“Who the fuck knew Colin was such a romantic fool?” Jasmin added.
“Did anyone hear me? I’m in my mid-twenties and a virgin. I don’t want to be a virgin. I’ve tried to not be one. But I can’t get him to have sex with me. I think I’m like a golden unicorn or something, no one still has their V card at my age.”
Liv broke out in a fit of laughter, and the rest followed. I didn’t see what was so funny about my current predicament, but they sure found it hilarious.
When the laughter started to die down it was Ivy who finally spoke.
“Never in all my life, growing up the way I did, did I ever think I would be in a room with the President of the United States’ niece and daughter laughing. Never did I think I would find a man like Zane and friends like all of you. Never, ever, did I think I would become a mother. I’m grateful for everything I have, but all of you, your friendship is the cherry on top of my really awesome sundae. And, Erin, that includes you. Welcome to our crazy family.”
My eyes met Liv’s and I forgot all about sex or the lack there of and realized the only real friendship I’d ever had was with Olivia. Her circle had grown, and now mine had, too.
The five of us spent the afternoon getting to know each other. We ate, we laughed, we poked fun at one another. We talked about babies, and marriage. Nothing all that important or earth shattering, but deep down I knew with every word spoken, everlasting friendships were being built.
Chapter 20
There was so much pent up aggression in the room it was sizzling. Leo, Jax, Linc, and Dec all looked murderous as we waited for Zane and the president to come into the room.
“Anyone else think this smells like shit?” Jax asked.
“Damn right it does. Once again, we’re smack in the middle of a bunch of political fucks jockeying for position,” Leo answered. “We all know how this works, extortion, secrets, and black ops, but what I want to know is why in the fuck the Angel program is so damn important to the NSA. This is not the first wiretap program, what makes this one different?”
“Because it’s the ultimate spy program,” Tom said as he and Zane entered the room. “All electronics were left outside of this room, correct?”
We all answered in the affirmative. Not that it would matter if we hadn’t. The room was not only bulletproof and soundproof, but there were jammers as well. No electronic transmissions could pass in or out. The blackout shades had also been lowered over the thick polycarbonate, ballistic windows. Every precaution had been taken so the outside world couldn’t intrude.
“I’ll cut right to it,” he started, and Zane dropped a stack of file folders on the table. Each of us reached to grab one. “Angel was originally designed by an NSA programmer as data backup for intelligence gathered overseas. I signed off on the program as it was presented as a way to facilitate a communication bridge between agencies. The intelligence community would have a centralized database they could all use.”
“Let me guess, they found a way to misuse it?” Jaxon interrupted.
“That would be an understatement. It was almost immediately implemented to spy on the American people. As soon as I got word, I shut it down.”
“Spy how? The normal telecommunication marker word taps?” Leo asked.
Most people in the US knew that if you were speaking on the phone and used certain words or word phrases, the government would record and analyze your call.
“No.” The president looked like he was tired. “Total intrusion. Angel can access your cell phone camera and mic. Same with tablets and computers. An everyday American could be innocently walking into the grocery store and could be geo-tracked and, without their knowledge, any conversations they had could be recorded, analyzed, and stored.”
“Nothing new,” Linc muttered.
“I need to explain the gravity of the NSA’s abuse of power. Imagine the unsuspecting population, sitting in the privacy of their own homes, having a conversation, and not knowing that those popular smart devices and virtual assistants had been recording their every word. While you think asking it to turn on your favorite music, order your laundry detergent, or tell you the latest news is convenient, being reconnoitered by a fucking speaker is probably not what people thought they were getting. People have refrigerators that are now chipped as a listening device.”
“Other than the obvious infringement, what does the NSA have to gain? Targeting individuals on terror watchlists, I can understand. Everyday people? What’s the play?” I asked.
“Power. There’re infinite possibilities on how to use the intel gathered. Election fraud, warrantless surveillance, control, forecasting crimes, and illegal detainment. And let’s not forget greed. Private corporations have their hands out as well. Not only do they fund the program but they have their own programmers involved. Independent contractors such as Warren are working side by side with the NSA, buying their way into a goldmine of intel.”
“The golden age of surveillance. Even our goddamn televisions come with a warning not to talk about sensitive information because you’re being recorded,” Declan growled. “Utter bullshit. We willingly keep tracking devices on our person: watches, cell phones, and nanny-cams in our homes, everything is exploited.”
“How did you find out?” I inquired.
“A Good Samaritan, who strongly believes in the constitution and fourth amendment, came forward. He saw what was going on and felt it was his moral duty to stop it. After I received the information, I waited a few weeks and contacted Greenwold. I made a surprise visit to an NSA black site and told him to shut the program down.”
“Yet, you didn’t dismiss Greenwold,” Zane stated.
“Not until I knew how deep this went. Who else in my administration knew? Did my National Security Advisor know? Did the vice president? Someone in a congressional oversight committee had to know where millions of dollars were going. They always fucking do. Who received the kickback for turning a blind-eye?”
“What now?” I asked.
“Now we watch them,” Zane answered.
“And we do that how?”
