Storm Warning (Security Specialists International Book 4) (19 page)

Conn looked around the room and nodded at the others in turn. His sharp gaze then singled her out. He smiled and headed her way and had almost reached her when Ace appeared at her side and sat on the chair arm.

“Here’s your drink, sugar.”Ace’s narrowed gaze was fixed on Conn. “Hey, Conn. Meet DJ Poe. She’s taken. Find your own woman.”

DJ didn’t know whether to be affronted by Ace’s caveman pronouncement or amused. Conn, it seemed, chose to be amused. He laughed.

“The good ones are always gone before I even get a chance to put my oar in the water.” He smiled and winked at her, his teeth blinding white against his tropical tan, then offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, DJ. If the nerd doesn’t treat you right, I have a lovely
casa
in Cartagena that needs a woman’s touch.”

DJ had the impression he’d used that line before.

Ace growled low in his throat. “Fuck off, Redmond.”

She smiled at Conn as he gently shook her hand. “I appreciate the offer, but as Ace said, I’m currently taken.”

Ace grumbled just loud enough for the three of them to hear, “Permanently taken.”

Conn laughed again. “He’s a lucky man.” He let her fingers slip from his, then pulled up a chair and sat next to Ace. “As tempting as it might be to eliminate the competition, I promise to cover his ass while we’re working the op in Belize.”

“Thanks, asshat.” Ace slapped the back of Conn’s head—hard enough for the man to wince even as he chuckled.

“Belize?” She straightened and unconsciously placed a hand on Ace’s thigh. He covered her hand and held it in place as if he wanted the connection as much as she did. “What’s happening in Belize? I haven’t seen anything in the State Department updates.” As part of an SSI operative’s on-going duties, she read the daily briefings on what was going on in the world.

Belize, the former British Honduras, and still a British Protectorate, was a diver’s paradise and an eco-tourist’s dream vacation spot. There might be some drug activity—that was everywhere these days—but she’d be very surprised if there was any on-going terrorist activity in the small country.

Before either Ace or Conn could respond, Ren stood and addressed the room’s inhabitants. “It looks as if we’re all here. Vanko and Elana won’t be attending. Elana seems to have caught a stomach virus on top of her morning sickness, and Vanko had to give her an IV to hydrate her.”

Lacey inhaled sharply. “I hadn’t heard. I’ll go over and see if I can help.”

Ren motioned her to stay put. “Vanko has it covered. Though this underlines the fact we need a doctor living closer to Sanctuary than the small, part-time clinic in Elk City and the hospital group in Grangeville.”

“I’m working on it,” Trey muttered, followed by a growl of frustration. “Fee will be here soon, if I have anything to say about it.”

Keely had told DJ about Price’s sister Fiona, who was an emergency room physician, currently working off her medical student loans in a small clinic in New Mexico. Trey had fallen for Fee when she’d visited Sanctuary after escaping an abusive relationship with a fellow physician in Detroit. Abusive assholes were everywhere, it seemed.

“Amen to that,” Price muttered. “I don’t like my sister living in that border town. Too much cartel business on both sides of the border.”

Trey grunted, a dark look on his face. “Fee was actually happy to see me on my last monthly visit. Something’s going on, but she wouldn’t share.” He took a sip of his coffee and frowned. “She even agreed to go out on a date on my next visit.”

Fee and DJ had a lot more in common than the sexual violence in their past. Obviously, a stealth courting approach wasn’t uncommon among the macho males of SSI. Poor Fee probably hadn’t even realized yet what Trey was doing. Ace’s wooing had been more effective and quicker than Trey’s since DJ was close at hand.

A look of angry frustration crossed Trey’s face. “I want to go back to Detroit and beat the shit out of the mother-fucker who hurt her again.”

“You and me both,” Price snarled.

“Hurry the wooing up, Trey,” Keely said. “I have the Feds authorization to shift her student loan repayment commitment to our area of Idaho. All we have to do is set up a clinic on Sanctuary land with access to the state highway so locals can also utilize it.”

Trey shot a grateful look at Keely. “Thanks, little sister. With the way you gals are getting pregnant, we need a doctor close by.”

Ren coughed. “Okay, people, enough catching up. Let’s get started. Keely will present the op since it was her contact at NSA who hired us. Conn, there’ve been some changes since I last briefed you.”

“Changes?” Conn asked. “What fucking changes?”

