by Taylor Lee
Before Ruby could thank Ian for supporting her, Noah broke in. His voice was crisp.
“That is all well and good, Ian, and usually true. However, in this particular case, Ned has a clearer picture of Drechsler’s tipping points than any of us do. That said, Grayson, I want you to stay close to Ruby at all times and be prepared to step in at the first sign of Drechsler overstepping. That goes for you as well, Ned.”
Ruby couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Noah had never overridden Ian in a team meeting. He certainly hadn’t on a point that, at least from her perspective, was untenable. Not attempting to hide her anger, she rudely interrupted Noah.
“That won’t be necessary, Commander Walker. You should know, if you don’t already, that I can take care of myself. I always have and I always will. Any man who doesn’t get that doesn’t have a clue who I am. Moreover, Grayson and Ned have enough to do without babysitting me, especially when I don’t require babysitting. We’re a long way from ruining the mission because Drechsler has a hard-on for me. So if you don’t mind, Commander—”
Noah’s razor sharp voice sliced across the ether, cutting off Ruby’s outburst in mid-sentence.
“Oh, but I do mind, Agent Harper. I mind very much your contradicting my orders. To be clear. I’m ordering Agent Angler and Agent Webb to ensure that you are never left alone with Drechsler. Do you understand?”
When Ruby didn’t answer, Noah said, “Gray—”
Gray cut him off. “Roger that, Commander. Ned and I hear you loud and clear.”
After a moment of tense silence, Noah spoke quietly.
“Now that we have resolved that issue, I want to go on to the rest of the mission. Gray, you’ll be glad to know that the Feds have come through in surprisingly grand fashion. I’m presuming that Ian had something to do with the fact that five crates of the snazziest weapons I’ve seen will arrive at the FAN complex Friday night in plenty of time to meet Drechsler’s deadline.”
Ian laughed. “Thank you, Noah for your confidence in me, but I think it is safe to say that the fact that Senator John Walker serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee had something to do with your weapons windfall.”
Ruby barely heard what Noah and Ian were saying. Stunned that Noah had reprimanded her in front of the rest of the team, including her boss, she did her best to control herself, but it was impossible. Glancing in the mirror at the white-faced, wide-eyed woman reflected there, she saw that she was visibly shaking and that her lips were trembling. Thankfully, she was in her hotel room and she was the only one who could see the tears swimming in her eyes. Tears that looked as though they would spill over at any minute. Taking several deep breaths, Ruby admitted that she had been rude to Noah, that she probably shouldn’t have interrupted him. But how dare he act as though she needed a bodyguard? Or, for god’s sake, two! Thinking through the injustice of his stinging reprimand, Ruby’s tears dried up and her temper flared.
“Agent Harper, I asked you a question. How do you feel about that option? Does that make sense from your perspective?”
Horrified that she had no idea what option Noah was talking about, Ruby struggled to think through the briefing for a reasonable response. This time, Diamond, rather than Ian, came to her rescue.
“If you don’t mind me answering for Agent Harper, Noah, I think it is clear from what Gray and Ned have reported that Ruby won’t have any trouble keeping Drechsler involved. What we need is a window of time so that we can get the rest of the men in place. It would seem to me that Ruby is precisely the person to keep Drechsler occupied.”
Shaking with a mix of anger and embarrassment that her boss had stepped in for her, Ruby’s ire rose. She couldn’t prove it but she knew that Noah had done that on purpose. She was usually an active participant in their briefings and he must have wanted to prove that she wasn’t listening. Probably to confirm why she needed babysitters, she thought with an irritated snort.
She forced herself back to the conversation in time to hear Noah say, “I can’t underscore this point too strongly: we must have Drechsler on tape accepting the weapons and exchanging money with Gray or we don’t have a case. This is where you come in, Ned, and you do, Ruby. You need to make sure that Drechsler is actively involved in the exchange, not just McIntyre. Drechsler invited me to dinner at the Saloon tomorrow night. I’ll do what I can to incite him. We know from Ned’s excellent communications that Drechsler is a proud man. I will do my best to antagonize him in the hope of taking him off his game. Of course, the danger is that that may make him even more volatile, harder for you to handle, Ruby.”
