Rising (Anderson Special Ops Book 2)

by Melody Anne

  “Please come in. Since I’ve been told you figured out your benefactor, I was anxious to meet you. I’ve been very pleased with your work, and more than impressed with who you are,” Joseph said as he moved back up the steps, Chad at his side and the men spread out around him. He’d unofficially met Eyes, Sleep, and Smoke, but they hadn’t spoken, and that had been an intense time where Joseph was focused on only his wife.

  Joseph spoke as they moved down the incredibly wide hallway that felt more like they were in a museum than a home. But as soon as they stepped into his library, Brackish could see the little touches that turned it from a museum into a homey place that was obviously lived in and loved in.

  A few people milled about the room, all of them turning and looking their way. The team knew they were a sight to behold when they were together, but they were so used to each other, they sometimes forgot they stood out in a crowd. The team had seen numerous photos of the Anderson family members, but it was always nice to see them in person — especially since this group of men had all come together to fund their operation.

  The next thirty minutes was spent with many introductions. Each person on their team had been good at learning faces and names fast. They’d all been in situations where a face and name needed to match, or disastrous consequences could occur.

  “This is my beautiful wife, Katherine,” Joseph finally said as he gently placed his arm around a petite, silver haired woman who had a genuinely honest smile for each of them.

  “It’s very nice to meet you,” Katherine said. “I’m just on my way out to lie down, but someday soon I’d love to sit and talk with you. Chad has said he’s working with some fine men, and that’s all I need to know about your character,” she said. She was the epitome of class and grace.

  “Would you like me to accompany you, my dear?” Joseph asked.

  “No, no, Joseph. You stay and visit. Amy’s going to tell me all about Jasmine’s new project while I lie down for a bit,” she said. She then leaned up, while Joseph bent down, and she kissed his cheek, then she walked arm and arm with her daughter-in-law as they left the room. Joseph was silent for several seconds as he watched her leave the room.

  “I’m sorry, I’m a bit distracted. My wife had a major operation ten days ago and she returned home just three days ago. I’ve been glued to her side nonstop and I think she’s about to push me from a balcony, but I worry about her,” Joseph told them.

  “She looks great, so I’m assuming the operation was successful,” Eyes said.

  “Yes, it was very successful, but that doesn’t help me not to worry,” Joseph admitted.

  “It’s not a bad thing to love your wife,” Sleep said, his own happy smile in place. The men knew he couldn’t wait for his wedding day. Sadly for Sleep, his fiancée’s mother wanted a big wedding, and that took planning. The good thing was that neither Sleep nor Avery had to do any of the planning. If you had to have a big wedding, it was much better to have someone else do all of the work.

  Those words were followed by silence for a moment as Joseph once again glanced at the door Katherine had walked through. Brackish wanted to laugh again, feeling better than he had in a while. He also wanted to tell the team that’s what whipped actually looked like.

  Green was the one to break the silence though. “How long does it take to get from one end of this house to the other?”

  Joseph laughed, his attention back on the men. “I’ve never timed it before,” he said. “Now, I might have to do just that with a stopwatch, then see if I can improve my time the next day.”

  There was a huge table in the center of the room, and they soon sat while food, drinks, and fine cigars were brought out. Eyes, Brackish, and Smoke joined in with the cigars, but Sleep and Green turned them down.

  “After my last lung injury, I can’t even see smoke without feeling pain. I love the ventilation you have in this room, though, cause it barely lingers in the air,” Sleep said.

  “Yep, I’ve tried them three times in my life, and each time, I go a little green,” Green said with a laugh.

  “Then I guess you have a fitting call name,” Smoke said as he sat back with a smile, seeming more at ease than his usual self. The Anderson mansion had a way of doing that to people.

  They spent the next hour visiting, and then a few of the people in the room exited, leaving the team, Joseph’s sons, and Joseph’s brothers sitting at the table.

  “Now, it’s down to a little business,” Chad said.

  Chad gave a breakdown of information he was allowed to share. They didn’t bring up Damien, and they didn’t share a lot of details. But these were the men paying for the operation, and it was good to discuss some of the operation in person. It made them feel as if they were accomplishing something with the tens of millions of dollars they’d donated.

  When Chad spoke of Brackish’s abilities, the group of Anderson men smiled, obviously impressed. Chad sent a wink Brackish’s way, and he shifted a bit in his seat. He wasn’t a humble man. He knew what he was capable of, but he didn’t like high praise thrown at him. It made him feel as if he needed to prove they were right, made him feel pressured to perform. He did what he did because he loved it, not because he needed to prove himself.

  “Brackish had an idea I want to speak to you about later, Joseph,” Chad said.

  “I’d love to hear it,” Joseph told him.

  “We’ll speak later. It’s an off-task mission, and the less people who know about it, the more legit it will be.”

