“Our insertion window is short,” Xavier said.
“Details.”
Was this twenty questions?
I took back what I said about Xavier’s communication skills. Why was it so fucking hard for people to spit shit out and just say what needed to be said all at once?
“The event is scheduled two days from now. It’ll take your team a day to get here. I have resources inbound. Helicopters you’ll need for insertion, extraction, and gear for your team. Entrance is another matter as they have surveillance in play. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be tight. We may lose this opportunity.”
“My team can depart within the hour and leave the issue of surveillance to me.” I snapped my finger to get Sara’s attention.
I needed my hand stitched and my team activated. There was no way in hell we were losing this opportunity.
Whatever it took…whatever the cost, I was bringing Snowden down.
Chapter Four
Forest
Sara was smart. I liked that.
Intelligence, over any other quality, was something I respected, and she had it in droves.
She was already on the phone, activating my para-military team as well as my medical support team.
I didn't have to tell her what to do; she had it done before I was aware I had the thought. It was one of the reasons I kept her around. People like her were hard to find. I just wished she wasn't so damn annoying.
I gripped the phone, knuckles tight, as Xavier updated me. "Raven is looking into their encryption. Mitzy is helping. I've already sent the tech team ahead. They'll have the basics ready when you arrive. I hope you don't mind a swim."
Mitzy was a relatively new addition to the team. She was the assistant to Kate Summers, a private detective who put her brother-in-law, Joshua Davenport, in jail for rape. Josh came to our operation with a dark past, but his tenacity brought Snowden's business associate, Zane Carson, down.
I wish I'd witnessed that monster's death, but Josh went off-script. He killed Carson rather than bring him in. There was nothing to do about that now.
One monster was down. Another would soon follow.
"A swim?" I needed to focus on what Xavier was saying.
"You'll be dropped offshore. It's the only way to evade their radar. This place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I've got DPVs and rebreathers waiting."
I hated the water. With my musculature, I sank like a rock, but I'd trained for virtually every contingency.
Xavier was sending us in underwater with personal propulsion devices to speed our entry and avoid both visual and radar surveillance. The rebreathers would hide our bubble trail from anyone smart enough to watch the waters. It made sense even if I didn't like it.
I trained with ex-SEALS and Delta operatives. It was the only reason I knew how to scuba dive. I hated the confining masks and the feel of the wetsuit against my skin, but my comfort meant nothing if there was a chance of taking Snowden down.
Xavier and I went over the information he had. I held the phone to my ear while yanking clothes over my body, smearing blood all over the clean shirt. He finished, and we ended our call.
Sara's face pinched as her astute gaze ran over my body from head to toe. She, too, was on the phone. "Bring your medical kit. He's bleeding all over himself."
No reason to ask who Sara was talking to; she was on the phone with Skye. As the leader of my medical team, Skye was responsible for activating her team.
"Tell her we leave within the hour." I didn't care about a little blood. It was nothing. "She can stitch me up during the flight."
I waited impatiently for Sara to get off the phone, but she and my sister were being Chatty Cathys, saying a whole lot of nothing while wasting time. I made a show of pointing at my watch, tapping the dial, but Sara rolled her eyes.
"Your brother is doing that tapping thing with his watch." Her eyes twinkled with mischief. "Yes, he's got that scowl on his face…" She gave a soft laugh. "Yes, his face is getting redder by the second."
I could feel blood rushing to my face. I hated it when they teased me.
"I'd better get off before his head blows. Oh, and I'll watch little Zach while you're gone…Yeah, no problem. You know I love the little guy."
They chatted more about what I assumed was my nephew's schedule. Ash was out of town on tour with my favorite rock band, Angel Fire. As lead to my medical team, Skye would be shipping out with me.
It never occurred to me, but someone would have to look after her son.
But then, I tended to miss details like that.
"Did you call the pilot?" I turned my attention to Sara.
She lifted a finger to silence me. "Do you mind if I take him to the zoo?"
It was my turn to roll my eyes, something I did with great emphasis as I gave her my most frustrated ‘What the Fuck’ look. I mouthed, ‘Get off the phone!’
Sara turned her back to me. "If it's raining, we can go to the aquarium. Zach loves watching the fish…I promise I won't fill him up with too much junk food."
My eyes about bugged out of my head while I listened to Sara's inane chatter with my sister.
Skye needed to be notifying her team and grabbing her stuff, not shooting the shit with my assistant. Finally, I ripped the phone out of Sara's hand.
"Hey!" Sara screeched. She tried to snag the phone out of my hand.
I lifted it high over my head and arched my brow. "You can jump for it if you want," I spoke into the air rather than putting the phone to my ear. Skye could hear my deep, booming voice, and if I held the phone over my head, Sara might just try to jump for it. "Sara is busy, and you need to get your ass in gear."
Sara's pink lips twisted, and she put her hands on her hips. "You'd like to watch me try, wouldn't you?"
I wasn't going to lie. I'd love to see her tiny body jump up and down. From my vantage, I'd get an excellent view of her tits as they bounced.
