Mission, page 7
Did the guys assume he was hooking up with Izzy? Of course, they did. And he thought he had hidden his attraction to Izzy from his team.
Every lustful thought vanished. Reality was an ugly wake-up call.
“Izzy, wake up.”
The gorgeous naked woman didn’t stir.
He brushed her hair away from her face. “Hey, sleepyhead,”
Definitely not a morning person, Izzy opened one eye.
“We’ve got to get going.”
When her eyes flew open, searching his face, he was close enough to see striations of gold in her green irises like rays of sunlight.
“We overslept.” He soothed her hair, not wanting to stop touching her before she woke fully and the night was officially over.
Sten watched her facial expressions transition from coming awake to the realization that she was naked on top of him.
A rosy flush crossed her cheeks before moving down her neck, and he knew from absorbing every detail of her arousal that her entire pale body would soon be the same pink as a delicate flower petal.
She jerked away from him, her knee landing close to emasculating his Johnson. “Hey, tiger. Be careful.”
He lifted her off his chest and rolled off the bed, not sure of what to say as she pulled the sheet tight around her neck and scooted to sit stiffly against the headboard. Standing naked in front of her, sporting morning wood, wasn’t exactly conducive to the morning-after conversation.
He had some very awkward morning-afters—the usual disconnecting after getting hot and sweaty—“See you around” or “I’ll call you” when both parties knew it would never happen. Instead, this caring woman that he spent the night having crazy monkey sex with was his responsibility in the light of day.
What was he thinking? He wasn’t thinking. He just wanted to reassure her, to help her get over feeling rejected. He understood how rejection undermined confidence. Believing Jessica was his true love, his soulmate, in college, he was devastated when he discovered that the woman he thought he was going to marry had been banging a football teammate. Commiserating with Izzy’s pain, he wanted to make her feel better. He had made them both feel a hell of a lot better.
Her face the crimson color of Rudolph’s nose, her hands clenched on the sheet, her eyes focused on the end of the bed—all made it clear that Izzy Benson was excruciatingly embarrassed over her loss of inhibition. Last night, Izzy took a blinding risk to open herself up—unlike him who never took any risks with his feelings. He kept safe. Real safe.
By the way her face flamed bright red when she caught a quick glance of his junk, she wasn’t into a repeat on her knees this morning. This was a new experience for him, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about Izzy’s withdrawal. Women were always angling for a repeat, begging him to come back to bed.
“Thank you…” She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I…”
Thank you? That was downright pitiful. Did she want to shake hands too? If they had time, he would kiss away every inch of embarrassed pink and convince her that she was great, and he could be trusted. Not wanting to linger and make her more uncomfortable, he pointed to the bathroom. “I’m going to jump in the shower. We need to head out.”
He wasn’t sure if he heard her sigh of relief or just imagined it.
“I’ll put the coffee on.”
Sten nodded and headed to the shower, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Should he have reassured her that last night was great and how much he enjoyed her shy but wild touches? But if he confessed that one night wasn’t enough for him, where would that leave them? They both had a job to do. And if he touched her, he knew they’d never make their flight.
Sten rushed down the stairs, coffee in hand. Izzy wasn’t in the kitchen but had left him a cup of coffee on the kitchen table.
He was dreading the bullshit coming from the crew. Most of the men had crashed when Sten went to the penthouse, but his very late morning appearance was going to cause a lot of ribbing. God, he hoped Reeves wasn’t going to challenge him. Not that he blamed the dude for wanting to kick his ass for messing with Izzy, who was practically a younger sister.
Entering the sitrep room, all conversation stopped as his brothers and the rest of the crew turned and stared at him. Thank God, Reeves wasn’t in the room. Never one to miss a chance to hassle his twin, Lars sauntered over, partially from his wounded leg but also as part of his plan to build the tension before he delivered the killing barb.
“We don’t have time for any bullshit.” Sten squared off with his twin.
Lars paused, giving the familiar challenging grin. “Really? When don’t we have time for our baby brother, Nick? Help me out here.”
