable grappling hook. I stood back ten feet and shot it over the edge of the wall, as close to the hedges as I could manage. If I could use the hedges as cover and climb over, I’d be in.

  “Okay, Addie, hit the lights.”

  Thanks to the excessive heat in LA county, Addie had been giving the area rolling blackouts all day in order to mask my entrance that evening. All of the lights in a five-mile radius went out.

  With a running leap toward the wall, I hooked in and started to climb.

  It wasn’t excessively high. Just ten feet. But it felt like a mountain. Every step I took, I cursed at whoever had put a padlock on that door. When I got to the top, I jumped down, concealed by the mass of overgrown hedges.

  I unhooked the grappling hook, retracted it, then hooked it back at my belt before sliding around to a window. A quick check told me no one was inside nearby, so I took out my glass cutter and made a hole large enough for me to climb through without a sound.

  Addie’s voice was low and steady. “Okay, a minute and thirty seconds until guard swap.”

  Okay, I could do this. I just had to move quickly and quietly. Each guard had a twelve-hour shift, and each shift included three station rotations. We’d come during mid-shift while they switched stations. They’d be less alert. At least, that was the plan.

  With the glass cut, I pulled it down, then set it at the base of the building, my feet sinking a little on the wet grass. The sprinklers must have been run recently. Or maybe they had been going off when we cut the power.

  With a deep breath, I hoisted myself up the wall, and through the hole I’d cut in the window. “Okay. I’m in the structure. Which door do I take from here?”

  “Second on the left.”

  I glanced around and saw what I was looking for, and I moved with quiet precision.

  “I’m in.”

  Addie acknowledged. “Excellent. You have a minute left.”

  Okay, a minute. I could do this. I could absolutely, positively do this. I just had to stay calm.

  On my comm unit, Tyler’s voice said, “Okay, guards in the north wing have been dealt with. I have their comms.”

  Good, so Tyler had taken care of them.

  Roz’s voice was clear. “Team C, report.”

  Chris, the lead on team C, came back. “All clear. Target one is out.”

  Once I was in the main part of the house, I tapped my comm unit again. “Okay, I’m in the main house. Where am I going?”

  “You need to go up to the third floor. You’ll have a guard nearby on your way. He’s in the east corridor. Once you take him out, stick him in the little closet to your right, and then you’ll be clear for the third floor and the girl. They’re keeping her behind the last door on the right.”

  Easy. Done. I was light on my feet in the dark, waiting for any hint that something was amiss.

  The guard was, in fact, in the east corridor. I was quick and quiet, and before he knew what happened, I reached up behind him, injected cyclobenzaprine into his neck, and quickly spun out of the way into the shadows. He winced and cursed, cupping a hand over the injection spot, and then… Five, four, three, two…

  He went down like a sack of potatoes.

  “Jesus, Roz, that’s some fast-acting stuff.”

  “Stop wasting time and go get her.”

  I had just managed to wrangle the guard into the closet, when Addie’s voice said, “Stand down. Stand down. We have hostiles. I repeat, we have hostiles coming in from the east.”

  My heart leaped and hammered against my ribcage. “Addie? Sit rep?”

  “Teams A, C, and E, hold pattern. I repeat, hold pattern.”

  “What the fuck?” I breathed.

  Addie’s voice was tight. “I’m trying to figure it out. Hold on.”

  There was more cursing from Roz.

  Tyler’s voice came over the line, and he was panting, like he’d been running and was very out of breath. “Fuck. These guys are Exodus.”

  I heard him grunting and growling. “I took out one hostile. How many more do we have, Addie?”

  “Motherfucker, I don’t know. They’re coming in. Too many of them. Seven? Nine?”

  Roz shouted at her. “You need to be sure.”

  “We have no infrared, so no night vision. I’m doing the best that I can here.”

  I forced myself to stop, step into the shadows, take a breath, and assess the map on my tablet again. There was nothing but hostiles between me and the girl. “Roz? Advise.”

  Roz’s voice was stern. “Stay put. For the love of God, stay fucking put.”

  * * *

  Marcus

  “Comm check.”

  “Team one, we are go.”

  “Team two, we are go.”

  We went through teams three and four, and everything was a go. The mission was simple; go in and rescue the girl. Catching Logan Brodick would be a bonus, but it was secondary to safely retrieving the girl.

  Max Teller was powerful and could easily pay the ransom. But why were we doing this and not some kidnap and ransom crew? This was such bullshit.

  Get your head in the game.

  I had to. I had no other choice.

  “Team two, you’re in.”

  Team two entered from the east. “Boss, there are no guards at this entrance.”

  I frowned at that as I entered through the south, where I also found not a single guard.

  What the fuck?

  Matt Williams was on team three. “Ar
e we sure we’re not walking into a trap?”

  “Right now, I don’t know what the fuck we’re walking into. Proceed with caution. All teams, red alert.”

  Something didn’t feel right. I could feel it in my bones.

  “Command, what do we have on the girl?”

  Michael was running things remotely from the threat assessment room at headquarters. “I still see a single heat signature in that room. It’s her. Minimal movement, but movement all the same. She’s alive.”

  Rhodes came alongside me, and he pulled up his night vision goggles. “Doesn’t this strike you as eerie? Like we’re not the only operatives here?”

  I squinted at him. “The Firm?”

  He shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past them.”

  “All teams, be on high alert. Prepare for Firm operatives.” To Rhodes, I said quietly, “How much worse could this get?”

  Rhodes laughed. “If I were you, I wouldn’t ask that question.”

  There was static on the line and then something that sounded like a grunt. Michael said, “All teams, report in.”

  They all did, except for team one.

  “Team one, I repeat, report in.”

  More static.

  Rhodes rolled his eyes. “Fuck. I’ll go check.”

  “Team one, Turbo coming to your location. I repeat, Turbo to your location.”

  At least they wouldn’t be alone. I proceeded cautiously up the stairs. I knew the girl was being held on the third floor, but what was that sound?

  You’re paranoid.

  Better to be paranoid than dead.

  Rhodes’s voice came over the comms. “Yeah. Be very alert. We’re not alone, boys and girls.”

  Fuck, how did The Firm know about our mission?

  “Are they after the girl too?”

  Michael responded, “It could be.”

  I tapped into channel A. “Curtis, come in.”

  “I hear you loud and clear, Phoenix. Sit rep?”

  “Confirming, we have Firm operatives onsite.”

  Curtis’s curse was low but heated. “Son of a bitch. How many?”

  “No idea. We walked into a silent compound. Lights were off in half the surrounding neighborhoods. We thought it was rolling blackouts, but now this seems like it was set up. Rhodes just checked in. He said the guards are out.”