by Linzi Basset
“I have to eat too and besides, I like to cook,” she said around a mouthful of greens. Her mind wandered back to her earlier upset. “I’m really pissed off at Gideon for not calling me back. It’s inconsiderate, to say the least,” she lilted. “He must still be miffed because I took you to his house without discussing changing our strategy with him first.”
“By your strategy, I assume you mean hooking up with me in a trial D/s relationship?” Jack heard the sharp edge in his own voice.
Jordan glanced sideways at him. “Actually, it was never part of the plan.” She pointed between them. “Us, I mean. In a D/s relationship. I was just supposed to get close to one of the Precision Secure team members to find out why they had such an interest in Crown International.”
Jack went still. He stared at her. “I see. What made you decide to change course?”
“You.”
“Me?”
She nodded as she stuffed a piece of steak into her mouth, wondering where the devil the sudden talkativeness came from.
“Care to elaborate, Jordan?”
“Well, come on, Jack. You have to admit, you’re hot, sexy and …” her voice deepened as her eyes dropped suggestively lower, “big. What woman can resist all that?”
The narrowing of his eyes warned her that he didn’t appreciate her candor. She took a deep breath.
“I don’t know to be honest. Except that every time you were near and looked into my eyes, I had trouble breathing. My stomach bunched in a tight ball and I turned into a trembling mess.” She lifted a negligent shoulder. “I’ve been attracted to you from the start, and I’m not going to lie about what you do to my libido, but when you turn to me with those brooding eyes … I can’t resist you, Jack. I said it before, I crave your dominance and I,” she cleared her throat, “I kinda like living with you. I think maybe I … I might be falling in love with you—even though sometimes you scare the living shit out of me.”
Jack chewed slowly as he scrutinized her earnest expression, carefully hiding the elation her words untethered inside him. “That’s quite an admission, Jordan.”
“And yet, you’re still here. I expected you to run for the hills.”
“Hmm, maybe later. For now, I’m enjoying my meal too much.”
Jordan gaped at him, but he ignored her until she eventually returned to her own food.
“When last did you speak to Gideon?”
“On Saturday, when we were at his house.”
“You’re worrying for nothing. He seemed fine on Monday when he came to Precision Secure to work with Richard.”
“Maybe you’re right, and yet I can’t shake the feeling something is wrong.”
“Is there some kind of an ESP between you and Gideon?”
Jordan laughed. “No, that’s a myth. There’s no telepathy between twins, but we’ve always been very close and have this way of communicating without language. More an emotional or empathic connection, I suppose.” She took a sip of wine. “Usually my instincts about Gideon are accurate. I think I'll pop over to his place after dinner.”
“Rather not. I don’t want you to be out of the house after dark.”
“But I’ve got the bodyguard—”
“No, Jordan. If you still can’t get hold of Gideon by tomorrow morning, we’ll go and see him when I get back from work. And it’s not negotiable,” he said when she opened her mouth to protest.
“You’re so bossy,” she mumbled but conceded to his demand.
Jack planted a hard kiss on her lips. “Thanks for the lovely dinner, love. I’m going to change.”
Jordan watched him run up the stairs with an uneasy feeling. Being in a relationship with a man who put his life in danger more often than not was something she tried not to think about too much. She did know she wouldn’t sleep a wink until he returned.
After a decadent Irish Coffee, Jack got up to leave. He smiled tenderly at the worried expression on her face.
“Stop marring your pretty forehead with that frown, love,” he chided as he brushed his fingers over the dimpled visage.
“Will you be … are you doing something dangerous?”
“Walking on the sidewalk is dangerous, Jordan.” He tapped her on the nose. “Stop worrying your pretty little head about me. I’ll be fine.”
He kissed her briefly. “Don’t wait up for me. We’re going out of town and will only be back tomorrow. I’ll probably go directly to the office.”
Jordan stood on the front porch, watching his truck disappear down the street. A sense of doom slithered like a viper down her spine. She shuddered, quickly stepped inside and closed the door.
“Get a grip. Jordan. He’s a grown man and more than equipped to take care of himself.”
But who was going to take care of her heart? Because Jordan now knew that Jack Blackmore had irrevocably taken over every chamber and resided there—chained himself to her with every nuance of his being.
“Yeah, he has planted his size thirteens squarely inside my heart. Oh, lord, I do love him. So much it hurts just thinking about it.”
Jordan listened to the echo of her voice. The smile that brightened her face was testimony to her acceptance of the fate destiny had decreed for her. Now, all she had to do was make him fall in love with her.
“Jesus! Now I understand why Alex doesn’t want anyone else to know about this.” Jack stared in disbelief at the evocative entrance portal comprising of a tall, militaristic driveway that led straight into the mountainside from where they were scouting the area on an incline through night vision binoculars. The Cheyenne Mountain Nuclear Bunker in Paso County, Colorado, was one of the most recognizable, semi-secret bases in American history thanks to its film appearances on both the big and small screen.
“What are we doing here, Sean? As far as I know, this bunker is more flash than function since most of its operations have been moved elsewhere.”