Sten, despite being the youngest brother, was in command of this mission. Steeling his spine into his military power stance with arms crossed over his chest, legs spread apart, he confronted his brothers. “If you two bozos want to go to Las Vegas, shut the fuck up and get everything loaded in the SUVs.”
Receiving General Harkness’s approval to include his brothers as backup didn’t present any difficulty since their kick-ass reputations preceded them and Richard Dean wanted the Jenkins brothers. And what Richard Dean wanted, he got.
Since learning Charles Worthy was Izzy’s ex, Sten insisted on the best protection for Izzy. Nick was pleased to be back on a military-related mission, still adjusting to his medical discharge from service. Taking Lars to Las Vegas might be a lapse in judgement, knowing that Danni, the woman who had his twin spinning out, would be there with her newest fling. But Sten couldn’t say no to Lars when he was suffering any more than he could have to Izzy.
In the shower, he’d berated himself for not walking away from Izzy. He would never walk away from a team member who was struggling, especially before a critical mission. But his reasoning could only take him so far since helping a teammate never involved getting naked.
Last night was done. Sten blew out a breath. No good came from looking over your shoulder when you had to be facing forward to fend off North Korean and Russian enemies.
Sten grabbed Lars by the arm as his twin moved past him. “And leave Izzy alone. She is an asset. Only an asset. She means nothing to me. Got it?”
Lars nodded his head toward the door and said under his breath, “Nice work, jackass.”
Sten turned to find Izzy standing in the doorway. Her long hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she was in her black coat, jeans, and boots, her backpack on her shoulder.
Trying to protect Izzy from Lars’s rude jokes, Sten blew it. He hated seeing the way Izzy’s pasted-on smile faded at the corners and her bright eyes dimmed with his loud declaration. This wasn’t the time to explain to Izzy in front of the team. They had to get to Las Vegas.
Nick raised one eyebrow in his usual condescension toward his younger brothers. “I have Jeff and Drew in the front car with Reeves, with Lars, Izzy, you, and me in the second car. After last night, do you want to change it out?”
“No.” Sten didn’t respond to the taunt by Nick. This wasn’t about last night. This was Izzy’s safety. Since Izzy was the high-value asset, it made total sense to have the Tier One operators guarding her.
“No change. Izzy is under our protection. Escort her to the garage. I’ve got to grab my go bag. I’ll meet you out there.”
Reminding himself of what was at stake, he hardened himself and ignored Izzy in the doorway, shifting her weight between her feet, her face flushed, with her upper teeth biting on her lower lip.
“Nick will take you to the garage. I’ll be out in five.”
“Sure.” She adjusted the straps on her backpack, never meeting his eyes.
He was a trained spec operator. He could separate sex from his job.
Sure. And he had a bridge for sale.
11
Sten threw his go bag in the back of the SUV and slammed the hatch before climbing into the back seat. Izzy hugged the SUV door with her backpack on the seat, keeping the farthest distance between them. With everyone on comms and his brothers in the front seat, this wasn’t the time to have a discussion. Hopefully when they were on the plane, they’d have enough privacy to talk about last night as well as his comment to Lars.
Nick drove the SUV out of the underground garage where the security company kept all the vehicles necessary for the Deans’ protection, including a fleet of bullet-proof SUVs. Sten scanned the traffic on Mercer Street, their route to Boeing Field. Despite factoring in every detail for the trip to Dean’s private jet, Sten was alert for any threat—fully aware that both Dean sisters had previously been attacked in route.
The risk was minimal that Izzy’s dark net search for interested buyers had put her in the crosshairs yet. Once she connected with the buyers, she’d have North Korean and Russian bull’s-eyes plastered on her back. And Worthy remained in the equation. After last night with Izzy, Sten hoped Worthy would make a move against her, giving Sten an excuse to take the bastard down. The creep had hurt Izzy deeply, and Sten planned to return the hurt.
Lars, sitting shotgun with his head swiveling back and forth, suddenly shouted, “Abort. Abort. Drone overhead.”
