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Lei Lu was surprisingly refreshed as all their phones went off at the same time. She’d caught a few hours on the jet, on the boat, then four in the bed at their house on Grand Turk.
The text was from Harper. The plane was forty-five minutes out. Thankfully the house that had been rented for them came with a well-stocked refrigerator. She could hear Grace and Tori cooking breakfast since they’d had the most sleep in one place.
Showers were running in both bathrooms, so Lei Lu wandered to the kitchen for coffee. The minute she stepped in, she was handed two cups.
“You’re up next in the hall bathroom. Please deliver this to Katlin.” Tori turned to refill hers and Grace’s. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
Grace was flipping pancakes and frying bacon. “I’m in right behind you.”
Loving her teammates and the way they all worked so well together, Lei Lu stepped into the steamy bathroom. “I’ve got your first cup here,” she announced as Katlin stepped out of the shower, water still running.
“Thanks.” Her team leader grabbed the cup and downed half of it before she even wrapped a towel around her naked body. Katlin was definitely not a morning person. Single syllable words were about all you were going to get out of her until she had at least two cups of java, the stronger the better.
Quickly shucking her own clothes, Lei Lu twisted her hair on top of her head. She would forgo washing her hair, since it was going to get wet anyway. It would take at least thirty minutes to rinse all the saltwater out of it when they returned from diving. She considered cutting it for the umpteenth time as she stepped underneath the hot spray. Knowing she had exactly five minutes for her shower, she made the most of her time.
Cool air wafted over her as the bathroom door opened.
“Breakfast is ready,” Grace announced. “I’ve already eaten mine. Katlin and Nita are on clean up this morning. You lucked out, but you have so much to do once we get to the dock, it only seems fair.”
Grace shoved another hot mug of coffee into her hands as she stepped out of the shower. Already naked, her friend stepped in.
After two gulps of morning bliss, Lei Lu wrapped an oversized towel around her body and trotted to the kitchen table. Katlin pulled a hot plate out of the oven and placed it in front of her.
“Oli will be here in ten minutes. Shakespeare is getting everything onto the boat.” Katlin, already dressed in a bikini underneath shorts and a tank top, sat down next to her, obviously drinking cup number three. “SOCOM doesn’t want the plane on the ground any longer than necessary so it’ll be a fast unload. Since Harper was in charge of the manifest, we’re not going to double check. If we need something more, they’ll put it on another plane for us.”
“Works for me,” Lei Lu said as she shoved the last piece of syrup-covered pancake into her mouth. She grabbed the pieces of bacon off the plate and headed toward her assigned room. “I’ll be ready in five.”
All five women were waiting when the Grand Turk Police SUV pulled up in front of the spacious two-story white house located on the beach. Each had a small duffel with her personal weapons underneath colorful beach towels and sunscreen. Since Tori was the primary sharpshooter, her bag contained a long rifle. The Ladies of Black Swan knew to expect the unexpected. Someone had shot down that airplane.
“Morning, ladies.” Oli’s smile was contagious. “I hope you all slept well. I think you’re the first guests this place has seen. The owners haven’t even been here yet.”
Like most women, Lei Lu was a sucker for his British accent. In nothing more than low-slung board shorts on narrow hips, he jumped out of the SUV, reaching for their bags. The blue speedo he wore underneath peeked out as he walked. She wondered if he dove in the tiny tight suit.
“Just pop the trunk,” Katlin ordered. “We’ve got this.”
A nondescript gray airplane taxied to the small airport as the vehicles drove onto the tarmac. Lei Lu glanced toward the only hanger, where the Black Swan jet sat hidden from view. She checked the video inside and out as she’d dressed. Operations command and her computer would have notified her had there been a breach. Satisfied all was secure, she turned her attention to the CIA plane.
The first one down the steps was their friend Harper Tambini, now Harper Silva. Her big brown eyes were hidden behind wraparound reflective sunglasses. “It’s been forever since we’ve been on a mission together.” Quick hugs ensued before everyone got to work.
Three men in blue and white CDC uniforms exited the plane carrying locking containment boxes. Nita immediately went to greet them. After personally checking each container, she supervised their loading into the second SUV.