Ace snorted. “You don’t have to be my boy toy while I’m undercover. DJ will be my arm candy. You’ll provide backup.

“Boy toy? I thought you were gonna be my bitch. We flipped for it, if I recall.” Conn managed to avoid Ace’s head slap this time. “I was so looking forward to sharing your bed, Tweeter.”

“Never would’ve happened.” Ace gave him the finger.

Conn didn’t seem too upset about DJ being added to the team. She was sure of it when he leaned over to look past Ace and shot her a jaunty grin. “Guess I get to cover
both
your asses in Belize. Welcome to the team.” He paused and his expression turned all business. “What exactly is your mission background?”

“Classified,” DJ, Ace, and Ren said virtually at the same time.

Conn nodded. “That’s good enough for me. Anyone who has a classified background—and don’t we all?—is more than ready for this type of HUMINT mission.” He turned to Ren. “Hell, boss, this will work even better. The men will be so busy looking at her, they wouldn’t notice if Tweeter walked off with all their hard drives.”

“Hard drives?” DJ looked at Ren, then Ace. “We’re going to steal someone’s computer hardware?”

“No. Conn was trying to be amusing,” Ace frowned at the man, “and he failed abysmally. Keely will explain all. Conn was right about one thing. You’ll be a big distraction, and it’ll allow me to do my job without the bad guys breathing down my neck.”

“And Ace’s job is … what exactly?” DJ turned her attention toward Ren and Keely, who’d patiently waited with looks of amusement on their faces as Conn and Ace had traded quips and insults. Obviously, private security mission briefings were done in a much more relaxed environment than what she was used to in the military. She quite liked the give-and-take among the team and the teasing that still managed to convey respect.

“Right. Some mission background first,” Keely said. “NSA has seen increased Dark Net activity recruiting hackers to compete in a hack-a-thon. The ultimate winner will then be offered a job by a reclusive, shady Brazilian businessman by the name of Sergio Manuel Lazaro a.k.a. Oraio. Oraio was formerly a minor player in South and Central American drug and weapons trafficking.”

From what little DJ knew, the Dark Net was a private network which was utilized by people who wished their business dealings to be anonymous. To access parties on this shadow network, a person had to know the specific IP address. Lots of really bad people used the Dark Net. If this Oraio was recruiting a hacker in this milieu, he was up to no good.

“I take it Oraio’s no longer a minor player?” DJ said.

“Exactly. In recent months, his increase in weapons sales in Central and South America has gone up five hundred percent. That’s what bothers the intelligence community,” Ren said. “Almost overnight, Oraio has become a player of gargantuan proportions. The DIA, CIA/NCS, Interpol, MI-6, and Central and South American intelligence agencies want to know—why now? NSA has been tasked to gather intelligence since Oraio’s recruitment of hackers is in their wheelhouse. Later, we’ll hand out mission dossiers so you can read the analyses from the different agencies looking into his past and present activities. Right now, Keely will show you the main players identified as working for Oraio.”

Keely clicked on a remote and an image appeared on the screen above the fireplace of a red-haired, light-skinned male. He wasn’t handsome, nor was he ugly. He was an everyman until a person looked into his smiling eyes and spotted the cold calculation hiding behind them.

“This man has been Oraio’s front man ever since the Brazilian began his legal and illegal businesses. His name is Declan O’Riley. He’s an Irish national with former IRA ties. Prior to working for Oraio, he often acted as a broker for other drug and arms dealers in every Third-World hellhole there is. He’s survived this long, because he’s lethal and cunning. Do not underestimate him. O’Riley has been taking the reservations and vetting the contestants for the hacking contest.”

“So, Ace has been accepted to be in the contest?” DJ asked.

“Yes.” Keely grinned. “They jumped at the chance to get the infamous Phantom a.k.a. Erik Slade to play with the other hackers.”

“Phantom?” DJ looked at Ace whose cheeks had flushed.

“I’m considered one of the top hackers in the world and the Dark Net is my kingdom. Most hackers would love to say they went up against me and won. Most bad asses want my skills on their side. But I’ve established a reputation of being very choosy for whom I hack.”

“This is what you do in the Bat Cave?” DJ asked.

“Yeah, when I’m not assigned to specific COMINT contract jobs or on-the-ground missions.”

