Page 24

Chapter

Twenty-Two

VOODOO

B reakfast proved illuminating. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who noticed the shifting dynamic in play.

Her night with Lunchbox just clarified that he was as committed as we were.

Though, he wasn’t getting her tonight. Hours of listening to her had been a delightful torture and it had given me ideas.

Alphabet wasn’t focused on them so much as he was Bones. As aware of Grace as I was, I was with Alphabet on this. Something had happened with Bones and more than him just wrapping around her and getting her to sleep when her dreams woke her.

Nightmares. She wasn’t always aware of them. At least as far as I could tell. Sometimes, the nightmares would rip her out of sleep shrieking. Those, at least, released her. The other nightmares were more insidious. She would whimper, a lost sound that broke my heart.

It had happened in the van. Another reason to wrap her up tight. It was also why Goblin wouldn’t leave her. I spared a glance at Lunchbox and he raised his eyebrows. What did I need?

I lifted my chin in Grace’s direction. He held up two fingers and followed with a flattening of his hand. Two moments. She’d had two dreams, but he’d chased them away. Nodding, I leaned back in the chair.

Grace had eaten her french toast with gusto. Was her eating so enthusiastically what put the smile on Lunchbox’s face or was it all the sex?

Probably both. If it wasn’t both, I’d be more worried about him. Amusement trickled through me when Grace glanced at me. There was a sparkle in her eyes, even with all the quiet intensity marking her movements.

Uncertainty flickered in her eyes and I smiled. She had nothing to worry about. Sharing her with these guys was not a problem. I’d only object if some dick tried to cut any of us out. Biting her lower lip, Grace sent me a smile and I winked.

“If you two are quite done,” Bones stated cooly. “We need to get back to the briefing.”

“Oh,” I said easily. “I’m never going to be done.” The last I sent right to Grace. The pink that stained her porcelain cheeks satisfied me. But, I shifted my gaze to Bones anyway. “But don’t let that stop you. What’s the call?”

His stare was all steel and restraint, void of even a shadow of amusement. If ever a man needed to get laid, it was Bones. I kept that comment to myself, because as long as he waged a war against what he was feeling, we were going to have to deal with him.

Maybe we could find somewhere to spar. Or we could do a raid, nothing like beating the shit out of the bad guys to ease some tension.

“The call,” Bones said, tapping two fingers against the table, “is we’re remaining in this apartment for the next forty-eight hours.” He spared a glance at Alphabet. “Do you have an updated ETA on decryption?”

“It’s running,” Alphabet said. “Biggest problem is the processor on the laptop. Doesn’t have the power I need to speed the process up.

If we picked up some more equipment, I could try to build something that would help.

Even if Voodoo magicked it up for me this morning and I got it running by tonight, we’d still be looking at thirtyish hours.

Go faster if we were at base. Travel time robs that advantage. ”

He gave Goblin a slice of his bacon and the dog thumped his tail happily as he took it.

“We need to take him for a walk,” Grace said, twisting down to shower the very happy canine with some affection. I knew exactly how he felt.

“After the briefing,” Bones told her in a far gentler tone without an ounce of reprimand for going off topic.

He had it so bad.

I swallowed my amusement with coffee.

“Let’s see what we can do with equipment here,” Bones said after a beat and after Grace sent him a small smile.

Yep, he had it so bad.

“Make a list for Voodoo to source,” Bones continued. “We need a full resupply anyway. Weapons, ammo, body armor. Include Grace in the last.” A frown tightened his brow. “You have someone here who can do custom sizing?”

Yeah, we’d need it. Grace was tiny. “I know a couple. I’ll put some feelers out. Big trick will be how effective it will be if we have to speed the process up.”

“Won’t they need to do fittings?” Lunchbox folded his arms, expression sober.

“Nope, I have her measurements.” A grin curved my lips when Grace shot me a look. “Don’t worry, Firecracker. I know every divot, curve, and line.” Tapped the side of my head. “All memorized. But I’ll definitely refresh before I head out.”

