Surrender to Temptation (Agent Lovers Series Book 1) (6 page)

“As if they weren’t already in the wrong hands,” Liz said sarcastically. “Why doesn’t the
Air Force Special Operations Command
send in someone to collect what their own people lost? That would seem to make the most sense.”

“Sure. But we didn’t make the decision about who would handle the mission, Lt. General Townsend did. And, like I said, there’s one small, but not insignificant problem that makes retrieval impossible. The missiles are located in an area to which we don’t have official access.”

“No kidding!” Jennifer’s smart aleck comment caused Chris to get up from his workstation at the computer and cross to the table in the middle of the room. With a marker he roughly outlined the target and explained the situation further.

It was clear that the operation would definitely not be an easy one. The storage facility was located in a flat site in Virginia where the sparse vegetation growing from parched ground offered little protection. There was one paved access street, but it had been ruled out as an option from the beginning. The dense stands of trees that surrounded the area were also of no small concern as the protection they offered could benefit Townsend’s team and their opponents, equally. Beyond the storage site, the terrain grew increasingly hilly.

“This strip of trees is on land that belongs to the wife of a foreign national,” Chris explained. “She was born in America; he’s a Russian diplomat with political immunity. Of course he denies that there has been any illegal activity on her property. Our government has to adhere strictly to the law in order to avoid stirring up conflict between our countries. It isn’t any secret that our relationship with the Russians is still on shaky ground, and that doesn’t make matters any easier. We can’t simply expel a diplomat from our country; we would need evidence in order to do that. Unfortunately, we don’t have a warrant to enter his wife’s property and we don’t have time to waste in trying to convince him to cooperate. The missiles would be long gone by then—and we’d be left looking like idiots.”

“So it’s the political immunity of this man, who appears to be a rather big deal, that’s brought into the game; am I right?” guessed Liz.

“Exactly. If our Air Force friends were to be associated with a return deployment to this area, then the shit would hit the fan, as the eloquent saying goes. Even if the Air Force found the weapons, there would be huge political repercussions. That’s why the assignment is: enter the enemy’s camp, destroy the missiles, and get out again—all as quickly and as inconspicuously as possible. If all goes well, neither the Americans nor the Russians will talk about it afterwards. It’ll be like it never happened.” Chris sat down on a chair, leaned back, and crossed his arms over his chest as he gave Liz and Jennifer a curious look.

“Sounds like an honorable way to handle the situation,” said Liz. “But what about a remote detonation by satellite? Why weren’t the things blown up long ago? Surely they’re fitted with GPS too.”

Gray shook his head. “That’s not possible, Liz. They’ve removed the electronic units, but luckily, since their buyers will need the units, they didn’t destroy them. That’s why we’re at least able to locate them. Explosive charges have to be attached smack on the missiles, and to do that, you have to go in. There isn’t any other way.”

“And what kind of an explanation are you going to give the diplomat and his wife when we leave an enormous hole in the ground? That could be a problem and could eventually lead to the kind of open conflict you’re hoping to avoid.”

“He and his wife will receive a geographical survey that explains that a subterranean washout triggered a partial landslide, which in turn caused the explosion of a methane gas pocket and the ensuing fire.” Gray’s idea was simple, but ingenious. It could work. The simpler the explanation, the better.

“How many people are we dealing with, and what kinds of weapons do they have?” asked Jennifer.

“From the satellite images we’ve learned that there are fifteen people located at the target, and they are equipped with submachine guns, assault rifles and portable firearms. We don’t expect you to face more powerful armaments. Apparently they feel pretty invincible. The precautionary measures they’ve taken against intruders are pretty insignificant, which suits our purposes quite well. There are four surveillance cameras set up around the target, but that’s about it.

“We’ve faced a lot more serious situations than that, haven’t we Jenny?”

“You can say that again. When do we get started?”

