Nightstalker: Red Team (6 page)

Lincoln

I watched Jasmin strut out of Zane’s office. That woman did not walk, she strutted her ass with a purpose. No man could control his eyes from watching her hips sway and move when she walked. Once the door was closed the mask I had been barely keeping in place fell.

“What the fuck, brother?” I asked Zane. He did not look any happier than I was.

“I already made a few calls. I do not know who gave her that file or what their end game is. She has had that information for six God damn years. Six years that woman has believed I have lied to her and withheld information from her. Yet, she has remained loyal to me. Fuck me!” Zane was right. Jasmin had continued to be loyal even if she felt Zane had been disloyal to her.

“Should we call in Tom?” I asked.

“Not yet, let me see if my contact can trace back where the file came from.”

“I don’t like that Jasmin seems to be more involved than we thought. Fuck.” I said, closing my eyes.

“Let’s get to the conference room, the team should be waiting.” Zane got up and made his way to door.

As we walked downstairs and into the conference room something was just not sitting right. My gut was screaming at me again. I just could not figure out the problem. I knew the Russians were a set up; it was too fucking easy.

Everyone was already in the conference room when Zane and I walked in. I took a seat across from Jasmin. Zane walked to the head of the table and tossed some folders down. Everyone grabbed one and started scanning through the intel.

“God damn it to hell,” I said when I opened my file to see a crime scene photo of three executed Russians.

“That about sums it up,” Jax said as he took the glossy 8x10 photo out of his file and laid it on the table in front of him.

Zane used his tablet to bring up a new image of a very dead Boris Orlov. Christ this just officially went FUBAR.

“When did that happen?” Leo inquired.

“Jake said the reports coming in from Russia are incomplete. We have someone inside the Bravta that said the hit was carried out 48 hours ago, the Russian government report states the Orlov brothers have been dead seven days. That is bullshit, our inside man said he had lunch with Boris three days ago,” Zane explained to the room.

Jasmin stood up and walked over to the sixty inch monitor on the wall and was studying the image on the screen, tilting her head back and forth. Each member of the team was laying out crime scene photos in front of them.

“So what is our timeline? I think Linc is right the Russians are too convenient.” Jax asked no one in particular.

Colin stood up and walked to the white board and started a timeline, “Twenty one days ago give or take the Orlov brothers were released. Eric, get that exact date will you?” Colin swiped the tablet he was holding before he began to write again. “Thirteen days ago a wire transfer of five million was made to a Swiss account. Eric, where are Jake and Garrett on that trace?” Colin asked taking charge of his team.

“Neither one of them have found the source. Whoever initiated that transfer is a professional; they are still tracing this shit through proxies over six countries. That actually helps, there are very few people with the skills needed to bury the start point this well,” Eric gave his update.

Colin started to write on the white board again, “Nine days ago the CIA analyst found the hack. After the initial security protocol they found that Deepweb336 had not actually breached the system, he was just attempting to. The Director, in all his infinite wisdom told the security analyst not to shut the system down, he wanted to see if the system could indeed be breached.” Colin stopped to once again consult his tablet. “Eight days ago the President was notified and we were called in to assist. Seven days ago Garrett started his own hack to watch Deepweb336. Jake also started to watch the dark web chat rooms to see if anyone was talking. There was no chatter on the dark web about the hack, but Jake did find there was chatter about Deepweb336 getting out of the broker business. Apparently Deepweb336 was passing on jobs and referring them out, five million is a great retirement fund.” Colin looked around and made eye contact with me.

“Where does that leave you?” Colin directed at me.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I did not want to discuss my involvement with Russia, just as I was about to answer, Jasmin stopped me.

“Z, zoom in on this picture on the screen. Something is bothering me, I cannot put my finger on it. The more I stare at this photo the more I think we are missing something.” Zane enlarged the image on the screen so only Boris’s body filled the sixty inches. Jasmin continued to tilt her head and stare.

“There! Do you see that? Leo, come look at this.” Jasmin stood off to the side of the screen and pointed to Boris’s ear. Everyone stood up to get a better look at what Jasmin was pointing out.

“Holy fuck, yeah I see it. Z, zoom in more on the area right below his right ear.” Leo said.

“Sonreír.”  Jasmin said as she backed away so everyone could get a good look.