“Tex.” Zane smiled, both of his dimples showing.
Nothing good ever came from Zane Lewis being giddy. It meant he had a plan, one that no doubt would end with scumbags being six feet under.
“He’s fucked. How can he help when his system was breeched?” Linc questioned.
“Tex is at the White House now. I sent Garrett and the Gold Team to PA to watch over Melody and the kids while he’s here.”
“You got Tex to the White House?” Leo whistled. “He must be pissed.”
There were very few things that would make Tex leave his wife and kids behind in Pennsylvania, not to mention his plethora of machines. He didn’t need to leave the house to implement a hostile takeover of the world. The man was that good.
“Pissed doesn’t begin to cover how angry he is. Every single woman he’s outfitted with tracking devices were potentially put in harm’s way. The wives of his closest friends, abuse victims on the run that he helps, paramilitary contractors are now in jeopardy, and then there’s what happened to Colin and Erin. He’s not mad; he’s positively, certifiably insane. I thought I had a short fuse and a bad temper, but Tex passed DEFCON about a mile back. I was a little afraid of him when we set him up at the White House,” Zane told the room.
“I’ve given Tex everything he needs to shut this shit down.” The president’s tone was icy, but it was his stare that had my attention. It was cool and calculating and an impassive gaze he’d no doubt learned during his years as a UDT. The man was not to be trifled with. “I have every confidence Tex will have the information he needs in a few days. Once his investigation is done, you’ll be given the go-ahead to move in. Zane, I’ve never been one to tell you how to command your team or do your job but I will offer you these two words—extreme prejudice.”
“Loud and clear,” Zane returned.
“I’m headed back to Washington now and have a scheduled meeting
at Camp David in five days. I hope this can be resolved by then.” He turned to me and asked, “How’s Erin?”
“As expected. She had a nightmare last night, but had no recollection of it when she woke up. She hasn’t had any issues with her concussion and she’ll go back to the doctor tomorrow for another CT scan.”
“So you’ll be in D.C. tomorrow?”
“Correct.”
“I’d like to see you both after her appointment if you can spare the time.”
I didn’t like the ominous tone and readily agreed. I’d never witnessed him being anything but confident, but before I could place the emotion crossing his face he’d closed down.
Zane left to walk the president to the rooftop helipad, leaving the rest of us to go over the SITREP he’d provided.
“This shit is jacked,” Linc commented.
“Anyone else pick up on Tom’s demeanor?” I asked.
Something was screaming at me that the situation was about to go FUBAR. I’d learned a long time ago to trust my gut and it was telling me something was wrong.
“It was hard to miss. Think he knows something he’s not sharing?” Jax asked.
“No. I think he laid it out for us. Though, he’s not stupid. He must know there’s more at play than the NSA spying,” Leo added.
“The question is what.” I continued to scan the papers in front of me with a sinking feeling we were missing something.
“The what will present itself. It always does.” Linc was correct, I only hoped it wasn’t too late when we figured it out.
“Greenwold give you anything?” I asked.
“Not a goddamn thing that’s useful. We didn’t have as much time with him as we wanted. All he said was they’re always watching. Not sure if he meant the NSA or someone else.”
“I don’t think he meant the NSA. I think this is bigger than Tom wants to admit.”
“I think you’re right,” Linc agreed.
This was one instance I wished I was wrong. Bigger was not always better.
Chapter 21
“How did your meeting go?” I asked when we were in the car on the way back to Colin’s house.
“Fine. The normal upcoming scheduling and payroll shit. Nothing exciting.”
“I thought my—”
“How do you feel about grilling some steaks tonight?” He shook his head and put his finger to his lips.
All righty, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he didn’t want to talk about his meeting. He’d been so forthcoming lately, something new must’ve happened, and the swift change worried me.
“That sounds good.”
“How did it go with Olivia?”
“Good. I tried to talk to her about why I’d been so distant, but she dismissed me and said it wasn’t a big deal and she understood.”
“I told you she wasn’t mad.”
“Yeah, well, I was still nervous. Ivy and Violet are really great. It’s still so strange to see my cousin with kids. She’s changed a lot.”
“How so?”
I tried to think about how to explain the change in Jasmin. My cousin was hard as nails and just as tough as the men on her team. I suppose that came from her time in the Army. The only time I’d ever seen her break was when Linc had been presumed dead. She was at the White House monitoring a mission the guys were going on and she’d watched the house Linc was supposed to be in blow up. She’d lost it. My mom spent hours with her, trying to calm her down. Thankfully, Linc had escaped and he’d been rescued. But Jasmin had been a mess.
“I can’t say she’s gone soft, because that’s not exactly it, but she only said fuck about fifty-two times instead of her normal five hundred. And when she found out Ivy and Violet were both pregnant, she didn’t roll her eyes. She smiled and congratulated them.”
“Wait. What? Ivy’s pregnant, too?”
Shit. I hadn’t meant to tell him that.
“Um, forget I said that.”
“No shit. That’s great.”
“I’m already breaking the girl code and telling you secrets. Please don’t tell Zane I spilled. I don’t want Ivy mad at me. We had a really great time, and I want to be invited out with them again.”
