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Bucharest, Romania
3 weeks ago
Kai stood deep in the shadows of a large tree and watched as a guard walked past the locked, reinforced iron gate barring entrance to the immense property. The mansion was outside the city, protected not only by that six-foot iron fence, but also by six heavily armed guards and a state-of-the-art security system. The security system had already been taken care of. Now she only had to worry about the guards, and so far, she was singularly unimpressed with what she’d seen.
She glanced at her watch as the man disappeared into the trees on the other side of the long driveway and made sure her jacket was zipped up securely. The tactical gear she wore was reinforced with body armor, adding unwanted but necessary weight to her slender frame. Kai pulled a fitted black hood down over her face, covering everything but her eyes. Those she covered with night-vision goggles, adjusting them comfortably before checking her leg holsters to ensure that the matching pair of Jericho 941s were secured. This was done more out of habit than necessity, and she was already running towards the iron fence before she’d finished.
She moved with speed and silence born of practice, and a few minutes later, landed on the grass inside the fence. The land surrounding the old mansion was heavily wooded, giving her ample protection as she darted around the perimeter, making her way to the back of the house. Thick storm clouds covered the moon and she glanced up at the sky assessingly. According to the latest weather map, the storm wouldn’t break until she was long gone, but she moved quickly nevertheless. The last thing she wanted to contend with was a deluge making the ground soft enough to hold her tracks. Right now it was rock hard after a week of dry weather. She wanted to get in and get out before that changed.
A guard emerged from behind a shed a few feet away, his back to her as he bent his head to light a cigarette. He never heard her move swiftly up behind him. The cigarette and lighter both fell to the ground seconds before his lifeless body followed.
One down, she thought, moving back into the deep shadows of the trees as she slid a long blade back into a holster at her hip. There were five others, and she had to neutralize them before she could go after her target.
She moved easily through the night, her breathing steady and her eyes alert in the darkness. The NVGs covering her eyes gave her the added advantage of being able to see the guards long before they would ever know she was there. Pausing behind the thick trunk of an ancient oak, she remained still and silent, listening. A whiff of cigarette smoke reached her and she waited patiently until two guards came into view between her and the corner of the massive house, one of them smoking.
Kai reached down and pulled out one of the suppressed Jerichos. A moment later, both figures dropped to the ground, bullet holes perfectly centered on their foreheads. Sliding the gun back into her holster, she continued through the trees until she was facing the back of the house. An immense swimming pool, still covered for the winter, separated the trees from the house. While the end of March was particularly mild this year, it was far from pool weather yet, and the patio was bare of any furniture that might create obstacles. Shifting her gaze up, she studied the second floor balcony for a moment. The French doors were closed, but lit with warm light from within. Just as expected: the target was there.
She lowered her eyes and looked to the left, watching the opposite corner of the house. It was almost time for the remaining guards to circle to the back for their sweep. She glanced behind her and moved silently deeper into the shadows while she pulled out the Jericho again, waiting. Something to her left caught her attention and she turned her head sharply, frowning. The night was still, but something had shifted. She was sure of it.
Moving behind a tree, she stood motionless, her gun at her side, listening. And watching. An owl hooted some distance away, and then a distinct rustle came from her left. She took an even breath, staring into the night. All at once, her NVGs lit up with a figure not three yards from her as he moved out from the trees, fumbling with his zipper.
Kai slid the gun into the holster and pulled out her blade instead. Moving forward swiftly, she came noiselessly up behind him. One of her gloved hands covered his mouth and pulled his head back as she kicked the back of his left knee. At the same instant, she drove the blade between his clavicle and scapula, angling it inward. The man jerked and was paralyzed as she wrenched the blade to the side, cutting through the aortic arch. She braced herself as his full weight fell back against her and eased him to the ground silently. A minute later, she had pulled him back into the trees. Pulling the knife out, she wiped the blade on his coat and straightened up. She was just sliding the knife back into its holster when the last guard rounded the corner of the house.
A muffled pop from the trees preceded him falling backwards into the shrubs, blood oozing from his forehead.
Kai looked at her watch, briefly illuminating the face. All the guards were down. It was time.
She left the safety of the trees and sprinted across the dark yard to the stone patio surrounding the pool. Her soft-soled boots made little noise as she darted across the stones to an iron trellis that ran up the back of the house. A few minutes later, she landed on the balcony and moved towards the door. Just seven minutes after breaching the outer fence, she was almost inside.
