The Animal Under The Fur

by E. J. Mellow

  His eyes cloud with a memory before he rubs the back of his neck. “I—we were stationed there for a longer mission. Similar to this one, but after it was done, I didn’t go back to the States with 3. It was my first assignment abroad, and I wanted to enjoy it a little longer. I got bit with the gambling bug and decided to try my luck at a few casinos. I won a lot of money”—he clears his throat—“and when I say a lot, I mean a few million.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah.” Akoni grins meekly. “But my excitement was short lived when I learned a million was the magic number to draw the attention of the owners…one in particular that also happened to be the head of El Anillo de Serpiente.”

  “Shit.” My eyes grow wide. El Anillo de Serpiente, or The Snake Ring, was one of the most lethal South American gangs spreading throughout most of the continent before it got broken up when their leader vanished.

  “Exactly.” Akoni puffs out his cheeks before blowing out a breath. “It was bad. I didn’t realize how angry people get when they learn you’re particularly good at math.”

  “You were caught counting cards?!”

  “Hey”—he holds up his hands—“is it my fault I have an advanced brain?”

  “Apparently not advanced enough.” I shake my head. “What happened?”

  “You mean after I pissed and pooped my pants when they held me in a warehouse preparing to kill me? 3 showed up and saved my ass.”

  I blink.

  “When I wasn’t back at work the following week and no one could locate me, 3 did some digging, found out about the gambling, and knowing me, put it all together from there. First time I didn’t mind being predictably stupid.” He laughs dryly. “I wasn’t even her assignment,” he goes on. “David told me later that it was given to another Op, but she left to come get me before they were even done debriefing him. And boy”—Akoni lets out a low whistle—“you should have seen her when she showed up. It was like the Grim Reaper fell over that warehouse, men getting yanked into shadows one by one, gurgles and screams filling the space. It would have been beautiful if I wasn’t terrified that I was next. But then there she was, gliding out of the dark to slice open Antonio and carry me home.”

  “3 killed El Anillo de Serpiente’s leader?”

  “Yeah, but shhh.” Akoni glances around the empty forest. “The agency spun it as a disappearance. No one wants that powerhouse of thugs coming at them.”

  “She saved your life.” I don’t know if it’s a statement or a question.

  “Yes.” Akoni nods. “So while she might be short tempered, a bit scary, okay, a lot scary, and intense at times, she still has the capability to care and to love. She just has a…unique way of showing it.” He glances to me. “She saved my ass that night, and as hard as it might be to believe, I think she’d save yours too.”

  I don’t respond, just mix this new information in with all the other things already painting a complicated picture of the person I thought 3 to be.

  “The question is,” Akoni says, watching me steadily, “would you save hers?”

  I look to where 3 climbs down the last slope to a rocky ledge that has a wide view of the waterfall. Her lithe form stands at the lip overlooking the powerhouse of water crashing into the pool below, one majestic beast regarding another. We’ve been at each other’s throats since our first meeting in China, terse, cutting words flung back and forth, not to mention our overwhelming need to compete, but a locked-up part of me has almost enjoyed it. I’ve never felt more alive and awake than I have in these past few weeks, even if it’s been peppered with white-hot frustration and anger. She’s done this to me, gotten under my skin and unhinged my apathy that has been a strange security blanket since that year, so long ago, when I lost everything. And even though I’m currently trying to sift through whether or not I’m glad for this change, there’s still no ignoring that it’s happening.

  So reluctantly I find myself saying, “Yes,” my voice oddly gruff. “I would.”

  “Good.” Akoni claps me on the shoulder. “Because whether she wanted to or not, she’s heard every one of our words.”

  I whip around to face him, completely forgetting about her advanced hearing in this moment.

  Shit.

  But Akoni looks the opposite of worried as he tips his ball cap, shooting me a coy grin before joining the girls. One of which is no longer facing forward, but regarding me with clear blue eyes and a shrouded frown, telling me that yes, she heard every one of my words and is just as confused as I am that I uttered them.

