Chapter 14 Going on the Offense #2
“Sydney’s an Olympic gold medalist in marksmanship,” Caroline explained. “She cleaned up in the ten, twenty-five, and fifty-meter events with five golds. Rifle, pistol, and shotgun.”
Holy hell.
“Wow,” Addison said. “Major props to Sydney.”
“She can shoot prone, kneeling or standing,” Caroline said. “I’m only telling you because she never would. She’s super humble, but she’s a phenomenal sharpshooter.”
“Nice,” Greystone said. “Any other family secrets I need to know?”
The group cracked up.
“Let’s ask her if she’ll do this,” Teddy suggested.
“Sydney’s a Special Op with Langley,” Slash said. “Won’t there be a lot of red tape and all sorts of bureaucratic BS we’ve gotta work through for this to happen?”
“It’ll be off the books,” Greystone explained.
Teddy opened the conference room door, turned back. “I’ll bring Sydney in.” Teddy strode down the hall, stopping in the break room. After filling a mug with hot coffee, he filled his water bottle before continuing to Sydney’s office.
The second he came to a stop in the doorway, she flicked her gaze in his direction.
“Hey,” she said. “Is your meeting over?”
“Not yet.” He entered. “Coffee?”
“Love it.”
He set it down, but he didn’t sit.
“Well?” she asked, her gaze drilling into his.
“You’re in,” he replied.
She flashed him a smile. “Was it a hard sell?”
“Only Greystone, but Caroline helped with that.” After downing several gulps of water, he said, “Got time now?”
With the mug in hand, she rose. “Absolutely. I’m happy to be of service.”
Sydney Austin was a five-time gold-medal winner in sharpshooting. She was definitely a cut above the others. For a man who was never without words, this information had silenced him.
He was beyond impressed.
As they entered the conference room, Sin said, “There she is. The woman, the legend, the Olympian.”
All eyes on Sydney.
She glanced around the room, then at Teddy, finally stilling on her sister. “Dammit, Car, why did you tell them?”
Caroline smiled. “Someone had to.”
“Hawk found an article about you,” Slash said, “and he was reading it to us.”
“It was nothing, really,” Sydney said.
The group laughed.
“What you’ve accomplished is not nothing,” Hawk said.
“It’s way cool,” Brit said.
“Definitely something to be proud of,” Rebel added.
“Hell, yeah,” Teddy said.
“Sydney, we want to talk to you about an off-the-books gig,” Greystone said, getting the team back on point. “We need you to take out some terrorists in the Haqazzii terror cell—
“Don’t you mean, some more terrorists,” Sydney asked with a smirk.
“Exactly,” Slash agreed.
“Before I make that happen, I need to know if you’re interested,” Greystone said.
“One hundred percent,” Sydney replied. “But I have one condition.”
“Ah, there it is,” Sin said, as the team released a collective groan.
“I’ve been searching for a misogynist and international sex trafficker named King A,” Sydney said. “His second took out a fellow Operative, my friend Naomi. I’ll help you with your plan, if you get me that case.”
She explained to the team that she’d been on lockdown and she hadn’t heard anything from her supervisor.
“I’ve been working it from here,” Sydney confessed, “and I finally got a solid lead. If Tank will partner with me, I’ll be your sharpshooter.”
Teddy needed this gig to happen. BLACK OPS were being targeted for elimination, one by one. The next time, they might not be so lucky.
A shudder flew down his spine.
C’mon Greystone, say yes.
His dogged determination to annihilate this terror group before Inauguration Day had him gritting his teeth while his fingers curled into tight fists. If Greystone wouldn’t allow this, his mission would come to a grinding halt.
“Devi farcela, Greystone,” Teddy said. “è una cosa più grande di te, più grande di me. Questa missione è il motivo per cui BLACK OPS esiste. Se non li eliminiamo, non meritiamo di far parte delle forze speciali. Non è solo una lotta tra noi e loro, è la lotta della nostra vita per preservare la democrazia nel suo nucleo.”
Silence.
“Slash, translate,” Hawk said.
“Geez, are you kidding me?” Slash blurted.
“I can give it a try,” Sydney said.
“Please,” Slash replied.
“Here goes,” Sydney began. “Tank said, ‘you gotta do this, Greystone.
It's bigger than you, bigger than me. This mission is the reason BLACK OPS lives—” She paused.
“No, sorry. Tank said, ‘it’s the reason BLACK OPS exists.
If we don't take them down, we don't deserve to be Special Forces.
It's not just us versus them, it's the fight of our lives to preserve democracy at its core.” She glanced at him and Greystone. “How’d I do?”
“Perfetto,” Teddy replied, before eyeing the team. “What’s the verdict? Are we doing this?”
In response, he received a chorus of “Hell, yeahs.”
Excitement coursed through Teddy.
“Congratulations, Teddy, we’ll do it,” Greystone said. “Sydney, I’ll make the temporary move happen. You and Teddy work out the deets and keep us in the loop.”
And just like that, Teddy was paired with the love of his life.
A badass Special Op he’d just learned was an Olympic markswoman.
In that moment, his world clicked into place.
He always believed he would take out the terror cell.
But now? He had a partner by his side with more smarts, more cunning, and more determination that he could have ever imagined.
