Because of You: Covert OPS 1

by Kymber Jones

  “You said we’re supposed to meet at 0700! How long have you been up?” He demanded, stealing Chrys’s cup of coffee and earning a death glare in the process.

  “Yes, I’m looking at that right now,” Chrys said, ignoring Sven. “That’ll be fine. Any help we can get I greatly appreciate. I know this is last minute and I’m sorry about that. No, that won’t be a problem. I will make sure you get those tanks in the next thirty minutes. Yes, Sir. Thanks.”

  Chrys disconnected the phone and snatched her coffee back from Sven.

  “You drank all my coffee, you Ass!” Chrys cried. “You better go get me some more!”

  “You make it better than I do,” Sven said as he sat down, looking over the papers Chrys had filled out.

  Chrys huffed and threw her napkin at Sven’s face.

  “You’re a meany! Do you know that? Drinking my coffee and refusing to get me more is a death sentence. Just be aware of that.”

  “You know you love me.”

  “Not right now, I don’t.” Chrys retorted. “I love my coffee, and you drank it!”

  Standing, Chrys made her way over to make another cup of coffee for herself, then one for Sven.

  “While you’re up, make a cup for me!” Sven told her, just to rile Chrys up.

  “Make your own cup of coffee! What the Hell do I look like, huh? Sheesh, ever hear of women’s lib? Equal rights? The glass ceiling? We broke it for a fucking reason, you know. Not so we can do what we’re told all the damn time and stay barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.”

  Sven smiled. “But we’re not in the kitchen, and you want to get me the cup of coffee.”

  “I want to kick your ass, but I know I’ll end up on mine at some point before I finally take you down, so I won’t. I don’t want to change my clothes.”

  Sven pretended to pout. “So you’re not going to get me a cup of coffee?”

  “What do you say?”

  “Please?”

  “Besides that.”

  “You’re the best.”

  “Much better.” Chrys handed Sven his cup.

  “I am so getting you for this. You already made it.”

  “Yep. But I wanted to hear you admit I’m the best.”

  “Just sit your ass down and tell me what’s going on here. What’s with the papers and the tanks you were talking about?”

  Chrys waved to everything on the table. “I just spoke with another department here on the Fort. They’ve had five tanks and four jets on order for three years, but they keep getting delayed due to funding. The tanks they have are old and falling apart, and the jets are more modern. I’m about to get on the phone with our disbursing department and have them push them through. In return, we’re getting permission to purchase a small section of the Fort. It’s not attached to the main Fort, so we’ll have all the privacy we’ll need, and we’ll be able to build what we need on it so that it suits our needs.”

  “Where is it?”

  “It’s technically in Elgin, but it’s still next to the Fort. They used to use it for practice until the vineyards started to become more established out there from what I understand.”

  “How much are they going to sell it for?”

  “We’ll get it for ten million.”

  Sven nodded. “That’s not bad, especially for the location. And all it took are the vehicles on back order to get the okay to purchase the land. Not bad Brat, not bad.”

  “Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get these papers over to disbursing and have them push the order through. I want this property sorted out ASAP, so we have a place to call home once everything here is sorted out.”

  “You know Jack and Tate won’t stop thanking you for this,” Sven smirked.

  Chrys grimaced. “Yeah, well, I’m not doing this for them. I’m doing this for Stella and Spence. Their best friend is the daughter of the Inferno Wolves, President’s Old Lady, and they aren’t going to want to be separated from her. And you know Uncle Tate and Uncle Jack are going to want to make their move easier. And since they’re family, I want to do what I can to help. Uncle Jack and Uncle Tate have missed the Hell out of Stella and Spence for years. I’m not going to let them be miserable or separated again because of a fucking place to live. Marla is family to Stella and Spence, and they’re family to Uncle Jack and Uncle Tate, who happens to be my family. And you know I keep my family together.”

  “You’re doing a great job. When Jack and Tate find out, they’re going to be thrilled. I already know they don’t want to disrupt Stella and Spence’s lives any more than they have been. But what about you? And your brothers?”