Knowing that there was no way that she could answer him that wouldn’t appear as though she was angry from their altercation, Ruby chose silence.
Noah let her silence stand for a long moment and then brought the meeting to a close.
“Know this, team: we are at least three days ahead of our planned schedule. That is due to the excellent job you three agents on the ground are doing. I congratulate and thank you for your superb and courageous work.”
Ned said a quiet thank you and Gray spoke up with one of his usual smart-assed remarks.
“Hey, boss man, what did you expect from three agents that look the way we do. Ned could be Darth Vader’s twin brother and scares the shit out of the bad guys. As for Ruby and me, we’re so damned pretty that we’ve got those racist assholes trying to recruit the both of us. Add to that, you’ve completely thrown Drechsler off his game. Ruby can testify to the fact that the way he talks about you is a mix of love and hate. Hate for who you are, and, if not love, at least respect that his nemesis is as shrewd and worldly as he is.”
Noah chuckled and said wryly, “Glad to hear the motherfucker knows I can out-quote him if nothing else. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We all know that the only thing that is certain in any of our missions is uncertainty. We can count on the fact that we will be hit by the unexpected. Which will require us to throw away our carefully conceived plans and pray to God that we can deal with the shitstorm that comes our way.”
“Amen, brother, you’ve got that right.” Gray intoned, and each of the others agreed in one similar fashion or another.
Assuming that the call had ended, Ruby gasped when Noah issued his quiet order.
“Ruby, will you please stay on the line. I want to talk to you.”
After each of the participants had said good bye and signed off, neither she nor Noah spoke. The silence lasted for at least a minute. Ruby couldn’t have spoken if she’d tried. The grapefruit-sized lump in her throat made it hard to breathe much less talk. What surprised her most was that her anger was long gone. If anything her biggest challenge was not to let Noah know how close she was to crying.
When he finally broke the silence, Noah’s voice was controlled but stern.
“I don’t want that to happen again, Ruby. Ever. No matter what is between us, you may not speak to me the way that you did in the meeting. It was not only rude, it was insubordinate. An entirely inappropriate way to speak to your commander.”
When Ruby didn’t answer, Noah continued. “Under ordinary circumstances it would be grounds for removing you from the mission.”
Ruby’s stomach dropped at least two stories and then settled into a roiling mass of anxiety. She didn’t know which was worse, the fact that Noah was threatening to take her off the mission or that his voice was cold, professional and completely devoid of emotion.
“Do you understand how serious this issue is, Agent Harper?”
When she still didn’t answer, Noah asked again and this time the ice in his voice had become glacier hard.
“I asked you a question, Agent. It is important that you confirm that you understand the severity of the issue. I will ask you one more time, Agent Harper. Do. You. Understand?”
Struggling against the tears that made it impossible for her to answer in a normal voice, Ruby whispered, “Yes, I… understand.”
“That’s good, I’m glad that you do. Appa
rently you aren’t going to apologize to me for your rudeness, which is probably more than I can expect from you. So we’ll let it stand as it is. Good night, Agent Harper.”
At the sound of his clicking off, Ruby sank to the floor, her trembling legs unable to hold her upright. She didn’t know how long she sat against the wall, too agonized to move. When the tears finally began to fall, Ruby shouldn’t have been surprised at their ferocity or for how long she cried. Or for the wrenching sobs that battered her sore chest. Several hours later, she forgave herself for falling apart. After all, Ruby thought with a dry-eyed shrug, maybe giving into tears the way she had these last couple of days wasn’t the end of the world. She admitted that in a way it felt good, that it helped to relieve the ache in her heart. And God knows, Noah had given her reason to cry. Make that reasons! She only wished that he’d been there to hold her and to tell her everything was going to be all right.
