“I’m pretty sure we ate a whole cow today,” Twenty-nine-year-old Sean Bradley said before taking a sip of his Poland Spring bottled water.
“It was so good bro,” Sean’s younger but taller brother Shane groaned.
“I’m thinking it was two cows and Jersey ate one all on his own,” the mercenary known as Wade Smith replied before finishing his beer and letting out a monster belch. “Oh, that was a good one.”
It was Memorial Day Weekend and the mercenary team Red Diamond, of which Shane, Sean, and Wade were a part of, had just finished their second annual BBQ at their secret base in Maine. Jokingly called ‘The Walker Compound’ after one of the team’s co-founders, Nick Walker, The Walker Compound sat on three acres of land in Kittery, Maine, the state’s first settled town established back in 1647.
Kittery, known widely now for their Outlet shopping malls, had a rich history including being the home to Sir William Pepperrell, a highly celebrated American military leader pre-Revolution and one of the richest men in America at the time, who had been bestowed a baronet by the King of England himself.
The famous writer William Dean Howells had also called Kittery home at one point, his fellow writer friend, Mark Twain, often visiting him.
Nick’s dad had first purchased the land back in 1990, but its ownership had been changed multiple times over the decades ‘on paper’. Something Nick’s best friend and the other co-founder of Red Diamond, Megan Cruise, had a hand in.
Now the place contained everything they could need, including a large training course out in the wooded areas of the property, 9 one-bedroom cabins, a hanger, plus the main house. All that space had come in handy, as there were 16 of them at the BBQ today and they had all been drinking heavily, save Nick, who didn’t drink, so no one was driving back home tonight. They were all crashing there, something that hadn’t actually happened yet since the team’s formation over a year ago.
Usually, only Nick and a couple of the girls on the team stayed at The Walker Compound a few times during the week. The guys on the team rarely did.
They all had separate alias and lived and worked in Boston. Each of them had an apartment above the dojo they worked out of for their cover job as Mix Martial Arts Instructors.
Shane, aka Jersey, Wade’s nickname for him, as Wade had nicknames for everyone on the team, was the biggest and strongest member of Red Diamond. A 7ft giant of a man, he had easily consumed 30,000 calories today. He was laying stretched out on the patio on his back beside the pool.
He held his hand out.
“I think I’m dying bro,” he whined. Something more common than not for the big man.
“I don’t want to hear it. I told you not to eat that banana split.”
“It was sooo gurd though,” he groaned out.
Sean shook his head and looked at Wade, who cracked open another beer.
They were sitting at one of the glass patio tables waiting for their boss, mercenary legend Morgan Ramsey, to come back with some new cigars he recently purchased.
While Wade had spent most of the day grilling up all the food, Nick had spent the evening whipping up desserts for everyone, including old fashion chocolate milkshakes, whipped cream brownies, and banana splits with hot fudge.
“I’m telling ya right now, lactose, you best head to your cabin and blow up your own damn bathroom, cause you ain’t pulling a Friday on the house bathroom,” Wade said.
“15, 20 minutes,” Shane replied and laughed, which only made him groan more.
“Do I want to know what’s going on over here?” Morgan asked, walking back onto the patio from the house.
“No sir,” Sean replied.
Shane looked over at them, and after considerable effort, sat up.
“I’m going to go to my cabin now.”
“Now that sounds like an excellent idea Jersey. It’s not too far a walk. Just keep those huge ass cheeks of yours clenched and you’ll be golden.”
Shane gave Wade the finger, then said, “Night,” to Sean and Morgan.
Wade laughed and took another sip of beer.
“It shouldn’t be this hot out still during the night,” Wade said as Morgan sat down with an iced cold Samuel Adams.
“For once, I agree with you Wade,” Morgan replied.
“Reminds me of that night in Iraq when we set that building on fire.”
“Which night, and which building?” Morgan said, his voice half joking, half filled with remorse.
