by Cole, Aja
“So why are you asking if you know…” He trails off.
“Because she’s not there, genius.” I snap, fingers clenching on the wheel. I’m headed to the warehouse, even though I know damned well they won’t be there. They’re in the wind now; they have to be. I thought sitting down with them, working with them, would mean that they understood what needed to happen and why we needed to be the ones to run point on this. I stupidly thought that Naja would understand, knowing what’s at stake. I thought we got somewhere yesterday, thought it would be a turning point somehow.
I’m such a goddamned idiot.
“I’m looking at her, dude. Have you been drinking?” He’s laughing, and it’s only pissing me off.
“Hayes.” I lower my voice, frustrated that he can’t see my face and know that I’m not bullshitting. “She. Is. Gone. This just became a full kidnapping of a U.S. Senator. This isn’t a fucking joke.”
The line is silent.
“Shit,” he breathes.
I shake my head, drumming my fingers against my wheel.
“What do we do now? We…” He stops, like he doesn’t want to say it aloud.
“We got her under false pretenses and we’d be in just as much hot water as them? Yeah. Pretty much.” I say what he’s thinking, running through our options. I don’t know how I didn’t see this coming, and I don’t know how the hell they even knew where she was. Then again, I don’t even know what they’re all capable of. I don’t know the full extent of their team skills or what each of them specializes in. Hell, I don’t even know who they are. Not really. None of them exist in any databases, but I figured it was just the nature of the work they did, that it’d be better for there not to be any paper trails.
Maybe I wasn’t looking in the right places though. When I looked for them, I looked at our databases. I was looking for U.S. underground teams, rescue teams.
But what if they don’t have loyalty to a single government?
They can’t be…No. Naja wouldn’t do that. She’s not…mercenary.
“Fuck.” I pull my car over to the side of the road, my thoughts racing. “Hayes? Do you remember those rumors from a few years ago? About that ops team with no allegiance to one country?”
“You mean the one they said completed missions that we said were run by our military teams?”
“Yeah. People went silent on it pretty quickly, but what if…shit, no, I’m being paranoid.” I stare out my windshield, not wanting to even put it out there. If that team was Naja’s team…if it is her team…she’s far, far more dangerous than I’ve given her credit for.
“Spit it out.”
“What if that’s Naja’s team?”
“They’re only four people. I mean, they’re good, but…come on. The missions they might’ve pulled off?” He scoffs.
“What if there were more of them? Remember when we asked and they got silent, wouldn’t tell us what their stakes were? Said they just didn’t like traitors?”
“Elias…” He pauses, and I can hear the wheels turning in their head. “You think the rest of their team was killed.”
“I think the rest of their team was killed,” I repeat somberly, dropping my head back against my headrest. “If that’s the case…if that’s why they want Senator Lightwell…”
“We’re not getting her back alive.” He says, voice grim. “They had to be close, like family. That’s not something they’re going to forgive lightly.” He stops, a sigh in his voice. “Damn, I guess we really were saving her life.”
“And now, somehow giving them access again, we might’ve just ended it.” I might think she’s a poor excuse for a human being, but I’m not okay with an eye for an eye. We have to get to them before they finish with her, or else I’m going to have to turn them all in.
I admire them, I respect them. If they’re who we think they are—then they, along with others, have been a bigger part of our defense than anyone could imagine.
I still have a job to do, and if they go off the rails, then even my feelings for Naja won’t stop the consequences. I won’t be able to protect her, and that possibility terrifies me.
15
Naja
I sit across from a still unconscious Victoria Lightwell, and the only thing I feel is pure, unadulterated hatred. There might be a tiny sliver of regret that tried to embed itself into my mind, but I squashed that quickly.
I can’t afford to think about Elias right now. This is too personal, on a different level to the agreement I have with him. Nowhere in our little playtime negotiations did I say I would follow his agenda when it comes to my missions. He’s probably more pissed off than he’s ever been right now, but it’s just a consequence of what I have to do. The only loyalty I can have right now is to my team.
If there was time, if the situation were different, we would’ve played this as a long game. We would’ve embedded someone with her, gained her trust, and maybe even continued working silently with the FBI and played nice. It’s something we wouldn’t have done before because we don’t exist in anything but rumors and whispers.
We’re a myth. A secret. One that was very close to being brought to the light at one point in time, but it’s beneficial to have multiple governments wanting to cover your asses, and theirs. What would it look like to have confirmation to publics that missions where American, British, or even South African soldiers were hailed as heroes, weren’t carried out by them? That they tried and failed, and we came in to pick up the pieces and successfully execute operations so that countries could save face and gain public favor.
The silent honor didn’t come without risks, enemies, or consequences. At first, after the rest of our team was killed, I thought someone had decided to take their revenge. A terrorist whose operation we’d dismantled, a king involved in trafficking women who came to him for safety and refuge, rogue ex-spies or operators…it could’ve been anyone who thought we’d fucked them over.
