SEALs of Honor Page 4

  He looked up, his lips quirking. “Hey, it’s a nice gig, if you can get it.”

  She stared at him. “You’re not at all bothered about staying here?” she asked. “Then again I said here or there didn’t matter either, didn’t I?”

  “Nope, I’m okay regardless. Like you said, here is as good as anywhere,” he agreed. “And, if we don’t have food, we’ll find a way to get some.” He looked over at Axel. “Suggestions?”

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Axel replied, “but a delivery will be coming soon enough. When we’re in a safe house, the point is to stay inside. Our guys out there are trying to make sure this location is secure, and we will do our part and stay put.”

  “So, maybe for tonight,” Lachlan offered, “we’ll see what there might be to cook.” With that discussion concluded, Axel disappeared into the other room.

  She watched Axel leave. “Everybody appears to be so calm,” she marveled, “as if this were so commonplace.”

  “Most of us, even Jonas, have been in many scenarios far worse than this,” Lachlan stated simply. “We’re not being hunted out on the streets, so that counts for something. We’re in a place where we are safe and where we can keep track of what’s going on. We also have communications,” he noted, “which is huge. So the fact that we might be a little short on food is really not a big deal.” At that, her stomach growled so loud that he burst out laughing. “Okay, … so, for you, maybe food is a big deal.”

  “It’s not even that it’s a big deal,” she replied sadly. “It’s just a scenario that I’m not necessarily used to.”

  “Got it.” Lachlan nodded. “And this kind of thing is something you don’t want to get used to anyway. So let’s dig down, dig deep, and see what the hell is going on. Then we can get out of here all that much sooner.”

  She sighed. “Sounds good to me. Unfortunately I’m not sure it will be all that easy.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because they’ll keep us pinned down here, and we’re the ones who are now in trouble. So let me ask, what are the chances of anybody even listening to me about where I think the next attack will be?” she asked quietly.

  “Do you really think the fact that you were targeted will cause anybody to not believe the information you’ve got?” he asked curiously. “Wouldn’t it make them believe it that much more?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied, with a frown. “It doesn’t feel like it though.”

  Lachlan shared a look with Jonas, who had rejoined them. She was making assumptions, and that would not sit well with any of them. Rationality was their only true friend, and they had all been around the block enough to make their own judgments.

  Jonas nodded. “It should make them believe it all the more,” he confirmed. “And, even if your team doesn’t want the information, I do. We’ll try to get a scenario sorted and set up a sting very quickly.”

  “Maybe,” she reluctantly acknowledged. “I know they had plans to set up a defensive system, but we don’t have time now.”

  “What makes you think timing is an issue?”

  Just then Lachlan heard Axel calling for him from the kitchen. Lachlan turned and left quickly, and, as soon as he walked in and saw Axel standing in front of the fridge, Lachlan knew the reason for the emergency help. “Yes, I can cook,” Lachlan stated immediately.

  Axel nodded. “Good, but I wanted to tell you that I just heard from Markus.”

  With his voice lowered, though Lachlan wasn’t exactly sure why, he leaned forward. “Okay. Any problems?”

  “He’ll tell everybody he’s heading back to the hotel, but he’ll keep watch outside instead. He figures that we’re under surveillance, and he wants to figure out who it is and why.”

  “Good enough,” Lachlan replied. “We can relieve him in a few hours and set it up on a regular schedule.”

  “I suggested that to him, but he was fairly noncommittal. He actually said, ‘We’ll see.’”

  Lachlan laughed at that. “Is there anything he likes better than being outside in the action?”

  “Being home with his wife,” Axel replied, with a grin.

  “Is that him or you? But, hey, you guys all have partners. I don’t, but I do understand the draw, after watching everybody pairing up,” he admitted.

  “Don’t worry,” Axel murmured. “It’ll happen for you in good time.”

  “Maybe, maybe not,” he replied, clearly changing the conversation. “Anyway I won’t worry about it. Food first.”