Nick did a fast U-turn in the busy five-lane main throughway, barely missing a smart car, and sped the three blocks to the garage. With the sudden maneuver, Izzy was thrown sideways against her backpack, despite being secured by her seatbelt.
Her hands white-knuckled the bar. “There’s a drone following us?”
“Can’t be certain it’s following us or a damn Amazon techie trying out his latest toy. But until we do know, we’re heading underground to be out of sight and range.” Sten didn’t need to remind Izzy, a drone expert, of the deadly threat of armed drones.
Swerving into a parking spot, Nick slammed on the brakes, throwing everyone forward. “I’m getting the DD to blast the fucker out of the sky from the roof. I’ve been waiting to use the motherlode.”
Dean owned a Drone Defender? Sten shouldn’t be surprised after growing up around Richard Dean and his wealth and wide reach. “How does Dean have a Drone Defender? They’re only approved for military and select law enforcement use.”
“He has two—in the closet in the sitrep room. After the abductions of Jordan and Sophie, Dean demanded upgrades on everything and everyone. He wants to control the skies and have the capacity to take down any hostile drone aimed at his daughters.”
Reeves jumped out of the second SUV as it pulled into the garage. “I need to get upstairs and see if I can track it.”
Izzy yelled as she came around the front of the vehicle. “I can help.” She ran after Reeves who was running at a fast clip to the elevator. “We should be able to hack into the keyhole.”
“We have to assume it’s following us and is still in the vicinity.” Sten spoke to Drew and Jeff who stood alert, awaiting orders. “Drew, call our pilot to tell him that we’re delayed and will update our status as we can.”
Lars, slow to get out of the car, lowered himself gingerly to the ground. “What’s the plan?”
“Did you get a look at the drone?” Sten asked.
“Large quadcopter, definitely with a camera. I didn’t see a payload, but it hovered directly over our vehicle so my view was obstructed.”
“Once Nick gets on the roof with the DD—” Sten shook his head. “I still can’t believe Dean has two DDs. We’ll use a diversionary tactic. Drew and Jeff, you’ll exit the garage at timed intervals to see if the drone is still in the air, giving Nick a shot at taking it down.”
Nick spoke through his mic. “I’ve got the DD and am heading to the roof. Since the drone battery can’t last too long, I’d say get the SUVs going soon.”
Sten directed Drew and Jeff. “If they’re following us, let’s mess with them. We want the drone close to the tower to give Nick a shot, so you’ll leave a minute apart. Nick, let us know when you’re in position.”
Sten looked at his brother. “Lars, get a couple of men to the street to see if they can locate who’s remotely controlling it.”
“Already on it. Tom and Fred have headed out on foot. If the bastard is close by, they’ll find him.”
Nick’s voice echoed loudly in the mic. “I’m in position but no sighting.”
“Copy.” Sten gave the hand signal for Drew and Jeff to take off.
Once the men departed, Sten and Lars headed to the roof. “Reeves, sitrep. You get into the keyhole?”
“Are you crazy? Despite Izzy’s and my extraordinary skills, we’re hacking into a military spy satellite. It takes more than a minute to accomplish. The security is crazy ass tight.”
“Let me know when you’re in.”
Lars grinned at Sten as they rode the elevator. Sten would have run up the stairs if Lars had been able. Not that it was mission critical for Sten to be on the roof; Nick could handle the job. “You’re pissing everyone off this morning. Have a rough night? Have trouble with the…” Lars pointed to his crotch.
Sten didn’t have time for his brother’s wiseass comments. “I’m trying to figure out how anyone knew of our plans to leave for the airport with Izzy. And why now and not in Las Vegas if the Russians or North Koreans are on to us?”
Lars’s grin faded. “Not a leak on our side. We’re tight.”
Sten didn’t share his dark suspicions, but Izzy was the only unknown factor in the mission. Everyone else was vetted and squeaky clean. His uncle and Finn hired top-notch men.
“Maybe the North Koreans got a hit from her work on the dark web?”
