by Beth Abbott
“Tuck, I think you’d better spit out whatever it is that’s on your mind, because you’re setting my nerves jangling.” Candy warned him. “Who do you need and why?”
Tuck glanced at his wife and smiled.
“Always straight to the point, my love.” He conceded. “Ok, well for this mission, we need Zach for maybe a week or two.”
Sacha turned to her husband and immediately knew from the look of surprise on his face that he hadn’t been forewarned.
“What do you need?” Zach asked curiously.
“Drago, the Russian guy working with the Guardians, still has the Russian gangsters thinking that he was part of Ilya’s crew.” Tuck explained. “In fact, he’s got them convinced that he was Ilya’s business partner, and that he’s now got access to Ilya’s money and contacts.”
“He’s still undercover though, isn’t he?” Sacha clarified. “This is all still part of his original agenda.”
“Yes, it is, although that agenda has now been stretched to include the Guardians operations.” Tuck nodded. “Anyway, Drago has had a meeting with one of the most notorious gangsters in the Russian mafia, a guy called Sergei Lebedev. Not only has he met with him, but they’ve agreed a provisional deal for a huge arms shipment.”
“Provisional? What’s the catch?” Sacha asked nervously.
“The guy tests all the people he does business with.” Tuck explained. “He’ll ask them to sweeten the deal by providing something that, if not impossible, is certainly hard to come by. Rare cars, expensive racehorses, that kind of thing.”
“And what is it he’s asked Drago to provide?” Candy asked, sounding as nervous as Sacha felt.
“Lebedev occasionally likes to offer some of his potential customers a weekend of entertainment before agreeing to a deal.” Tuck explained. “He flies them out to one of his ships, where he puts on three ‘fight-nights’ over one weekend, with teams competing in a knock-out competition of sorts, if you’ll excuse the pun.”
Sacha glanced at Zach, worried where this was going.
“Drago has to come up with a four-man team to be on the fight-card.” Tuck said quietly. “And we’re short of men to pick from. From the Guardians we have Kellen and Kris, and Drago has a Special Forces buddy he’s going to try and bring in.”
“What about the other Guardians?” Sacha challenged. “I thought there were six of them.”
“The British pair have been seconded to another mission already, and Yuri has been excluded for medical reasons.” Tuck shrugged. “There’s no way we can ask him to fight.”
“What about Hollywood?” Candy asked. “Can’t he do it?”
“He could, but he’s got his hands full with Niko and Roman.” Tuck explained. “She’s still recovering from the surgery, and now has double pneumonia. The antibiotics haven’t done any good yet, and she’s in a really bad way, drifting in and out of consciousness. Between being there for Niko, and looking out for the kid, the guy’s spun around so bad he doesn’t know which way is up.”
“I didn’t realise they’d gotten so close, so fast.” Sacha frowned. “They’ve only known each other six weeks.”
“How long did it take you to fall for my nephew?” Tuck smiled at her.
Sacha blushed.
“Twenty minutes.” She sighed. “Point taken.”
Zach slipped his hand over hers and squeezed gently.
“So, what sort of fighting are we talking about?” He asked. “Boxing? One of the martial arts?”
“It’s kind of an anything goes sort of thing.” Tuck explained. “As long as nobody tries to pull a weapon of any kind, you can use hands, feet… whatever.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of this.” Sacha could already feel her stomach getting twisted up in knots. “Zach could get badly hurt.”
“Sweetheart? Are you doubting my mad skills?” Zach grinned at her. “I think I should be able to look after myself in that sort of situation.”
Sacha turned to stare at him.
“Oh, that’s right, I forgot. You’re invincible!” She could feel the hysteria rising with her voice. “Because, obviously, they’re going to put guys up to fight you who have no skills whatsoever. Hell, maybe they’ll put you up against one of the seven dwarves, hmm? All I’ll have to worry about is whether they’ll do some damage to your kneecaps!”
“Sacha, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.” Tuck reached over and grabbed her free hand. “And even then, I wouldn’t suggest it if I thought Zach would come to any serious harm. I do happen to love my nephew, y’know.”
Sacha sat and glared at the two men, knowing that they weren’t taking this as seriously as she was. They weren’t the ones who could lose the love of their life if something went badly wrong!
“Sacha, I’m not saying you have nothing to worry about, because Zach’s your husband. You’re gonna worry even if the only risk is him stubbing his big toe.” Candy smiled at her. “But if we look at this with dispassionate reasoning, then Zach is undoubtably the most qualified man we have. I’ve taught him everything he knows about Krav Maga, and he was already well versed in the other martial arts, as well as military trained in unarmed combat. He can do this.”
Sacha wanted to stamp her foot like she used to do when she was a little kid, and one of her brothers was hell-bent on pissing her off.
If she said no, she had no doubt that Zach would stay home, and they would come up with some other solution.
But if everything went pear-shaped, and the whole mission failed, would he forgive her? Would the team?
Dammit, would she forgive herself?
“When would he have to leave?” She asked quietly.
“In a few days.” Tuck explained. “Hannah suggested that you and Rocco come over with Zach, but I was thinking we could all go. Candy and Dylan as well. It’ll not only keep you close to Hannah while she monitors what’s going on, but it will also give you a chance to get together with the Alpha Company families.”