“This shit storm just keeps getting worse, now we have a crazy ass Spanish assassin in play as well. Well I’ll be fucked.” Zane yelled as he too walked to the screen to get a better look at the assassin's mark.

The Sonreír always leaves a mark on his dead bodies. It is a brand that looks like a smiley face. One story is that he brands his victims because his father left him with hundreds of burns on his body from a cigarette lighter. The burn resembles a smiley face, sick fuck! The Sonreír is a highly sought out assassin and he is the most expensive.

Zane walked to the panel on the wall to close the blackout blinds. Once those had lowered he walked back to the table and picked up the handset to the desk phone.

“Donna, you’re done for the day. Key the lock.” Zane ended the call and dialed another number putting it on speaker, “Rena who is still in the building?”

“Red team, Yellow team is in the armory, and… Garrett and Jake are in the server room, Jason is in command and me Sir, Donna just exited the building and keyed the lock for the public reception. Should I lock down, sir?” Rena was damn efficient. She was Zane’s personal assistant. I did not know how this woman could put up with Zane barking orders at her all the time. She was a damn saint.

“You have two choices, take an early Friday and leave now or stay for the duration the choice is yours.”

“I’ll stay sir you may need me. Secure line is ready for you and the building is on lock down.” Rena hung up. Zane better never piss that woman off, I think she could rule the world behind that keyboard of hers.

Zane placed the phone back on the table and slide his cell phone out of his pocket; he entered in his code and dialed. He placed the cell phone on speaker.

“Password of the day?” a monotone voice asked.

“November, Alpha, Tango, Echo, Fife,” Zane barked out.

“Certified, hold for secure line transfer,” the monotone voice replied.

“Mr. Lewis how are you this afternoon?” a jovial voice came on the line.

“Could be better Mr. President,” Zane cut straight to the case.

This could go south fast. The President was not going to be happy with what the team found, and a few members of the team were not going to be happy with the President’s involvement.  Namely Jasmin, this fucking girl could not catch a break. 

“Snake bite?” the President asked.

“Confirmed, Sir. Snake Bite. The building is locked down,” Zane replied.

“Roger that! Rooftop fifteen minutes, is the team ready?” the President asked.

“Affirmative, Sir,” Zane disconnected the call.

Zane slid the phone into his pocket and faced the team. He stood silently for a few seconds, obviously gathering his thoughts.

“Everyone in the room with the exception of Jasmin and Eric has the option to abort mission and leave this room. If you choose to stay you have to know we are going to ground. You are my tier one team no one I would rather have my back, but if you leave now I will understand. This is your one and only chance. In fifteen minutes we will be picked up and taken to an undisclosed location and we’re going black. The choice is yours, make it. Drew I understand if this is where we part ways; you were officially off the clock yesterday.” Zane stopped speaking and looked at each member of the team.

“Will you need me for logistics?” Drew asked Zane.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Zane shot back.

“Then I’m good! Julie knows the drill.” Drew got up to presumably tell his wife he would be in touch when he could.

The rest of the team gave their ‘yes’ and waited for further instruction.

Zane once again picked up the office phone and began to speak, “Where is yellow team now… good…transfer all of Red team’s cases to Blue… tell Jake and Garrett all new information is to be sent to me through SAT COM one, all files are to be taken off line…. Good…Red is black all communication is code B230…copy that… oh and one more thing, my fish…. Thanks.” Zane disconnected the call and placed the phone on the cradle. Once again turning to the team, “Get your kit and go bags we are wheels up in…” Zane looked down at this watch, “eight minutes.”

Everyone dispersed without a word. That spoke volumes of their trust and respect for Zane. No one questioned where he was taking them or why. No one knew the mission or the gravity of what they were about to learn. They all trusted Zane enough to follow blind. Consummate professionals, Zane was lucky to have found each and every one of them.

I looked towards my brother before I left to get my own gear, his head was lowered and he looked tense. These next few hours were going to be hard on him. He was going to have to tell the rest of the team the truth about who I was and what role I have played in many of their missions.  Then there was Jasmin, she was going to be red hot mad not only at Zane, Eric and I but the universe.

“I got your back, brother.” I rested my hand on his shoulder.

“I’m not worried about me; I am worried about my team.” Zane shook his head.

“They are your family and they respect the hell out of you Zane. There is nothing to worry about.” I assured him

“Jasmin is going to flip her shit. She is going to need a strong hand to get through this. She does not like showing weakness in front of her team.” Zane has always had a soft spot for Jasmin.

