CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lennox was checking the stack of pizza boxes he’d put in the oven to stay warm when the doorbell rang.
“Coming!” he yelled in the direction of the door before heading that way.
His heart thumped a little faster when he opened the door and found Talia standing there, looking as beautiful as she had last night, and thankfully safe and sound.
He stepped forward to wrap Talia in an embrace. It was probably an overreaction, but he’d been in constant freak-out mode since she’d called last night to tell him about snooping around Bogdan’s office and almost getting caught.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured, breathing in the scent of her hair, all strawberries and flowers. “And that you’re okay.”
He expected Talia to take a step back and say something silly about having never been in any real danger, so he was surprised when she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight.
“I’m glad I’m here too,” she whispered into his chest so softly that he barely heard the words.
But the hug conveyed a lot of emotion, suggesting she’d been as freaked out about last night as he had.
“Don’t worry about me, you two,” Katrina said from the doorway. “I’ll just stand out here in the hall while you guys make out.”
Lennox stepped back, almost feeling bad about ignoring her until he saw the snarky smile on her face. Then he thought about leaving her out there for the rest of the night. Before he could come up with a way to tease her about that very thing, the thump of heavy steps on the stairs distracted him. Kyla and Wes, along with some of his other Teammates, had arrived.
He made the introductions as everyone filed into his apartment. “You already know Kyla, Wes, and Colt but I wanted to introduce you to a few other members of SEAL Team 5. This is Darwin, Simon, and Kirk. They’re in a different platoon than us but we all worked together on our recent mission out of town, so they’re aware of what’s going on with Keller. They also know about Anna, and our suspicions about the Rybaks and other families.”
“You already told them about what I learned last night, right?” Talia asked Lennox.
He nodded. “I told them the basics but maybe you could go over the entire story again.”
As Talia told her story, everyone moved into the kitchen for pizza. By the time she was done, they’d all grabbed seats in the living room with their plates and drinks.
Katrina shook her head. “You already told me what happened, and I still can’t believe it. Since when did you join the Impossible Mission Force?”
Talia laughed and held up her free hand, slice of cheese pizza in the other. “Trust me, I had no idea what I was getting into until it was too late to get out of it. When Bogdan showed up, I almost passed out.”
For the second time in as many days, Lennox found his heart starting to race faster at the thought of her being in danger. He didn’t understand why he was so freaked out, especially since he’d been in danger most of his adult life and it had never bothered him. But that was because he worried more about Talia’s safety than he did his.
Was that the way Talia felt when he was on a mission?
“What do we know about this address Talia gave us?” Lennox asked Kyla.
“It’s an office complex in La Jolla,” she said. “The most important factor being it’s owned by Bogdan Rybak. The building is still about a month away from being ready to open, which is likely why they picked it, since they’ll have the place completely to themselves.”
“To do what?” Darwin asked. “The note was on Fredrickson’s file so do we think this is a meeting between him and Bogdan? If that’s all it is, why all the cloak and dagger stuff?”
Lennox shook his head. “There has to be more going on. If I had to guess, I’d say that Bogdan and Fredrickson are going to meet with the person behind this whole operation. Keller strikes me as the muscle and enforcer type. He may have been involved in the initial meetings that Maria eavesdropped on, but there’s no way he’s in a position to make any kind of final decision.”
“Colt, didn’t you say something about trying to talk to the CIA about this?” Kirk asked. “Were they willing to get involved now that we know Keller is part of this?”
“That’d be a big fat no.” Colt scowled. “When I told Joe we had stateside contact with Keller, he told me to back off and stop sticking my SEAL nose into CIA operations. Then, when I tried to tell him about the meetings Bogdan’s been having with Keller, he shut me down before I could get the words out of my mouth. He said the CIA would burn us to the ground if we didn’t stop messing with this. Then he hung up.”
“Damn,” Lennox muttered. “I know there’s been some tension between our Team and the CIA lately, but this sounds a lot more personal than that.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Kyla said firmly. “Bottom line, we can’t depend on the CIA for help. We need to take that into account when we make our plan.”