“That’s what the CIA would like everyone to believe when in fact it’s at full capacity but highly classified. It’s a fully operational backup site for NORAD.” He hesitated. “Among other things.”
“I see.” Jack studied the area. “Last time I was here, which admittedly was probably ten years ago, there wasn’t this level of security around, so I guess you’re right. Are we talking military involvement, CIA, or worse, DOD?”
“That we don’t know as of yet but all clues lead to this bunker. Governor White is speculating that it involves corrupt officials on a very high level.”
“Someone with enough brass to order the storage of a stolen server that wouldn’t be questioned.” Jack lowered the binoculars. “And a traitor who doesn’t think twice to sell out his own country.”
“It’s a fucked-up world we live in.”
“What’s worse is the thought of someone who supposedly swore to protect and serve his country is the person most likely in charge of one of the most violent and fastest growing crime syndicates in the US. Fucking hell! And to aggravate me even further, he’s gotten into bed with the Bratva.”
“It’s time.”
“I suppose you’re going to enlighten me now exactly how we’re going to get inside?” Jack tugged on the tight fit of the military shirt Sean had given him to wear. “Next time, I’ll get my own fucking clothes. This shirt is two sizes too small.”
Sean chuckled and slapped a military cap onto Jack’s head. “We’re the change-over guards for the command center.”
“Don’t tell me. The server is hidden in plain sight among their own?”
“Yes, we believe so. Luckily, Max had been able to supply us with a photo of what the stolen one looks like as well as the identifying barcodes.”
They started to jog through the trees. “There’s a military jeep stashed between the trees a couple of hundred yards ahead. Our sign-in paperwork and badges will be in the cubbyhole.”
“I suppose that means we’ll be doing an eight-hour guard shift before we can leave?”
“Yes. We can’t afford to draw
any attention. Part of our security check is the server room. Every hour. I’ll take the first check to confirm it’s there. During one of your rounds, you’ll plant the tracker. I’ll keep watch to ensure no one walks in on you. When the shift is over, we walk out of here like two tired military guards.”
Jack didn’t respond as he got into the jeep. He found the paperwork and access identification tags while Sean started the engine.
“Let’s get this done.”
Ten minutes later they had been processed and their guard duties explained by the security supervisor. They walked into the command center where the change-over guards waited for them.
“Ah, fresh meat. What did you two poor fuckers do to end up in this mausoleum?” One of the two guards they were relieving, taunted. It was evident he was cranky and looking for someone to take it out on.
Jack and Sean didn’t accommodate him. He backed down in the face of their deadpan stares.
“Anything we should know?” Sean asked shortly.
“Nah. It’s quiet. You’ve got the dead man’s shift. The fucking owls don’t even hoot here, so good luck staying awake,” said the younger of the two guards. He slapped his friend on the back. “Let’s get out of here. I’m fucking starving.”
Jack did a brief survey of the interior of the command center. There were only three staff members manning the systems. If sprawled in a chair and staring blankly ahead qualified as such.
“I’ll take the south hallway first.” Jack saluted. “Stay alert, mate,” he said to Sean as he sauntered away. He kept his head down and the military cap pulled low over his eyes. It wouldn’t do to be recognized should anyone look at video footage for whatever reason.
Jack memorized all the faces of the people he encountered as he unobtrusively studied them in passing. It was second nature, a built-in mechanism, as he never left any stones unturned during an operation, especially one like this, where the country’s national safety was at stake.
An hour later he watched Sean walk into the server room. Jack strolled through the main command center. He pretended to check his watch while he glanced at the monitors of the sergeant in charge. One of them showed views of every angle inside the server room. Jack followed Sean’s progress through the room on the screen. He did a thorough sweep without appearing suspect.
“Is it always this quiet here?” Jack asked the sergeant. He leaned his hip against his desk and pushed back the automatic rifle.
“Yeah.” The sergeant’s shoulders moved in a tired shrug. “You get used to it after a while.”
“I guess.” Jack moved away. He walked toward Sean where he stood beside the water cooler.
“Second row, third server on the right,” Sean said. “It’s marked with three yellow triangles, top left on the glass cover plate.”
Jack filled a styrofoam cup with water and slumped against the wall, sipping slowly. He looked around. The sour guard had been right. This was the dead man’s shift. No one was paying them any attention.
“It seems to be active, but I suppose it’s a front to keep any of the technicians from becoming suspicious,” Sean continued.
Jack threw the empty cup in the bin as he pushed away from the wall. He stretched lazily.
“I’m going to need a two-minute diversion to get the tracker in place. There’s cameras from every angle inside the server room.” He nodded toward the sergeant’s workstation. “He’s got eyes on it the entire time. I’ll do a due diligence check on my first round. In a room like that, there’s always a blind spot. I just need to find it.”
They continued their rounds, passing each other now and then with no more than a cursory nod.
“Lunch break, you two.” The security supervisor arrived four hours later to relieve them. “Thirty minutes, not a second more.”
“Asshole,” Jack muttered as they walked toward the canteen.
“I need two minutes on my next round into the server room. You need to keep the sergeant’s attention from the security monitor.”
