by Roma, Laurie
“What the hell are you talking about, Gage?” he barked out.
Gage forced himself to stop staring at Mikayla. Whenever she looked at him like that she seemed to melt his brain. The impact of those violet eyes had his cock going hard as stone inside his jeans. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he got back to the issue at hand. “Have any of you seen my movie Betrayed in the First?” At the impatient glares sent his way, Gage quickly explained about the premise of the film he had starred in. “That’s what made me see it.”
“See what?” Brett growled, at the end of his patience. “I’m giving you five seconds to explain before I hit you again.”
Gage believed him. “Alan R. Vekner. It’s an anagram. Switch the letters around and it spells out Arvan Kelner,” he explained, grinning at them.
Mikayla reached out and squeezed his hand as she saw it. “That’s brilliant, Gage! That fucker Arvan is the one behind it, I knew it!”
“Yeah, yeah…I see it too. Fuck me, it was that asshole after all,” Rock said, shaking his head. “Arvan might be clean, but Alan’s not. All we need to do is tie them together and he’s toast.”
“Find me proof. We need that third location,” Sin barked out. “Bishop, let’s talk strategy. I want a plan in place so as soon as we get the location we’re ready to move.” He turned to shoot Mikayla and Gage a knowing look. “Why don’t you two go…upstairs while we lock this down. We should have a plan in place by the time you finish another round of fight club.”
“I’m not listening. Suddenly I'm deaf and can’t fucking hear a thing,” Brett muttered as Mikayla and Gage quickly left the room, hand in hand. “Let’s get to work. The faster we kill Kelner, the better I’ll feel.”
Chapter Nineteen
They had a plan in place by the time Mikayla and Gage had fucked the lust dust out of their system again. When they returned down to the security center the rest of the team had uncovered a small warehouse purchased by one Alan R. Vekner. He had hidden it well, but once they had the name of his alias it was simple to break down the pieces of his secret life.
Under armed guards, Dr. Richard Ellis had been temporarily transported to the hospital where the kidnapped victims were recovering. He had a breakthrough and thought he had come up with a safe way to knock out a lust dust user until the worst of the effects had passed. It wasn’t an antidote, but anything that helped at this point was a step in the right direction.
With the doc safely out of the way, Brett waited to outline the strategy for the entire team once Adrian, Lucian and Sebastian returned from their recon. There were three locations in play that they needed to take down simultaneously. The plan was to leave the smaller location in the woods outside of Boulder to the FBI to take down. They had satellite images on the place and it was fairly isolated. The IAD agents were confident that the Feebs would be able to bust it up with no problem. That left the two Denver locations for the IAD team to take down, with local SWAT as backup.
Trained in urban warfare, the IAD agents decided to split into two teams so they could make sure no one had a chance to evade their trap. The first location was a house in a nice, affluent part of Denver. It was the location where David Henley was supposed to take Mikayla and hand her over to his boss. Henley had never seen the boss in person and had only spoken to his designated contact when making arrangements. The designated contact’s name was Kevin Mann, who had been sighted at the house through their surveillance. Henley had also informed them that the house was well guarded so the agents planned to go in loaded for war.
Gage pulled Rock, Adrian and Slade aside before everyone sat for the briefing, waiting for a moment when Mikayla was occupied talking to Tara. “Mikayla is my life now. I’m trusting you guys to take care of her out there. She comes back in exactly the same shape as she leaves or I will find a way to make you pay.”
Overhearing the conversation, Brett smiled as he sat down at the conference table. “You won’t have to worry about that, Gage. You’ll be going with us.”
“I…what?”
Brett gestured for everyone to take a seat and waited until they did before explaining. “You’ll be going with us. Since we have two primary targets to hit we’re going to need one of our best sharpshooters at each location.”
“Lynx, you’ll be with me at the warehouse, which is now considered first location. I want you on the roof of this building across the street. From there you’ll have a perfect view of the surrounding area as well as inside with an infrared scope. You can cover us as we go in,” Sin said.