  “What about me?” Chrys asked. “I can still get to know my brothers if that’s what they want. One of my brothers is living just out of Tucson, remember? He has businesses in Tucson, Phoenix, and El Paso. He also works out of California and New York. I think there’s a good chance to get to know them if that’s what’s decided.”

  “You do know they’re going to want to get to know you, right?” Sven asked.

  “I hope so, but I don’t expect it. You know that.”

  “You never expect anything. That’s your problem.”

  “Not true,” Chrys replied. “I expect people to follow orders when they’re told to, and I expect orders to be carried through. And if they can’t be carried out, I expect to be informed as to why. Other than that, I don’t think I ask for too much from people.”

  “No, that’s not unreasonable. But you should have some personal expectations from people: your family and friends.”

  “Why? Then I’ll just have to deal with disappointment from many people, and I don’t want to deal with that. It’s easier this way.”

  “Easier maybe, but not safer, and not better.”

  “Whatever. I’m still not going to expect people to like me.”

  “Then good, because you know I don’t like you. Never have, and that’s a fact.”

  Chrys smiled. “And I have some Ocean Side Property in Arizona.”

  “I’ll expect the Golden Gate for free.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll get right on it for you.”

  “You do that. And get me some more coffee while you’re at it. This cup is gone.”

  Chrys shook her head. “How about I get the coffee after I send off these papers, and you get the breakfast. They’ve finished setting up the food, and I’m starving. I want to finish eating before everyone arrives.”

  “Go. I’ll get the food. Once the guys get here, there won’t be anything left, so we need to get it now.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Walking off, Chrys made her way to the front desk and waited for the attendant. Slowly, it seemed, he made his way over to her after helping the gentleman before her.

  “Good morning.” The attendant greeted Chrys, smiling. “How may I be of assistance?”

  “I need to fax these papers over to my office in Virginia,” Chrys replied.

  “Alright. Do you have the number?”

  “757-555-5735. Attention Disbursing Duty Officer.”

  “Got it. Let me get it sent out. It says it’s sending. How is your stay so far?”

  “It’s good so far; we can’t complain, thanks,” Chrys said.

  “Alright, that went through. Here’s your confirmation number. If you have any problems, be sure to let us know.”

  “We will, thank you.”

  Chrys turned back to the tables when she saw the rest of her Team gathered around, grabbing plates of food, and sighed. Thank God Sven got their plates when he did, she thought. The place was about to start running out of food.

  “There’s the Brat!” Captain Hopkins greeted Chrys as she walked over to hug him.

  “Morning Dad.” Chrys gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” He wanted to know, looking her over.

  “I feel fine, don’t worry so much,” Chrys told him.

  “Not going to happen.”

  Chrys rolled her eye
s. “I know.”

  “So, what happened while we were sleeping?”

  Chrys gave her father her best innocent look. “Nothing happened. What makes you think something took place?”

  “Uh-huh. And you just sent off papers for what reason then?” Captain Hopkins pointed to the papers in Chrys’s hand.

  Chrys shrugged. “I just agreed to purchase some property in Elgin so we can build our new headquarters.”

  “I see. How much property are we talking about?”

  “Thirty-five hundred acres. Three thousand from the Fort used to be a training ground, and two vineyards that are both two hundred and fifty acres each.”

  “We can do some damage with that kind of property. Set up a nice training ground.”

  “Yes, and we can set it up to our specifications and still keep it separate from the houses and vineyards.”

  “I take it there’s a house on each of the vineyards?”

  Chrys nodded. “Yes, and we can use them until our own house is built, then we can use them for the other Teams when they come to visit.”

  “And you did all this since you got up this morning at four-thirty?”

  “Of course.”

  Captain Hopkins just shook his head. “Only you. Now, would you mind telling me why you chose this place?”

  “Uncle Tate and Uncle Jack.”