Before she could touch the handle, bright light suddenly flooded the yard below her and she heard yelling from the front of the house. Her lips tightened briefly. Damn! They’d found one of the guards already. A door opened below her and men ran out with automatic weapons, one of them yelling orders to the others while inside, an alarm went off, alerting the residents to the security breach.
Kai stayed in the shadows beside the door and watched as six armed men ran out into the night, searching for the intruders. As they dispersed, disappearing into the trees and around the corner of the house, she turned her head and reached out, testing the handle to the door. Finding it locked, she gave a silent inward shrug and bent her arm, driving her elbow into the pane of glass next to the handle. It shattered easily and she reached inside, unlatching the door. Between the alarm blaring inside and the men yelling outside, no one would have heard the breaking glass.
Stepping into the master suite, she lifted the NVGs off her eyes and looked around. She wasn’t surprised to find it empty. With the element of surprise gone, she would have to hunt out her target. Moving through the sitting room, she noted the half empty whiskey glass on the table next to a large and comfortable chair. She paused next to the chair and placed a gloved hand on the seat cushion. It was warm. He had just left.
Turning, she strode to the bedroom on the right. She glanced at the king-sized, four-poster bed that dominated the wall on the right side. It was empty and undisturbed. Her target hadn’t prepared for bed yet. To the left of the bed and facing her, floor-to-ceiling windows covered most of the wall. The curtains weren’t pulled closed, but it didn’t matter. The only light in the room came from a small lamp near the bed that didn’t throw nearly enough light to present her silhouette to anyone looking up from outside.
Kai turned right and went straight to the walk-in closet that she knew housed a secret. She had spent three days studying and memorizing the blueprints to the house, along with the construction plans for all the additional work the current resident had completed. And if she was the target, there was only one place she would go when her security was breached.
Striding past rows of tailored suits, silk shirts and leather shoes, Kai went to the back wall of the closet. Running her fingers along the edge of the paneling, she stopped when she felt a small button. Pressing it, the panel clicked and she slid it aside to reveal a heavy, reinforced steel door with a digital keypad to the side. She reached into the slim, flat weapons bag on her back and pulled out a small, electronic box. Placing it over the keypad, she pushed a button on the side and waited, her eyes on the red digital display. A few seconds passed and then the door clicked. She pulled the box off and shoved it back into the bag with one hand while she gripped her gun with the other. Then, taking a deep breath, she pulled open the heavy door, staying behind it and using it as a shield.
Streams of bullets streaked past her into the closet. She waited until she heard the telltale click of an empty magazine and then swung around the door, her Jericho in her hand.
Kai saw her target on the other side of the small panic room. He pointed a pistol in her direction as she dove to her left, raising her arm and firing as she moved. A bullet whizzed by her head as the round from her gun buried itself in his shoulder. He let out a cry of pain and the pistol fell to the floor as he grabbed his shoulder, falling back awkwardly into a chair.
Kai hit the wall and grunted, then straightened and looked at the target. He weighed close to two hundred and fifty pounds and his skin was beginning to hang around his neck. At one time he had been considered handsome, and remnants of that still lurked beneath the sallow olive skin. Now, however, his small dark eyes seemed more reptilian than human, and they were fixed on her.
“Who sent you? The Russians?” he gasped in Romanian. “The Turks? The Chinese? I’ll double whatever they’re paying.”
She was silent, watching him as she moved forward, her gun pointed at his chest. He stared at her and she saw real fear begin to seep into those cold eyes of his.
“I can give you anything you want,” he told her. “Everyone has a price. Name yours and I will guarantee it. Anything you want and it’ll be yours.”
Kai stopped directly before him. She stared at him in silence for a long moment, and when she finally spoke, her voice was low.
“I’m not here to bargain,” she said in Romanian.
She shifted her wrist and squeezed the trigger, shooting him in the forehead. His head slammed back against the chair and blood began to pour out of the hole in his skull.
