A lot of significant somethings.
Tango cleared his throat and tried for nonchalant. “Make sure Daisy has my contact info.”
Bravo’s head whipped around to him.
“On the off chance she can’t reach you.”
Bravo was slow to nod, but he did. “Thanks. I will.”
Tango sipped his coffee. “So Plan A for the jackass who caused the bruises in those pictures … eye for an eye?”
“Yep. Old school style,” Bravo said.
“One on one or tag team,” Whiskey asked.
The team answered in unison. “Tag team.”
“Awesome, I’ll bring the tourniquet.” Whiskey mumbled.
“Who needs a tourniquet and… are those pancakes? How did you know that was what I was craving,” Maddie asked from behind him.
Tango glanced at the team’s resident healer and smiled. Whiskey’s inherent ability to read a person’s energy and figure out what specific thing was needed to make them better, stronger, and healthier was and always would be an asset. As long as Whiskey kept his emotions in check and out of the rabbit hole, that is. Tango motioned for Maddie to join them. “Pull up a chair and eat up. You and the baby boos need the carbs.”
Whiskey’s head snapped to the side as he studied Maddie. “Fox?”
Fox sniffed the air as he moved three pancakes from the platter to an empty plate for Maddie. “Stronger. Definitely one. Possibly two.”
“Explains the sparkles,” Whiskey muttered under his breath as he pushed back from the table then said louder to Maddie. “How about I add some chocolate and strawberries to your pancakes?”
Maddie’s eyes lit up. “With whip cream?”
Whiskey chuckled and went to the fridge. “And a glass of milk.”
Bravo’s phone vibrated on the table. He set his fork on the plate, then pushed back and stood. “Here. Take my spot, Mad Dog.” He grabbed his plate and phone then carried it to the sink. “I need to take this.”
If Tango hadn’t been watching he wouldn’t have believed it. Bravo softened around the edges as he answered the phone, “Hey. No, this is a good time. Paintball tournament doesn’t start for a bit. What’s up?”
Could have heard a pin drop in the kitchen for how silent it went. All eyes were on Bravo as he gave a soft laugh and slowly walked out of the room down the hall towards the bedrooms.
“Did he say paintball tournament,” Maddie asked.
Tango nodded. “Long story.” He dragged his eyes off the doorway and looked at Dell. “Fox read you in?”
Dell nodded. “Briefly and, for the record, I strongly object.”
“Objection duly noted. How much time will it take you to get there from here?”
“Thirty three minutes,” Fox said.
“What time are they expected to arrive,” Tango asked.
“Confirmed with Caliv on the walk, we have an hour plus or minus a few minutes,” Fox answered.
“That doesn’t leave us much time,” Tango said to himself. “Plan to exit at least twenty minutes before they show. Ben will have two V’s with him. Don’t kill them.”
“I make no promises,” Dell muttered.
“You do this time. Neither need sunscreen,” Tango informed him.
“That supposed to be a deterrent,” Dell asked.
“No, but if you’ve got a better idea I’m listening.”
Dell gave him a considering look. “I don’t.”
Tango nodded. “If you come up with a better one between now and then, I want it.”
Dell nodded, then resumed eating.
“Van, what’s going on?” Maddie asked.
“Yeah, Van,” Whiskey started. “What the hell are you up to?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tango looked at Maddie then at Whiskey. He hadn’t briefed Whiskey on Bravo’s identity for good reason. Because at least one of their team members needed to have plausible deniability should Sinclair ever get their hands on them and Tango knew for a fact that of the five of them in the group, the one Sinclair was most hungry to obtain was Whiskey and his healing talents. Tango drew in a deep breath. “We have some evidence that someone has been sniffing around their place. Given Bravo’s new… situation, we’re not taking any chances another hit hasn’t been issued.”
Whiskey’s muttered oath was covered up by the whoosh of whip cream being drizzled over Maddie’s pancakes. “Bravo know this?”
