by Honor James
Clara rolled her eyes. “If you had let me go in a hidden van you would all have access to the security cameras in there. I’m too far to hijack their wireless signal that I know they have going on right now. So seriously, this is your fault Elliott.” She did smile, leaning in and kissing Elliott’s cheek.
“Yoshi wasn’t happy about that plan either, sweetheart. Too many risks and unknowns. Prime example is two additional players in this fucked-up game. Connor, person is descending the stairs now. You should have visual in about one minute.” A click came through the speakers. “That was an acknowledgement of the info I gave him,” Elliott said, for her benefit.
“Thank you for telling me.” She moved so that she was sitting closer to the edge of her seat. She was chewing her lower lip as she watched the happenings and winced as she watched the man. “Did they just take him down? Did I see that right?” She hoped she had. Suddenly the man’s heat signature jerked forward and then back and then prone.
“Tango disabled.”
“That would be affirmative,” Elliott said to her. “Copy that, Connor. Other three are still unaware to your presence. Continue to second floor.” He swung his chair around in slow circles. On each revolution past the desk, he took a look at the monitor before continuing on his lazy spin.
“Doesn’t that ever make you dizzy?” Olivia asked with a frown. “I know that it would make me seriously sick to my stomach if I were to do something like that.” She then looked to Clara and asked, “Is he hyped up on sugar?”
“Nope, that’s just him. God I love him like that too.”
“I don’t get dizzy from doing this. It helps me relaxed when there’s absolutely nothing I can do. When we used to be in the field, I had a mini Rubix Cube I was working on. It’s a technique to get my mind off what I can’t control so I don’t go completely bonkers.”
“Good heavens. Are you ADHD or something then? If you can’t sit still?” Although who was she kidding? She didn’t do still well either, but she also didn’t bounce from wall to wall as this man seemed to be doing.
Snorting, he gave her a dirty look on his next slow spin. “Says the woman twitching her leg every twenty-four seconds for a six-second burst, and scraping one thumbnail with her other thumbnail nearly non-stop since they went radio silent.” He made a clicking noise with his tongue.
“Damn you.” She had been doing exactly that. She had been all but dancing in her seat while she was sitting there waiting. “It’s just driving me crazy that I can’t hear them, know what they are doing. All I hear are those too-quiet clicks from time to time.”
Chuckling, he stopped spinning suddenly to stare at the monitor. “Hold, repeat, hold! Another person is moving, you guys. Heading for the stairs.” A few quick clicks came through in a pattern she was sure. “Copy that. Shit. The other unknown is calling out for the guy Connor put down. Obviously he was supposed to collect something, and should have been back up there already.”
“So what does that mean?” Liv asked then with a frown, watching the monitors closely. “Are they going to take him down as well? If they do does that mean that the other two will become suspicious as well?” She scooted closer once more. “Seriously, this sucks. At least you guys aren’t overseas. If you were I have a feeling that I would have to beat the ever loving heck out of you.”
“You wouldn’t be able to get near us to beat us,” he muttered. “They’ll have to take him down. Hopefully quietly so that they can ease into a better position to surround the other two. I’m guessing from what they’ve passed along that Phyllis and O’Donnell are the two still by the windows. There we go,” he said as the other person went flat on the screen. “They’re still unseen,” he told her when there were more clicks.
“Crapballs,” she muttered. “I don’t like that. Are you sure that no one knows that they are in there? There are no hidden traps or wires or whatever that would alert people to being there? I mean you know like in that game where there is an infrared beam that breaks and tells people that there is someone coming in?”
“They were moving slow, and looking for anything that could have been an alert. Given the other two haven’t budged all that much, they are still clear. Michael just told me they are still talking quietly. They’ll realize soon something is up when the other two don’t come back. Which means they will move fast now,” he said. He pointed over at the monitor of the vest cameras.
“Good. The faster that they move the better that it will be. The happier that I will be because it means that they will be home sooner.” Taking another deep breath, she watched the men while they moved through the warehouse.
