Flawlessly Executed (Dark Horse Guardians Book 3) (6 page)

“Hey, what’s up?” Ben whispered.

Moshe spoke with slow deliberation, “You’ll be contacted soon about the upcoming mission. We don’t need to go over the fine details right now, but as you know, this thing is personal for me…and I know it is for you, too.”

Ben yawned and ran his hand over his face, “How the hell do you
know
all of this already? Shit, you’re good.”

Ben noted Moshe wasn’t laughing, “Yeah, right. Listen, we need to work together on this. I have a ton of intel compiled. We’re doing the tactical stuff on the website. I’ll send you the times to sign on. As for me knowing everything…I’m friggin’ clairvoyant. See you on the battlefield on-line…talk later.”

The phone clicked off and Ben got a drink of water and used the bathroom quietly.

Everything was set into motion. He’d received the mission details on a thumb drive at the dead drop from the CIA. The planning and execution of the mission was being worked out on the Dark Horse Guardian war game site. The players would log in at the assigned time and work through the mission plan many times over. The unique Israeli-designed battle game utilized a unique proprietary software known as Macro-Vision. The mission was laid out in 3D with sound and high definition Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSAP) overlays.

He didn’t want to wake Lara for more than one reason. He certainly didn’t want her to know about the next mission yet and he knew she was mentally and physically drained. Maybe in the morning she would apologize for not kissing him goodnight.

He fell back into slumber but slept fitfully, waking once reaching for his weapon, sweaty and confused. Once he got his bearings, he fell back to sleep, but made a mental note to get more exercise to get his sleep cycle regulated again.

~ Lara ~

Lara slept soundly and felt rested upon rising. She could hear Ben cooing to Einstein in the kitchen. She knew he had already taken the dog down to the beach for his morning run and Einstein was whining for the tennis ball stashed in the kitchen drawer. Usually, the moment she stirred, Ben would pop into the bedroom and embrace her. But he did not do so this morning. She slipped into the shower and enjoyed the hot water for a long time. After thirty minutes, dressed in a red suit with her hair swirled into a French twist, Lara strolled into the kitchen.

She noticed his blue eyes lit up as he took her in. As expected, Ben flew to her side for a good morning kiss. He didn’t hold back; his lips were full of passion and he managed to remove most of her lipstick.

She tasted peppermint mouthwash. “Mmm!” she laughed while his arms were still grasping her tightly.

His steel blue eyes gazed intently into hers, “Well, I didn’t get my goodnight kiss last night ~ thought I’d make up for it now.”

She broke away and sat at the breakfast nook. Ben placed French toast and sausage in front of her and she smiled.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” Lara replied.

Ben selected his words cautiously, “Well, last night you seemed a little
out of sorts
, shall we say.”

She sensed he was tiptoeing around hoping for something more from her.

“I’m sorry I went to bed without kissing you goodnight, Ben.” There, she said it.

She hoped that would satisfy him. “I have a lot on my mind this morning. Another meeting with Attorney, John Maxfield, for starters. Financial stuff.”

~ Ben ~

He felt his heart break when Lara flatly said she was sorry about not kissing him goodnight. It wasn’t the message so much as her tone of voice. It lacked sincerity. Worse than that, she didn’t even look at him when she spoke.

She walked through the doorway after giving him a peck on the cheek. He listened as her Fiat pulled away and sat on the porch with Einstein for five minutes before heading in to teach his first class of the day. Besides Lara’s cold shoulder treatment he was also thinking about Moshe’s phone call in the middle of the night. Of course, Moshe was champing at the bit and Ben knew he wanted the mission to be flawless in its execution, for more than one reason.

Driving to the university on his motorcycle, Ben ran through the details of the pending mission in his mind. It was being planned for Thanksgiving break and would be a quick hit once the details got worked out. And, he knew Moshe was already deeply into that part. The information he gained through the Dark Horse gaming site was that Moshe had been tracking the sixty-five terrorists released by the corrupt president of Afghanistan more than a year ago. Those fanatics who were so casually released had taken months to capture. Ben’s platoon lost lives and limbs incarcerating them.

