Protecting Terra (Special Forces: Operation Alpha)

by Desiree Holt

  “Okay. We’ll get it done.”

  He disconnected the call and hit the button for Terra.

  Breakfast? rochelle

  When she didn’t respond right away, he debated either sending another text or calling to make sure she was okay. But then her answer popped up.

  Sure. Just got out of shower. Give me twenty.

  And unbidden like that the image of her naked with drops of water sliding down her skin popped into his brain. His already disobedient cock pressed hard against his fly, begging to bury itself in her body. At this rate, he’d have to walk around with ice in his shorts. He did his best to close the shutters in his mind and typed an answer.

  Will pick u up.

  He called both Chad and Frank to bring them up to date, drank a tall glass of ice water, and headed downstairs to Terra’s place. She must have hurried to get ready because she was waiting for him outside her door, holding her skis, when he arrived at her apartment.

  “Here, let me take those.”

  He grabbed the skis from her, despite her protests.

  “I can carry them. I do it all the time.”

  “Let me be a gentleman this time, okay?”

  A gentleman? What was happening to her?

  “You got the call from Hal?” she asked, as they started down the path to the main building.

  “I did. Think there’s any chance we can get onto this thing this afternoon? Your schedule?”

  “I can probably manipulate mine better than you can yours. Did you call Chad and Frank?”

  “Yup. They even offered to let us meet in one of their rooms, but I’d rather be somewhere public eyes can’t see us.”

  They were almost at the main building, and he didn’t want to talk about this where someone—Jennings—could overhear them.

  “Hal suggested the Hagers’ place,” he reminded her. “I’m for that if you think they’ll go for it.”

  “No sweat. I like that myself. Wait. Let me call Margie.”

  They stopped before they got to the building, so she could make her call. Griffin stuck her skis in the holding rack with several others then stood there keeping an eye out for anyone moving too close to them who might be able to eavesdrop. Fortunately, no one did, and the call was brief.

  Terra stuck her phone back into her pocket. “Margie says fine. Go ahead and text her the time.”

  “Why don’t you check your schedule, and I’ll see if I can get off a little early today. Come on. Let’s get some breakfast.”

  “They were making small talk and acting like two people maybe becoming a couple when Jennings came by their table.

  “Nice to see the two of you being so friendly.” His mouth curved into a practiced smile. “I like to see that in my staff. Terra, don’t forget I want to meet with you in my office to discuss the opportunity I mentioned.”

  “I haven’t forgotten. I really have to think about it a lot more before I’m even ready to discuss it.”

  “Well, don’t take too long.” There was no warmth in his smile. “You never can tell what’s going to happen. Have a nice day, both of you.”

  They waited until he had walked far enough away not to overhear them before either of them spoke. Griffin stretched his lips into a smile, but what he had to say wasn’t enjoyable. “I don’t like his attitude where you’re concerned.”

  “I’m not too happy with it myself.” She popped a bite of roll in her mouth and chewed slowly. “I’m trying to figure out if he really knows something about me and how that’s possible. Or if he’s a lecherous old man who wants to get me alone and make a pass at me.”

  Griffin swallowed back his irritation. “I’m not sure which one would be better. Please make sure you’re not alone with him in his office.”

  What he really wanted to do was take Jennings outside and break every bone in his body, and not because he was a danger to the country. What the hell was wrong with him?

  “Believe me, I’ll avoid it at all costs.”

  “Good. For one, you can’t see into the office from the lobby. I don’t know if there’s an inner door that leads someplace. Just…watch out for him. Okay. Let’s finish up here and get to work. Show me your schedule.”

  He wondered if his acute concern for her safety went beyond the professional. Of course it does, you idiot, he told himself. And he was going to have to face it sooner or later. Later would be preferable.

  “Here.” She had pulled up her schedule on her phone and turned it so he could see the screen. “I have an early day today. I’m done at four. I think a lot of people may be going into Castile for some of the special pre-Christmas events.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. If we’re not that busy, I can cut out at four, too. Will that work?”