  At that, Axel pulled some hamburger from the freezer. “Everything is frozen, but we should do some pasta or something with this.”

  “Good enough,” Lachlan agreed. “We can do spaghetti.” As he walked over to the pantry and pulled out some pasta and canned pasta sauce, he asked, “Is anything fresh in there?”

  “Not a whole lot. I don’t think they were expecting us.”

  Lachlan poked his head into the fridge, found bottled water and a few soft drinks. That was it. “We should have a delivery coming too,” Lachlan added, “but not in time for tonight’s dinner. Let’s just make some food, have some coffee, and see what kind of information we can roust up.”

  “And, if Markus finds something, that would be interesting.”

  “Trust Markus to be where the action is.”

  Chapter 3

  By the time Leah lifted her head from the computer, her eyes burned, and she had a headache. Her first thought that came to mind was food, but she didn’t want to hassle anybody about it. It seemed like they were all pretty calm and contained about the whole scenario, making her feel like she was the only one struggling.

  But then, she was. And it was hard to not make some comment about it too. However, she was alone in the computer room at the moment. Getting up, she stretched, then wandered toward the kitchen, where she found Axel and Lachlan working away. She stopped in the middle of the room and asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Lachlan looked up at her and smiled. “Hey, you look like you’re about ready to crash.”

  “Yep,” Axel agreed, looking at her with a grin.

  “I have to admit that I’m pretty well frazzled,” she stated. “I’ve been working steadily for the last couple days.”

  “The food will be ready in a few minutes,” Lachlan shared. “So, if you want to help, how about you set the table?”

  Not sure what they were having to eat, she was willing to give it a shot. She immediately pulled out dishes and brought over plates and cutlery, then located the salt and pepper after that. She quickly had it all set up, before crashing onto a chair in front of them. “What’s for dinner?” she asked, curiously sniffing the air.

  “Pasta.” Lachlan turned toward her, smiled, and asked, “You don’t have any food issues, do you?”

  “Should have thought of that before,” Axel chipped in.

  “Only that I’m always hungry,” she replied. “But no allergies, sensitivities, or particular aversions, if that’s what you meant.”

  “Good thing,” Lachlan stated cheerfully, as he set a platter in front of her on the table, and very quickly she had her plate full of spaghetti.

  “Considering no fresh food was to be had here, you’ve done a pretty good job.”

  “There’ll be fresh food tomorrow,” Lachlan noted.

  “Do you think they’ll take the chance of bringing us something?” she asked. “I don’t know how the whole safe house thing works.”

  “They will,” Jonas agreed, as he sat down beside her.

  She looked over at him in surprise. “Oh, hello, Jonas. I’d forgotten you were here.”

  He chuckled. “I had a bit of a nap. I was at the crime scene most of the night.” He sniffed the air appreciatively. “Hey, and I really do like the fact that you guys can cook. That’ll make this a whole lot easier.”

  Jonas could be quite charming when he needed to be. “Of course, and a food delivery is coming,” Lachlan shared, with a look at her.

  “We’ll get a delivery,” Axel stated, with a shrug. “Otherwise I can certainly do a grocery run.”

  “And how do you keep our location a secret if that’s the case?” she asked.

  He chuckled. “It’s not a problem,” he murmured. “And let’s not forget Markus is out there too.”

  Leah turned to Lachlan, a confused expression on her face. “He is? I thought he’d gone to the hotel.” He quickly updated her. “Okay, so that is something we have to change. No holding back information. I thought he was at the hotel, enjoying luxurious accommodations.”

  “Nope, he changed his mind,” Lachlan added. “He was hoping to see if he could spot somebody watching us.”

  “Well, fine,” she muttered, “but who’ll relieve him?”

  “Maybe nobody,” Axel replied. “He’s pretty stubborn.”

  “He also shouldn’t be out there all on his own for the whole time.” Leah stared at Axel, then Lachlan and Jonas. They just silently looked at her, until finally she raised both hands in surrender. “Fine. I’m just the analyst. What do I know?” After a big yawn, her attention returned to her plate. She wasn’t even a few bites in, when she had to stop. “I must say, this is quite good. My compliments to the chef.”