“Commander, I want to—”
“I know what you want, but you can’t have it.” Sin’s voice held a steel thread of command now. “In the last few days you’ve been kidnapped, drugged with all kinds of shit and have been fucked within an inch of your life. All of which was while you were on medical leave from a gunshot wound which you haven’t yet fully recovered from, no matter how much the cryo-fix has helped. I need you hunkered down in a nest across the street doing what you do best.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sin grinned at her response given through clenched teeth. He turned to Gage then. “Your job, your only job will be to make sure she can do hers. Your ass will be right next to hers, making sure no one tries to kill her. I need you to tell me that you can take out anyone that approaches your location and kill whoever tries to stop her.”
“I can do that,” Gage said with complete conviction, cutting off any of Mikayla’s objections. He’d never killed anyone before, but he knew he could do it if it meant saving Mikayla. He stared at her, his gaze filled with determination until she nodded.
“That means I’m going to need you covering my team at the second location, Slade. You’ll set up your nest at this location here—” Brett said, pointing to the house across the street from their target, “and take out as many targets as you can.”
“Fun for me,” Slade said with a grin.
“T-rex, Steele, Sal, Sebastian, you’ll be going in with me. We’ve got multiple tangos and an unknown number of kidnap victims at this location. Dylan and Julian can work the surveillance in the van from this point a block away.”
Dylan’s eyes went wide with shock. “Holy hell, I’m going too?”
“Wait a second—” Julian protested as Tara shot a grateful look at Brett.
“You don’t get to play this time,” Brett snapped. “You and Dylan are good with computers and we need you on surveillance. Both of you will keep your asses in that van or I swear to god I will beat you so bad you won’t be able to walk for a month. What?” he asked as he noted Dylan’s considering look.
“I was just thinking…I’m respectfully terrified of Sin, since he’s the biggest bad-ass I’ve ever met, but you are a very, very close second.”
“Damn, I guess I’ll have to try harder.” Brett grinned.
“I like this kid,” Sin said, considering Dylan as he leaned back in his chair. “Want a job?”
“No!” Gage, Mikayla, Sebastian and Nick all shouted at once, making the other agents laugh.
Sin sobered. “Rock, Adrian and Nick, you’ll be with me at the first location. Nick, we have a shoot-on-sight policy for the targets. You gonna have a problem with that?”
“Not a one.”
“Good.”
“We’re not going to have anyone working surveillance?” Mikayla asked.
“We are.”
Confused, Mikayla asked, “Who?”
“Me,” a voice said from the doorway.
Mikayla’s eyes widened with shock as her friend and fellow agent Katrina “Trinity” Cross slowly walked into the room. Brett quickly stood, moving to help Trinity, but she waved him away, making her way to her seat by herself.
“Stubborn women…” Brett muttered to himself as he sat back down.
Trinity grinned at all the astonished looks being sent her way. “What, you bitches didn’t think I was going to let you have all the fun without me, did you?”
“Trinity…”<
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“Oops. Sorry, boss. Bitches was used strictly as an affectionate term of endearment said with the highest respect implied,” Trinity said in response to Sin’s aggrieved sigh. She shot a look over at Gage and Mikayla and sent her friend a wink. “Holy hell, Batman. He’s even better looking in person. Lucky you.”
Gage looked at Mikayla, unsure how to respond. She patted his hand with a smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. I’m glad to see your okay, Trin.”
“You aren’t getting rid of me that easy. I may not be my usual kick-ass self, what with a couple of holes in me and all, but I can still run a surveillance better than most of you.”
“True,” Lucian said with a grin. “But I’m surprised you’re not arguing to go in with the rest of us.”
Brett frowned. “She did. Not going to happen.”
Sal whispered loudly to Dylan, jerking his thumb at Sin and Brett. “You may think they’re the scary ones, but the truth is it’s the female agents that are the most dangerous.”