“I got her, Zane.”

I walked out of the conference room and into my office to grab my go bag. I opened the bag to confirm everything I needed was in there. Two passports, two sets of identification, credit cards, cash, extra magazines and ammo. I touched my right hip to confirm my HK45 was strapped on, a habit that was ingrained in me over my years on the Teams. Trust but verify – even yourself.

I slid my vest over my head and pulled the Velcro straps at the sides tight, threw my pack over my good shoulder and picked up my Blackhawk go bag and was all set. I checked my G shock watch, I had three minutes to get to the roof and wait for transport.

Roof access was on the top floor across from Zane’s office. Jasmin, Eric, Jaxon, Leo, Colin, and Drew were all standing outside of Zane’s office door waiting to proceed to the roof together. I studied each member of my new team; it was always strange going out a mission for the first time with a new team. Luckily I didn’t come across that very often; once you all get in sync it is hard to adjust to someone new. I wonder if that is how they all felt about me coming onto their team. Like I was the one throwing them off sync.

I heard the helicopter rotor blades pulsing as the aircraft made its descent onto the roof.

“Go.” Zane opened the door and everyone filed up the stairs to the waiting helicopter.

Each member of the team gave a quick salute to the Commander in Chief as they entered the cabin of the Eurocopter Dauphin II turbo shaft, helicopter.

Once everyone was strapped in and secured our Bose A20 headsets we could hear Zane. “Mr. President meet your team. Leo,
Panther.
Drew,
Shades
. Colin,
Breeze
. Jaxon,
Blue
. Eric,
Wolf
. Jasmin,
Nightstalker
. Lincoln,
Ghost
.”

Jasmin

I closed my eyes for a moment as I savored the peace and the back and forth motion of the helicopter. I wished I could start this day over. Go back to the beginning and call in sick. Better yet, back to last night and my original thought to quit so I wouldn’t have to face Linc once my mortification set in knowing he heard me touching myself.
I felt my face begin to heat remembering what he said to me in the parking garage. I believe his words were, ‘I will take, and touch, and lick every single inch of your tight little body. Your little pussy will ache so badly you’ll beg me to fuck you.’ Yes, those were his exact words; I had committed them to memory. Men think they are the only ones with a ‘spank bank’. They are not, I would be using that statement later when I closed my eyes and…. STOP. Full stop! What the fuck was I doing? I was in a helicopter with the President of the United States and my team and what was I doing… thinking of masturbating while thinking about Mr. DDG. Lincoln Parker, his name is Lincoln fucking Parker. I have to stop fantasizing about him.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring straight into Linc’s glowing green eyes. He knew what I was thinking about, which only made my face redder and the smirk on that handsome face twitched. Shit and Damn! I flipped him the finger and looked out the cabin window.

The headset crackled to life and the pilot gave us a two minute warning. I studied the landscape outside trying to ascertain where we were. We had only been in the air approximately twenty minutes, heading South East, crossing over the Chesapeake Bay. My best guess we would land in Claibourne or head further South to Tilghman Island.

  We passed over the beautiful mansions on the coast of the Bay. Each one seemed bigger and more beautiful. I wondered who lived in them and if the occupants ever actually saw each other. Growing up, my dad and I lived in a middle class neighborhood with older well-kept homes. We were not poor, nor did we have a lot of extra money.  My dad always made sure I had what I needed. He would always tell me, “Laura I will give you everything you need, very little of what you want, and you will work for the rest.” I have never forgotten the lessons he taught me. God damn, I miss that man!

I was pulled out of my musing by the loud whine of the rotor blades preparing to land. Once again I tried to gauge where we were. It looked like we had made it down to Tilghman Island.

The President and his agent exited first, followed by Zane and the rest of the team. Before I could step off Linc was in front of me, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me out of the helicopter. I should’ve kicked him in his balls for being a misogynist pig, however I was too mesmerized by the way his biceps flexed. Immediately visions of me on his lap riding him while his muscles flexed as he lifted me up and down on his dick overloaded my senses. He let my body slide down his; I closed my eyes inhaling his fresh manly scent. I sent up a silent thank you I was wearing my vest and Linc would not be able to see my nipples tightening at the smell and feel of him. He was not as lucky. I could feel his hardness press against my stomach. A moan might have escaped my lips at the feel of him.