“Not yet,” Tango answered.
Another muttered curse and Whiskey turned for the fridge.
Not missing a beat or the significance of Tango’s carefully crafted sentences, Maddie asked, “Who is Caliv bringing with him?”
Tango gave her his attention and kept his voice low as he answered. “His team. Rafe, Caliv… and with my luck today, Chase, too.” To Whiskey he said, “Dell and Fox have point. You play along. Clear?”
“Not in the least,” Whiskey said as he sat back down. “And I sure as shit don’t like it.”
“Then you’ll like my next order more,” Tango told him. “After we clear this mission, you’re leading the team and taking out the moron.”
“Think Howser’s behind whatever evidence you have saying Daisy’s a target?”
Tango leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Given that this evidence came to light after we were burned, what do you think?”
Whiskey held his gaze as he thought through the question. “That it’s a chance not worth taking. Moron goes.”
Tango nodded. “Bravo’s shot. If he wants it.”
“He’ll want it,” Dell said.
Fox grunted his agreement. “No one takes treasure from a dragon and survives.”
Maddie gasped. “Bravo is a dragon?”
Tango considered the best way to answer Maddie’s question. He didn’t have enough proof to confirm Fox and Dell’s theory, but he’d met a dragon once before and he picked up dude’s vibe and… it had reminded him a helluvalot of what Bravo occasionally radiated. He opened his mouth to respond, but was saved from doing so when Dell piped up.
“Bravo’s a money man and sits on his coin like a dragon hoarding treasure. Howser burned us and locked up our known assets.”
“And that shit did not sit well with Bravo,” Fox added. “At all.”
“I can get it back,” Maddie offered. “I know where he would have funneled it. To his off shore account that he uses for online gambling.”
“Share the info with Fox,” Tango told her. “After we go through the data packet Ivanov sent.”
Fox scarfed down the last half of his pancake stack in two mouthfuls, then pushed back from the table. “Already up on the big screen. Hijacked a satellite that should be in position and ready by now.”
“Good, bring it up. I’m right behind you.” Tango waited until the Whiskey and Dell finished eating then followed Fox out, leaving him and Maddie alone. “You didn’t give Dell, Fox, or Whiskey a ring. Why?”
She glanced over her shoulder then leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice. “Derek’s telepathic skills are based on his ability to pick up and translate energy transmissions that occur and are broadcast from a person’s mind. He’s like a satellite dish.”
“Then he can pick up their thoughts.”
She nodded. “Yes, he can pick them up but he can’t translate them.”
“You know this for certain?”
Another nod and she said, “Yes because I helped Caliv build the device that Derek used to hone his skill. Made sure to leave a few pockets of frequencies that he can’t translate. Mostly those that are associated with strong emotions.”
“Strong emotions shut him down?”
She looked away from him and bit her bottom lip. Then spoke in a barely audible voice. “Andrei… is an empath. He can project. He doesn’t know it but I’ve been collecting data from his stints in timeout. Not video because I don’t want to see that, but energy signatures. The frequencies he uses to take control over his targets.”
“Damn,
babe, that’s… hella dangerous. If Ivanov finds out, he’s gonna be more than pissed.”
“I had to, Van. Especially after I heard about the incident in Vegas.”
This was news to him. “What incident?”
“Rafe was attacked. Almost killed. If Andrei hadn’t shown up when he did… Rafe would be dead.”
Something clicked in his mind. “Wait. This incident. Did it happen five years ago?”
“Not sure. Maybe. Why? Did you hear about it?”
“I heard about something that went down in Vegas that involved Ivanov. No details, just that it was bad. Real bad.”
Sure he’d just fed her a lie. Of sorts. But it was classified. Besides she didn’t need to know just yet that he and Ivanov had a history. Later, but for right now he needed her to stay focused and on task to answer his questions.
“I know which is why after Sinjun told me about it I convinced him I needed to see Andrei’s data to be able to fix Derek’s problem.”