But then, my guts knotted as I reminded myself not to think of Sara like that.
Filth infested every part of me, and there was no way I'd let any of that touch Sara's perfection.
Skye's crisp voice broke through my thoughts. "My ass is already in gear, Beanpole. Why don't you chill your chops?"
My stomach sank at the nickname.
How long had it been since Skye had used it? Six months? A year? Sometime after she married Ash, that name had disappeared, and she'd reverted to calling me Forest like everyone else.
I think it was her way of putting the past where it belonged, except she brought it back, front and center, using the nickname now.
Maybe I wasn't the only one affected by the news that Snowden had been found. Maybe Skye and I were both regressing to the injured children of our shared past.
The things he made us do…the things I'd done to Skye at Snowden's command were scars that went soul deep.
"My chops are chill." I tried to sound unaffected. Calm, cool, and collected was my M.O., but Skye knew me. She saw right through me.
"Are they?"
"Are yours?"
She vented a deep sigh. "I'm good, Bean."
With great effort, I kept the protective growl from my voice. "Right, my summer sky, you're about as chill as a fucking volcano."
My summer sky was a name I hadn't used in a very long time. Her gasp told me it had been a low blow.
But those words connected us.
They defined the very fabric of who we were. I was her beanpole, and she was my summer sky. Somewhere in the darkness, we found each other and discovered the strength to endure the unimaginable.
"I'm sorry." The words couldn't come fast enough. "I shouldn't have…"
"It's okay, Bean. This is happening, isn't it? We're going after him."
"Yes, we are."
"And?" Her lilting voice warmed my heart.
"I'm as scared as you are."
I wasn't scared.
My entire adult life existed to serve one and only one purpose. I meant to
kill Snowden, not that I would tell Skye that.
It was important to her that my soul remain pure, and my hands remained untouched by violence. While I may have never killed a man, I ached to end the life of the one man who had earned the privilege of dying by my hand.
I couldn't tell her that. Skye sacrificed too much to ensure that burden wasn't one I carried.
And I didn't carry that burden. Not yet.
I didn't because I'd been too weak to do what was necessary. My sister killed to keep me safe. She lived with that sin.
And I lived with the incredible burden of everything that came afterward.
I failed to protect Skye. In every way, I failed her.
"I love you, Beanpole."
"I love you too." I needed to speak the words.
My love for Skye was the only thing that got me out of bed most mornings. Her light was pure. Her strength profound. Her love filled me with hope.
She was my light in the darkness, the summer sky, which granted serenity in my moments of deepest despair.
"Now, can I finish talking to Sara and make sure little Zach has what he needs while we're off saving the world?"
I glanced down at Sara. She stared up at me with her arms crossed over her chest. Correction, not over her chest, but slightly below her curvy tits. My mind headed places it didn't need to go, and I slowly dragged it out of the gutter.
"Fine." But before I gave the phone over to Sara, I glared at her over the bridge of my nose. "Did you call the pilot?"
"What do you think, boss?" Her answer came out in a huff.
I shouldn't have asked.
Sara never left a loose end dangling. Somehow, while I struggled to do something as simple as getting dressed, Sara activated my insertion team. She notified my medical team and alerted my pilot to take us to the airport. There, we would hop on a company plane and fly halfway across the world.
Mollified, I handed her the phone. "I think you need to figure out what little Zach likes for supper."
"You don't say." She held out her hand.
"Your brother is a pain in my ass." Her snarky comment brought a grin to my face. Sometimes it was fun to mess with Sara just for the hell of it. I couldn't help myself.
With a flippant flick of her hair, Sara turned her back. She and Skye discussed my nephew's dietary needs while I dug my go-bag out from the closet.
While I went through the contents, double-checking my gear, Sara finished with Skye and fielded dozens of calls as my team called in with their ETAs. Finally, she came to check on me.
"You need anything?" she asked. A blankie? Bib? Something to wipe your ass?"
"Ha. Ha. Not funny."
"How about a Band-Aid? You know, we do have those. Handy suckers. Smart people use them to stop their cuts from bleeding…" She glanced around my office, and her astute gaze landed on my desk and the smears of blood I'd left behind. "But maybe a Band-Aid is too high tech for a nerd like you?"
"Smartass." My cheeky grin came out to play. Next to getting a rise out of Sara, I loved irritating her more.
"Dumb fuck." Her retort had my grin spreading wider.
Out of all my employees, she was the only one who ever called me out on my bullshit. Anyone else would find themselves fired in two seconds flat. Sara didn't worry about her job. She and Skye were thick as thieves, and Skye refused to let Sara go.
Which was for the best when I thought about it.
No one put up with me like Sara did. And, like I said a million times, it's hard work training someone to get the tiniest things right.
Sara had an uncanny knack of reading my mind.
She got all the tiny things right.
I liked that.
I felt connected to her on a level I didn't understand.
"If you're so concerned about me bleeding all over the office, why don't you grab some of these Band-Aid things and patch me up?"
