SEALs of Honor Read online

  “Sure,” she acknowledged. “It means that somebody has figured out I am on the right track and that person is passing along information.”

  “I’ll go with passing information,” Lachlan agreed immediately. “Guys like this, they’ll pay very well.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not nice,” she muttered. “I work as part of a team.”

  “And has that team been vetted?”

  “I’m sure it was, as far as I knew.”

  “Does Tesla know this team?”

  “Not personally, no,” Leah admitted. “They were given to me.”

  “Maybe it’s a good time to take a serious look at who you’ve been working with.”

  “I did back then, when I first got on board,” she stated, then she frowned. “However, we have had a couple changes in staff.”

  “Anyway you look at it, we need to be objective here. Everyone in your inner circle gets a second look.”

  She nodded carefully. “Except for the fact that I’m no longer at my office. Therefore, I can’t get into our computer systems.”

  “Can a laptop give you the access you need?”

  She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. “I guess I just don’t want to be stuck here for very long.”

  “None of us do,” Axel stated, as they walked through an inner door and entered a small apartment.

  She looked around. “I don’t even understand what this is.”

  Axel laughed to help dispel her uneasiness. “It’s a safe house, and we have lots of them all around Europe, but this one? … This one isn’t ours.”

  Lachlan wandered through it, nodded, and added, “Doesn’t really matter though. They’re all the same, aren’t they?” He looked over at Axel, who nodded.

  “Seems like it,” he agreed. “Once you’ve been in one, it appears as though you’ve been in them all.”

  “I didn’t really need this experience to begin with,” she groaned.

  “But now that you’re here,” Lachlan stated, with a smile, “it’s all good.”

  “Says you,” she muttered, “but I don’t like anything about it.” She slumped into a chair in the living room and asked, “Now what?”

  Chapter 2

  As Leah looked at the facial expressions of the men, she realized that not one of them had a ready response. When she considered her question, it was absurd to even ask. At least so soon after an attempt on them—or her. First, they had been following orders. Second, they had just arrived.

  She shook her head. “I shouldn’t even be asking you that. I should be finding out myself.”

  “Then you better find something quick,” Lachlan noted agreeably, “and let us know.”

  She glared at him, not wanting to be reasonable at all. “I just want to go back to my place.”

  “Is that where you were planning on going before?”

  “No. I was taking you to headquarters.”

  “Who would know that?”

  “Anybody who knew you guys were coming,” she snapped, “and that would be a lot of people.”

  “When you say a lot, how many is that?” he asked immediately.

  “Better yet, how long would it take to get a closer look at that lot?” Jonas asked behind her.

  She reached up a hand. “Not that long,” she admitted. “I mean, a lot would be at least a dozen. And maybe not even that.” She was sure it was close to that.

  “Who else would know?” Jonas asked.

  “The drivers’ bosses maybe,” she suggested, looking around. Then she frowned. “I didn’t know either man, did you?”

  “No,” Jonas replied.

  The other men responded with headshakes of their own, then Lachlan looked at her and smiled. “How about some coffee?” Then he motioned around her. “This place should be fully equipped.”

  “If you know how to make some, that would be great,” she muttered.

  He burst out laughing. “I think I can manage it, if anything’s here to work with. While we do that, why don’t you see if you can get word of what’s expected of us from here on out.”

  “Right.” She pulled out her phone. Several attempts to get through were unsuccessful. Then she looked around. “Do you think we’re in a special shielded area because I can’t get reception here.”

  He nodded. “That would be quite likely.”

  “Great,” she muttered. Just then, her phone rang. “Well, somebody can get through,” she muttered in surprise.

  “That’s not all that unusual,” Jonas noted simply.

  She stared at him, shook her head, and answered her phone. “Hey, boss.” She paused as he spoke to her. “Yes, we’re all safe. Three guys have gone out, looking for more bad guys. The rest of us are trying to figure out if there’s coffee to be had.” She smiled at hearing her boss’s loud noisy exhale of relief.

  “Not to mention food,” Lachlan chipped in, while sorting through the kitchen cupboards.

  “Yes, I know. I’ve been up all night and feel the same way.” She listened to her boss for a moment, adding, “No, I’ll tell him.” She hung up. “We’re here temporarily, until they can figure out whether it’s safe to bring us into our scheduled accommodations.”

  “Our scheduled accommodations?” Lachlan asked, looking over at her, his eyebrows raised.

  She nodded. “Yes, I had made arrangements to stay with your team during this whole scenario,” she shared, lost in thought for a moment, “at least until we get to the bottom of it.”

  “Interesting,” Lachlan noted. “I’m sure that didn’t go down too well with your family. No pets?”

  “Not here. And not until I’m more settled. I love cats and will get one or two down the road. I was raised with several. However as much as I loved them, I’m under no misunderstanding about their rulership over us all.”

  At that, Lachlan burst out laughing. “Oh my, I love cats too, but there is something about that very independent personality.”

  “Regardless I do love them. It’s not the easiest to live without furry friends especially after a lifetime of having them close.”

  “I can imagine,” Lachlan agreed. “They do give back a lot of that love.”

