“I don’t feel comfortable engaging on an unknown woman,” Declan said. “If she’s an innocent being forced into some sort of sex… I don’t even know what to call what they’re doing. Bottom line is, we’re not going in until we have good intel on the woman.”
Everyone gave their agreeance but something was bothering me.
"I don't think she's a victim," I told the guys.
"Why?" Kyle asked.
"I've followed her. She goes out alone, meets with friends. There are no guards. If she’s being held against her will, there have been plenty of times she could've escaped."
"There are many ways to force someone into a situation. You don't always need guns and guards to do it," Declan reminded me.
"There are, yes. But she's complicit in his smuggling operation. I've seen it. My gut is telling me she's an opportunist, not a victim."
I regretted my words as soon as I'd said them. Why would anyone in the room take me seriously after our discussion in the car? I'd admitted I didn't trust myself anymore, yet there I was telling the team I only had a gut feeling, no facts to go on.
"You could be right. Let's see what Tex and Garrett dig up and we'll go from there."
That was Declan's way of nicely dismissing my opinion. I appreciated he hadn't called me out in front of everyone.
"And for the record, Tatiana, if you believe she's in on it, I trust your insight. I’m not questioning you. I just think we need to know more about this woman and where she came from.”
“What did you guys find?” Brooks asked Max and Thad.
“Nothing useful,” Thad answered. “Just confirmation he’s been seen in the area.”
“I’m gonna grab a beer. Anyone else?” Kyle asked, already walking toward the kitchen.
“A beer?” I questioned.
“One of the many perks of working for Z Corps. Fully stocked fridge in all our safehouses,” Brooks informed me.
The other four men called out their yeses. As good as a beer sounded, a shower sounded even better.
“I’m gonna get a shower in first,” I told the guys.
Brooks’ gaze shifted to mine and a wicked smile tugged at his lips. Tingles hit me in all the right places and with great difficulty I kept my face blank. Visions of his naughty promise filled my mind, I had to get away from him before I lost the battle and my cheeks heated.
Not waiting for anyone to acknowledge my announcement, I left the room as quickly as I could without looking like I was fleeing a crime scene. By the masculine chuckles behind me, I’d failed. Whatever. I was beyond being embarrassed. Not to mention, the condo we were now staying in only had three bedrooms. Two of the rooms had two twin-sized beds and the third had only one bed. A full-sized. Guess which room I was assigned to? A full-sized bed was barely big enough for a man Brooks’ size. The two of us would be crammed on top of each other. The thought made the tingling from earlier reappear. In an effort to not think about tonight’s sleeping arrangements, I opened my backpack and rummaged through the contents, finding something clean to change into.
My cell phone vibrated, startling me. Shit, I’d forgotten I hadn’t checked in with Leon in over twelve hours. Was I still supposed to be checking in with him? Z Corps had officially taken over my employment and neither Zane nor Leon had clarified who I was working for. Just because Zane was now signing my paychecks didn’t mean I no longer worked for The Company.
I found my phone as the call went to voicemail. Three missed calls from Leon. Interesting. He’d never called three times back to back before. Not bothering to check the voicemails he’s left, I returned his call.
“There you are,” he barked.
“Hello, Leon. How are you?”
My question was met with silence. He was probably rolling his eyes at my attempt of politeness.
“Great. Listen, there’s been a shift. I have a job for you.”
“Okay.” I drew the word out and unease hit my stomach.
“Sefa Nazari.”
“What about her?”
“She’s your target.”
“My target? Our orders are Nazari and only his children if they engage.”
“That may be the orders Zane has given his men. However, your objective is Sefa Nazari. You have two hours. I’ll expect an update when the job is done. And one more thing. This is need to know and none of the men you are with need to know.”
The unease I’d felt moments ago turned into apprehension. I was no stranger to top secret directives. The assassination order didn’t even bother me. It wasn’t the first and it wouldn’t be the last. What I didn’t like was having to keep secrets from the team.
“Did you hear me?”
“I heard you.”
“You have two hours.”
“Copy that.”
Leon disconnected and I tossed my phone on the bed. I couldn’t forget what Zane had told me about Z Corps being a better option than The Company. And I still wasn’t sure what he meant when he told me he knew more about them than I did, but less than he should. I worked with Leon for years, he’d never given me any indication I couldn’t trust him, so why was I second-guessing his orders now? I shouldn’t have been questioning anything. I had a direct order, one that I needed to obey.
“Everything okay?”
“Jesus.” I startled and turned toward the doorway with my heart damn near in my throat. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
“You sure? You look like you’re weighing something big over there.”
“Nope. Just thinking about Sefa and Nazari,” I semi-lied.
I was thinking about Sefa, just not the way I’d allowed Brooks believe I was. I’d already started to plan how I’d take her out. I only had two hours. That was not a lot of time to shower, sneak away from the team, complete my mission, and come back.
“Yeah, that shit was pretty jacked,” he returned.
I picked up my clean clothes, phone, and started for the door.
“It was. Time to wash the ick off.” I shouldered past him, ignoring the ‘what the fuck’ look he gave me and made my way down the hallway to the one bathroom we’d all have to share. I quickly shut the door and tuned the lock before Brooks followed me in and started asking questions.
