13. Cole
13
COLE
Zoey held the bulletproof vest in front of herself. She’d never imagined having to wear one. This was the first time she’d held one in her hands. It was heavy, and the fabric wasn’t soft. She slid the vest over her head and tightened the Velcro straps around her waist.
Cole walked in, wearing a matching vest. He pulled his T-shirt over his head, covering it. The tattoos on his arm peeked from below the sleeves. He looked sexy as hell as he holstered his 9mm.
He grabbed her hand and walked her to the other side of the truck, which was parked down the street from their target. The planning for the mission was incredible. The men sat around the table with laptops, looking at every entrance. Brock was on speakerphone, feeding them more information. She sat back and took in every word. Bryson and Nathan were convinced nobody would be at the warehouse; everyone was supposed to be in Las Vegas. Cole wasn’t taking any chances and made everyone go through exits and worst-case scenarios a few times. The sky was pitch dark, and the moon was behind the clouds, making it hard to see. Only a flickering light pole gave off light.
“If you don’t want to do this, let me know, and we will get back in the car and leave,” Cole told Zoey. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Something didn’t feel right, but he went through the plan and knew it like the back of his hand. He and Ian had talked. Nathan and Ian were watching from the outside, and Bryson was coming with them to get the information.
“I want to do this.”
“Fine, but if one thing doesn’t go to plan, we’re leaving, and my brothers can go fuck themselves. The information isn’t worth more than your life. There is always another way, though it might not get the information as fast. CIA doesn’t like waiting, and that’s the reason we’re doing this now. My brothers have been in way too long. They see everything as an OP, and life doesn’t always work that way.”
Zoey smiled at him. “I know Cole. You’ve told me a million times you will stop the operation if you don’t like where it’s going.”
“Yup, now tell me, does the vest feel good, and where is your gun?”
“The vest is heavy, but I think it’s good… never worn one before.” She laughed. “Never imagined I would need to wear one.” She turned to the side to show her gun holstered. They had been to the range a few more times, and her shot had improved. Cole was more confident she would hit her target this time. He hoped it wouldn’t come down to that.
“Stay by my side. No matter what goes down, you save yourself.”
Zoey nodded, but Cole still worried she wouldn’t run if something happened to him. He pressed his forehead against hers. “I love you,” he whispered before pressing his lips to hers and pulling her in close. The two thick vests kept them apart. Cole reached up, ran his hands through her hair, and deepened the kiss. He didn’t want it to end. For a second, he let the world around him fade away and focused only on the woman in his arms.
A whistle echoed down the sidewalk. Cole pulled away and kissed her one more time on the lips before turning and flipping his brother off. He didn’t need to look to see who’d whistled. Bryson had done the same shit growing up. Some things never changed, and it brought a smile to his face. He was going to run a mission with his brothers. It would have been better if Zoey weren’t part of it.
Cole grabbed Zoey’s hand, and they walked over to where the three men were standing in full tactical gear. Ian handed Zoey a helmet with night vision goggles. The tracking devices Brock had found for them were pill types. Ian, Zoey, and Cole all swallowed a pill, and Brock let him know they were online. His brothers didn’t need to know about the trackers. He still didn’t trust them completely
“Everyone ready?” Bryson asked.
“Let’s do this.” Ian sounded a little too excited.
“Yes,” Zoey replied as she buckled the helmet into place.
Ian and Nathan broke off to get into place. They were to feed the team information from the outside. The building was supposed to be clear, with no one inside.
After a couple minutes, Ian’s voice came over the comm, letting them know it was clear. He placed his hand on Zoey’s lower back as they walked down the side street to the back door. Bryson pulled out a lock-picking set and went to work on the door. Cole wouldn’t say it out loud, but he was impressed with how fast he’d gotten the door open.
Bryson took the lead, Zoey was next in line, and Cole brought up the back. They lowered the night vision goggles when they stepped into the warehouse. Cargo canisters were stacked three high, and rows of pallets wrapped with plastic. Cole squinted at the writing on one of the boxes. Columbia coffee. He knew better than to think it was only coffee in the containers.
His brother held up his fist, giving the signal to freeze. Cole’s heart pounded. On any other mission, he would have been ready, but Zoey was along. He dropped his fist after a beat and motioned for the others to continue. The office was in the back of the warehouse. They needed to cut the video feed.
Brock’s voice came over the comm. “The panel is to your right, on the wall.” He was wired into a video feed on Bryson’s helmet. The team needed him to walk them through cutting the camera without setting off an alarm.
Six more steps, and they were at the panel.
“Take off the cover.” Bryson pulled out a small screwdriver and removed the cover. Cole couldn’t tell the difference between the wires running in the panel.
“Cut the yellow and the green at the same time.”
Bryson rolled his neck before placing both wires in the cutter, and he squeezed. “Done,” Bryson told Brock matter-of-factly.
“Camera is done. You have five minutes before any triggers will go.”
They moved toward the back of the warehouse. When they were a couple feet from the door, they heard a loud crash, everyone froze. Bryson quickly opened the door to the office and cleared the room.