  37

  3

  SIERRA MADRES MOUNTAINS, MEXICO: 0845 HOURS

  The wind barrels against my face as I duck under a low branch, scrambling up a boulder-strewn hill and leaping over a fallen log. The early morning jungle is nothing but a green blur in my periphery, and I listen to his footsteps fifty yards behind mine, quick, just like his heartbeat. My lungs take in greedy gulps of crisp air, tasting the barrage of information it provides. The plant life is healthy, the animals safely secluded this thick into the jungle, and I revel in the wild of it all, the oasis. Bursting through a tangle of dense foliage, I come to the edge of a cliff with a breathtaking view of a deep valley. Slowing to a stop, I rest my hands on my hips, my bag securely strapped to my back, and take it all in. The treetops go on for miles before me, the Sierra Madres cresting the skyline like layered sound waves, and I take solace in the small moment of peace before he catches me.

  “I didn’t think you were going to run the whole way,” Carter pants as he reaches my side. Pulling up the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face, he gives me a quick blink of his tan abs.

  Our group split up yesterday after finding two of the locales closer to the waterfall empty. Now it’s on to plan B, with Carter and me continuing deeper into the mountains as Akoni and Jules return to Cuetzalan to visit some of the surrounding coffee plantations to see what they can find.

  “I want to get as close to the next location as we can before the sun goes down,” I say, removing a water canister and taking a swig.

  “Seeing as the sun just rose, we should be good.”

  “I wasn’t sure how slow you’d be running with your bag.”

  He shoots me a dry glance. “You’re only slightly stronger than me, 3.”

  “Whatever you need to tell yourself,” I say, following the cliff’s ledge east.

  “You want to test it?” He catches up to me in four long strides. “We never do seem to finish our one on ones.”

  “I’m good.” I break off a leaf from a low-growing bush, tasting the rough surface with my tongue. I peer into the woods. A mountain lion came through approximately five hours ago—night hunting.

  “Because you’re scared you’d lose,” Carter taunts, causing me to glance back at him.

  His eyes are bright against the morning sun, matching his forest-green T-shirt that stretches across his broad shoulders. It’s damp from his run, making his unique aroma of cinnamon and male come off stronger, and I frown at how someone’s body odor can actually smell good.

  “More like hurt your ego,” I say.

  “All right.” He stops, undoing his pack. “Let’s do this. Right now, right here.”

  “Carter, we don’t have time for this.”

  “Sounds awfully like an excuse someone would give who knows they’re about to lose.”

  I glare at him while biting the inside of my cheek. “Fine. You want to go, let’s—”

  The echo of an off-road vehicle revs in my ears.

  I snap to attention and peer across the treetops. A cluster of birds take flight a mile off.

  “Carter—”

  “I hear it.” He’s right next to me, his pack back in place.

  We glance at each other, a moment hanging in stillness right before it erupts in movement as we run.

  “You think they’re with the Oculto?” Carter whispers as we lay on the forest floor hidden behind a tangle of leaves. He has a pair of binoculars pressed to his face, while
I use my advanced eyesight to take in the group of men standing in a small clearing around two jeeps a hundred yards away.

  “Hard to tell. They could also be hunters.” I study their M&P10 sporting rifles casually draped over their shoulders. They rock camouflaged jackets and pants while talking and laughing around a packed breakfast.

  “Can you hear what they’re saying?”

  “Nothing of interest. Just about some girl their friend had sex with recently.”

  “Typical,” Carter mumbles, and it sounds so like something I’d say that, with him not looking, I let a grin form.

  A radio crackles from inside one of the cars, and a man bends over to retrieve it.

  “Wait.” I angle my head, listening. “Someone just told them they can make their way over now.”

  “Did they say where?”

  “No.”

  “Shit.”

  We both watch as they repack their things and huddle into their jeeps.

  “Can you keep up with them?” Carter asks, shifting to a low crouch.