He had killed a lot of men over the decades and still had plenty of fuel in the tank. Even with all that killing, it never made things easier, at least to him anyway.
Morgan knew Nick felt the same way, but what he didn’t know was that despite his high body count, Nick’s was even higher than his, and he was a couple of decades younger than him.
In fact, Nick had killed more people than everyone else on Red Diamond combined.
Not including Wade anyway.
And no one knew it.
“Oh, you know, that time we were doing secret stuff for secret people,” Wade said while grabbing a cigar from Morgan.
Sean already had his lit.
“This is good,” Sean said after a few puffs, trying to change the subject.
While he had been on more than a few classified missions as a Green Beret, Sean knew Morgan and Wade were the kings of off the book, never happened, we don’t know you if you get caught, jobs and assignments.
And Sean didn’t feel like listening to one of Wade’s murder hobo stories right now. It had been a great day of relaxing and catching up with the guys. They had amazing food and he had a great buzz going on right now, enjoying his cigar.
Sean didn’t need Wade screwing that up.
Fortunately, it didn’t look like Wade was sticking around.
“What are you doing?” Morgan asked as Wade fidgeted in his chair.
“That’s the million dollar question now, isn’t it boss?” Wade said and stood up.
His cigar still unlit.
“Are you leaving?” Sean asked, his fingers crossed underneath the table.
“Don’t sound too happy Boy Scout. Nature calls. I hope the Youngin’s plumbing is up to the task. I’m about to crap out Manda. No one tell Sasuke,” Wade said and walked to the main house of The Walker Compound.
Youngin was the nickname Wade had given Nick.
“Did you understand any of that?” Sean asked.
“Nope. He’ll grow up someday,” Morgan replied after seeing the look on Sean’s face.
“I’m not going to hold my breath on that.”
Morgan nodded before taking a long drink of his beer, which really hit the spot right now. Then he lit his cigar.
They sat there for several minutes, neither saying anything. Just enjoying the quiet but hot night in Maine, as they drank and smoked cigars.
It was rare for either of them to get days like this, let alone both of them. They were going to enjoy every minute of it.
Several more minutes of pleasant silence went by, then Morgan’s cell phone rang.
“Go for Ramsey,” Morgan answered.
Within seconds, Sean knew it was work.
The look on Morgan’s face confirming it.
Well, it was fun while it lasted, Sean thought before finishing his beer.
***
Megan took a sip of her Mountain Dew as she went through the hidden camera feeds on her tablet.
She was sitting alone, up in her bedroom at The Walker Compound, though Nick was the only one who called it her bedroom, since Megan rarely stayed enough there to use it except on special occasions like this Memorial Day Weekend celebration.
Megan preferred to stay at one of her several apartments in and around Boston, much to Nick’s annoyance, as he thought she would be safer here.
She ate a single Cool Ranch Doritos as she turned up the volume, having only the right ear bud in.
Everyone was pretty much asleep or getting ready to sleep. Except Bobbi and Julie, who were sharing Bobbi’s cabin. They were in bed and Bobbi was face deep between Julie’s thighs and sounded like she was going to town on a watermelon.
Julie didn’t seem to mind though, judging from the gasps, screams, and fucks coming out of her mouth.
Megan hadn’t pegged Julie as someone who was so loud in bed.
“Hey, Megan,” Nick said, knocking on the door before walking in.
She put the tablet face down slowly and looked up.
“Yes?” She asked, trying to make her expression blank.
She would have fooled anyone else.
But not Nick.
“Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. Why?” She asked calmly even as Julie’s moans got louder in her ear.
She casually took the ear bug out and put it on the bed.
“Morgan wants to see us in the war room.”
The war room was Red Diamond’s secret underground command center where they went over and planned all their jobs.
“It’s late Nick.”
“I know, but he just got a call for a job.”
“Again, it’s late. We can review it tomorrow.”