No sooner had I turned the taps on, undressed, and stepped under the shower spray, guilt hit me hard. I’d lied to Brooks. Not the way I had to keep my cover when we’d first met, but straight out. And in ten minutes I was going to lie to the rest of the team and sneak away. Leon would text me the location where I could pick up a weapon and I would assassinate a woman we’d all agreed to gather more intel on. My conscience wouldn’t shut up and neither would Zane’s nagging voice, reminding me these men would take a bullet for me.
Fuck.
My hair was barely wet when I jerked the spigot handle and turned the water off. I yanked a towel off the hook and angrily dried my body. I couldn’t do it. Taking out Sefa wasn’t the issue. Lying, turning my back on the team, was. And it wouldn’t be one lie. They’d all pile on top of each other. Sneaking away was just the tip of the iceberg. Tomorrow when they found out she was dead, more lies would follow. When they investigated who took her out, even more lies would mount.
Then there was the other problem I had. Zane. I’d never known him to be a bullshitter. He had the best instincts in the business and he’d admitted, not in so many words, there was something about The Company he didn’t like. He wouldn’t have told me working for him was a better option if he hadn’t had misgivings about the people I worked for. I didn’t know if it was Leon Brown he didn’t trust or The Company as a whole. Either was a good enough reason to give me pause.
With clean clothes on, I went in search of the guys. I found them all except Brooks, sitting around the dining room table.
“Where’s Brooks?” I asked.
Four sets of eyes swung my way. All of them with matching looks of curiosity.
“Right here,” he said from behind me and walked into the dining area.
With a deep inhale, I prayed I was doing the right thing. Not only was I breaking protocol, I was getting ready to break operational security. I glanced down at the phone in my hand and thought better about speaking freely with the device in the room.
I held up the phone with one hand and gestured with the other to give me a minute. After running back to the bedroom, shoving the phone into my backpack and shutting the door, I felt better about going against Leon’s order not to tell the team.
“What’s wrong?” Declan asked as soon as I reentered the room.
“When I went back to the room, I had three missed calls from my handler. When I returned the call, he informed me I had a new assignment.”
“What? He’s pulling you?” Brooks asked.
“No. He gave me a two hour clock to assassinate Sefa Nazari.”
“What the fuck?” Declan stood. “Zane didn’t say anything about that.”
“He doesn’t know about the mission shift. My orders are need to know. I was specifically told none of you were to be in the know.”
Well, I now knew how to get a room full of operatives stunned into silence. The men all exchanged looks and waited for someone to say something. Declan’s face turned to stone, and Brooks looked like he was getting ready to explode.
Great.
Chapter 24
Long moments ticked by before Tatiana spoke, “Anyone?”
I suppose she was waiting for someone to say something, but it wasn’t going to be me. I was too fucking pissed to utter a word.
“Let me see if I understand,” Declan started. “Leon agreed to lend you to Z Corps for the mission. Then he calls you and gives you a side job to take out Sefa, but wants it kept from the team. I get that right?”
“Yes.”
“There’s no interpretation? Straight out he said you were not to tell us?” he asked again.
Tatiana’s eyes rolled and she answered, “Yes, Declan. His words were, it was need to know and none of you needed to know. He gave me two hours to complete my assignment.”
“Then why are you breaking security protocol?” I asked.
“Huh?” Her eyes moved from Dec to me and they looked wounded that I’d questioned her.
“You were specifically ordered not to tell us, yet here you are passing on information on a mission you were given. One I assume, would be classified as top secret. Your ass should be out the door carrying out your task.”
Tatiana squared her shoulders and the woman who I’d met the first day in Bahrain was back. Expressionless. Assessing. Cold.
“The order from my team leader was hold fast and wait for new intel. Not only that but we’d all agreed more information was needed on Sefa before we moved. Zane has not weighed in and given further instructions. Until that time, I’m following Declan’s direction.”
“Leon Brown is your handler. Not Zane. Not Declan. So, again, why the hell are you standing here and not following orders?” I pushed.
I needed more. More than Leon Brown and Zane Lewis having what I believe was a pissing contest with Tatiana stuck in the middle.
“Declan said—”
“Bullshit. You work for The Company, not Z Corps.”
“I work for Z Corps on this mission,” she argued.
“Again. I call bullshit. What you’ve done is akin to subversion. Best case, you’ll be terminated. Most likely they send someone after you to eliminate what they’ll feel is a loose end.”
Tatiana’s face lost the mask of indifference and she leaned forward, unleashing her fury. “It feels like a lie,” she said through gritted teeth. “Something is not right. Sefa Nazari has never been on radar for a hit. Why now? Why her and not Matek? He’s always been the one we’ve watched. Now after tonight and what we saw, why is Sefa suddenly on The Company’s list?”
“What feels like a lie?” Declan asked, beating me to it.
“Sneaking away and killing a woman we all agreed we needed more intel on. Leaving and not telling anyone. Leon telling me that my team doesn’t need to know. All of it. It’s all wrong.”
