Covert vengeance, p.5
Covert Vengeance, page 5
I might not have the talents my best friend’s wife has, but something tells me Elliot Smith is not all that she seems. There’s more to her and that, plus her round hips and ass, have me eager to learn more about her. There’s also the fact she’s the woman who literally saved my life by almost dying in that house. Lucia wanted to know why I asked her to not tell Elliot that I was the one to save her, that is was my team who lost so many in the explosion, but I didn’t have an answer for her.
Should be I don’t want her pity or her to see me as some kind of hero for saving her life. Though she doesn’t seem like the type who would fawn over me even if she did know I saved her. Hell she’d probably just give me a fist bump and later send me a thank you basket filled with grenade shaped fruit, or real grenades if she could find them.
Taking a long gulp of water Elliot diverts her attention from whatever G is telling Lucia and hitches her chin at the water glass still in my hand.
“Not a drinker?” Something possessive swirls in my chest as she watches my throat move with each swallow.
“A little too much these days. But if we’re about to be tested I figured I should put the all nighters behind me.”
“I’m sure your liver is rejoicing,” Lucia says.
I point to her glass of white wine. “Should you be having that? You’re growing my god kid in there.”
Lucia narrows her gaze and I find myself inching toward G for protection.
“It’s find in small amounts, asshole. I’m not going on a Chardoney binger.”
“Sorry,” I say holding up both hands. I sneak a look to Elliot who’s grinning. “So Elliot, you from around here?”
Her silky brown hair slips over her shoulder with the shake of her head. “Northern California. Napa area.” Her smile turns stiff. “My life was fairly boring before my current gig.”
Something tells me that’s not the whole truth, hell all of it might be a lie.
“Right, well where are you staying now? I think CO mentioned something about a facility.”
Please tell me it’s not a mental health facility like the psych ward, though based on her behavior and the shit listed off in her chart it very well could be the looney bin.
“We have her in a local angermangement facility,” Lucia states.
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up. Her cutting glare shuts me up quick.
“Besides the food the place is fucking terrible.” Her elbow slams on the table and we all reach of our drinks to keep them steady. She holds up a single finger. “Reason number one, no alcohol. Two,” she flicks up a second finger. “Daily group therapy where I have to listen to these idiotic people drone on and on about how they got their feelings hurt.” She flicks up a third finger. “And three, no guns allowed. I feel fucking naked.”
My dick stiffens at that word leaving her full lips. I stifle a groan and shift in the seat. I want to blame it on the fact it’s been so long since I’ve been with a woman that Elliot saying the word naked gets me hard, but that’s only half the truth. The other half is that she’s fucking beautiful and some fucked up part of me is turned the hell on by her crazy ass. My dominant side, the one that helps me lead a team of alpha males into battle, is thrumming to see if she’s just as crazy in bed and to see how long it will take for her to submit.
Full in all the right places that makes a woman beautiful is just the start of what prevents me from looking away. It’s clear she doesn’t have a lick of makeup on and Elliot is still the most beautiful woman in the room. I’ve caught several men checking her out so I know it’s not just me who sees it. Light green eyes pop with her tan skin accentuated by long black lashes. Soft cheeks that make you want to cup and drag her face to your own. And then there’s her long thin neck that’s just begging me to wrap a hand around while I-
A punch to the bicep snaps me out of the short porno reel. Lift my lip in a snarl I hit G back.
“What the fuck was that for?”
He only smirks and turns back to Lucia. “So what were you saying about Elliot moving in with Flakes.”
Oh hell no.
“What the hell?” I snap.
“Knew you weren’t listening. CO Williams just sent me a message stating the operation is a go, but with one more condition. That Elliot here not go back to the facility, which means I need to find a place for her to live.”
“So call a damn real estate agent.” Wincing I give the bored looking Elliot an apologetic shrug. “Sorry nothing against you.”
“None taken. Though it could’ve been fun.” She waggles her brow brows suggestively. “We could always explore the lovers angle of you and the greek god. I’d watch.”
“What?” I sputter completely out of words.
“Ewe,” I hear Lucia say around a gagging sound.
“Not fucking happening Smith.”
I can’t even look at my friend after that comment. Hell it might be a good week before we can even spar after that unpleasant image is seeded into our brains.
“So that’s a no then.” She shrugs a bare shoulder and picks up her beer bottle. “Pity.” A mischievous smirk is quickly hidden behind the lip of the brown bottle. “But I am on board with not going back. I can find a place on my own.”
Lucia shakes her head. “Sorry Elliot but there’s no way in hell my superiors will okay you living on your own after…. Well everything you’ve pulled your entire life.” Elliot shrugs accepting Lucia’s statement. “And you’re not staying with us,” she says pointing between herself and G. “Which leaves us with Tony or, maybe one of the other guys wouldn’t mind a bunk mate for a few days.”
I snap my attention to the grinning she devil. Lucia know’s what she’s doing. Hell knowing her witchy ways she knows I’ve had a hard on for Elliot since the moment she walked into the office.
“I know what you’re doing,” I grumble.
