He saw the hitman’s gun on the floor and was contemplating getting it when Evelyn burst through the front door with someone in military fatigues at her back.
They took in the carnage, and Evelyn’s eyes quickly scanned the room, finding Ben standing behind the blast shield. The sailor with her rushed to the back door and opened it.
Two more SEAL Team members joined them. “We have the hit team in custody, no fatalities,” one reported.
The sailor with Evelyn shook his head. “One fatality.” He pointed to the blast victim.
“Shit! What did that?” one of the sailors asked.
Ben glanced at him as he walked past. “A bad battery.” He dumped his goggles and lab coat on the spare work bench.
Evelyn snorted, and eyes turned her way. She blushed and followed Ben outside, where the parking lot behind the building was swarming with police and two SEAL Team squads. Three men were on their stomachs with arms and legs zip-tied behind them. A police officer was having an argument with Lieutenant Ashton. With a glance at Ben, Evelyn went over to speak with them.
Another shot rang out, and everyone ducked. Ben looked up at the roof of the building across the lot and saw Tatiana push the dead body of another man over the edge, followed by his rifle.
The police pointed their weapons at her, yelling at her to drop her gun and come down. She smirked at them.
“SHE’S ON OUR SIDE! PUT YOUR GUNS AWAY!” Ben bellowed, and the police turned to look back at him. “She’s my bodyguard,” Ben added. He looked up and saw her nod to him in acknowledgment.
Liliya walked another prisoner around the corner of the building. The police swung their attention to her.
“She’s also one of us,” Ben called out.
Liliya knocked the man down onto his stomach next to the others and quickly zip-tied his legs. She walked over to Ben. “A sniper. I caught him on the roof of the next building covering the front entrance.”
“I think Tatiana caught another one. She killed hers.”
Tatiana walked up to them with a smug look. “Paying you back for stopping that man from shooting me yesterday. We are even.”
Ben looked her in the eye but spoke quietly. “Tatiana, I’m aware of how many mob people you… took care of to protect me and mine. We are nowhere near even.”
She smiled and nodded to acknowledge his gratitude and debt. She seemed a lot calmer now that she’d been able to kill someone. That gave Ben some concern.
They looked at the men on the ground. Evelyn rejoined them. “The prisoners are going back with the SEAL Team, and our people will take them from there for interrogation. They are being classified as a terrorist threat,” she explained.
“They sent a team of six after me?” Ben asked in surprise.
“Five,” Tatiana corrected smugly.
Ben gestured towards the door. “There’s another one inside. He’s dead.”
That seemed to set her back a bit, but she quickly recovered. “He was on a team of amateurs. Even the Sergeant could deal with him. The sniper I shot was not with them. He was a contingency, sent by Zhdankov to ensure your death after these losers failed,” Tatiana explained. “This was just a test.”
Evelyn began to speak, but Ben got there first and pointed to the corpse of the sniper. “How could you know that one wasn’t with the others?” Ben exclaimed.
“His weapons. His clothing. His skill. Signs of the training camps we went through. These others lacked the edge. I believe they are locally hired,” Tatiana purred, pleased she was schooling Ben.
He looked to Liliya, who nodded in agreement. “We were able to take them alive,” she said gently.
Evelyn still looked agitated, but Ben placed his hand on her arm to stop her from speaking.
“What does that mean for future attempts?” he pressed.
Tatiana leaned forward. “If we do not take Zhdankov out now, the next team will be a larger threat.”
Ben glared at her. “One of these less capable assassins got past you, Liliya, and Evelyn. He shot at me.” Tatiana froze, then turned to glare at the Sergeant, but Ben wasn’t finished. “Evelyn lost contact with you two due to the building’s shielding. She left me in a locked building to re-establish communications with the team. This amateur, as you called him, managed to get past three trained professionals into a locked building and fired his gun at me from ten feet.”
Tatiana was blinking at Ben as her face reddened. “How…”
“I was standing behind the blast shield Evelyn arranged for the lab. Lucky for me, she bought one that was bulletproof. It saved my life,” he asserted.
“How did you defeat the gunman?” Liliya asked quietly.
“The battery pack we were testing had a defective design. There was a chance that it might explode. I fed it power, and it did,” he explained.
Liliya’s fair complexion paled even more. “If it hadn’t–”
“I’d be dead.”