  That had everyone at the table sitting up. Joseph wasn’t a patient man, so he pushed Chad to share, but he didn’t cave. The subject was changed, and they continued talking business while laughing, eating, and drinking. The time passed far too quickly.

  As the night wrapped up and everyone stood from the table, Joseph thanked them all for coming. It was good to finally meet. Knowing what a good man Joseph was and what a great family he had, made the team that much happier to be doing what they were doing.

  “Brackish, can I have a few minutes of your time?” Joseph asked.

  “Of course,” Brackish said.

  “Perfect. Chad can give you a ride back so the other men can go,” Joseph said. No one tried to argue with him, but they sent curious looks between Joseph and Brackish. Everyone said their goodbyes and were on their way.

  “Finally, I’m not in the far back seat,” Green said as they made their way out of the room. Smoke’s laughter could be heard all the way down the hallway.

  “Thank you for staying,” Joseph said as he moved over to a large fireplace where a couch and two chairs formed a more intimate setting.

  Brackish followed. “What can I do for you, boss?” Brackish asked. He waited for Joseph to be seated before he sat across from him with Chad in the chair next to him.

  “With your computer skills I’m sure you know a lot about me, more than many people out there,” Joseph began and laughed, showing Brackish he wasn’t faulting him for his investigations.

  “Yes, I like to research,” Brackish said, shifting in his seat. He wondered if Joseph was going to insist Brackish not look into him or his family. That would make him want to do just that. But from all of the research he’d done on the Anderson family, he hadn’t found any deep, dark secrets. It was quite impressive that this family didn’t have skeletons. Well, beyond Damien, that was.

  “Family means the world to me,” Joseph said.

  Brackish laughed again. “Yes, that’s obvious,” he agreed.

  “I also believe in love and justice,” Joseph said. Brackish found himself speechless, having zero clue where this conversation was going.

  “With your huge family, that’s obvious, too,” Brackish said after a few seconds.

  “I hear you’ve been having some difficulties in that department,” Joseph told him.

  Brackish felt a bit of heat enter his cheeks. Never in a million years would he have guessed this is what Joseph wanted to talk to him about.

  “I wou
ldn’t exactly say difficulties,” Brackish finally said. He wasn’t a man to lie, but he also wasn’t a man who liked to talk about his personal life, and they were getting into dangerous territory at the moment.

  “Well, we’ve all been there, son, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I just want you to know if you ever need an ear, I’m a good person to talk to about the ups and downs of love and marriage. I’ve been with my Katherine so long I can’t remember a life before her. And I’m grateful every single day for that time together.” He waved his hand in the air before Brackish could respond. “But enough of that. It’s not what I’m here to talk to you about now unless you want to.” He stopped as if he was hoping Brackish would pour out his heart.

  “I don’t have anything to share right now,” Brackish said, shifting in his seat as Joseph stared at him. He felt as if he was under interrogation and the person doing it knew he was flat-out lying.

  “Okay, I’ll have to take your word on that for now,” Joseph told him. He took a sip of his scotch and then continued speaking. “I’ve planned a mission for you, and it involves your Erin,” Joseph said, looking quite pleased with himself.

  “A mission?” Brackish asked, even more confused now. “For me and the guys and Erin?” Why hadn’t he already seen something on this?

  “Yes, a mission and no, not for the other guys. This is a mission for just you and Erin, and one that I’m sure you’ll thank me for,” Joseph said.

  “Of course, I’ll do a mission,” Brackish finally said. “I’m just not sure how Erin’s involved.”

  Chad laughed. “Sometimes the best missions are the ones we don’t have all of the answers for,” Chad told him with a slap on his back.

  “But Erin doesn’t know about the special ops team. She’s not involved with it,” Brackish said.

  “She won’t know this is a mission. She’ll think it’s nothing more than a fantastic date,” Joseph said.

  “A date?” Brackish asked. He didn’t normally sound like a bumbling idiot, but he was seriously confused and he didn’t like the feeling. He couldn’t imagine how it would be to feel that way all of the time.

  “I’ll get you all of the details and handle everything. I just need your confirmation that you’ll take the mission,” Joseph said.

  “Yes, sir, of course I wouldn’t ever turn down a mission,” Brackish said. “That’s what me and the guys were brought here for.”

  Joseph stood, and Brackish quickly jumped to his feet, Chad rising after him.

  “Very well then,” Joseph said. “I’ll say goodnight as I’ve been away from my wife for too long already.” And just as quickly as Brackish had met the man, Joseph was gone, leaving Chad and Brackish standing there.

  “He’s like Smoke,” Brackish said. “I don’t understand how such large men move with such grace.”

  Chad laughed hard at that. “Come on, Brackish, you have a lot to do to prepare,” Chad told him as he began leading Brackish from the huge mansion.

  They got into Chad’s vehicle before Brackish spoke again. “What is this mission? What in the hell is going on?”

