by Michael Todd
“I’ll be damned if he didn’t come to the right people.” Monroe nodded enthusiastically. “I’m down for anything that gets in Pegasus’ way out here.”
“Agreed.” He glanced quickly at Madigan. “Set the meet up for a neutral location. There’s no telling whether Pegasus has tightened their security after our last run-in with them.”
“So we simply assumed that those assholes are Pegasus?” Amanda asked with a challenging look at the others. “You’d think they would want to put some better boots on the ground. The guys we ran into might as well have been bounty hunters.”
Sal nodded. “I know, but who else could they have been? Nobody else has those kinds of resources. If it was them, they were pressed for time and manpower and had to bring outsiders in on a job. It was a mistake and definitely not one they’ll repeat.”
Madigan nodded. “Message sent. I’ll let you know when he calls back.”
“What do you mean, it’s gone, ma’am?”
Andressa looked up from her phone, a murderous look in her eyes as she glared at her head of security.
“What do I mean?” she snarled and regarded him with real contempt. “I mean someone entered my fucking apartment, broke into my safe, and took the fucking laptop. I don’t think I could have made it any clearer than that, you useless bunch of assholes.”
The three men looked at one another, unsure which one of them she had addressed. Amos, the manager, stepped forward since it was his responsibility.
“I personally checked all the logs and there wasn’t any kind of security alert that anyone even entered your apartment while you were not there,” he said and tried to be firm and still maintain a respectful distance. “No cameras picked up any intruders, and the people who work in the lobby made no note of any unauthorized entries. If the laptop is missing, it wasn’t from your apartment.”
Andressa shook her head. “I haven’t taken it out of that room in all the time that I’ve had it. What are you suggesting—that it grew legs and fucking walked out of the building?”
Amos looked at the other men for some help but received no response. His employer ignored him and continued to pace around her apartment.
“It has to be that Monroe bitch,” she stated belligerently. “She’s the only one who has any reason to suspect me in the company. And she called me and asked for a meeting but cancelled at the last minute to travel—where did she go again?”
“She took a flight on a company plane to Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo International Airport and on to Casablanca,” Amos confirmed quickly. “Here’s the problem, though. The timeline you suggest for the…ah, theft… If it was her, it doesn’t make any sense. She couldn’t have been involved.”
“The bitch has gone to the Zoo,” Covington mused and ignored the man. “She thinks that a few animals will scare me off her trail. Well, she’s wrong. Call Carlson and tell him that I’ll head out into the Zoo myself this time. Tell him to send me some people and that we’re going on a fucking safari.”
“But…the laptop was one of the most secure pieces of technology in this building,” Amos protested, his expression one of real confusion. “Bio-encrypted to the point of overkill. Exactly what do you expect her to be able to do with it?”
“If it can be stolen, it can be hacked,” she responded cuttingly. “And that will simply not happen on my watch. I want to talk to Carlson as soon as possible. Since his man Rodrigo obviously failed in his assignment—multiple times, I might add—I think we need to stop hiring from the outside. It’s time for us to get our own hands dirty in this.”
Amos sighed and finally gave up. “I’ll let Mr. Carlson know and arrange for a plane to be readied.”
Anja scowled at the screen that had somehow demanded her constant focus for far too long. The display should have been relaxing, with some nature shots quickly replaced by what looked like the madness of an architect who had never really made it to the big leagues. Not that she knew anything about either of those things. She stared at a login page for the laptop that she’d been handed.
“How’s it going?”
She jumped. Thankfully, she managed to stifle the instinctive squeak of alarm. She hadn’t heard anyone enter the room, and the voice was only vaguely familiar. It took her a few seconds to remember that there were new people in the compound now and that she needed to get used to it.
Of course, she could forgive the intrusion given who it was—and what he carried. Tall, blond, and handsome, and he brought gifts of coffee? She could absolutely get used to interruptions like that.
“Oh… Not great,” Anja said and accepted the coffee with a grateful smile. “This encryption will take years to crack. I have a couple of friends who know about this sort of thing and even they are stumped. Normally, I’d run another game to get the DNA we need to crack this baby, but as of right now, our friend Covington is on a plane with no known destination and has probably already wiped her apartment of anything that could be used to open this. That leaves us royally screwed unless we get a finger of hers or something.”
Allen nodded. He didn’t know much about this sort of thing, but it was impressive that Jacobs had managed to put a team like this together in such a short space of time. He had gathered outliers who were great at their jobs and needed a place to belong. Well, considering that he seemed to fit that category too, maybe it wasn’t that odd.
“I’m usually really good at placing accents,” he ventured in an effort to break the silence, “but for the life of me, I can’t tell where yours is from.”
“Well, I’m originally from St. Petersburg,” Anja explained and swung her swivel chair to face him. “I got a scholarship at a tech school in the US and I managed to stay for my masters too, so I lost most of my Russian accent.”
“That’s great,” Allen said and didn’t sound like he’d faked the enthusiasm at all. “But how did you end up all the way out here? I mean, it’s not a regular location for up and coming IT specialists.”