“You smell so fucking good, sweet Jasmin. I can still remember your taste on my tongue. I will not wait much longer, you are mine!” Linc growled into me ear. “I am giving you fair warning, the next time you turn me on when there is nothing I can do about it, I will spank that pretty ass.”

I think I had a mini orgasm again. Why was the thought of him spanking me such a turn on? Why hadn’t I kicked him in his balls yet? That was two times in as many minutes he had deserved castration, yet I just stared at him like an asshole.

“Stop touching me! If you try and spank me, so help me God, Lincoln, I will throat punch you.” I growled back at him.

“Fuck, you turn me on,” Linc whispered back in my ear.

“Move.” I pushed pasted Linc and walked towards the house.

I took in the beautiful two story log cabin home. It was spectacular. The entire back of the house was made up of huge windows leading up to a peaked A frame roof line. The exterior was cherry finished logs with river rock accents.  The cabin was surrounded by water on three sides. Tall Aspen and Birch trees were scattered all around the property providing privacy. The lawn was freshly mowed and the landscaping impeccable. Someone went to great lengths to care for this home.

I followed the team in through the back of the house, praying to all things holy they did not witness my little interlude with Linc. Of course I couldn’t get so lucky; my team was staring at me like I had grown two heads and giving Linc the laser death stare. Just freaking great, how damn embarrassing. All thoughts of him vanished when I finished walking into the cabin. It was perfect; there was no other way to describe it. I stood in the open great room and took it all in. To my right was the kitchen with a view of the bay from the cooktop in the island and breakfast nook both. A glass enclosed dining room was just past the kitchen. To my left was a library room with floor to ceiling books, two leather chairs, and a billiards table. Directly in front of me was a huge open living area with two couches, four leather chairs, and a river rock fireplace that must have been six feet wide. The hearth was huge, a spectacular wood carved mantle sat above the firebox opening. I was in heaven! I looked up to see the loft area above and open doors that presumably went to bed rooms.

The team had situated in the great room, Z and the President were absent from the group.

“Pretty bad ass place,” I said as I approached the guys.

“Hell yeah!” Colin replied. 

“Shit I could get used to this,” Jax added.

“So who am I going to school tonight at the pool table?” Leo asked.

“Not me asshole, you sharked my ass out of a fifty last time I played you,” Drew told Leo.

“Not my fault you were paying more attention to your woman’s ass then the balls,” Leo volleyed.

“I cannot blame him, Julie’s ass is way better than your balls, Leo,” Jax prepared for the punch in the bicep from Drew for that remark.

The punch never came, as the President and Zane walked into the room. The jack assery ended and everyone had their game face on. It was time to work and find out what the fuck was so import that we went black.

Colin grabbed my arm as I tried to move to one of the couches. “Don’t think we missed that shit outside. That will be discussed later.” He spoke close to my ear.

“There is nothing to talk about.” I rolled my eyes as I walked past him.

The President stood before us his suit jacket off, tie loosened around his neck, top button undone and sleeves cuffed up to his forearms. He looked relaxed and composed but there was something off when his eyes landed on me.

“Thank you all for coming on short notice. Zane told me he gave all of you the option to abort and stay behind, yet none of you did. I am in your debt. This is personal in nature for me as well as a matter of national security.” The President paused for a moment and looked at me with a look that could only be described as guilt, “I am going to make this as short as I can. First I want to introduce you all to Gerard. He is my personal body guard. The White House, staff and the rest of my agents believe I am headed to Camp David with Gerard for some rest for the weekend. Gerard has been vetted and is trusted. Zane has his file for you all to go over, nothing has been redacted. I would never expect any of you to speak freely or trust anyone you have yet to verify. Zane has looked over his file himself and certified it.”

“I’m good,” Zane offered.

The team echoed Zane’s response. If Zane certified the information and trusted this Gerard guy, then it was good enough for the team. A movement to my left caught my attention; Linc was stretching his bad shoulder I caught his eye and he gave me a tight smile. What the hell was with everyone?

“I’ll get to it then. Ya’ll better sit down. I’m just going to skip all the preliminaries and get to it. There is no time to waste,” the President directed. He blew out a breath then blew my mind, “And frankly I am tired of hiding. Jasmin, I am your Uncle. Your mother Erin was my sister. She met your father Robert when we served together, first as Navy Intelligence, then when we worked under the Director while at the CIA.”