  Axel and Lachlan looked at each other, then shrugged. “We’ll take it,” Lachlan said, with a grin.

  “You’re welcome,” Axel added.

  She smiled at them. “You guys are so much like the rest of Mason’s team.”

  “Do you know them?” Lachlan asked her.

  “A lot of them,” she confirmed. “Whenever I’m in the US, I tend to spend a fair bit of time over at Tesla’s place. At least until I feel like I’m in the way, and then I kick myself out.”

  “I highly doubt that happens very often.”

  “The problem is, Tesla and I can get very involved in our work, on some of our side projects,” she explained. “So it’s pretty common for Mason to call it quits and to tell us to stop talking shop.” At that, they just stared at her. She shrugged. “I mean, I can’t really blame him.”

  “Maybe not,” Axel replied, staring at her. “Yet he’s pretty bad for talking shop himself.”

  “Of course,” she admitted. “But all this cyberstuff isn’t necessarily his cup of tea.”

  At that, they laughed. “Nope. He likes his computers just fine, but I suspect you two geeks probably take it to a whole new level.”

  “Yep, we sure do, but that’s also where we’re most comfortable.” At that, she looked over at Jonas, who was eating steadily. “Are you even breathing between bites?” she asked, with a teasing note.

  He looked up and smiled. “I’m not particularly bothered about breathing. It’s good food, and I don’t know when I’ll get my next meal.”

  She stared at him in shock. “Really?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been in this job way too long, and there’s absolutely no way to know when we’ll be discovered. So I plan on being prepared and ready to go all the damn time.”

  “So that’s why you’ve had your beauty sleep already then.”

  “Yep,” he agreed, “and I’ve already contacted MI6 headquarters and let them know what’s happened. They’re not impressed, and, as a matter of fact, I think they would like me to come home. Except they know that I’m better off right here now, while this chaos is going on. We were targeted. Or rather somebody in that vehicle was targeted. My guess is it was you, but they don’t want to take any chances. So it looks like I’m here for the duration.”

  “Good,” she noted. “I realize that not everybody likes you all that much”—then she frowned—“or at least I think a lot of people don’t like you.”

  At that, Jonas gave her a big fat grin. “Believe me. You’re not the first person to tell me that, mostly because they stomp around in my backyard, without so much as a care for all the trouble they cause me.”

  “That’s not very nice of them, is it?” she asked, speaking extra sweetly and completely ignoring Axel and Lachlan.

  “Nope, not at all.” Jonas chuckled. “And, to make matters worse, I don’t think they care.”

  “Come on, Jonas. You know what it’s like when you’re on a mission,” Axel argued. “You got to do what you got to do.”

  “But you people seem to always do it in a way that leaves the rest of us cleaning up your messes,” Jonas complained, with an eye roll.

  “It’s not that bad,” Axel argued, with a smirk.

  “Besides, it’s not just us who you have a problem with,” Lachlan added. “It’s Levi, Ice, and their team too, right?”

  “Sometimes,” he admitted. “And honestly it’s not even just them personally. It’s the shit you all pull. I mean, I’ve got Terk sometimes leading me on a merry chase. Before I even have a chance to find out it’s him or to confirm anything is going on, some bizarre problem is dropped in my lap. It seems the whole bunch of them knows things I’ve never even heard about.” Jonas raised both hands in frustration.

  “Oh, man, I’ve heard rumors about Terk,” Leah shared immediately, “but I’ve never met him.”

  “And you might not ever see him,” Jonas noted. “If there was ever a ghost, it’s that one.”

  “So I’ve heard.” Leah seemed more excited about the whole concept than anything.

  Jonas had to laugh at her. “Terk is a character and a half. But, if you think you know anything about him, you’d be wrong,” he murmured. “He’s fast, and he’s knowledgeable, but he’s also scary as hell.”