At the back hold, Grace and Tori separated black duffel bags. The plane was emptied in minutes. As soon as the CDC men were back on board, it lifted off, disappearing into the sun.
Loading the boat took a bit longer. They had to find places to securely stow everything.
“Can’t we put these bags under the seats?” Oli asked Katlin as he picked one up. “What the hell do you ladies have in there?”
The smile her team leader gave him was absolutely feral. “It’s probably best that you know, anyway.” With a small nod to Tori, the team sharpshooter came over and quickly assembled her custom-made Barrett sniper rifle.
“Whoa. Do you know how to use that thing?” Oli’s eyes were huge.
Tori mounted it to her shoulder, looked down the scope and called, “Seagull. Eight hundred yards. Two o’clock.” The report from the rifle quickly dispersed. Nothing but feathers was left of the bird. She handed the gun to Grace who immediately tucked in.
“They’re flying off. I’m reading them at nine hundred yards.” She lowered the rifle, barrel pointed in the air. “Do I really need to kill another innocent bird just to prove to you that each of us is an expert with this weapon?”
“Shooting from a rolling deck is fucking impressive.” Shakespeare carried another CDC container across the boat. “What else do you have in those bags?”
“Each of us has an array of personal weapons.” Katlin dug into hers and pulled out her M4 semi-automatic rifle. She had hers outfitted with the scope as well as iron sights she preferred to use for close-in work simply by rotating the weapon forty-five degrees. Reaching back in, she extracted her favorite throwing stars, their edges as sharp as razor blades. “And I never go anywhere without my little girlfriend, Kimber.” She laid her ten-millimeter carry pistol on top of the bag.
“Are we expecting trouble?” Oli asked.
Katlin shrugged as she put everything back in. “We’re always prepared.”
“I thought this was a recovery mission,” Oli looked wary.
“It is.” Katlin went on to explain, “We intend to recover two bodies and several boxes that belong to the CDC.” Her gaze wandered to Shakespeare.
“That’s right, my old friend. Two bodies and about fifteen boxes.” Shakespeare kept loading the boat, never looking at either the women or Oli.
All the women moved to the bow as soon as they were underway. Shakespeare and Oli had climbed to the flying bridge, twenty feet above them.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you guys in forever,” Harper declared as she stripped down to nothing but her bathing suit. “Tell me, what have you guys been up to?”
“Lei Lu had her first up close and personal kill just before we diverted here.” Tori announced.
“Tell me about it,” Harper insisted. “My first was the drug capos who kidnapped me in Columbia. Trust me, I didn’t mind putting a bullet in his head.”
“I had a Yemeni terrorist. I took him out while he was visiting his domme in Dubai.” She started to tell the story, but Nita jumped in.
“Oh my God, she had some of the best one-liners I’ve ever heard.” Nita started to giggle. “You have to picture this: Lei Lu is dressed in leather and feathers and she has that fucking bullwhip of hers.”
In between laughs, Tori added, “I thought the fucker was going to hyperventilate when she told him ‘a big man like you doesn’t need a safe word with little old me.’”
“No,” Nita giggled. “No, my absolute favorite was, ‘I’m going to blow your fucking mind before this night is over.’”
“What the hell, Lei Lu? Did you practice those lines?” Harper accused.
Lei Lu shook her head. She had no idea where some of the shit she’d said came from that night, but she’d been on a roll. “Nope. I’m quite sure that Rafi Ghazali thought that I was going to suck his dick. He had no idea I meant it literally until I shoved the silencer up his ass and told him that he had enough virgins on this earth, Allah wasn’t going to give him any more. I wasn’t going to allow him to rape anymore child brides.”
She turned to Tori and Nita. “I was a little busy while you were taking out the guards at the door. Did you have any problems?”
“None at all.” Tori and Nita high-fived each other. “According to Madame Payne, the guards normally get a blowjob while they’re waiting. Perks of the job, I guess. They thought Nita and I were there to service them. Our good doctor had whipped up some kind of a neurotoxin so the moment we pricked their necks, they were out. They’d stopped breathing by the time they hit the floor.”