Laughter bubbled out of her and Alphabet snorted, amusement tinging the respect in his expression. “Smooth.”

I just spread my hands and inclined my head. “I try.”

“You succeed, smart ass.” Lunchbox gave my shoulder a friendly bump. I was still grinning when we all returned our attention to Bones.

He just shook his head. “Check on the body armor for her. We need options. We need to vet the intel we have, Lunchbox and I will take care of that. Particularly with regard to Reznik and O’Rourke.”

Some of the humor in the room dried up.

“Since rumors of their deaths have been greatly exaggerated, I want the military records.” That might be reaching. “Intelligence had to have some idea and if they didn’t—then I want to know why.” He focused on Lunchbox. “Can you tap your guy?”

“I can, whether or not he answers, that’s debatable.” He tilted his head to the side. “Might ask Spook Lite if I can find him.”

“Spook Lite?” Grace turned wide eyes up toward Lunchbox. “Do you guys know anyone who doesn’t have a nickname?”

“We know you,” I said, and she snorted even as she grinned, which had been the goal.

“You call me Firecracker.” She made a face.

“You like it,” I countered and she stuck her tongue out at me. “Promises, promises.”

Bones cleared his throat. Killjoy. “Back to the subject. Spook Lite?”

“Yeah,” Lunchbox grunted. “I don’t think he is active anymore, at least not on their books. Under the table? Who knows, but I can touch base. See what we can see.”

“Still on the subject,” Grace said with a wrinkled nose at Bones before she looked at Lunchbox. “If Spook Lite isn’t the main person you can reach out to, who is the main one? Spook Senior?”

It was my turn to snort a laugh and even Alphabet grinned. Lunchbox met her gaze easily, but it was Bones rolling his eyes that damn near did me in.

“Actually, he goes by Redacted.” Not even an ounce of humor in Lunchbox’s deadpan response. Which was fair, cause that was what the guy went by. Fuck I couldn’t even remember what his actual name was.

“Redacted?” Grace gaped at him. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. He used to run in military intelligence. Ran more than a few ops with us and used us for others. Smart, sneaky, and just paranoid enough to be fucking brilliant at his job. He was there one day and then gone the next. Pretty sure one of the alphabets scooped him up.”

“Intelligence agencies,” Alphabet said to Grace with a faint smile. “Not me.”

“CIA, FBI, NSA—one of them.” Lunchbox shrugged. “He’s probably in some basement somewhere arguing with satellites. But Redacted always kept his fingers in, multiple strings running. Not a lot slipped by him. He liked to know things.”

“Kind of like Tyrion from Game of Thrones, with less bloodshed.” Maybe. Eh, probably not. But we didn’t need to go there.

“Regardless,” Bones said, pulling us back to the topic at hand. “Let’s see what strings we can pull and what noise it makes. Chances are, they won’t confirm or deny a damn thing, but…”

“Intel is never a bad thing.” The fact Grace finished his sentence was amusing.

“Miss Black,” he said almost primly. “You and I should have another discussion before we leave.”

“Whatever you say.” She spread her hands. “I’m here all day, clearly.”

“Hmm.” He spared her another long look before shifting his attention back to us.

“Alphabet needs to stay focused on decryption. I want to know everything about their operations, vulnerable points, operators, contacts, what kind of network they are running. Those twelve names are an excellent start. But I want to gut it as well as take off the head. I really don’t care who gets the credit.

When we’re finished, they won’t be an issue again. ”

He didn’t have to look at Grace to underscore the why of any of that or the bottom-line. They weren’t going to be an issue for her.

“Forty-eight hours gentlemen, lady,” Bones said as he stood. “Operational readiness briefing at thirty-six. Until then, hit your tasks and rest?—”

“Wait,” Grace said abruptly. “You didn’t give me a job.”