  “I have heard that too.” Leah smiled. “But, hey, at least he’s on our side.”

  “There is that,” Jonas agreed, with a nod.

  Smiling, she looked back at Lachlan and Axel. “Thank you for making dinner. It was delicious.”

  “You’re welcome. Is everybody finished?” Lachlan asked, looking at the others.

  “I am, and now I think I’ll go crash for a little bit,” Leah noted. “I’ll get up and get back to work as soon as I’ve had a chance to close my eyes.” With that, she rose, carried her dishes to the sink, and washed her plate in the hot soapy water already waiting for her, wondering at these men who could cook and clean and keep a safe house completely calm, without any evidence of stress. Then she turned to look around. “Jonas, which bedroom did you take?”

  “Top left,” he replied. “Pick another and you’re good to go.”

  With that, she nodded and headed upstairs. At least the guys had luggage because they had just been picked up from their travels. She had nothing, not even a toothbrush. What she’d really like was a shower and a change of clothes, but that wasn’t likely to happen either.

  She chose a bedroom at random, figuring as long as it appeared to be empty that she was probably okay to claim it as her own. She walked into the bathroom, used the facilities, and then walked over to the bed, pulling the blanket back off the top sheet and just crashed underneath, the blanket over her shoulders.

  What a strange day and a strange scenario she had been caught up in. She knew the only way to get her life back was to get some rest and to hit it again later on.

  *

  Lachlan stood in the hallway, watching which bedroom she chose, checking out her demeanor as she closed the door behind her. She hadn’t even looked around, so it was good. She felt safe, but, at the same time, she was probably too exhausted to do much anyway. He returned to the kitchen to finish cleaning up, even as he found Jonas washing up his dishes.

  “Is she okay?” Jonas asked.

  “Exhausted and stressed mostly. She didn’t collapse during the gunfire, and she appears to have held her own in terms of shock and adrenaline,” Lachlan pointed out.

  “I wasn’t sure how all that would go down.”

  “We never are, it seems.”

  “But she’s a civilian, somebody with tremendous computer skills,” Jonas noted.

  “Strange that she doesn’t seem to think she has any value as a hostage though,” Lachlan mentioned.

  “Honestly she would be a huge asset if they kidnapped her, if for no other reason than the ransom she could bring to try to keep her safe,” Jonas added, looking pensive.

  “Much more likely that they would have just killed her,” Axel argued. “And yet you notice that none of the attacks on us were anything to that level.”

  “I wondered about that,” Jonas admitted. “They could have completely annihilated us out there on the road with enough overwhelming firepower or with just one massive warhead on a rocket. And I suspect this group would have had the money and the means to do so.”

  “So, why didn’t they?” Axel asked him.

  “I don’t know.”

  “That’s something we have to get to the bottom of,” Axel stated, “and she’s not at all happy about us investigating her team.”

  “I don’t think that she has a choice in the matter,” Lachlan noted.

  “Not only is there no choice,” Jonas added, “but we need to finish whatever you started.”

  “I’m good with that.”

  “Yeah?”

  “We are,” Lachlan repeated, with a smile. “So is Tesla. Somebody knew we were coming.”

  “You guys traveled by military aircraft, so there would be military records.”

  “Sure,” Lachlan agreed. “All kinds of records would reveal that we were all coming this way.”

  “I came over on a commercial flight,” Jonas noted, with a shrug, “and wasn’t trying to hide my identity.”

  “Another valid point,” Lachlan stated, “and I really don’t think any of us were the intended target, so it all goes back to Leah. We’ve got to find out who knew she was coming to pick us up and if somebody knew beforehand that the hackers were trying to stop her.”

  “Did they just ask about her itinerary? Maybe what she was doing today, as far as work went? Like was it not even an issue? Because, if you think about it, she seems pretty casual about the whole thing.”

  “That’s because she doesn’t deal with this cloak-and-dagger stuff like we do,” Axel murmured. “I think she’s just clueless about the fact that she’s been targeted.”