Brain(81)

I nodded and gave her a peck on the forehead, then brushed my lips across hers, and dipped down to tease her lips with my tongue until she opened and let me in, smiling as we kissed, and I knew she was okay.



* * * *



Harmony



I asked for Gonzo and Bash to be brought in for the meeting. This was about everyone’s safety, and leaving team members out of informational meetings was a bad idea. I’d just have to put my big girl panties on and deal with it.

They were in the room when Brain and I entered, and I ignored my body’s knee-jerk anger response when I saw them.

Ranger growled, low in his chest, and patted the empty sofa cushion beside him. When I sat, he looked at me, his eyes dark, and said, “If the Russian comes here there’s a good chance I’ll rip him to pieces, because I don’t know what he did to you, but the kind of terror I smelled when you heard his voice tells me it was bad.” He looked around the room, and back to me. “If you want me to, I’ll tear into Gonzo and Bash. Not enough to kill them, and they’ll be okay again by the time we need them, but it’ll still hurt like hell.”

“Can’t let you do that,” came Duke’s deeper than normal voice from behind Ranger. We all looked at him, and he said, “They were actin’ on my orders. You need to tear someone apart, it should be me. I didn’t know she’d been tortured, but to be honest, we might’ve used that to our advantage, if we’d known.”

“You know what?” I told them, pissed at the whole situation. “None of that matters right now. Yeah, I had a moment when I heard Ivankov’s voice, but I’m okay now, and no one will right the wrongs for me — I can take care of handling that, myself. Ivankov’s son was tortured and killed because of events I set in motion, and he knows his other adult children who’ve chosen the same career path are at risk as well, if he comes after me again, and yet he’s decided to risk it. I went after his son because I couldn’t get to him, before. If he comes here, he’s mine, understood?”

I looked everyone in the eye, and they all seemed to understand I meant what I said. I nodded and started the meeting by letting them listen to the bank manager make the original call to Ivankov and leave a message, and then the return call. I outlined what we’d picked up from network traffic, and the fact Ivankov is apparently in New York right now, and not Russia, which means he could very well come here in person.

“Brain is watching the flight manifests, to see if he buys a ticket, though we know he likely has access to a private plane so it may not net us anything. We’re also watching his email, cellphone, and texting activity.”

Brain picked up with, “I’ve viewed the feeds they’ll have access to — traffic and security cams from around the city, and I feel confident they’ll lose the trail so they can’t follow her back to here, and then when they reverse the feeds, to see where she came from, they’ll lose the trail there, too. I don’t foresee them attacking the house, though we’ll need to keep our guard up, obviously. Our next big danger zone is likely when Harmony and Duke leave the bank with the money, since the Russians will think they’ll get her and her cash all at once. We already know the game plan for D-day, and as of this moment I see no reason to alter those plans.”

I looked at Bash, got eye contact, and said, “Thanks for wearing a dress, today. I know it was asking a lot of you, and it’s appreciated.” I scanned the room and added, “Thanks to all of you, actually. I’m going out onto the veranda to read for a while.” I touched Ranger’s arm and asked, “Ranger, would you mind being my plus-one outside for a while, so Brain can keep an eye on communications?”

“I’m capable of manning the control room, if you’d rather have Brain outside.”

“No offense to either of you, but he’s better with electronics, and you’re better with personal security. I think we need to play to our strengths, right now. I’ll relieve him in the control room in a few hours, so he can have some down time.”

I went to the room I shared with Brain, changed clothes, washed my face, and got my hat and sunglasses. Ranger met me downstairs, also in a hat and sunglasses, and walked me out to the veranda. As I sat, he said, “A few questions, and then I won’t bring it up again.”

I looked at him without agreeing to answer anything, and he asked, “How long did they have you?”

“Counting the plane ride halfway ‘round the world, seventeen days. I thought the first seven were bad, but then Ivankov arrived, and… things got infinitely worse.” I paused as I considered how much to tell him, and finally said, “He isn’t the man who demanded my capture, he’s just one of their lead torturers. My beef with him is personal, and now his with me is personal, as well. I made things right with his boss, and Ivankov was long ago told to leave me alone, but I’m the one who got away, and he couldn’t let me go. I thought going after his son would make him back off, and it did for a while, but apparently not anymore.”