The screen showed the team separating, spreading out, and getting closer to where she could just make out Phyllis and a man. Suddenly the man held up a hand, cutting off Phyllis in whatever she was saying. He was frowning as he turned to look around the room. She couldn’t make out his expression, but he suddenly grabbed Phyllis by the arm and yanked hard to tug her across the room. He was met with a gun in his face, and several others pointed their direction a few seconds later.
“Finally,” Elliott muttered. Reaching out, he took Clara’s hand in his, and lifting it to his face, pressed a kiss to her knuckles as he closed his eyes. A look of relief swept over his face.
Olivia leaned back in the seat and sighed. “Thank god,” she whispered. She felt as if every single stressor that she had was let out of her in that moment. “God, that is so much better. I feel so much better.” She looked to Elliott, who was holding Clara, and blushed. She felt as if she were intruding upon their private moment.
“Doing a sweep of the building, and then waiting for the cops to arrive,” someone said suddenly. “If you want to call them now, Timmons, we’d be appreciative.”
“Copy that, I’ll put the call in,” Elliott said. He gave Clara another kiss before letting her loose so he could attend to the business at hand.
“There are no other signatures, right?” Olivia asked suddenly and moved in closer to the screens once more. “I just need to make sure that they are going to be okay.” She forgot for the moment that these men were trained for this. They had likely been in far more dangerous situations than this, but these were her men and they were doing something for her which caused her to panic a bit.
“They are fine,” Elliott told her gently. “Don’t worry, Olivia. They are absolutely fine, but they will still be wary and cautious as they proceed. Once they have the four trussed up, and in one spot, they will leave two with them to keep watch before doing a full sweep of the building.”
“As long as they don’t let them go.” She had a feeling that Lee and Nathan would keep boots on Phyllis and her man without the shadow of a doubt. She knew that they would keep them under wraps for sure. “I can’t believe that it’s over,” she whispered and looked to Clara, smiling and sharing a look with her. Clara was happy as well, she could see it in her eyes.
“It’s over except for the hard part, getting them all convicted for a nice long sentence. Phyllis is the key there. Between what we know they’ve done, and what we suspect they’ve done, the police should be able to get her to talk.” Elliott held up a finger as he stood from his chair, and moved to the door. Before he eased it closed with himself on the other side, she heard, “Yes this is Elliott Timmons with Nightshade, I need to arrange for a few officers…”
Clara and Olivia share a look. Olivia finally spoke. “We will make sure that she talks. No matter what this ends. Agreed?”
“You betcha. We will end this. Now. It’s time for us to get on with our lives. I for one am ready to start a family with my guys, so yes, it’s beyond time.”
“Agreed. I’m just starting with Nathan and Lee but I am hopeful to be able to one day have children with them. Later though, not right now. Right now I’m having too much fun lovin’ my guys.”
A soft snicker sounded from the speakers. “You do know he left a live mic open, right?” Nathan asked. On the screen he bent over to peer into the camera l
abeled Jacobs. “So are we talking about one of each, or enough for a baseball team, babe?”
“I think maybe a couple of each. What do you guys think? Can we handle four kiddos? Not at all once, but one at a time. I don’t think that I could possibly handle multiples.” She began to fan her face and looked at Clara, mouthing, Why didn’t you tell me?
Clara just snickered and leaned back. “I want kids too. Craig, think you can talk Elliott into it?”
“I doubt it will be all that difficult,” Yoshi told her. “Give him that look of yours, bite your lip, and tease your finger over his stomach. You do that and you can get him to do anything you want, love.”
“I don’t think you were supposed to go and tell her that,” Michael said with definite amusement in his voice.
“Probably not, but it’ll be funny as hell to see what all she can talk him into before he clues in,” Yoshi said before letting out a slightly evil-sounding chuckle.