  “Yeah, but I’ll lose you.”

  “Turn on your tracker, and I’ll follow behind as quickly as I can.”

  I stand, glancing to where the men set off down a small dirt path, barely visible, meaning it’s not often used.

  “Okay,” I say and without a backward glance become the wind.

  It takes two hours for Carter to regroup with me, and I turn when I hear his approach, watching as he climbs the slope to a small flat ledge where I stand, overlooking a lake. His scruff has turned slightly beardish from our time away from civilization, and his dark-brown hair is disheveled from the run. His shirt’s completely damp with sweat now, hugging the ridges of his chest and abs like a second skin, and his fitted outdoor pants make little sound as his tall form marches to my side.

  “Enjoying the view?” he asks with a sly grin.

  “Was,” I say. “Then you showed up.”

  He muffles a snort. “What happened with our friends?”

  “They stopped down there.” I point to a section of the lake that turns into a beach. The afternoon sun streams through the surrounding trees while throwing a dramatic spotlight on the flat turquoise water. “And met with another car that had a boat. They used it to drop two black crates into the middle of the lake, then left. I followed them up until I saw they were heading back towards a main road that leads out of the mountains to the east.”

  “Hunh.” Carter keeps his attention pinned to the middle of the water. “And the crates?”

  “Still down there.” Removing my cap, I wipe away a bit of sweat and enjoy the small breeze combing through my hair’s wet strands. While I kept up with the cars, I haven’t run like that in a while, and even though it was invigorating, it’s left me extremely hungry.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Carter asks as he shrugs out of his pack.

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “Come on.” He grins, kicking off his boots. “What better way to end an exercise like that than with a nice swim in the middle of the jungle?”

  “How about sitting in a hot tub overlooking the Swiss Alps with a plateful of chocolate strawberries?”

  He blinks at me, pausing in the middle of taking off his shirt. “Yeah, okay, that sounds fucking fantastic, but this has to be a close second.” Then with him stripping down to nothing but his boxer briefs, showcasing a chest rippling in all the annoyingly perfect places, he shoots me a wink and jogs down to the lake.

  Letting out a resigned sigh, I wait ten more seconds before shimmying down to my sports bra and underwear and following.

  “How do you want to do this?” I ask as we stand on the beach looking out at the water. The sand is warm under my toes, and I wiggle them, wishing I was on one of my tropical vacations instead.

  “Well, normally you walk in until you need to start swimming.”

  I narrow my eyes, unamused, and Carter smiles.

  “I think we’ll need to determine how deep it is before we dive,” he says.

  “Yeah,” I agree, bending down to my pack. “I’ve got string in here, and we can tie it to a rock.”

  “Look at you being a resourceful spy.”

  “Basic math and science is really impressive.”

  “Hey, don’t sell yourself short.” Carter frowns. “We all know the basic stuff is the most challenging for you.”

  “Har-har. Now shut up and help me with this.”

  A few minutes later we’re both treading water in the middle of the lake, the temperature just a touch cold, and I try not to pay attention to all the animals I can hear swimming around us.

  Ick.

  “Okay, I think I hit the bottom,” Carter says as he bobs in front of me. Lifting part of the rope, he reads the marking. “Not bad. Fifteen feet.”

  “I’ll go.”

  “No, I can. My lungs are bigger than yours.”

  “But are you strong enough to lift the crate?”

  “Are you calling me weak?”

  “I’m calling you human.”

  “I hate to break it to you, wife, but you’re human too.”

  “Yeah, an advanced one.”

  “God, we’ll be here all day.” He floats onto his back, gazing up at the blue sky. “How about this? We both go. We might need each other anyway, to lug one of those things up.”

  I hover in the water for a moment. “Fine.”

  “Wow.” He returns to treading, meeting my eyes. “Did the perfect operative just compromise without getting violent?” Carter grins, and I hate that it looks somewhat adorable in this moment with his hair wet and sticking in every direction.

