by Nico Rosso
She put together her night vision rig and scanned the area ahead, including their path back to the cinderblock wall at the far edge of the yard. Everything was clear. She led them through the gap in the motion sensors and farther among the train tracks.
They continued their methodical process during egress. The activity in the yard continued, but the warehouse remained dark. She and Ben reached the wall and moved in perfect sync. She climbed his body then helped him over. Once back on the ground, they slithered into the shadows of the ditch and followed it back toward the hotel.
The immediate danger was over. The bigger war was coming.
Chapter Thirteen
Often, after a successful mission, Ben and his team would celebrate with beers and cigars. But there was no victory now, even though he and Mary had made it back to his hotel room without being detected. She sat on the small couch, and he took the floor, leaning against the wall next to the window. Long, slow breaths helped release the buzzing tension. The operation, though, continued. The rest of the strike team needed to assemble in town, the plan needed to be set, then the gunrunners needed to be neutralized before they moved their goods. That was the thorn. Could Automatik show up in time?
“Wish I could crack open a beer with you.” He unlaced his boots but left them on for now.
She stretched her legs out onto the coffee table. “At Art and Hayley’s place. With those dumplings.”
“And those bomb-ass nachos.” And a quiet table, just him and her. Safe, with all the time in the world. He allowed himself to revel in the plan. Nothing big. A dinner. Something to hope for on the other side of the operation.
He kicked off his boots and hauled himself to standing at the edge of the window. The curtains were closed, but he could see through the edge that Morris Flats slept below them. Only the highway through the middle of town had any cars and trucks moving on it. The roads were clear. His vantage didn’t see far enough to the east to cover the rail yard.
“Fuck this town.” He hated seeing all those guns piled up, waiting for eager hands. And he hated the constant danger he and Mary were in. All they needed was a little protected moment. A couple of beers, and they might be able to figure out what they’d be after all this. His neck cracked as he tipped his head back and forth to stretch out the tightness from tonight’s mission. “That could’ve gone to hell in a second.”
She stood and walked to the opposite side of the window and peered down. “We both know hell.”
Streetlights below carved her features in gold. A weary warrior who’d seen and done all the things he carried with him as well.
“Maybe that’s why we were able to lift each other out of it.” He moved away from the window.
She followed him into the middle of the room, her face still, eyes revealing depth. Finally, she spoke. “You’re too good at this.”
“You didn’t say that when we were infiltrating the yard.” He knew what she meant but couldn’t meet her head-on.
“I trust you as an operator.” She didn’t look at him. “As a teammate.”
“But not as a...” He waited for her to finish the sentence. She didn’t, so he added, “Friend?”
“I have friends, but we don’t spend time in the backseats of cars.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Not my friends, either.” The distance between them seemed harder to cross than miles of razor wire and claymore mines. “But we might be that. Might be more.”
“Don’t give me that ‘friends with benefits’ bullshit.” Her hands dropped to her sides, like she was ready to fight. “That’s just a convenient way of leaving an escape route.”
“I don’t need an escape route because I don’t feel trapped.” He stepped toward her. She stood her ground. He approached cautiously. He didn’t know how to get around her defenses and frustration edged into him. “We can be friends, and we can be whatever else feels right.”
“Like I said, you’re too good at this.” Her voice was flat.
He absorbed the jab and continued. “Because it feels right, doesn’t it?” Any second, one of those mines could go off, but he couldn’t stop now that he’d ventured so far.
She ventured into the danger with him. “It does.”
His heart beat faster in a tight chest. “I can’t be good at this,” he told her, “because I’ve never done it before.”
“I can’t be temporary.” She was still poised, ready for a fight.
“How could I get enough of you?” He wasn’t interested in a fight. No games. No hustle. He told the truth, and from there, couldn’t change the trajectory.
“But you are good.” She slid forward noiselessly. “Too damn slick, Ben Jackson.”
“For you.” He met her in the middle of the room. “Only you.”
Her warm hand slid over his chest and curled into a fist, gripping his shirt. His frustration and trepidation burned away. He held her waist, pulled her closer. She smelled of the cool night and hot skin. He leaned down and kissed her. They met like a sigh, a release. Relief in the midst of the conflict.
She breathed deep and rested her head on his shoulder. “Why don’t you brief the team? I’m going to get ready for bed.”
The memory of the cold sheets edged into his calm. “You spending the night?”
“Can’t stay away anymore.” She smiled, and a broad heat opened up inside him.
With her fist still balled in his shirt, she shook him, then released him and walked to the bathroom. He sat on the couch and updated Automatik on everything they’d found during the night’s recon. Mary reemerged after a few minutes and helped recount details like the requisition numbers on the crates and the final base destinations. The timeline for the strike team’s assembly was sped up, but there was only so much they could do. A quick influx of strangers would take a simmering situation to a boil.
