Operation Sheba

by Evans, Misty

  The smells drew the hungry men from the den. Smitty set the table and Con set out beers for all of them. During the meal, cramped around Julia’s small table even with the leaf in it, Ace made light conversation, but Con sat staring at his beer, moving the bottle in slow circles with one hand while devouring his food in silence with the other.

  When the last piece of rice was gone, Ace cleared the table and Julia loaded the dishwasher. It was growing dark outside and Smitty took Ace to help unload computer hardware from the van he and Con were using. He wanted to set up their base center again in their apartment.

  Con sat at the table. His jaw was clenched so hard Julia feared he’d shear off enamel. Sadness welled up in her for all of them to lose such a trusted and respected friend, but especially for Conrad.

  Susan had recruited him to be a special counterterrorism expert in Europe, placed him in the jobs he wanted and had given him enough lead to do just about anything he deemed necessary in those jobs. She had trusted him to carry out his work with little interference and he knew she’d claim deniability if he was caught taking care of business outside the normal parameters established by the U.S. government and the CIA. Not at all how Michael ran things, but Susan and Conrad had formed a bond over the years that was nearly unbreachable. Susan was one of a handful of people Conrad had trusted with his life.

  Now, she had betrayed him.

  Julia knew exactly how that felt.

  She sat at the table, took the beer bottle from his hand. “Sucks, doesn’t it?”

  Con looked at her, looked away. “Yeah.”

  For a few minutes, they said nothing. Then Julia got up, brought Con a fresh beer. “I wonder who Cari’s dad is.”

  Con took a drink, eyed her over the bottle. “Why?”

  Julia gave a shrug, got herself a beer. “I never knew my dad, either.”

  “So now you’re feeling sorry for her?”

  On some level, Julia did feel sorry for her. “I was just wondering. I wish I’d have asked her.”

  Con rolled his eyes, twisted the beer bottle around. “We can’t know for sure she’s even telling the truth, Julia.”

  Julia stared at him in disbelief. “Five-plus-years of diary entries is a pretty elaborate lie.”

  “Cari may be working for Stone, trying to throw us off his trail and onto Susan’s.”

  Words eluded her for a moment. “Have you lost your mind? You still think Michael is behind all of this?”

  When he didn’t answer, Julia felt a fissure crack inside of her, white-hot anger born of exhaustion and frustration reaching for the surface. “You need to get a grip, Flynn. Cari Von Motz just handed us the Titanic on a platter and you’re still questioning whether the ship actually existed.”

  “All the evidence Smitty and I have points to Stone.”

  “Because Susan set it up that way!”

  For the second time that day, Julia found herself locked in a stare down. Con was more intimidating than Cari, but Julia was not, nor ever had been, scared of him. “I know this requires a big shift in your thinking, but you have to look at the facts. Susan Richmond is using you to destroy Michael’s career so she can further hers. She set us all up, Con, including her own daughter to pull this off. She’s a coldhearted bitch who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.”

  Con pushed his chair back, left the table to stare out her patio door. His arms crossed over his chest, his back to her, Julia remembered the definition she’d seen in his back yesterday morning when he was lying asleep on her couch. She closed her eyes for a minute to remember it fully. Then took a deep breath and plunged back into the present. “Your dislike of Michael is clouding your judgment,” she said quietly.

  He turned on her, his eyebrows drawn down, a nerve in his cheek dancing. “And your schoolgirl crush on him is clouding yours.”

  Schoolgirl crush? Julia sat speechless for a moment. Thinking about it, she decided arguing with Conrad, throwing down a gauntlet, wasn’t going to resolve their disagreement. “Okay.” She struggled to keep her voice steady. “Maybe you’re right. But I’m right too. We have to look at this with logic, not emotion. We’ll get it figured out tonight and tomorrow we’ll decide what to do with the information, who we’ll take it to. Agreed?”

