CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“I’m seeing three vehicles on my screens. They’re pulling into the parking lot now,” Kyla’s voice came over the earpiece Lennox was wearing loud and clear. “Dark SUVs that practically shout Bad Guys R’ Us.”
“Do you have a visual on Bogdan, Fredrickson, or Keller yet?” Colt asked from where he lay beside Lennox in the partially completed computer server room down the hall from the conference room where they expected the meeting to be held. “If they’re not here, we could be completely wrong about this entire meeting.”
“We can’t see everyone in the vehicles yet but from the looks of it, these are advance scouts here to clear the building before the principles are put at risk,” Kyla said.
Crap. If these guys were professional enough to send in scouts first then this simple observe and report mission had become much more dangerous than they’d originally thought. He and the other guys scattered around the building were all well hidden, but if these scouts were good, they could still stumble over one of them, and then this op would quickly change from a low-risk surveillance job into an all-out firefight reminiscent of what happened in South America.
Normally, the idea of getting into a shootout with a bunch of bad guys—regardless of how well trained they might be—wouldn’t bother him, but considering the limited weapons and ammunition Kyla had been able to acquire for what was supposed to be a minor surveillance operation, Lennox was less confident than he usually was.
He only hoped that Talia hadn’t figured out how dangerous the situation could get if things went sideways. Lennox had promised her that this op would be safe.
“Everybody check your position one more time,” Lennox said over the radio. “Make sure you’re good if someone does a security sweep in your area.”
“Simon and I are in the ceiling above the projection room behind the conference space,” Darwin replied. “No reason they should even think about looking up here.”
“Ditto for Kirk and me,” Wes responded. “We found a niche in the elevator shaft. No one is going to find us in here, but we can still get to anyplace in the building within seconds.”
Lennox glanced at Colt, lifting a brow then realized his Teammate probably couldn’t see him well enough in the dark room. He flipped off the mic on his radio.
“I thought the plan was for Simon and Kirk to work together.”
Colt shut off his mic. “I thought so too but Simon and Kirk aren’t talking to each other at the moment because of that stupid training crap.”
“Well, that sucks,” Lennox muttered. “If I ever get lucky enough to get picked for some super-secret Ninja Turtle training, promise you won’t turn your back on me?”
His friend snorted. “I promise. As long as you promise to share if you win the lottery.”
“Deal,” Lennox said with a laugh.
That’d only happen if he played the lottery, of course. But it was the thought that counted.
“We have eight mercenary types getting out of the vehicles,” Kyla announced softly, as if she was concerned she’d be overheard, even from three blocks away. “They’re splitting up and doing an exterior sweep of the building.”
Lennox turned on his mic so he could answer. “Copy that. Make sure you’re recording all the audio feeds. Maybe we’ll get lucky and pick up some gossip that will mean something to us while these guys are walking around.”
“Speaking of getting lucky,” Colt said a few seconds later as Lennox turned his attention to the hallway outside the server room, his view a little obstructed by the dozens of servers’ racks they were hiding behind and the partially completed drywall. “How are things between you and Talia?”
Lennox hesitated for a second, listening as Kyla continued to provide details on the scouts’ location outside the building.
“It’s going great,” he said. “It seemed like Talia and I were stuck on the edge of something we wanted, neither of us willing to take the next step, but after the planning meeting at my place the other night, we sort of had a…well…I’d guess you’d call it a breakthrough. I’m not even sure how it happened, but I think we might have a shot at making this thing between us work.”
“By breakthrough, I assume you mean you slept together?” Colt asked, and then immediately held up his hands. “Not that I have a problem with that. But I wonder if you’re letting great sex take the place of an honest conversation. A few days ago, you told me that it seemed like she didn’t want to be involved with a SEAL. Has she suddenly decided that it’s not a problem?”
Lennox grimaced at Colt’s blunt assessment of the situation. But if he was being honest, his friend wasn’t wrong. Since sleeping together the night of the planning meeting, he and Talia had spent a lot of time together, both at his place and her cottage. Yes, they’d slept together several times since, each time better than the one before. And yes, they’d studiously avoided having any real conversations about the elephant in the room.
“Talia hasn’t said,” he mumbled. “I’ve tried to tell myself that the two of us sleeping together means we’re all good, but I think it’s more of an unspoken agreement to ignore the complicated stuff and live in the moment.”