DJ nodded. “Okay, so we go to Belize, and Ace plays hacking games with the other hackers. What’s his exact mission objective? Or, is this a fishing expedition? Do you expect the elusive Oraio to show up?” So far the mission sounded rather innocuous, even with the specter of O’Riley in the background.

“More of a fishing expedition,” Ren replied. “The NSA wants any and all information about Oraio’s operations. The Brazilian is supplying arms to many of our and our allies’ enemies. During the hack-a-thon, Tweeter will have the opportunity to gain access to the Dark Net IPs of Oraio’s trusted business associates since the hackers will be using Oraio’s closed, secure network for the competition. Also, NSA is interested in who else shows up at the hack-a-thon so they can prepare dossiers on them and monitor them on the Internet and the Dark Net more easily. Many of the hackers who’ve expressed interest on the Dark Net recruitment site are ones NSA has on their ‘of interest’ list. Some of the hacker contestants might even be foreign operatives, friendly and not.”

“Won’t there be a danger of someone recognizing Ace as Stuart Allen Walsh and not this Erik Slade dude?” A frisson of unease slithered down DJ’s spine and lodged like a cold lump in her belly. She leaned into Ace’s side, seeking his warmth.

“Unlike Keely, I’ve kept a low profile since I left M.I.T. Also, I’ve been on the Dark Net for a long time, long before I went to college. So my alter ego is fairly well-established.” Ace hugged her. “As Keely said, I’m sort of infamous.” He grinned, a devilish look in his eyes. “The U.S. Government allowed me to hack into some classified areas that made the bad-actor hackers salivate. I’ve got me some serious street cred.”

“Let you?” Keely snorted. “My brother’s too modest. He hacked his way into all those supposedly highly-protected places. After which, he let enough out onto the Dark Net to prove he could do it. Tweetie and I then plugged the holes before anyone could take advantage of them. So, his infamy was earned, not given. He’ll frick-fracking hack circles around the ones who’ve been granted a seat in Belize.”

“Seems straight forward, but…” DJ looked around the room. “…what am I not hearing?” Or was she overreacting, because it was Ace whose butt would have a target on it?

“Nothing.” Ren shrugged. “But any operation can go tits up. This is why SSI never sends anyone undercover without redundant backup. Since Tweeter needs to concentrate on his COMINT, and he tends to go into a fugue state when in front of a monitor, we needed someone to be close enough to alert him to danger. That would be you. Conn will be there to back up both of you and to keep any unexpected unfriendlies on-site honest. Plus, O’Riley has been rumored to kill people who merely inconvenience him.”

DJ huffed. “Well, if O’Riley makes a move on Ace, then he’ll be the one inconvenienced.”

“Blood-thirsty.” Conn laughed. “I like her.” He looked at Ren. “Looks as if DJ has Tweeter covered, I might as well plan on diving and fishing.”

“That’s part of your new cover, Conn,” Keely said. “We’ve rented a yacht out of Cancun. Tweeter has already let it be known he’s sailing from Cancun to Belize with his new girlfriend and the yacht’s captain.”

Something primitive inside DJ stirred.
There be dragons here.

“So, this could become a fishing expedition of another sort with us as live bait,” DJ said.

“Exactly.” Ren smiled at her as if she’d just aced a test. “The Phantom is extremely well-known. There
might
be other parties interested in
acquiring
his services. This way, we can draw out any such interested parties before you get to Belize. If there are tails and they prove to be a danger to you or the mission, then Conn can handle them.”

Dragons, indeed. Ace had a larger target on his back than she’d thought.

Keely used the remote and pulled up another image on the monitor. “Here are some of Oraio’s other known employees. They helped O’Riley run the Brazilian’s business during his more reclusive years. This man, Alejandro Salazar, is his main negotiator.”

The image showed a man in a tuxedo at some sort of society function. His darkly tanned skin had DJ guessing his heritage as Central or South American. He had a face the camera loved. But the expression in his dark eyes was that of a shark’s. Every instinct she posessed identified this man as a sadistic predator along the lines of Sean Varney

DJ shivered and leaned even more into Ace’s body warmth. He whispered against her ear, “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and was happy he didn’t pressure her for an answer. She wasn’t sure what she could tell him other than she planned never to have Salazar at her back.

“This is Oraio’s enforcer, Alberto Rossi a.k.a. The Albatross.”

The man was also dark-skinned and Latino. He had a disfiguring scar that diagonally bisected his face. He looked as if he ate babies for breakfast. He was another one she’d keep in front of her.