  Smitty and Ace came breezing in, but they stopped at the visible tension in the room and looked from Conrad to her and back to him. Con shrugged. “I’m not agreeing to anything at this point.”

  Julia felt her anger rise again. “It’s the right thing to do.”

  “Maybe for you.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Con scrubbed his face with both hands and looked at his feet. “I want you off this operation. You can go back to Stone’s tonight. Smitty and I will figure this out.”

  Julia got up and stood by her chair, gripping the back tightly. “I risked life and limb to copy Michael’s computer files and risked my career to protect you, to help you.” She pointed at the chair. “I sat here and got Cari to tell me how and why she’s been helping Susan create this whole mess, and now you think you’re going to kick me off this operation?” She paused. “You better think again.”

  Con crossed his arms again. His next words came out firmly, distinctly, and cut Julia to the quick. “I can’t trust you, Jules.”

  “What? Why you dirty rotten—”

  Before she could reach out and slap him, Smitty grabbed her arm and steered her into the den. “Let me talk to him,” he said in a low voice. “He’s barely slept in a week and he’s already on emotional overload because of you. This thing with Susan—gosh—the guy’s skin has been peeled back and his guts are hanging out, you know? He’s mad as hell and he doesn’t know what to do with all of that. He doesn’t trust anyone right now, probably not even me. We have to cut him some slack. By tomorrow we’ll have this figured out and Con will feel in control again. That’s all he needs. To feel in control.”

  Tears stung the back of her eyelids even as anger bubbled inside her like a hot springs. “I’m not going back to Michael’s tonight. I don’t care what he says. I’m staying here and helping you figure out what is going on. So decide what you want me to do because I’m staying.”

  Smitty gave her a lopsided smile, and ruffled her hair. “All right, I can use you. The first thing on our agenda is to set up a timeline using Cari’s journal entries and our notes and see if it all jives. You can help with that. You’ll notice details I won’t. But hang tight for a few minutes and let me talk to Con.”

  Julia nodded and let Smitty push her down onto the couch before he went back to the kitchen. Tears slid down her cheeks as she listened to the muffled conversation in the other room. Ace came in, sat down beside her without a word. After reaching into his back pocket, he brought out a clean cotton hankie and offered it to her. She took it, blew her nose and gave him a thankful look.

  Ace shook his head slowly and clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Man, this spy shit is crazy stuff.”

  Julia sniffed. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Thoroughness was a hallmark of Conrad Flynn. Ryan Smith too. At one a.m., Julia left the two of them in their apartment with the computers and the timeline and dragged herself to her bedroom and collapsed. She stuck the SIG under her pillow. The room was still dark when she woke around five thirty with all her senses on alert. There was no noise, but she knew someone was in her room. Had Cari come back? Slowly, she reached under her pillow, wrapped her hand around the gun…

  “It’s me, Jules.” Conrad’s voice came to her from the corner. As Julia’s eyes adjusted, she could make him out, sitting on a chair. “I’d rather not be target practice today, so don’t shoot at me. I’m too tired to move.”

  Julia withdrew her hand and sat up, pushing hair out of her face. “What are you doing in here, sitting in the dark?”

  “Watching you sleep.” He paused, let out a sigh. “Making sure you’re safe.”

  Julia yawned. �
�This may come as a shock to you, but I can take care of myself.”

  “Yes,” he said, surprising her. “You can.”

  She waited. Heard him shift in the chair.

  “You were right. Looks like Stone’s been set up by Susan, just like we have.”

  Julia’s breath caught in her throat. “You matched it all up then?”

  “Smitty’s verified ninety-nine percent of the information Cari gave you. We also went through the files you brought us from Stone’s computers. He’s clean.”

  Julia let out a little whoop of joy. “Yes! I knew it.”

  Conrad leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and dropping his forehead into his hands. Julia’s elation turned to concern. “Have you slept at all?”

  “No.” He pushed himself out of the chair. “I wanted to tell you about Stone before I went to bed. I may not get up for awhile.”

