Swordfish

by Andrea Bramhall

  The computer beeped and drew her attention to the numbers that began scrolling across her screen. She rested her chin in her hand as she watched, in the hope that it kept the grin from spreading across her face. It worked. She’d done it.

  She got up from her desk and stretched out stiff and achy muscles before finding Oz. She was in the changing room after working out with Junior in the small gym where they were whiling away many of the hours Finn spent working in the lab. Finn licked her lips as she approached a slightly sweaty and out of breath Oz. Her tank top and shorts clung to her damp skin as she sucked on a bottle of sports drink. She wrapped her arms around Oz’s neck, waited for her to stop drinking, and then kissed her soundly.

  She felt Oz’s arms wrap around her and she whispered against her lips, “It works.” Finn pressed her lips hard against Oz’s to hide any reaction she might have. They had no idea where other cameras may have been placed. Oz tightened her arms and spun her in a circle.

  Oz placed kisses along her cheek to her ear and whispered, “I’m so proud of you, I knew you could do it.”

  Finn tucked her head against Oz’s neck. “I love you.” She said it loud enough that any listening device would be able to pick it up and explain easily the long embrace.

  “I love you too, baby. I wish we were home right now.” She peppered Finn’s cheeks, eyes, and nose with tiny kisses.

  Finn giggled. “Me too, sweetheart. We’ll leave early tonight. I promise.”

  Oz slowly lowered her feet back to the floor. “I’m going to hold you to that.” She patted her on the bottom as Finn turned toward the door. “I have plans for you later.”

  Finn smiled, knowing there would be a lot of planning to do when they got home. She’d need help coordinating the effort to produce enough of the antidote to make release viable over the next few days, and the only people she trusted were much more adept at depressing the trigger on a gun than the plunger on a syringe. But they were short on time and skilled help. Whittaker and Knight were adamant that everything would move quickly after they announced her presence at the helm of Sterling Enterprises at the function on Friday. So she intended to be ready.

  She smiled, thinking how cute Oz would look in a white lab coat, with a stethoscope around her neck and safety goggles covering those baby blues. She licked her lips again as her mouth suddenly went dry. Later.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cassie hummed along to the radio. Bailey’s seat was as far back as it could go, she had a baseball cap pulled over her eyes, and her coat was tucked around her like a blanket. Cassie reached for the volume button, hoping that if she turned it down a little she’d be able to get a few hours of sleep.

  “Touch it and I may have to kill you.”

  Cassie giggled at the meaningless threat. “I was only going to turn it down so you could sleep.”

  “Then the sound of the engine and the tires will keep me awake instead. At least Billie Holiday sounds good.”

  “That’s a matter of opinion.” Cassie checked her rearview mirror and shifted lanes.

  “Oh, you did not just say that.”

  Cassie raised an eyebrow and glanced at Bailey as she twisted in her seat and tried to sit up gracefully. She giggled as Bailey failed miserably.

  “You might as well just get out now and walk to Florida. I can’t share a car with someone who clearly has no musical taste whatsoever.”

  Cassie laughed. Six hours into the trip and they were having…fun? She thought about it more and more, and yes, they were having fun. She felt more than a little sad at the fact that it was such an alien concept to her that she almost hadn’t recognized it. “And who would you tease then?”

  “Jazz.” Bailey laughed. “Just kidding. I do think we should stop pretty soon though.”

  “Coffee or bathroom?”

  “Yes.”

  Cassie laughed. “I saw a sign for a service station a little way back that said ten miles to the next rest area.”

  “Good. I think I can wait ten miles.”

  “I’m very glad to hear that.”

  Bailey smiled. “How is it we seem to end up discussing my bladder with alarming regularity?”

  “Just lucky, I guess.” Cassie smirked and checked the fuel gauge. “We should fill up while we’re there.”

  Bailey nodded. “Good plan.” She looked outside. “Where are we anyway?”

  “On I-95 coming up on Maryland.”

  Bailey looked impressed. “We’re making good time. You drive race cars?”

  “One or two getaway cars.” She winked at Bailey and enjoyed the lazy smile that tugged at the corners of her lips.

  “I thought I recognized you from America’s Most Wanted.”

  “You got me.”

  They traveled in easy silence for a couple more miles before Bailey turned in her seat and looked at her. “What will you do if she doesn’t want to see you?”

  Cassie kept her eyes glued to the road. It was the question she didn’t want to face, but she knew that it was a very real possibility. As far as she knew, Daniela believed she was dead, that she’d killed herself. Faced with the reality of a mother who had instead abandoned her—Cassie was terrified that Daniela wouldn’t even give her the chance to explain. And if she did, there was no guarantee that she would understand or want anything more to do with her beyond that.

  “I don’t know. All I know is that I have to try everything I can to let her know that what I did was to protect her. And that I love her. I always have, and that won’t change if she says she doesn’t want anything to do with me. At least then I’ll know. No more questions, you know?”

  Bailey sat back in her seat. “Yeah, I know.” She was quiet for a few minutes, and Cassie was sure she was thinking about her mother rather than Daniela. “Any answer’s better than no answer. Even if it isn’t the one you’d hoped for.”

