Crystal Clear (13 page)

“Crap!”  Her gaze clashed with
Jack‘s
as he stood off to the side watching her,
adrenalin spiking in her system. “W
hat was that?”  She gestured to the man lying in a heap dead a few feet from where Jack stood.  “You can’t do that kind of thing without some serious training.  Who are you?”

“I could say the same.”  When she narrowed her eyes at him he reconciled himself to the fact that they weren’t going to get anywhere from here without complete honesty.  “You already know who I am.  I was part of a SEALS team with the Navy for several years.  You don’t get onto Team 6 without being one of the top dogs.  I haven’t even been out of the service for more than a year.  I guess the training
stuck with me
.” 

Cindy thought for a minute and decided that she could trust him.  She might get in trouble for it in the long run from the Agency, but the man had just saved her life.  Plus, he was a great kisser.

“Well, I’m sure you have seen my file, but I doubt you have had much time to read it.  Besides, most of it’s classified.”

Jack scoffe
d, “Caught that. T
here was more blacked out on your record than I could read.”

Cindy c
ontinued to pace about the path. S
platters of blood were on her shirt and she pulled it out inspecting it.  It always seemed as though she
got
into one sort of mess or another.  People she cared about either got hurt or dead. Just like her dad or Chase.

“I’m part of the covert privately funded agency called F.I.U.W., Forced Intelligence of the United World.  We hunt down terrorist cells and other factions that seek to do harm to the world as a whole.  I’m a member of the East Coast U
.
S
.
team.  Usually tech support, but I do have field training.  This was supposed to be my first solo mission.  Everything has gone wrong.” 

Jack knew that already, but it was good to hear her confirm it.

“I take it these guys are after the same thing you are?  These are the
same men who
shot your raft?” 

As Cindy nodded her hair fell
forward to hide her face.  She flipped it back and met his gaze with a direct one of her own.  It was obvious that there was steel underneath her outer
vulnerability
.
“Yes.”

“And from his answer, they already have whatever it was that you were looking for.”

She nodded again, and pulled out her
TAC
phone. 

“I have to make a call.”  Turning away from him she walked over to where Chase
pushed
himself up out of the ditch. 

“Not our lucky day.
”

The phone started to ring.

“Montgomery.” 
Her friend’s
voice on the other end
reassured Cindy
.

“We missed them.”  She heard
Montgomery’s
quick intake of breath on the ot
her end of the phone continuing.
Cindy didn’t give
Montgomery
a chance to interrupt, “They got to the satellite before we did.  It was a trap.  Five of them.  We took them out, but they know we
are
here.”

“What?”  Montgomery gasped.

“Wait. Jack could be of use to us.”  Cindy pac
ed back and fourth and tried
to ignore the looks she
got
from Chase
;
who now
sat
on a log by the side of the path bracing the blood-drenched shirt on his shoulder. 

“He’s a SEAL.  Chase, he just saved my life.  Jack could be an asset to the team.  And he’s under
orders to complete the mission. H
e’s a reserve remote and can hold another job between missions.  We have to work together.”  Cindy knew that she
would
need to convince them, or the mission was as good as over.

“Let me talk to Chase.”  She hesitated for a moment.  It wouldn’t do her any good if
Montgomery
knew what just happened to her brother.

“Um, Luce, you should know that Chase is injured.  He was shot at the beginning of the fight and his shoulder is still bleeding.  I think the bullet might still be in there.”  She could almost feel her friend’s anxiety come over the phone.  “Here, talk to him.”  She quickly handed the phone over to Chase, giving him a look that said to behave himself and waited.

“Chase here.” 

There was a pause and Cindy could swear that she could hear her friend yelling at her brother across the phone line. 

He
wince
d
, “Hold on, we weren’t expecting an attack.”  Another pause. “No, he did save us.  Took out one of them himself.  I have to say I was pretty impressed.” 

When Cindy’s eyebrows rose, he winked at her. 

“Hawke may be right, he could be an asset.  Here.”  He held the phone out to Cindy, “She wants to talk to you again.”

“Yeah, what?”  Cindy was on the defensive.  Montgomery may be her best friend, but she was
still the senior field officer. S
he would be reporting to the Director what was decided. 

“Look Hawke, if you think he would be an asset, invite him on.  Explain to him the terms, and the consequences.  The director put you in charge of this retrieval mission.  We are sending a chopper for Chase.  He’ll be taken to the hospital for patch up, and Halverson will tak
e
his place.  We expect results.  You have
seventy-two
hours to put this right.  The countdown has started.  If not, you’re going to be stuck behind a desk for the next several years, and I know how you would hate that.  Do what you need to do Cindy.  I don’t want to see you withering in the office.” 

Cindy
grumbled
goodbye and closed the phone.  She looked at Chase who
sat
on a nearby log holding his shirt to his wound.  Before speak
ing she turned toward Jack.  Time for full disclosure, s
he wasn’t quite sure how he
would
take it
or if he would accept their offer
.  She walked over to where he stood over one of the men they had just taken out.  He examin
ed
the patch on the man’s jacket. 