“So, here’s the thing. Morgan already agreed to take it.”
“What? Why?” Megan asked, her tone rising slightly.
Morgan wasn’t supposed to do that.
“That’s what he wants to talk to us about.”
Megan sighed and got out of bed. She picked the tablet up to shut it off and saw Bobbi crawling up to the top of the bed. She was about to sit on Julie’s face.
She shut it off.
“You sure you’re okay?”
“I was about to get some sleep. Also known as rest. Something you’re always telling me to get more of.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”
“Yup.”
Megan started for the door.
“Um, Megan, forgetting something?” Nick said behind her.
“Like what?”
“How about pants, for one?”
Megan stared at him. She had an oversized old school style Captain America white t-shirt on and a pair of red satin panties.
She was looking surprisingly patriotic.
“It’s hot.”
“Well, the war room is cooler. And Morgan and Sean are waiting for us.”
“Sean?”
“He was still awake and with Morgan when he got the call.”
“I see.”
Sean rarely sat in on their initial meeting.
“Besides, when did you turn into Bobbi?” Nick teased and tossed her the pair of navy cargo shorts she’d been wearing all day.
“This is why I don’t stay here. I don’t have to wear pants at my apartment.”
“Ouch,” Nick replied, feinting hurt. “You’re not going to do well this summer. Heard they’re calling for a hot one.”
Megan sighed and went downstairs to the secret entrance in the garage to the secret basement in The Walker Compound. Nick followed right behind her.
Megan punched her code into the door that would unlock the war room and cursed.
“Hey, language,” Nick said.
She looked at him with her BRF.
“Woah, calm down. What happened?”
“I put the wrong code.”
“Again?”
Megan ignored him and entered the correct code. She walked into the room. Morgan and Sean stared at her.
“Yes?”
“Nothing,” Sean replied and went back to looking at his laptop.
Why did he have a laptop going? Megan wondered.
“Sorry for the late-night conference guys,” Morgan said, offering them each a chair at the ten-foot-long conference table.
Nick took one, sitting across from Sean.
Megan sat at the end, away from the ones Morgan offered.
“Nick said you already agreed to take the job?”
“I did,” Morgan replied.
“May I ask why? We’re supposed to put it to a vote and except for Nick, the entire team is drunk or hungover, including you two.”
“I’m not drunk. Just buzzed,” Sean offered.
“Can you give me a ride back to my apartment after this, Sean?” Megan asked.
Sean remained silent.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Okay, you’re upset, and it’s noted. But we need to move on this now, and start preparing for this job.”
“Which is what exactly?” Nick asked, seeing the look on Megan’s face.
He needed to get this meeting moving forward and fast.
“A bride and groom were kidnapped on their honeymoon,” Morgan said as Sean turned his laptop around to show a map of some islands.
“Tragic, but not our problem,” Megan said.
“They were abducted by The Gonglu, a Chinese pirate group,” Morgan said.
“The Gonglu are a series group,” Megan replied after looking closer at Sean’s map. “They’ve been able to force several other pirate groups into them. They’re a growing threat in their region.”
“So, you’re familiar with them?” Morgan asked.
“Enough to know that we shouldn’t go fight them at 1 am drunk because they kidnapped a couple on their honeymoon,” Megan replied coldly before folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair.
“The groom is former Army Ranger and Special Forces. His name is Matt Ress.”
“Wait. It’s Matt?” Sean asked, looking up at Morgan in surprise.
“Yeah, I wanted to wait to tell you.”
“You know him, Sean?” Nick asked.
“Sure do. He was on a different Green Berets A-Team than mine, but we did joint missions together and a bunch of us would go out drinking together. He’s trained at our dojo before.”
Nick stared at Sean.
“We’ve met up a few times in Vegas.”
“I don’t usually go on the Vegas trips,” Nick replied.
“Oh… right. He’s got a great beard and tattoos. And makes the best pot of coffee. The guys loved it when he was around for missions.”