Sacha looked over at Candy, willing to take her friend’s guidance.
“That sounds like a good idea.” Candy nodded. “It’ll be nice to be with the family while all this plays out.”
There was no real choice to make.
Whichever way she went, Zach seemed destined to get hurt, either by some asshole in the ring, or by her, for not having faith in him.
“Ok. We all go.” She whispered.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Zach leaned in and kissed her softly. “You know I’ll do everything it takes to stay safe. Plus, I’ll have Kellen and Kris with me as well as this Drago guy and his friend. We’ll be fine.”
“You’d better be!” She growled. “Because I’m holding you personally responsible for staying safe.”
Zach grinned at her as he pulled her onto his lap.
“So, what sort of clothes do we pack for this trip, then?” She turned to Tuck and Candy. “Do we need to take some SPF50 for the kids?”
“Well, by all accounts, the British are experiencing a heatwave over there this summer.” Candy grinned. “So, you know what that means, don’t you?”
“Yeah, umbrellas!” Sacha and Tuck said in unison.
Chapter 12 – Kellen
He was lying on a sunbed on the golden sand of a beautiful beach, surrounded by the clearest aquamarine blue sea, his toes being swayed by the gentle splash of the water as it hit the shore.
Not too far away, he could see around a dozen women playing beach volleyball, clad only in the tiniest bikinis, thongs and lacy boy-shorts on the bottom, the tops made of small triangles of stretchy fabric that had no hope of keeping those bountiful breasts contained for very long.
“Your drink, sir?” He glanced around to see a glass of something clear and sparkling, with a pink umbrella sitting atop an abundance of sliced fresh fruit.
He sat up to take the glass, noticing that it was being delivered by a goddess wearing just a swimsuit.
“If sir requires anything else, he j
ust has to ask.” The goddess explained. “I’m here for his pleasure.”
She smiled and turned away, only moving as far as the water’s edge, where she sat down and started splashing water over her legs.
Kellen swallowed hard. Damn, but she was beautiful!
Long black hair, blue eyes, perfect complexion and a body to kill for.
Long legs, muscled, as though she worked on her fitness. Her arms and abs looked like they’d been worked on as well, as they were toned and lean.
What he’d noticed first though, was that her breasts had been high, full and real!
Well, he was a typical guy, wasn’t he? He was always going to be led by what he saw first.
If he ever got the chance to speak to her, he’d start appreciating her intellect later.
In the distance he could hear music playing, and he recognised Wild Boys by Duran Duran, and grinned. That asshole Hollywood had set this as the ringtone for all the Guardians, and as much as he tried, he couldn’t get the damn thing off his phone.
“Excuse me, sir?” The woman turned and smiled at him. “Your phone is ringing.”
He nodded at the goddess, noticing the tiny cluster of freckles on the top curve of her left breast.
It was like someone had deliberately placed them over her heart.
“Your phone is ringing, sir.” She smiled at him again, and he wondered what his chances were of getting laid anytime soon.
“Your phone is ringing, sir.”
Why did she keep saying that? He was in paradise, wasn’t he? Surely to God they wouldn’t have phones all the way out here to interrupt a man, not when there were all these beautiful women to look at.
“Your phone is ringing, sir.” Why was her voice getting more distant?
Kellen felt like he was being pulled back into his body, and he blinked his eyes open.
Blackness surrounded him, and he glanced around to see the red light on the bedside clock telling him it was a little after four o’clock.
His head flopped back onto the pillow. It was still the middle of the night!
“Wild boys, never lose it!” The music seemed to be getting louder. “Wild boys, never chose this way…!”
Dammit!
Kellen grabbed his phone from the bedside table and accepted the call, finally silencing the godawful racket.
“What?” He barked, not at all in the mood to be friendly.
“Morning, sweetheart.” Hannah’s voice was way too chirpy. “Staff meeting. Five minutes. Don’t worry about getting dressed… you can come in your Bugs Bunny onesie if you like.”
Kellen pulled himself up into a sitting position, wondering if he was still dreaming.
“How far do you expect me to get in five minutes? The best I can do in that time is make it to the sidewalk to hail a cab.” He grumbled. “I can’t drive anywhere because I had a couple of beers last night.”
“No need for any driving, sweetie.” Hannah chuckled. “The meeting is in Drago’s apartment.”
The line clicked, and Hannah was gone, leaving Kellen staring at his phone.
What the hell was so important that it required a staff meeting at four in the morning?
Kellen crawled off the bed and staggered to the bathroom, emptying his bladder as he leaned his head against the cold tiles above the toilet.
When he was finished, he washed his hands as he stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like he felt. Hung over!
He’d had another three bottles of beer after he’d arrived home, so while he’d still been sober enough, it was a few more than he usually enjoyed, and his head was now pounding like a bitch. Fucking lightweight!
Kellen reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out a couple of aspirin, tossing them back and washing them down with a few gulps of water.
He wandered back into the bedroom and grabbed his jeans from the chair.