“Sunshine, neither would be mad. You’re going to learn there are no such things as secrets in this group. But I wouldn’t say anything. I’ll wait for Zane to make the announcement.”
“Really? I know a secret, and it’s a really big one.”
“Zane and Ivy got married yesterday at the courthouse?” he asked.
“Dammit. How’d you know?”
Colin reached over and placed his hand on my thigh. It was amazing how comforting his touch was.
“I know all.” He chuckled.
“Come on. Really? How’d you know?”
“You know my job isn’t exactly safe.”
“I know.”
“So, we have contingency plans in the event we don’t come home from an op.” That was a nice way of saying in case they died. I wasn’t sure I liked where this conversation was headed or if I wanted to know the information he was about to tell me. “One is the company will financially take care of our spouse and children. Zane added Ivy to the policy yesterday and today the rest of us had to sign the paperwork. Each team has their own policy and Zane is covered by my teams’.”
“Is it like life insurance?”
“Kinda. But better. We all have death benefits. This fund is for the extras. A little peace of mind knowing our families won’t go without.”
“How many teams are there?”
“Three. Blue, Gold, and us.”
“Which one came to . . . get us?”
I couldn’t get myself to say rescue. Get us sounded like they’d leisurely stopped by someplace Colin and I were visiting and offered us a ride home. I liked that explanation much better than the real version.
“Gold. Brooks, Max, Thad, and Kyle. Declan is taking over as team leader. They are our ghost team. They’ve been mainly deployed to the middle east. They specialize in stopping piracy and smuggling, both on land and in the Arabian Gulf. The major trade routes there are inundated with stolen antiquities and human commerce. It requires constant monitoring, so they stay there most of the time.”
“What about Blue?”
“Blue comes and goes, but they’ve been gone more than they’ve been home the last few years. They specialize in maritime piracy. They mostly stay on big freight ships.”
“And your team? What do you specialize in?”
“Everything.”
“I knew you were gonna say that.”
We pulled into the driveway of Colin’s house, and for the first time I really looked at the surrounding area.
“You kinda live in the middle of nowhere.”
“How do you figure that, sunshine? Downtown Annapolis is fifteen minutes away and the mall is like twenty.”
“Okay, fine, but you have no neighbors out here.”
“You don’t like it?”
My heart constricted at the concern in his voice.
“No, I do, it’s peaceful out here. Just making an observation. I hadn’t paid that much attention when we first came here.”
“Because if you don’t—”
“Colin, I said I did. I agree it’s nice not living right next to someone. Remember when we were at Abe’s and I told you I’d be happy living out there. Your place is perfect.” He turned the car off but before he could open the door I added, “Besides, this way we can have private time in the hot tub on your deck and no one will see.”
I loved the hungry look he got whenever I mentioned us being intimate. Now, if I could just get him to act on the emotion, I’d be golden.
“Our deck.”
“What?”
“It’s our house, Erin. And if you’d prefer to live somewhere else, we can sell this place and move. If you want to stay in D.C. I’ll make the commute to Annapolis for work. Though I’d like for you to be close to Olivia and the other women. It’ll ma
ke things easier on you when I leave on a work trip. But I understand if you don’t want to give up your life in Washington.”
In all the craziness I hadn’t thought much about where we’d live or what would happen when he eventually had to go on a mission.
“There’s nothing for me in D.C. I mean my parents are there for the next year, but when my dad’s term is over they’ll go back to Texas. That was the deal my parents made. My mom wants to retire there.”
“We have the house in Killeen. Anytime you want to go there and visit them, we will.”
“I love you, Colin. Thank you.”
“You, too, sunshine. Let’s get in the house.”
Weirdly, he held his cell phone out and raised his eyebrows. I fished mine out of my bag and showed it to him. He nodded and opened the glove box, placing his in there and motioned for me to do the same. I had no idea what was going on, but I trusted Colin, and if he wanted my phone left in the car, I wasn’t going to question him.
When I opened my own door and stepped out of the car before Colin could come around, he lifted a brow in reprimand.
“Seriously? We’re in the garage, and the door is closed. Surely I can get out by myself.”
“Not the point, Erin. The gentlemanly thing to do is to open your door.”
“Are you telling me you’re a gentleman?”
He was a lot of things, rough and ready, badass, lethal, sexy, smart, and kind. But I wouldn’t classify Colin as a gentleman.
“With some things I am.” The side of his mouth pulled up into a suggestive grin.
“And what things might those be?”
He tugged my good hand and pulled me into him. I loved how much bigger he was than me. How, when he held me close, I was fully enveloped in his embrace. It was warm and safe, and I wanted to stay in his arms forever.
His head lowered, and he huskily whispered, “I’ll always open doors for you. I’ll always make sure you have the best seat when we’re out. If you’re chilly I’ll always offer you my coat. If there’s a puddle, I’ll carry you over it. And, sunshine, I promise, you’ll always take your pleasure before I do.”
Rescuing Erin (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Red Team Book 5) Page 15