Freedom's Promise: Task Force 125 (5 page)

Surprise registered on
Guinea
's face.  "Serious?"

Will nodded.  "Deadly."

“We've got
a
contact at the Saudi Embassy who says he can get us some details.  This is now our base of operations."

Guinea
ran his hand through his black hair.  Long locks fell back down into his face.  "The Agency is really beginning to piss me off.  Its bad enough they burned me but leaving a stand-up guy like Vince hanging out there, well, that's enough to make a man go batshit.  Whatever you're doing, count me in.  I ain't
no
stranger to going off the reservation, and I got nothing to lose.  I'm a ghost."

Will
eyed
Guinea
.  "We aren't negotiating with this guy.  We're going in hot and cleaning the scene.  You could get worse than burned on this."

Guinea Man smiled and his eyes lit up like two Christmas stars. 
"Old school style, badass operations.
  Now
that's
what I'm talking about!"

Will picked up his coffee cup and took a drink.  "I think we can use all the operational assistance we can get."  He looked around at the team.  "Do we want to take some time to talk about this?"

"Nah, I'm cool with bringing him in on it."  Jason extended a hand to
Guinea
who grasped it in a firm handshake.  "Any friend of Vince and Will's is good enough for me.  I'm Jason. 
Weapons."

Guinea
nodded.  "Good to know ya, Jason."

Chris shook Guinea Man's hand and chuckled.  "Yeah, it says a lot when a man let's you hang out on his secret island.  I'm Chris. 
Communications and intelligence."

Brian nodded.  "Brian.  Explosives and anything wet."

Guinea Man smiled with half his mouth. 
"A tail chasing SEAL, huh?
 
Known a few of your kind.
 
Nice to meet you."

Will
pointed
to Sarah.  "Sarah's been our undercover operative for our last two missions."

Guinea
smiled.  "And I'll bet you're damned good
under the covers
too."

Sarah shook his hand as she shook her head.  The guy was
persistent,
she had to give him that.  "That seems to be the general consensus, but you're just gonna have to take my word for it."

Guinea
man shrugged again at the strike out.  "You give as good as you get, girlie, and you don't whine about harassment.  I like that in a woman."

"All right, people, let's not lose any more time. 
Guinea
, would you show Chris the communications equipment in the office, show Jason to the armory and Brian to the hangar?  Sarah and I are going to get ready to meet with Davidson tomorrow."

"Not a problem."  Guinea Man refilled his travel mug.  "Follow me, guys."  He led the way through a door off the living room and Jason, Brian and Chris followed.

Sarah turned and smiled at Will.  "You got us a meeting for tomorrow?  When did you have time to do that?"

He leaned a hip against the kitchen island and his blue eyes sparkled.  "I'm always on the job, pork chop.  You got anything formal in that luggage of yours?"

Sarah grinned. 
"Always.
  What's the deal?"

Will topped off his coffee cup and looked at the last bit of dark brown liquid in the pot.  "I am escorting the Signora Elisabetta Scuro to a party at the American Embassy in
Riyadh
tomorrow evening."

Sarah handed him her mug.  "My alias is having its very own coming out party? 
Sweet."

He poured the last of the coffee into her cup and placed the empty carafe by the coffee maker.  "I had a feeling that alias would come in handy.  I'm glad I went with my gut on that one."

Sarah pulled a cigarette from the pack Jason had left on the counter and lit it with the Zippo lying nearby.  "So how are we getting to
Riyadh
—planes, trains, camel caravan?"

"Brian is going to fly us in, and a buddy of mine is hooking us up with a hard car from the airport."

Sarah had never heard that phrase “hard car” before.  "Excuse me?"

Will smiled and spoke slowly.  "We're going to use Vince's helicopter to fly to
Riyadh
, and then we'll pick up an armored car at the airport."

"I had no idea Vince even had a helicopter."

"Sweetheart, no self-respecting multi-millionaire with an island in the U.A.E. would be seen without one.  Didn't Vince tell you about any of this?"

Millionaire?

Sarah’s jaw dropped.  "He'd mentioned the island, but I thought he was kidding.  The rest of the stuff, well, you know, we really haven't had much time…"  Sarah’s words trailed off.  They’d had enough time for plenty of mind-blowing sex but hadn’t talked a whole lot.  She began to wonder how much she didn’t know about Vince.

"Oh, that reminds me."  Will pulled a bank card out of his wallet and handed it to Sarah.  "Put this somewhere safe."

She examined the card in her hand.  "What is it?"

"The card you'll need to access your money at that bank.  Vince and I started the account with the money you gave us from the sale of Hassan's jewels.

Sarah stopped him, confused.  “We all worked that mission.  It’s only right we shared the booty.”

Will’s blue eyes sparkled.  “We’re both well fixed, as you can see,” he made a sweeping motion with his hand, “so we thought we'd get you started on a fallback plan.  It isn't much compared to the estate you just inherited, but it might be good throwing-around money for a shopping trip."

Sarah hugged Will.  Tears welled up in her eyes.  She didn't try to hold them back. 
These guys
,
who
had
barely kn
own
her
at the time,
cared enough to take
the gifts she'd given them and set up an emergency bank account for her.  Their thoughtfulness made her heart ache.  "Thank you."  Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she couldn't stop smiling.  "You guys really do take good care of me, and I love you for it."

"That goes both ways, pork chop.  You've been doing right by us since day one."

