The Betrayed Series: Ultimate Omnibus Collection With EXCLUSIVE Post-Shiva Short Story (70 page)

Brandt sighed heavily. “Fine.”

Whatever happened from here Rebecca swore to hold it together. To not act rashly or shrill or all the other things she wanted to act right about now.

“The kid’s an off-the-books CI,” Brandt said. “And he’s coming with us.”

Walt scanned everyone’s face, especially hers. Rebecca didn’t have to act relieved that their “secret” was out in the open. She
was
relieved. Enough her knees threatened to stop holding her legs up. If Brandt wanted Davidson dead, he could have easily turned the man in to MI-5 and been able to say his hands were clean of Davidson’s blood.

“You are sure he had nothing to do with the bombing?” Walt pressed Brandt.

“Again, if he was, he probably would have bombed the correct lab.” A honk came from outside. “And you know Lopez.”

“He’ll head on to Dover without you?” Walt asked with a grin.

“Nice try,” Brandt replied, putting his hand out to shake. “Our exit strategy to the east is ‘need to know.’”

Again the Brit pulled Brandt into a bro-hug, patting him on the back. When did Brandt approve of so much PDA?

“I’ll make sure all eyes are on the north.”

Walt urged his partner out of their way and opened the front door. Brandt stood on the stoop as everyone filed out of the house. As Rebecca passed he whispered none too kindly, “This isn’t over.”

Rebecca knew that tone. It was the tone he’d used when he told her he had fathered a child before meeting her. The tone he used when he said he had to break off the engagement. The tone he’d used when he told her he had to marry Maria.

She could only hope Davidson fared better with that tone than her heart had.

* * *

Aunush entered the dark chamber unafraid. If the sniper had not killed her on the roof, this summons did not mean her death. Only an accounting of her failure. Perhaps there would be pain. Perhaps flogging, but afterward…life. Precious time to correct her error. Time to find the whore and her men and wipe them from her sight.

The marble felt cold against her bare feet as Aunush made her way across the large chamber to a figure outlined in torchlight. A figure who sat upon a simple stone bench in the fashion of Moshe. Just as Moshe was no king, neither was her leader. But who needed a throne when one held such power? Even though her master’s figure was obscured in black cloak, the strength of the rod shone from dark eyes. A single word from the master and the world would shake.

Aunush came to the edge of the dais and knelt down. Her fingertips reached out tentatively to the leather boot tips peeking out from the edge of her master’s robe. When she was not whipped for such impertinence, Aunush brushed her fingers along the worn leather appreciating the tough yet supple nature of the boot. She felt the tight stitches anchoring the leather to the sole. Aunush felt toes curl within the boot as she stroked along the sides and then swept her fingers up and over the arch.

A moan arose from the figure.

Any fear of recrimination slithered away as Aunush lowered her torso so that her mouth was just inches from the boot. She breathed out across the leather, dampening the surface with the moisture from her exhale. Many complained she had risen so quickly and so high in the ranks not from her devotion to Moshe’s legacy or her skill in the field but for her attention to the boot.

Could they not see all and one were the same? God had made her this way. Immune to shame or guilt. A perfect vehicle in which to carry out His wishes. Was it her fault she had been born with a taste for exquisite Italian leather?

Her tongue curled around the tip of one boot, while her hand caressed the instep of the other. While Aunush wished to be on Monroe’s heel as quickly as possible, she also would not mind some time here. Reestablishing her presence. Rooting her importance in the mind of the master.

And who knew. Given enough time perhaps they would get to the heel.

CHAPTER 4

══════════════════

International Waters, North Sea

11:52 p.m. GMT

If Rebecca had thought the beater SUV was bad, she was not prepared for their transportation to Europe. Davidson, just trying to get his elbow out from Lopez’s back, jostled Rebecca, nearly dumping her laptop on the floor.

“We wouldn’t be this cramped,” Lopez said, “if they’d just let me on the bridge.”

“It’s a submarine,” Harvish replied, rolling his eyes. “Like they’re going to let you drive a
sub
.”

Lopez jostled them all as he turned to face the person sullying his reputation. “I will have you know that I am certified as both a throttleman and a planesman, who
steers
the sub, not
drives
the sub.” The corporal sat back with a sad sigh. “They’re going what, twenty? Twenty-five knots? I so could have gotten at least thirty out of this Los Angeles class, baby.”