Mary perched on the arm of the couch and rested her forearm on his back so she could read over his shoulder as he typed on the phone. It was as easy as when she’d climbed him to get to the warehouse window. They didn’t need words all the time.
They finished the debrief, and he placed his phone on the coffee table. Going over the list of weapons found had wound the muscles of his neck tight. It was difficult to speak through his clenched jaw. “Those guns can’t hit the street.”
She rested her palm between his shoulder blades, reminding him to breathe. “We’re going to stop them.”
“The SAWs, the Barrett...” He turned to her. “Those are for psychos with big agendas.”
Her eyes were grave. “No one’s going to get their hands on them.”
He had to share her conviction. Doubt wouldn’t accomplish their mission. “Kit Daily’s going to fight.”
“He’s a dinosaur.” Her lip curled. “And his security is lazy and confident.”
“And we’re neither.” Weariness ringed his joints and tugged them down. He stood and ambled toward the bathroom. “We’re ghosts.”
Her words floated like smoke behind him. “The bullet they’ll never see.”
The day officially ended with the brushing of his teeth. He completed his other nighttime needs and returned to the room to find Mary standing next to the bed with her tactical vest in her hand.
Her shape was barely visible, but her husky voice shot a flash of heat through him. “I’m slipping into something more comfortable.” She released her pistol from its holster and placed it on the nightstand, then laid her vest out on the floor within reach.
The mission didn’t let up. Even with the two of them alone in his room and the bed welcoming them. He arranged his own gun on his night table and knew the backup was close in his luggage. A folding knife and a flashlight joined his sidearm, all within reach.
Clothing rustled on the other side of the bed. Mary unbuckled her belt a
nd slid out of her pants. Her lithe shape crawled over the white sheets, then disappeared into them. He took off his fatigues and pursued her. The bed was cold and crisp until he met the intensity of her skin. The lean strength of her muscles. The smell of her hair and the silhouette of her mouth.
He leaned up over her and dipped down for a kiss. She rose to meet him. Their limbs wound together. He ran his fingers through her hair. She stroked across his shoulders and back. His erection grew. She pressed her belly against it, but their bodies knew it wasn’t the time. Not without complete safety. Their rhythm remained calm like a quiet sea.
All the cold was chased from the bed. The kiss ended, and they held each other. He listened to her heartbeat with his head on her chest and found peace in her steady thrum. She scratched lightly over his hair and rubbed his earlobe between her fingers.
They slowly untangled until they lay shoulder to shoulder. She draped her leg over his. He traced the bottom edge of her panties and stroked up and down her thigh.
It only took a whisper to reach her. “I don’t know where you live. You got an abandoned warehouse loft where you oil your weapons and lift cinderblocks for exercise?”
“And you’re in a glass brick condo with neon wall art and a circular bed covered in black satin sheets.”
“You’ve been spying on me.” It was hard to blame her for conjuring that, based on his reputation.
“I’ve got a place in San Francisco,” she said. “In a tall building on a hill.”
“Of course.” He imagined her watching the city, the whole west coast, from her window. “High vantage.”
Her voice darkened a bit. “And multiple escape routes.”
“I get you.” He rested his hand on her thigh. Even home didn’t always feel safe.
“You do.” She wedged her hand under his ass.
“Automatik has some financial perks, but do they cover San Francisco rent?” He tried to see her in a city without her tactical gear on. “I pick up outside work consulting, and my apartment’s not that prime.”
“I’m mostly covered.” She paused, and he wondered if that was all she’d disclose. “But I still get out in the daylight. I teach self-defense for women at a few gyms around town.”
“Sweet. That’s the good work.” He could see how her calm and attention to detail would make her a great instructor. “I wish they didn’t need it.”
“Me, too.” Her voice heated for a moment. “But until then...”
He leaned toward her. “If you ever want a demonstration dummy, call me.”
She chuckled and pinched his butt. “I don’t think my students would want to see what I do with you once I get you on the ground.”
“Yeah, that’s like tenth-degree black belt level, top secret, no-holds-barred hand to hand.”
She grew more pensive. “But really, it might be good for them to have you there for some of the training. As the bad guy and the good guy.”
“San Francisco to San Diego, is that long distance enough for you, sniper?” Risky, making plans and commitments like that. Even the suggestion sent a tremor of possibility up his back.
She turned and looked at him, light gathering in her eyes. “I can make that shot.”
No promises. It was how they operated. If she said it, she meant it. And he’d do anything to find a way.
They drifted into comfortable silence. Her breathing slowed next to him. A dream took her skimming along sleep, her arm twitching. He remained awake and allowed his body to sink into the mattress. Aches and tension in his joints and muscles dissolved. She woke with a sigh and sat up slightly on her pillows. With Mary on watch, he allowed himself to drift away. Tonight’s mission was over. The operation would resume tomorrow, after they’d taken their shifts resting. For now, he was safe with the most dangerous woman he knew.
