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Chapter Fifteen
Reid
“You’re going in blind; you do realize that? Old school mission.” Alex’s voice rang through my Bluetooth speaker, bordering on hysterics, as I packed up the apartment it seems like I just unpacked a few days ago. Oh, the joys of undercover work.
“You’re being dramatic. It’s not that bad, Alex. You’re just twitchy because you won’t have eyes on me 24/7. Yeah, the house is half toasted, possibly haunted by pissed off souls that never moved on to the afterlife, and the service out there is shit, but we are dealing with a multi-million-dollar industry here. If there isn’t some kind of security already on that place when I get boots on the ground, you can kiss my mother.” I pulled my t-shirt on over my bullet proof body armor and began strapping down my weapons. Left ankle, right thigh, two on my waistline…it’s second nature to me at this point.
“Yeah, I’m not kissing your mom, asshole. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good MILF, but your mom saw me in diapers. That’s just weird, even if her rack is still stacked when she bends over. I’ve got trackers on every piece of technology you own. Hell, I even have trackers on your weapons. Locate the security feed when you get in, and I will be live within an hour. Know better, do better. We use the technology that we have Reid. You’ll be a hero with or without me in your ear telling you when the bad guys are planning to sneak up on your ass and put a bullet in your head.” Bad guys; something about the way Alex says it takes me back to when we were kids. To all the summers we spent playing out superhero scenarios in our backyards. Sure, this was always our dream, but I never imagined we would really be here one day.
I snorted a laugh through my nose, “I would put a bullet in your leg if you kissed my mother. You know I was joking, stop looking at my mom’s tits. I will be fine, like you just said, you can track the hell out of me without actually having eyes on me. I swear I will not allow a bullet to penetrate my skull without you. I promise to always watch my back and to locate the security feed in the crusty old mansion as soon as I possibly can. Scout’s honor.” I threw my bags over my shoulder and began pacing the apartment to perform a preliminary sweep to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something. Knowing Alex like I know Alex, he’s going to do a clean sweep of this place after I leave anyway.
The downside to my chosen career is that I don’t have roots, my life is completely mobile. I can fit everything I own into a couple of overnight bags. That’s also been the upside to my career, until recently. My life, this job, has always been enough. I’ve never considered wanting more because I had everything. I was accomplishing the goals I set out for myself years before I even considered them to be a reality. But now, I look at Alex, and I wonder if it’s really worth it. I’ve had partners on missions before, hell, almost every mission that I’ve ever worked has been with someone else watching my back, and there have been situations that we’ve been in when I was damn well proud they were there.
What would it be like to have someone like that for life. In my real life, not just my career with the FBI, because no matter how much I like to prove I can keep up with the younger guys, the truth of the matter is I’m aging out. Unless I want to retire into a body bag, I’ve got to take all of my options into consideration.
“You were a boy scout for less than a month, they kicked you out because you didn’t know how to share, and you lit a tent on fire.”
“Says the man that was blowing oxygen on the flame.” What can I say, we like to make things go boom, perks of the job.
“Listen Reid, I know Adkins is going to be there. I just, I don’t know, something feels different about her. I don’t want you to get distracted or some shit. I know we cleared her, but I need to know you’ve got your game face on in case things start to go sideways. These guys, they’ve been on our watch lists for years. This case is at its tipping point, and you’re going in there alone. It’s messing with my head.” Concern laced every word that Alex spoke, and he’s right, we’re close – I can feel it.
“You’re my brother Alex, so, off record, I’m probably going to fuck her. I can’t help it. You know this about me, and I’ve got to get her out of my system. But I can assure you that this mission is my number one priority. The safety of our team is paramount. The lives of each and every innocent that is currently facing their own version of hell, those are the faces I see when I close my eyes at night. So, yeah, I might have a little fun, but I will not allow myself to become distracted. We will succeed, because there is no other option.” Alex has always been able to see through my bullshit, so I didn’t bother lying to him.
Holly and I, we’re inevitable. She’s the oxygen to my flame, and we are one swift breeze away from igniting. But my priorities have and always will be the mission first; everything else comes secondary. I will lay down my life for this team and the innocents that we have sworn to protect, bar none.
“Yeah, yeah. Do me a solid and get that live stream up and running before you tap it.”
“You’re sick, Straton, and don’t say tap it like you’re some millennial. You’re a grown ass man.”
“Whatever, Em wants to watch. Who am I to deny my wife all the finer things in life.”
“I will never understand either of you. Never.”
“You hate us cause' you ain’t us. Be safe, don’t let the mafia boss find you fucking his daughter, and look for the damn connection.”
“Love you guys. I’ll see you on the flip side, and we’ll have these assholes put away forever.”
“Because hell if we aren’t always winners.”
“Hell yeah.”
My lips curved up into a smile as I hit end on my cell phone and Alex’s voice cut out from my Bluetooth speaker. Adrenaline pulsed through my bloodstream as I turned out the lights in the apartment, and I heard the soft snick of the door close behind me for the last time.
The director asked me if I was scared of ghosts. Maybe it’s time they met the devil.
???
Holly
I slowed Ursula to a rolling stop at the locked gate that blocked the entrance to Anderson House from the rest of the world.
I didn’t hit much traffic moving through downtown Carlton, so my forty-minute drive was actually closer to thirty. That might explain why there’s no one here to unlock the gate yet.
Turning off of the main road, I drove for what my odometer said was a little over a mile but what felt like a lifetime, through dense, overgrown woods that blocked out most of the sunlight that is still very much overhead. We will have to hire someone to get the path cleaned up, the overgrowth is dangerous and doesn’t give a very pleasant first impression. Less haunted spirit vibes, more historic plantation home.
Century old trees dotted the property behind the gate, their branches hung heavy and covered with a thick moss that draped off of them like a warm blanket. The house sits back on the property down a long tree-lined drive directly behind the foreboding gates that currently tower over me. Unsure of what else I need to do, I pressed the button to cut the ignition of my car. Slowly, I opened the door, stepping out of my black sports car baby in my favorite pair of lime green sneaks and a pair of black leggings.
That thing I said about pants? It doesn’t apply to leggings.