“Aww, you sweet talker you,” Tara quipped.
“You give the best compliments,” Mikayla said with a smile while Trinity simply laughed. Gage and his family looked at all of them like they were crazy.
“You’re giving me a goddamn ulcer, all of you,” Brett snapped.
Sin shot him a sardonic glance. “This is why I usually leave dealing with the agents to the division heads like you.”
“Gee, thanks,” Brett muttered. “Be honest. You’re just here so you can kill someone.”
Sin chuckled. “Of course…why else?”
“Well, let’s get to it then,” Mikayla said. “I have some of my own payback to dish out.”
* * * *
Mikayla stared down the scope of her sniper rifle, tracking over the outside of the building. She flipped a small switch then looked through the special attachment that allowed her to see the heat signatures within the building she was staring at.
“Lynx in position. Eight tangos in sight. Two at the front entrance and one at the eastern side. The rest are inside. Three are sitting at a table on the second floor. Two tangos are on the first floor, opposite sides,” she said softly, knowing the mic inside her earpiece would pick up her voice. One of IAD’s newer toys, their earpieces were the latest technology. Once in place it allowed for the person wearing it to be heard clearly while blocking out all ambient noise. It also allowed the user to hear everything clearly. It was tiny, effective, and essential when working in a group mission.
“Got it,” Sin’s voice came over the comm. “In position in five. Standby.”
“Copy that.” Thankfully, the warehouse was in a fairly deserted area, which allowed the IAD agents to approach without worrying too much about stealth until they got closer to the building.
Mikayla and Gage had gone ahead of the rest of the team to get in place. When all the teams were in place, they would be ready to rock. The FBI team had checked in and were waiting for the signal to storm the cabin in the woods. Team two was at the house in Denver. Slade had already checked in to tell them they were in position.
Everyone just waited for their commander’s signal to go.
Mikayla took the opportunity of the quiet before the storm to look over at Gage. Even in her mind it was hard to believe he was now her fiancé, but he was and he was here guarding her back.
He had been quiet since the briefing. Never having done anything remotely like this, Gage had taken in everything in silence while they prepared for the mission. Nick and Sebastian had a better understanding on what went into the prep for an operation, while Dylan had asked nonstop questions to any of the agents that were within hearing distance.
At first Mikayla had worried that all of this was too much for Gage, but she had seen him visibly relax as she had given him the specialized combat gear of black pants and shirt made of a material that would protect him from almost anything.
“You’ll be wearing this too, right?” Gage had asked.
“Yes, we always do. This is standard for missions when we don’t have to blend in plain clothes or something to play a role.”
“Good.”
Her worry somewhat assuaged, Gage’s eyes had gotten wider and wider as she slid two blades down the special pockets of her boots and checked and rechecked her prized rifle. She had been amused by the glazed look of lust that had crossed his face as she strapped on her dual thigh holsters for her handguns.
“Don’t get any ideas,” she’d warned.
“Baby, with the way you look right now I can’t help getting all kinds of ideas.”
“Keep those ideas for later, Hollywood. We’ve got work to do first.”
Gage struggled to control his fear and nerves as he waited next to Mikayla on the rooftop. He had done this sort of thing several times before, but it had only been in the movies and he had just been acting. This time there was no director waiting to call “cut” and there were actual bullets loaded in their weapons that did real damage. This entire situation had his emotions going haywire, but he would suck it up and do his job.
He had to.
No one was going to get past him to get to Mikayla.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Gage muttered as she eyed him warily. His hand flexing on the gun in his hand, anxious for the action to begin.
“Gage…If you aren’t comfortable with this you can go wait in the van with Trinity.”
He blew out a breath, forcing his heart rate to slow. “I’m fine, really. I know I’m usually a hot-head, but I have a good hold on the crazy right now. This time I’m trying to follow your lead, keeping it chilly. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than protecting your fine ass. Gotta make sure you’re in one piece when this is all over so we can have another two days locked in our bedroom.”