“Go,” Bryson demanded. “I will go see what’s going on.”
“Four minutes, thirty seconds,” Brock said over the comm.
Cole wanted to assist his brother, but he wasn’t going to leave Zoey alone. He nodded, and his brother took off back the way they came.
Zoey quickly walked into the room and sat behind Clyde’s desk. When she moved the mouse, the computer turned on. She raised the night vision goggles and put a device up to her eye. A red light scanned her eye, and the screen changed to the desktop. Any other time Cole would’ve been impressed with the technology. Not so much today. He handed her two thumb drives. She looked at him puzzled he held up two fingers hoping she understood he wanted a copy for himself.
When she smiled at him, he knew she understood. He kicked himself for not explaining earlier. It was a last-minute idea when he grabbed one of the devices from his drawer. Just in case his brothers didn’t do anything, he would give the other drive to Brock. He was done waiting for them to do what they needed. He wanted this part of his life ended.
They watched as the bar moved across the screen one minute left on the computer copy. He watched the office door and waited for his brother to return. Zoey reached up and pulled the thumb drive out of the computer as Bryson walked into the room. She quickly shoved one into her pocket and held the other out to Bryson. He wasn’t alone. He’s big brother had a tabby cat in his hands.
“You taking the cat with?” Zoey joked as she scratched behind the cat’s ear and it let out a meow.
“Incoming. Two black Mercedes just pulled up outside,” Ian said over the comm.
Bryson quickly dropped the cat and pointed toward the door. “Let’s head out the back exit.”
Cole lowered his night vision goggles and followed Zoey. “If we come under fire, Zoey, you run.”
He let out a sigh when she nodded. They crouched next to a container when the door they’d entered earlier flew open. In walked his uncle and the three men Cole had fought in the alley. They were headed back their way.
Bryson motioned for Zoey and Cole to follow. They slowly walked around the container to the edge of the warehouse. Cole could see the exit only twenty feet away when he heard his uncle complain about the lights. He didn’t have time to tell Zoey to flip her goggles up when the lights came on, making it hard to see.
She stumbled on a box in front of her, falling to the ground, and let out a small yelp. It wasn’t deafening, but one of the men heard it. He could hear them coming. He helped Zoey stand and flipped her goggles up so she could see.
Bryson motioned for us to head toward the door while he covered our backs. He held Zoey’s hand with one hand, his gun in the other, and pulled her toward the exit. With each step, Cole heard his uncle’s men getting closer. He dropped Zoey’s hand to open the door.
When his fingers touched the door handle, the alarm in the building sounded. Loud horn sirens squealed through the building. Clyde yelled for them to turn off the alarm. They used the distraction to get the hell out. Once outside, the three of them ran down the street toward the cars.
“We are out,” Bryson said over the comm.
“On our way,” Ian growled back. His partner wasn’t happy about the unexpected guest, either.
Nobody said a word as they rushed down the street. Cole tugged at Zoey’s hand to get her to run faster. He wanted to get the hell out of there. He also wanted to get back to his house and see what was on the thumb drive. Cole planned to give the info to Brock, so he could make sure it was taken care of properly.
Cole opened the door to the SUV, pushed Zoey through the door, and shut it behind him. When he rounded the corner, he stopped and looked at Bryson. “You better take him down tomorrow. I’m not going to wait much longer before I take things into my own hands.”
“I got you, brother.” Bryson leaned around and gave his brother a hug—the first one in years. “I promise to take them down.”
Nathan gave Cole a two-finger salute before jumping into the SUV. Ian climbed in next. Cole turned the key and took off without waiting for his brothers. Cole squeezed the steering wheel, partial pissed the mission wasn’t as easy as it was supposed to be. They hadn’t been caught, but it’d been too close, and his adrenaline was high.
Cole hit the phone button on his steering wheel and barked out Brock’s name. The phone rang once before Brock’s voice came over the line. “Jesus, that was close. I’m trying to figure out what went wrong, because your uncle is also in Las Vegas. I’m not kidding. There is a man identical to your uncle sitting at the craps table in Vegas. He’s on my screen. We need to figure out who this man is and when your uncle set this up. Nobody had been to the warehouse all day, and someone shows up when you did. Did you give the info to your brothers?”
Zoey smiled at Cole and handed him the drive. “Yes, but we made a copy for ourselves. It was a last-minute decision, and I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pull it off. But when Bryson left the room, to go check out the sound the cat made, we were able to make a copy for ourselves.”
“Damn.” Cole could hear the smile in Brock’s voice.
“Once we get to the house, we will upload a copy to you. I want to know what is on the USB, and if Bryson doesn’t hold up his end of the deal, I know you will do what it takes to get something done. That was close, too close, and I’m not putting Zoey through that again.” He reached over and grabbed her hand.
“I will send you a secure link where you can send the data.”
“Thanks.”
They talked for a few more minutes before hanging up. The car was silent for the rest of the drive. Cole was watching every car behind him. Something still felt off, and he wasn’t sure what would happen next.