As much as he would have loved to arrive in a Bugs Bunny onesie, he didn’t actually own one, probably because they didn’t make them to fit someone anywhere near his height and build.
He pulled a clean t-shirt out of the drawer and quickly pulled it over his head, grabbed his phone and keys, and pushed his feet into the sliders he kept in the apartment for when he was chilling.
He let himself out of the front door and was just pulling it closed quietly when the elevator doors opened, and Hannah, Danny and JT walked out.
He put his finger to his lips and pointed at Hollywood’s apartment door, reminding everyone that his friend and little Roman were probably still fast asleep in there.
As if sensing they were outside, Drago opened the door furthest from the elevator, and they all made their way quietly past him and into his living room.
It was pretty much a replica of Kellen’s apartment, with only minimal differences when it came to the furnishings.
“Thanks for coming over, guys.” Drago welcomed them in. “I’m sorry about the unsociable hour, but I have a few visitors you need to meet, one of whom is on a very tight schedule.”
As Danny moved out of his way, Kellen noticed a man standing by the window.
Tall, broad shouldered, grey hair and a closed expression on his face, the man looked unhappy to even be talking to them.
A younger guy sat on the big sofa.
Considering that he took up almost half of the three-seats by himself, and with a shaved head and biceps that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Hulk during one of his green spells, it didn’t take Kellen long to guess that this must be Drago’s friend from Russian Special Forces.
“Guys, I want you to meet General Kozlov. Russian military liaison currently working out of the embassy in Paris.” Drago introduced his visitor. “The guy on the sofa is Abram Petrov, our fourth man. Both speak English fluently, so we won’t need translators.”
The Guardians stepped forward and introduced themselves, but Kellen noticed the General made no attempt to shake hands.
When the introductions were over, they took seats around the large room, and Drago stood by the fireplace, ready to explain what was going on.
“I made a request yesterday to my superiors in Moscow, to see if there was any chance of getting Abram seconded to our team. He’s Systema Spetsnaz trained in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, and perfect for what we need.” Drago began. “No sooner had I sent the request off, I had a communication from Moscow telling me to hold my position and await further instructions. The next communication I received was an instruction to collect Abram and the General from an address in central London and bring them here, so General Kozlov could explain what was going on.”
“And what exactly is going on?” Hannah looked between Drago and the General.
“I suppose you could say that this is an example of someone stepping on someone else’s toes.” The General shrugged.
“Whose toes are being stepped on?” JT asked. “Yours, or ours?”
“It would appear that you’ve stumbled on a way of getting close to Sergei Lebedev, one we didn’t know about previously due to Drago being off the grid for so long.” The General explained. “Unfortunately, because we were unaware that he had managed to successfully rise to be a trusted lieutenant of Ilya Federov, we didn’t know how much use he could be to us, so we… cultivated other seeds, shall we say.”
“So, you have people already embedded within Lebedev’s organisation?” Hannah guessed. “Does that mean that you want us to stand down?”
“Standing down is actually the last thing we want. Your mission fits in perfectly for what we need.” The General nodded. “We did have two undercover agents embedded in Lebedev’s organisation until recently. They were working together, both of them highly trained in computer hacking, amongst other things, and both very useful to the Russian mob. Lebedev immediately recognized their value, and quickly took them straight to the heart of his operation. They worked directly for him.”
“You said you had two ‘until recently’?” JT pointed out. “How many are left?”
“We’re not sure.” The General admitted. “One of them was found floating in the river in Moscow about three months ago. His was one of thirteen bodies washed up over a three-day period. An autopsy found that, like the others, the man died of multiple gunshot wounds, but they were random, not inflicted in a typical execution style. The report said it was likely he’d been caught up in a gunfight, as the bullets they recovered were from different guns, fired from different distances. Given how many other bodies were found within a short space of time, all with similar wounds, a gunfight seemed like a reasonable assumption.”
“What about the second agent?” Hannah asked. “Have you heard anything from them?”
“There was a blank email sent to our drop-box about eight weeks ago.” The General explained. “That’s what we use to confirm someone is alive, but that it’s too dangerous to provide any more details.”
“Do you have any idea where it came from? The IP address, for example?” Hannah leaned forward now, her curiosity undisguisable.
“They were in Murmansk when it was sent.” He confirmed.
“That’s where Lebedev’s fight-ships sail from, isn’t it?” Kellen remembered.
“Yes, exactly so.” The General confirmed. “There hasn’t been any word from the agent since the email.”
“Do you think they’re still alive, and if so, do you think they’re still safe in their fake identity?” Danny asked. “Because if they’re still alive when we go in and take Lebedev down, they’re gonna need to know what’s going on, or they could find themselves in deep shit when the take-down happens.”
“That’s my gravest concern.” The General nodded. “And it’s why I’m here tonight, to ask whether you can add the extraction of my agent to your list of mission goals. It’s extremely important to me that they get out safely. I can’t risk them staying undercover any longer, even if their safety is assured for now. Once Lebedev realises his money is gone, and his business is crumbling around him, there’s no telling what he might do. He’ll be looking for someone to blame. We already know he’s volatile and reputed to be trigger happy. A rather unfortunate combination if you ask me.”