by Newbiel
"Tell me." He demanded.
"To answer your previous question, we got them. The mission did go really well and not casualties were reported on our side. The complications that we got was that there were others hostages with the Senator daughters, seven others to be exact."
"Crap, what did you do with the others? I didn't hear anything about this on the news coming from Belize and I paid close attention. Congratulations by the way, you made the front page of almost every newspaper in Central America with your little operation last night." Tobias said with clear disapproval.
"We took them of course."
"Are you fucking insane!? That's going to draw a clear line directly to us! Do you have any ideas about the shitstorm we are going to get when word gets out that we conduct an illegal operation on foreign soil!" Tobias shouted.
"The hostages are not going to say anything about this and frankly, we are accused of that even when we have nothing to do about it. Moreover, now that this is done, do you want to continue bitching about it or do you want to know who we have with us?" Scott ask calmly.
"Fine, tell me." Tobias huffed.
"We found two Swedish teenagers between twelve and fourteen years old I would say, One old man who is apparently an Argentinian businessman. The four others are British college students who came here for the Spring Break. We have the names of everyone except the two teenagers because the only person who can talk Swedish among us stayed on the island." Scott summarized quickly.
"Holy… Alright, you got names for me?"
"I have all except for the two teenagers, you will have to arrange for a translator." Scott said before giving everyone names.
"I have a friend in the State Department, he will handle everything. What's your ETA?"
"We are still three hours away from the rendezvous point. I know I was supposed to call at one hour but I thought it was best to give you an early heads up. We will also need two ambulances ready for us, some of the hostages are not in great shape."
"That was some good thinking, it was really a big mistake to let you go colonel. If you ever want to get back your position and then some, tell me anytime, I will make it happen."
"No thanks, I'm good where I am right now. It's a nice change of pace to know why we take on assignments and where I have a say on how the mission is conducted."
"Understood, the offer is still open if you ever want to take me on it. I need to go, I have a lot of work to do." Tobias said before hanging up.
Taking a few seconds to think, Scott starts to reflect on the conversation. He had purposely hidden some vital information about the mission, mostly the fact that the team was forced to part away in order to take the civilians. He did not know if it was a consequence from his last experience or Nathaniel habit to keep everything between them but he realized he had changed from the perfect soldier he was before and he was feeling better for it.
Directing a meaningful gaze at where they came from, he hoped the rest of the team was okay.
Chapter 222: :
Well away from the team's grim expectation, Nathaniel was currently lying down in a deckchair, wearing only a straw hat, sunglasses and bathing blue shorts. Not far from him, there was a long pool, many other long deckchairs positioned along its length and there was even a bar at the opposite side of it. Conforming to his habits, he was reading a book while listening distractly at the conversation going near him. It all changed when someone suddenly threw some water at him.
"Hey! Why did you do that?"
"I'm still angry at you and you weren't listening to us!" Camilla said in a rightful tone.
"You are always angry so that's beside the point. Hell Camilla, that's the only half decent book I find in this place." Nathaniel said, annoyed.
"You were still ignoring us."
"No I wasn't. You were talking about the prank I pulled on you three and were discussing on how to get back at me. I still don't know why you are still angry at me, I never said it was going to be dangerous, you misunderstood me."
"You mislead us into thinking that it will be dangerous." Na-Yung said, narrowing her pretty eyes at him.
"If it would be dangerous, I would never have taken your guns away. That was simply poor thinking on your part." Nathaniel said, fighting hard not to smirk.
"How did you do it? Weren't you concerned about losing the money? I can't imagine renting the entire top deck of this cruise ship would be cheap." Lucie asked.
"It was easy really, I found this cruise while I was looking for an alternative way out of the island. I really like that way of leaving because sometimes, the biggest and most obvious way out is also the most unexpected one. I rent the entire deck to reduce our interaction with the other four hundred and twenty passengers to avoid being recognized. If we were to not have any need for it, I would just have canceled the payment as everything about that reservation is fake. Now, I'm going to pay for it because we are using it so we should at least enjoy it. In two days we will be back in Miami so in the meantime, we will use the pool and the mini bar as much as we want. The crew will left us alone, they are used to it and I bet we won't even be in their top100 of the most eccentric wealthy people they met in their career."
"What about the rest of the team? They are going to worry about us." Na-Yung asked.
"No, they won't. I left a message using one of our dropbox. They are going to be waiting for us in Miami." Nathaniel explains getting to his feet before stretching his arms.
"Plans inside of plans…" Lucie murmured quietly. "That's why you burn the cars, you wanted to attract law enforcement attention to the beach to make them think we had already left the island while we were in fact getting away using another means."
Nathaniel just acted like he didn't hear her and took a bottle of sunscreen before looking at Camilla.
"Camilla, catch!" He shouted suddenly, tossing her the bottle.
Surprised by the sudden shout, she instinctively reached for it but didn't realize in time that it was only a misdirection as Nathaniel pushed her into the pool. With a surprised yelp, she crashed into the water triggering a fit of laughter from Nathaniel, Lucie and Na-Yung.