Nick looked at Megan, who rubbed her temple.
Morgan cleared his throat and said, “A friend of mine has reached out and asked me to help him.”
“Absolutely!” Sean said with conviction.
“How much?” Megan asked.
“How much what?” Morgan replied to her.
“How much did he offer?”
“It didn’t come up.”
“It didn’t come up?” Megan repeated.
“No, the guy’s a friend and asked for help. And I agreed.”
“I’m fully aware of the ‘you agreed’ for us part. I’m just trying to wrap my head around the whole ‘payment didn’t come up’ part,” Megan said, raising her voice.
“Megan,” Nick said.
She ignored him.
“This is a mercenary team and mercenaries get paid. I’m not running a non-profit here. Doing this will cost us time and money. And for what? To help your friend?”
“Yes.”
“And how exactly does that pay the bills or overhead for this operation?”
“Megan, you’re being rude,” Nick said, trying to defuse the rising tension he could feel building in the room.
But no one was listening to him, especially Megan.
“You let me worry about that,” Morgan said.
Megan looked at Morgan and said, “Fine, you can take the guys, except for Nick.”
“Excuse me?”
“Nick and I will not be taking part in this operation.”
“Megan!” Sean yelled.
“Our time is valuable. And so far, nothing I’ve heard suggests to me that this job is worth our time, especially with no promise of payment.”
“You know we have a much better chance of succeeding with everyone involved. You can’t just take yourself and Nick off the board like that,” Sean said.
“Well, I just did. Sean,” Megan replied, her tone making Nick cringe.
This was not going well.
“Matt’s CIA now,” Morgan said.
“What? Since when?” Sean asked in shock.
“He’s part of a secret black ops unit, the kind that forgets you exist if something bad happens to you.”
“Something bad did happen to him,” Megan replied, still indifferent.
“On his honeymoon, not his fault,” Sean said.
“He works for The Solanum Group,” Morgan said reluctantly.
Megan stared at him, her eyes narrowing.
“For who? You just said he works for the CIA,” Sean said. He wasn’t normally this lost in briefings. Maybe he did have too much to drink.
“He is. It’s an undercover assignment. Top Secret. And has to stay that way,” Morgan added with emphasis.
“Why? Who are they?” Sean asked.
“A British Security Firm,” Megan replied, still looking at Morgan.
A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed between everyone. Then Megan said,
“Get the team to agree to work pro bono on this job. And you cover all expenses out of your personal account.”
“Deal,” Morgan said without hesitation.
“And I want access to whatever intel they have on The Solanum Group,” Megan added.
“I will see what I can do.”
“Okay. Nick and I are in.”
“We are?” Nick asked, looking at her.
“Yes.”
“But you just said-”
“That we’re in. Correct. Nicolas.”
Nick made a face at the mention of his real name. Or rather at Megan saying it, which usually meant he was upsetting her in some way or another.
“So, what do we know about Matt Ress?” Megan asked.
She was all business now.
“He was a former Army Ranger and worked his way up to Special Forces.”
“Delta?”
“No. But he never tried out, same as me,” Sean replied.
“Why’d he leave the Army?”
“He was in the thick of fighting in The War On Terrorism.”
“Okay. And?”
“He’s got a metal rod in his leg. His back is less than stellar… he’s just got…” Sean trailed off.
“A lot of wear and tear,” Megan finished.
“I’d still want him beside me in a fight.”
“So does Langley apparently,” Morgan added.
Megan ignored them and said, “So, former Special Forces and forced medical leave? Yay or nay?”
“Yay. He wanted to stay in but…”
“Who’s the bride?” Megan asked, continuing on.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Matt never brought her up.”
“He never brought up the girl he planned to marry?” Megan replied.
“No.”
“Not even once?” Megan asked, looking at Sean.
“No.”
“You don’t find that odd?”