“You secured shelter,” Bones said. “You’ll be assisting Alphabet and Goblin. I also expect you to rest and be available for other tasks as they come up. For now, you’re support.”

I braced, half-waiting for the explosion, but it didn’t come. My firecracker studied Bones for a long moment. Probably wondering if he was just giving her a shit job to keep her busy or if he actually meant it.

“I can help with translations too,” she said. “But okay.”

“Understood and accepted,” Bones told her. “Grace, give me ten and we can take Goblin. Everyone else get to work.”

Everyone else…

He strode out of the room and I wasn’t the only one who turned to follow his progress or stare at the swinging door as he left the kitchen.

“Did he just…” Alphabet asked.

“He did,” Lunchbox confirmed.

“Did what?” Grace wanted to know and I swung back around to grin.

“Just sidestepped all of us to be the one who took you out for a walk.”

“Oh.” The pink flushed her cheeks again. “That’s… not a problem right?”

“Of course not,” I said because jealousy was not going to be an issue. At least not that way. “Except I’ve got dibs for the next walk.”

“Hey,” Alphabet straightened. “Get your own dog. I also need the walks, you know.”

“Yeah, but he isn’t going to let you get away from those machines until the decryption is done.” Lunchbox patted him on the shoulder.

“How about,” Grace said, reaching over to put her hand on Alphabet’s. “I come hang out with you for part of the day. That way I can make sure you have drinks and that you get up and walk around. I can do that thigh massage again too.”

I slapped some duct tape over my inner twelve-year-old’s mouth and downed the rest of my coffee. Lunchbox just grinned.

“I can make that work,” Alphabet said after a beat as if he had to really think about it. “We can see what else we can do to speed up the process.”

“I’ll do my best,” she promised. “Just tell me what you need.” It was her turn to huff out a breath as she stood. There was no missing how gingerly she moved. “I need to go find shoes and a jacket.”

“If you need any other clothes, Firecracker, just give me a short list. I’ll take care of it.”

“More underwear would be nice.” She paused next to Alphabet and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll come grab Goblin in a minute.”

“Take your time.” He slid an arm around her hip and gave her a light squeeze. “You doing okay after last night?”

“Walking a little funny.” She flashed a grin at Lunchbox. “But I’m fine. I think this walk will help me too.”

“Good.” He patted her ass once, then held up his hands when she gave him a look. “Just wanted to test the waters. I’ve resisted patting that exceptional ass but…”

“You can pat my ass whenever you like,” she offered, then paused to glance at me and Lunchbox before she focused on Alphabet again. “Tell you what, since you are going to be chained to the computer and they can go for walks with me, you’re the only one who can pat my ass right now.”

“Hell yes,” Alphabet said with a fist pump. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She grinned then circled the table, she paused to rise up on her tip toes as Lunchbox bent his head and brushed her lips with his own. It was a quick there and gone again kiss.

When she reached me and put her hand on my shoulder, I covered hers with mine. “How soon will you be leaving?”

“I’ll wait until you two get back, so you can give me a list too.” I needed to do inventory anyway. When she dipped her head, I moved my hand to her nape and held her there for a longer, deeper kiss. I savored the hint of maple still lingering on her lips and the richness of the coffee.

Woman was a drug and I was addicted.

Happily so.

She sighed against my mouth and seemed to soften as she leaned against me and the chair. With some reluctance, I let her go and she was flushed a gorgeous pink as she straightened.

“I love you guys,” she said softly. “All of you.” The words took me out at the knees. The emotion sucker punched me and, for a moment, I thought she broke my damn jaw with it. She swept her gaze over the guys before she retreated for the door. “I just wanted you to know that…”

Then she was out and the door swung closed behind her.

“Did she just…” Alphabet found his voice first.

“Yep,” Lunchbox said and there was definitely a smug air about him. “She admitted it this morning.”

“Holy shit,” Alphabet muttered.

Yeah.

Holy shit.