"Na-Yung." Nathaniel said, almost singing her name.
"No! Don't you dare, I swear if… No! Release me!" Na-Yung shouted as Nathaniel took her in his arm in a bride carry and just tossed her into the pool unceremoniously.
Lucie reacted instantly, knowing that she would be next, she pounced on Nathaniel in the hope to push him into the water. She had a victorious smile when she saw him going to the water that turned into surprise when at the last instant he seized her right hand and dragged her into the water with him. Touching the bottom of the pool, Nathaniel used his feet to swim and gained some distance from the others. Getting through the surface, he removed his hair from his face and realized that he was facing three angry looking womens.
"Wait, don't be angry, we can still make peace." Nathaniel said quickly, starting to back away.
"You're dead!" They yell before jumping on him.
What followed was just the three of them trying to drown him with various degrees of success. The previously quiet deck was now filled with the sound of laughter and shout. At that moment, no one would have believed they were an elite black ops team.
*****
Los Angeles, 10/04/2013. 11:25.
Descending the cab outside of his house, Nathaniel paid the fare with a nice tip before getting his luggage out of the car trunk and walking to his house. With a smile on his face, he reminds him of the little vacation he just had with a part of his team. In fact, the more he was thinking about it, the more he wanted to take real vacation with the entire team. He will have to organize that soon.
Once they were back, the whole team had met and Scott had brought him up to speed. The hostages were fine, the two daughters of the Senators already back with their family. Nathaniel hadn't heard from William just yet but he was sure he would soon, not that he cared about congratulation at all. That wasn'
t why he was doing this and it wouldn't be why he would stop. What made what he did worthwhile for him was that the two unknown teenagers were reunited with their family now after the State Department managed to track their family down. The last thing he heard, was that the family was together at the Swedish consulate in Washington and were going to get back home tomorrow.
The elder man was already on his way home and the four college students from the UK were still at the hospital in Miami, one of them afflicted with a severe pneumonia. Based on his understanding, he will be okay which was good.
When he was a hundred feet away from the door, Nathaniel started to hear howling and meowing which made him smile. Putting his luggage near the front door, Nathaniel walks to the steel door going to the garden. The moment he opened it, a wolf suddenly pounced on him, starting to lick his face off where a cat was busy jumping on his legs.
"Andy! Jaydon! Yeah I missed you too little buddies!" He smiles, petting them joyfully.
Chapter 223: :
Taking a sitting position, Nathaniel let himself get mauled by his two very excited pets. Andy was licking Nathaniel's nose and was trying to jump into him while Jaydon who was the most reserved of the two even let Nathaniel pet her before keeping her distance and was attacking his feets as a game. Laughing out loud, Nathaniel kept moving his feets to give her a moving target to attack while petting his crossbreed. He was gone only for a week and he was certain that Andy had gone bigger and taller.
"You got even more handsome good boy." He said, passing his hand in his fur.
Andy was looking more healthy than he was previously and Jaydon too, proof that the food he was giving them was working. He had followed the consign given by the veterinary consciously and while he was away, he had hired someone who was working with the veterinary often to feed others animals from the neighborhood while their owners were away. Feeling claws on his leg, Nathaniel laughed even more.
���Yes, you too got even more pretty, don't need to be jealous Jaydon."
"Well, that's a surprising sight for sure." Nathaniel heard a feminine voice behind him.
Nathaniel stops petting Andy and slowly turns around. Even if he was having fun, he always monitored his surroundings and someone who could sneak on him had some serious skills. The fact that he didn't realize that someone was so close to him was impressive and concerning at the same time. Seeing who it was, Nathaniel looked at the woman before looking at two persons a little away behind her.
Standing up, Andy and Jaydon realized that they were some people they didn't know and took a more prudent posture, watching the strangers with attention. The woman in question was wearing a short black dress with grey long heels. She was positively stunning and her attire was emphasizing that fact very clearly.
"Duchess, what are you doing here?" Nathaniel asked.
"Oh, not even saying hello? That's not very gentlemanly of you." She said, wrinkling her nose.
"I literally just came back home and I'm still jet lagged."
"Yes, from Miami right? You know it's strange, from the duration of your stay in that city, you almost seem to disappear from the surface of the Earth. From someone as recognizable as you, it's quite impressive." She made a cocky smile.
"I don't take kindly to be stalked, Duchess." Nathaniel said coldly, he was done being nice.
"Stalked is such an ugly word, you should see that as an interest. You can't imagine the numbers of people in my life who think or try to be interesting and fail. That's a compliment, really." She answers with a pacifying smile.
"I don't care, I'm going to ask you to leave my property now."
"What!?" She asked, looking rattled.
"I don't know what game you are playing or what your end plan is but I want nothing to do with it. Now leave, I'm done with you." Nathaniel said before turning his back on her.
"Stop right there! You don't get to talk to the Duchess like that!" One of her protectors shouted.
