“Just getting some air. We’ll pick her up on the way out of the neighborhood.”
Sure enough, when they reached the intersection to pull back onto the main road, Moon was standing on the corner waiting for them. She jumped in and gave Ben a smile as they headed back to the airport.
It was another trek through back corridors to return to the jet.
Before they boarded, Fisher fixed a look at Ben. “Any more side trips or delays?”
Ben sighed and shook his head. “No. Let’s go home.”
Soon enough, the plane was back in the air, with the commandos taking the first seat quad and his security team taking the last at the back. The seatbelt sign was turned off, and Moon approached Ben. In her hands was something wrapped in a pillowcase which she handed to him. Glancing at her, he opened the fabric to see the clay sculpture Stephanie made of his cock.
“How? How did you get this?” Ben asked as he gaped at the petite woman.
“You kept her busy as I broke into the house from the backyard. I am very good at this. I collected this and a backup drive on which she keeps her notes and research.” Moon handed Ben the second item. “I took a quick look. Your friends in Australia and France weren’t the only people she interviewed. You should review this information before she publishes it. There is also a copy of the book she submitted. At least you will be prepared.”
Ben’s eyebrows were threatening to climb into his hairline. He looked at the small pocket-sized USB hard drive and then back to Moon. “Thank you so much!”
She smiled at him and nodded before going back to her seat. Ben’s eyes followed her to the back seats, where she sat with Liliya and Evelyn. Both women were grinning back at Ben. Moon was going to make an excellent addition to their team!
Ben thought he’d better learn how to say Nguyêt correctly.
“Such a shame to destroy such a piece of art,” Gabriella sighed, drawing his eyes up to her smiling face.
“Oh my god! Is that what I think it is?” Zama gasped with wide eyes.
Ben quickly wrapped it up in the pillowcase once more. “Never mind what this is.”
Gabriella chuckled and leaned in to give Ben a kiss.
Zama watched them with such a look of longing on her face that Ben felt guilty for kissing Gabriella in front of her. When his beautiful neighbor pulled back, Ben gestured for Zama to bring her face down to his. She flashed a happy smile at him then she pressed her soft lips against his. He gently cradled her face in his hand and tenderly caressed her mouth with his. Zama’s breath caught in her chest, and she looked at his mouth dreamily as they parted.
“I wasn’t making any promises with that kiss,” Ben said firmly, and she nodded.
“It was very good,” she sighed.
He snorted gently. “I get lots of practice… and you have very kissable lips, like Gabriella’s.”
The woman in question gave him a loving smile and took the Princess’ arm to guide her back to her seat. They began to speak quietly as they snuck looks back at Ben.
He wondered if he should be worried about that.
Chapter 49
Sergey Zhdankov once more stood before the grim faces of his senior chiefs. This time all of them were present.
“You said there would be no link back to us for the attack, then you have two of our best cyber-infiltration teams paralyze the US Capitol’s telecommunications and traffic control centers. How is this subtle? How is this protecting us from reprisals? We have the open discussion of our involvement on Capitol Hill, and I’m told they are making memes of it on the Internet!” Herescu growled.
Sergey swallowed the bile rising from his gut as he watched the smile on Bolonov’s face spread. The man looked like a lizard about to eat a fat beetle, and Sergey was looking like a beetle at the moment.
“An overzealous operative misinterpreted my orders and brought in the teams without my knowledge. He will be terminated,” Sergey insisted. Even he thought he sounded weak.
“We will need to review the mistakes made in detail,” Bolonov suggested, and heads nodded.
There was a commotion by the door, and a messenger rushed up to the podium and whispered to Herescu, who jolted in his seat and asked the messenger some questions.
After the messenger left the room, Herescu faced Sergey with a nervous expression. “Your prediction came true. The assassin has come back to us. Tatiana Pushkin just walked into the lobby of this building.”
Sergey couldn’t stop the snort of laughter from slipping out. Angry eyes glared at him. “Apologies,” Sergey said gently as he tipped his head to the chiefs. “It is just what she did to the CIA. She has incredible boldness. May I assume she surrendered immediately?” he asked, feeling confident once more. Vasiliev had prepared him for this.