“You want to tell me what’s going on?”  He looked up at her and she could see the confusion in his eyes. 

“I just got permission,” she held up a hand when she could tell he was about to interrupt, “yes, I did need permission.  Like I said, we’re part of a covert
operation called F.I.U.W.  We'
re currently after a terrorist organization called Jaguar, as
you know from the file.  They'
re an extension
of a cult that believes in the End of D
ays theory that corresponds with the Mayan calendar.

They were after a satellite that h
ad fallen two days ago.  They'
ve been spying on gove
rnment operations for some time. W
e have only just found out wh
at was really happening.  They'
re going to use the information to create anarchy within the world.  They want to “help” along the apocalypse.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, “Though why anyone would want to end their existence I have no idea.”

“So you’re saying these guys are part of an extremist cult that wants to end the world because they feel they have the right, and now they have some of the ammunition they need to do it.” 

She nodded her head.
“We want you to join us, we know that you trained with the SEALS and are equipped to handle most of the situations that we are bound to face.  Agent Montgomery is building a file on you as we speak.  You have the option, but needless to say, if you don’t comply, you will be monitored.  They don’t like information about us to get outside of the Agency.”  She watched him for a response. 

He looked from her to the two dead guys on the ground, up to Chase and back to her.  “So, you want me to help you take out the bad guys
?
I think I could do that.”  He moved close to her, she felt her nerve endings all answer to his closeness.  He placed a hand on the back of
her neck, and pulled her close. “A
s long as you’re there.
..
”

She sighed and leaned her forehead against his, “Yeah, I’ll be there.”  She moved back and looked directly into his eyes, “Jack, we have
seventy-two
hours.  We need to have the information Jaguar does and destroy their base within that time, or I’m sitting at a desk for the rest of my career.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad would it?  At least you would be safe.” 

She narrowed her eyes, and pulled back from him.
 
“You don’t get it do you?  That would kill me.  I can’t be idle.  Maybe it would be okay a
t first, but then I’d get bored. T
ime would crawl by, and before you know it I’d pass into nothingness. Become nothing.  I want to make a difference in the world.  Not be some zombie working at a desk day in and day out.”  Her eyes were troubled as they looked back at him.  She didn’t know how to make him understand that she had to be part of the act
ion, she had to feel worthwhile. T
he job gave that to her. 

Jack nodded, “Then
we will
have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”  He s
tepped away from her, turned, and
walked over to Chase, “I told you not to let her get hurt.”  With that he planted a fist into Chase’s jaw. 

Chase glared at him, his face starting to turn red where Jack’s fist had connected.  “I had that coming.  You aren’t going to be dealing with me though.  They’re sending someone else.  I’m off to the hospital again.”  He
gave a self-mocking laugh
, “seems like I'
m sending an extraordinary amount of time there.” 

Jack nodded, a little confused about the comment, but glad that the man
would
be out of the picture for now.  He didn’t entirely trust him, and it seemed that the guy brought more than his fair share of trouble to any situation. 

The sound of a chopper overhead had him looking up.  There was a clearing up ahead and the chopper made to land. 

“That would be my ride, I’ll check you later.” 
Chase
rose and walked over to the clearing.  Before he got all the way there he glanced over to where Cindy stood.  “I’ll see you later.  We can talk then.  Be safe.” 

Cindy's
head tilted to the side and she
shrugged her shoulders
.
"I guess--
”
She stopped and suddenly stood straight. 

Jack glanced at the chopper and saw a tall stocky man get out.  He
wore
a pair of camo-pants and combat boots.  He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple days, and had probably just been rolled out of bed to come on this mission. 

Chase passed him without a word, nodded his head in acknowledgement, and climbed into the helicopter.  He glanced back at Cindy one last time as the chopper took off. 

The new man strode up to Cindy, and gave her a cursory glance and then looked
Jack
up and down as if sizing him up.  He stuck out a hand and waited.

“Agent Brett Halverson, U.S. Division, I
believe
you
're
Jack Wilde.
They filled me in. Agent Hawke
,
it
seems as
though
you
found us a recruit.”  He turned to Cindy and she
note
d
the smirk on his face
.

S
he wanted to swipe
it
off. 
Cindy
never liked Halverson
,
and was tired of being pushed around by bossy men.  They’d only been on one other mission together and he was an arrogant prick even then.

Straightening her spine to make herself as tall as her
five-foot-three
inches would allow, which wasn’t much compared to the two guys were standing not far from her
,
she prepared to defend her position.

“Yes.  He has the training, I trust him.”  She smiled, “Let’s go.  I filled in Jack
;
he knows what he needs to do at this point.  We need to get the Intel back and discover where their base is.  They
must be
close if they were able to get here this fast.”  She set he
r pack down and got out a map
.  “Where might be a good place?  There isn’t much around here that has a setup ready for something as big as a base for Jaguar.”  She looked up at Jack.  “Is there?”

As he was studying the map he leaned down next to her and placed a hand on her back, moving his thumb along her spine.