Ben, himself, had put forth great effort obtaining as much intel as possible from the rats they captured. Yes, the tough jihadis gave up plenty of information once they were in a dark room alone with him. He made them cry like babies. Eventually, the platoon went on to kill other terrorists in the network as a result of the interrogations. However, Moshe’s brother-in-law was one of the casualties, as well as Sam Clark, Ben’s close friend. Thus, both men had deep personal reasons to carry out this mission. But there was a much larger reason:
it was the right thing to do
.

It would be the biggest terrorist execution done by the Dark Horse Guardians thus far. But even though it sounded logical on paper and in theory, to actually pull it off without getting caught would be nothing short of miraculous. The entire team volunteered to do anything possible to make the mission successful.

A two-week work-up was being planned. Moshe’s unit, plus the SEAL team, and the Dark Horse Guardians would have to live as one, practicing in a mock-up. Moshe’s guys had the buildings replicated. Momentum was building, but Thanksgiving was still a few weeks away. And, he had yet to say a word to Lara. He knew he had to tell her soon, and dreaded her reaction.

He parked his motorcycle and headed toward his office. His cell phone rang and it was Jake Wilson, Ben’s team member in New Hampshire. Jake’s voice cracked, “Hey Chief. Can you talk?

Ben replied, “Yeah, what’s up?”

Jake sputtered, “She just left me. After eight years, she’s gone.” Ben could tell he had been crying.

“Let’s sit down and talk about this,” Ben replied, “We need to get together, right away.”

~ Lara ~

John Maxfield was dutifully waiting in her office at Stone and Associates when Lara arrived.

“I’m sorry to be late, John.” She smiled and the attorney was distracted as he poured a cup of coffee.

“No problem, Lara, I just got here. But, today we need to have a long talk.” His tone sounded ominous and Lara skipped the coffee and sat in the chair across from him.

“What do you mean, John?”

The attorney took a deep breath and started, “I know your first reaction to inheriting Eliot’s estate was to make large charitable donations, but I’m going to advise against doing so…and hope you’ll hear me out.” Lara sat still and listened as Maxfield spoke, sensibly and logically about the economics of her situation.

“First of all, as your appointed representative, I’m responsible to do my fiduciary duty, in other words, to look out for your best interests, financially. I’m advising that you make smaller donations to charitable groups and invest a large portion of the estate in a trust for your future. I know your husband has a security business and there is the possibility that he could die or voluntarily leave you some day. If that happened and you had given all of the money away, you’d be penniless except for what you could earn. That would not be a good position for you.” Lara saw the rationale in what he was saying.

After a lengthy discussion she decided to sell Eliot Stone’s estate once the renovation was completed. Maxfield spoke softly, “The property will bring you six million, at least. Perhaps you could use some of those proceeds to help the young woman you mentioned – Nadia, I think you said. The sixty million will be set aside in a trust fund in
your name only
. Eliot’s rare paintings and other smaller assets would be auctioned off and that money could be donated to any charity you choose.”

The plan seemed reasonably sound to her and it felt good to know she’d have a safety net if anything ever happened to Ben. It was a thought she had never considered, but now that she knew how dangerous his missions were, it all seemed to make sense. And, she never thought of him leaving her voluntarily, but the sheer mention of Abigail Roth the night before planted the smallest seed of doubt in the back of her mind.

The one asset she didn’t want to sell was the 40-foot Hinckley sloop at the Falmouth Yacht Club. She loved the boat and the memory of her first time sailing -- seeing Clearwater Farm from the water. She stated, “I’m keeping the sailboat and want to maintain membership at the Falmouth Yacht Club, if possible.”