Chapter 22
Noah paced across the floor, his cell phone in his hand. Dammit, it would be so easy to get her back on the line. All he had to do was hit redial and she’d be there. And then what? He’d apologize? Say he was sorry for being such an asshole? The problem was that he hadn’t been. He’d been absolutely correct in the way he’d handled the situation. Everything he’d said to her was standard operating procedure and they both knew it. Her insubordination was grounds for dismissal. If anything, he’d been lenient by allowing her to stay on the mission.
The niggling thought tugging at his brain spoke to the reason for his “leniency.” He huffed a hard sigh. In addition to being in love with his fiery agent, he admitted that he had provoked her. She had reason to be angry. Under ordinary circumstances, like any of the LOTN agents, Ruby was more than capable of protecting herself. He knew it and she knew it. His overprotectiveness wasn’t necessary or appropriate. He knew damn well if it had been any other LOTN agent he wouldn’t have hamstrung her the way that he did Ruby. What pushed him over the edge was that damn tape Ned had made of Ruby taunting Drechsler.
Even now the memory of her teasing the dangerous man, playing into his known sick practices, made Noah see red. Goddamn her. How could she be so reckless? She had to know that Drechsler got off on rough sex. So rough that according to Ned, they kept a doctor on call at the compound for the sole purpose of cleaning up Drechsler’s messes and attempting to ensure that the women he abused had a fighting chance of surviving. Added to that, Drechsler was known to share his women—or more usually his “girls.” With none other than that racist psychopath, Logan McIntyre. The thought of both Drechsler and McIntyre having access to Ruby sent a flood of bile swirling in Noah’s throat. Yes, she was a fighter. A trained killer, and damn good at what she did. Christ, he’d seen her slit a haji’s throat and not look back; hell no, she just moved on to her next target. But even knowing that didn’t ease his anxiety.
Forcing the ugly scene from his mind, Noah allowed himself to admit that while he had been a thousand percent correct in reprimanding Ruby this morning, he’d still been an asshole. Not today, in the meeting. No, he’d achieved “major asshole status” when he’d ordered her to come to his room. It wasn’t that he was sorry they’d slept together. If you could call the most extraordinary lovemaking he’d ever experienced by such a lame description. No, he’d never regret making love to Ruby the way that he had. Her ardent responses alone would fill his erotic dreams for a lifetime. What he would regret was that he’d let three whole days go by without reaching out to her. Without telling her what the night had meant to him. If that didn’t qualify for asshole status, he didn’t know what did. Now he just had to decipher why he’d been a first class dick.
His agonized reverie was interrupted by the chirp from his phone. Seeing Gray’s name on the caller I.D. he answered it.
“Thanks for calling, Bro. I hoped you could get away from Drechsler long enough to hook up.”
“Sure thing, dude. I had Ned babysit the motherfucker for a while so I could make the call uninterrupted.” He added with an ill-disguised chuckle. “Just one more babysitting duty added to the one you gave him and me.”
Noah groaned. “Jesus, man. Don’t remind me. As if you have to. I don’t have to tell you I’ve been reliving that fucking phone call for the last two hours. It’s taken every bit of restraint I have not to call her, or, better yet, march over to that shabby hotel room of hers and have the discussion in person.”
Gray’s response was sympathetic but to the point. “Look, Bro. We’re friends. In fact, you’re my best friend. Which means, dude, there’s no hiding. We’ve already discussed the fact that you are ass-over-elbows in love with our delicious short stuff. As she is with you. It’s not surprising that between the two of you the edges are getting a little frayed.”
“That’s one way of putting it, Gray. But I baited her. I knew how she’d react when I put you and Ned on guard duty, but, dammit it all, listening to the recording Ned made of her taunting Drechsler blew my mind.” Running a hand through his cropped hair, Noah added, “By the way, Bro, thanks for backing me up. You didn’t have to but I appreciate that you did.”
“Hey, man, we both know short stuff was way out of line. And, yes, both Ned and I will have her in our crosshairs. Drechsler is no one to fool with, even for Ruby, as good as she is.” He huffed an audible sign. “It doesn’t help though, what I’m sure to hear from her the next time we meet. I hate knowing that she likely thinks I betrayed her.”