Colt was quiet for a moment like he was considering that. “Look I’m not trying to sound like some relationship expert here—hell, Kira and I are still trying to figure out things between us most of the time so it’s not like I have all the answers—but do you think it’s a good idea to assume everything is going to work without talking about how you’re going to make it work?”
Lennox sighed, waiting as Kyla informed them over the radio that the scouts had finished the exterior sweep and were moving inside.
“You’re right,” he said. “But it’s not like there are any magic words I can say that will overcome Talia’s fears. I’m hoping that if we spend enough time together, we’ll fall in love, and she’ll decide that being with me is worth it.”
“You’re hoping you fall in love, and it’ll solve all your problems?” Colt chuckled “That’s optimistic, but not the worst plan I’ve ever heard, I guess.”
“It’s the best plan I got,” Lennox grumbled.
He only prayed it worked. Because he liked Talia.
Any other conversation on the subject had to be put on hold as they heard the sound of deep voices coming from the direction of the bank of elevators at the far end of the corridor.
“Okay, guys,” Lennox said into his radio. “This is only the advance team, so everybody stay put unless your position is compromised. If that happens, do what you have to do to get out of the building and back to the rally point.”
Lennox hoped that didn’t happen or this entire op would go down the toilet. If they wanted to find out what the hell was going on, they needed Bogdan and the other people involved in Keller’s plans to be here. And to talk openly about what they were doing.
Heavy footsteps sounded outside the server room, interrupting his thoughts. Lennox held his breath and tightened his grip on the commercial version of his military M4 carbine that Kyla had “acquired” as the door swung open. A flashlight beam swept back and forth across the large room, and he felt Colt tense beside him as the light played across their hiding spot among the racks.
For a moment, the beam stopped moving, and Lennox thought for sure the man had spotted them. But a second later, the light moved on and the door closed as a deep voice called the room clear as the guy walked away.
The advance team continued moving through all three floors of the building, clearing every room and corridor. They were taking this search seriously, which highlighted the theory that the people that’d be here tonight were important.
“Three luxury sedans pulled into the parking lot,” Kyla announced. “Bogdan is here, along with John Fredrickson and Dayton McDaniel.”
Seven other people were with them, most of whom Talia and Katrina recognized. It went without saying that the people were all rich and powerful—two were CEOs of international manufacturing firms, one ran an import-export business that was a front for an illegal arms consortium, and two others were involved in international banking. Kyla was the one who identified the senator from the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the last one who was a crime lord with connections to the Mexican drug cartels.
“What the hell did we step into?” Darwin muttered. “I’d never expect all of these people to move in the same circles.”
“I have no idea but considering how nervously most of these people are looking around at each other—and at the guys with guns—I think it’s safe to say that not all of them are here voluntarily.”
Lennox cursed. “If things go sideways tonight, things could get ugly. Darwin and Simon, you have the best view of the conference room. If you see something that makes you think someone is in danger, then make the call and the rest of us will move in.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Colt muttered, his mic still turned off. “What are we going to do if Keller shows up and uses force to encourage these people to do what he wants?”
“Then we stop him,” Lennox said.
Mason Keller arrived a few minutes later as Bogdan and the others were being led to the conference room. At the same time, several members of the security team moved past the server room, forcing Lennox and Colt to duck down. Damn, these people were constantly moving.
When Bogdan and the rest of the people were seated in the conference room, Kyla routed one of the listening devices through the radio so Lennox and the rest of the other guys could hear what they were saying. Not that it mattered much since this meeting was intended to wrap up details from previous meetings and listening in was like starting a book in the middle. Keller was going from person to person in the room, asking specific questions, apparently about contributions Bogdan and the others had agreed to provide the organization Keller represented known as Sentinel.
“Kyla, do you know anything about a group called Sentinel?” Lennox asked.
“No. I’ll do a deep dive when we get home and see what I can find out.”
Lennox turned his attention back to what they were saying in the conference room, trying to figure out what Keller wanted out of these people.
“I get that the banking people in the group are being asked to launder money,” he said into his mic. “And that woman who runs the import-export operation seems to have been pulled into some kind of smuggling operation. But I don’t have a clue what Keller wants from the rest of them, especially those manufacturing firms and McDaniel’s bio-tech company.”
“I’m not sure, but I get the feeling that they’re supposed to build him something,” Kyla said. “I’m not sure what though.”