"Really?" Her brows practically climbed up her forehead.
I understood her surprise. I didn't like people touching me. Correction, I didn't want her touching me. The way she made me feel was too confusing.
"Yes. Really." I pointed toward the bathroom. "You've got twenty minutes before people start arriving. That gives you five minutes to patch me up and fifteen to clean the office."
"You think I'm going to clean up all your blood?"
"Yeah."
"Think again, dumbass. You bleed. You clean. I'm not wiping your ass, and I'm not cleaning up your blood. You don't pay me enough for that."
"Technically, I don't pay you at all."
"Which is why I'm still here, but that doesn't mean you can abuse my kind heart."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, you couldn't find your way out of a paper bag without me."
"I think I could figure that out," I mumbled at that one.
"Right. You'd just rip and shred and use brute force to get out, but sometimes, you need to stop and think. Your brain is big enough, even if you don't use it when you should."
She retreated to the bathroom while scolding me about my brains and lack of common sense. I didn't mind her comments. When you were a man like me, with the wealth I commanded, it was hard to find someone who spoke the truth. It was hard to find someone who treated me like an average person, even if I was far from ordinary.
I didn't agree with a tenth of what Sara said, but she was right about the paper bag. I'd rip the shit out of it, never thinking to take my time to figure a way out without destroying it.
She returned from the bathroom, carrying a first aid kit. Pointing to the couch, she ordered me to sit.
"So, your shower will be out of commission while I get the tiles fixed."
I held back a hiss as she pressed an alcohol-soaked cotton ball to the cuts over my knuckles.
"I'll have someone in tomorrow for estimates. I assume you don't care about the cost?"
"Just do what makes sense. I trust you."
"Really?"
There went the cute arch in her brow, which never failed to bring a smile to my lips.
"Sure." I shrugged, then sucked in a breath as she went to town, cleaning my knuckles.
"So, I have carte blanche in fixing it?"
"Whatever it takes."
"I can change the tiles?"
She hated the bland decor in my office bathroom and had been on me to redecorate for the past year. Not wanting to argue about it, I gave in.
"Like I said, whatever it takes."
Her grin gave me pause.
"Whatever it takes." Sara hummed as she worked on my hand.
The cuts were deep but didn't seem to bother her.
I hated blood.
It brought back bad memories, but I vowed not to let her see how it affected me.
"So…" She let the word stretch out. "Do you want that blankie or not?"
Chapter Five
Sara
Watching Forest was like being inside the eye of a hurricane. Everything appeared calm, but there was a flurry of destruction happening all around. He barely sat still long enough to bandage his knuckles.
Left to himself, he would have bled all over his office.
There was already too much to clean. The stains on the couch probably wouldn't come out. His desk needed a thorough cleaning followed by disinfection. His entire desk suite, the leather blotter, the pen holder, his notepad…they all showed signs of the carnage. The carpets were a speckled mess as well.
How the hell did one person get so much blood over everything from such a small wound?
As soon as he was gone, I was pulling the carpets and installing tile. I didn't care what he said about hating the echoes hard floors made. I'd pour concrete if I could. By far, the easiest thing to clean.
Taking care of Forest was like taking care of a puppy. You had to be proactive because there was always some mess to clean up.
I stood in the middle of the lobby outside his office. We'd turned it into Operation Central.
Forest's team had
been trickling in over the past forty-five minutes. The schedule they worked against was insane, but they seemed to be pulling it off. Forest barked orders at six men, something about moving their sorry asses and getting their gear to the roof while I bounced a very sleepy nine-month-old on my hip.
Forest's nephew, Zach, smelled like heaven, snuggled like an angel, and was utterly oblivious to the activity around him.
I tuned Forest's bellowing out about twenty minutes ago and sang a soft lullaby to Skye's son.
Skye's medical crew were the first to have arrived. She'd deposited little Zach into my eager arms then argued with Forest for the next five minutes. She wasn't happy with him going on this mission and wanted him to stay behind where he'd be safe. Forest insisted on taking Snowden down.
I didn't hear all of their argument because they made Zach whimper.
Skye walked out with her face beet red and mumbling about stupid men with no brains.
The two of them worked around each other as Skye's medical team checked their gear. The last of Forest's men reported five minutes ago, and they were similarly going over their equipment.
Through it all, Forest roared.
Everyone moved too slow, had their heads in their asses, or their panties in a wad. Some had both. I couldn't help but smile. There was something he said about their mothers that made my ears burn.
The funny thing was, no matter how much Forest roared, his team didn't step up their pace. They were methodical to a fault, double-checked each other, and moved only when they were damn well ready.
That didn't mean they weren't hustling. I'd never seen men move with such lethal efficiency, and I knew what they had packed in those bags.
The men of Guardian HRS were ready to go to war.
That should bother me, but Forest was more amusing. Besides, I didn't want to think about why they needed all those guns. I focused instead on the hilarity that was a giant of a man stomping around while everyone generally ignored him.
Forest's Fall (Captive Hearts Book 3) Page 4