“Thank Christ for the bouncers.” Nita shook her head. “I’m not sure we would’ve been able to drag their big-ass bodies out the back door. Talk about dead weight. The bouncers hated those two men and didn’t mind helping us take out the trash.”
“Three more scumbags the world won’t have to worry about anymore,” Lei Lu commented.
“Actually, make that five.” Katlin smiled. “I took out the limousine driver and the pilot. I thought seriously about stealing the plane, but it wasn’t anywhere near as nice as Black Swan. It had a funky smell to it. I called the local CIA contacts and I think they’ve claimed it.”
“So, how’s married life treating you, neighbor?” Tori asked Harper.
“It feels just like it did when we lived together.” Harper shrugged. “Rafe gets up and goes to work at Guardian Security and I go to work at the ATF. Sometimes SOCOM assigns me to a mission as the demolition expert and I get to play with CHAZ, but that hasn’t happened very often lately. I was surprised when General Lyon asked me to join your team down here. I’ve brought enough explosives to blow the plane if we can’t retrieve all the viral samples.”
Harper smiled at Tori. “Marcus came over and had breakfast with Rafe and me a few days ago. Our schedules meshed for the first time in weeks, so Rafe took my car in for service and I rode to work with Marcus. It felt like old times.”
“I miss him,” Tori admitted wistfully. “We had plans to go to the Smithsonian today, but we’ll just do it when we get back.”
“Those fucking dinosaurs aren’t going anywhere,” Nita rolled her eyes. “Simon loves the Museum of Natural History. I swear, that kid thinks that’s the only museum in the entire Smithsonian.”
“Hey, we took him to the Air and Space Museum when Alex and I had him a few weeks ago.” Katlin stared out at the ocean. “Damn. That was almost two months ago now.”
“Griffin and I would love to take Simon for a day.” Grace gave Nita a big grin. “I’m not sure I’m ready to tackle baby Bella yet though.”
“Thanks. I might just take you up on that, especially if I can convince my sister-in-law to take the baby for a few hours.” Nita looked hopefully at Katlin. “I feel like it’s been forever since Daniel and I have had some real adult time. Child interruptus sucks.”
“I think we can arrange that.” Katlin looked to Grace who nodded.
Lei Lu had just been sitting back quietly listening to her friends’ love lives when suddenly all eyes turned to her.
“So, Lei Lu, who is new and exciting in your life?” Grace probed.
“No one is new, or exciting, in my life.” And wasn’t that the damn sad truth? “I know none of you were excited about coming here, but I was. My mother is working with a matchmaker from their church back in Utah. Right now, she has a man at my Crystal City apartment who this matchmaker has deemed appropriate to be my husband.”
“Well,” Grace stretched out the word. “Maybe he’s a really nice guy?”
“I have no idea, nor do I wish to find out.” Lei Lu grinned. “I hope he and my mother are having a wonderful time visiting all the monuments and sites around Washington D.C.. I just pray they’re gone before we get home.”
“Is he Mormon?” Harper asked. “And is that a prerequisite for you?”
“It sure as fuck isn’t for me, but it seems to be for my mother.” Lei Lu confessed. “My father would love nothing more than for me to find a good man from their church and return home. Mom, on the other hand, wants my offspring as soon as possible.”
Nita got one of those looks on her face like she was about to ask something extremely personal and probably embarrassing. “Mind if I ask you a question?”
“Can I stop you?” Lei Lu retorted.
“No, not really.” Nita shifted in her seat. “Do Mormons really wear...unusual undergarments?”
“Yes. Devout Mormons wear the traditional temple undergarments.” Lei Lu had been asked this question several times before by curious outsiders of the religion. “Women don’t wear bras. It’s kind of a loose-fitting cotton T-shirt that has space for your boobs.” She glanced over at Katlin whose abundant breasts were securely inside her bikini. “Sorry, my friend, yours would never fit.”
“I have no intention of ever trying on such a piece of clothing.” Katlin giggled. “If we need somebody to go undercover at the Mormon Tabernacle choir, it would be you.”