  Cassie let her slip back into her thoughts and concentrated on the road, unwilling to pry where she wasn’t wanted, and the pensive look on Bailey’s face was enough to convince her of that. A few minutes later, she turned into the service station.

  “I’ll take Jazz for a little walk if you want to head in first.”

  “Thanks.” Bailey took off as Cassie opened the rear door and unclipped Jazz’s seat belt.

  “I still can’t believe you need to have your seat belt on. You’re a dog.” She grabbed her leash and headed for a small grassy area a few feet away. It wasn’t lunchtime yet, but her stomach was complaining after such an early start, and all she could think about was getting some food from the restaurant. She sat on one of the benches and let the extendable leash out full-length to give Jazz some space. She remembered the last time she had been in Florida. It was a time of terror and pleading, and loss. She shivered at the memories and tried to concentrate on the here and now.

  “I heard your stomach rumbling before we pulled up.” Bailey held out a coffee and a sandwich.

  “What is it?”

  “BLT on rye. Hope that’s okay. If not I suppose you can have the roast beef and mustard on wheat.”

  Cassie took the sandwich and smiled. “BLT’s great, thanks.” She patted the bench beside her and sipped at the coffee. Cappuccino, just the way I like it too. “That’s perfect, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Oh my God, is she blushing? “You’re very sweet.”

  Bailey’s eyes went round and she choked on her coffee. “I…you…that’s…” She started between hacking coughs.

  “It’s a compliment, Bailey. You’re meant to say thank you.”

  She wiped her mouth with her napkin and mumbled her thanks. Cassie bit into her sandwich. She wasn’t naïve, she knew she was attracted to Bailey, and unless she was reading the signs all wrong, she was pretty sure that Bailey was attracted to her too, but she also recognized that Bailey was a professional and she was a client. End of story. Period. It didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy making Bailey blush now and again, did it? After all, the effect
was captivating. Bailey’s eyes sparkled, and the way she tried to hide behind those long bangs and shaggy haircut…cute. It was the only word that described it.

  “I’m sorry. What did you say?”

  “I said I’ll take over driving for a while.” Bailey cocked her head to the side and frowned. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just daydreaming.” She felt her cheeks heating and knew she was sporting a blush of her own.

  “Hope you were somewhere better than the I-95 then.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. There’s worse places to be right now.”

  Bailey smiled at her. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” They slowly finished their lunch before Bailey nodded at the car. “Shall we?” She offered her hand to help Cassie up.

  “We shall.” Cassie didn’t hesitate to wrap her fingers around Bailey’s but the quick flash of electricity that surged down her arm caused them to stare at each other.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Oz opened the door. “On your own, Agent?”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I’m surprised Mr. Whittaker isn’t with you.”

  Knight smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “He called earlier. He can’t make it tonight.”

  Oz didn’t like it. Whittaker and Knight were supposed to be their team coordinators. They were supposed to be leading them, advising them, and ensuring Finn’s safety at all times. Tonight’s meeting was to organize the way they approached the charity event on Friday. Whittaker was an essential part of that discussion. Something stank. “Problem?”

  “Nothing that affects our plan here.”

  “You sure about that?” Oz felt increasingly confident in their decision to take Whittaker and Knight out of the loop.

  “Positive, Ms. Zuckerman.”

  Oz saw the tiny twitch at the corner of his eye and knew he wasn’t as confident as he sounded. What she couldn’t decide was whether he suspected there was a problem that affected their mission, or he knew there was because he was the problem. Until she was sure, they’d continue the charade that they were disclosing everything to the “team” and wait for Finn to succeed. She offered him a small, tight smile and hoped it looked more sincere than it felt. “I’d rather you called me Oz. There’s too many Zuckermans here otherwise.”

  “Then you should call me Stephen.” He held up a roll of paper. “Shall we get started?” She waved him in and followed him to the large dining table where he unrolled the plans. Junior and Billy took up positions so they could easily view the diagrams. “This is the observatory at the top of the rock. The charity function is ticket only, and all service people have been fully vetted because the mayor of New York plans on being in attendance tomorrow night.” He pointed to the map. “We have one escalator up and one down. The service elevator will be guarded at all times by the mayor’s security.”

  “What about the lower floor?” Junior asked. “Where everyone gets on the escalator.”

  “Two high speed elevators from the ground floor to the sixty-ninth floor. No one gets in either of them without a ticket. X-ray machines and metal detectors are in place as each guest’s tickets are checked against the guest list.”

  “I have a question.” Finn sat next to Oz and ran her hand over her back.

  “Shoot,” Stephen said.

  “Why do we need a plan for me to show up at a party that no one knows I’m going to attend anyway?”

  “This is just to make sure that we’re prepared for any eventuality, Finn, and to help establish you as someone to be taken seriously.”

  “Just being there isn’t making enough of a statement?”