The senior chief nodded. “She has been taken into custody. She will be stripped, searched, and subdued before questioning occurs.”
“May I offer a point of advice based on the knowledge Colonel Vasiliev gave me specifically for this event?” he asked. Herescu nodded with a scowl.
“The subduing phase will not yield the required results as the subject has been conditioned to endure this. Instead, bring her to my office, and I will debrief her. If she is not salvageable, I will dispense of her. She is not a threat to us as she cannot defy the Colonel’s conditioning. This was proven by her return.”
Bolonov was scowling angrily once more, and that just made Sergey’s smile more satisfied.
“She will be brought to your office immediately. Make your assessment and return to us with your answer in two hours, no more,” Herescu snapped.
Sergey saluted and left the room with as much dignity as he could, but once outside, he rushed through the building to his office and managed to get to it before the guards brought her in. He wondered if he should sit at his desk or stand by his window. Which pose would have the greatest impact? He was almost giddy with the power being placed in his hands. She was one of the deadliest weapons Vasiliev ever created, and she would be under his control! He studied the Colonel’s records for managing his creations. While he no longer had access to the documents which went missing when the Colonel was killed, he remembered.
He heard footsteps, so he rushed to the window and slipped a neutral expression onto his face.
Two burly guards in black suits pushed Tatiana into the room and roughly sat her in the chair before his desk. They both took a step back and remained there to subdue her if she made any suspicious moves.
“Welcome home, Ms. Pushkin,” Sergey said with a smile.
-=-
Tatiana lifted her chin to look at the fat man who took over for the Colonel and wondered what Vasiliev had been thinking when he took him on as his liaison. She could see how soft and weak he was. Still, she must play the game. She nodded to him.
“I see they did not get my instructions soon enough to prevent you from taking a beating,” Zhdankov snorted in annoyance at the two brutes.
She nodded again. She would have laughed, but this would have been enough to trigger her handlers, and she wasn’t ready yet. The timing was critical.
“What did she bring with her?” the fat man asked the brutes. One took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to him.
Sergey poured the contents out on his desktop. He pretended to inspect the items, but he was watching her for tells on which item was important to her. She didn’t respond to anything, so he frowned and changed direction again.
“I knew it was just a matter of time before you returned. Colonel Vasiliev ensured you would remain loyal to his program. He made you what you are… but it seems you are not the pinnacle of his creations after all.”
Tatiana couldn’t suppress the twitch that comment elicited. She was aware that she’d been beaten by Ben in strength and speed. She was also aware that Liliya would have killed her in Germany. That had surprised her most of all. She knew Liliya had equal training, but she lacked the killer instinct.
Until she had the proper motivation.
Ben. Liliya loved Ben, and that made her better than Tatiana. Without this, Tatiana could not be the pinnacle.
She glanced up at Sergey and saw he’d been watching her expression, and his smug smile showed his satisfaction. She wanted so much to tear it from his face but… not yet. She gauged the location of the two behind her by the subtle rustle of their clothes as they shifted in relation to the slight sway she’d added to her body language to suggest fatigue. Calculating her attack opportunities, she saw the numbers were not in her favor at the moment.
The fat man continued. “You should have asked yourself why you thought we’d consider taking you back after the damage you’ve done for our enemy?”
She made a weak snort sound. “I proved the minimal value of those assets. I am far more valuable.”
It was Sergey’s turn to snort as he moved back to look out his window. “You had your chance to prove that, but you failed to kill Ben Shepherd. Liliya seems to be the deadlier assassin, and we aren’t interested in second best.”
He grinned back at her at the expression of hurt pride, and once more, Tatiana vowed to end him.
A sniper round punched through the armored glass of the window, turning Sergey’s head into red mist.
Almost before anyone could react, a second round punched through the damaged window, taking out the guard closest to the window as Sergey’s body dropped. The second guard grunted as he fell to avoid the bullets.