Despite wanting to kick Lars’s ass on certain days, his twin was solid, giving Izzy a way out. “Nah, she and Reeves have been scrupulous in hiding their identities by bouncing on servers all over the globe. They know what’s at risk.”
“You think she contacted the ex?”
“Nothing else makes sense. How else would Worthy have found her? She’s been hidden in an electronic safe house for five days.”
“Someone could have followed you when you brought her to headquarters.’
“No one followed us. I made damn sure I didn’t have a tail.”
When Lars rubbed his chin while thinking, Sten felt as if he were watching himself in a mirror. “Got yourself into a bit of a spot, bro. What are you thinking?”
“What I’m thinking is that Izzy Benson hasn’t been straight with me from day one.” Despite brotherly bonds, the twins never shared the intimate details on their sex lives. There was only so much closeness you could have with a twin, even one who looked like you, talked like you, and knew what you were thinking as soon as you were thinking it. No way was he telling Lars that he might have been outplayed last night.
God, she was good feigning Miss Goody-two-shoes. Was she using her relationship with Reeves to gain access to Dean’s software? He should have known by the way she went wild to have him that she wasn’t so innocent. But he let Reeves’s opinion of Izzy’s naivety sway him.
“Whoa there, cowboy.” Lars grabbed Sten’s arm. “I don’t like that look of another dumb-ass Jenkins bullhead. Izzy Benson is no player. I’ll swear on all my wide experience with women. You need to give her a chance to come clean before you go all Rambo on her. You’re not thinking straight. You’re letting your experience with Jessica screw with your head.”
“Shit. Jessica is ancient history. And my head is exactly where it should be. Izzy is an asset. Like I said, nothing more. And if she’s playing games with her ex, I’m scrubbing her from the mission. My call.”
“God, you’re such a stubborn ass. I don’t know where you get that from. Give her a chance to explain before you judge and prosecute her.”
“Are you forgetting that she didn’t come clean that Worthy was her boyfriend? Nah, my gut says this drone is about Izzy’s connection to Worthy. He wants to scare her into returning to him—or at least intimidate her so she’s not using her talents on somebody else’s work.”
“You sure it’s your gut and not another body part?” Lars waggled his eyebrows.
God, he hated that Lars knew exactly what the problem was—Sten let last night and the closeness to Izzy cloud his judgment about his mission. He would never admit it, but he was jealous and confused as to why Izzy would connect with Worthy. It pissed him off that despite the evidence he still wanted to believe last night was real and that Izzy Benson was the sweet innocent lover. He definitely needed to get his head screwed on right to command this mission.
12
After hacking into the military satellite, Reeves, next to Izzy, watched the drone’s blurry camera feed follow the SUVs as they departed from the garage. The drone feed moving between both SUVs suddenly went dark. Nick must have hit the drone with the DD, interrupting the drone’s remote-control signal and GPS.
“Nailed it.” Reeves jumped from his chair and high-fived Izzy.
She smiled, pretending the drone’s demise was exciting. Now that she couldn’t focus on getting into the satellite, she had nowhere to hide the anxiety and fear pounding like a sledgehammer through her body. There was nothing subtle about sending a drone to find her, and Charles was the master of subtle—maybe the drone wasn’t for her. And maybe there were tooth fairies and Hogwarts existed. Most likely, Charles was growing desperate because he found her hidden code preventing him from making the sale. Her heart pounded against her chest in a rapid and unrestrained tempo.
“Fast work getting us into the keyhole.” Reeves grinned down at her. “Did I tell you how much I hate that you’re a better hacker than me?”
It was an ongoing joke. Reeves loved to tease her, but he had told her repeatedly over the years how impressed and proud he was of her abilities. She never had any family member who understood or appreciated her talent. She wasn’t exactly estranged from her family, but she rarely saw them. It was probably why she had been a pushover for Charles with his over-the-top compliments and fascination in her work. What a needy fool she had been.
Sten, followed by Lars and Nick, came into the FOB—forward operating base—or sitrep room. Nick held the drone above his head like a trophy. Over the days, Izzy had been catching onto the Jenkins’ military lingo. Reeves rushed to look at the drone. Izzy slowly trailed behind.
