3. Jasmin
Jasmin
“Linc, welcome. Glad you could make it in. You all settled?” Z turned and shook Mr. DDG’s hand.
“Yeah, all set. Thanks, Zane,” Linc said as he leaned in to give Z one of those manly slap on the back embraces.
Holy mother God, this cannot be my new teammate. Shit and damn.
“Team, this is Lincoln Parker. Linc, this is your new team, Eric, Leo, Jaxon, Colin, and of course, Jasmin. Drew will brief you on his case load and show you around tomorrow.” Z pointed to each of us as he made his introductions.
Linc nodded his head in turn and added, “Great to be here. Zane has told me a lot about all of you.”
“Take a seat,” Z said as he motioned to one of the remaining empty chairs. “You’re just in time for the brief and after action reports. Did you look over the Deepweb336 files I sent you?” Z asked as he slid a file folder across the table toward Mr. DDG.
“Yes, LT, and I added some notes of my own about the Russians involved.” Linc’s answer made Eric’s eyes light up.
“Fucking Russians, it’s always the God damn fucking Russians!” Eric could not miss an opportunity to add “fucking” to the word “Russian”.
“Christ, settle the hell down, Eric.” Z shook his head as he picked up his tablet once again.
“Jake’s preliminary reports show we have three major players on the board.
All of which piss me right the fuck off.
This is beginning to play out like a who’s who in a fucked up game of P’yanitsa.
” Z slid his finger across the smooth screen of the tablet and changed the picture on the LCD wall monitor to mug shots of three Russians.
“Boris, Viktor, and Andrei Orlov. Three brothers, each more fucked up than the last.” Z pointed his tablet in the direction of the screen.
Just to note, I was having a hard time paying attention to the information on the monitor.
Three of the ugliest Russians I have ever seen were no competition for possibly the sexiest man alive sitting approximately fifty six inches away from me.
A little over four feet. One hundred forty two and some change in centimeters.
Sweet baby Jesus, I could smell him from across the table.
Sex. He smelled like sex. More to the point, the way he smelled made me want to rip his clothes off.
Thankfully, the sound of someone speaking stopped my wandering thoughts.
“Last I heard they were serving life sentences in The Black Dolphin,” Jax informed the room.
Holy shit, if the Orlov brothers were doing time in Russia’s highest security prison, then they had to be the worst kind of criminals. The only sentence you could get when entering The Black Dolphin was life. It housed everything from child molesters to members of the Bratva.
Unfortunately, being incarcerated would not be much of an impediment to the Orlov brothers. Bratva members in prison were every bit as active as the brothers who were free. No one fucked with those assholes; they had been considered the criminal elite in Russia since the early 1900’s.
“The Orlov brothers are out. Three weeks ago, Viktor gave the Russian government information on a Chechen separatist attack in Saint Petersburg. The minister of Justice’s son was killed in the attack.
Needless to say, the Russians were feeling generous when Viktor demanded release for himself and his brothers in exchange for the information,” Linc informed the room.
“Fuck it all to hell, they’re out? How in the hell was this shit missed?” Z’s face was growing redder by the moment.
“It was kept under wraps. The Russians don’t want word to get out that they negotiated a deal with these three animals. The FBI and DEA will want answers as to why three major players in the drug trade have been released, not to mention the girls,” Linc explained.
“How is it that you know about their release before our contacts in the district and at the White House?” I asked. Something was not adding up. Who the fuck was this guy and how did he have information before Z?
Z shot me a warning glare, which I returned with one of my own. This was my fucking team; it would be our asses on the line when we get sent on an op based on this new asshole’s information. Trust but verify. Fuck yeah, I was going to question him. If he didn’t like it, then screw him.
“I was there.” That was all the explanation I got from Linc as he glared at me.
“That’s it? You were there. Care to elaborate on how it is that you were at The Black Dolphin, while a deal was being negotiated after a Chechen attack?
” I continued my questioning. Judging by the look on his face, he did not like being questioned, and certainly did not like that it was being done by a woman.
“All due respect, Jasmin, that is classified information.” Linc’s stare almost made me shrink back into my seat. Almost.
Fuck no.
“Fuck your all due respect bullshit! That might work on the pansy ass women you know, but I asked you a direct question. I expect a direct answer. In case you have forgotten, mister I have been dark for two years. This is how a team works, they share information. As far as clearance, I can assure you my clearance is above top and it is up to date.” I felt my anger elevate to a near nuclear level.
Was this asshole for real? I took a chance and looked around the table at my team.
They all had the same expressions on their faces.
Eric was especially enraged. What the hell was that about?
“Fuck me! Jas, calm the hell down!” Z yelled as he slammed his fist on the table. I fucking hated being chastised like a child. Screw that.
“So tell us, Red Wing , what is your relationship with the Russians now?” Eric asked as he jumped in on the action.
Linc’s face flashed with some sort of emotion but he schooled his features before I could place it. Asshole.