The three women looked appropriately shaken.
“Mistakes were made. How they tracked us here needs to be determined. Maybe the General needs to speak to Agent Russo to discover how they missed the team and the contingency agent,” Ben suggested, and Evelyn nodded.
Ben looked back at the door to the lab and sighed. “Shit! I was looking forward to doing the next test, but I guess we won’t be doing that today.”
“It would be strategically wise to return to the neighborhood until we can get some answers on how they found the lab,” Evelyn suggested.
Ben huffed in frustration. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Evelyn rushed back into the lab and gathered the documentation for the experiment. She placed this in the docket and returned to the truck. She saw Ben was behind the wheel, and his expression told her not to argue.
One of the SEAL Teams was heading back to the neighborhood, bringing the living suspects to hand over to the General’s interrogators. The second team remained with the police, who were waiting on the coroner’s arrival.
The drive back was quiet as everyone was subdued after the attack.
As they pulled into the driveway of One Ashburn Court, the Sergeant spoke. “I think it might be wise to postpone the meeting with Ms. McGovern and her team until tomorrow. I need to speak with the General first.”
Ben looked at her for a moment, then nodded.
“I’m sorry we failed you today, Ben,” Liliya said contritely.
Tatiana’s eyes flared. “Do not include me in that failure! I fulfilled my role!” She glared at Evelyn, then got out of the truck and slammed the door as she stormed off.
Liliya sighed, then got out. Ben waved to her as she reached the door and looked back. This brought a small smile to her lips as she stepped inside.
Ben drove to his driveway, where he parked, undid his seatbelt, and turned to Evelyn. She undid her belt and waited as he collected his thoughts.
“I’m beginning to see the merit in Tatiana’s idea of taking the fight to them–I know, we can’t… but just reacting to their attacks when we’re not getting sufficient intel seems suicidal,” he growled in frustration.
“I’ll talk to the General and get him to light a fire under Agent Russo,” Evelyn said, and her eyes became a little glassy. “I-I’m so sorry I failed you so badly today!” Her bottom lip began to tremble as her emotions swelled.
Ben looked her in the eye. “Hey! You didn’t fail me! The enemy may have been underestimated, but if you hadn’t purchased the bulletproof blast shield, it would have gone much worse for me. Those shields aren’t typically so strong, are they?”
Evelyn was trembling and shook her head. “I thought it would be better protection if the batteries exploded.”
“It was.”
He saw she was starting to get the shakes, so he reached over and pulled her into a hug. She made a squeak noise then she was clinging to him tightly as she cried on his shoulder.
He rubbed her back as he made calming noises to her. They remained that way until her tears finally calmed.
When she pulled back, he saw her lovely blue eyes were still very glassy.
“You didn’t fail me. We need better intel. Maybe we need a better plan for dealing with these hit squads. You didn’t fail me,” Ben said firmly as he held her eyes with his.
She nodded shakily and gave him the hint of a smile.
“Are we okay?” Ben asked, and she nodded again.
He sighed. “I’m going to take the rest of the day off. I’ve had enough excitement.”
They got out of the truck, and Evelyn ran back to her house with a final look at Ben.
Ben got himself inside his house and let the shakes he’d been suppressing rock through his body. Once he felt like he wouldn’t come apart, he walked out to the deck and prepared his hot tub.
He needed a soak.
He was also looking forward to having his family home tonight as well.
Ben considered checking on the demolition of Fourteen Ashburn Court, but he just didn’t feel up to making conversation with anyone. He needed some me time, then family time.
So, that’s what he would do.
Catherine was agreeable to having her meeting with Ben at his place. She brought along her team, and they arrived at ten AM.
Tall, blonde, and slim, Ingrid Nilson was Catherine’s Logistics Controller. She was grinning ear to ear as she sat in Ben’s living room. She was no longer hiding behind big chunky glasses, favoring wire frames now to show off her lovely eyes that shared her delighted smile. Ben also saw what looked like an engagement ring on her finger.
Next to her was Darcy Lane, Cat’s Financial Controller. She was still carrying extra weight on her petite frame. Some of that mass was bulging out of the neckline of her dress. A push-up bra must have been employed to assist with this emphasis. She had a wicked smile on her lips, so she knew he’d noticed.