That was what I needed to know. Where her loyalty was. Even though her telling us about Leon’s assignment should’ve told me, it didn’t. Her explaining she didn’t want to be dishonest was what I needed to hear to continue to trust her.
“How are you supposed to carry out the kill?” Kyle asked.
Apparently, he, too, had gotten the answers he needed.
“My discretion.”
“And weapons?” Thad inquired.
“I should be getting a text any minute if I haven’t already with a nearby location where someone will supply me with what I need.”
“Did he tell you that?” Declan questioned.
“No. Standard operating procedure. I can’t have a weapons cache when I’m supposed to be working for the UN or relief organizations. There’s always someone who provides me with anything I need.”
“Does this happen often, getting a kill order in the middle of a mission?” Dec continued.
“Not often. But it’s happened a few times.”
I had to admit I didn’t like the mission shift with an order to kill a woman we’d just finished surveilling. The calls to Tatiana started before Declan had called in what we saw to Zane. So how would Leon Brown, who was presumably in the United States, know we’d had Sefa in our sights earlier in the night?
I looked around at my team and they, too, were all trying to puzzle out why the kill order had come in at that moment in time if there had never been any mention of her being a target before. Maybe it was something as innocent as Leon finding new intel on the woman and deeming her a high threat. But that didn’t explain why he wanted Tatiana to go in alone.
“Are there any issues between Leon Brown and Zane?” I asked Declan.
“Not that Z said.”
“Zane told me working for him was a better option than working for The Company,” Tatiana added. “But he didn’t elaborate. He also said he didn’t have as much intel on them as he’d like.”
Declan pulled out his cell and dialed, putting it on speaker. It took four rings before Zane answered, “Yeah.”
“Is there an issue between you and Leon Brown we should know about?”
Zane’s laughter filled the room. “Wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve pissed off a lot of people. Why?”
“He sent Tatiana on a mission. Need to know, with us in the dark.”
“What kind of mission?” Zane’s tone had changed from humorous to deadly.
Tatiana spoke up, filling Zane in on what Leon had told her. Once she was done, he remained quiet for a moment. When he finally spoke again you could feel his anger rolling off in waves, over the phone, and thousands of miles away, it didn’t matter. When Zane Lewis was pissed the world knew it.
“The Company is a division of the CIA. Their latest and greatest attempt at complete anonymity. When I say complete, I mean, complete. Off the books and black ops. No records are kept. None. Only verbal communication between the handlers and their operatives. Handlers verbally report in to one man. No paper trail whatsoever.”
“If there’s no electronic footprint, how’d you find it?” Thad asked.
“I have my sources. Take the mission. If Leon is keeping tabs, he needs to think you’ll still follow his orders. I need a few hours to figure out what game Leon is playing.”
“Take the mission?” Tatiana questioned. “We don’t have all the intel. We were going to wait.”
“Brooks, take her back. You’re a shadow. I don’t want you seen unless shit goes sideways. This could also be a trap. Get Tatiana separated from the team so he can take her out. Be ready for anything. I don’t trust a goddamn thing the CIA does.”
“I want to be clear, Zane,” Tatiana said. “Are you telling me to execute the order?”
“No. I want you to accept the mission. Pick up your weapon. Go to the location and wait. Garrett is almost done. What he’s finding doesn’t look good for Sefa Nazari, however it doesn’t am
ount to a death sentence. Unless Tex comes up with something more, you’ll report back to Leon and explain why you failed.”
“But I’ve never failed,” Tatiana complained.
She was cute when she grumbled about having to report an unsuccessful mission.
“I think your stats will survive,” Zane joked. “Twenty-and-oh is nothing to sneeze at.”
“Twenty confirmed?” Kyle asked, his voice laced with respect.
With a nod she verified his question. Nothing about her posture indicated she was proud of the number of assassinations she’d carried out or the fact that she’d executed his orders without fail. Another bit of information slid into place and I was beginning to understand her a little more.
“Goddamn. Thought you said this type of thing doesn’t happen often,” Kyle continued.
“Define often.” She wasn’t asking him a question, simply offering an answer. “Okay, so I fail the take down. What then? Call him back and tell him I couldn’t get to her?”
“Yes. Unless Tex or Garrett finds something. But so far, I’m not seeing anything.”
“Fine,” she huffed.
“Declan, if this is a trap you need to be ready for anything. Maybe this has to do with us. He could want her out of the house so he can take out the team and save her. Be ready for anything. Trust no one outside of you six.”
I was happy to see Zane had included Tatiana in the circle of trust.
“One more thing. Good work, Tatiana.” Zane, always the one to get in the last word, hung up.
Declan immediately started putting together a plan. He, Kyle, Thad, and Max would stay behind. He and Max would take patrol around the block and Thad and Kyle would take watch inside the condo. I’d be shadowing Tatiana. I hated not having a clear understanding of any given scenario, but I really fucking hated walking into a trap.
“You ready? Time’s ticking,” I told Tatiana after Declan was done.
“Yeah. Let me grab my phone.”
Max had been suspiciously quiet throughout the entire conversation, but when Tatiana left the room, he spoke.
“Watch your back.”
Brooks (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Gold Team Book 1) Page 14