CHAPTER SIX
“I have to admit, when they told us that we’d be providing support for a CIA covert op, I expected we’d end up somewhere in Ukraine, Jordan, or Syria,” Darwin said as he gazed out the living room window of the fancy ranch house they’d been staying in since last night. “But Cuiabá, Brazil? I definitely didn’t have that on my bingo card. I wasn’t expecting them to put us up in a place like this either.”
Lennox glanced up from the leather couch where he was reading his favorite urban fantasy novel, taking in the majestic fireplace and expensive looking paintings on the walls. There were a dozen other rooms as picture perfect as this one, including four bedrooms, a chef’s kitchen, and an outdoor swimming pool. The home was pretty sweet.
“I’ve never worked directly with the CIA before,” Kirk Palmer said from the other couch, gaze on the big screen TV and the soccer game he was watching. Blond and blue-eyed, he had that same surfer vibe that Colt did. “This could be standard issue.”
“I couldn’t care less about the housing accommodations,” Simon McGrath muttered almost angrily, poking through the book shelves on either side of the TV, looking for something to read. Tall with dark hair and brown eyes, both he and Kirk were from Darwin’s platoon and just as easy to work with. “I just want to get on with this mission—whatever the hell we’re here to do.”
Having more experience working with the CIA’s Special Operations Group, Lennox could understand his Teammates’ confusion and frustration. The agency’s ultra-secretive tactical unit had their own way of doing things and rarely felt the need to provide details to those they worked with.
“You guys might as well relax and get comfortable,” Colt suggested from the other end of the couch Lennox was sitting on. “The SOG guys will get here when they get here. They have no problem making us cool our heels for a week if that’s what they want to do.”
That was true enough.
“Man, I hope not,” Lennox muttered, not bothering to look up from his book this time. He’d read this first book in this series a dozen times, but it never failed to keep him occupied. And he definitely needed the distraction at the moment. Not only was it good, it was also lucky. Every time he read it on a mission, he always made it back. So it stayed in his travel bag for every trip. He even left it in his backpack or cargo pocket during airborne jumps because you never knew when you might need your lucky charm.
“Hey,” Colt said, waiting for him to look up from his book before continuing. “Talia’s going to be okay. Wes and Kyla promised to keep an eye on her, and if anything comes up, there’s a whole SEAL Team ready to help out.”
“I know.” Sighing, Lennox rested his head back on the couch. “But I still don’t like the idea of her being alone. You didn’t see the look in her eyes when she realized that the people she works for might be involved in Anna’s disappearance. I’m worried she’s going to do something stupid, like poking her nose into Bogdan Rybak’s business.”
Over by the built-in bookcase, Simon turned to look at him, dark eyes curious. “Isn’t Bogdan Rybak that Belarusian politician that some of you guys did a security detail for a little while ago?”
“Wait a second,” Darwin interrupted before Lennox could answer. “Is this about that call you got from her when we were at Colt and Kira’s the other night? The one from the police station.”
“Oh, yeah! That’s right,” Kirk said, forgetting the soccer game and turning all his attention to Lennox instead. “Talia is the woman that you’ve been trying to get to go out with you, isn’t she? What happened at the police station?”
Lennox quickly gave them a recap of everything that had happened with Talia and Anna, and the suspicions they had about the Rybak’s and Fredrickson’s.
“This might be a coincidence, but isn’t it a little odd that Anna supposedly went home to Bolivia, which is barely fifty miles from where the CIA sent us?” Darwin mused when he finished.
Lennox was leaning toward coincidence, especially since they knew for a fact that Anna had never been on that flight. But the truth was, they didn’t know enough to say what was going on.
“So, since she’s staying at your place, does that mean you guys are dating?” Kirk asked.
Lennox absently thumbed the pages of the closed book in his hand as he considered that. “I’m not sure. I mean, we had fun taking the kids to Legoland and hanging out together, but I don’t think she handled that call from headquarters very well. I get the feeling she doesn’t like the idea of sitting around waiting for me to get home.”
Simon flopped onto the other end of the couch that Kirk was sitting on. “Can you blame her? You finally get to spend time with a woman you like and out of the blue you’re dropped on a plane bound for South America with no clue when you’re coming back or what you’re going to be doing. Not that you could tell her even if you did know. No woman in her right mind would want to put up with that.”
It sounded like Simon spoke from experience. Lennox couldn’t disagree with the guy. Why would a woman put herself through all the crap that came with having a relationship with a SEAL?
“That’s exactly why I don’t get into serious relationships,” Kirk said wisely.
“Is that why you volunteered for that new classified training program?” Colt asked. “Because you have no one waiting back home for you?”
Lennox would be interested in knowing the answer to that too. The selection process for this secretive training program was all anyone in SEAL Team 5 could talk about lately. Mostly because no one had a clue what the training would entail or why headquarters was being so tightlipped with the details. It wasn’t like every SEAL on the team didn’t already have a Top-Secret clearance. Why couldn’t they know anything about the training until they’d already been selected?
To make things even more bizarre, the people running the training had limited their search to Darwin, Simon, and Kirk’s platoon only.
“It’s part of the reason I volunteered,” Kirk admitted. “Though to be honest, it’s mostly the chance to be involved in something challenging and exciting.”
If you were SEALs like they were, then challenging and exciting was pretty much your life.
“I thought no one knew what this training program was about,” Lennox said. “How do you know it’s going to be challenging and exciting?”
“Well…that’s true…I don’t know what I’ll be doing,” Kirk said. “But the fact that they’re being so selective means it has to be awesome, right?”
Colt snorted. “I’m not sure if that logic is valid. But hey, if volunteering for something you know absolutely nothing about is your thing, go for it.”
Lennox looked at Darwin. “Did you toss your name in the hat too?”
“Yeah,” Darwin said. “I figured it might fun.”
Lennox glanced at Simon. “What about you?”
“Sure did.” Simon grinned. “I had to. Kirk and I have been side-by-side since BUDs. I couldn’t let him take off on this adventure on his own.”
Lennox got that. He and Colt had gone through the hell that was SEAL training together, so he’d have no problem volunteering for something if his friend did, even if he didn’t know what the training involved. Swim buddies for life.
“We have two vehicles approaching,” Darwin announced from his position by the window. “Looks like we’re finally going to find out what we’re doing in Brazil. Unless this isn’t the CIA and they’re here to kill us.”
“Way to look on the bright side, Darwin,” Lennox muttered.