He was ready to burn down the house… and he could not wait.
“Let’s figure out when we’re gonna set up this gig,” Sin said, “and move the players into place.”
“Monday,” Teddy said. “We’ll close the restaurant for a private event and get the word out.”
“This Monday?” Greystone asked. “In three days?”
“Yes,” Teddy said.
“We got this,” Slash said. “I’m in for whatever you need.”
“I’ll touch base with Alexandra Wilde,” Sin said as he moved toward the exit.
“Brit and I will head over to ALPHA and let the team know,” Addison said.
“Remind them to wear body armor under their civilian clothes,” Teddy said as the women hurried out.
“I’ll call my contact at V-DOT,” Hawk said. “I’m thinking we’ll put up a moveable barricade directing traffic away from the restaurant in both directions.”
“That’s perfect,” Teddy said before shifting his attention toward Sydney. “You ready to get down and dirty, partner?”
“I’ve never been more ready in my life,” she replied with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Wetwork is my world.”
“Wetwork?” Slash asked.
“Spilled blood,” Teddy explained. “We’re bringing Sydney in to take them out. Plain and simple.”
SYDNEY
That evening, Sydney had been studying an online map of Alexandria. She had memorized every business, every street name in a two-mile radius of Santini Ristorante. She’d counted the number of traffic lights on the main road and noted high pedestrian areas where foot traffic was especially dense.
She’d never trained for something this critical with such a short lead time, but she would be ready.
No other option.
“Babe,” Tank said as he sat beside her. “How’s it going?”
“Great,” she replied, her attention still focused on the map. “Tomorrow, let’s head to the restaurant. I need to drive the routes.”
As he locked in on her, a shadow fell over his eyes. He glanced at her mouth. “I want to kiss you so damn badly.”
She leaned close. “What’s stopping you?”
“I’ll want another kiss, then another. I won’t want to stop.”
“Are we alone?”
“Yeah. Well, no, we’ve got our rat couple keeping us company.”
She smiled. “Maybe we should give them names.”
“We should be out to dinner. Somewhere nice—”
“Santini Ristorante works for me.”
“There are so many great restaurants in DC.”
She caressed his handsome face with the back of her fingers. “We’ll get there.”
“We should be taking the Santini jet up to New York for the weekend.” He ran his fingers down her hair, tugged gently before letting go. “We should be having fun.”
She shot him a smile. “I am having fun.” Then, she pivoted toward him. “We’ve got however long we need to be normal. I’ve got a condensed prep time and I’ve gotta squeeze in target practice.”
He eyed the map. “Going over logistics?”
She moved the cursor to a location across the street from Santini Ristorante. “This rooftop is fifty yards from ground zero. It’s the best location, from any angle. If they’re coming up or down the street, I got ‘em. They cross the street at any point, I can take them out.”
“How many at once?”
“As many as there are,” she replied.
“When did you get your medals?” he asked before kissing her.
She delighted in the intensity of his gaze, paired with the tenderness in his kiss.
“I won the Olympics right after college, at twenty-two, so it’s been a minute. I’m not bragging, but I’m a much better shot now. I’ve been trained by the best.”
He ran his finger gently down her cheek, tipped her face toward him. “Who trained you?”
“Uh-huh.” Her insides started tingling.
She loved his touch, craved it. When he caressed her, she wanted more.
“Sydney.” He paused to kiss her.
She sighed as he deepened the kiss, letting his tongue tease hers. “Mmmmm,” she murmured. When he ended the kiss, she chugged down a breath. “You got the kissing thing down so good.”
“After you won, where did you work?”
“You really want to ask me this now? My panties are wet, you could have me splayed on the table, doing all the naughty things to me.”
The heat in his eyes intensified, and she expected him to move into action. Instead, he said, “I want to have you right here, right now, but I’m gonna make you wait.”
“I love that you’re my reward.”
“Don’t you work at Langley?”
“I do,” she replied. “Years ago, they loaned me to Maverick Hott’s ThunderStrike for extensive training, then I worked with the Marines for a year. I still train with them every year for three weeks.”
Her phone rang with a call from Lorne Cadance. “It’s my boss. This oughta be good.” She answered, put the call on speaker. “Hi, Lorne. Good to hear from you.”
“Sydney, sorry to be calling so late.”
She glanced at her laptop. 10:30 pm. She’d lost track of time. Easy to do in a building with no windows.
“Tell me something good.” She slid her gaze to Tank and winked.
“You’ve been removed from the King A case,” he said, “and you’ve been placed on temporary detail.”
“That’s not good. What’s the detail?”
“That information has been withheld.”
“From you?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“What are my next steps?” She smiled at Tank.
When he returned the smile, her heart lifted, then filled with hope.
“Sit tight and wait to be contacted,” Lorne said.
“I hope you’re reassigning the case,” she said. “Naomi and I worked on it for so long—”
“About that—King A was removed from my caseload.”
The true power of ALPHA.
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“Good luck with your detail.” Lorne ended the call.
Tank’s gaze was filled with determination and brimming with confidence. “Welcome to the show, Sydney.”
“We’re gonna have some fun, you and me,” she replied.
“These scumbags won’t know what hit ‘em,” Teddy said with complete conviction.
Time to burn the house down… and I cannot wait.