It was good enough. They kept going.
Once they’d turned the corner, Tank reached for the phone but Omega held it away, out of her reach.
“I got a feeling about you,” he said in a low, rumbling tone.
Biting back the urge to order the guy, whom she outranked and had four years on, to give her the motherfucking phone, she opted for the college kid persona.
“Yeah, mister? Well, I got a lot of feelings about all this shit we been put through, okay?” She glared at him. “You all weren’t part of those assholes behind Barstow, were you? Barbecuing people alive? Men, women, and children?”
That did it. He practically shoved the phone at her. “Learn some manners. And I need that back when you’re finished, so don’t go nowhere with it.”
“Thank you.” She stepped to the other side of the corridor and hurriedly punched in Bubba’s number.
He answered on the first ring. “Yo.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, her eyes fell closed as she rested her forehead against the wall, her back to Omega. “Holy fucking shitballs,” she whispered. “Thank you, dude.”
Bubba chuckled, a deep and throaty sound. “You’re welcome, Tank. How’s Canada?”
“Colder than a brass monkey’s balls. I have a couple of requests to send up the pipe.”
“Shoot.”
After she told him, he was silent for a moment. “You did what you had to do, major. No one faults you for it.”
“I fault me for it.”
“That’s because you’re a good officer and you give a damn. I’ll send the deets to your e-mail we’ve been using. As for the other request, it’ll take a few days, but I’ll do it. What excuse should I use when I have them sent?”
She breathed a deep sigh. “For Papa? None needed. I’m going to go talk to him here shortly when I can get away alone for a little while. I want it handled ASAP.”
“You want me to intercede for you so you don’t have to break cover?”
“Thanks, but I’m a big girl. I can handle it. Besides, I owe their second an apology for coming off as a bitch.”
“Roger roger.”
“I’m also going to need a sat-phone of my own for direct com with you.”
“I’ll make sure Omega gets you one.”
“Thanks. And please pass along my thanks to Arliss.”
“Roger roger.”
When she ended the call she turned and crossed the corridor again, handing the phone off to Omega. “Thanks.”
He nodded before crossing his large arms over his even more enormous chest. It was all she could do not to drool over him. He wore a long-sleeved T-shirt that looked like it’d been painted onto him.
“You know what I see when I look at you?” he said.
She bristled and mirrored his stance, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her chin. “What?”
“An enigma.” He dropped his voice. “Like you’re wearing two different masks, movin’ back and forth between ’em so fast that you’re having trouble keeping ’em apart. Like you ain’t who you say you are. And I don’t like it.”
Fuck. Of course he’d want to call her out. He was one of the Drunk Monkeys. That was kind of the point, that they were trained better, operated better, knew their shit better than the average grunt.
And she needed to shut him down immediately. She had to talk to Papa and suspected he wouldn’t be available right then from some of what she’d overheard in the common room earlier. He was in talks with the base’s brass about their plan of action.
She opted to get right in Omega’s face. Dropping her voice, she rose up on her toes and met his gaze.
“I don’t think any of us are who we say we are, are we? Sergeant Wall, isn’t it? I also think that info should be kept to ourselves since it’s mission-critical. Am I right?”
She gave him credit, he didn’t flinch, although one eyebrow slowly arched skyward. He studied her for a long, silent moment before slowly nodding. “Fair enough, ma’am.”
He headed off, leaving her standing there, her pulse pounding.
Okay, she’d have to talk to Papa sooner rather than later. She wouldn’t expect the guy to keep that nugget from their commanding officer for long.
But when she returned to the common room, she was waylaid by her group and needed to deal with them. They’d gotten online already, wasting no time there.
Talking to Papa would have to wait a little longer.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too long.
Chapter Seven
It was a few hours later, late Tuesday afternoon, before Tank seized an unsuspicious opening and could go seek out Papa.
She closed her laptop, shoved it into her bag, and stood. “Don’t talk to any of them while I’m gone.” She nodded toward the various Drunk Monkey personnel on the other side of the common room. “I’ll be back in a while.”
She didn’t want any of her people talking to any of their people while unsupervised yet. Not until she’d talked to Papa. She didn’t think her cover had been blown by Omega, but the longer she put off this talk, the greater the risk of that happening.
“Where are you going?” Sylvan nervously asked.
At least the girl was now fully cooperating—finally—and being a team player.
Tank shouldered her bag. “I’m going to go talk to the head monkey of this outfit,” she said. “Find out what the long-term arrangements are and if they’ve confirmed our immunity yet.”
It was a good excuse and one that wouldn’t get her challenged by the others.
It also meant it had bought her an unknown quantity of time. If it took her several hours or several minutes, they wouldn’t know the difference in how long it really took.
“Why can’t we talk to them?” Torphin asked.
“Because we don’t know if we have full immunity yet. The less we reveal, the less contact with them, the safer it is for us. I grew up with military types. I know how to talk to them.”
“Oh.”