She turned and left the small panic room, moving swiftly through the closet and back into the master bedroom. She could hear boots in the hallway running towards the bedroom and she darted across the room to the windows. Sliding one open, she balanced on the ledge, looking down over the back yard. To her right a thin drain pipe ran from the roof to the water run-off next to the patio. Twisting, she reached out her left hand and grabbed it, throwing her body to the right. A second later, she was sliding down the pipe as she heard the bedroom door crash open. Her boots had just hit the grass below when a shadow emerged in the window above. Before he could fire his weapon, her bullet tore into his throat. The man swayed for a moment before falling forward out of the window, landing with a crash onto the bushes below a few seconds later.
Kai never saw him land. She was already disappearing into the trees at the back of the property as silently as she had come.
Norfolk, Virginia
Present day
“Are you sure you’ve had enough? There’s plenty more.”
Dean looked at his hostess and smiled, shaking his head.
“I couldn’t eat another bite,” he assured her. “It was delicious. Thank you.”
The brunette smiled and pushed her chair back, standing.
“You can thank Brian for the burgers. They’re all him. I only made the potato salad,” she said with a short laugh, nodding to her husband as she picked up the empty plates.
“And she won’t have another decent burger until I get home,” he said promptly. “If I let Diane anywhere near the grill, very bad things happen.”
“It’s true,” she agreed cheerfully, turning towards the sliding door a few feet away with the three plates in her hands. “I’m more than happy to leave the grilling to him.”
Lieutenant Brian Ressler got up and went to open the door for his wife, kissing her cheek as she went into the house.
“But no one can touch your lasagna, babe,” he said.
“Damn straight.”
He grinned and closed the door behind her, turning back towards the table on the patio.
“Another beer?”
“Sure,” Dean answered after a quick glance at his watch. “Why not? It’ll be the last decent one we have for a while.”
Brian grunted and went to an oval tin bucket near the grill, pulling two bottles of beer out of the ice.
“Ain’t that the truth.”
Dean sat in his chair comfortably and looked out over the small yard. The sun was dipping down now, casting pink and purple streaks across the sky, and a nice breeze was blowing in from the water. Brian’s house sat between a lake on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Tonight the breeze was coming from the ocean, and Dean breathed in the faint tinge of saltwater mixed with cherry blossoms. It was a perfect April evening, full of the promise of spring.
And they were leaving tomorrow for the heat and discomfort of the Middle East.
“Are you all packed?” Brian asked, handing him a bottle and taking his seat again.
“Yeah. Ready to go. You?”
“Finished before you got here. I put the bags in the spare room. Diane hates to look at them the night before.” Brian sipped his drink and looked out over the yard. “I guess I can’t blame her.”
“I don’t miss that,” Dean said after a minute. “I miss a lot of things, but not the goodbye.”
Brian glanced at him. “Have you heard from Lindsey since you got the final papers?”
“Nope. Don’t want to, either.” He lifted the beer to his lips and took a long drink. “I just want to move on.”
“Diane still asks after her. To be clear, she wants to see her one more time so she can beat the crap out of her. Says she wants to burst those implants she paid all that money for.”
Dean choked on his beer. “What?”
Brian grinned. “I never told you? Oh yeah. She’s pissed at her. She says there’s no excuse for cheating.”
Dean shook his head, a reluctant laugh vibrating out of him. “I don’t think Linds would agree there, but it’s all water under the bridge now.”
“What is?” Diane asked, emerging from the house carrying a glass of wine.
“Lindsey.”
A look of disgust crossed her face as she went back to her seat.
“Cheating witch,” she said, sitting down and looking at Dean. “Sorry, Deano. I know the divorce was just made official and all, but I can’t stand the thought of her.”
“That’s what Brian was just saying,” Dean said with a grin. “You want to pop her implants? Really?”
She shrugged and sipped her wine. “Possibly. At the very least, I’d make sure that nose of hers never blows right again.”
Dean laughed and she shook her head.
“Seriously, though, it’s a disgrace to the rest of us,” she continued. “It’s women like her that give all of us a bad name. I’d never dream of having an affair, let alone while y’all are deployed. She’s river scum, Dean, and you’re better off without her.”
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”
“What started it?” Brian asked after a moment. “Were you guys having problems?”
Dean sighed and took a drink before answering.
“We were having some issues, I guess,” he admitted. “Last summer when I got back from Afghanistan, they got worse. I don’t know. We were both to blame in the end, I guess.”
“Bullshit.” Diane coughed into her hand. “This is a hard life, for you guys and for us left back here. But you know what? We just suck it up and deal with it because we love you. That’s what wives do.”