  Terra chuffed a laugh. “Ideally, I’d like it if we were sitting down now, but four will do. Thanks.”

  “Sure. I’ll text you if the time becomes a problem.”

  He watched her grab her skis from the rack then head over to the snow shack. The fluid way she walked, the absolute sexiness of her movements were driving him nuts. He was disciplined. He could hold his shit together until this was over, right?

  He’d better. Right now his sex drive had to take a back seat to the urgency of the situation. But when it was over…

  Because he’d covered for the barn supervisor a couple of times, he had no problem getting to leave work at four. By four fifteen, he and Terra were on their way into Castile.

  Terra looked at her watch. “It’s early to pick up the food. We’ll call it in from the Hagers, okay?”

  “Fine. I’m anxious to take a look at this thing Hal’s people have put together and make plans. I have an itch on my spine that usually tells me bad stuff is about to pop.”

  “Me, too.” Terra sighed. “And unfortunately, I’m usually right.”

  “I just keep thinking if Jennings is suspicious of you—although I still can’t figure out why—and Babic showed up to stir the pot, they’ll move everything up before we can stop them.” He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I still go back to that cabin where we trailed their latest import. If the drunk hadn’t shown up, they wouldn’t have had to dispose of him and then blow up the cabin.”

  “No shit. I’m guessing they thought we were onto them and sent that guy in to take a look. Poor guy. Hal has quietly checked It seems he was in a nearby bar with some people, got drunk, his friend ditched him, and he went looking for them. They were staying in a cabin and as drunk as he was, he thought that was it. His body was found a day after all of that.”

  “Damn,” Griffin swore. “Poor asshole.”

  “Yup. Wrong place, wrong time. But that episode sent them to ground and, like Hal said, accelerated their timetable.”

  “Then why wait more than two weeks to make a move? Because their latest terrorist was already in the loop?”

  “And they had not finish bringing him over here.”

  “Okay, let’s take a look at this map and see what’s what.”

  Chad and Frank were already at the Hagers’, drinking coffee, a plate of goodies from Rolling in Dough on the table.”

  Terra burst out laughing. “Don’t you kids know you can’t have dessert before diner?”

  Chad winked at her. “We begged.”

  That was the last time they smiled for a long time.

  Terra booted up her laptop, pulled up the text from Hal then opened the attached photo. The rest of them gathered around her to study it.

  “They did a good job merging the photos.” Griffin leaned closer. “They even enlarged it so you can see some of the external cameras, although they did a good job camouflaging them. Wait. Look.” He pointed to the second story window in the side of the house facing them.

  “I saw it with the glasses,” Terra told him, “but it’s more obvious with the photo enlarged. It’s definitely a rifle.”

  “What the fuck would a supposedly innocent resident want with a rifle pointed out of a window?”

&n
bsp; “Exactly,” Terra agreed.

  They examined every inch of the combined photo, enlarging it where necessary. The van was no longer there, but it could be anywhere, they agreed. Even inside the barn.

  Griffin bent over her shoulder, studying the screen. Bruce nudged his arm and handed him a magnifying glass.

  “See if this helps.”

  He scrutinized every inch of the screen, the magnifying glass bringing out even more details. When he was finished, he straightened up.

  “I think there’s a rifle in one of the downstairs windows, too. You can barely make it out because of the curtains, but if you look hard, you can see the mouth of the barrel.” He looked at the others. “Okay, I’m dialing Hal and putting him on speaker. He needs to get this moving.”

  The supervisor was glad to have his assessment confirmed.

  “We already applied for the warrant to arrest on charges of reckless endangerment, so it’s good to have confirmation.”

  “When will it come through?” Griffin wanted to know.

  “Sometime tomorrow, but we’re not waiting here for it. We want to be ready when it does. You know this is not going to resolve easily. People like this never give up.”

  “You’re bringing a full setup?”