“In a half an hour. You’ll be taken to the location in a civilian KIOWA. That shouldn’t attract any particular attention; there are always choppers and helicopters flying over the surrounding areas. To be on the safe side, the pilot will drop you off eight miles from the edge of the property.” Gray indicated a spot on the map and Liz and Jennifer nodded. “If you rappel in at this point, you shouldn’t attract any attention.”

Gray looked from one woman to the other. No wonder Townsend had been so secretive on the telephone. They were approaching the assignment with almost an air of detachment, seeming as unconcerned as if they were going to a tea party. And yet they were both risking their lives with this mission. He didn’t understand why Townsend had decided to only assign two people to the mission, but it wasn’t up to him to approve or disapprove of his superior’s order.

Gray examined Liz and her partner as inconspicuously as possible. Since Liz and Jennifer belonged to a Special Forces unit, they obviously were good at whatever they did, but they still would be outnumbered by their adversaries. With a ratio of fifteen to two, they’d have to make themselves invisible just to get into the bunker-like building. Gray wasn’t even sure that it was possible. He sensed in his gut that this would not be an easy job for them.

“Then there’s still enough time for us to get a cup of coffee,” said Jennifer. “If there’s even something to eat here, that would be even better! I’m starving, people. Aren’t you, Liz?”

Liz rubbed her stomach and rolled her eyes. “I’d do just about anything for a great big sandwich right now.”

“I’ll get you something.” Chris hurried out of the room and came back a short time later with a fully-laden tray. The women helped themselves and clearly enjoyed every bite.

Gray glanced at his watch and grabbed the dark box that was on the table. Liz and Jennifer had to get going and he wanted to go over their communication equipment with them, as was his regular routine.

The tiny infrared cameras would enable Chris and him to accompany the women on their mission, in a sense, and to assess the situation as it unfolded. To the untrained eye, the items looked like simple, inconspicuous black buttons, but in fact they were very powerful cameras that delivered high-quality images. The research division had designed the Infrared Camera Next Generation, or IRC-NG, cameras specifically for assignments that required the use of equipment that could be relied upon to work flawlessly under extreme conditions.

Gray clamped the small device onto the black, pocketed vests that Liz and Jennifer would wear over their black long-sleeved shirts. Then he handed each of them an IAD-audio unit, also known as an Invisible Audio Device.

“Everything that you see and hear, we’ll be able to see and hear too. And you’ll be able to hear us. You must follow our instructions without question, because we won’t be giving them to you for fun. Do you understand?”

“No problem. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.” Liz affixed the inconspicuous, skin-colored audio receiver and microphone behind her ear, where it was practically invisible.

The combined receiver and transmitter was another new development by the research division, one that didn’t have to be put directly into the ear to work. Although the piece of equipment was small, it was able to do powerful things. The engineers had developed an extremely durable means of communication that had the ability to broadcast aural signals in both directions, without interference, even under the worst weather conditions.

Liz checked the fit of the camera and walked out of the command center with Jennifer. She stopped in front of the door and asked softly, “Can you hear us?”

“Loud and clear!” answered Chris through his headset.

“You’re coming through clearly,” Jennifer relayed. “OK, then. Let’s get started!”

“We might as well. I didn’t have anything else planned.” Liz gave a soft laugh. She and Jennifer reentered the room, shouldered their equipment and then walked out again.

“I can’t wait to see how good they are.” Chris crossed his arms.

Gray didn’t respond. He looked at his monitor and watched as the women climbed into the waiting KIOWA. They sat down on two narrow benches across from each other, set their backpacks between their feet on the floor, and put on headsets to protect against the noise of the blades.

A young soldier pushed the sliding door of the helicopter shut and sat down next to Jennifer. Surreptitiously he examined first one woman and then the other as the helicopter lifted off and the pilot carried them toward an unknown target. The soldier didn’t find any clue on Liz’s or Jennifer’s all-black clothing that would indicate to what unit they belonged. No chevron, no name plate. Absolutely nothing. And that was unusual—very unusual. What were the names that he had heard the pilot say? Gibson and Langner. The names didn’t mean anything to him. Nothing at all. Nor were they likely to. He resigned himself to the fact that as a mere soldier, he didn’t need to know what their assignment was, and he probably wasn’t going to find out, either.