Rebecca didn’t doubt it, however the captain of the sub had been pretty clear that he wanted Lopez to stay put down here with them. Which meant the six of them were crammed inside one of the forward torpedo shoots, sitting on a jumble of crates. She wasn’t claustrophobic, but
come on
. Rebecca had to keep reminding herself that oxygen was being pumped to them every second. That a computer was tasked with keeping the oxygen level at a steady 22 percent and the carbon dioxide scrubbed out.

Listening to the air whistle through the steel grate above their heads, Rebecca closed her eyes, trying to imagine they were on some tropical beach listening to the island breezes. Far from danger. Far from any submarine. However, the distinctly metallic smell in the air kind of took away from the vacation vibe she was hoping for. And the occasional clang of a seaman’s steps above them forced her eyes open again.

She went to reposition herself and got a splinter for her troubles. Between sucking on the wound, Rebecca grumbled, “What are all these crates doing here anyway?”

“They must have been headed for a long, silent mission,” Davidson said, indicating the label on the crates. “A sub needs to pack on enough food for the duration of the trip, which can be months.”

Again, seeing that they were sitting on a whole bunch of canned green beans and Spam, Rebecca was glad they were only catching a ride on the sub across the North Sea.

She wasn’t the only one unsettled.

“I probably passed the Valsalva maneuver better than anyone on board,” Lopez lamented. “SEIE suit test? Flying colors. I’m certified on fast-attack subs, submersibles, even the 688i subs.”

“Oh, and what?” Harvish harangued. “Bet you’ve got the code to launch the nuclear missiles too?”

Lopez snorted. “Dude, that is a ballistic-class submarine that holds the Trident missiles. This is a fast-attack sub. Jesus, learn the difference.”

Before Harvish could respond, Brandt weighed in. “Lopez, why don’t you put your earbuds in and chill until we arrive? It’s going to be a long night.”

“But the midrats are supposed to be pizza and meatloaf.”

“Midnight rations,” Brandt clarified as Rebecca raised an eyebrow at Lopez’s statement. So he was keeping an eye on her from the front of the torpedo tube.

“Leftovers basically,” Davidson confirmed.

Even though meatloaf and pizza together did not sound at all appetizing, Rebecca’s stomach rumbled. Food of any stripe would be appreciated. Clearly they hadn’t had time to stop for dinner on their mad rush from London to the sleepy town of Southend-on-Sea. At least not the way Lopez drove. Then the sailing out on a CIA-fronted fishing boat with rough seas to meet the submarine twelve miles out in international waters.

It wasn’t until moments like this, long after the rush and panic of the escape, that Rebecca’s hands tremored a bit and her stomach complained.

“I could use some food too,” Rebecca added.

“The XO should be coming by to check in soon,” Brandt stated flatly. “We’ll see what they can scrounge for us. No guarantees though.”

With that he turned his shoulder away from her, hunkering down like a giant in a human’s bed. If only she could shed her fear, hunger, and longing as easily as Brandt.

* * *

Brandt tried to push the world around him to the deep, dark recesses of his mind. He had a mission to plan. Details to resolve. Strategies to develop.

How was it then with six people crammed into this space he could hear each and every one of Rebecca’s breaths? Her soft groan as she tried to find a more comfortable position. Even her stomach growling was as clear as if his head lay upon her belly. Not that he would ever be doing that in the future.

He never should have involved Rebecca in this damned mission. Brandt could have sought out some other expert in ancient Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths with intense field experience fighting extremists. Oh wait, there weren’t any others. Or was that just what he convinced himself, giving him permission to go to London?

No. For all his faults, seeking Rebecca’s counsel in this case was not one of them. The single biggest lesson they had learned after battling the Knot was…once religious mysteries were opened, they did not close on their own. Blood had to be spilt into the maw to close it again.

His other faults though?
Those
did damn Rebecca.

A single stupid night, months and months before the paleo-DNA-archeologist had burst on the scene, Brandt had made the biggest damned error of his life. It hadn’t felt like it at the time. After surviving a mission that had gone ten ways bad, ending up in arms of a beautiful woman had felt pretty good. How many other soldiers had a one-night stand with nothing but pleasant memories to show for it?