Every lustful thought vanished. Reality was an ugly wake-up call.
“Izzy, wake up.”
The gorgeous naked woman didn’t stir.
He brushed her hair away from her face. “Hey, sleepyhead,”
Definitely not a morning person, Izzy opened one eye.
“We’ve got to get going.”
When her eyes flew open, searching his face, he was close enough to see striations of gold in her green irises like rays of sunlight.
“We overslept.” He soothed her hair, not wanting to stop touching her before she woke fully and the night was officially over.
Sten watched her facial expressions transition from coming awake to the realization that she was naked on top of him.
A rosy flush crossed her cheeks before moving down her neck, and he knew from absorbing every detail of her arousal that her entire pale body would soon be the same pink as a delicate flower petal.
She jerked away from him, her knee landing close to emasculating his Johnson. “Hey, tiger. Be careful.”
He lifted her off his chest and rolled off the bed, not sure of what to say as she pulled the sheet tight around her neck and scooted to sit stiffly against the headboard. Standing naked in front of her, sporting morning wood, wasn’t exactly conducive to the morning-after conversation.
He had some very awkward morning-afters—the usual disconnecting after getting hot and sweaty—“See you around” or “I’ll call you” when both parties knew it would never happen. Instead, this caring woman that he spent the night having crazy monkey sex with was his responsibility in the light of day.
What was he thinking? He wasn’t thinking. He just wanted to reassure her, to help her get over feeling rejected. He understood how rejection undermined confidence. Believing Jessica was his true love, his soulmate, in college, he was devastated when he discovered that the woman he thought he was going to marry had been banging a football teammate. Commiserating with Izzy’s pain, he wanted to make her feel better. He had made them both feel a hell of a lot better.
Her face the crimson color of Rudolph’s nose, her hands clenched on the sheet, her eyes focused on the end of the bed—all made it clear that Izzy Benson was excruciatingly embarrassed over her loss of inhibition. Last night, Izzy took a blinding risk to open herself up—unlike him who never took any risks with his feelings. He kept safe. Real safe.
By the way her face flamed bright red when she caught a quick glance of his junk, she wasn’t into a repeat on her knees this morning. This was a new experience for him, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about Izzy’s withdrawal. Women were always angling for a repeat, begging him to come back to bed.
“Thank you…” She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I…”
Thank you? That was downright pitiful. Did she want to shake hands too? If they had time, he would kiss away every inch of embarrassed pink and convince her that she was great, and he could be trusted. Not wanting to linger and make her more uncomfortable, he pointed to the bathroom. “I’m going to jump in the shower. We need to head out.”
He wasn’t sure if he heard her sigh of relief or just imagined it.
“I’ll put the coffee on.”
Sten nodded and headed to the shower, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Should he have reassured her that last night was great and how much he enjoyed her shy but wild touches? But if he confessed that one night wasn’t enough for him, where would that leave them? They both had a job to do. And if he touched her, he knew they’d never make their flight.
Sten rushed down the stairs, coffee in hand. Izzy wasn’t in the kitchen but had left him a cup of coffee on the kitchen table.
He was dreading the bullshit coming from the crew. Most of the men had crashed when Sten went to the penthouse, but his very late morning appearance was going to cause a lot of ribbing. God, he hoped Reeves wasn’t going to challenge him. Not that he blamed the dude for wanting to kick his ass for messing with Izzy, who was practically a younger sister.
Entering the sitrep room, all conversation stopped as his brothers and the rest of the crew turned and stared at him. Thank God, Reeves wasn’t in the room. Never one to miss a chance to hassle his twin, Lars sauntered over, partially from his wounded leg but also as part of his plan to build the tension before he delivered the killing barb.
“We don’t have time for any bullshit.” Sten squared off with his twin.
Lars paused, giving the familiar challenging grin. “Really? When don’t we have time for our baby brother, Nick? Help me out here.”