She smiled then cursed as Trinity’s voice sounded through their comms.
“Aww, that’s so sweet, Lynx. From what I heard, you two could make millions if you decided to go into porn.”
“Damn it, Trin.”
Trinity laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m blocking this conversation from the rest of the team. Just wanted to remind lover boy there that everyone on the team can hear him through the comms when I have the feed open.”
This time Gage cursed.
Ignoring him, Mikayla’s attention was pulled back to the street below. “Damn. Open the line to the team, Trinity.”
“Opening the line now.”
“I’ve got an approaching vehicle coming from the east end of the street. Pulling up in three, two, one. Entering the warehouse from the side entrance garage door. Outside guard is following them in.”
“Is it Kelner?” came Sin’s voice.
“Unknown. I only saw the driver. There was a passenger inside the car, but I couldn’t see him. Trinity?”
“It’s him. I have that fucker’s face on my screen, front and center. Primary target’s identity of Arvan Kelner is confirmed.”
“Door is closing. Only the two tangos out in front still outside. All original tangos inside are now on the first floor, along with the two in the car,” Mikayla informed her team as she watched two men get out of the car inside the warehouse. The driver went to the trunk of the car and opened it. Bile rose in her throat and she fought it down with ruthless control. She wanted to let out a vicious curse, but let her voice frost over instead. The hint of icy fury in her tone told her team she wanted vengeance.
“Boss, the driver just opened the trunk and is taking out two women. I repeat, two women are getting out of the trunk. They are having trouble walking on their own and are being taken to the back by two tangos. Five are heading upstairs, three are remaining below in the main area.”
“Copy that.” Sin’s own voice had gone hard as stone. “Lynx, give us locations.”
Mikayla quickly told her team exactly where the tangos were located and listened in as Sin made contact with Bishop and the lead agent of the FBI team. When they were all ready to roll, she heard Sin give the command
she had been waiting for.
“All teams, mission is a go. Take out the sentries, Lynx.”
Mikayla took a deep breath then released it on a slow, silent hiss as she pulled the trigger. She was already pulling the bolt action back, extracting the empty cartridge and chambering a new round into the rifle before the first body fell. She pulled the trigger again and the second guard collapsed, a small round hole gracing his forehead.
“Targets down. You’re a go.”
She watched as her team entered the building, guns at the ready, sweeping as they went. She could easily tell their bodies apart from the tangos as the special combat material held in their body heat, showing them as ghosts in dark blue and purple compared to the bright red, orange and yellow heat signatures of the others. She watched the three tangos drop to the ground as they were shot and her team split up to clear the lower level.
“Three down,” Rock informed them in a whisper. “Shit, there are two huge metal containers in here filled with the drug. They’re making this crap in mass quantities.”
That was seriously bad news.
“They’ve got a serious shit-ton of product in this place. Packaged, stacked and ready to go. Liquid and pill form,” Adrian told them. “This would be an epic fucking nightmare if this gets to the streets.”
“Two more tangos down in back. Ground floor is clear,” Sin said softly. “Trinity, Nick is heading out the side entrance with the girls to meet you.”
“Copy that, boss,” Trinity confirmed. “I’ll be waiting.”
Mikayla continued to track her team with her scope, noticing a Mercedes SUV driving down the street out of the corner of her eye. “Nick, hold position. We have a car approaching from the east. Trinity, can you see who it is?”
“Negative. I’m still too far away and the windows are tinted. The car is pulling away now though. Three people in the vehicle but I can’t see faces.”
They could all hear Nick’s low curse. “These women have been drugged with lust dust and I have my hands full…literally. I need to bring them out now.”
“Keep an eye out for that car. Something about it didn’t feel right. Not in this area,” Mikayla said as she tracked the streets below then trained her scope on the figures sitting around the table on the second floor inside the building.