Not Brandt and his super swimmers apparently.

Spinning the gold band around his finger, he wondered for the fourteen thousandth time if he’d done the right thing. Yet each time he tortured himself through convoluted logic he always came down to the same realization. He was going to be a father.

A father.

That still did not jibe with his career, with his life, with his love.

But there it was. Fatherhood on the horizon. A not so distant horizon.

Okay, was there anything he could think about on this damned boat that didn’t put him in a worse mood?

“Did you hear that?” Lopez asked.

Brandt sat up. What in the hell could the corporal hear that put that sense of impending danger in his voice? They were on an attack sub for God’s sake.

Harvish snorted. “Lopez’s probably just hearing the sound of pizza dough thrown—”

“Shh!” Lopez hissed as he climbed forward through the bodies, inching past Brandt to get to the torpedo hatch. The corporal leaned his ear against the metal, listening intently. Finally he removed his ear. “There’s another sub in the vicinity.”

“Did I hear something about pizza?” the XO asked as he made his way to the tube, ducking to avoid a water pipe.

Harvish threw a thumb toward Lopez. “Nah, Lopez just thinks he’s the sub whisperer.”

“I am telling you that is the vibration of another sub,” the corporal said. “A
Chinese
sub if I am not mistaken. Ming class.”

“I can assure you that—” The XO stopped as the MC27 phone blinked red. The XO picked it up, listened carefully, and then hung the phone up with care. “It appears there is another sub in the vicinity. A Chinese sub.”

Lopez whacked Harvish across the back of the head. “Told ya.”

“It isn’t that uncommon in these waters,” the XO explained. “We are all trolling for information, especially on the Russians since the theft.”

“Why would the Chinese be intent on that?” Brandt asked.

The XO shrugged. “Don’t know, but we were briefed to be ready in case we bumped into them.”

“May I add something?” Rebecca asked, sounding far more timid than usual. Guess being in a torpedo tube did that to a girl.

Brandt nodded for her to continue.

“While thought of as a manufactured good export country, much of China is still very agrarian.”

The XO looked at the researcher much like Brandt must’ve when he first met Rebecca. “Which means?”

“Oh,” Rebecca said, seeming to catch herself. “The Chinese now have over three million dairy cows. A sizable chunk of their internally generated GDP depends on those livestock and their products.”

“My, my, sergeant,” the XO stated, bordering on condescending, “you have your very own portable encyclopedia.”

Brandt was going to rise to her defense, but realized he didn’t need to as Rebecca continued.

“No. I Googled it back in London. Rinderpest started in China. It set back their livestock development centuries. They were also the first to call for eradication of the disease even before the African outbreak in 1982.”

The XO inclined his head. “So sorry. Sergeant, let me correct myself. You have an excellent researcher on your hands.”

And apparently a really pushy corporal as well.

“Don’t you think it’s weird the Chinese would send a Ming class on such a sensitive patrol?” Lopez asked. “The thing is as loud as a motorboat.”

“Why the Chinese do anything the Chinese do is a mystery to us all,” the XO answered. “It was probably the only vessel in the area. With less than a hundred subs, they’ve got to make do.”

“But to push past your wake like that?” Lopez challenged. “It’s like they’re screaming, ‘Look over here, look over here.’”

The XO no longer seemed charmed by their presence, if he ever had been. Brandt could feel the man’s pain. Lopez was the one with the encyclopedic knowledge of anything that was rated by how fast it could go.

“And your point would be?” the XO exhaled.

“The Chinese have been known to show off a noisy sub to cover a quieter, later-class sub like a Yuan or even Shang to slip by unnoticed.” Lopez turned to Brandt.

The XO tried to wave away the notion, however Brandt noticed that the navy man’s shoulders had gone up and his jaw was about ten times tighter than it had been before. That wasn’t just annoyance with the corporal. No, it appeared the corporal was onto something.

“Well?” Brandt asked the XO.

When the man didn’t speak up, Lopez filled in the details. “That’s what the whole 2009
Impeccable
incident was all about. The Chinese tried to act like some ‘fishing trawlers’ got carried away practically attacking our ship, but we all know they did it because the Chinese were doing secret testing on the nuke-carrying Shang subs and wanted our surveillance ship out of there pronto.”