“Well, I worked for the FSB—the security agency in Russia,” she explained. For some mysterious reason, her trust issue seemed to have gone out the window. “It was mostly low-level coding work to keep their firewalls up to date, but I had a lot of access. And when I saw what they were doing, it wasn’t anything I approved of. Finally, the time inevitably came when they needed access to something and I managed to help them. I got a little greedy, and I got caught. My friends on the outside helped me to leave the country, but I needed a place to settle. Jacobs offered me a place to stay if I helped them with some troubles, so I came here.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
“Well, it wasn’t simple, definitely not.” Oddly enough, she seemed to be able to laugh at the memory. “But it’s mostly a long and boring story, fraught with terrifying Zoo monsters and spies trying to kill me. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”
He opened his mouth to say that it didn’t seem like the kind of story that would bore him at all, but she had already turned away. It was an intentional move, he realized, something to pique his attention.
The challenge appealed to him. “Well, if you ever wish to bore me, I think that sounds like the kind of story I’d like to hear.”
Anja glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled. “I might actually tell you about it sometime.”
“Sal told me to tell you that there’s food set up for dinner,” Allen said as he pushed out of his seat and moved her coffee along the counter and away from all the electronics. “He said that if you don’t make it in time, they’ll leave some in the fridge.”
“Thanks.” She had already turned back to her computers. “I’ll be right out.”
She wouldn’t be right out, unfortunately. But she needed to focus on her work and Allen definitely couldn’t help her with that. If he wanted to visit later when she wasn’t busy, she wouldn’t mind spending time with him and sharing her story. She’d done her research so she knew he was gay and that he had a wife—husband?—but that didn’t mea
n she couldn’t appreciate the view and the personality, right?
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Anderson leaned casually into his seat as the heavy ATV rumbled toward him. It looked a little banged-up and the worse for wear, but he couldn’t mistake the heavy diesel engine that roared through the crisp morning air.
They had arranged to meet a few klicks outside the Staging Area at the halfway point on the road between the Staging Area and the Heavy Metal compound. The team were noticeably cautious, but once he’d heard what had happened a couple of days before, he honestly couldn’t blame them. It was, coincidentally, a time when his overlords at Pegasus decided that their little base needed a beef-up in security too.
On this occasion, two people were distinguishable in the Hammerhead and neither of them was Madigan Kennedy. It was a pity. Anderson sincerely enjoyed working with her, but he supposed that it was about time he met one of the brains behind the operation.
He assumed that the unfamiliar woman driving was Amanda Gutierrez, but she didn’t leave the ATV. Only Jacobs climbed out and strode to where Anderson had parked his vehicle. He moved to the passenger seat and slid in. He wore the sleek, hybrid armor that he had rapidly become famous for, and Anderson did have to admit that there was some appeal to it.
“Salinger Jacobs, I presume?” he asked as the younger man shifted slightly in the seat.
“In the flesh,” the man replied with a bright smile. “Colonel Anderson?”
“A pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of good things.”
“Right back at you, Colonel,” Jacobs said briskly. “So, we can either sit around all day and jerk each other off, or we can get to the meat of the matter as quickly as possible. What do you say?”
“Let’s go for the meat,” he responded, and his chuckle contained real appreciation for once. There wasn’t much to smile at in his life. “Did you guys have any luck with the hard drive?”
“Some, but not enough to report on yet.” Salinger shook his head. “I do have some info on the metal our Pegasus friends have shipped in as armor that you might want to take a look at.” He handed his companion a copy of the files that Courtney had brought him. Anderson glanced intently at them before he exhaled sharply.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked and actually seemed genuinely angry, Sal realized.
“Not one hundred percent, but all the tests that were run confirm it. I’ve run some tests of my own and they also appear to confirm everything Dr. Monroe said before he died.”
The colonel nodded and leaned his head back. “Fuck.”
“Anyway,” Sal said after a moment of silence had passed. “What’s this about a Pegasus mission heading into the Zoo?”
“They have their people on hold,” Anderson confirmed quietly. “The leader of the team advised me that they are waiting for someone to send confirmation as to when to head in.”
“What could they be waiting for?” Sal asked. “Well, unless they’re waiting for someone—oh.”
Anderson glanced at him. “You don’t think they would risk a full mission into the Zoo with armor they haven’t fully tested simply as a revenge mission against freelancers?”
Sal shrugged. “I honestly believe there are many things our friends at Pegasus would be willing to do to get rid of us.”
“All right.” The colonel drew in a deep breath. “If they send in one of our merc teams—the ones who are usually sent in to deal with people like you—I’ll message you the details. If it’s one of our regular teams, that will mean it’s simply another test run. Either way, this is the last time that I’ll work with these assholes.”
“Fair enough.”
“Be careful out there, Jacobs,” Anderson said.