“Whatever do you mean Anthony?” Lucia bats her lashes my way before sneaking a knowing look to G. “Plus it would be good for you two.”
“What do you mean?” Elliot asks mindlessly peeling and shredding the beer label as her gaze slides around the room something I’ve noticed she does every other minute. It’s odd, having someone who’s as aware of their surroundings as I am. If I’m being honest it’s a relief. Sure G is here too and is also monitoring everything going on around us, but knowing there’s another set of trained eyes assessing the crowd offers a bit of relief from the burden of always being in control.
“Get comfortable around each other, become a team. We don’t have long to prepare you for the operation, so spending more time together between now and the go date can only benefit everyone in the long run.”
“Sounds legit,” Elliot says after a minute. Her sage green eyes meet mine. “I’m game, and I promise not to listen to my porn too loud.”
The swig of water I just took flows down the wrong pipe. My eyes go wide as I burst into a coughing fit to not drown. How ironic would that be for a SEAL. As if Elliot can sense the irony of it all too she shoots me a half smile.
What the hell have I gotten myself into?
**
“Sorry about the AC being broken,” I say for the third time. It’s been on the to do list for a while but mustering up the energy and drive to sita t the mechanic for an afternoon hasn’t been high on the agenda.
“I’m not some damn delicate flow that will wilt in the heat. It’s fine, I appreciate the ride.”
Elbow on the door I rub a hand over my mouth. The hot wind scorches across my dry skin. The gallons of water I drank at the bar seem to have been absorbed immediately, my body apparently desperate for it after months of mostly alcohol and fast food ingested day after day.
Trees and houses whip past as I haul down the highway toward the facility where Elliot’s stayed the last few months. The silence is comfortable. Elliot has her head back against the worn headrest, eyes closed with her face turned into the whipping wind blasting into the cab.
“Guess I’m not used to that answer,” I admit after repeating her wilting flower comment.
“Then you haven’t been hanging around the right women.”
“You might be right about that.”
“I know I am.” Sitting up straight in the seat she twists and rests a jean clad thigh on the bench seat. The bare skin beneath pushes against the strips of strings along her knee. “You married?”
My grip on the steering wheel tightens. “Not any more.”
“Hum,” she hums. “Her fault or yours?”
“I want to say both but that would be a lie. It was me, I’m an asshole in every sense of the word.”
Her head cocks to the side. “You spill shit through your hole?”
The unexpected bark of a laugh has me leaning forward pulling at the tight skin along my back. Holding back a wince I settled back agains the seat and fight to relax. “The shit you say is….”
“Absurd? Funny? Out of no where?”
“Distracting.”
A slow smile grows bunching her soft cheeks until her eyes squint. “I’ll take that all day every day. With what all we know and see a bit of a distraction is a slice of bliss don’t you think.”
“Agreed. And you’re welcome, for the ride that is. The ex got most of, well everything, which is why I’m driving this hunk of junk.” Having to sell my other truck was a slap to the ballsack, but at least it’s all done and the behind me. Now we can both move on. Free to live our lives the way we want, when we want, and with who we want.
“It gets you where you need to go, seems to me you have it better than a lot. Plus there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the fresh air. I’ve missed it.”
I cut a confused glance out of the corner of my eye before refocusing on the road. The headlights cut through the dark highlighting the bright yellow lines dividing the two lane road.
“What do you mean miss it?”
“I’m not allowed a lot of freedoms,” she admits. “Because of my history, escape attempts but also the agency has always assumed Rico might come after me. It’s why when Lucia told me about him selling the flash drive I wasn’t surprised. I figure it’s more about me than it is selling the information.”
“Because you have the password for the software?”
She lifts a single bare shoulder. The movement draws my attention to how much smaller she is in every way than me. If you saw her on the street you wouldn’t have the faintest clue the power housed in the tiny frame.
“Because I almost had him and since I didn’t die like he planned he wants to finish it.”
“Why? Why risk all this just to kill you? Did you slice off his dick or something?” I wouldn’t put it past her first off and second that would drive me to seek out a CIA Agent at any cost.
Elliot’s loud laugh echoes in the cab even above the roaring wind. “I would do that, but no. For Rico he’s an egotistical narssisitic asshole. I got close, too close his precious ego can’t take the fact I almost had him and lived.” Her small hand reaches up and wraps around her neck. “I almost didn’t. If it weren’t for someone dragging me out of that house,” she shakes her head. “He held me in a room, let his minions beat the shit out of me ensuring I wasn’t a threat-or so they thought-put a bullet in my thigh with every intention to torture me to death for the audacity of almost taking him down. The fact I escaped, killed his men and lived I have no doubt it eats at him every damn day.” Her smile turns sharp. “And that makes me beyond happy.”
“You’re crazy as shit you know that right?”
“Someone’s crazy is another normal. But you and I, what we do and who we are is not normal. So you calling me crazy is a little ridiculous. You throw yourself into situations ninety nine percent of the world would piss themselves even thinking about. You push yourself to the limit every day to make sure you’re the best in every situation. Bloodlust for our enemies thrums through your veins fed by the arrogance of knowing you can kill a human with a single move. Me, crazy? Take a look in the mirror seaman.”