“I mean, a couple of guys suspected he had someone on the side. I just figured he didn’t want to get ragged about it.”
“What about a wedding invitation?”
“Never got one.”
“Do you know anyone who did?”
Sean shook his head.
“You don’t find that suspicious?”
“I mean, with the way you’re putting it, yes.”
“How else should I be putting it, Sean?”
“I don’t know. I’m not best friends with Matt. We’re drinking buddies.”
“Drinking buddies?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s where you go to bars and drink, and get drunk?”
“Yeah,” Sean replied, not liking where Megan was going with this.
“But never once did he say he had a girl. A girl that he was so crazy about her vagina, he was going to put a ring on it.”
“Stop that,” Nick mouthed at her.
She ignored him.
Megan didn’t understand the concept of cringe.
“No, he never brought her up,” Sean said, his frustration with Megan all over his face.
“What are you getting at Megan?” Morgan asked, stepping in to help Sean, who had never had to deal with this version of Megan.
“Are we sure he’s on his honeymoon? Can we confirm he had a wedding and that this chick with him is, in fact, his wife?”
“Does it matter?” Morgan asked.
“It could. You said so yourself. This unit he’s a part of forgets your name if you get caught. How do we know he’s not on a mission with this chick and they screwed up, and now we’re getting dragged into some shi… into some crap,” Megan replied, glancing at Nick, who was making a face.
“My friend said they were on their honeymoon.”
“And you believe him?”
“Yes,” Morgan said without hesitation, less Megan pounce on that next.
Truth be told, she was making him doubt himself now. He hadn’t realized just how keen a mind she had with looking at the bigger picture and connecting the dots.
Especially at 1 am and drunk… buzzed.
“Okay.”
Morgan took a sip of his water, hoping Megan was ready to move on.
But she was not.
Not even close.
“What do we know about the island?”
“What do you mean?” Sean asked.
He had it pulled up on his laptop still.
“Why did they pick it for their honeymoon? Have they been there before? Is it special to them? Has Ress ever said he wanted to visit this place? Who owns it? A government? What nation? Is there buried treasure on it?”
“Megan,” Nick said.
“This is what we do before agreeing to take a job!”
“I know,” Nick replied.
He was used to this side of Megan. The way her mind was always going 100mph. Even when they were kids together, she’d been like this. That’s why he was always asking her to slow down and relax. Or unwind.
Morgan knew some of it, but poor Sean. He wasn’t normally in on the initial briefings conference in the war room. Morgan would give him a separate report after the fact. Then Sean would relay it to the rest of the team.
He wasn’t prepared to face this side of Megan. Even though he knew she was a genius and the co-founder of Red Diamond, hearing or knowing it versus seeing it in person was completely different.
“I don’t know the answers to anything you just said,” Sean replied.
He was clearly shook.
“Of course you don’t,” Megan said, letting out a loud sigh.
She wasn’t even trying to hide her annoyance anymore.
Not that she did. Megan gave zero f’s on what someone thought about her bedside manner.
Not that she had one on a good day.
And this meeting right now was anything but a good day.
Megan didn’t care either. She didn’t have the time or the tenderness to cuddle someone because their feelings might be hurt by something she said.
Sean looked at Morgan for support, but he remained silent.
“Let me see your computer.”
Sean slid it down to her.
Megan pushed up her glasses to see better and started messing around with it.
“How do you plan to get to the island?” Megan asked, turning it back for Morgan to see.
“We take a plane ride to here,” Morgan said, pointing to a spot on the computer, then take a boat to the island.”
Megan looked less than thrilled with that news.
“My friend is arranging the transportation aspect of this. He has connections.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“You have to learn to trust people, Megan.”
“I prefer trust when I can verify.”
“What does that exactly mean to you, Megan?”
