by S. K. Lessly
Make no mistake, I didn’t leave Josh unprotected. The moment I found out about a potential hit, I took measures to provide protection for Josh and his family. I’ve had people posted up at your house 24-7, Josh. They’re not slouches either; a few special forces guys I know. I have a few snipers posted in various places around your house here in D.C., Ma and Pops’ place, and the cottage in Virginia. You have gotten a few new neighbors, the whole nine. I want to put up surveillance cameras, sort of like what you did at Sweet’s apartment in Pittsburgh.”
“What?” Sweets shrieked.
“But, I won’t make that decision without your consent and your oversight,” I continued.
Josh seemed to be ten miles away as I spoke. He leaned back in his chair and looked off into space, his hand tightly gripping Sweets’ hand.
“Bro,” Malcolm called, placing a hand on Josh’s shoulder.
Josh looked over at him, still in a daze.
“We’re gonna get to the bottom of this. We always do and we protect our own. Yeah?”
Josh looked at him then at his wife before he nodded. “I’m with you.” He looked at me. “Let’s do what we need to. I want to know what all you already have in place and I’ll add to it.”
I nodded, glad he was still with us. I couldn’t imagine the kind of head space he was in right now; having not only to worry about Sweets but now his son and unborn child as well.
“Nickels has all of that information for you. But the other reason why it was time to bring you all up to speed is because what Jacks had informed me about on Sunday.”
All eyes fell on Jacks again as he seemingly took a calming breath before he spoke.
“All right, in my former life I was engaged to this woman.”
There were a few groans and sighs.
“Oh, sod off, you wankers,” Jacks said over the noise. “There’s a purpose to this story. Anyway, this girl I was supposed to marry had a sister; her name was Izabella Fuentes. At the time, she was a low-level analyst with the agency.”
“The CIA?” Curtis asked.
“Do you know of another agency we call by that name? Anyway, back then, I wasn’t as charming and loyal as I am now.”
“No, shit?!” Misty rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, obviously shooting daggers Jacks’ way.
“Yeah, well, shocking, I know. These sisters were from a very prominent family, worth millions upon millions.”
“And you cheated on her,” Misty concluded and rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you time and time again you weren’t shit Jacks and that just proved it. She probably loved your sorry ass too.”
“For your information, I loved the woman back. She was an amazing girl. But I found out she was only with me to get back at her father. I overheard her telling one of her girlfriends about it one day when she thought I had gone off to work. I then had her followed and found out she was the one stepping out on me. So, I did the most logical thing and did the same to her. But little did I know that I was being watched by her sister, Izabella, the little miss wanna-be CIA spook.
“Anyway, shit got heavy between Izabella and I. I was trying to tell her what her sister was up to, but she didn’t believe me. That was that. So I’m giving you the history between this woman and me for credibility sake. There is no love lost between her and me, so I was completely shocked that she contacted me Friday out of the blue. I hadn’t spoken to her or seen her for years. Naturally, she dispensed with the pleasantries and told me she needed to meet with me concerning Diane.”
I watched around the room as everyone perked up to that news.
Jacks continued, “I tried to get some information from her over the phone, but she stressed that she’d rather meet in person; sensitive material and all that. She didn’t trust me when I said we were clean on our end, especially when I couldn’t tell her what end I was coming from. So, I agreed to meet her.”
To my team, I said, “Jacks called me Sunday night and asked if I would go with him. He wasn’t sure what she would have to say and he wanted someone else with him to corroborate his story to you and to Izabella.” I grinned at the memory of the meeting as I added, “I have to say the woman seemed to be on the up and up. I had Nickels run a thorough background on her and she came up clean. She originated with the directorate of analysis before she moved to the directorate of support. She’s not an operative; she doesn’t have any field work experience besides what she did to track down Jacks and his philandering ways. She’s had a relatively quiet career and hasn’t been involved in anything in the CIA noteworthy.”
“All that means is she could be hungry and trying to nail that big case to get her name in the right people’s ears,” Misty replied.
I agreed with her assessment and said, “I had the same belief. She’s very ambitious, but I don’t believe that is her angle here. This woman is sort of like our Sweets.”
“In what way?” Josh snapped.
“She’s of the mindset that there is still good in the world, which is a good idea to have,” I added quickly. “But for a woman like Izabella, the life she lives and wants to lead, that’s an idea that could get her killed.” I let that hang in the air before I continued. “So, I agreed to go with Jacks, and at first she was very standoffish. She didn’t trust me and she sure as hell didn’t trust Jacks.”
“What did she say that caused you to call this meeting this morning?” Malcolm looked at Jacks.
“Izabella told me that she was investigating the demise of Diane. She knew the woman had been murdered and was searching for anyone with motive. She had been looking through Diane’s case notes and noticed she’d mentioned the need to get close to a man by the name of Joshua Cooper from the FBI. Izabella quickly told me that she had checked with the FBI, and even though it stated that he worked for the feds, she didn’t buy the cover story on his made-up career. She told me that some red flags came up when she saw Diane had dealings with the likes of me and she felt that something was up.”
“And this analyst decided to call you up out of the blue and ask for a meeting why?” Misty asked.