Tank was pleasantly shocked when the airman standing guard at the door leading into the administrative office area not only allowed her to pass, but actually gave her directions when she told him where she wanted to go and who she needed to talk to.
“Sorry I’m so rude,” she blurted out, feeling a desperate need to apologize to the more than polite soldier and still needing to play the role she’d been tasked with. “I’m just really…upset and on edge.”
“No problem, ma’am.” He smiled. “Glad to help.”
She headed past him and down a hallway.
Damn, even in an apocalypse the Canadians are still a metric fuck-ton more polite than the rest of us.
She found the office door and instead of bursting in, she took a deep breath, squared herself away, and politely knocked.
“Come.”
Papa, Alpha, and three men in RCAF uniforms—brass, from the looks of it—were going over a display table of data.
Yum. Yes, Papa and Alpha definitely revved her motor. At least her apparent hesitation would help lend credence to her story.
The Canadian officer who appeared to be in charge hit a button and the display darkened. “Yes? Can we help you?”
She pointed at Papa. “I know it’s bad timing, but…can we please speak in private? It’s…urgent. Just you. Won’t take but a minute.”
He frowned and shared a glance with Alpha, but he nodded. “Please excuse me for a moment, General Pellon.”
The general, also the man who’d killed the display, nodded. “You can use the conference room directly across the hall.”
“Thanks,” Papa said.
Her heart pounded as Papa led the way there. He waited until the door was closed behind them before he spoke. “What is it?”
Good, that meant Omega hadn’t spilled the beans. She set her messenger bag on the table.
“First of all, thank you. A serious, no-bullshit thank-you that I’m giving you as the representative of the group, from all of them.”
“You’re welcome, but no offense, that could have waited.”
“That’s not all. What I say next needs to stay between us.”
“I can’t promise you that.”
“I don’t mean a secret from your brass. I mean my people can’t find out. Not right now, at least. Not until…after.”
“After what?”
“After this is over.”
He perched on the edge of the table, his handsome brow furrowed. If she’d done too good a job of alienating Alpha and couldn’t mend those fences with him, she’d fucking cry.
“Okay?”
“First of all, I’m not twenty-two years old. I’m thirty-four.”
One eyebrow deliciously arched. “Again, no offense, but while that might mean a lot to you, I don’t exactly understand the need for secrecy about that fact, or why you had to interrupt my meeting over it.”
Yeah, buddy, but you will.
She slowly reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet. Withdrawing the ID card she kept tucked in a secret flap, she handed it to him.
“Tanaka isn’t my real name. My name’s Major Fiji Noel Tanakasawa, US Military Intelligence, retired. Medical retirement, if you peruse my official jacket. Got gutshot during a mission in Shanghai and I had the option of going back or going home. I opted for home, but it doesn’t mean I’m really retired.”
Now both eyebrows went up.
Damn, he was a fine hunk of man. Two years was a long fucking time not to have a roll in a rack, and she was ready to start humping this hunk’s leg where he sat.
He studied her military ID card for a long, silent moment. “While that certainly changes things and puts them into a very…interesting context, why, exactly, are you telling me this now?”
Now came the interesting part. She took a deep breath and recited the code. “Because I need to know if you can tell me the way to Hive 15.”
Almost immediately, and with great relief on her part, he responded, “It’s a whiskey-sour honeypot.”
“And I’m a worker bee needing in from the cold. Foxtrot Tango Whiskey Deuce Niner Trey Alpha.”
Their gazes locked. She didn’t blink, waiting to see what his reaction would be. He stared at her for a long moment before returning the ID card.
This time when he spoke, his tone was officer to officer, not officer to clueless civvie. “Welcome back, Major Tanakasawa.”
She slid the card into her wallet and returned it to her pocket. “There’s one more thing,” she said, hoping her nerve didn’t flee and that she wasn’t being a completely dumbass idiot. It was something that had pecked at her brain ever since hearing Chief talk about the Drunk Monkeys’ unusual OTG personnel arrangement.
And after she’d gotten a look at the unit’s decidedly hunky and unattached CO and first officer.
“What’s that?”
Before he could react, she grabbed him by his jacket lapels, pulled him in, and kissed him, hard, overjoyed when he relaxed into it and wrapped his arms around her.
“If I don’t get laid soon,” she whispered, “someone’s gonna get hurt in a really bad way. And no way in hell am I letting any of those damn teeny-boppers I’ve got to corral have a crack at you and Alpha before I get a chance to make my case that I should be the one warming your rack.”
* * * *
Sam Warner had, no shocker there, experienced his fair share of surprises during his time in the military. Especially during his tenure as the Drunk Monkeys’ CO.
This, however, was the first surprise he could genuinely say pleased the fuck out of him.
He took over the kiss this time, savoring it now that the initial shock of her grabbing him had passed. His cock ached, throbbing. He wanted inside this woman, desperately, right fucking now.
And he knew he couldn’t. Not just yet.
For starters, it might be weird, him showing back up at the meeting smelling like fresh sex.
Second, he couldn’t do that to Alpha.