“Send me the details on the transportation situation. Is this a private plane? How are we getting our weapons and gear there? And don’t say your friend is providing those too. Because we’re using our equipment or we’re not doing the job. Period,” Megan said when she saw Morgan was about to speak.
He closed his mouth.
“Are you serious?”
“I’ll admit, we have some details to iron out.”
“Wow.”
“The situation is fluid.”
“More like we’re free falling from an airplane and you’re hoping we catch the parachute tossed out before us, put it on, and pull the cord before we splatter like shark chum all over the ground.”
“That’s a little graphic,” Morgan said.
“And we jumped from a perfectly good plane, just because a friend asked,” Megan added.
“Do you have any input here?” Morgan asked Nick.
He was clearly over Megan’s attitude too.
Nick had been sitting quietly, sipping his Mountain Dew, watching the train wreck unfold before him.
“Well,” Nick said, looking at Megan, who reached over and took his Mountain Dew. “I think it’s late and we’ve all been in the hot sun all day eating great food and are pretty tired and not thinking in the best frame of mind, which is making some of us more irritable than usual.”
Megan looked at Nick as she scratched her right eyebrow with just her middle finger before drinking the rest of his Dew on him.
Nick frowned, then continued, “I think we should all head to bed and pick this back up first thing tomorrow.”
“We need to be on the plane by then,” Morgan said.
“Oh.”
“I’ll go wake up the guys,” Sean said, rising from his chair, secretly hoping that wasn’t going to set Megan off too.
“We’re taking the van, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” Morgan said.
“And I have to drive it, don’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I should have gotten drunk with the girls…” Nick said.
“I’m going to reach out and make sure our transportation is all squared away,” Morgan said, and stood up with Sean.
“Can I have that ba-”
“No,” Megan replied, interrupting Sean when he went to touch his computer.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Sean left the war room as fast as he could. Morgan followed behind him, but with less brisk to his step.
“Guess I’ll grab our gear,” Nick hollered after them.
One of the rooms in the basement was an armory, filled with all kinds of weapons and gear. It also held a container for each member of Red Diamond, filled with their preferred weapons and guns of choice, along with ammo, body armor, and any other equipment they liked to use.
That way, when they had to be on a job quickly, such as this one, they had everything ready to go and just needed to load up the container.
Which meant Nick had seven containers to load up now and do it alone. Plus, he had to go get the van.
The van was a modified 15 passenger cargo van designed to hold their containers and all of them. They would normally use their small fleet of black Ford Explorer, but since Nick was the only who could legally drive right now, and they all needed to fit into one vehicle, it meant the van was making a special appearance.
Nick really hoped no one puked in it again, like last time he had to drive. It smelled like vomit for a week solid.
No one would admit to whose idea it was to buy sushi from a gas station either…
“Where are you going?”
“I just said I have to go load up the gear.”
“We need to talk.”
“I don’t think I want to, considering how you’ve been acting tonight.”
Megan gave him her BRF.
Nick snapped his fingers at her.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about. You’re being rude and mean tonight. I don’t like it.”
“Are you serious?”
“Morgan and Sean are our friends.”
“I think they can handle a couple of mean words from me, Nick. They’re former Green Berets. Not Air Force.”
“They shouldn’t have to, is my point,” Nick replied.
He wasn’t going to give her credit for her joke.
“I’m trying to make sure Morgan doesn’t rush a job and take the entire team out with him because of a five, ten-minute phone call at best. We have rules in place for a reason. Red Diamond has stayed under the radar this long for a reason. Because we don’t go off half-cocked at the mention of a job or favor requests from a friend.”
“Please don’t say half-cocked again.”
“Half-cocked, half-cocked, half-cocked.”
“Why are you mad at me now? I said 28 words during that whole thing until Morgan asked my thoughts.”
“Because I’m annoyed, and if I can’t be like this around you, then who can I?”
Nick let out a breath and said, ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. We just had a great day together as a team. I don’t like it when we get at each other.”