  Wait. What? No. Carter is not adorable.

  “Don’t make me change my mind,” I say, ignoring the small stroke I obviously just experienced.

  He merely chuckles. “Ready?”

  I nod right before we both take giant intakes of air and dive.

  The water is murky, and I can only see a few feet in front of me even with my advanced eyesight and flashlight. Carter swims at a quick pace beside me, his own light hitting small schools of fish, floating algae, and a few turtles as we move deeper. Right when my lungs begin to feel the first twinge of burn, the floor of the lake comes into view, and sitting like a dark spot are four black plastic crates. Kicking down to them, I dig my feet into the muddy bottom, testing one of their weights.

  Turds. It will definitely take both of us.

  Seeing this, Carter swims to me, and with each of us letting out gurgling bubbles of air, we push off the ground and head back up.

  We break the surface with a gasp and one-arm breaststroke to the beach, the crate dragging between us.

  “There are rocks in here,” Carter says as we haul it onto land. “Millions of rocks.”

  “Let’s hope not.” I wipe a bit of water from my eyes and crouch to the opening, taking a generous whiff.

  Nothing.

  “It’s airtight.” I stand. “I can’t detect anything without opening it.”

  “The lock’s digital.” Carter runs a hand through his damp hair. “We can use a scanner.”

  “I’ll grab mine.” After retrieving the lockpick from my bag, I twist my wet hair into a messy bun and head back to the beach. I’m busy preparing the device so am caught off guard when I glance up to find Carter watching me with a strange intensity. He looks annoyed as his eyes sweep over my body, and I check to see if I’ve got something stuck on me from the lake, but there’s nothing but my soaked black sports bra, underwear, and a complexion that looks frighteningly pale in these sunny surroundings.

  “What?” I ask, but Carter remains silent, his gaze finding mine as a flicker of heat flashes behind their green depths, sending a chill along my spine. We both stand there motionless, barely listening to the rustle of the surrounding jungle as we each seem to suddenly realize we’re in nothing but our underwear. Our wet, sticking-to-every-curve underwear, and Carter’s lips thin, as if he can’t decide if he likes it or hates it
.

  Under his unwavering stare, my skin shifts from cool to way too warm, deciding for itself how it feels about the tall, well-built man in front of me. “Um…” I frown and turn away, bending to attach the device. “This might take me a few minutes.”

  Carter clears his throat. “I’ll just…I’ll get our clothes.”

  Fifteen minutes later we’re both standing—with a sizeable gap now between us—redressed, dry, and staring into the open crate.

  “Well, shit,” Carter says.

  Stacked to the top are bags and bags of cocaine and methamphetamine.

  “At least we know they’re cartel.” He scratches the back of his neck.

  “Goddammit.” I kick the side of the box, and it tips over, the drugs spilling out.

  “Feel better?”

  “No.”

  “They still could be Oculto,” he says.

  “Even if they are, it doesn’t matter. Mendoza would never put the same men on the biochemical weapon.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He’s been able to keep his involvement in the business quiet. He wouldn’t risk spreading his people out like that. I have a feeling very few members of his family are even aware of what he’s doing. The guards at the location we’re trying to find probably have no idea what they’re guarding.”

  “Still, couldn’t these same men take us there unknowingly?”

  I chew my bottom lip, glancing down at the bags covering the sand.

  “This is our only lead so far,” Carter goes on. “Might as well wait for them to come back to grab the crates and then follow.”

  “They wouldn’t store them in the same compound.”

  “But maybe we’ll pick up something new along the way.”

  It’s a risk, with possible little reward, but so would continuing to walk around aimlessly in the jungle searching the other locations. We can always check them later. I sigh.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Do I need to say it louder?”

  He raises an appeasing hand, his dark hair curling slightly as it dries in the sun-soaked air. “No, just taking in the fact that this is the third time you’ve agreed with me today. Are you sure you’re not coming down with something?”