Katrina frowned. “Wait a second. You’re not seriously suggesting we do this by ourselves, are you? Shouldn’t we, I don’t know…call the cops?”
“And what would we tell them?” Lennox asked. “The police have already decided there’s no validity to Talia’s claims. What’s changed since then? Kyla has ID’d Keller, but it’s not like the police would even look into his identity because she came up with the information while hacking.”
“And it’s not like any of us could verify that Keller is part of some kind of international terrorist ring, since that little trip we took down south never officially happened,” Colt added.
Katrina looked around the room at each of them. “But what about all that stuff Maria overheard? And the files that Talia found in Mr. Rybak’s office, not to mention the note about his meeting with Mr. Fredrickson? Surely. all of that counts for something.”
It was Talia who answered this time. “Do you honestly think the cops are going to take the word of a little girl? And they won’t think much of me when I tell them I was snooping around Bogdan’s office in order to find those files. So no, we can’t call the cops. If we’re going to figure out what happened to Anna, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”
Katrina looked like she wanted to argue, but then nodded in resignation. “Okay. I guess I’m in. What do you need me to do?”
“That’s what we’re here to figure out,” Lennox said even as he silently vowed that neither Talia nor Katrina would be doing anything that put them in danger.
They spent the better part of the next hour putting together the outlines of a plan while also demolishing the rest of the pizza.
“So, we’re treating this as a pure surveillance op, right?” Darwin summarized. “We go into the location early, set up as many listening devices and video cameras as we can, and then see what we learn? No direct contact unless everything goes sideways, correct?”
“Without knowing exactly what we’re walking into or what kind of security will be in place, I think that’s all we can do,” Lennox agreed. “If we can come out of this op with a better idea who the players are and what they’re trying to do, we’ll have to count it as a win.”
“How can Katrina and I help?” Talia asked, leaning forward enthusiastically. “Nothing you’re doing sounds too dangerous.”
Lennox had to bite his tongue to keep from saying he wanted her and Katrina to stay out of this. While his protective instincts were completely rational in his mind, Talia would probably be upset if she thought he was purposely sidelining her. Helping to find Anna was important to her.
“I think the two of you can be the most valuable to the operation by staying home and letting us know exactly when Bogdan leaves for the meeting,” he said casually.
Both Talia and Katrina frowned at that but before either of them could say anything, Kyla spoke.
“I have a better idea,” she said, eyeing Lennox as if she knew exactly what he was trying to do. “While still keeping them safe. They can hang out in the surveillance van with me. They’re both familiar with their employers’ friends and the people who move in those circles. Having them with us at the office complex will help us identify them faster, assuming other people show up.”
Lennox opened his mouth to argue his position when one of his Teammates cut his legs out from under him.
“Kyla’s right,” Darwin said. “The surveillance van will be parked three blocks away. They’ll be safe there.”
Lennox still didn’t like the idea but knew there was no point in protesting. His lone reason for keeping Talia and Katrina away from the op was their safety. If they were going to be with Kyla in the surveillance van, safety wasn’t going to be an issue.
“Okay,” he finally said. “Let’s work on a few contingency plans in case the van’s location is compromised, then call it a night.”
* * * * *
“Thanks for not making a fuss about Katrina and me being in the surveillance van,” Talia said as the two of them finished breaking down the empty pizza boxes so they’d fit in the trash can. “I know you’d rather that both of us were tucked away someplace safe and sound for this, but I can’t do that. Anna is a friend. I have to do something to help.”
Everyone else had left about fifteen minutes ago but at Katrina’s not-so-subtle urging, Talia had offered to stay and help clean up. Lennox certainly wasn’t complaining. He’d take as much time with her as he could get and had no problem driving her home later.
“I know,” he said. “And on some level, I can even admire you for being so committed to your friend that you’re willing to risk your life. But at the same time, the thought of you being in danger twists up my insides.”