  “What do they... never mind, I mean it. Only you, love,” Captain Hopkins repeated. “Only you would make sure two of our men would be able to have a training facility and still be able to stay close to a family they were just reunited with. It sure as Hell never crossed any of our minds to purchase property and build our new place here.”

  “We’d talked about building a new place for a while. Uncle Tate and Uncle Jack will not want to separate Stella and Spence from Marla, who they consider their sister, and she won’t be leaving here soon. So, the next best thing is just to build our place here, that way everyone is happy. And I have a brother close by, so I can start to get to know him and the rest of the family.”

  “You did think of everything, didn’t you?” Captain Hopkins sounded impressed.

  “I tried, though I don’t know if I got everything or not.”

  “I think you did, and I think Bullet and Stone are going to be thrilled that they won’t have to cause a huge upheaval in the lives of those kids or, worse, have to choose between them and their lives with us. They’d already mentioned that on the trip over here.”

  “Really?” Chrys was surprised. “I didn’t know that. I was trying to beat them to that.”

  “Well, this is going to ease their minds.”

  “I hope so. I’m just glad this will keep the family together.”

  “When will the sale go through?”

  “Everything should go through by tomorrow. I’ll be informed this afternoon when all the papers are submitted, and tomorrow I will have all the documents signed and in my name.”

  As Chrys was informing Captain Hopkins about what would happen, Bret arrived along with his Teammates.

  Finding some empty seats, they sat their bags down and then grabbed some food before joining the group already eating.

  “So I see Sleeping Beauty and his entourage have arrived. Or is it Prince Charming?” Chrys smiled.

  “You said 0800. We could have been here earlier if we knew everyone was already raring to go.” Bret replied. “And I’ll take Prince Charming any day of the week, as long as you’ll be my very own Princess.”

  Chrys started choking on the orange juice she just picked up and took a drink from as her face flamed red.

  “You did not just say that to me!” Chrys shouted, causing everyone to laugh. “I’m no one’s fucking Princess!”

  “I beg to differ.” Captain Hopkins laughed. “You’re most definitely my Princess.”

  Chrys glared at her father. “Watch it. I’m still the one that does the fucking cooking at our place. Unless you want to be one running to the can with the shits, I highly suggest you keep the Princess crap to yourself.”

  Sven and Lamar both grimaced. Both men remembered the last big prank war, which ended up with all men except Captain Hopkins running to the restroom every thirty minutes due to an excess amount of Ex-lax in their food, and the guys decided to switch her baby powder with itching powder. After she got out of the shower a month ago and covered herself in powder, she was thinking of multiple ways in which she could kill the men she calls her family. The best way she could think of was to see how fast they could race each other to the toilets and figure out how creative they could get in finding new places to go. Now, no one was willing to get on Chrys’s pissed-off side if they could help it. Not only could she be a Bitch, when she wanted to get revenge, but she also got it in painful ways. Though she would probably skip revenge and just kill them after the next stunt, they were planning to pull when everything with this new mission was cleared up.

  “How about we just focus on what’s important and figure out what our plan of attack is going to be?” Chrys asked, trying to get everyone’s attention away from her. “I know Bullet and Stone aren’t….”

  “Hey,” Bullet greeted the group. “I know we’re right on time, but you didn’t have to start without us.”

  “Uncle Jack! Uncle Tate!” Chrys cried. “No, you came just at the perfect time. I only wanted to start now to shut these Assholes up. They’re starting to piss me off.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that now, would we Love?” Stone asked, hugging Chrys.

  “I see you brought our lovely hosts. Please, grab a plate and join us. We were just going to get started on discussing a strategy. It would be great if all of you would help take part in this. We want to be able to pull this off either tomorrow or the next day, so all the help in strategizing, the better.”

  Daelan walked up to Chrys’s table and looked down at her. “I don’t know if you meant what you just said or not.” He said. “If not, that’s got to be the most polite insult I’ve ever fucking heard.”