“She wanted to know if I knew who Josh was and who he worked for. She was hoping to get information on why Diane was so obsessed with our boy wonder.”
“Okay, okay. Just tell us what happened at the meeting,” Josh demanded, trying to get us off of Diane and onto the situation at hand.
“I told her that I was your brother and I vouched for your character when she hinted at your involvement with Diane. I showed her my badge for Military Intelligence and told her we all were employed by the government. We played around a bit, deciding who had the bigger balls and in the end, I found out that her play here was just information. We decided to lay our cards on the table. I told her what had gone down with Sweets and how Diane had had a hand in everything. I then told her why we were looking for Diane and that we had reason to believe she’d put out a hit on you.”
“And that’s when she dropped the mother lode of all mother lodes,” Jacks cut in.
“What did she say?” This time it was Sweets that spoke.
I looked at Josh and said, “She first told us that the original date of Diane’s demise was incorrect. According to their own investigation, Diane had died much earlier than the three weeks ago. It was more like a month ago. Izabella had been trying to make sense of Diane’s movements throughout Europe and South America. Then she made a connection that blew her mind and raised more questions than answers. I told her that we knew she’d gone to South America, but we had lost her trail there. We had no clue what her connection was in that country. Then Izabella told us something that brought everything home. The reason why Diane was in South America was because she was looking for Cupid.”
There were puzzled looks on Curtis, Jesse, Ivan and Sweets’ faces and unsure expressions on Junior and Nickels’ faces. But Misty, Josh, Stan and Malcolm looked worried
The six of us, including Jacks, knew everything there was to know about Dante Perchenko a.k.a Cupid.
There was a sizable bounty on his head for war crimes and mercenaries. Even the governments of nations had been trying to get to him for decades. Those that had tried usually ended up missing or severely dismembered and mailed to their loved ones. He was a ruthless killer and psychopath and he was out to kill my brother.
Curtis asked who Cupid was and Josh told him, while keeping a tight grip on Sweets.
“Oh my God,” Sweets whispered and shuddered.
“Sweets, don’t worry,” Josh attempted to console.
Sweets was already in full panic mode. She swiveled on him, her eyes hard. “Don’t you dare down play this. I was just told that a trained and ruthless assassin is out for you…for us. I can’t! Oh no, I think I’m going to be sick.”
Sweets stood up shakily, her hands to her mouth as she darted out of the conference room. Misty rose, signaled Josh to stay where he was, and took off after her.
We all stood as Sweets left the room, helpless to say or do anything that would make her feel better. This was as real as it got and it was scary as shit.
Once we finally sat back down, I told the group, “Izabella was very forthcoming with us on what she knew. She said she was still digging and I told her to come here on Wednesday with her findings. In the meantime, we’ll do some digging ourselves and compare notes at that time. She told me she may have to bring her boss with her and I’ll be okay with that. We have a solid cover here. They don’t know what we do. They’re only aware that we are affiliated with Military Intelligence in some capacity.”
“Until then, what do we do? You’ve seen how my wife is taking all of this.”
“We do what we’ve been doing,” I told Josh. “So far, we haven’t caught wind of any known associates of Cupid’s coming in town. We’ve been checking flight manifests on all private and commercial airlines. From what Izabella told me, Diane didn’t have any money to pay Cupid for his services and we all know how much that man loves money. We believe she was using something else; information perhaps to get him on board. We just have to figure out the connection. It probably has something to do with one of your past missions, which may have directly pissed off Cupid. That’s the only way I see him taking on this bounty without a cash pot. He wouldn’t just do it because Diane asked him.”
“And are you sure this Cupid person is on the case? I mean, you said it yourself you have no evidence Diane was successful in hiring someone. Wouldn’t word have gotten out if she had?” Jesse looked to me and then everyone else as he asked his questions.
They were valid questions that I had already answered. I said to him, “The thing is, Jesse, you don’t take a chance on something like this when a man like Cupid is involved.” I signaled for the folders that were now sitting in front of a pale-faced Stan. He pushed them my way, and I picked up the one I needed and pushed it toward Curtis and Jesse. “Here is everything we have on Cupid. Why don’t you see for yourself why I’m acting on the side of caution?”
The moment Jesse opened the folder and Curtis said, “Holy shit,” I knew that they were looking at photos of Cupid’s handiwork.
I turned my attention to everyone else in the room. “I’m going to go and talk to my contact in the CIA. Apparently, he’s been holding back. I had asked him about Diane, and he told me they stopped looking for her months ago. It seems he lied to me.”
“Do you want me to go with you?” Malcolm asked, standing.
I shook my head. “No, I need you to coordinate with Josh on getting these security measures in place. We need to bring the other members of our team up to speed on what’s happening. I’ll take Misty with me.” I then looked at Nickels and Junior. “I need you two on this like last week, understand? We need everything we can find on Cupid such as his whereabouts, his known associates, and who he typically hires for sensitive situations like this. He has to have a favorite, someone who he trusts to handle his business. It’s too dangerous for him to come here. He would have to send someone in his place. I want that name.”
