His Wicked Pleasure (9 page)

              Kristie tightened her grip on the steering wheel as her insides turned. She had come to the same conclusion as her uncle and felt angered by the sabotage and dishonesty. Still, she didn’t relish what she would need to do next,
‘I think I may have to clean house now.’

             
‘I agree.’
Her uncle’s voice was filled with concern before he added,
‘I’m over at your office waiting for you. Don’t worry sweetheart, you will prevail.’

~*~*~*~

              The drive to the Navy base was non eventful but the closer Declan got to it, the more he felt a shift in the air. By the time he parked, he knew that something was off its axis.  Taking a deep breath, he smelled something metallic in the air and it instantly caused his gut to turn as a chill ran down his spine. Paul walked up behind him, noticed his friend’s demeanor and let out a loud groan.

              “I know that look,” he said handing Declan the coffee he’d picked up for him. “I’ve seen it so many times on your face...we’re about to be deployed.” He groaned, “That just sucks right now.”

              Declan nodded as his gaze took in two commanding officers and an admiral headed their way. Immediately, he and Paul stood at attention and saluted.

              “At ease men,” said the admiral with a nod. “We’ll be joining you during your meeting today.”

              Declan nodded but he didn’t relax. Instead, he stood at perfect attention as tension filled every part of his body. The last thing he wanted was to leave Kristie without letting her know how much she meant to him. He needed to tell her how badly he wanted a relationship.

              He shook his head. Now was not the time to focus on what he wanted, he had a mission to do. Forcing himself out of his own pity party, he replied, “Please, follow us. We were just heading towards our meeting room.”

              The officers followed Declan as they walked towards the large building and through the halls to the meeting room. Declan waited as the officers took their seats before he took his own and then he waited, lost in his own thoughts, as his squad came in one by one.

              “I guess the gangs all here,” said Declan looking over at Paul with a frown as his commander walked through the door.

              The next hour was spent with the commander giving them their orders and Declan listened as each man was briefed on his role on this mission. . For himself, he was head of operations...a role that he was very familiar with.

              The commander led them to a room filled with computers, wall monitors, and hi-tech equipment and let the team go to work. Rubbing the back of his neck, Declan stood in the center of the room, looked at the screen on the wall and frowned.

              “This is not going to be an easy assignment,” he sighed. It shouldn’t surprise him, none of his assignments were easy.

              Paul looked at the building on the wall, walked over and enlarged it. “Interesting.”

              “Very,” said Declan rubbing his chin while staring at the display before him. Then they got to work setting up everything that they needed to. Finally, after the sky outside started getting dark, the broke away from the computers for a few minutes.

              “We’ve been in here for hours,” said Paul with concern. “Let’s send someone out to get us food. I think we’re all hungry and can use something in our stomachs.”

~*~*~*~

              Walking into her office, Kristie found her uncle busily typing on his laptop at her desk. She smiled and warmly hugged him.

“I’m not going to sugar coat this, Kristie.” He grimaced, “Your email had me take your concerns very seriously. It seems you’re right. Someone, or several people, are stealing from you.”

              “Oh no,” said Kristie sadly.

              “Yes and someone from your company leaked information about that theft, although they twisted the truth to implicate our family, which is why the media is having a field day.”

~*~*~*~

              Taking a bite out of his sandwich, Declan stood up and switched things around on the wall. He stood there chewing while he was lost in thought.  After a few moments, the plan hit him like a ton of bricks.

              Declan turned around and watched his team working while they ate. Walking back to his chair, he sat down and thought for a moment.

              “What’s wrong?” asked Paul with concern.

              “I was looking forward to seeing my little Barbie Doll later on.”

              “I’d told Lorie that I’d meet up with her tonight,” said Paul running his hands through his hair. “We may not have them when we get home. It’s not like we can call them now and try to explain things.”

              “Damn,” Declan slammed his fist onto the desk in front of him, which caused everyone in the room to look over at him. “What was I thinking? I should have been honest and up front with her right from the start.”

              “They don’t remind me of the type of girls to sit at home and wait for us either. Once they don’t hear from us, I’m sure they will move on,” Paul said as he shoved his food away from him in anger.

Chapter Eight

              Kristie stood up and leaned against the back of her chair as she practiced her media speech.

              “No, do it again,” said her uncle when she was finished. Tossing a file at her, he said, “Take a look at this. I had George do an entire investigation of your company. Look over everything he highlighted.”