“What about the senator and crime boss?” Darwin asked. “Any thoughts why Keller would bother with those two?”
“No idea,” Kyla admitted. “But from the expressions I can see them making on my video screens, they’re definitely unhappy about being here.”
“I can see Keller blackmailing the congressman to get him here. The guy’s a politician so it’s a given that there are skeletons in his closet,” Kirk murmured. “But how nasty do you have to be in order to get your hooks into a drug lord?”
Nobody bothered to answer that question. Probably because they were all imagining just how bad Keller might be.
The meeting began to break up a little while later, with the attendees leaving in groups of three or four. Soon, only Bogdan, Fredrickson, McDaniel, and Keller were left. Even the advance team security force had started to leave.
“Have you run into any difficulties arranging the ship I requested?” Keller asked, apparently directing the question at Fredrickson. “Our plans to get our asset out of the country is on hold until you have that ship ready.”
What asset ?
“The container ship is ready,” Fredrickson responded. “In fact, it’s been ready for two days. So it’s not the ship holding up your plans. It’s getting the asset through port security.”
“Bogdan, is it safe to assume you’re dealing with this port security issue?” Keller asked, the barest hint of menace in his tone. “After all, your contacts within the more unsavory elements at the port are part of the reason you’re here.”
Lennox snorted. So Bogdan had his fingers in the city’s criminal element. Or at least the criminal element that controlled the port’s security. He probably shouldn’t be surprised.
“I’m working on it,” Bogdan answered, his words picked up by a microphone somewhere outside the conference room. “But there has recently been some new security procedures implemented at the port by elements outside the control of my unsavory contacts. Perhaps if I was able to talk to your superiors instead of constantly dealing with mid-level muscle, I’d be more motivated to resolve the dilemma.”
Damn. Bogdan was used to being in charge, and he seemed to be angling for more control over the situation.
“Sorry, but the people I work for at Sentinel don’t bother talking to people like you,” Keller said.
“They will if they want my continued assistance in this matter,” Bogdan said, sounding surprisingly firm with his answer.
Keller only laughed.
Lennox wasn’t sure if that meant Rybak had won the argument or not.
“Keller is getting in his vehicle to leave,” Kyla announced over the radio a few moments later. “The rest of his team are leaving, as well as Bogdan and the other men.”
“Do you think the asset that Keller mentioned is Anna?” Talia asked before anyone else could say anything.
“Maybe,” Lennox said. He didn’t want to get Talia’s hopes up when there was no real evidence that Anna was even alive. “Whether it’s her or not, we need to track down that ship Fredrickson mentioned and be ready to search it.”
“You guys are seriously talking about boarding a container ship docked somewhere here in San Diego?” Katrina asked, her high-pitched words betraying her surprise. “Like pirates?”
“Sorry to interrupt but I think we might have a problem,” Kyla said. “One of those black SUVs from Keller’s advance team has driven past our surveillance van three times in the last couple minutes. I’m pretty sure they’ve made us.”
Crap .
“We’re on our way,” Lennox said.
As he and Colt slipped out of the server room, he heard Talia and Katrina start to panic over the radio. He was more than a little worried himself. The entire reason he’d been okay with Talia being involved was because the surveillance van had been parked so far away. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been far enough.
“How could they have figured out there’s anyone in the van?” Colt asked as they hurried toward the exit. “Or that you have anything to do with their meeting? Could it be a coincidence that they’re driving around the block multiple times?”
“It could be,” Kyla said in a tone that suggested there was no chance in hell. “If Keller’s people are as good as you guys claim, they might have picked up on all the low energy transmitters we installed to send the audio and video feeds from the building to the van. I’ve shut them all down now, but if they’re smart, they’ll still be able to find us. That’s probably why they’re all driving around in circles trying to triangulate our position from the last recorded signals.”
“We need to get out of here!” Katrina practically screamed.
“No!” Lennox shouted into his mic. “You can’t start the van. If Kyla is right and those SUVs are out circling the neighborhood looking for you, they’ll lock on you the second you turn on your headlights and start to move. Stay where you are.”
Man, he hoped they did as he told them. Who knew what those men would do if they found the van?
“Darwin and Simon, you two are with Colt and me,” Lennox said as he ran. “Wes. Kirk. You two are on extraction duty. If we can’t get them out, we’ll be depending on you to do it.”
With that, he and Colt bolted out of the building, sprinting toward the surveillance van and the three unarmed women inside.