14. Ben
Savannah and I waited in our rental car on the shadowy edge of a quiet, rural airport. I was on high alert, per usual, but I wasn’t too concerned about our safety. I’d taken off and landed many times on airfields like this one when going to or coming back from clandestine missions. I was becoming suspicious, though, that my sister was still up to her eyeballs in secret ops, if this was the place her teammates would meet us.
Savannah plucked at the knee of her jeans. To a civilian, this plave must look pretty sketchy.
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “Our ride is probably one of the two planes that have landed in the last fifteen minutes.”
“I know. In my mind, I know it’s safe. Mai set this up, and you’re still here… Thank you for still being here.”
I took her hand. I didn’t know where we stood, but regardless of those details, she needed comfort and reassurance. “Think of this as getting closer to answers. Mai and her resources can help us figure out what’s going on with your business partner.”
She nodded. The movement was quick and nervous, but her shoulders did inch down a bit.
As I’d predicted, the second of the two recently landed planes coasted over the tarmac, heading in our direction, although it was still a distance away. The plane door opened, and automated stairs lowered to the ground. One lone figure climbed out of the plane and walked toward us. He looked familiar.
I turned on the car and pulled out of the shadows. Now he was less than fifty feet away, and it was who I’d thought. “Wait here,” I told Savannah.
I climbed out of the car and strode toward Kyle Bloom, one of my old platoon buddies. His dark hair was longer now than it had been when he was in the Rangers, but his baby face hadn’t changed a bit.
“Bloomers!” We bumped fists, hugged, and patted each other on the back. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Mai sent me.”
“Wait, you’re working with my sister?”
He nodded. “I joined her organization about six months ago. We’ll get you briefed up when we’re in the air.” He looked over my shoulder. “Right now, I want to meet your friend.”
His wolfish grin annoyed me, even though I knew he was a good guy. “No flirting,” I warned him as we walked to the car. When he cocked an eyebrow at me, I added, “She’s going through some shit.”
“Hence why I’m here.” He furrowed his brow. “I just got in-briefed today, so I haven’t heard the lady’s name. This isn’t Savannah, by chance?”
“Keep your voice down.” We were approaching her side of the car.
“As in, Savannah, the one who got away?” Bloom whispered.
I shot him a murderous glance, but he was too busy grinning at Savannah, who was stepping out of the car, to notice.
“Sav, this is an old Army buddy of mine, Rodger Dodger.”
“Kyle Rodgers, ma’am.” He shook her hand. “Pleasure to meet you. Non-assholes are allowed to call me Kyle.”
“Nice to meet you. I hope that means I can call you Kyle?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Bloom hadn’t wiped that stupid grin off his face. “Bags?” he asked me.
I popped the trunk, and he and I pulled out the luggage. I gently held Savannah’s elbow as we crossed the tarmac. I didn’t try to hide it, and Bloom didn’t miss it.
“My boss is Kat Hartmann,” Bloom said. “You’ll meet her when we get to HQ in Maryland. She’s great. You’ll love her. But I should warn you,” he dropped his voice, “her boss is on the flight with us. She runs the whole agency.”
“And which agency would that be?” I asked.
Bloom grinned and ignored my question.
His non-response registered on my hackles. But he was my friend and Mai’s teammate, and I was tired and cranky and overly reactive.
Bloom preceded Savannah up the airstairs and I followed her, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching. Not because I expected any trouble, but because of old habits and SA and all the standard bullshit that I was supposedly leaving behind as I entered civilian life.
I stepped onto the small, private plane that had eight passenger seats, four on each side of the aisle, two on each side facing forward and the other two facing backward. There were two passengers already on board, but Kyle was blocking my view.
I glanced at the cockpit where the pilot, a fifty-ish-looking man, was doing pre-checks. We grunted greetings at each other.
“Savannah, let me introduce you,” Bloom said as the automated stairs began pulling up behind me. “This is Ms. X, or just X if you prefer, and one of my teammates, Ryan Wheeler.
Ms. X. Yeah, that didn’t sound ominous at all. But Bloom and Mai and the promise of help, I reminded my skeptical mind.
I turned to see the other passengers on the plane. X was a stern-looking woman wearing a jet-black pantsuit with her black hair pulled up in a tight bun. Wheeler was a touchy-feely blond guy who already had one hand clasped around Savannah’s fingers and the other resting on her elbow.
I immediately hated the fucking guy.
“Ryan Wheeler,” Mr. Touchy-Feely said to Savannah, “but you should call me Ryan.”