Or could he…
An idea immediately blossomed into life and he had to clamp down on his giggles. “I think I can arrange for the three of us to have a private sit-down later tonight, after I’m done talking with the brass. But I’m a little confused. I thought you hated Alpha, from the way you’ve been acting around him.”
“I don’t hate Alpha. I hated that I saw him making googly eyes at Sylvan, and her at him. She just turned twenty. Two months ago. She’s a farking kid who can’t even legally drink yet. If you two have no interest in me at all, fair enough, but I at least want a shot. I think I’ve earned the right of first refusal.”
He grabbed her tight ass and pulled her hips against him, his cock screaming at the feel of friction between them. “I’d say there’s definitely interest. I just didn’t realize you were interested.”
“Try me and see. I’ve been in deep cover with this bunch of kids for over two years now. A girl can only take so much before she’s ready for some fun with adults.”
He grinned. “Do you enjoy practical jokes, Major?”
“Tank,” she said. “Or Noel. And sometimes. Why?”
His grin widened. “Because I’m going to need you to play along with me later.”
“How so?”
He kissed her again, one hand cupping the back of her neck. He couldn’t stop kissing her. Didn’t want to stop kissing her.
But he knew if he didn’t stop kissing her, he’d be fucking her on the conference room table in about thirty seconds.
Or less.
“I owe Alpha a huge-ass payback for a practical joke he played on me a few years ago. I’m going to need you to play along with me.”
She cocked her head. “Oookaaay?”
“How are you with combat?”
“I don’t think we should shoot up the base.”
“Can you take a fake punch?”
“Oooh, the rough stuff. Will there be a spanking involved?”
He laughed. “Seriously.”
“I guess. Wait, what did he do? And what exactly do you want me to do?”
“He had me running naked through the middle of Glasgow one cold-ass night.”
Her turn to laugh. “Really?”
“Yeah. Not funny, either. I want to put a fucking scare into him. Just play along with me. It’ll be obvious where I’m going with it.”
“Then I think I can help you do that.” Her smile faded. “While we’re on the subject, have a quiet chat with Omega. Sooner rather than later.”
“Why?” She told Papa about her encounter with him. “So you don’t know if Omega’s really made you or not?” he asked.
“No. But he needs to know not to blow my cover.”
“Does it really matter? Now that you all are safe?”
“Yeah, because if the kids turn on me and I lose control over them, the mission is a total bust.”
“What exactly is your mission?” He didn’t let go of her and noticed she seemed to be in no hurry to be released.
She gave him a brief overview.
Now a lot of things made sense, especially why Ax had been a focus of their efforts. “Is Ax also military?”
“No. Total civvie. He doesn’t know I’m in, so it has to be kept need-to-know.”
He stared down into her brown eyes. They were rich, shining, little flecks of green and gold in their depths. “Now that I have a slightly different context, this whole thing with you and that group, bringing you all in, makes a lot more sense.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“So how did you guys end up pairing off, anyway?” she asked.
“That’s a long story that we don’t have time for right now.”
“I want to hear it.”
“Tonight?”
She grinned. Reaching between his legs, her hand cupped his bulge through his trousers, making him suppress a hungry moan. “I’d be willing to bet after our little surprise for Alpha tonight that the last thing on any of our minds will be talking.
For a while, at least. This girl is hoping she’ll have her mouth full.”
“You might be right about that.” One more kiss, long and torturous because he knew he’d have to release her or fuck her. There were no in-between options at that point. “I’ll send for you tonight, after evening chow, on the pretense of needing a detailed debriefing. That’ll buy us some time.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She untangled herself from him and then reached in and straightened his shirt. “Might want to adjust yourself, major.”
He looked down.
Looked like he had a damn tent in his pants.
“Fuck.” He slid a hand inside his trousers to adjust his cock to try to make it look less obvious. “You ain’t the only one who hasn’t been laid in a while. Hope you have a five-year.”
“Oh, I’m covered, believe me.”
He let her leave the room first, waiting until she was down the hall to open the door to the meeting room where everyone awaited his return. Alpha arched an eyebrow at him, but Papa shook his head.
“Sorry for the interruption. Where were we?”
“Everything all right?” Gen. Pellon asked.
Papa hoped he wasn’t grinning. “Yeah, she just had some concerns about their group’s immunity status and what happens next. I told her I’d have a more detailed conversation with her about it later tonight.”
“Joe told me he plans on protecting them as if they were made of gold. I’ve been asked, short of turning over the whole base to them and jeopardizing the vaccine production, to get them whatever they need.”
“That’s above my pay grade, sir. I’ve been told to protect them and follow orders, and that’s what we’ll do.”
“Hopefully we can teach Tank some manners while we’re at it,” Alpha grumbled.
It took every ounce of self-control Papa had not to cackle with glee.
Oh, buddy. If only you knew.
Payback would finally be his.
And it would be one that Alpha would never be able to one-up him on.
Ever.
Chapter Eight
Tank headed back to her group and hoped she didn’t blow her cover by grinning like a goofy damn kid.
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