“He said no.”
“At first, but once I explained to him the potential of mapping the energies and how I could use that to craft something to block out Derek—”
“He was on board.”
“Reluctantly at first, but after the first prototype was field tested he was fully supportive.”
“Field tested on Sinclair’s secretary.” Tango nodded to himself. “Is Sinclair aware of the ring?”
“If he is, he hasn’t said anything.”
Expect the unexpected. Sinclair probably knows and would explain why the Machiavellian bastard kept close tabs on Maddie’s activities. “You know for a fact Derek won’t be able to read Dell, Fox, or Whiskey?”
“Yes. Fox is a shifter, right?”
“Yes. Wolf.”
“A relatively young one that hasn’t fully settled in on his hierarchy within a pack, right?”
Tango hedged. “Let’s just say he’s special and leave it at that.”
“Okay, well, because he hasn’t settled on where he fits in the wolf hierarchy between omega and alpha, his frequency fluctuates so his thoughts would appear jumbled and confusing as hell to Derek. Because Derek has met young, unsettled wolves before, he would naturally assume that Fox is just that. Young, unsettled, emotional, and not someone of authority whose mind he needs to scan. He’d block him out.”
Okay, one down, two more to go. “And Dell?”
“He’s a nymph, isn’t he?”
“If you say so,” Tango muttered.
Maddie gave him a look. One that said she was not amused by his less than forthcoming-ness. “I do say. Nymphs broadcast sexual energy and their thoughts get mixed up in that sexual vibe. Being a male with a strong sex drive that he can’t easily work off without getting an overload from a partner, Derek avoids anything with a strong sexual vibe to it. It hurts his brain as he says and causes more than his fair share of blue balls. So he avoids it. Like the plague.”
Sounded like the mind monkey. “And Whiskey?”
“I have no clue what he is. His brain is… like Caliv’s. But not. The scans I took when your team first arrived suggest that there’s a constant flow energy in and out of Whiskey such that he’s always absorbing and processing and thinking through… everything around him. He’s like a sponge. Best guess is the sheer volume of information that goes through Whiskey’s mind will deter Derek from looking in his head.”
“Best guess isn’t good enough.”
“Okay, better than best guess,” she offered. “Only a handful know this so don’t share if you don’t have to.”
Tango gave her his word. “You know I won’t.”
Maddie set her fork down and leaned in closer to confide. “Derek has been on edge and struggling to keep it together since Chase left active duty. He may not actively be on the team, but Chase is still linked to them and it’s causing Derek problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“The kind that inspired Sinclair and Caliv to commission me to build a mental training program that’s specific for Derek. To help condition Derek’s mind to avoid certain triggers. Triggers that might be able to filter through to Chase and set him off. I know because I’ve watched his mind map data, Derek can’t handle connecting to another Caliv.”
“And Whiskey would be another Caliv?”
“Yep. To be avoided at all cost.” She hesitated, then added, “Don’t quote me on this, but based on what little data I saw, your boy Whiskey isn’t done developing his abilities.”
“I know.”
“No, Van, I don’t think you do. If Sinclair finds out what Whiskey can do, he will be the next member of Delta team.”
“And then we’ll all be fucked,” Tango muttered.
“Without a complementary reach around,” Maddie added as she forked a bite pancake loaded with chocolate, strawberry sliver, and whip cream into her mouth.
He looked up as K-dog entered the kitchen and said, “Fox said to tell you the satellite is up.”
“On my way.” Tango leaned forward and kissed a smidge of whip cream off her top lip. “Eat everything on that plate then come join us.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
Tango stood up and said to K-dog. “Make sure she finishes it and her milk, then both of you join us.”
“Roger that.”
Tango nodded and then went to join the team.
Maddie watched Van exit the kitchen. The way he avoided her gaze when she asked him what’s wrong made her think he was hiding something from her.
“I know that look,” Kenny said. “You’re plotting something.”