  Chad’s smile was clear even in the low light from the dashboard.

  “You’re going to Paris. We need intel. But you can’t look as if it’s a mission, which is why we’re sending Erin with you. Plus, Joseph’s a secret matchmaker, and I think he’s rooting for the two of you,” Chad told him.

  Brackish was again speechless for several moments. He loved obtaining information in foreign lands. It was a bigger challenge for him to do it without being caught, knowing the government wasn’t going to back him if he was. Brackish truly loved a challenge.

  “What does this have to do with our current operation?” Brackish asked.

  “That’s classified at this point,” Chad said.

  “You know I can get the information,” Brackish said, his smugness coming back full force.

  “You can try,” Chad told him.

  Brackish felt his adrenaline pumping. He never had been able to resist a challenge. Women, on the other hand, were too unpredictable to be a challenge. He’d never bet on getting the upper hand with a woman.

  “How are you getting Erin to do this?” Brackish asked.

  “Don’t worry. I have skills,” Chad said with a laugh. Brackish felt a bit petty about that. He could barely get Erin to talk to him, but Chad was going to get her to drop everything and fly to Paris?

  “I guess a mission is a mission,” Brackish said, itching to get to his computer and investigate what he was supposed to find.

  “Good,” Chad told him. “Your itinerary will be waiting on the plane that leaves at 0800 the day after tomorrow. Get packed and get to the private hangar. Erin will be waiting for you there.”

  Brackish went silent as he made lists in his head of all he needed to do. When they arrived back at the complex, he barely said goodbye as he jumped from the vehicle. Should he call Erin? No, that wasn’t a good idea. If Chad was getting her to come, Brackish didn’t want to screw it up. This would be a double mission for him — get the information and get the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about to come back to him — and more importantly, get her to come back to his bed.

  He packed in about ten minutes, knowing he might be on the computer for a while and he’d then forget to pack clothes. He then went straight to his state-of-the-art system and got to work. He wasn’t going to get much sleep for the next thirty-six hours before his flight, but that was okay. Maybe he could catch up on the eight-hour flight — and maybe, just maybe, he’d have Erin at his side to help him with that.

  If Brackish could get a job done and get the girl, he’d call the mission a total success. He was hoping for that and a whole lot more. He wasn’t sure why, but he liked this woman, and he wanted more from her. He wanted more from himself, as well. Maybe he was growing up — finally. Maybe Joseph Anderson was right about love and family. Maybe Brackish could have it all just as a man he was beginning to seriously admire had it all and so much more.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Erin was miserable — absolutely, positively, ridiculously miserable. From the time she’d been a little girl, she’d been as stubborn as hell. She’d once been told by her grandmother that she was the epitome of the child who chose to cut off her nose to spite her face.

  Of course, when she’d said that Erin had stuck out her tongue, and said, “am not,” with a smirk. She’d instantly regretted that when her grandmother had pulled her hair then chased her around the house smacking her behind with a broom. She’d learned quickly not to smart off to her grandma.

  When she’d lost her grandparents, it had taken Erin many months to not expect her grandmother to walk through the front door with an armful of fresh flowers from her garden. Erin still teared up when she thought about the grandparents who’d been such a huge part of her life and had finished raising her.

  Both of her grandparents had expected and demanded respect, but they’d also given love, values, and rewards as they’d raised her. She missed them. When she was being foolish, it made her miss them even more.

  It had been weeks since she’d seen Steve — and it was all her fault. There was no doubt she’d messed up. She’d completely overreacted to the videos. After she’d thought about it, she’d realized he wasn’t the type of man who’d do something so underhanded. Even knowing all of this she couldn’t seem to get her head out of her butt and talk to him about it.

  She’d finally called him the day before, telling herself she was going to apologize and ask if she could see him again. But her pride and stubbornness hadn’t allowed her to do it. Instead she’d told him she wanted to thank him for getting her to the hospital so quickly, and to tell him she was doing much better. He’d seemed a bit reserved on the call, but he’d answered on the second ring. Even if she was playing stupid games, he wasn’t.

  “Call him again,” she muttered to herself.

  “What was that, dear?” Mr. Melville, a regular customer, asked from the end o
f the counter.

  “I’m just talking to myself,” she said, giving him a sheepish smile before she grabbed the coffee pot and walked over to refill his cup. “Do you want anything else?” He shook his head.

  He had to be in his eighties, and he often spent from midnight to two in the morning with her. He’d lost his wife three years earlier and had told her he couldn’t stand to be in the house those hours as they’d always fallen asleep early on the couch watching the evening news, and then had woken up like clockwork at midnight and had gone to the kitchen for a cup of decaf coffee and a slice of pie. So he came to her diner and did that with Erin now. He usually had a puzzle book or a seventy-five-piece puzzle on the counter. He was there far more often than not. She worried if he was gone a few days in a row.