Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“This morning, Building B had a maintenance guy arrive to fix the central air-conditioning unit.” Jessica rubbed the nape of her neck and looked at the team gathered in the hotel suite.
“That’s where the event is being held. What the hell do they need air-conditioning for?” Asher looked up from the computer screen sitting atop his lap. “It’s sixty degrees out, and tonight it’ll be cooler.”
“Exactly,” Jessica said. “What if the Kozaks aren’t planning on blowing the place up, but they’re going to use the building’s ventilation system to release some sort of toxin or gas?”
“And who knows what kind of bio-agents the Russians have on hand.” Luke went around behind Jessica’s desk to view the screen. “Can you hack the feeds to see if we can get a look at their maintenance guy?”
“Doing that now.” Jessica’s fingers deftly moved over the keyboard like some cyber-pro, and, apparently, she was.
Sam swiped a hand through her messy dark locks. She’d been combing her fingers through her hair for hours—ever since the plane had landed in Russia that morning.
“It’s our deliveryman. Gregoff Voyesky.” Jessica turned her screen to show the team.
“Looks like he made it home,” Knox grumbled.
“Still no luck identifying which guards the Kozaks paid off or planted at the event tonight?” Sam stood from the red-tufted, velvet chaise lounge positioned near the couch where Asher, Liam, and Knox were sitting.
Owen was by the window, eyes sweeping outside, as if on alert. He’d barely spoken since Jessica and Luke had assembled the team.
“I’ve made some progress,” Knox announced. “I found one guy who wasn’t a last-minute add, but he had a major transfer of funds into his account this morning, and it’s not the kind of money a guard would make.”
“Get me his name, and I’ll have a word with him,” Luke said to Knox. “I want eyes on a swivel tonight—assume everyone is an enemy until confirmed.”
“What if you tip off the guard when you speak to him?” Sam asked.
Before Luke could answer, Asher said, “This isn’t our first rodeo, honey.” He rose from the couch and set his laptop on the nearby table.
“I do have a favor to ask, though.” Luke faced her. “Do you think you could get us waitstaff uniforms? Jessica’s working on creating IDs, but it’d be easier to move around the building if we look like we work there.”
“Yeah, I think so. Are you planning on going in early?” She crossed her arms, her nerves catching in her throat.
“Asher’s the only one of us who speaks Russian fluently and won’t raise alarms, so he’ll go in early and scope out the scene.
He can try and get access to their ventilation system and see if it’s been tampered with.
” Luke glanced around the room at his team.
“But the rest of us will do a clothing swap once you get us through security.”
“You know how to diffuse bombs?” Sam pivoted to face Asher now, her pulse climbing at the idea of a bomb detonating tonight. “Don’t the SEALs have EOD guys with them for stuff like this?”
Asher eyed her, a smile in his eyes. “You know about explosive ordinance disposal?”
“I do work for the Intelligence Committee. I know a thing or two about what you do.” I’ve just never been this close to the action.
Asher grinned. “Well, I’m not an EOD guy, but I know my way around weapons of all kinds.” His gaze suddenly darted to Jessica. “I’m a bit of an expert at handling volatile”—he coughed into a fist, and Jessica’s eyes met his—“situations.”
Jessica rolled her eyes and returned her focus to the screen.
Sam had no idea what that was all about. “I’ll make a call and see what I can do.” She nodded. “But what if someone spots you guys in part of the building tonight where you shouldn’t be, even in server uniforms?”
“We’ve got it covered,” Jessica replied. “I’ll loop the security feeds, so our guys won’t be caught on tape, but first, I’ll try and get eyes on the Kozaks and any other enemy combatants.”
“I hate going in without ISR first.” Knox’s nostrils flared.
“We can’t exactly send one of our drones over Russia,” Owen said, speaking for the first time in a while. “What kind of weapons will Secret Service provide us once we’re inside?”
Liam stood, taking point on the question. “They couldn’t get us rifles without raising alarms. We’ll be working with pistols.”
“Better than nothing,” Knox grumbled.
“You really think your taken men will be in that building? Even Teteruk?” Sam asked. “I mean, how would they get them in there unnoticed, especially if Gromov isn’t in on the Kozaks’ plans?” Sam’s fingers curved around the back of her neck.
“The building blueprints date way back to the old Soviet days when not everything was clearly defined, and purposefully so. I’m betting some tunnels connect to the nuclear bunkers,” Jessica explained. “That will probably be their way in and out.”
“And the Kozaks are really willing to give up everything for revenge?” she asked in disbelief.