* * *
Sunrise sliced through the gaps in the curtains. Ben was already awake. Mary had been breathing steady next to him, but he knew she wasn’t sleeping. They’d traded off sleeping and watching most of the early morning. About a half hour before daybreak, he’d made eye contact with her, confirming they were both awake. But they remained motionless, resting before the next stage of the mission. An uneasy twist churned in his gut. The next stage was undefined.
He sat up and stretched his arms, neck and back. “Do we wait? Collect more intel?”
She eased out of the bed, then disappeared behind it for a second. With a quick breath, she popped back up again. Then down. After ten burpees, she performed a brief yoga routine that revealed the long strength of her arms and legs.
He was watching the swivel of her waist above her panties when she answered, “I’ve been thinking about that, too.” The shake of her head revealed she struggled with the uncertainty as much as he did. “Security forces are in town. Cops are blocking roads. If we keep probing, they’ll know something’s up. Or they’ll at least work really hard at getting us out of town.”
“Ben Louis and Mary Long would probably just lie low. She still has work to do here, right?”
She calculated in her head. “Probably a little more scouting on the west side.”
He stood and charged his blood by shadowboxing for a moment. “Ben Louis did everything he could here, but he’d stay because Mary Long’s sticking around.”
“Ben Louis is a dog.” She smirked and took a little extra time pulling her pants on while he watched.
“Ben Louis is sprung.” Something he’d never been. Maybe in high school, before he’d figured out the easier ways to fit together with a woman and not have either of them tangled up. But that wasn’t going to work with Mary. They were knotted. And he wanted it that way.
It was her turn to watch as he dressed. Desire heated her eyes. “Mary’s got it bad, too.”
Seeing her like that and hearing her admit it made him burn, too. “I’m going to need more time with you.” He crossed in front of the bed to her. “Slow time.”
Sadness crossed her face. He knew why. Planning ahead could be dangerous. Determination was necessary for the mission, but he’d been trained not to expect too much from the future.
She fought through the doubt and gazed at him with open need and resolve. “We’ll find that time.”
He believed her. He’d battle to the end to make that happen.
The clock spun on their mission, but he stole a moment and held his hand out to her, palm up. She placed hers on it, and he lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Guaranteed,” he said and let her hand go.
She didn’t say anything, but he watched her parted lips, the rise and fall of her chest with a long breath. Then the steel returned to her eyes, the hard mask of the warrior. But not cold with him. The woman was ready for today’s mission. “So what would Mary Long and Ben Louis do this morning, after their night together?”
He considered. “They’ve been hanging out for, what, three days?”
“You do have more experience with this kind of thing than I do.” She grinned, wry.
But it stabbed a little too deep. “We’ve all got history.”
Her face grew serious. “I’m sorry. I won’t make that a thing again.”
He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “Thanks.” Then he continued mulling her question. “They’re both on the road for work... They’re both climbing the ladder...” He looked at Mary and just wanted to wrap himself around her, take her to the bed and make love until sunset, eat a hot dinner, then keep going. “This place doesn’t have room service, so they’re not shacking up.”
She ventured, “Breakfast in the lobby?”
“Not after their first night in bed.” A pang of unease hit his gut. “I think they’d split up to have their mornings. Shower, brush their teeth, all that ordinary stuff you don’t want to see after getting busy with a new hookup.” The id
ea of parting ways chilled him. Not just because he wanted days and days to discover her body. The whole town was heating up around them.
“We should be operating together.” She obviously understood the dilemma and chewed her bottom lip. “But I think you’re right on all points. She just wants to take a pee with the door open and catch up on social media.”
A laugh bubbled up through him. “Now I got that picture in my head. Thank you.”
“Any time, sailor.” She winked, picked up her bundled coat and tactical vest and walked to the door. He didn’t want her to go, but he opened it for her. They kissed one last time with her partly in the hallway. For show. And for them. Their connection. Their promise.
She sauntered down the hall. He watched her all the way to the elevator.
Bad things were happening in town. Things were going to get worse.
* * *
The man moved like shrapnel, closer to her heart with each rush of her blood. And the way her pulse raced with him, it would be all over for her soon. But was it dangerous? Was it death? It didn’t feel like it. Not the way she wanted more of him. More time to savor his skin and energy. His quick wit. The way he understood her and listened to learn more.
Mary sat alone in her room, in the way her alter ego would have, in accordance to Ben’s plan. But she wasn’t Mary Long. Instead of pretending to work on her laptop while surfing social media and checking prices on vacation airfare, she oiled her guns. The .38 and the 10mm were laid out on a microfiber cloth across the bed. She checked and rechecked the actions. The clicking metal was as comfortable as if she was cracking her own knuckles. The sights were still aligned the way she liked them, though she did most of her shooting instinctually now and could place her bullet on a dime at twenty paces with her eyes closed. She loaded the pistols and put them away before taking out her big single-shot break barrel.