Sten, despite being the youngest brother, was in command of this mission. Steeling his spine into his military power stance with arms crossed over his chest, legs spread apart, he confronted his brothers. “If you two bozos want to go to Las Vegas, shut the fuck up and get everything loaded in the SUVs.”
Receiving General Harkness’s approval to include his brothers as backup didn’t present any difficulty since their kick-ass reputations preceded them and Richard Dean wanted the Jenkins brothers. And what Richard Dean wanted, he got.
Since learning Charles Worthy was Izzy’s ex, Sten insisted on the best protection for Izzy. Nick was pleased to be back on a military-related mission, still adjusting to his medical discharge from service. Taking Lars to Las Vegas might be a lapse in judgement, knowing that Danni, the woman who had his twin spinning out, would be there with her newest fling. But Sten couldn’t say no to Lars when he was suffering any more than he could have to Izzy.
In the shower, he’d berated himself for not walking away from Izzy. He would never walk away from a team member who was struggling, especially before a critical mission. But his reasoning could only take him so far since helping a teammate never involved getting naked.
Last night was done. Sten blew out a breath. No good came from looking over your shoulder when you had to be facing forward to fend off North Korean and Russian enemies.
Sten grabbed Lars by the arm as his twin moved past him. “And leave Izzy alone. She is an asset. Only an asset. She means nothing to me. Got it?”
Lars nodded his head toward the door and said under his breath, “Nice work, jackass.”
Sten turned to find Izzy standing in the doorway. Her long hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she was in her black coat, jeans, and boots, her backpack on her shoulder.
Trying to protect Izzy from Lars’s rude jokes, Sten blew it. He hated seeing the way Izzy’s pasted-on smile faded at the corners and her bright eyes dimmed with his loud declaration. This wasn’t the time to explain to Izzy in front of the team. They had to get to Las Vegas.
Nick raised one eyebrow in his usual condescension toward his younger brothers. “I have Jeff and Drew in the front car with Reeves, with Lars, Izzy, you, and me in the second car. After last night, do you want to change it out?”
“No.” Sten didn’t respond to the taunt by Nick. This wasn’t about last night. This was Izzy’s safety. Since Izzy was the high-value asset, it made total sense to have the Tier One operators guarding her.
“No change. Izzy is under our protection. Escort her to the garage. I’ve got to grab my go bag. I’ll meet you out there.”
Reminding himself of what was at stake, he hardened himself and ignored Izzy in the doorway, shifting her weight between her feet, her face flushed, with her upper teeth biting on her lower lip.
“Nick will take you to the garage. I’ll be out in five.”
“Sure.” She adjusted the straps on her backpack, never meeting his eyes.
He was a trained spec operator. He could separate sex from his job.
Sure. And he had a bridge for sale.
11
Sten threw his go bag in the back of the SUV and slammed the hatch before climbing into the back seat. Izzy hugged the SUV door with her backpack on the seat, keeping the farthest distance between them. With everyone on comms and his brothers in the front seat, this wasn’t the time to have a discussion. Hopefully when they were on the plane, they’d have enough privacy to talk about last night as well as his comment to Lars.
Nick drove the SUV out of the underground garage where the security company kept all the vehicles necessary for the Deans’ protection, including a fleet of bullet-proof SUVs. Sten scanned the traffic on Mercer Street, their route to Boeing Field. Despite factoring in every detail for the trip to Dean’s private jet, Sten was alert for any threat—fully aware that both Dean sisters had previously been attacked in route.
The risk was minimal that Izzy’s dark net search for interested buyers had put her in the crosshairs yet. Once she connected with the buyers, she’d have North Korean and Russian bull’s-eyes plastered on her back. And Worthy remained in the equation. After last night with Izzy, Sten hoped Worthy would make a move against her, giving Sten an excuse to take the bastard down. The creep had hurt Izzy deeply, and Sten planned to return the hurt.
Lars, sitting shotgun with his head swiveling back and forth, suddenly shouted, “Abort. Abort. Drone overhead.”