Then, we broke the mercenary they sent to kill us, and he told us everything he knew. It was just in time, because Kane was ready to kill him and gift wrap his body as a warning. With everything he told us, the betrayal intensified.
We’d gone to Niger to complete the rescue of the wife of an oil tycoon and their son. According to Hunter Sloan, he’d pissed off the wrong person with his unfiltered demeanor and they’d hired someone to take away what mattered most to him. When they’d demanded five million dollars in ransom or they would start sending him body parts, he’d quietly reached out to his contacts, who reached out to us.
Within hours, we were in Niger, close to where they were holding his family in Libya. It should have been easy, a run-of-the-mill mission. It was about a grudge rather than international security, after all. We’d dealt with and conquered far worse.
I didn’t realize it until after everything went down, but the layout for the compound was wrong. It was different from the original one we’d worked with. If I had recognized that immediately, if I’d figured it out, then maybe I would’ve realized that we’d been compromised.
But I didn’t. And we were.
According to the hired gun, the only concrete things he knew about who’d contracted them is that they worked in the senate and they were a woman, because of tidbits of conversation he’d overheard from his boss. They were told that we were their target because we were interfering in business interests of the senator’s associate.
From there, it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. Miss Lightwell had a lover, and she was so dicknotized that she was willing to put her career in jeopardy for his interests. She was willing to take out a team that did nothing but serve the greater good just because she liked getting her rocks off.
There are many things I don’t respect her for, but that kind of pathetic behavior takes the cake, especially because our recon said that he upgraded to a younger model and she was devastated for weeks.
She killed the man I loved for someone who tossed her aside. She’s self-serving above all else, and she deserves eve
ry single thing coming to her.
“Better enjoy this little rest.” Bali drops into the chair beside me, disgust lacing her voice.
“I imagine it’s tiring putting on a facade like hers,” I murmur, watching the senator’s chest rise and fall.
“I’m gonna speed this up.” Bali kneels beside her and uncaps a small vial, teasing it under Victoria’s nose. The woman jerks violently, gasping and doubling over in her chair, bound to the armrests. “Well, howdy, partner.”
While Bali settles beside me again, I watch in grim satisfaction as the senator gets her bearings. Bali’s particular version of smelling salts are a bitch.
Lightwell raises her eyes to us and I watch the blood leech from her face when she sees us clearly.
“Oh good, you recognize us. I’m flattered.” My smile is almost sincere, mainly out of amusement.
She swallows hard, but doesn’t say anything.
“Where do you think she knows us from, Li?”
“You helped steal any infants lately?”
“Hmm, no…”
“Sold information on your country?”
“Nope, haven’t done that either.”
“Oh, maybe it’s fr—”
“STOP.” She interrupts, voice frazzled. “There is no need for these games.”
I lean forward on my knees, meeting her eyes steadily and watching the apprehension grow in hers.
“You started this game, Victoria. We’ve just been keeping score.”
“They said you died.” Her voice is low, and she licks dry lips. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“I guess you should’ve spent less time sucking dick and more time checking your sources.”
Her eyes flicker with anger and her mouth tightens at my jab.
“You can’t kidnap a U.S. senator without consequences.”
I drag her chair over to the wall, opening the coverings on the window. A low, distressed moan leaves her throat as she looks out and realizes what I already know.
We’re surrounded by water, and I happen to know that our little senator can’t swim.
“We just did.”
16
Elias
“Staring at that screen won’t make contact come any faster.” I look up when Hayes comes into my office and closes the door behind him.
“They’re off the grid. I found her before; I don’t know why I can’t now.”
It’s been three days of complete silence. No senator, and no Naja or her team. My lines to her have gone quiet, and I’m as worried about what they might do as I am pissed off at her for putting me in this position.
“It’s because now she really doesn’t want you to. But I got the files you wanted, and I had to promise a lot of shit.” He tosses a thumb drive at me and I grab it out of the air, throwing him a grateful look.
“Thanks, Hayes. I owe you one.”
“More like five, but who’s keeping count?” He starts to open the door, but turns to me, concern in his blue eyes. “Don’t take it too hard, okay? And I better see you at drinks tonight.”
“I’ll be there.” He leaves and I turn the flash drive around in my hands, hesitating, even though I know I need to face it. I haven’t looked through all the stuff we gathered on Shadi in a bit, mainly because it hurt too much, but maybe there’s something I missed. Something I can use now that we got more information from Senator Lightwell.
I boot up my computer and am about to insert the drive, trying to prepare myself, when there’s a light knock on my door and Lewis, one of the analysts, pokes his head in.
“Assistant director wants to see you.”
I palm the flash drive and slide it into my pocket, making my way to the director’s office and knocking lightly on her door when I see she’s on the phone. Raising shrewd brown eyes to mine, she motions me in with an imperious wave of her hand as she finishes her conversation.
I shut the door and sit down in one of the chairs that are much more plush than mine. My office is pretty good, but hers is on a different level, as expected. Whitney Cox likes her creature comforts, but she likes her rules and professionalism just as much. Putting the phone down, she turns her attention to me, cocking her head like she’s about to ask a question but not speaking.