“People have done shit like this for a lot less,” Luke said with a touch of anger to his voice.
She was sure, as Asher had said, this wasn’t their first time in this kind of situation. And so, she’d have to trust the team of experts to handle everything.
“You want to back out?” Asher cocked his head to the side and edged closer to her.
“No.” She looked at Owen instead of Asher, though. “If you’re in, I’m in.”
Luke closed the stiff red floor-to-ceiling drapes, blocking out the afternoon sun, and then switched on the floor lamp by the couch in the hotel suite. “When you see your father later, you can’t mention the plan, okay?”
Her dad had been tied up with Russian dignitaries all day, and she hadn’t yet seen him. She dreaded any conversation with him, especially now that she knew the truth.
Sam’s eyes journeyed to the gold-framed image of the famous Russian poet Pushkin above the couch, a reminder of where she was—Rostov-on-Don.
The city was at a crossroads—stuck between old and new. That’s how she felt. Wedged between the past and maybe a future she could see herself having.
“Should we let my dad know about what’s going on tonight?” she asked. They were one hour away from leaving for the event—and that’s what she should’ve been focusing on.
“We can’t let anyone know the plan, not even your father’s security detail.” Owen strode closer to her, fingering the collar of his pressed black dress shirt as if it suffocated him, the black tie remaining untied and draped around his neck.
“We still haven’t ID’d everyone whom the Kozaks have on the inside.” Luke stood alongside Owen and tucked his hands into his black slacks pockets.
Both men standing before her looked just as dangerous in a suit as they probably did in combat gear, only right now, they had more of the James Bond look going for them—quietly deadly.
Her fingers fanned against her collarbone when Owen’s stare fell to the deep V of her black velvet dress.
It wouldn’t have been her first choice to wear on a night like this, a night when she may need to run.
Although her high heels allowed the fabric to drift off the floor, the material was tight and clung to her curves, limiting quick movements.
Of course, when she purchased it three weeks ago, she hadn’t been worried about a life-or-death scenario.
“I just don’t want my father to be in danger.” She swallowed the hard knot in her throat and lowered her hand to her side.
“We’ll keep him safe.” Owen’s hazel irises connected with her face briefly before he glimpsed Luke out of the corner of his eye. “The rest of the team is getting set up. Did you double-check to make sure the locker has everything we need in it?”
She nodded. “There are three server uniforms inside the staff room. Locker seventy. Combination: five, two, three, five.”
“Thank you,” Luke said. “Once you get us into the event, Knox, Liam, and I will head to the staff quarters and swap our clothes for the uniforms.”
Sam looked at the clock. “Asher is about to head inside with the staff, right?” Her nerves were bunching in her stomach now, and so, she crossed her arms over her chest, not sure what to do with her hands.
“Yeah.” Luke strode closer. “We’ve got this, okay?” He was trying to reassure her, but hell, she wasn’t sure if that was possible right now.
If anyone dies tonight . . .
“I wish you had more backup.” Her fingertips bit into her biceps as she continued to hold her arms locked across her chest, a chill fluttering down her spine.
Luke wrapped a hand over her shoulder. “Don’t worry.” He cocked his head, his eyes narrowing as if he could tell she was still nervous. “I have a baby due in November, and I have no intention of leaving him fatherless.”
“A boy?” She exhaled when Luke’s hand left her shoulder.
“He’s hoping.” Owen smiled, and Luke rolled his eyes.
“Well, thank you for doing this.”
“Thank me when it’s over.” He winked and brushed past her, heading for the door. “We’ll all rendezvous in the lobby at nineteen hundred hours. Hopefully, I’ll have good news from Asher by then.”
“If the Kozaks weaponized the ventilation system, will Asher really be able to diffuse it?” she asked once Luke opened the door.
“Yeah, most likely, but we’ll need to wait until the start of phase two,” Luke answered. “We can’t tip off the Kozaks. But we’ll have time. The Kozaks want to make a show of tonight.”
“We have to beat them to the punch,” she said, nearly under her breath.
Luke smiled. “And we will.”
She turned to face Owen once Luke was gone. “I trust you guys, I do, but this is all just pretty intense.”
“You’re handling it damn well, I’d say.” He came up to her, and she mindlessly reached out and pulled at the ends of his tie.
“I wish you weren’t here, though.” He placed a palm on top of her hand holding his tie.
“You need me.” Her teeth sank into her lip at the words because there were layers of meaning packed into them.
He quietly regarded her, his eyes thinning.
“You look handsome.”