“Actually, I’m concerned. Very concerned.” She turned and looked at him. “Did they say anything to you about what’s going on? The intel they got?”
Kenny shook his head and shoveled more food into his mouth, then reached for her glass of milk. “Just woke up. Bravo told me to get up and in here if I wanted to eat.”
“Have you checked to see if Zed or Nev left a message?”
“I checked them all before I went to bed and didn’t see any… shit.” He leaned over his tablet and pulled up the Five Card Stud app. “University servers were down for updates last night. Zed sent a message to the app I put on there.”
“Pull it up.”
Breakfast forgotten. Kenny focused on getting the info. “Hold on. Have to decrypt it.”
She gave him a moment. “Please let him be okay. Please.”
“Got it.” He propped the tablet up in front of them as a window opened up and a video started playing. Zed, her eldest brother and the one she was closest to who didn’t live at home was inside of a dingy hotel room. He looked tired, worn, and scruffy with a five day beard. “Hope this thing is working. This is the third message I’ve tried to get out to you and Maddie. If it makes it through, all the intel is in a file in the Baker’s Oven. Look for Thor’s Hammer.” Zed scrubbed a hand over his face, then glanced over his shoulder and back to the monitor. “Dad and Nev have been taken hostage by Dillon. Would have been in touch sooner, but they got to Nev shortly after I contacted him so I’m hot. Radio-fucking-active hot. Got a small team together and we are making a play in a few hours. If you don’t hear from me… fuck, forget that.”
Zed scooted closer to the screen, right up in the camera’s face and lowered his voice. “Contact Tango. As soon as you get this. Call Catfish. Do whatever you have to get him to come to you and Maddie. Give him everything on Thor’s Hammer. Then you and Maddie get to ground. Quick. This is not a drill. Repeat NOT a drill. Don’t know what Dillon’s after, but it’s big. Really big. So get your asses to ground and… Seven Dials.”
Maddie gasped. Zed called Seven Dials. That was the end of the world code phrase her grandfather had set up to mimic DEFCON status for the family and trigger them to go to ground.
Zed continued. “If I don’t make it out… fuck. Just know I love you guys and… so fucking proud of you. Both of you. Be safe. Be smart. Take care of yourselves and… Zed out.”
; The screen went dark.
After a second of shocked silence, Maddie shoved back from the table. “Get everything you can off that transmission. I want his location, time stamp, everything.”
“On it. Where are you going?”
“To my lab.” She snagged her satellite phone pocket and pulled up her contacts. Enough was enough. She was done being a pawn in this game. Shit was about to get real and Rutger Dillon was about to get his ass handed to him on a platter. No one messed with her brothers. No. One. “I want it up on the big screen in five minutes. Clear?”
“Crystal,” Kenny chirped back at her as his fingers moved in a blur across the screen.
She nodded and strode for the back hallway that led to her lab. Along the way, she made a call to Andrei. He picked up on the second ring and she didn’t wait for him to speak. “Where are you?”
“Headed to the auction. What’s wrong?”
“Dillon has Nev and Zed.”
“Only knew about Nev. You confirmed he has Zed?”
“Zed sent a video. Dillon has him.”
“Shit,” Andrei muttered. “Sinjun is at home base. I’ll call him in. Between Tango and us… fuck, we will figure a way to get them out for you.”
“Damn straight we will get them out, but don’t send Sinjun here. Delta team will be here in an hour. They’ll step in and help out.”
“I’ll let him know. What do you need me to do?”
She slapped her palm on the panel by her lab door, then looked into the retina scan and spoke the password. “Cherry bomb.” Door open she said to Andrei, “Keep doing what you’re doing and get Nexus Suit 1.0 back.”
“Will do. I’ll let you know once it’s done. AJ out.”
Maddie disconnected, then immediately called Caliv. He answered on the second ring. “Did you get the equations?”
Devil's Tango (Running with the Devil Book 1) Page 22