  “All the time.” She looked around. “Did you give up on the coffee?”

  Lachlan grinned at her. “No. I’ve got a pot dripping.”

  “I figured they would have one of those machines with the pods,” she noted.

  “That would be simpler in a way, but this regular coffee machine makes twelve cups at a time, which we’ll go through quickly enough,” he replied. “Plus I figured that we would all need some as we make plans.” He turned toward Axel. “Your thoughts?”

  “Yeah.” Axel’s voice was hard and unyielding. “I want a full investigation into everybody who knew that we were coming in today. I want to know everything and everybody involved in any way, no exceptions.”

  “Ditto,” Leah agreed calmly. “I’m racking my brain right now, trying to figure out who could have been behind this.”

  “I think,” Axel stated, “we’re pretty sure it’ll be related to the banking scenario, but, most important, we need to figure this the crap out and soon. … We need to know who’s got a line into your own team.”

  “We can’t just blame my team,” she protested immediately.

  “No, we can’t, but it’s a really good place to start.” Axel kept his stare firmly on her.

  She glared back at Axel. “It might be a place to start, but it won’t be the place we end.”

  “Maybe not,” he agreed, “but let’s at least rule them out in an objective manner. This isn’t the time to be emotionally vested,” he told her calmly, “and we do have secure internet here.”

  “I saw that.” She waved her phone. “I still don’t have my laptop.”

  “No, but we have laptops and a computer system here,” he noted, “if you want to come see.”

  She stared at him, hopped up quickly, then followed Axel. “Is this place equipped?”

  “They often are,” he stated, “and there should be a full gamut of weapons here as well.” He looked over at Jonas. “Thoughts?”

  “Hey, I’m just waiting for you guys to do your thing,” he replied. “Every time you come to my country, you just pull this shit out of the air and make my life hell. I figured you’d do the same in this case. So I figured I’d get a jump on the shit show if I came early to watch and to learn.”

  At that, Axel grinned. “Hey, I don’t think it’s quite so simple as that.”

  “It always has been before,” Jonas muttered. He walked over, pulled off a dust cover to a desktop computer, and nodded. “Wow, that’s way too similar to ours at MI6. I wonder if the same guy designs these?” he asked in a hard voice.

  “Something like that wouldn’t be at all surprising,” Lachlan noted, as he stepped up. He pulled a small desk away from the wall and it opened up into an alcove. In it was a state-of-the-art computer system with several modules.

  What she saw left her absolutely stunned. She looked at him and smiled. “Now this is more like it. At least maybe I can get some information from here.”

  “If nothing else,” Lachlan added, “maybe let Tesla know what’s going on.”

  “I already sent her a text,” Leah replied. “As soon as I had service, I updated her on the situation.”

  “Interesting how the internet works here,” Jonas muttered. “But at least it does work—somewhat.”

  “Yeah, and only because I changed one of the ports on the router,” Axel noted. “I’ve been in a couple safe houses myself. If you don’t know how they function, it’s easy to waste time, and we don’t have any time to lose.”

  “You think?” she quipped, as she walked over to the computers, took a closer look, and imm
ediately snagged a gaming setup that appealed to her and started pounding on the keyboard.

  First, she had to see what the log-ins looked like to determine whether they had security here or not. Satisfied that she could get in and out of where she needed to go without leaving a trace, she immediately set up a blind, so nobody could follow her tracks, then sent off emails.

  “You’ll wipe that when you’re done, right?” Lachlan asked, from beside her.

  “It’ll do it automatically,” she replied, barely taking any interest in what he was saying.

  He stared at her. “Another little Tesla trick?”

  “It’s one that a lot of us use,” she said, with a laugh, dragging her gaze to him and smiling at the look on his face. “It’s not necessarily something that we share with other people.”

  “Of course not,” he noted. “All you cyberpeople are so security conscious.”

  “Now you know why,” she stated, raising an eyebrow. “You all want me to find answers, yet I’ll need a minute.”

  “You got a minute,” he agreed patiently.

  When she turned around again, he held out a cup of coffee for her. She laughed as she took it, yet sent a head nod in his direction. “That’s not helpful.”

  “What?”

  “Hovering much?”

  “Not much. Have you found anything helpful?” Lachlan asked, ignoring the jab.

  “Nope, not yet,” she replied. “I’m getting there though. Tesla’s up to speed, Rob has agreed that we should stay here. Even though I’m not sure that it’s necessarily what I want to do.”

  “Oh, I get it,” he noted. “Back to that whole independence thing again.”

  “No,” she groaned. “It’s just back to having my life, but I already agreed that I would stay until this mess was sorted,” she confirmed. “So it won’t make a whole lot of difference whether it’s here or in a hotel.”

  “Probably safer here,” he noted.

  “I think that’s what they’re all leading to. It’s just not my idea of great accommodations.”

  “I think it’s meant to sleep six,” Jonas stated, as he joined them. “Which is plenty for us.”

  “So you’re staying here too?” she asked, staring at him with a narrow gaze.

  He gave her a fat smile. “I’m part of this, whether you like it or not.”