Z sighed and set his tablet on the table; a look of resignation on his face. “Looks like we are doing this now,” he muttered.
Z flipped off the sixty inch monitor and walked over to the control panel on the wall. He lowered the blackout shades that also served as soundproof insulation over the polycarbonate ballistic windows.
The entire office was fitted with bulletproof and soundproof walls. Every precaution had been taken so that the outside world could not intrude; something that was necessary when you are dealing with top secret missions.
With the blinds drawn, Z circled back to his position at the head of the table. He gave each member of the team a look that told us we were not going to like what he had to say.
Fuck. Why couldn’t today just be a normal debrief? I needed a beer and some sleep.
“I told you it would take my team all of five fucking seconds to start to sniff this shit out.” Z was looking at Linc as he sat back down in his seat and steepled his hands in front of him.
He addressed the team. “Lincoln was part of a joint task force. His mission was to find an American DEA agent who was assisting the Russian government, and the Bratva, in the transportation of drugs into and girls out of the United States.” Z stopped, blowing out a breath with a look of pure hatred on his face.
“His investigation led him to The Black Dolphin and prison officials who were allowing the Bratva to continue to run drugs from prison.”
“Mother fucking Russians,” Eric repeated yet again.
He just could not help himself. It was almost laughable at this point.
I knew he had some sort of resentment toward the Russian government from his time in the CIA.
Unfortunately, he had never spoken to me about his time in Russia, his CIA involvement, or the scars on his back.
One of those scars was the brand of a dolphin.
I didn’t like people prying into my shit so I repaid the favor and did not pry into theirs. Eric would talk when he was ready.
“Wait just one fucking minute! Black Dolphin!” I quickly stood up and started pacing.
I did my best thinking while pacing the floor.
“Red Wing was dark for two years…deep cover in Russia. Eric started here at Z Corps with me two years ago, and before that I was in the Ukraine on a black op with the CIA…and Z was a consultant when we were taken.”
I stalled, not wanting to remember that horrible time.
The horrid smell of piss and blood was only overpowered by the smell of constant burning flesh.
Branding. I did not want to relive my worst memories here in front of my team.
I saved that for the dark of night, where no one could see my weakness and torment.
When I sat alone and tried to remember the missing pieces of that time, and when I sleep I relive what I did remember in vivid, living color.
Only to awake with headaches so bad I almost black out.
Yeah, Z would yank my ass if he knew about those.
“Orenburg Oblast,” I spit out.
I remember the guards speaking to each other when they thought I was unconscious after a beating. They were taking us to Orenburg Oblast, the city where The Black Dolphin was located. I just needed to remember more.
“Was that where we were held?” I whispered. After the recovery mission, the CIA scrubbed all records of Zane and I being in Russia. As a matter of fact, my life as Laura Bennett had been cleaned from all CIA records, and Jasmin Smith was born in her place.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Jasmin, baby girl, sit down.” It was Drew; he was the only person alive that got away with calling me ‘baby girl’.
I didn’t realize I was almost starting to hyperventilate. Shit and damn. I needed to reel my shit in and lock all this screw up shit swirling around in my mind away. I could feel one of those headaches coming on now.
“Jasmin…” Linc tried to call out my name. Seriously? Now the asshole wanted to speak? I ignored him and faced Z instead.
“Explain.” There was nothing else to say. Just one single word, Z knew what I was asking.
“Jas, do you want me to clear the room?” At least Z had the courtesy to ask.
“These men are my brothers and they deserve to know, too. I have nothing to hide from my team.” What else could I say? Each of these men would take a bullet for me.
“It’s not pretty...” Eric started but before he could finish I shook my head at him, quieting him down.
“Jasmin, you need to sit down,” Z ordered. He walked over to the credenza where all the liquor was kept.
Oh, fuck me, this was going to be worse than I thought. Not that talking about a time you were captured and beaten was a good time to begin with, but something was not adding up. All the fine hairs on my arms were standing straight up .
This was happening, and it was happening in front of the new asshole. Fuck me.
Z set a tumbler full of amber liquid down in front of me.
I knew it was Knob Creek; it was from Z’s personal stash.
He kept the good shit for clients; expensive bottles of Lagavulin 21 Scotch and KORS vodka.
Z always joked that he could not shed his poor “redneck” tastes and stomach drinking something that was the equivalent to a private’s monthly salary.
I slowly lifted the glass to my lips and savored the burn as I emptied the glass in one gulp.
With all the strength I could muster, I tried to fortify myself against the onslaught of painful memories.
I looked at my team; Eric, Drew, Leo, Jaxon, Colin, and now Lincoln Parker, AKA Mr. DDG, and what I saw on their faces made me want to rage and throw shit. Pity. Fucking pity .
I am God damn Jasmin Smith, I do not do pity. Pity is for the weak minded, the meek. Bitches who want to play damsel in distress and have someone swoop in and save the day. Fuck that shit.