The truck swerves off the road when I whip my face her way, jaw slack. “What the hell did you call me?”
“Seaman.”
“I’m a Senior fucking officer not a-”
“Don’t take offense, I just like saying the word. But now that I know it bothers you so much….” Her brown brows jump along her forehead. “It’s the next right Seaman.”
Grumbling under my breath while forcing a smile down I turn the wheel with the heel of my hand. “Anything else I should know about you besides being annoying as shit.”
“Well let’s see here. You already know I like explosives, it’s kind of my thing. Give me almost any type of cleaning supplies and I can whip you up a bomb of some kind, depending the ingredient it can range from a small boom that can take out a wall for an escape route to a big one that will take down a midsize building.”
“Holy hell,” I say under my breath.
“Hot right?” When I don’t respond she shakes her head and throws an arm out the window. Weaving her hand through the pressing wind she moves like there’s actual music coming out of the busted radio. “Get it. Explosives. Hot. Because fire?”
“Right.” What I’m not going to say is it’s also hot hot, as in sexy as hell. Who knew her level of badassery would be a fucking turn on.
“I can drive anything. From Tanks to helicopters, but planes are trickier. I can land one, but not really fly it well.”
“So you can crash it.”
“Basically.”
“Anything-”
“Trained on every weapon available including rocket launchers which are fun as hell to play with. All forms of martial arts and hand to hand combat. I wanted to pick up some MMA fights as a side gig but my superiors thought it would blow my cover. I think it was more of a liability thing.”
I laugh. “How old are you?” That smile drops and a cold mask slips over her face. The warmth in her eyes vanishes. I stiffen in my seat. “Holy fuck you don’t have to answer if-”
“Not that,” she says sitting up straighter in the seat. Her eyes narrow into slits. “Do you see that?” Reaching out she points toward a fading billow of dust caught in my headlights. “Odd for this time of night. Security wouldn’t be this far away from the perimeter and it looks like someone turned off the road and drove through the dirt.”
My foot eases off the gas soon we’re creeping slowly up the slight incline toward the dust cloud. Elliot hops out of the truck before it comes to a complete stop. With a curse I slam on the break and shove the gear shift into Park. The door groans when I shove it open. Rounding the hood I find Elliot squatting low studying the dirt. Mimicking her my knees pop as I squat beside her.
“This isn’t anywhere near the security ATVs normal path” Eyeing the tracks she places a thumb in the tread impressions. “I don’t know what kind of all terrain tire makes this kind of track.”
Bending closer I use my phone’s flashlight to highlight the various ridges. “Based on the width between the tracks I’m going with a dirt bike, dirt bikes. Two for sure.” Twisting on the balls of my feet I face Elliot. “You said security uses ATV’s.”
She nods. A spark lights in the dark eyes and a slow smile pulls up the corners of her lips.
“Oh what if Rico found me.” Popping up to stand she drags me up right with her. “We need to get to the facility now and sneak me back in. That way we can meet them head on.”
“What?” I question cautiously. “We don’t know that it’s Rico’s men. What if it’s just a terrible driver?” The energy thrumming off her tells me whatever plan she’s concocting in the mind of hers will happen whether I’m on board or not. “Fine,” I say with a resigned sigh. “Get in the truck and tell me along the way.”
She lets out an excited squeak and throws her arms around my neck. Instinctively I wrap an arm around her waist keeping her sealed against me.
“This is going to be so much fun.” Releasing me she jogs back to the truck. At the passenger door she turns and impatiently waves a hand between me and the open driver side door. “Come on or we’ll miss our window to lay a trap.”
For the first time in months electric excitement that only the thrill of a fight can cause flows zips through my veins. After shooting off a text to Lucia to cover both Elliot and I’s asses I stride around the truck.
Maybe Elliot was right earlier and I’m as crazy as her because the thrill of what’s to come isn’t normal. Good thing I never said I was, and if normal isn’t this right here then fuck normal. I’ll take crazy over boring anyway.
#
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Chapter 5
Elliot
#
Before I can storm into the building a hand engulfs my shoulder and hauls me backward.
“Better plan.” Pointing to the perimeter he tugs me along with him as he hunches low staying below the rows of cars in the full parking lot. “Let’s make sure it’s Rico’s men before we break through the front doors ready for a fight.” He looks around the area and runs a hand over his face. “Okay, let’s start with checking the perimeter. You know the security routes and schedule from previous recon, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“I’m willing to guess if Salazar is behind this the fools trying to get to you also monitored the facility for a while which means they know every gap and weakness too. If you were trying to break into the facility without alerting anyone where would you strike? Where’s the weakness?”
Like she’s scanning her brain for the information her eyes flick between my own.
“Southeast corner, there’s a gap in the overlap from the guard routes.” Before I can say anything more Tony changes directions and quickens his steps. “We’re going Southeast?”
He shoots me a look over his shoulder. “Seriously?”
“Okay so that’s my one tinny tiny flaw. I’m more of a turn right by the McDonalds and a left at the dead body type directions girl.”
