Page 35 of Dangerous Mission

On the right monitor was a picture of Axel and Terri. “Who was the man in the crate?”

“Hex.” Lila paused. “For a skinny IT nerd, the man was tougher than he looked. Most wouldn’t be able to survive the punishment he’d gone through. The Karva Organization don’t like to traffic men. For the past week the nerd grew on me, even helped update some of my firmware. We fought the last two days. He wanted the Karva to take him, but my only way to help him was to go behind his back and get you guys down here. I worry they will kill him really soon.” A tear ran down her cheek. “Also, please tell Terri I’m okay.”

Suddenly, all hell broke out in Axel’s ear piece. “We need to go. Come with us and tell Terri yourself.”

She shook her head. “If I leave, nobody will assist the women trafficked through this village. Tell Hex I’ll never forget him.”

Axel didn’t want to leave without asking more questions, but gunfire sounded in his ear.

Terri

Terri stared at her iPhone.She wasn’t sure how many times she’d watched the private video. That she was being watched by a satellite scared the fuck out of her. Whoever sent her the video hadn’t posted it to the internet.

Like most videos of Terri, the person could get thousands of dollars for it from rag magazines. So she wasn’t sure why the person had sent it to her. She needed to forward it to Tex. Over the past few days, she’d talked to him a few times. Gumby and Sidney had stopped over the day before to check on her. He was part of another SEAL team in California. She made plans to come see his five dogs. Terri had always wanted a dog but was never around enough. Before he left, Gumby said Axel would be back soon.

Terri played the video yet again. Someone had watched her and not recently. It had been going on for a long time. The footage was from above, so it made it hard to see Axel’s face, which she was thankful for. After a few minutes on TikTok, she already knew people were trying to figure out who the mystery man was—the man who loved her. She felt the same, but she wasn’t ready to say the words. She worried she’d made a mistake not saying them, especially since he’d gone on a mission.

It had only been a week and a half, and she couldn’t imagine what it would be like when he would deploy for a month. Siena and Lucy had come over during the weekend. She’d brought along her daughter Mia, and they had a giant slumber party. Terri loved the women, especially Lucy’s cupcakes. The woman sure could bake.

Terri closed the video and went back to the message.Don’t trust the people closest to you.She clicked on the name, but the account was fake. Though she replied, asking for them to contact her, she knew it wouldn’t help. What she couldn’t figure out was how her agents hadn’t caught the person filming her all the time.

She downloaded the video, took a screenshot of the message, and sent it to the number Tex had had her memorize. She chuckled. It was the only number she actually knew by heart. At first, she’d promised to put the number in her phone, but he insisted she memorize it.

Her phone rang a couple of minutes later. She’d expected to see Tex’s name flash across the screen. Instead, it was an unknown number. Terri’s hand shook as she slid her finger over the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Hey, T.”

She loved hearing her old nickname. “Axel! You’re alive?”

His chuckle made her face burn with embarrassment.

“Good to know you have faith in my ability to do my job.”

“It’s not that. Anything can go wrong.”

“You are one hundred percent right. I can’t talk openly on the phone, but I have a surprise for you tonight.”

“Your cock?”

Axel choked. “Damn, woman. Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected those words to come out of your mouth. But since you brought it up, did you get what I sent you?”

“Yes.”

She would never be able to look at Axel’s house cleaner again. Mrs. Thompson had opened the box in the kitchen. Angel and Terri were eating breakfast as the older lady cut the tape on the brown box. Terri hadn’t thought much about the package. She faintly remembered Axel saying he planned to order one for her, but her mind clouded when she was near him.

Mrs. Thompson took the plug out of the box and rotated it in her hand. Her cheeks turned a deep red before she squeaked and placed it back in the box and turned her eyes on Terri. “I’m sorry, dear. Axel normally has me open his things, but…I think this was meant for you.” She shoved the package across the counter.

Angel grabbed it before it could make it to Terri. The woman had lightning reflexes. “Oh. Let me see.” She yanked the package out of the box and held it up. “I didn’t expect Axel to be a kinky dude. He even bought the good brand.” She wasn’t sure she could ever look Angel or Mrs. Thompson in the eyes again.

“Did I cut out, or are you thinking about me playing with you?”

“No, I was thinking about how your house cleaner opens your mail. You’re probably going to have to pay the woman hazard pay after what you did.”

Axel laughed. “I’ll make sure to give her a bonus this month.”

“When will you be back?”

---