“Excuse me,” I said, pushing between them. I pointed to the overhead bin. “I need to secure the luggage.”
“‘Course, mate.”
The next two things I clocked about him were that he had a slight Australian accent, and he didn’t look the least bit fazed by my death stare as I stacked our bags in the overhead bin.
When I was finished, he stuck out his hand. “You must be the famous Purple Haze that Bloomers goes on about.”
I begrudgingly shook with him.
Meanwhile, Savannah had shaken hands with X, who then indicated the seat across from her. Savannah sat down, and before I could squeeze past Wheeler to get to her, the asshole sat in the seat beside her. I scowled until I caught Kyle fighting back a laugh at my expense. I realized my expression could be misconstrued as that of a jealous boyfriend, which I was not, so I made a concerted effort to put on a neutral look.
I sat across the aisle from Wheeler, which would make it conveniently easy to grab him by the throat if he did anything untoward.
“Purple Haze?” Savannah leaned forward and smiled at me.
I shrugged. “I didn’t make up the nickname.”
“He didn’t live up to it, either,” Kyle said, taking the seat facing me. “Imagine my disappointment when I found out he can’t jam like Hendrix.”
“He makes up for it in karaoke chops,” Savannah said unhelpfully. “Have you ever heard his version of the Rickroll?”
“Rickroll?” Wheeler glanced between Savannah and me.
“The Rickroll, you know, from our high-school days,” Bloom jumped in. “Someone would send you a link, and instead of going to the internet page you thought it would, you’d land on an 80s video by Rick Astley.”
“Oh, I remember that.” Wheeler-the-asshole grinned at me, then quietly sang, “‘Never gonna give, never gonna give,’” from the song, then pointed to me.
I didn’t rise to the bait. In fact, I doubled down on trying not to be annoyed by the guy, but Savannah was smiling at him So. Damn. Much.
X didn’t comment on any of it. Instead, she called out, “Carlos, we’re ready when you are.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the pilot responded. He engaged the engines.
“We’ll chat once we’re airborne,” X said quietly.
I couldn’t get a read on the woman, but I needed to figure her out because something about this situation was making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I couldn’t pinpoint a true threat, so I took that in as information and resolved to stay alert. As if I’d be capable of any other state.
Wheeler, who had been out of the spotlight for all of thirty seconds, piped up. “Now that I’ve met the incomparable Savannah—beautiful name, beautiful lady—I’m afraid I have to leave you. I promised the pilot we’d catch up on the flight.” He stood. “He’s an old buddy of mine from my days with the Air Force 24th.” He winked at Savannah. “But we’ll have plenty of time to get better acquainted later.”
If he hadn’t stepped into the cockpit and closed the reinforced door behind him, I might have followed him to have words. About what, I couldn’t say, since he hadn’t done anything worse than flirt—pretty pathetically—with my… friend.
Shit. She was only my friend. Even if she were more than that, I would need to behave better, but under the circumstances, I really needed to calm the hell down.
“Wait,” I said as my brain caught up with my ears, “did he say the 24th? As in the 24th Special Operations Wing?”
“The same,” X confirmed.
“That guy is spec ops?” I shook my head. I didn’t track. Maybe I was being an asshole, sounding so incredulous, but I’d had the guy pegged as a civie, and a slacker at that.
“He was until he joined us a year ago,” X said. “He’s as fire-forged and battle-tested as you are, Mr. Hayes.”
The four of us in the passenger seats were silent for the next couple of minutes.
The second we were aloft, X spoke to Savannah. “I have some papers for you to sign.” She pointed to the folded-up tray table to Savannah’s right, then glanced at me. “Mr. Hayes, you, of course, are still under the terms of the contracts you signed while you were in the Army.”
“Understood.” I fucking hated the direction this was going, and I was pretty sure whatever X said next was going to be the reason my senses had kicked into high alert the second we’d boarded.
She handed papers to Savannah. “You should read those, then sign and date at the bottom of each.” She pulled out a metal press so she could notarize it on the spot.
“Wait.” I laid my hand over the top of the papers. “To be clear, she’s signing an NDA about what you’ll share with her and, in return, will be asked to cooperate as a witness.”
“We will share as much as we can,” X directed her answer to Savannah. “And we will ask for cooperation in return—”
“No.” I grinned, but not with humor. Goddamn government-speak. “She’s not signing or saying anything until you guarantee she is and will remain a witness and not a target of any investigation.”