Nickels and Junior stood, nodded, and left the room.
I walked around to Josh just as he stood. “We are going to find out what’s going on. Count on that.”
Josh looked at me, uncertainty and a bit of fear in his eyes. I felt Malcolm come up next to me. Together we faced Josh.
“This is what we do, bro,” I told him. “No one fucks with us and gets away with it. We will find him and when we do…”
I let that hang in the air. Josh took a beat before he absently nodded his head. That smidgen of fear I saw in his eyes was now replaced with rage. It was exactly what I needed from him. We needed him on his A-game.
He looked at me and Malcolm, determination in his eyes. “We are going to cut off his fucking balls and jam them down his throat,” he spat, finishing my incomplete statement.
“Hooah!” Malcolm and I shouted at the same time.
Chapter Twenty-One
Misty
“Sweets?”
The moment I walked out of the conference room, I found Sweets pacing back and forth, breathing erratically and fast. She was also mumbling something unintelligible, raking her fingers through her hair like a mad woman.
When I touched her to get her attention, she jumped clear out of her skin.
I put both of my hands up. “Whoa, Sweets, it’s just me. Are you okay? Do you need me to get you your inhaler?”
Her green eyes were wide and filled with panic. I could only imagine what she must’ve been going through. Actually, I had an idea. It was the same fear that had been plaguing me ever since my run in with Simon.
An assassin was gunning after her husband, her family. I wanted to stress to her that we wouldn’t let anything happen to Josh, her, or her precious babies. In the light of things, that comfort probably meant shit in the grand scheme of things. This was Cupid we were talking about. He was as bad as they came. He had no heart or soul. This was going to be tough, but I’d be damned if I let him or anyone get close to Josh, Sweets, or my godbabies.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and squared mine with hers. “Sweets, everything is going to be okay. We are going to get to the bottom of this. You can count on it. This is what we do and we are good at it.”
Sweets searched my eyes, looking for hesitation or doubt, I surmised, and I was sure she found nothing but confidence. I rubbed her arms and moved closer to her, trying to give her comfort.
“Shane knows what he’s doing and so does everyone in that room, including your husband. You know he wouldn’t let anything happen to you, and neither will I or anyone else in that room.”
I held Sweets’ gaze until I visibly saw her relax. She exhaled and closed her eyes. Her chest expanded and collapsed a few times before she opened her eyes and nodded at me. I let her go and she backed up and sat on an empty desk behind her.
She took a few more deep breaths before she asked, “Do you know about this Cupid person? What he is capable of?”
I nodded, but didn’t add any word to my gesture.
“Should I be worried?”
I paused before I nodded again.
“Dang, Misty, you couldn’t sugarcoat that the situation just this once?”
“For what? To pacify you? Hell no! I wouldn’t be the loving and caring friend and sister that I am if I did that. No, Sweets, you have to know what you’re up against so you can take precautions. You have to make smart choices and watch your back. Question everything you see that strikes you as odd or out of the ordinary. I know I have talked to you about all of that, but now you have to lean on that advice and put it into action.”
Sweets’ eyes widened, but she nodded her understanding. I could tell her sweetness was slowly being snuffed out by this life. It was a shame, and maybe I could’ve gone a little easier on her. I was probably making things worse. My problem was that I couldn’t stop thinking about the time she was kidnapped. If Josh would have told her about his fears for her safety years ago, maybe she would have heeded to his warning and kept her oblivious ass a
way from her apartment that fateful day.
I don’t believe that her kidnapping was her fault. She shouldn’t have had to be scared or cautious to live her life. But I believed that knowledge was power. If she would’ve been aware of the potential threat to her life, maybe she would have asked Ivan to go with her or waited until Josh got back. Who knows if they would have been able to stop what happened? Maybe there would have been more blood on the streets that day. That thought didn’t deter my past theory that if Sweets would’ve been aware of the dangers chasing her, she possibly would have made a different decision.
“Misty?”
I came out of my head space and concentrated on Sweets.
Sweets paused a second longer before she said, “There’s something I want to run by you. Something that I found out that could possibly help us with this case.”
I folded my arms in front of me and narrowed my eyes on her. “Okay, was this the same thing you tried to talk to me about last week?”
She nodded.
“Okay. What’s up?”
Sweets hesitated again and I saw the fear and anguish make its ugly appearance again except now her body started to shake. Seeing her body react to only her thoughts, I stiffened, concerned deepening all through me. I moved closer to her.
“What’s going on, Sweets? What have you found out?”
Sweets’ mouth opened and closed without uttering a sound. I started to say something else to her when I heard the door to the conference room open behind me. I saw Junior and Nickels pass by us.
I waited until the coast was clear before I said, “Sweets, whatever it is, you’re completely freaked out about it. Tell me what it is. Is it about Diane?”
She shook her head, gesturing that my guess was wrong.
“Okay. Is it about Simon?”
Sweets started to speak again when I heard Josh’s voice coming from behind me. I hadn’t completely turned to face the conference room before Josh barreled past me to get to his wife. They started their touching, kissing, and whispering, and I started to get sick to my stomach. But for some reason I couldn’t turn my head from them.