“That will always be the nature of this team, Nick. They work best together in the field. Outside of that, they’re going to butt heads. You can’t change that.”
“It’s not as bad when I’m around. Like today, for instances.”
“But you’re hardly ever around.”
“And whose fault is that, Megan?”
She ignored his comment and said, “I need you to be focused on this one.”
“I’m always focused.”
“You know what I mean, Nicolas.”
Nick made a face.
“This is because of The Solanum Group isn’t?” Nick asked.
Megan’s entire demeanor changed once Morgan mentioned that name.
Megan nodded and looked back to make sure no one else had come back into the room. She whispered,
“It’s a name I’ve uncovered in my research. It could lead us to a new target.”
“But you’re not sure?”
“Not when it comes to this, no. The slower we move, the better. The Thornton Twins was good practice for you, though, yes?”
“I think so. It went easier than Cristina Diaz, but it’s still hard to say. They’re already back at Langley after their vacation.”
“I’m sure we’ll get a chance to test it at some point…” Megan said before trailing off in thought.
Nick gave her a minute.
“Yes?” He said when she finally looked back at him.
“The Solanum Group is one of the few British Security Firms that isn’t owned or tied to Stephanie Weathersby in some way. They’re completely independent of her influence.”
Nick made a different face at the mention of Stephanie’s name. She was a woman, who in what seemed like a completely different life, he had been in love with.
So in love, he asked her to marry him.
But the universe had other plans for their life.
“It has to mean something,” Megan said, though Nick couldn’t tell if it was to him or to herself.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Yet,” Megan replied after several more moments of silent thinking.
“I’m going to go get that gear loaded now. You should get some sleep.”
“Really.”
“It was worth a shot. One Mountain Dew or Two?”
“Two. Plus, a Code Red one.”
“Ummm,”
“I have a lot of work to do before you guys show up at some island-”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Half-cocked.”
Nick shook his fist at her and left without another word.
Megan stood up and retrieved one of her custom laptops she kept in the war room and logged into one of the dozen secure IP she had created over the years. And because Megan had been responsible for creating some of the program’s governments and groups used to track IP addresses and digital breadcrumbs, Megan knew how to stay one step ahead of them.
In reality, doing this job for free was the least of Megan’s concerns as she could sell a single computer virus she had in storage to a random hacker group in London, Moscow, or Beijing and make twice to triple as much as this job would cost them.
But she didn’t appreciate Morgan just volunteering their services for free, as it exposed Red Diamond needlessly.
Not to mention they would have to buy more ammo, among other things, once this job was complete. Which meant Megan would have to set up a special meeting and deal with that.
Wasn’t like she could just send Nick down to The Kittery Trading Post and buy a pallet’s worth of ammunition without attracting attention.
Megan didn’t expect the team to use that much ammunition for this job, but if she had to place an order, best to make it worth wild.
She turned her tablet back on while she waited for all her programs to load up on her laptop.
Bobbi and Julie were asleep. The lights in their cabin were off.
Megan flipped through the rest of the camera feeds. Shane was pushing Sean away and trying to close the cabin door. Mendoza was outside the garage slash hanger, getting the van. Nick had moved up the crates of their gear via the hidden ramp in the road they had, which helped move stuff between the surface and the hidden basement and the hidden bunker that was under the basement that only a handful of the team knew about.
Wade was sitting on the couch in the living room with a beer in one hand and his other hand down the front of his pants.
Like Al Bundy.
He was staring at the TV, but it wasn’t on. His hand slowly came out of his pants and he held up a middle finger to the air.
Toward the hidden camera.
Megan rubbed her temple and shut the table back off.
Nick showed up five minutes later with her Mountain Dews. By then, she was typing away with multiple screens open on hers and Sean’s laptop.
Nick said nothing.
There wasn’t anything left to say.
It was time to work.
THE JANUS CONFERENCE
A Merc Series Short Story
The Merc Series