“So, do women wear granny panties?” Nita pressed.
“Oh, good Lord, no. Those would be too revealing.” Lei Lu smiled. “Women are required to wear baggy underwear that comes up to their waist and stops just above their knees. Men’s bottoms look almost identical, but they have a large pocket in the front for their dick and plenty of room for their balls. They get to wear a relatively normal T-shirt on top. It just has a big scoop neck.”
Tori burst out laughing. “It’s no wonder you max out your Victoria’s Secret card every month.”
Lei Lu shrugged. “Don’t hate me because I like pretty things, like lacy thongs, and cheeky panties. And I just have to get the matching bras.”
“No judgment here.” Harper looked around the group of women. “Rafe loves it when we go shopping.” She cocked her head. “Who did you bring to our wedding?”
“Zane.” Lei Lu wanted to roll her eyes but held Harper’s gaze. “I won’t be seeing him again. His job moved him to the West Coast, but that’s not the reason why I wouldn’t date him again. He wasn’t a very good lover. Matter-of-fact, he was extremely self-centered.”
“Please tell me he didn’t leave you unsatisfied?” Tori popped her fist onto her hip.
“No. I came twice before he did.” She debated on telling them the rest, feeling as though she wasn’t good enough for Zane to want more. “But after he came, he rolled over and went to sleep. He never woke up until dawn.” She shrugged. “I never pegged him to be a one and done. After a little nap, I was ready to go again. I tried to arouse him and...nothing. He was out like a light.”
“What about morning...?” Grace let the word ‘sex’ go unsaid.
Lei Lu burst out laughing. “Oh, that was the final straw. He had the nerve to ask me for a blowjob to take the edge off. But when I said, ‘What about me?’ He told me he didn’t have time for a fuck.”
“And the man left with his balls intact?” Nita asked.
“Swinging in the wind.” Lei Lu laughed. “I picked him up and threw him out the front door. Naked.”
All the women were laughing so hard tears streaked down their cheeks.
“I was afraid his screaming was going to wake up the neighbors, so I threw his clothes out the door.” Her smile was smug and she knew it. “By the way, Katlin, have I thanked you for my new video doorbell? It was fun watching him get dressed standing in the hallway.”
“Oh my God. You are so brutal.” Nita threw herself at Lei Lu. “I love you. I want to be you when I grow up.”
Little did her friend know, that Lei Lu wanted what Nita had; a wonderful husband, two beautiful children, and a supportive family.
“You don’t need a matchmaker.” Katlin looked around the women gathered in the front of the gorgeous dive boat. “You have best friends. We know lots of men. Tell us, what are you looking for in a man?”
“Wow.” Lei Lu took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Someone who’s tough enough to challenge me on the mat.”
Nita threw her hands up in the air. “Well, that’s going to be nearly impossible. How many black belts do you hold? I don’t know anybody short of a mixed martial arts champion who could beat you.”
“I don’t want him to beat me, I just want the challenge.” When she slipped on her gi, she became a different person. Male or female didn’t matter. It was one person against another. Only a few of her senseis ever gave her the fight of her life. She needed that. Deep in her soul, she wanted an equal.
“Next characteristic,” Katlin demanded.
“I want somebody who’s intelligent, but not geeky like Brett,” she said of the computer expert at Guardian Security. Yes, he was somewhat of a bad boy because of all the government agencies he’d hacked into before he turned twenty years old, but he wasn’t... She didn’t quite know the right word.
“Yeah, Brett is kind of a wimp,” Katlin admitted.
“He’s nowhere near alpha enough for you,” Nita pointed out.
“Alpha.” Lei Lu tried out the word. “Yeah. He’s got to be alpha. Like the men you found.”
As the women all exchanged a look, they nodded.
“It takes a special man, to love a woman like us.” Katlin’s words rang true.
“Okay, where do I find an alpha with at least two black belts?” Lei Lu then added, “Who’s willing to put up with my job?” After only a moment, she added another caveat, “And he has to like sex. Lots of sex.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Lots, and lots of sex.”
“Especially after we’ve been gone for months.”
All the women agreed, giggling.