  “The works,” Hal assured him. “A cargo plane is bringing a full DHS team tomorrow. I’ll be traveling as well with them as the team leader. We’ll have all the equipment we need. We’re prepared to wait as long as it takes. We don’t need a bomb blast there.”

  “Where are you staging?” Frank asked.

  “I’ll let you know later. We’re getting aerial photos of the entire setup, looking for a place to put our equipment and have the team ready.”

  “Okay. We’ll wait for your call.”

  “Griffin, you there?” Hal asked.

  “I am,” Griffin answered.

  “Terra?”

  “Me, too.”

  “I know you guys want to be in the thick of things, and I don’t blame you. These guys are pure evil. We’ve picked up a little more chatter about what’s being planned, and it scares the shit out of me.”

  “You?” It had been a long time since Hal was afraid of anything except on an intellectual basis. “This must be some bad shit.”

  “That’s the truth. It’s seems this unholy alliance is combining Sons of Allah’s dirty-bomb-making abilities with Novak Tech’s sophisticated hacking abilities to concoct a plan with the devil. They’re making dirty bombs that couriers will then deliver to key sites around the country. At zero hours the bombs will detonate, destroying key sites, and Novak’s guy will shut down most of the electricity in this country. So, no way to call for help. While everyone’s trying to deal with what’s happening, the Sons of Allah will swoop in and secure key facilities. Then Jennings, along with Babic, will set up to take control of the country.”

  Griffin whistled. “Holy shit.”

  “Exactly,” Hal agreed.

  Griffin looked around the table, the people there looking as shellshocked as he felt.

  “So,” Chad said slowly, “they must have been working on this for a long time.”

  “Since Jennings bought the inn,” Hal told him. “They’ve had two years to refine this plan, which they probably hatched at a meeting in Croatia.

  But we have no way of knowing if Jennings will be there when we make the raid. Based on what you’ve observed and what we had learned, he doesn’t make trips there except when someone’s coming over the border.”

  “Most likely not,” Griffin agreed, “since he made the trip yesterday. Terra, you there? We need you and Griffin to act as if nothing’s out of the ordinary tomorrow but keep a tight watch on Jennings.”

  “Even when he’s inside?”

  “Even then,” Hal agreed. “We don’t know if one of the guests coming in, or maybe already there, is also part of this. And we don’t know where the leader of Sons of Allah is. The agent we had watching him has gone radio silent.”

  “Uh oh.” Griffin’s muscles tensed. “That can’t be good news.”

  “No shit. Anyway, put another one of those new SIM cards in your phone. You, too, Terra. Whatever you guys have to do to make it happen, I want one pair of eyes on Jennings at all time. I’ll keep you up to date either with texts or calls, depending on the situation. Chad and Frank, you’ll get calls as soon as we decide where we’re setting up. The word of the day is keep an eye on Jennings. You and Terra work it out.”

  “We’ll handle it,” Griffin assured him.

  They consumed Margie’s excellent fried chicken. Then the two DHS agents went back to their hotel in Bangor, and Griffin and Terra headed back to the inn. He parked in a space in the employee lot and turned off the engine, but then he sat there, not moving.

  Terra started to open the door then turned back to him.

  “We’re not getting out?” Terra asked at last.

  He tried to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say without pissing her off. Finally he spat it out. “I just want to… Listen, watch yourself tomorrow with Jennings. My antenna keeps telling me he knows your cover is a phony. I don’t know why but I think that’s why he’s watching you. Hal said the judge’s order to invade and arrest would be here sometime tomorrow, and they’d be ready to go. I don’t want him focused on you.”

  “You don’t think he’ll be into what’s happening?”

  “If he thinks you had a hand in it, he might do something crazy. I don’t know what, but I don’t think it’s safe for you to be out there tomorrow.”

  “Listen to me.”

  He studied her face, aware that she was torn between being pissed off that he thought she wasn’t up to the task and feeling warmth over his concern for her safety. They hadn’t talked about the situation, but the dynamic between them seemed to have changed. It had gone from intense, rough and ready sex to…what? Something he was totally unfamiliar with, for sure. At least for a long time. It was a place he’d sworn never to go again.