Chapter Nine

The two burly men each grabbed one of Vince's elbows and pulled him out of the dark cell.  He went along agreeably and eyed his escorts.  The fresh air hit him like a slap in the face.

He figured the Australian had about three inches and fifty steroid-infused pounds on him.  On a good day, he could take him but he hadn't eaten since
Italy
, which he figured by his recent loss of appetite was at least three days ago.  It wouldn't even be a fight in Vince's weakened condition.

The two men escorted Vince back to the parlor where Nikolai had questioned him the day prior. 

At least he thought it had been the previous day.  He had no way of knowing for certain what time or even what day it was.  They'd taken his watch and his phone when they kidnapped him, and he was still groggy from whatever drug they were using to knock him out.

Good thing we all use code-names for our cell phone directories.
 

Vince gave a little internal chuckle.  It would take a lot more work than anyone was willing to do before they discovered that
Betty
, listed in his cell phone as the waitress from Dave and Buster's, was Sarah.  He wondered how she was holding up. 

Sunlight streamed through the windows now.  Nikolai smiled behind an ornate desk in a large, tan leather chair, twiddling his thumbs and appearing rather pleased with
himself
.

Vince flopped as his escorts pushed him onto one of the plain wooden chairs in front of the desk.

Chapter Ten

Sarah zipped the slit closed on the Ralph Lauren shirtdress.  “No sense unsettling the natives with too much thigh showing.”

Will called upstairs.  "Sarah?  Are you ready yet?"

"I'm coming!"  She took one last look at herself in the mirror, liked what she saw, and turned to go.  She walked out of the closet, which was more of a dressing room given its dimensions.  Vince's bedroom suite was total comfort.  Oversized glass doors opened to a veranda overlooking the sparkling pool below and the sea beyond.  The king sized bed was perfectly outfitted with a down duvet and pillows as soft as sleep itself.  The cozy sitting area near the fireplace would be the perfect place to share a nightcap at the end of the day.  She smiled and thought this island would be the perfect place for them to get away from everything when this was all done.

I'm bringing Vince back here and we are going to spend a week in this room.

"Hey, darlin', we're headed out to the hangar for preflight.  Come on down when you're ready."

"I'm right behind you, Brian."  She picked up her garment bag and makeup case and walked downstairs to find
Guinea
and Chris playing video games on the huge plasma television in the living room.  "I should have known
Vince would have the largest television known to man along with every game system ever made."

Chris glanced over his shoulder and did a double take with hungry eyes.  "It's about time we see you looking your glamorous self again, Sarah.  I was beginning to have my doubts.  We had a pool going on the sweatpants and ice cream."

Sarah shook her head.  "I've got a special bullet set aside for myself in case that day ever comes.  You guys and Vince need me to be on the ball.  I'm bringing no less than my A-game."

Guinea
turned to look at Sarah.  "Shit.  I
ain't never
seen an A-game like that.  I've been playing in the wrong league."

"Thanks,
Guinea
."  She looked at the big screen and the game Chris had gone back to playing.  "Don't you guys have some work to do?"

Chris made a whip snapping sound. 
"Just taking a short break Mistress Sarah."

She smiled briefly but it faded fast when she considered what she and Will were about to do.  "Hopefully, we'll get some good intel from Davidson tonight."

"If anyone can do it, it'll be you and Will."

Sarah turned toward the door.  "Thanks.  Let's hope so."  She walked outside and had her first good look at the grounds of Vince's island.  Palm trees were scattered about but there wasn't much to the landscaping from what she could see.  The path from the front door led directly to the helipad they'd landed on the night before.  Beyond that was a large hangar.  Will was sliding the left door open and she could see Brian and Jason rolling a helicopter out.

Damn.  Vince really does have a helicopter?  What else has he got that I didn't know about?

Of all Sarah’s questions, the biggest one at the moment was
what was on the other side of that closed hangar door?
  She walked over and peeked
around the closed door.  A second helicopter, a very big one, waited silently with all but the props hidden under a large tarp.  She gasped. 

Brian spoke as he rolled the first helicopter out.  "Hey!  We don't open that door or take that tarp off unless we get confirmation from Chris that there aren't any satellites overhead."

Sarah quickly realized what kind of chopper was under the tarp.  The helicopter they were rolling out was a lovely, luxury, civilian
helo
—the one they'd use to get around.  When they went to get Vince, they'd be using the gunship under the tarp. 

I just hope he got the ammo to go with it.

Jason appeared out of nowhere and tapped her on her good shoulder as she was about to step into the helicopter.  His eyes sparkled as he spoke.  "When you get back, I'm going to show you the rumpus room.  I think you'll like it."

Chapter Eleven

Vince stretched his long legs as he waited in the uncomfortable chair.

Nikolai shuffled through a handful of papers on his desk and then looked up at Vince with a sneer.  "I trust your quarters are as comfortable as you expected?"

Vince mustered some sarcasm in spite of his hunger and agitation at being drugged.  "Yes, that cot is lovely and the room is very quiet. 
Very restful.
  How long should I expect to stay in your Spartan spa?"

Nikolai's sneer melted. 
"As long as it takes."
  He picked up a gold pen
from his desk
and tapped it on
his chin
.  "Now why don't you tell me about Sarah Stevens?"

Vince consciously regulated his breathing.  He knew if he appeared anxious, Nikolai would pick up on it, and Sarah would be in even more danger than she already was.  "I already told you what I know."