  Even in the darkness, Julia could see his shoulders were stooped, his posture one of resignation as well as exhaustion. “Thank you.”

  He moved to the side of the bed and held out his hand. “Truce?”

  Julia took his hand in hers and that wonderful spark for him that always lay right under her skin jumped to life. “The Great Conrad Flynn saves the world again.”

  His hand gripped hers firmly. “Yeah.” His chuckle held only sadness. “And here I was only trying to save you.”

  Her heart beating a fast and familiar rhythm, Julia pulled him down to sit beside her. His face was inches from hers and shadowed, but in her mind she could see it clearly. She released his hand and touched his face, running her fingers over his eyebrows, his cheekbones and stopping at his lips. She breathed in his Conrad smell. “I would love to kiss you,” she half-whispered to him.

  He leaned forward a micron, but stopped and then pulled back. “Don’t play with my head, Jules. You want to make me pay for betraying you? I get it, and I’ve said I’m sorry, and I’d do anything to get you back because I’ll love you until they bury me six feet under, but I know you’re in love with Stone. I get that too. So even though it’s killing me, I’ll leave you alone. Let you have him. After this is done, after we’ve caught Susan and righted all the wrongs, I’ll go away, and you and Stone can live happily ever after in that big mansion of his on the hill.”

  He started to rise, but Julia caught his arm, jerked him back hard. He fell nearly on top of her. “Shut up,” she said, pulling his face to hers, “and kiss me, you dirty rotten sneak.”

  She kissed him before he could say anything, slowly and thoroughly. And then he kissed her back, just as slowly and thoroughly. For a few minutes, all they did was kiss each other. It melted her bones and made her heart ache with relief. He was here, he was alive and he loved her. The ache in her heart spread through her muscles and pulsed in her veins and she felt tears sting her eyes.

  “You’re crying, Jules.” He drew back. “This isn’t what you want—”

  She cradled his face with her hands. “It is what I want, Conrad. I want you.”

  A few beats of her heart went by. “If this is a test,” he whispered, “I’m about to fail it.”

  “It’s not a test.”

  He pulled her to him. This time their lips came together harder, seeking the familiar and yet new terrain of the other’s. Julia wrapped her arms around his neck and inhaled him. She pulled at his T-shirt as he pulled at hers. In seconds they were both naked from the waist up. His hands were on her breasts, cupping them, brushing his thumbs over the tight nipples until she moaned. Arching her back, she clasped his head with both hands and brought his mouth down to her breasts. He eased her back onto the mattress, his wet tongue working one and then the other breast over with just as much thoroughness as he’d applied to her lips.

  God, she needed him so bad. Needed a release only he could give her. He’s alive, her mind and heart sang in unison. We’re alive.

  She tugged at his jeans, unzipped them, watched as he struggled out of them. Then he threw back the covers and yanked her pajama bottoms off in one fell swoop. She was wearing another pair of his old boxer briefs. He stopped, and she saw the flash of his teeth as he grinned at her.

  She giggled. “God, I’ve missed you.”

  Conrad descended on her again, kissing a hot trail down her chest, over her navel and to the edge of his underwear, several days’ worth of stubble scratching her skin. He planted his hands on either side of her hips and tongued her through the cotton material. Julia’s hips rose and she tore at the underwear to remove it. Conrad helped her, took his mouth to her and just like that, just from the touch of his tongue against her naked, wet self, she came apart, crying his name in one long sob of release.

  He let her rest for a minute, and she drifted, boneless and happy.

  Laying kisses on her thighs, he touched her with his fingers, and a whole new current of desire rushed through her. He fed her with soft, sure strokes, but before she reached her climax, she drew away from him and pushed him down on the bed. In seconds, she had stripped his underwear off and taken him in her hands. He sucked in his breath and grabbed her hips with his hands, maneuvering her on top. Guiding each other, they came together in a forceful impact.