Sal smiled. It was a fairly pointless exercise to tell the man that wasn’t how he and the Heavy Metal team worked. That said, they would have to deal with a much more dangerous team of Pegasus goons than they’d ever faced, which meant that even if they weren’t careful, they still needed to have a plan in place.
He stepped out of the ATV and his contact started it up and drove away as quickly as he could. They had remained together for longer than expected and needed to be very careful to avoid raising suspicions.
“Did you get all that?” Sal asked into his earpiece.
“I did,” Madigan replied.
“Do you think we can trust him?” Amanda already revved the engine, obviously anxious to leave the open location.
“Trust him? Nah,” Kennedy replied. “But I’d still trust what he says. If Pegasus is waiting for us to head into the Zoo to take us out, they have to have some kind of confidence that their people have a better chance to eliminate us in there than their previous teams did. That means mercs trained in the use of top-of-the-line suits and experienced in the Zoo.”
“We can only hope that they’ll use the new metal in their suits, right?” he asked. “Does it make us terrible people for wishing for that to happen and blow up in their faces?”
“I think that’s fairly standard for people in our line of business,” she replied cheerfully. “Head on back to the compound. We need to make a plan to deal with these bitches.”
Andressa sighed in real irritation when the phone in her pocket buzzed. She’d really hoped that she could have some time to herself while she was on the plane, but damned if technology hadn’t caught up with her. The damn planes needed to have Wi-Fi for some reason. If she hung up, Carlson would know that she was avoiding him, and she didn’t need that kind of headache in her life.
With another heavy sigh, she retrieved the phone, pressed the accept call button, and smiled as the man’s face appeared on the screen.
“Andressa, what’s this about you heading down to the Zoo?” he demanded and leaned forward in his chair. The lighting behind him showed her that it was nighttime in New York City. “Please tell me this is some crazy joke and that you’re simply on your way to Monaco to blow off some steam and spend that bonus of yours.”
“Nice to see you too, Carlson,” she said urbanely. “And how nice to hear from you. How have you been?”
“Cut the crap,” the CEO snapped. “You’ve already had too many of our people killed out there in pursuit of your idiotic vendetta. Anyone else would have simply folded and left the game in exchange for a pleasant time on a beach with no extradition. What the hell are you doing that will fuck me over even more?”
“Please,” she retaliated, her tone sharp with disdain. “I put too much work into Pegasus to back out of it now, and don’t pretend that Rodrigo’s death wasn’t your fuckup. Admittedly, I sent some people in, but they were the ones who underestimated what those assholes at Heavy Metal can do. And when I look at your track record, I would comfortably say that’s something of a running theme. I’ll go in with our people—all of whom are highly trained and highly motivated—to rid us of those pricks once and for all. Hell, I’m doing you a fucking favor.”
“If you fuck up, Andressa,” Carlson said and his voice lowered venomously, “not only will you have exposed your position at your own company, you will have left Pegasus open to reprisals that I can’t afford.”
“Please, Carlson, have a little faith.” She sipped a glass of champagne and avoided the urge to roll her eyes. “There’s nothing in the Zoo that can take our armor out. It should be more than enough to handle them.”
“I only hope that you aren’t the one doing the underestimating this time, Andressa,” he responded and cut the line abruptly.
Yes, this was something that needed to be done, and since outsiders had tried and failed repeatedly, it meant that if she wanted something done, she would have to do it herself.
That said, she would have been lying if she said that there wasn’t any kind of personal revenge on her mind about this.
“The father’s metal will kill the daughter, not save her,” Andressa said to herself, happy that the topic of her missing laptop hadn’t been raised. “How fucking delicious is that?”
&nbs
p; Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sal shifted off Courtney and his muscles burned and ached as he lay down beside her. He took a moment to look at the ceiling and catch his breath. The truth was that he didn’t mind these marathon sessions. The need to push himself to the limit was a part of the new him that he had slowly accepted, and that was something he needed to bring to every side of life.
Courtney, for her own part, had a hard time breathing as well. Her heavy breasts rose and fell as she draped her arm over Sal and rested her head on her chest.
“Fuuuuck,” she whispered before she pressed her lips to his nipple for a moment and wiggled so she could look at him. “I thought I could easily get to ten again but hot damn, man. Has Madigan worked you overtime lately?”
He shrugged. “Well, a gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, does he?” In truth, he still wasn’t sure how he was supposed to handle the whole crazy situation. Both women knew that he was sleeping with the other and seemed to have reached an understanding, which raised the question of what he was supposed to do about it. He didn’t want it to seem like he bragged too much, but at the same time, he didn’t want to create the impression that he was hiding anything.
The conflict immediately vanished when she slid herself on top of him. “I have to say, though, that using my mouth feels like cheating.”
“There’s no cheating in this game, lovely,” he responded said with a grin. He used his strength to pull her thighs down so that she straddled him and would feel him hardening again. “And there’s no time like the present for getting back in shape, right?”
“Oh, my God,” she said softly, unable to stop herself from grinding gently against him. “I’ve fucking missed you, Salinger Jacobs.”