Noah said, “Hold that thought, Gray. Ian’s on the line.” He grimaced, “You don’t have to be a mind reader to know what bug he has up his ass.”
Gray chortled, “No, you don’t, man. Just know I’ve got your back.”
Ian’s voice was curt. “Good afternoon. May I assume that Agent Harper will be joining us for this call?”
Noah responded. “I sent her a text to join us when I got your message. She’ll come on any minute.” He added with a bitter snort. “That is, if she chooses to follow this order.”
“You are going to handle that issue, correct, Agent Walker? I’ll only tell you that Diamond is not happy. Trust me, you and I do not want to make her angry. Added to Agent’s Harper’s rage, the two of us might never recover.”
Gray interrupted with a sly chuckle “At least with all of your body parts intact…”
“Well said, Grayson, and all too true. But I repeat my question for you, Noah. Are you dealing with the issue with Agent Harper?”
Noah was as curt as Ian had been.
“She was insubordinate, Ian.”
“Yes, she was. And you handled it appropriately. I presume you impressed upon her the seriousness of the infraction.”
“I did. And she indicated that she understood.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” Ian paused then continued, “Now that that is done, take care of the rest of it. You hear me, Noah?”
Noah grunted. “As my partner said this afternoon: ‘Loud and clear, boss.’”
The audible click signified that Ruby had joined them.
“Thank you for joining us, Ruby. Ian and Gray are on the line. Ned is making sure that Drechsler doesn’t interrupt us. Ian wanted to give us an update on D.C.”
Ian greeted her. “Good afternoon, Ruby. Diamond sends her best. I wanted to amplify what I said in our previous call. Washington is in place. The fact that it is constitutes a minor miracle. Needless to say, there are some worried frowns on the mugs of some extremely powerful people. We need to give the Senator his due, Noah. It is unlikely that we could have gotten the agreement that we did without his intervening.”
Noah smiled. “As we know, Ian, my father is a master at interference—err, intervention.”
“So he is. My question to you, Noah, is where we are with the other agencies? The ones who’ll back you up.”
“I don’t have to tell any of you that getting a hundred men into Cochise County is no small task, Ian.”
“But you’re making it happen?”
“Yes, fortunately we h
ave until Friday to complete the maneuvers. We’re moving the operatives in in small batches to avoid suspicion. Thanks to Gray’s, Ruby’s and my connections with the Army Rangers, we have elite, special operative troops coming in from four different states. They will all be in place by the time the weapons arrive.”
“That’s excellent, Noah. And a credit to your service and the respect the Rangers have for the three of you.”
Gray asked the question that had been high on Noah’s agenda.
“Anything new on our mole, Ian?”
“No, but thanks to the information Ned is sending us we think we are getting closer.
We’ve identified three high level ATF agents that are making us suspicious. You can be sure that we’re monitoring every piss they take. Unfortunately, we still don’t have enough to detain anyone.”
Noah nodded. “I agree, Ian. From the reports I’m getting, especially from Ned, any one of the three could be our mole. If one of them is, it is going to blow the ATF apart for years to come.” He sighed and then said, “On to our work here. I’m meeting with Sheriff Carter tomorrow morning. Should be an interesting meeting.”
Gray asked, “Can we trust him, Noah?”
“Frankly, I don’t know. I would like to. I like the guy. But there is no denying that the FAN has become the force that it is on BJC’s watch. While I’m psyching out the Sherriff we shouldn’t ignore his four deputies. All of them are homegrown, Cochise County boys and any one of them could be a snitch. I should have a better idea after I meet with the Sheriff.”
As he was preparing to end the call, Noah said, “Ruby, would you please stay on the line? I have something to discuss with you.”
At her muttered consent, Noah said goodbye to Gray and Ian and leaned back against the bar to steady himself. He’d poured himself a healthy portion of Maker’s Mark at the beginning of the call and appreciated the mellowing effect the alcohol had had on his overwrought nerves. At least his gut had calmed down and his heartbeat seemed to be in the normal range.