When the President, my uncle, stopped talking my whole fucking world was spinning.

“Excuse me, what did you say?” I asked. I needed verification; all the sex thoughts of Linc might have muddled my brain.

“Jasmin, dear, I want you to know that I wanted to take you after your parents died. That is not what they wanted and I respected that. Your parents wanted Noah to raise you. He was a good man, one of the best men I had the pleasure of serving with,” my uncle informed me.

If I thought my world was spinning before it was now tilting off its axis. My vision was blurring and I had reached a whole new level of enraged. I had been lied to my whole fucking life! My head was pounding. Another headache was fast approaching. Shit and damn. I could not stop it.

“The fuck you say?” I screamed.

Linc was by my side in a second. Everything was going black. No, no, no, not again. Why was this happening. Why did I keep getting these headaches now, what the fuck was wrong with my head?

***

“You’re safe, I’ve got you, sweet Jasmin,” Linc whispered in my ear.

Why did I keep ending up in Linc’s arms and, more than that, why did I feel so safe and protected when I was? I was not some wilting flower that needed to be taken care of. If one of the other guys had tried to pick me up and whisper in my ear I would have laughed in their face. I felt Linc sit down and settle me in his lap. I opened my eyes, dreading what I would find. My team was looking at the President like it was taking all their control not to snap his neck and my Uncle had moisture in his eyes. Talk about testosterone overload.

“Jasmin, I know you are not ready, but when you are I have everything your parents left for you here in the house,” my Uncle offered.

“Here? In this house?” I asked.

“Yes, this house belonged to your parents. It was a safe house; it is off the books, owned by a corporation that could not be tracked back to your father,” my uncle explained.

I looked around the house, admiring it in a whole new light. I tried to picture my parents moving around this space but I could not; I have no memory of them. I was a year old when they were killed and never even had a picture of them.
I asked Noah when I was a teenager if he had anything of my parents. His answer was simply, no. I never asked again, not wanting to seem
ungrateful to the man who took in a
n orphaned
child to raise as his own.

I allowed myself to take comfort in Linc’s arms. Just for a minute, I would allow myself this one weak moment in front of my team. My mind was spinning at warp speed. Suddenly I was too exhausted to even summon up the energy to be angry. Linc tightened his arm around me and gave me a squeeze. Shit and damn! I have turned into a pansy assed girl who needed a man to protect her. Screw that shit, I needed to get ahold of myself.

Before I could get off Linc’s lap, Jax started speaking. “All due respect, Mr. President but what does Jasmin’s personal life have to do with the op?” He looked pissed as shit on my behalf.

“Actually, it has everything to do with Jasmin and your entire team,” he answered. Gerard handed my Uncle an 8x10 photo. He looked at it for a moment before he passed it to Z.

“That is my father. I don’t understand,” Z questioned.

“I’m sorry Zane I was not at liberty to tell you. It was a matter of national security. Your father, Rick, was on our team as well.” The President started to walk across the room to the buffet that displayed a variety of liquors. He poured himself a glass of amber liquor before he continued. “We were hot shit,” he said with a chuckle, “The four of us were at the top of our game. Rick, Robert, Noah and I took all the tier one contracts. We had some good times, brothers in every way.”

Z looked like I felt, like he just received a kick to the gut. I started to get up at the same time Linc stood. He balanced me when he placed me on my feet and walked towards his brother.

“Zane?” Linc started.

He was cut off by an explosion of activity. In one smooth move Z used his arm and swept all the Knick knacks off the side table he was standing next to. Well damn, I was glad at least one of us could muster the strength to explode. I, on the other hand was, emotionally frozen. I could not form a single word. I had been lied to my entire life. I was now questioning who I was. Over the years I had many names, they changed with every op I was on, but I always knew who I was deep down inside. Now I wasn’t so sure. Zane was in the same boat, he had been lied to as well.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me Tom? All these damn years! Fuck it all to hell. I have trusted you with my brother’s life, my team. FUCK! Why wouldn’t you tell me you served with my father, hell why wouldn’t you just tell me about him?” Z was clenching his fists so tight his knuckles were already white. His body was coiled and ready to strike. I needed to shut this shit down and fast. Even though we were all here in this house, my house as it turned out, talking about our private lives, Tom, my Uncle, was still the President. If Z did something regrettable it would end him.