“Yeah, I don’t think Lindsey ever got that memo.”
“Sorry man,” Brian said. “I just was curious. You never talked about any of it. The first I knew something was off was when you said you were getting divorced.”
“That’s because you always have your head buried in some sports magazine or ammo catalog,” Diane told him. “We all could see something was wrong. She never wanted to come around anymore.”
“She never wanted to do anything,” Dean said after a moment. “It wasn’t just you guys. She was just done with me, and everyone attached to me.”
“Did you ever find out what the dude does for a living?” Brian asked.
Something like a sneer crossed Dean’s face. “Yeah. He’s a tax attorney.”
Brian choked on his beer and Diane stared at him, her mouth dropping open. Dean laughed at the looks on both their faces.
“What the hell?” Brian sputtered. “A tax attorney?”
“Yep.” Dean lifted his beer to his mouth and swallowed. “Weighs about a buck thirty soaking wet. I followed her one night and got a good look at him. Think Dwight from the Office meets Don Knotts.”
“Oh boy.” Diane sipped her wine, her eyes rolling above the rim. “Nothing like going to the complete other end of the spectrum. I can’t picture anyone less like you.”
“Wait, you followed her and didn’t break the dude’s face?” Brian demanded. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“I would’ve been locked up for manslaughter after one punch,” Dean retorted. “I don’t think you understand just how small the guy is. It would’ve broken his neck.”
“When was this?”
“Before Christmas.”
“Well, like I said, you’re better off without her,” Diane told him, leaning over to squeeze his hand where it rested on the arm of the chair. “We’ll find you a nice woman who won’t take any crap from either of you two, and who I can hang out with, without feeling the need to douse her in body glitter.”
“Babe, can he be single for a while first?” Brian asked with a laugh. “He just got his freedom back!”
“Fine, but not too long,” she said with a wink, standing up. “The longer you leave it, the harder it’ll be to find a good one.”
“God, you make it sound like we’ll be picking melons,” he exclaimed. “What’s gonna happen? Are they all going to rot?”
“Of course not, but the good ones will be snatched up,” she said, heading towards the house. “I’m going to finish the dishes. No, you stay here and relax,” she said when Brian made a move to get up. “They won’t take long. It’s your last night home. Enjoy it.”
She slid open the door and disappeared into the house, leaving the two men alone in the fading light.
“You’ve got yourself a great woman right there,” Dean said.
“Yeah I do.” Brian sat back and looked at him. “The next four months will be hard on her.”
“Hey, at least it’s not six to ten.”
“This is true. And we’ve been home for four months, so in the end it won’t be as bad as other tours.” Brian looked out over the yard. “I don’t mind the short deployments as much. It’s when we leave and it’s hot, and we come back and it’s hot again that I hate it. I don’t like missing whole seasons.”
Dean glanced at him. “Are you getting tired of it?” he asked in surprise.
“Not tired of the job. Tired of the months away.” Brian shrugged and looked at him. “But it’s how it is. How about you? Are you ready to go get back into it?”
“I am, actually,” Dean said slowly. “I can’t take much more of my own company. I need the distraction.”
“Well, better enjoy this tour while you can. You’ll be promoted soon and then you’ll get fat and lazy in your cushy office.”
Dean grunted. “You’re just as likely to make Lieutenant Commander as I am.”
“Nah. My turn will come, but you’ll make it by the end of the year. Everyone knows Barnes is going to retire, and you’re the front-runner, Fast Track. Easy days are coming for you.”
Dean grimaced at the old nickname he hadn’t heard since they were in SEAL qualification training.
“I hate that name,” he muttered, drawing a laugh from Brian. “And you know the only easy day is—”
“Yesterday,” Brian finished with grunt. “Yeah. Promise me, though. When you’re sitting in an air conditioned office making decisions about what hell-hole to send us into, make sure you remember this.” He waved his hand to encompass the two of them sitting on the patio. “This is brotherhood. And I’m always here for you, brother. No matter what.”
Dean held out his beer bottle, tapping it against Brian’s.
“No matter where,” he agreed.
They drank and were silent, looking out over the yard and breathing in the fresh, clean spring air. Tomorrow they departed for the war-ravaged Middle East on their fourth tour together. It would be hell once they got there, but they weren’t there yet. Right now they had cold beer, full stomachs, and a nice breeze off the water.
Hell would come, but not tonight.