“You are just as bad. Should I tell them how I talk you into things, Craig?” Clara asked and shifted. “Because I could give away your secrets, you know?”
Olivia was snickering. She couldn’t help it. “Lee, what is your opinion on children in our far future?”
He was silent for a time. She noticed Nathan frowning up at the man before straightening up out of view. “I’m willing, but not for a while yet, okay?” he asked softly.
Elliott came back into the room then, and settled back in his chair. “Cops are on their way to you now. Be good, lads, and ensure you don’t tempt them into shooting any of you if you wouldn’t mind.”
Olivia then answered Lee. “Not for a long while yet. I’m perfectly happy with us where we are right now. One day though?” She knew he was still hurting and was more than willing to give him whatever time that he might need in order to heal.
“Absolutely, Vi,” he said quietly. “Not now, not tomorrow, but one day in the future before we’re too old and decrepit. Don’t want you having to smack Nathan with your cane, so he moves his aging ass to chase the little scamps around with his walker.”
She snickered at that and nodded. “Yeah, I think that you are right on that. I really would be pretty unhappy having to repeat myself with him. You know?” She was leaning back once more and sighed. “I love you, Lee, you know that. Right?”
“I know it, sweetheart. I love you too, Vi.” He leaned over so she could see him in Nathan’s vest cam. “Are you being good?” he asked with a smirk on his face.
A buzzer sounded, and Elliott leaned over to another computer. “Yo.”
“I got some pizzas here for a Clara Smith,” a young pitchy voice said. He looked up at the camera and grinned to show off his braces.
“Someone will be with you momentarily. What’s the damage?”
“Sixty-two dollars and twenty cents sir.”
Elliott shot Clara a look. “Right, give us a second.” Turning to her he lifted a brow. “What did you order, out of curiosity?”
“I ordered enough for all of us. I ordered ten pizzas and one family-size breadsticks. That’s enough. Right?”
“I would have thought that it would be more than that. Did you have coupons or something?” Olivia would have expected it to be twice that for ten pizzas, but maybe she was wrong, maybe the place they ordered from was cheaper than what she was used to.
“Coupons?” Elliott said. Groaning, he held out a hand to Clara. “Hand them over babe, or did you leave them with security? I need to know if I’m getting the food or if one of them is?” he asked her.
“They are with security. I gave the coupons and cash to the guard that comes up and checks the floor when you guys go out. Yani? I think that’s his name?”
“The tall thin really, really white guy right?” Olivia asked with a frown. “I can’t think of his name even though he told me twice.”
“Yeah, that’s him. I think it’s Yani, I can never remember his name,” Clara said.
“Oh good lord,” Elliott muttered. Picking up a phone, he dialed out. “It’s me, the huge pizza order Clara placed is at the door. Can you get it all for us? Yeah that’ll work good, we’ll come in there as soon as the team is cleared with the cops.”
“Oh shush it,” Clara told Elliott and climbed back into his lap. “Seriously, you know that I have a hard time recalling his name.” Which surprised Olivia. Clara was one of the smartest women she knew, so to have her not recall a person’s name was strange to her.
“Okay, I’m asking. Why? I mean I know why I don’t remember his name because I just met him, but what’s your deal?”
“He just doesn’t seem like a Yani, that’s why I have an issue.” Clara grumbled. “It’s not that he’s a bad guy, just the name doesn’t fit him. I also feel like maybe he was a she at one time but won’t tell us. You know?”
“Yeah, that’s it. He does look more like a she and doesn’t have an Adam’s apple either. He’s still a super nice guy though, right?”
“Oh yeah, very nice guy but needs a different name. Yani doesn’t work for him.” Clara looked at Elliott and asked, “What do you think? Is Yani a former female?”
“His name isn’t Yani,” he said. “His name is Savin, babe. I have no idea where the hell you came up with Yani, but I wouldn’t go calling him that.” He swiveled his chair slightly. “Guys, cops are one minute out. Make sure you don’t have weapons in hand when they arrive.”