  Chrys stood up. She refused to let Daelan or anyone else intimidate her. “Mr. Hughs, you will find I never joke about my job. I told you we’re coming up with a plan to capture Guarnieri and Valdovinos. To do that, we need everyone who knows what’s going on involved. That way, we get the best possible intel. Now, if you prefer to sit this out, be my guest. Otherwise, get a plate of food if you want, but I do suggest grabbing a fucking seat because this will probably take a while, and we won’t be leaving here until the plan is ironed out.”

  His face red, Daelan demanded to speak to the person in charge.

  “Who the Hell do you think you’ve been talking to?” Chrys laughed. “Alf? Look, just because you have a problem with women and like living in the Dark Ages doesn’t mean everyone else has the same fucking issues. Now, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it one more time. Get some food. Sit down. Or don’t, I don’t give a flying rat’s ass if you sit or not, but we’re about to start our meeting in five minutes. If you don’t want to join us, you can always sit it out. The choice is yours.”

  “Now see here, Missy….” Daelan started to raise his voice but lost his breath when he found himself once again on his back at Chrys’s feet, this time with her foot crushing down on his larynx.

  “What the Hell did I tell you about calling me fucking Missy?!” Chrys demanded. “You want some respect, old man, I suggest you start giving it! I don’t have the time for this shit. You…”

  “Wait,” Daelan choked out. “I’m...sorry.”

  Chrys removed her foot. “I’m listening.” She said.

  “I should have treated you more respectfully. You’re right. It just doesn’t sit right for some kid, and a girl at that, to come in and start rescuing us. We’ve always gotten the work done ourselves.”

  “Except now you’re involved with a whole new kettle of fish. So it would make sense to let those who specialize in that work be the people to lead the charge.”

  “Yeah, but who thought the expert would b
e a child.”

  “Mr. Hughes,” Chrys said. “You have no idea who we are, do you?”

  “Besides a Special OPS Team? I know Jack and Tate are SEALS. I figured you all are.”

  Chrys shook her head. “No.” She replied. “We’re the Covert OPS Team.”

  “No fucking way.” One of the men who arrived with Chrys’s uncles and Daelan swore, causing Daelan to glare at him.

  “You’ll have to pardon him. Rip gets a bit excited when it comes to boys and their games. Or I guess it’s big kids and their games now.” Daelan muttered.

  Rip grinned. “You still don’t get it, Old Man,” he said using the name Chrys had called him. “Covert OPS isn’t a game in this instance. Here, she’s talking about the most legendary SPEC OPS group in any of the military branches. All the branches join together to create this group. Everyone in the Spec OPS wants to join Covert OPS. This is the Delta Force of Delta Force. I can fucking guarantee you, any name they’ve given us is not their name, so don’t even bother to attempt to search for any of these people.”

  Rip turned to Jack and Tate. “I take it that not even Stella and Spence know what your real names are.”

  “They know the names we chose when we joined this group. No, they do not know our given names. For everyone’s safety, they never will.” Jack said. “The big question here is, how do you know so much about our group?”

  “I was supposed to join. I was given my invitation until I was suddenly discharged with an Other Than Honorable.”

  “If you were given an invitation, I find it difficult that they would discharge you with an OTH. What happened?” Captain Hopkins asked.

  “They found out I was gay. It was supposed to be a Homosexual Conduct Discharge, but my C.O. found out, and he hates gays. As soon as that happened, they said I could no longer stay in the service. It was just after the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ period. He wanted to go for a court-martial, but the Legal Officer wouldn’t press charges since I had never been in trouble throughout my time in service. He had to settle for an OTH instead.”

  “I see. Well, if you still have the invitation, I’d be interested in seeing it. You look like you can still hold your own, and it’s not the military who chooses those that join us. We’re the ones that make that decision. I don’t know if you heard any rumors on this part or not, but we do have a couple of civilians on our Teams. We got them from the FBI and SWAT. If you’re still open to possibly joining us, I highly suggest you be ready for the ride of your life here because things will be moving fast, and we don’t slow down for anyone. But you’ll have to show us proof of your invitation.”