Page 12 of Redeeming Violet

“Red,” Eric said, but never moved his position.

The team flashed back, confirming they’d received the transmission and it was go time. We’d acknowledged each other’s presence but there was still a pucker factor when you step out from behind cover, and hope to God you hadn’t just made a grave mistake.

“You both stay here. Cover me,” Zane said as he took off for the next block wall, crouching down behind it before he took off running again, each maneuver taking him closer to the building where the team was holed up.

“Crazy motherfucker,” I said to Eric as I watched Zane zig-zag his way around the courtyard through my NightForce scope. A door on the side of the building Zane was running toward opened a fraction of an inch. My finger went to my trigger and I held, waiting to see who appeared. Thankfully Cookie’s face was devoid of the paint the team normally wore to conceal their identity. I moved my finger back to rest on my trigger guard until Zane had slipped in. A few moments later came three flashes of Zane’s light giving us the all clear.

I gave Eric a sharp nod and we both stepped around the block wall and turned our back to Zane and Cookie. Moving at a fast clip, we walked backwards toward them. Not knowing if anyone else was in the area, both Eric and I kept our guns at the ready. A few moments later we turned and ran the last few feet, slipping in the door behind Cookie.

“Jesus, I’m happy to see you guys. Come on up,” Cookie said.

He took the rickety stairs two at a time and the rest of us followed silently up the three flights of stairs.

Wolf, Abe, and Mozart turned to greet us, but Benny remained at his post as overwatch, keeping his spotting scope trained out the window.

“Dude’s on the next floor up,” Wolf answered the unspoken question we were all wondering. “Do you have comms?”

“Affirmative. Let’s get back to the hotel and we’ll get the fuck out of here. Tex has a jet on standby.”

“Any idea how this cluster fuck came to be?” Abe asked.

This was going to get sticky. There was one thing Christopher “Abe” Powers hated more than anything and that was a liar. Violet Meyers may not have been behind the ambush, but she was tied closely to the situation. The fact she was in country and wanted the drone chip the team was in possession of, was sure to make Abe go ballistic.

Abe didn’t disappoint. After Zane gave the SITREP Abe was seething. “You’re telling me she thought we’d hand over the drone, so she could trade it for a list of names that has more than likely already been farmed out bit by bit. Has she lost her mind?”

“Not that we would give it to her in the first place, but she’s shit out of luck. We caught on to the fact our location had been compromised about ten minutes after we turned the mini drone on and used it to scout out a village. After we took out the tangos that had damn near surrounded us, we smashed every last piece of electronics in the damn thing,” Wolf told us.

“I knew you’d figure out it was the drone,” Zane chuckled. “Not that giving her the hardware was ever an option. It was more of a carrot to dangle in front of her while we could flush out the rest of the intel she knew.”

“Did you say her brother was Declan Crenshaw?” Mozart asked.

“Yeah, that’s one of his alias’,” I answered.

“Wasn’t he one of the Marines that helped us out of Pakistan a few years ago, when the chemical engineer was kidnapped?” Mozart asked his team.

“I think you’re right. His team had a funny nick for him,” Cookie said.

“Flower,” Benny added from his perch at the window. “He has a violet tatted on his chest.”

“A violet?” I asked. Jealousy washed over me, a feeling I wasn’t comfortable with for a variety of reasons.

“Yep. Left side over his heart. Wouldn’t tell anyone what it meant.”

“Fuck me, he knew about her,” Eric said. “You think the story she told about not knowing him was all bullshit?”

“Could’ve been. She is CIA. They train those fuckers to be sneaky. What’s her angle? Play the sympathy card, have us help her get the guidance chip so her and Manuel Ortega can sell it and sail away into the sunset together with fistfuls of cash?” I asked, and a new emotion had taken root, one far worse than jealousy – betrayal. My gut tightened at the thought of her purposely deceiving me. Somehow in my mind I could separate what she’d done to protect her brother from the act of terrorism she’d helped carry out, but having her lie directly to my face was disappointing.

“I’d believe that, if it wasn’t for Tex. He was concerned for her safety. Ortega is taking bids on her now,” Zane explained.

“Double cross?” Wolf threw out.

This conversation reminded me why I’d been happy to step away from taking CIA contracts. Nothing was ever what it seemed, no one was ever who they said they were, and you could believe nothing you were told. There was always an underlying agenda. Lie on top of lie, they were layered so thick and heavy it was a wonder the whole system hadn’t crashed.

“We have company,” Benny said. “One pickup truck, ten tangos visible.”

“Hold tight,” Wolf instructed, and looked at Zane. “Do we have a ride outta here?”

“Yes,” Zane answered.