  With her need burning deep and raw, Julia came apart on top of him in two strokes. She threw her head back and gave voice to the explosion inside her. Conrad laughed softly, roughly, under her, and in the growing light, she saw the ownership in his eyes, but she didn’t care. She planted her hands on his chest and pumped her hips. A few strokes later, it was Conrad who lost control and Julia who smiled down at him and laughed under her breath.

  The descent was slower and quieter. Julia sagged on Conrad’s chest and he held her close. Her heart felt like it would beat out of her body, but soon it slowed and kept time with his. Morning dawned, but still neither of them moved.

  Conrad fell asleep before her, his arms still holding her. Julia stretched her body the length of his and felt herself relax, really relax, for the first time in days.

  Listening to his deep, steady breathing, she closed her mind off to everything else and joined him in sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “From Cari, we know Susan has a Plan A and a Plan B,” Smitty said, handing Julia a gallon of milk. She measured out two cups, dumping them into the flour mix and stirring. She and Smitty were in the kitchen whipping up pancakes. Ace was heating syrup in the microwave. Con was still sleeping. A part of Julia wanted to be nestled in bed with him, but she was hungry and a sense of foreboding hung over her. What Con had said last night about Cari had stuck in her head.

  “You’ve got the goods on her,” Ace said. “Why do you care what her plans are? Give Big Mike the low down, and she’s in the state pen.”

  Conrad said, swaggering into the kitchen, barefoot and shirtless, only his jeans on, “It’s not enough.” He still looked tired, but Julia could see immediately there was less frenetic energy pouring out of him. The sleep had helped.

  And possibly the sex too. She smiled smugly at him as she dropped chopped pecans into the batter.

  He pinned her with his dark brown stare, smiled back and the next thing she knew, he had her in a full-body embrace with her back up against the counter. He kissed her, leaning her back slightly. Even with an audience, she couldn’t resist him. She opened her mouth and kissed him back.

  Breaking the kiss, he patted her derrière and sent her a silent message with his eyes. He was happy.

  Julia felt a rush of desire and her own happiness heat her cheeks. She avoided Smitty and Ace’s stares and went back to stirring the pancake batter, trying to bring her train of thought back on track. O-kay, what were we talking about? Susan, right.

  “We don’t know who Susan has helping her besides Cari,” Smitty said, “and Cari’s last journal entry mentions another player she was escorting to America for Susan, but it doesn’t say who it was or what role this player has in bringing down Stone and Titus Allen. Cari must know why Susan wanted that person here, but she left
out who it is and why they’re here to insure our cooperation.”

  Julia considered this, adding cinnamon and vanilla extract, then a few spoonfuls of brown sugar to her batter. Smitty had the griddle warmed and ready. “There’s also a slim chance Cari’s confession is still part of Susan’s plan.” She poured rounds of batter onto the griddle and watched them start to bubble. “Maybe Cari is Plan A.”

  Conrad poured himself a cup of coffee. “It’s a good possibility. If we take our information to Stone and Allen and Cari conveniently turns on us, we’re screwed. It’s simply our word against Susan’s and that, my friends, is a sure ticket to prison for us. No one, especially Stone, will take my word over hers.”

  Julia flipped the pancakes over. “So we have to trap Susan. Either get a confession right from her mouth, or catch her in the act, preferably on video so we have visual proof.”

  Smitty nodded, eyed the pancakes. “Tough to get either way.”

  Con pulled another mug from the cabinet and filled it with coffee, topped it with milk and handed it to Julia. She accepted it and sipped at it, grinning to herself that he remembered how she liked it. When the first stack of pancakes was done, she loaded them on a platter, poured more rounds on the griddle and set the platter on the table.

  Butter and syrup were passed between the four friends. “I can do it,” she said after a minute.

  Conrad stopped chewing and looked up at her. “Do what?”

  “Get Susan to confess.”