She’s also a pro at making me feel uncomfortable, and that’s not something a lot of people can lay claim to.
“You know I’ve always liked you, Elias.”
I nod once. “I’m aware, ma’am.” Something tells me I know where this is going, but I’m going to try to be optimistic and not give myself away, just in case. There’s a reason Director Fox made top marks in interrogation at Quantico and after.
“I have a soft spot for you, and maybe that’s why you thought it was okay to run a critical operation behind my back.” Her eyes narrow and I refrain from the deep sigh I want to give.
Well, there goes any hope that she doesn’t know what’s happening. I have too much respect for her to lie or hedge my way out of it, and she wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“It was a sensitive situation, and I made a judgment call. I always intended to tell you.”
“You shouldn’t have intended to do anything; you should’ve come to me before you did a damned thing.” Color is high on her olive cheeks, and I feel chagrined because she’s always been a mentor to me, but I also know what she would’ve said and done. I didn’t need it to be handed off to anyone else or taken over, because that would’ve meant, and still means, that Naja is in jeopardy.
If I’m in the lead, I can at least try to mitigate the damage.
“I need you to trust me on this.” Even though I don’t have a single clue what’s happening right now, but that’s beside the point.
“And why would I do that? You’re damned lucky I’m the only one who knows the senator isn’t on vacation. How the hell did you get authorization for that safe house in the first place without me knowing? I’m getting old.” She scowls, sitting back in her chair.
“You don’t look a day over thirty, and I’m sure your mind is holding up even better.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, but answers will.” She cocks a dark eyebrow, blunt cut bob swinging forward as she leans her elbows on her desk. “You need to loop me in, Elias, or it’s going over your head.”
I sigh, rubbing a hand over my brow. “I’m pretty sure Senator Lightwell is responsible for Shadi’s death, along with other things, including but not limited to kidnapping, murder-for-hire and trading sensitive information for profit.”
She stares at me, unblinking, and I wish like hell I knew what was going through her head.
“I think you’ve lost it,” she finally says, standing and moving to her window, arms crossed. “I knew your friend’s death took a toll on you, and I thought the time away would be good for your healing. Maybe you should’ve taken more time.”
It’s only because Whitney is a friend of my father’s that I say my next words, and I hope they’re not a mistake.
“I know the Killian Group is real, and they’ve confirmed Victoria Lightwell’s involvement.”
She stays at the window, completely still.
“And don’t tell me they’re just a rumor, because I’ve met them. Kind of odd really. They seem fairly normal, with the exception of getting downright terrifying at the flip of a switch, but I’m sure it helps them blend in.”
“What does that have to do with you hiding the whereabouts of a U.S. senator?”
“Because I’m not the only one who’s got a bone to pick.”
She turns away from the window now, eyes sharp as she moves back towards where I’m sitting. “Lightwell pissed off TKG?”
“You’re so cozy that you call them by the acronym?”
“You’re a pain in my ass, Samir.” She drops down into the seat next to me, shaking her head. “How the hell did you get involved with them? They tolerate government groups, but they’re not exactly a fan.”
“How does that work exactly? They started some
where.” There’s a lot I don’t know, and I can’t exactly ask Naja or google it for answers.
Whitney’s had a long career, but before she became assistant director for us, she worked with the CIA. Secretive bastards, need to know is their favorite reasoning. If anyone within my access knows the truth about Naja’s team, it’s her.
“You repeat this to anyone, even your team, and I’ll have your career. We clear?” She levels serious eyes on me and I nod solemnly.
“Completely.”
“TKG is an elite unit, originally an allied unit started years ago with members from multiple countries’ militaries and special forces. A small team, no bigger than ten operatives at a time, though they may use help from other contractors should they need a bigger team. The deal was always that no one country would own them, and they are their own command, with a few caveats.”
“So they’re mercenaries. Who regulates them?”
“I would say that mercenary is a harsh word, and brings to mind greed and a certain lack of conscience. Have they carried out missions that would horrify the common person? Maybe. But the purpose, their mission, is for good, overall. Individual members of the team have been essential in international crisis, but as a unit, their focus has been a lot of rescue and recovery. Situations we couldn’t get involved in for…reasons. Each member undergoes rigorous evaluation. As to regulation, well…should they commit genuinely criminal acts that are not sanctioned or requested, they are, and will be treated as, criminals.”
Dread pools low in my stomach, because I’m fairly certain the way they’re dealing with Lightwell’s situation now doesn’t exactly fall under acceptable.
“Now, I’ve answered your questions and it’s time you answered mine. The last I knew, an operation went awry and the most recent team has accepted less missions, trading ones that required more manpower and time off to other contractors. What do you have to do with them?”
“What do you mean an operation went awry?” I put my hands up when she gives me a warning look. “Last question, I swear. Then I’ll brief you.” I just need confirmation on what I already thought might be true.