Nick did a fast U-turn in the busy five-lane main throughway, barely missing a smart car, and sped the three blocks to the garage. With the sudden maneuver, Izzy was thrown sideways against her backpack, despite being secured by her seatbelt.
Her hands white-knuckled the bar. “There’s a drone following us?”
“Can’t be certain it’s following us or a damn Amazon techie trying out his latest toy. But until we do know, we’re heading underground to be out of sight and range.” Sten didn’t need to remind Izzy, a drone expert, of the deadly threat of armed drones.
Swerving into a parking spot, Nick slammed on the brakes, throwing everyone forward. “I’m getting the DD to blast the fucker out of the sky from the roof. I’ve been waiting to use the motherlode.”
Dean owned a Drone Defender? Sten shouldn’t be surprised after growing up around Richard Dean and his wealth and wide reach. “How does Dean have a Drone Defender? They’re only approved for military and select law enforcement use.”
“He has two—in the closet in the sitrep room. After the abductions of Jordan and Sophie, Dean demanded upgrades on everything and everyone. He wants to control the skies and have the capacity to take down any hostile drone aimed at his daughters.”
Reeves jumped out of the second SUV as it pulled into the garage. “I need to get upstairs and see if I can track it.”
Izzy yelled as she came around the front of the vehicle. “I can help.” She ran after Reeves who was running at a fast clip to the elevator. “We should be able to hack into the keyhole.”
“We have to assume it’s following us and is still in the vicinity.” Sten spoke to Drew and Jeff who stood alert, awaiting orders. “Drew, call our pilot to tell him that we’re delayed and will update our status as we can.”
Lars, slow to get out of the car, lowered himself gingerly to the ground. “What’s the plan?”
“Did you get a look at the drone?” Sten asked.
“Large quadcopter, definitely with a camera. I didn’t see a payload, but it hovered directly over our vehicle so my view was obstructed.”
“Once Nick gets on the roof with the DD—” Sten shook his head. “I still can’t believe Dean has two DDs. We’ll use a diversionary tactic. Drew and Jeff, you’ll exit the garage at timed intervals to see if the drone is still in the air, giving Nick a shot at taking it down.”
Nick spoke through his mic. “I’ve got the DD and am heading to the roof. Since the drone battery can’t last too long, I’d say get the SUVs going soon.”
Sten directed Drew and Jeff. “If they’re following us, let’s mess with them. We want the drone close to the tower to give Nick a shot, so you’ll leave a minute apart. Nick, let us know when you’re in position.”
Sten looked at his brother. “Lars, get a couple of men to the street to see if they can locate who’s remotely controlling it.”
“Already on it. Tom and Fred have headed out on foot. If the bastard is close by, they’ll find him.”
Nick’s voice echoed loudly in the mic. “I’m in position but no sighting.”
“Copy.” Sten gave the hand signal for Drew and Jeff to take off.
Once the men departed, Sten and Lars headed to the roof. “Reeves, sitrep. You get into the keyhole?”
“Are you crazy? Despite Izzy’s and my extraordinary skills, we’re hacking into a military spy satellite. It takes more than a minute to accomplish. The security is crazy ass tight.”
“Let me know when you’re in.”
Lars grinned at Sten as they rode the elevator. Sten would have run up the stairs if Lars had been able. Not that it was mission critical for Sten to be on the roof; Nick could handle the job. “You’re pissing everyone off this morning. Have a rough night? Have trouble with the…” Lars pointed to his crotch.
Sten didn’t have time for his brother’s wiseass comments. “I’m trying to figure out how anyone knew of our plans to leave for the airport with Izzy. And why now and not in Las Vegas if the Russians or North Koreans are on to us?”
Lars’s grin faded. “Not a leak on our side. We’re tight.”
Sten didn’t share his dark suspicions, but Izzy was the only unknown factor in the mission. Everyone else was vetted and squeaky clean. His uncle and Finn hired top-notch men.
“Maybe the North Koreans got a hit from her work on the dark web?”
Despite wanting to kick Lars’s ass on certain days, his twin was solid, giving Izzy a way out. “Nah, she and Reeves have been scrupulous in hiding their identities by bouncing on servers all over the globe. They know what’s at risk.”
