Chapter 2 #3
She looped her arms through both men, then headed back to where they’d come from. “The team’s in the break room.”
Once he got there, everyone flocked around him. Not one to get mushy, he couldn’t help but feel like this was exactly where he belonged.
A hearty handshake from Nicholas Hawk, a hug from his wife, Addison. Dakota pulled him in for a hug, as did Dakota’s twin, Sinclair Develin. To his surprise, his mentor, Stryker Truman, and Stryker’s wife, Emerson, were also there.
Slash made her way into the break room, shot the team a smile before welcoming Teddy back with a bear hug. “I missed my target-practice partner.”
“I missed my ice-cream bud,” Addison added.
“I missed all of you,” Teddy said with a smile.
“It’s been a long four months,” Dakota said. “You got me listening to audiobooks on my commute. We gotta sync up. I finished the one you recommended.”
“The one about the WWII prisoner?”
“Yeah.” Dakota slapped him on the back. “What’s next, boss?”
Teddy reveled in the good vibes washing over him. The past months had been intense, but mostly they’d been lonely. After grabbing his metal bottle from the cabinet and filling it with water, he said, “I need to update everyone. When’s a good time?”
“Now,” Dakota replied.
They moved as a pod toward the executive conference room. Hawk flanked him on his left, Stryker on his right.
“We gotta catch up,” Teddy said to Stryker. “Some private chat rooms have popped up. I want you to take a look. I’m hoping you can help decode some of the cryptic messages.”
“You got it, Tank.” Stryker entered the conference room.
The team filed in and pulled up chairs around the large table. To Teddy’s surprise, Dakota didn’t sit at the head. Greystone pulled up a chair at the near head, tossed him a nod. “Sit at the other end.”
“I’m not into hierarchy,” Teddy said as he sat catty corner to his brother.
All eyes on Dakota, the head of BLACK OPS.
“Tank, welcome home,” Dakota began. “Before you update us on The Day of Destruction, I have something I need to tell everyone.”
Silence filled the space.
“As most of you know, my business partner at Goode Luck Real Estate, Juanita Goode, passed away a few weeks ago.”
“I’m sorry, Dakota,” Teddy said.
“Thank you.” Dakota paused. “I’ve got twenty-two real estate offices in the DMV, and Juanita had been managing them, along with our fifteen-person exec team.
She was running the biz solo, so I could manage BLACK OPS.
I’m taking a leave of absence here, for a few months, so I can make sure my real estate company stays solid.
Losing Juanita has been rough for our employees.
She’s been the backbone of our company for years.
For the foreseeable future, Greystone is stepping in to run BLACK OPS. ”
“Because I don’t have enough to do,” Greystone said, and the team laughed.
“Greystone agreed under one condition,” Dakota continued. “He asked for a co-lead, since we have to share him with the Navy.”
“Caroline?” Slash asked.
Caroline shook her head. “My name was floated, but—and I know this won’t be well-received by the badass women on our team—I love being Grey’s second.”
“You’re my first,” Greystone said to her, and she and Greystone shared a smile.
“I actually missed the googly eyes and make-out sesh’s between you two,” Teddy said, and the team burst out laughing.
“Someone else was recommended as Greystone’s co-lead,” Dakota said after the room quieted.
“Sin?” Teddy volunteered.
“No,” Dakota replied. “You, Tank.”
His eyes widened. “Me?”
“You’re runnin’ The Day of Destruction,” Greystone said. “The team has prioritized that case over everything.”
“I’ll do it,” Teddy said. “Whatever we need to get the job done.”
Excitement thundered through him. Being asked to step up was an honor. For as long as he’d been working, he’d been a beta to his brothers or his cousin. This was his chance to be seen as a leader. It was his mission, made sense that he’d been given this responsibility.
“Great,” Dakota said. “Keep me in the loop.”
“We got you,” Greystone said. “This is a temporary fix until you find someone to help you run your billion-dollar empire.”
The energy in the room shifted. Dakota was a beloved member of ALPHA BLACK OPS and a strong leader.
“Tank, I love you,” Slash said as she placed her hand over her heart, “but Dakota and I go back aways. Gonna miss you, DL.”
Dakota tossed Slash a nod. “Same.” He pushed out of the chair, shot the team a confident smile. “Regardless of who’s leading the mission, the group, or the organization, we’ll get it done. We’re not just employees, we’re family.”
“I get it,” Teddy said. “Even temporary goodbyes are tough.”
Dakota extended his hand to Greystone, who rose and shook it. Then, the team said their goodbyes.
Slash swiped away tears and Sin looked like his soul had been ripped out.
“I’ll be back,” Dakota said in his best Terminator voice. He left the group laughing, and shut the door behind him.
After the OPS returned to their seats, Greystone said, “Tank, update us.”
Teddy plugged in his laptop, toggled over to projection-mode, and shone the photos on the back wall. Slash rolled her chair out of the way while Emerson hit the lights.
“These are the three terrorists I took out,” Teddy began. “The first one is Sunjib Farquin, a prominent lieutenant in the Haqazzii cell.”
After Teddy’s brief rundown of how he caught him, Sin said, “A pit maneuver. Nice move.”
Teddy acknowledged him with a nod. “Farquin said, ‘You will die. Then, we kill your team. When you are all dead, we are going after the big one. The one where we bring America to its fucking knees. Death and destruction to America.’”
“Hmm,” Addison said.
“The big one,” Emerson murmured. “The. Big. One.”
“Yeah. Before we unpack that, the second terrorist said, ‘Haters of democracy and countries that loathe America will make their move when America falls.’ He added, ‘When we cut off the head of the eagle, it cannot fly. Then, we will finish the job we started. America will be overtaken by powerful people.’”
Caroline pushed out of her chair, walked over to the white board pasted on the side wall, and jotted down those statements.
“I haven’t posted these photos in the private chat groups on the Dark Web.” Teddy paused. “I think we should. What do you guys think?”
“Post the pics,” Greystone said.
“Hell, yeah,” Slash said. “Let’s poke those sons of bitches.”
The team agreed. The photos of the three dead terrorists would get posted.
“Before I do that, we gotta decipher their code,” Teddy said. “Let’s throw out any idea that comes to mind.”
“I’ve got one,” Caroline said, “and it’s not good.”
“Let’s hear it,” Teddy said.
As Caroline spoke, a heavy silence fell over the room.
In his gut, he knew she was right.
How did this go from bad to worse so damn fast?