Savannah raised her eyebrows and stared at me. “He’s right. I’m not guilty of anything. Other than being an idiot, I guess, but the punishment for that is losing my business. I don’t deserve to end up in jail.”
“That’s not our plan.” X glanced between Savannah and me. “I swear to you, we’re the good guys, and we only want to help you.”
“When you say we…” I waited for her response.
“I can’t discuss the agency until we have Savannah’s signature.”
“Can you at least say whether it’s military?” I asked.
She pressed her lips together as she considered, then nodded. “About half our staff are former military.”
There was that neck-hair-raising adrenaline rush again. “And the other half?”
“A mix,” she answered. “A lot of former law enforcement. For example, Mai’s team partner was in the FBI.”
Smooth move, reminding me she was playing on my sister’s team. But I wasn’t satisfied yet. “And you?”
To her credit, X’s gaze didn’t waver. “Most of my career, I’ve worked as a State Department attaché.”
“Does that mean spies?” Savannah asked. She turned to me. “Is Mai a spy?”
I shrugged. It sure as hell sounded that way.
“We’re with an agency you’ve never heard of, and we don’t violate laws or codes of conduct, be they international or domestic,” X answered. “That’s absolutely all I can say without those signatures. And I’m willing to add a clause to the contract to ensure you’ll be protected.” She took back the pages and hand-printed and initialed a paragraph on the last page, just above the signature block.
I took advantage of the silence to stare down Bloom.
He held his hands up. “We’re the good guys, brother, I swear. If X says she’ll take care of Savannah, she means it.”
X handed the revised pages plus a blue pen to Savannah.
I leaned across the aisle and read over Savannah’s shoulder. When we were done, she glanced at me. I was no lawyer, but I’d signed my fair share of government contracts over the years, and this one looked acceptable to me. I nodded. Savannah signed. X tucked away the papers and pen in her briefcase.
“Great. We’ll get you up to speed when we arrive at our facility, which is a short drive from the airstrip in Maryland,” X said. “Tonight, we’ll give you a quick update. Most of the information can wait until tomorrow. You’ll meet Pasco in person then, too.”
“Can’t you tell us anything now?” I said. “Your agency name, what Devlin’s mixed up in, what Savannah’s role in all this will be?”
X’s face was unreadable. “We’ll go over all of that with Savannah when we reach the facility.”
My heart thumped loudly enough for me to hear it. “Just Savannah.”
X nodded. “We appreciate your service, Mr. Hayes, but now she’s under our protection. We won’t take up any more of your time. Good luck with your job interview, by the way. We’ve taken the liberty of rescheduling it for you, and Carlos will have you back in Chicago in plenty of time.”
“That wasn’t the deal,” I said quietly.
X shook her head. “We have no deal with you, Mr. Hayes. And our regulations don’t allow non-agency members access to our facilities unless there are pressing reasons of national security, like being a witness to an alleged, dangerous money laundering operation.”
Savannah sucked in her breath. “Devlin’s mixed up in money laundering?”
“Alleged money laundering,” X answered.
The adrenaline that had been ebbing and flowing since I’d stepped onto the plane sliced through the final bit of brain fog. “If I were to, say, become one of your operatives, would I be allowed to stay with Savannah, watch out for her, make sure you do right by her?”
“Are you asking for a job?” X smiled. “I’m flattered. Any agency like ours would be happy to have a man with your skill sets join the team.”
Savannah touched my arm. “Ben, no. You have the job in Chicago waiting.”
I laid my hand protectively over hers. She was one of the few people in the world who could make signing myself over to another government agency worth it. “Can we cut the bullshit?” I asked X. “What’s the shortest-term contract I can get?”
“Six weeks,” she answered. “You’ll be stationed at the same facility where Savannah will be staying. You’ll be allowed to work with us on her case. If that’s resolved in less than six weeks…”
“I’m all yours for other missions.” I held out my hand. “I bet you have another contract in that briefcase with my name on it.”
X pulled out more paperwork and handed it to me.
Savannah stared wide-eyed at me. “Ben, I can’t let you do this for me.”
I smiled at her. “Sav, I’ve lived through literal hell. I can do anything for a mere six weeks.” I held out my hand again to X. “I’m also going to need that pen.”
I read the terms, signed, and handed back everything to X.
She tucked the contract into her briefcase, crossed one knee over the other, and clasped her hands in her lap. “Welcome to the Headquarters for the Elimination of Advanced Threats, known to the few who are aware of it as HEAT.”