By admitting how worried he was about her safety, Lennox realized he’d inadvertently revealed he cared for her—that he was already falling for her—more than she probably suspected considering they’d been on one date. But the words were out and not only was there nothing he could do about it, he didn’t regret it.
“I’m not going to be in any danger,” Talia said, crushing up the last pizza box. “Katrina and I will be in the van blocks away from anything that happens. It should be me that’s worried, since you and the other guys will be much closer to any danger.”
Lennox couldn’t deny that. Even though this was supposed to be a surveillance op, he and his Teammates had decided they wanted to be close enough to act if this meeting turned into something unexpected—such as somebody’s execution. They wouldn’t stand back and let that happen.
“I’m trained for this kind of stuff,” he said, trying to be reasonable. “And it’s my job. So me being in danger is completely different.”
Talia looked at him. “There’s no difference to me. You hate the idea of me being in danger. Well, I hate the idea of you being in danger too. It doesn’t matter that you’re a trained Navy SEAL. I still worry. Fear doesn’t care about competency. It can’t be reasoned with.”
He frowned. “I guess I’ve never thought about it that way. So, consider this my apology for trying to sideline you, and a promise to be careful if you promise the same?”
“Deal,” she said. “Pinkie swear on it?”
Talia held out her tiny little finger for him to hook his much bigger finger onto. He did it, feeling completely ridiculous. Though he had to admit, she had the nicest hands ever.
“Sorry about that,” she said sheepishly after they sealed the deal with their pinkie swear. “The hazards of spending most of your day surrounded by little kids. But thanks for promising.”
He chuckled. “Do you want some coffee?”
“Okay. I probably shouldn’t be drinking coffee this late at night, but something tells me I won’t be getting to sleep any time soon as it is.”
He glanced at her as he put two scoops of coffee into the filter and added water. His machine wasn’t nearly as fancy as the one Talia had but it made a pretty good cup. “Why do you think you won’t be able to sleep?”
“I’m too excited about the surveillance op,” she said, the words coming out so fast that he could practically hear the adrenaline coursing through her veins. “I don’t how you handle doing this for a living. I’d be bouncing off the walls all the time.”
He laughed again as he poured coffee into mugs then added sweetener to his while she did the same to hers then topped it off with cream.
“The human body is amazing that way.” Well, in a lot of ways, he supposed, carrying his coffee into the living room with her. “If you move to a place that’s hot or cold, your body will become acclimatized to the conditions in an amazingly short period of time. If you’re low on food, your body becomes extremely efficient at processing whatever you can find. And if you’re constantly exposed to situations that flood your body with adrenaline, it’ll become immune to the effects.”
Talia let out a little shudder and sipped her coffee. “Well, I hope I never have to get that used to these situations. In fact, I’ll be thrilled if this is the one and only time I ever have to do something like this.”
“That’s something we can both agree on,” he said. “Just because it’s possible to get used to anything, it doesn’t mean you should.”
“Speaking of getting used to something,” she said casually. “Have you ever dated a woman long enough for her to get used to the life you lead?”
The question caught him off guard. “Okay, while that came out of left field, I’ll be honest enough to admit that I’ve never gotten far enough with any woman for it to matter.”
She chewed on her lip, studying him thoughtfully. “Because you haven’t found the right person yet or because you haven’t been looking?”
He considered that. “Probably more of the first than the second. I’ve always been open to the possibility of a serious relationship, though I’ve never been sure I’d find the right person for me. Worse, I was afraid I’d find her and then not recognize it until it was too late. But to answer your original question, I don’t think any of the women I’ve dated would ever have been able to get used to the life I lead. Maybe that’s because I wasn’t with the right kind of woman.”
“And you think I’m the right kind of woman?”
“I think you are,” he said softly, gaze coming up lock on hers. “I hope you are.”
Talia didn’t say anything for a long time. Instead, she sat there cupping her mug in both hands, regarding him with an unreadable expression. After a moment, she set her coffee on the table.
“I hope so too,” she said.
Then she leaned forward and kissed him.