  “I’m listening.”

  ” I’m an experienced Homeland Security agent. I know how to take care of myself. And you’ll be there to back me up.”

  Back her up? Was that what she thought? Okay, he wasn’t going to argue with her as long as she stayed on the alert.

  “Yeah. Okay. Be on the alert. I know you don’t need me to tell you that, but I feel better saying it.”

  She studied him for a long time. He would have given everything in his wallet to know what she was thinking. He had to fight the urge to haul her to her apartment, drag her inside, and strip off her clothing.

  When he didn’t say anything else, she opened the car door. “I’d better get to bed.”

  And I want to go with you.

  But he kept his mouth shut and walked to her door with her. She unlocked it, placed her laptop bag inside, and turned to him. He had no idea what she was going to say, but he couldn’t stand it anymore. So many conflicting emotions bombarded him along with a bolt of lust that shot straight to his dick. He nudged her inside, slammed the door shut, gripped her face between his palms, and slammed his mouth against hers.

  For a moment he thought she was going to push him away. Maybe even smack him. But then she melted against him, opened her mouth, and accepted his tongue. She tasted of fried chicken, white wine, and Terra, a taste so intoxicating he was afraid he’d never be able to break away from it.

  He danced his tongue with hers, scraping it gently with his teeth before sucking it into his mouth. She grabbed his arms, clutching them to steady herself and hold her against him. For a moment he had a flashback to the first time they’d had sex in this apartment, when he’d fucked her against this wall. His cocked swelled and throbbed so hard as blood surged through it, he was afraid it might explode.

  Finally, he broke the intense kiss and lifted his head. “We either have to get out of these clothes, or I have to get the hell out of here. Your choice.”

  She took a step back, her gaze locked with his, and slow
ly slid down the zipper of her ski jacket.

  His pulse ratcheted up. “Okay, then.”

  He undressed slowly, his body straining against the control he was forcing. And watching her reveal her body bit by bit made him so hard he was afraid if he bumped into something his cock would fall off. Her breasts tempted him with their round plumpness, the rosy nipples begging to be sucked.

  “Get moving, Dunne,” she reminded him when he just stood there with his shirt half off. “I’m not doing this by myself.”

  No, she fucking was not. Not unless he told her to. And that was something he wanted in the future. If they indeed were together in the future. The fact the thought even popped into his head shocked the shit out of him, but that was for another day.

  He shucked his shirt and lowered the zipper on his jeans, toeing his shoes off before pushing both jeans and boxer briefs to the floor. As it always did when confronted with her body, naked or otherwise, his cock sprang free and stood out like a thick tree branch. The vein encircling it pulsed almost painfully, and an ache roared through his balls.

  Fuck! What was it about this woman, anyway?

  Terra had tossed her own shirt to the side before slowly shimmying out of her jeans. She was left standing there in an athletic bra that on her looked beyond sexy, paired with a tiny thong that barely covered her well-trimmed mound.

  He moved forward so there was barely room for a breath between them, slipped his hand between her sleek thighs, and ran a finger along her very damp slit through the fabric of her thong.

  “Need to get rid of this.” He yanked it with two fingers, tore it away from her body, and tossed it to the floor. “You don’t need it right now, anyway.”

  Terra sucked in a breath and gripped his shoulders to steady herself, rocking her sex into his touch. He could feel how wet she was already, and it made him harder, if that was even possible. Wrapping one arm around her, he pulled the crotch of her thong aside and dipped his fingers into her wetness, brushing her clit and eliciting a moan from her that shot through every one of his nerve endings.

  Her fingers dug into the muscles of his upper arms as he rubbed her hot little button again and again, hard enough he felt it throb beneath his touch. Teasing them both, he closed two knuckles around it and stroked his hand through the wetness of her sex. She moaned and rocked her hips into his touch.