***

Gray shifted from the exterior cameras, which were outwardly concealed on bases, to the tiny IRC-cameras which he had attached to Liz and Jennifer. As he watched over the monitor, Liz looked in Jennifer’s direction and grinned broadly into the camera at him, as if she had sensed his gaze. Gray smiled rakishly back, even though she couldn’t see him.

The scene that had unfolded between her and Gray, back on her father’s estate, now popped into Liz’s mind. That meeting with Gray now seemed to her to be something surreal, as if it had happened in another life.
Actually, come to think of it, it did,
Liz thought. In fact, she did lead two different lives.

Gray’s words pulled her back to the present: “Pay attention! You too, Jennifer!” Then there was radio silence.

Chris leaned forward, muted the microphone, took the earphones from his head and gave his friend a look of amusement. “Uh oh, you kind of like her. You poor guy!”

“How do you figure that?”

“Come on, I’ve known you for years. The look on your face says it all.”

“If you’re so good at reading minds, then tell me what I’m thinking right now.” There was no mistaking the look Gray gave his friend.

Chris ran both hands over his face, looked back wide-eyed and poured more coffee. “Sorry, pal. Should I just drop this subject?”

“I guess you can read minds after all.”

Chris burst out laughing. After he’d finally stopped, he turned on the microphone again, picked up the headset from the table and put it on. He seemed pleased to have actually gotten under Gray’s skin.

Gray knew he could trust Chris with his life. There wasn’t much that the two men didn’t know about each other, but Gray wasn’t quite ready to talk about this chapter. He wasn’t sure, himself, what he wanted from Liz.

Gray tried to push these thoughts to the farthest recesses of his mind, so as not to be distracted from his work. Obviously fate had played a prank on him but he still had a job to do. Gray looked into his coffee cup for a moment then raised it to his lips and took a big gulp.

Liz was different from the other women with whom he usually surrounded himself. Certainly she was pretty. Well, not just pretty. To him, she was a real beauty, even if she was quite headstrong. And he felt drawn to her far more than he would have liked. When he had seen her on the landing field, he’d almost fallen over. She was the last person he would have expected to run into here. Was this, then, the secret she was hiding from her family?

He himself had gone on many similar missions, and he knew exactly what kind of danger Liz would be in and why she would want to keep the knowledge of that danger from her family. Gray shared a similar dynamic with his family, although his wasn’t as pronounced as Liz’s. Admittedly, he didn’t have a very close relationship with his parents, but he would do anything to protect Jeff—his younger brother, who tried to emulate him in everything.

Jeff wasn’t supposed to have wound up in a Special Forces unit in the Army, even though he had already served in the Army. But Terence Garber, a former member of
Townsend’s Dozen,
had frustrated Gray’s plans. After Terence left the TDAs and accepted a job as instructor in the army, he met Jeff, recognized his potential and brought him to Townsend’s attention. And so Gray and his brother wound up belonging to the same Top Secret Special Forces unit.

About a year after Jeff had been recruited as a TDA, Gray began to have misgivings about his own role. He had no intention of dying young, and the mortality rate in any Special Forces unit wasn’t exactly low. That’s why three years ago, at thirty-three he had decided to make a change. He was offered a position in a cross-jurisdictional intelligence Special Forces unit whose purpose was to monitor and run missions similar to those in which he’d already been participating. This was his big chance to make a change that could help prolong his life, and Gray didn’t have to think about it for very long before he accepted the offer.

After completing additional training, Gray was granted the SFSU-V classification and took over the supervision of the various Top Secret units. The experience he’d gained as an active TDA helped him to manage the assignments successfully and to defuse dicey situations that his men faced. Gray had been thrilled when his colleague Chris Robbins, the other half of his two-man TDA team, decided to change his line of work at the same time, and as they continued their work together, their previously companionable relationship developed into an even deeper friendship.