“You think she contacted the ex?”
“Nothing else makes sense. How else would Worthy have found her? She’s been hidden in an electronic safe house for five days.”
“Someone could have followed you when you brought her to headquarters.’
“No one followed us. I made damn sure I didn’t have a tail.”
When Lars rubbed his chin while thinking, Sten felt as if he were watching himself in a mirror. “Got yourself into a bit of a spot, bro. What are you thinking?”
“What I’m thinking is that Izzy Benson hasn’t been straight with me from day one.” Despite brotherly bonds, the twins never shared the intimate details on their sex lives. There was only so much closeness you could have with a twin, even one who looked like you, talked like you, and knew what you were thinking as soon as you were thinking it. No way was he telling Lars that he might have been outplayed last night.
God, she was good feigning Miss Goody-two-shoes. Was she using her relationship with Reeves to gain access to Dean’s software? He should have known by the way she went wild to have him that she wasn’t so innocent. But he let Reeves’s opinion of Izzy’s naivety sway him.
“Whoa there, cowboy.” Lars grabbed Sten’s arm. “I don’t like that look of another dumb-ass Jenkins bullhead. Izzy Benson is no player. I’ll swear on all my wide experience with women. You need to give her a chance to come clean before you go all Rambo on her. You’re not thinking straight. You’re letting your experience with Jessica screw with your head.”
“Shit. Jessica is ancient history. And my head is exactly where it should be. Izzy is an asset. Like I said, nothing more. And if she’s playing games with her ex, I’m scrubbing her from the mission. My call.”
“God, you’re such a stubborn ass. I don’t know where you get that from. Give her a chance to explain before you judge and prosecute her.”
“Are you forgetting that she didn’t come clean that Worthy was her boyfriend? Nah, my gut says this drone is about Izzy’s connection to Worthy. He wants to scare her into returning to him—or at least intimidate her so she’s not using her talents on somebody else’s work.”
“You sure it’s your gut and not another body part?” Lars waggled his eyebrows.
God, he hated that Lars knew exactly what the problem was—Sten let last night and the closeness to Izzy cloud his judgment about his mission. He would never admit it, but he was jealous and confused as to why Izzy would connect with Worthy. It pissed him off that despite the evidence he still wanted to believe last night was real and that Izzy Benson was the sweet innocent lover. He definitely needed to get his head screwed on right to command this mission.
12
After hacking into the military satellite, Reeves, next to Izzy, watched the drone’s blurry camera feed follow the SUVs as they departed from the garage. The drone feed moving between both SUVs suddenly went dark. Nick must have hit the drone with the DD, interrupting the drone’s remote-control signal and GPS.
“Nailed it.” Reeves jumped from his chair and high-fived Izzy.
She smiled, pretending the drone’s demise was exciting. Now that she couldn’t focus on getting into the satellite, she had nowhere to hide the anxiety and fear pounding like a sledgehammer through her body. There was nothing subtle about sending a drone to find her, and Charles was the master of subtle—maybe the drone wasn’t for her. And maybe there were tooth fairies and Hogwarts existed. Most likely, Charles was growing desperate because he found her hidden code preventing him from making the sale. Her heart pounded against her chest in a rapid and unrestrained tempo.
“Fast work getting us into the keyhole.” Reeves grinned down at her. “Did I tell you how much I hate that you’re a better hacker than me?”
It was an ongoing joke. Reeves loved to tease her, but he had told her repeatedly over the years how impressed and proud he was of her abilities. She never had any family member who understood or appreciated her talent. She wasn’t exactly estranged from her family, but she rarely saw them. It was probably why she had been a pushover for Charles with his over-the-top compliments and fascination in her work. What a needy fool she had been.
Sten, followed by Lars and Nick, came into the FOB—forward operating base—or sitrep room. Nick held the drone above his head like a trophy. Over the days, Izzy had been catching onto the Jenkins’ military lingo. Reeves rushed to look at the drone. Izzy slowly trailed behind.