Maxfield made a note to speak to the owner of the club. It was customary if someone passed away to give their membership to a spouse. But in this case, the attorney would see if Lara would be able to step into Eliot’s position at the club. “I’ll take care of the details.” Maxfield said with an air of efficiency. For the next twenty minutes Lara signed mounds of paperwork.

As Maxfield collected the documents and two briefcases, he briefly turned to Lara as she held the door open for him. “Thanks, Lara, for making this so easy.” She thanked him and he was gone. Closing the large mahogany door, she was once again alone with her thoughts.

She felt odd talking with the attorney about the possibility of Ben leaving her. For a moment she was filled with suspicion about Abby. Her nerves had been on edge lately with all of the life-changing decisions she was making at warp speed. She hoped to talk with Ben tonight and learn more about Abby.

Why would this woman from his past suddenly reappear? She could not stop the feeling of unbridled jealousy seeping into her mind. Ben was Abby’s first boyfriend and she saw the photos of him in his childhood bedroom.
He must have been the guy voted most likely to have women hanging on him.
No doubt about it, Ben was good looking. His most attractive quality, however, was he seemed to be unaware of that fact.

The door opened and Betty interrupted her thoughts. “Lunch from the deli?”

Lara smiled, “Yes, just a salad today, thanks.”

“The usual?” Betty quipped.

Lara nodded and Betty disappeared to place the order. Lara remembered eating lunch with Ben at the university when he first started working there and walking Einstein every day.
She missed having time to check in with him like that.
Truth was, she missed Ben terribly at that very moment. It was Friday. Why not pop into his office and surprise him? She could split the deli salad with him.

Thirty minutes later, Betty returned with a salad in a large paper bag. “I’m taking it to go.” Lara smiled at her. “If anyone calls please take a message and tell them I’ll get back to them. I have a lunch date today.”

Lara bounded down the staircase to the parking lot and hopped into her Fiat. She knew Ben’s lunch break was usually right about Noon. The traffic was thick, but she got to the university parking lot and pushed the heavy outside door that led into the building housing his office. The bright sunshine disappeared as she entered the ancient brick building and her eyes adjusted momentarily to the lack of light.

As she approached Ben’s office she sensed he was already having lunch with someone. The door to his office was open and the sound of female laughter drifted into the hallway. She couldn’t hear his words, but Ben was talking and the girl was amused by whatever he was saying. Lara stepped into the doorway of Ben’s office and saw the back of a woman. She appeared to be tall and slender with long dark hair. When she turned in the chair she glanced at Lara as if she’d seen a ghost.

~ Abby ~

Ben was making Einstein do tricks for a dog treat and Abby found this immeasurably amusing. Sitting in front of her, a super-tough former Navy SEAL was cooing softly to an English Bull Terrier. Her giggling stopped the moment she turned and viewed the figure standing in the doorway holding a large paper bag.

Abby swiveled as Ben jumped up from his chair and leapt across the room as if royalty had just arrived.

“Darlin…I’m so glad to see you. And, you brought me
lunch
…how thoughtful.” Abby watched as he fawned over Lara, taking the bag from her hands and kissing her lips gently as he slipped his arm around her. “Abby, I want you to meet my wife, Lara.”

Abby stood and extended her hand to Ben’s wife and a warm smile spread over Lara’s face.

“It’s great to meet you, Abby. I saw a photograph of you in Ben’s childhood bedroom.”

Abby didn’t know what to say about the photograph in Ben’s bedroom, so she made light of it, “Oh God, high school photographs! You probably wouldn’t even recognize me now! That was thirteen years ago, I think.” Lara’s eyes seemed to see through her and she felt a bit intimidated. Ben’s wife sat on the sofa and Ben put the paper bag on the coffee table. There was an awkward moment of silence as Ben tried to communicate with Lara while trying to make Abby feel at ease.

“Abby dropped in to get the details of her teaching position squared away. She’s looking for an apartment near the university and I told her about the pink Victorian. There may be a vacancy there.” Abby listened as Ben diplomatically explained her presence.