Page 19 of Protecting Olivia

“Rena?”

“Yes, sir, I know your fish. I’ll take care of them. Blue Team has been alerted, and all calls are forwarded to me. Hope you enjoy your vacation in Hawaii. You’ll be at the Aloha hotel spending ungodly amounts of money on Mai Tais. What should I do about Nightstalker and Ghost?” Rena was damn efficient. She ran every aspect of Zane’s life down to his fish tank in his office.

“They’ve been taken care of.” Before Rena could respond, Zane had disconnected the call. Bastard always had to have the last word.

“Jasmin will be here in a moment. She went to Olivia’s apartment and packed some things. She also grabbed your go bag from the office.” Zane turned back to the map.

“Is he always so bossy?” Olivia asked me.

“Yes, tesorino, he is.” I couldn’t help but laugh at her question.

Zane was hard to handle if you didn’t know him. He came off as a dick most of the time because he gave zero fucks if he offended someone and he was no-nonsense. But he would give his life to save a stranger. There was a reason he was the way he was. He was a warrior who led warriors. He had taken on a responsibility that most men couldn’t begin to fathom. Zane had seen and done things that left him scarred and broken. He lived behind a fortress so tall and impenetrable it was a wonder he could still function daily. Yet, he was the best operator I knew. Even though I was pissed he had kept family secrets from me, I still trusted him with my life. There was no other man I would follow into battle.

The perimeter alarm sounded, and I glanced at the monitor in time to see a flash of a matte black Honda CBR1000 race by. Jasmin was here. If Olivia thought Zane was bossy, then she was in for a treat meeting Jasmin. There was no way to explain Nightstalker; she was as badass as they came. She earned her spot on the team, there were no handouts when it came to this woman. She could outshoot most of us and was notorious for training with an extra ten to fifteen pounds in her ruck to prove she was up to date on the men’s standards.

The door slowly pushed open, and the first thing that came into view was the dark earth barrel of Penelope, Jasmin’s P226. Yes, she named her weapon. And if you juiced her about it, she’d cut your ass down to size.

“Yo,” she greeted.

“Nice, Jassy.” I laughed. “You sure know how to enter a room.”

“What? A girl can never be too careful. Just because you fuckers can see who is at the door doesn’t mean I can see in. You never know.”

So it begins.

Jasmin was notorious for her mouth. She cursed like a sailor. Only she wasn’t, she was Army Human Intelligence. She was so good at her job the Army had lent her out to other special forces teams. After a mission was complete, it was her job to go in and collect intel. It didn’t take long for the CIA to catch on and recruit her, too.

“And stop calling me, Jassy.” She hated that nickname. All the more reason for me to continue to use it. “I got your go bag.” Jasmin turned her attention to Olivia who looked like she was about to jump out of the bed and run. “You must be Hash. I packed you some stuff for your trip. Nice digs by the way.”

“Hash?” Olivia questioned.

“Sorry, the guys didn’t tell you. Your callout. We can’t use your real name over comms. You’re Hash.”

“Why Hash?”

“Girl, you use more hashtags on your social media posts than I’ve ever seen. I didn’t know there were so many hashtags,” Jasmin explained. “Even in your private messages, you use them.”

Olivia’s face pinkened, a pretty blush covering her cheeks. She looked so much younger than twenty-five. She could’ve easily passed for eighteen, which made me feel like even more of a douche for lusting after her. She was still a kid.

“Thanks for grabbing my stuff. You didn’t have to do that.” Olivia yawned. “Sorry.”

“No trouble at all. Hey, Uncle. Long time no see.” Jasmin turned to Tom.

It was still hard to wrap my brain around the President being Jasmin’s uncle. She was devastated when she found out her family history had been kept a secret, and after her parents were killed, she was sent to live with a close friend of theirs, not her uncle. Tom kept his promise to his sister and brother-in-law and didn’t tell Jasmin about the family connection until just a few weeks ago. They were slowly getting to know each other and healing from the deception. I suppose a lot of it had to do with Linc, Jasmin’s husband. Jasmin did not forgive easily and never forgot. But Linc had urged her to forge a relationship with Tom. Between that and Tom standing behind her when Linc got captured and was thought to be dead, things were starting to look up for them. Tom had helped her search for Linc. She never gave up hope he was alive, even when the rest of us had.

“Hello, sweetheart. How is Linc?” Tom asked.

“Still a sexy pain in the ass. He hates sitting behind a desk and wants to get back in the field. I guess we’re running comms on this op. I don’t want to leave him unattended,” Jasmin answered.

It was so nice to see her happy. The last two years she had been miserable. Linc was all she needed to smooth all her broken, jagged pieces. In this line of work, none of us would ever be whole, it was impossible; we knew too much and carried out missions disposing of the worst scumbags the world had to offer. Yet, I would imagine having the love of a good woman to come home to would make it a little easier. I didn’t know for sure, I’d never had it. But seeing Linc and Jasmin gave me hope. Something I never thought I’d have. Hope that one day I could have that, too.

“Jas, Jake’s been briefed. I may need you to run intel to Tex if Jake gets overloaded. Tex offered, and as much as I hate to outsource this, there’s no other person I’d trust. He’s expecting you. Please keep him appraised of the crash code until further notice. And for the love of Christ, keep my brother in line,” Zane ordered.

“Copy that. I already have the handcuffs out,” Jasmin quipped.

“Stop talking.” Z smiled.

Z has always had a soft spot for Jasmin. I guess in some small way we all did. She was the little sister we could all pick on. And Jasmin gave as good as she got.