              Kristie sat down, opened the file, and began reading everything in it. Each time she read a sentence, her mind somehow pictured Declan standing in front of her with his jet black, wavy hair blowing in the wind. His delicious masculine scent wrapped around her and made her feel safe and excited all at once. Swearing she could still smell him, she squeezed her eyes shut and refocused on the report in front of her. She read everything over and once she had a clear picture painted in her mind, she stood up and stretched. She was ready to face the world.

~*~*~*~

Declan pulled out his cell phone and sat there staring at it as his men worked around him.

“Call her,” Paul broke into his thoughts after he watched his best friend battle invisible demons.

“I want to so badly but don’t know what to say,” said Declan groaning as if in agonizing pain. “I can’t lose her. I know this sounds crazy but she is the one for me.”

“Pull yourself together,” growled Paul between clenched teeth. “This is not the time nor the place for you to fall apart. Send her a text and let her know you care but will be out of town on assignment.”

Declan sat there debating on what he should say. He typed out a message, erased it, typed it out again and then erased it. Tossing the phone across the desk as if it burned his skin, Declan growled, “It’s pointless. I have no idea how long I’ll be gone and don’t want her upset.”

“So you’re not sending her a message?” asked Paul looking at his phone for a moment. “I’m going to call Lorie and explain things.”

Declan watched Paul’s look of disappointment as he put the phone down. Sighing, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Her phone must be off, it went straight to voicemail. Try to call Kristie,” Paul aid anxiously.

Declan called Kristie and let out a low growl when her phone also went to voicemail. “It’s hopeless.”

“We’ll try again later.” Paul gathered up his garbage and tossed it into the trashcan. He nodded towards Declan’s food, “Finish eating and let’s hear your plan for this mission.”

Declan nodded. It wasn’t like him to be indecisive so he finished off his lunch before he attempted to call Kristie again...no answer. The third call had the same luck. Turning off his phone, he put it into his pants pocket and turned to his team. Kristie would have to wait, he thought as he went over his plan, making sure to include every detail and every angle.

Each team member added their input and, finally, they were ready.

~*~*~*~

Standing in her office, Kristie practiced what she would say to the media over and over again until she, herself, was convinced.

“You’re a natural,” her uncle gave her a reassuring smile. “Which is great because we don’t want to give too much information nor do we want them to second guess us.”

“We have to be on point,” Kristie agreed as her stomach turned from the nerves setting in. She stepped out of her office and called Stefan over. “Can you please order lunch for my uncle and a cup of hot tea for me? Oh and get yourself something too. Thanks so much.”

“I guess you heard my stomach growling,” said her uncle. He was as handsome as when he was a young man.

“No,” she laughed, thankful that he took some of her tension away.  “I just know you normally eat at this time.”

They returned to their files and stopped working as soon as lunch arrived. Choosing to distract herself, Kristie checked her phone for messages or missed calls. Nothing...she bit back the disappointment as she tossed her phone into her purse and zippered it shut.

              “I hope you don’t mind; I decided it was nice out and decided that we should set up the press conference outside the building.”

              “That’s fine,” said Kristie taking a deep breath and letting it out. “It seems better that way. More room so people aren’t right on top of me.”

              “Exactly,” her uncle agreed as he tossed his garbage in the trashcan.

~*~*~*~

Declan was sitting at his desk reviewing the progress of the mission when his commander walked in.

“At ease gentlemen,” said the commander in a bellowing voice. “I just received word that the hostages have been released and, so far, everything seems to be back to normal.”

“So this mission is aborted?” asked Declan, making sure he understood.

“Yes. You’re all dismissed and I’ll see you back here first thing tomorrow morning.”

Declan held up his hand for his team to remain. The mission might be over but there were things that still needed to be done to wrap it up. Plus, his team needed to start training tomorrow to be ready for their next mission. Finishing up, Declan nodded and said, “See you all at 0500 tomorrow. Have a great day. Dismissed.”

Paul watched as Declan sat down at his desk and began going through a bunch of different folders. “What’s going on? Why haven’t you left yet?”

“Something is off.” Declan glanced up at the screens again and shook his head when he didn’t see anything suspicious, “I trust my instincts and sense something is terribly wrong.”

“The commander just said the hostages were released,” said Paul in a soothing voice. “Is that what concerns you?”

“No,” said Declan. He flipped through several files and then read them again. Sighing, he said, “Here, if you’re going to sit here, have a look at some of these files and see if anything stands out.”

“Is there anything in particular I should be looking for?” asked Paul while he took the files from Declan.

“Just anything that stands out. Read these dossiers on some of the potential threats.”

“Yes sir!” Paul took a seat and read through the files he was handed.