  She thought about that for a moment. “Fine, but somebody needs to cook because I’m hungry, and there’s no food. I swear to God I haven’t eaten a thing since this morning, as I was expecting to get food as soon as we got settled.”

  “As a matter of fact,” Lachlan added, “that was on our mind too. We thought we would figure it out at the regularly scheduled accommodations.”

  “That’s out the window,” she stated.

  “We noticed,” Jonas quipped.

  Jonas was not letting her have the final word on anything. He was assertive, cocky, and far too arrogant for his own damn good.

  “That’s much appreciated,” Lachlan said, interrupting whatever was starting between Jonas and Leah. “At least this way, Jonas, you’re on the spot and will be getting as much information on this as you can.”

  “Of course,” she agreed, “but I don’t have to be here for that. With my laptop, I can theoretically work anywhere.”

  “And we have laptops here that you can work on wherever as well. However, I think somebody probably wants you more than they want any of us,” Lachlan reminded her, as he sat down beside her.

  “You’re just guessing at that,” she argued. “There’s no reason for anybody to be after me more than any one of you guys. I’m certain you each have made plenty of enemies.”

  “Again we’re back to you deliberately not seeing the value that you are as a target,” Lachlan repeated. “And, even if the gathered data is only to be destroyed, you have information that other people will want.”

  At that, Jonas nodded. “I agree with Lachlan actually, and the fact that it happened while you were with us means they are after you, not the rest of us. No one will care that we just arrived, and frankly we probably just look like henchmen, if nothing else.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “No matter what you think, there is a possibility that you are in danger.”

  “Maybe, but …” She shook her head. “Tons of people know who you are. I’m sure your face raised all kinds of flags.”

  “Yeah, and probably made a lot of people laugh to think the gunmen sent MI6 scurrying to Germany,” he stated in disgust.

  “That could have just been a power play,” Leah noted.

  “The other thing to consider is,” Lachlan added, as he looked at them, “that their little ploy to come after us didn’t succeed. What it did do was send us running to a safe house, and they likely have a good idea of approximately where we are, within a certain radius. So the question really is, was that the end result they wanted, or did they want to take us down?”

  “Another question to ask is, did they really want to capture us or did they just want to send us running? And, if so, have we just played into their hands?” Jonas chipped in cheerfully.

  She stared at him, frowning. “Which means that they’re out there, waiting for us.”

  “Yes, that would be my guess,” Jonas replied.

  “What about the men?” she asked in shock. “What about Markus and the others, the two drivers?”

  “I don’t know.” Jonas looked at her. “Have you got any way to communicate with the drivers?”

  “Don’t you?” she challenged.

  “I tried to contact Markus a couple times,” Lachlan interjected, “but got no answer.”

  She stared at him, a sick feeling in her stomach. “That’s not cool.”

  “I trust Markus completely,” he murmured, “and, if he has any idea that he’s being followed or suspects he’s compromised in any way, he will not come back here. No way he would take a chance on leading danger back to us.”

  “Yet that won’t be helpful,” she noted, “because we’ll need his help.”

  “Not necessarily,” Lachlan pointed out. “Maybe he’s better off at headquarters, … doing what he came to do, which is working on some of the computers.”

  She glared at him. “Yeah, but he was supposed to be working with me.”

  “He still can, but he just might have to do it remotely, from where he is.”

  “Shit,” she muttered. “I need my team.”

  “And you may not be getting that team,” Jonas stated. “I’m guessing that the minute anybody realizes someone has been compromised, that entire team will be cut out of the loop, while we figure out what’s going on.”

  She winced. “Damn. That’s exactly what I would suggest, … if somebody had asked me,” she muttered. “I just don’t want to think about it happening to me right now.”

  *

  Lachlan noted that Leah was in a state of crisis, where outrage, confusion, and a little bit of fear had her ready to jump at the smallest click. At the same time, her anger flared that somebody could have done this … on purpose. But she was also working her way through it, and Lachlan had to appreciate that. Not everybody was exposed to danger—and certainly not all the time—but, even when they were, it always came down to how they handled it.

  So far she was doing just fine, at least in his opinion. When his phone buzzed, he looked down to see a message from Tesla sitting on his screen.

  Status.

  She was quick and asking for an update, when he had nothing to report. He quickly responded. Everyone is fine that we know of. Markus is out hunting. Haven’t had any contact. Then he sent a follow-up. Could be on purpose.

  Immediately Tesla’s reply came. It is. I’ve had contact. As of ten minutes ago, he was fine.

  He smiled at that.

  “What?” Leah asked.

  “Tesla heard from Markus.”

  “That’s good,” Leah noted. “What’s going on?”

  Another text from Tesla came in, giving him a bit more information. “So far they’re doing a full search outside. Nobody’s seen anything, and the following vehicle is gone, but it looks like they’re not coming back here. And Markus doesn’t want to take a chance on leading them here at this point. He’s heading back to the original destination,” Lachlan shared, “which looks like a name I can’t even pronounce.”

  “Yes. Heard that one before.” She waved her hand at him. “He’ll go back to the hotel, get a nice shower, and have a hot dinner.”