  Stephen shook his head. “No. Your father never went anywhere without his guards, and you never did either. To start doing that now would just be an invitation for trouble when Mehalik finds out.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t have guards.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Finn, I have photographic proof that every function you ever attended, every place you were ever seen in public, you had guards. Whether you knew it or not, they were there, making their presence felt and keeping men like Mehalik, and the others your father did business with, off your back. One of your father’s favorite tactics of coercion was to kidnap loved ones and threaten them, torture them, even kill them, to get what he wanted. It’s how he got Dr. Lyell to cooperate.”

  “I know.” Finn’s voice was quiet and her face paled. Oz knew her well enough to know she was probably close to throwing up at the thought of what her father had done over the years. Every detail added to her burden of guilt and made her more determined to try to atone. Not only for the wrongs she perceived as her own, but his as well. It was a burden that was tearing Finn apart, just a little more every day. And that was killing Oz to watch.

  “And it was a tactic he intended to make sure was never used against him. You had your own security so no one could use you to get to him.”

  “So going without a show of force wouldn’t be believable.” Finn reluctantly agreed. Oz was overjoyed that she wouldn’t have to fight her on it. Finn hated the thought of anyone else being put in danger because of her. They’d talked about it many times over the past few weeks, and she’d expected Finn to fight them tooth and nail, but it had been a fight Oz knew she couldn’t afford to lose. She wouldn’t risk Finn’s safety for the sake of her comfort. That wasn’t a compromise Oz could ever make. Fortunately, appealing to the logical scientist in Finn worked better than trying to negotiate with her emotional side.

  Knight nodded. “Exactly. These men expect things to be done a certain way. The world they operate in behaves a certain way, and if we want them to trust us, we have to follow those rules. We don’t want him to trust us, we need him to trust you if we’re to stand a chance of pulling this off. It’s a long-range plan, Finn.” He pointed to the plans. “This is the first stage in creating a cover for you that will put you in the right place at the right time to make a deal that will change the face of the terrorist community for years to come.” He shrugged. “Hopefully, anyway.”

  “What do you mean by that? Do you have doubts about this plan?” Oz asked, the mere thought of the risk Finn was taking made her stomach knot. For it to all be for nothing—

  “No. The only thing I doubt is that it will take years to replace Mehalik. There is probably already someone ready and waiting to take his place. Another reason why we can’t just shoot him. If we can get him to talk, he’ll know who the next likely candidate will be.” He looked from one to the other. “I know you don’t know me, and you don’t have any reason to trust me, but this plan really does have a good chance of succeeding. All we have to do is play our roles and we can get a very dangerous man out of circulation.”

  “You don’t have to convince me that this is the right thing to do, Stephen. I don’t doubt that,” Finn said sadly. “I just wish it was over with already.”

  “Then let’s finish up here and we’ll be one step closer to it being finished.” He pointed back to the plans. “Junior, you’ll be with Finn on the observation deck. Stay with her at all times.” Oz looked up at Junior and started to object. She should be the one to protect Finn. It was her responsibility. Finn was her partner. She had to do her best to protect her. In that instant the realization hit her that in this situation she wasn’t the best one to protect her lover. Junior was still on active service and he was a highly trained operative. He was a SEAL for God’s sake. His reactions were faster than Oz’s. He was stronger, his instincts sharper, and he had just enough emotional distance not to panic with Finn in his custody, should the worst happen. Oz knew she was too close. She’d do what was right to prevent Finn from any danger, mission be damned. Junior would be able to see everything far more clearly than she could. She swallowed her pride and knew her emotions were playing out across her face by the look of comprehension and the softening of Junior’s gaze.

  “Stuck like glue.” He winked at her.<
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  “Oz, you’ll be with me on the sixty-ninth floor. Billy, I want you in the lobby with Whittaker.”

  “I have a problem with that plan,” Billy said, scratching his jaw.

  “And that is?” Stephen looked him in the eye. His eyes narrowed and Oz watched him study her father like a bug under a microscope. The curl of his lip and the twitch of his nose told her exactly what he thought of the interference he was getting on this mission.

  “Who’s going to run ops?”

  “I have access to people who can keep an eye on the feeds for us—”

  “Like hell.” Billy’s jaw clenched visibly as he worked to control his temper. “I am not working at the say-so of some faceless son of a bitch on the other end of a comm line that I’ve never met. Not a snowball’s chance in hell, boy.”

  “My people are experts in running operations all over the world from a central command point.”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass what your people are experts in. I ain’t working with them.”

  “Then what do you suggest, Captain?” Knight’s accommodating response looked painful for him. He seemed to be working hard to control his own temper, and Oz began to wonder exactly what he had been told by his superiors. And just who those superiors were.

  “Junior, get on that there phone and call the admiral. I want AJ here, and I want him here tonight.” Junior picked up the phone and followed his command. “I’ll be running ops. Get me a surveillance van and a street permit.”

  “Wait a minute—”

  “Junior, hang on a second. Agent, do I need to tell the admiral to make a call and get me a fully equipped van, street permits, and two extra bodies for this mission?”

  Stephen stood toe-to-toe with him, and Oz smiled as she watched her father stare him down. She’d been on the receiving end of that intense, do-not-fuck-with-me-or-you-will-be-fucking-sorry stare. She squirmed. Being on the periphery of that look still made her twitch.