“Done. What about the security hub? Won’t they have eyes on there as well?”
“No, I checked when we were being processed. It’s only command center who has visual access to it.”
They finished their coffee in silence. There was nothing further to discuss.
“I need to take a leak. See you back in the command center,” Jack said as he disappeared into the restroom.
The position of the server limited the access to the back panel as it was flush against the wall, which meant Jack would have to activate the magnetic mechanism of the penny-sized unit so it could attach itself to the server. He sat down on the toilet seat and removed the small black container from his pocket. It was more than a tracker. It would enable them to catch whoever was involved red-handed.
The unit served a triple purpose. Firstly, tracking the server it would be housed in and secondly, to release the pin sized, Nano-cyber-toolbox he’d spent the afternoon carefully inserting. It contained the latest nanotechnology which had the ability to detect, identify, clone, and send the coded information to a preloaded secure cloud. It also had a secondary release mechanism of a nanovirus, which would destroy and wipe all data contained in every folder on the server, as well as all the data of the computer of the IP address of whoever tried to access the secure folder. Thirdly, if activated, the nanotechnology tracker contained energetic nanocomposites infiltrated with a porous chromium oxide matrix and a high explosive dissolved in acetone. It had the same explosive power as a pound of C4.
Droplets of sweat formed on Jack’s forehead as he carefully adjusted the guiding system on the unit. One wrong move and he and half of the Cheyenne Mountain Nuclear Bunker would be blown to smithereens. Once released from the tracker housing unit, the Nanos would attach itself to the core of the server, to remain dormant until such a time when someone tried to access the secure MOKV folder.
Ten minutes later, Jack made his way into the server room, nodding at Sean who was talking with the sergeant. It seemed he had found the one topic of interest that drew his attention from the monitors. He had swiveled the chair to face Sean as they discussed ice boarding.
Jack strolled up and down the rows inside the server room, performing the perfect rendition of a bored security guard forced to work nightshift. He hunched down next to the stolen server. He was careful to position himself in such a way that the inside cocoon of his body was hidden from camera angles. He pretended to tie his shoelaces as he gently guided the quarter-sized housing unit to slip to the floor. He pushed it slowly toward the server with his finger, watching as the magnetic component pulled it against the underside of the unit. Jack stood up and strolled toward the door. His finger brushed over the remote in his pocket which activated the guiding mechanism to release the Nanotechs. The housing unit would disintegrate within seconds thereafter.
Now, the waiting game started. It was evident that the Bratva was in no hurry to decipher the MOKV schematics. Jack was worried that it was more than that. With someone in the CIA, military, or the DOD, or god forbid, all of them involved, he feared there was something more sinister underfoot, of which none of them realized the magnitude.
Chapter Seventeen
“That does it! I’m going over there. Sorry, Jack, but I know my gut instinct is correct. Something is wrong with Gideon.” Jordan stabbed the screen to end the call as for the umpteenth time that evening, Gideon’s voicemail answered.
Jordan scrolled to the bodyguard’s name. She wasn’t a complete idiot to discount the potential danger afoot and had to inform him of her intention.
“Kane? I need to go to my brother’s house. Yes, now.” She tapped her foot on the floor. “I know it’s almost midnight and yes, I know Jack said to wait until tomorrow, but something is wrong.” She stomped her foot when his deep voice drawled in her ear again. “Look, Mr. Bodyguard, I am going. Now, either you take me, or I go on my own. Which is it going to be?” She took a deep breath to calm herself. “I thought as much,” she sna
pped when Kane told her he would meet her in front of the house in ten minutes.
The trip to Gideon’s house didn’t take long. Jordan was silent all the way. Worry gnawed at her as Kane stopped in front of the house. She looked around. The world was etched in charcoal, the daytime vibrant hues of the gardens were no more than dark shades in the night. Stars shone in the sky like sugar spilled over black marble.
“It’s strange,” she said. She shifted uneasily in the car seat. “All the outside lights are off. Gideon always keeps them on. In fact, they’re on a time switch.”
“I spoke to the security detail before we left. According to them, everything is in order. No one has come or gone over the past three days. They’ve seen signs of Gideon through the windows earlier tonight during the perimeter checks.” Kane gazed around. “But it never hurts to be careful. Stay here. Let me go inside first.” He held out his hand for the house key.
Jordan handed it over and watched him as he disappeared inside the house. She began to fiddle and jerked in fright at the smallest sound.
“Fuck this. I’m not staying here.” She jumped out of the SUV and ran inside the house. It was dark, apart from the silver moonbeams shining through the large windows.
“Another guest. Well, well … it seems we’re about to have a party after all.”
Jordan froze at the guttural voice that spoke behind her. She acted instinctively and dropped to the floor. Her leg swept out in a wide arch. She grunted with satisfaction as her foot connected with what she assumed was a knee.
“Fucking bitch! You’ll pay for that!”
Jordan spun around but she was too slow.
“Ugh,” she groaned as the butt of a pistol slammed against her skull. The charcoal hues of the interior of the house darkened as pain exploded in her brain, pulling her into a black void of unconsciousness.