“Oh, Savin works well for him,” Clara said with a smile. “And yes, please don’t get arrested again. I would hate to have to wipe your records again.”
Olivia looked at the woman and then spoke into the mic again. “Is she for real? Does she really wipe your records clean?”
“That’s the rumor,” Nathan said. She could see them moving the four people they’d put flex cuffs on out to the front. They pushed them down to kneel. “Don’t personally know about it though, because that would be illegal.”
“Good point.” Olivia leaned back and closed her eyes and sighed. “I look forward to you guys coming home to me. I miss you, both of you,” she told her men and didn’t care who heard her.
“Cops are pulling up now,” Elliott said.
“We’ll be back soon,” Lee told her. “Make sure there’s still pizza left when we get there, I’m starving right now.”
“So am I,” someone else said. “What did you order for us, Clara?”
Chapter Seventeen
One year later...
The last year had been so hard. It had touched upon a number of hard truths for Olivia, and the other women as well. It had been enough that they had to pull Deandra back to testify as well. Afterward she went back into hiding, with a little help from Clara of course.
As it was Olivia had lived through her own version of hell while they had suffered through the trial, but she was more than happy to live through it because it meant that they were finally through this nightmare and she was safe.
She was sitting on the couch with her feet in Nathan’s lap and her head on Lee’s lap. She had felt like crap all day, thank you, flu, very damn much, and now that her guys were home they were pampering her and she let them. “I’m so happy it’s over,” she said with a sigh. Her throat didn’t hurt, she wasn’t sneezing, so both of these were good. “They are never going to see the light of day, right?” The trio had been hit with the proverbial book. Not only state but federal as well. They faced a lifetime in jail of one or the other, which was good.
“They are all going to be locked away for a very long time,” Lee said. He was lightly stroking her forehead with a finger. “Phyllis might be able to get parole someday, but it’ll be a damn long time. If she doesn’t get herself killed inside, it will be years and years before she sees the light of day without a chain-link filter. The three of you are safe,” he said, looking down into her eyes.
“And we have you guys to thank for that,” Olivia said as she looked up at her guys and smiled. “Thank you. For your parts in it. I appreciate all that you’ve done for us.” S
he closed her eyes again and sighed. “Can you keep doing that please, Lee? It makes me not want to puke as much. Stupid stomach flu. I swear I’m so killing Clara for giving it to me.” Clara had been sick the week before and drank from Olivia’s drink by accident, something Liv didn’t realize until it was too late.
“You know you don’t have to even ask,” he told her. “Concentrate on your breathing and relaxing your muscles. You’ve been so tense and worried of late, it’s not surprising you caught a bug. We’ll get you back on your feet again.”
“I know you will.” Olivia smiled and felt herself trying to relax again. “So have Craig and Elliott stopped grinning since they found out that Clara’s pregnant?” It had been a bit of a surprise two months earlier when Clara announced, loudly, that she was going to kill them for knocking her up, which only made Olivia laugh at the time. The woman had been in the bathroom with a test and had shouted that. It had been the looks on the men’s faces that had her grinning so much.
“I don’t think so, except when Clara glares in their general direction. It’s pretty much the only time they tone it down a little. Other than that, they are running around looking like they are getting ready for a toothpaste ad,” Nathan said. He chuckled softly as he adjusted her feet slightly. “They are anxiously awaiting the first sonogram so they can show off the images.”
She was smiling at that and nodded. “She’s happy as well. She doesn’t even care that she doesn’t know which ones is the biological father. She said that as far as she’s concerned both of them are the father and refuses to even let them try to talk her into a paternity test. She’s stubborn, that one.”
“I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually.” Nathan squeezed her one foot lightly before rubbing his hand up and down her arch. “If the kid starts writing computer code in his diapers, it’s Timmons’s. If the kid does a bunch of wild, and crazy moves to get out of his highchair, it’s Yoshi’s.”