Nathaniel stopped. He didn't do it because he was told to but because he heard the distinct sound of a gun leaving it's holster. Since he didn't recognize the voice of the man who shouted at him, it wasn't the protector he talked to previously and drove him to the airport. He wasn't the only one who recognized the escalation of force as Andy started growling and moved slowly in the direction of the man who was aiming at Nathaniel.
Not being left out, Jaydon starts doing the same on the other side of him, showing him that these two were used to hunting together. It wasn't clear what triggered Andy's aggression, the fact that he recognized the movement as being aggressive or just the smell the man was emitting fuel by his anger but Andy clearly identified him as a threat.
"Get your wolf back right now!" Nathaniel heard.
"No. Andy here identified you as a threat against his family and that's going to end in one of these two ways. If you don't lower your gun right now, he's going to tear your throat apart. At that time, your only hope of survival will be to shoot him. If you choose that path, you will all die before you can fire a second shot."
Nathaniel's voice was poised, calm. There was no anger or rage that could be found in his voice or tone but everyone here could feel a danger they rarely felt in their life. The fact that he was still turning his back on them did not diminish the impending danger that they were feeling, at contrary, it was exacerbating it. Brunhilde in particular was looking at Nathaniel posture with attention and could notice that he looked like a predator ready to strike. The way that his hands were positioned, the contraction of his muscle, all were signs that he was seconds away from attacking and a trained fighter like her was good to notice those signs.
There was something inside her that was craving to see him act and show what he was really capable of. Was it worth it though? She was really confident in herself and even she wasn't sure that she could survive it, nothing to say about her two protectors. Was she willing to risk the lives of the two people that care for her since the time that she was born? The answer was clearly no and this is the main reason that made her move her arm in an indication to her protector to holster his gun.
"Good choice." Nathaniel nodded. "You have two minutes to exit the property before I call the cops. Andy, Jaydon, inside now."
Following his order, the two of them stop paying attention to the intruders and hurry to catch back to Nathaniel who had already opened the door using his key and pushing his travel back inside with his feet. Once Andy and Jaydon were inside, Nathaniel closed the door and swiftly typed the security code to the panel beside it. Flopping on the couch, Nathaniel lied down on it before closing his eyes. What he said earlier was true, he was still jet lagged and that wasn't surprising considering the amount of miles he ran in the last week.
The truth was that he was feeling tired and just needed his own bed for a while to feel at ease. Even if he had passed the last three days in a nice suite on top of a cruise ship, that wasn't without worry as they couldn't leave their reserve deck and had to take some precaution. He needed some off time just with his family to recharge his battery for a while. That fact that there was no security around the house was proof that his grandparents were back to the Hamptons and his mothers were still in the city working.
"Ouch! Andy!" Nathaniel shouted.
Andy wasn't satisfied to sit on the floor, had just jumped on Nathaniel's stomach and decided that it was more comfortable on top of him. Jaydon, not one to be left out, just jumped on top of the couch and found a good spot for her to be close enough to them while still keeping a safe distance. Ruffling Andy's fur, Nathaniel closed his eyes again.
"You did good to both of you, maybe I should start training you to bring you in the field…" Nathaniel said absentmindedly.
He was thinking about it and trying to figure out a way to train them when he fell asleep. He never noticed that the moment he fell asleep, Andy lifted his head from his chest and looked at Jaydon. Seemingly to understand what it meant, the sand cat changed position to have the front door in her line
of sight, her eyes never closing completely, her posture alert ready to pounce at the first moment notice.
*****
"We are leaving." Brunhilde said to her protectors.
Not responding, her protectors just let her pass before following her to the car that was parked on the other side of the street. After they got in, the car started rolling without anything needed to be said.
"Do you think he would have really called the cops Duchess?" Herman asked while he was driving, throwing a quick look in his mirror.
"Yes. I can recognize someone trying to bluff and he wasn't doing it."
"What do you want us to do now?" He asked.
"Dig deeper, find where he was in the last three days. Something obviously upset him about it when I asked and I want to know what it is. Jorgen." Brunhild said before calling her second protector.
"Yes, Duchess?"
"This is the last time ever you will draw your gun without my tacit approval." She said in a light voice but there was no mistaking the steel hidden in her words.
"But Duchess, he was insulting and was being disrespectful toward you."
"That's for me to decide, not for you. This will be the last time that we talk about this or someone else will take your position."
"Understood Duchess, this will not happen again." He said quickly, his voice quivering at the end.
"Good." She nodded, satisfied.
The rest of the car ride passed in complete silence.
Chapter 224: :
New York, 12/04/2013. 09:10.
Lucie's apartment in New York could be considered anything but humble. It was expected considering the fact that it was nine hundred square feet and situated in downtown New York. The price being around two thousand dollars per square feet, it was easy to do the math. That was a drop in a bucket for her and even lower than that for her family but it was an insurmountable amount to come by for any middle class american family. The apartment had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office and a living room a little over three hundred feet square with view on Time Square.