Page 17 of ELITE Protection
The heavily padded container was about the same size as a ring box. This time, Isaac didn’t hold back a smile as he slid the tiny device into his ear and informed the ops center technician that he was switching from telephone to field communications.
While Atlanta couldn’t hear, he leaned in close to her. “I couldn’t marry a woman I hadn’t even fucked yet…or at least tasted.”
He watched Hannah’s huge brown eyes turn to molten milk chocolate in the small penlight they were using in the closed room. His boss would not be happy with his rough language around a client, but Isaac liked teasing her.
Refocusing, Isaac tapped his ear. “Atlanta Center, comm check.”
“Loud and clear,” came the reply. “Code name for this op?”
“Designate Snowman.” He’d been tagged with the name when he first started BUD/S, the schooling every SEAL must complete. It had stuck.
Hannah’s smile lit up the room, or at least his heart. “I like it. It’s appropriate.” She flicked the tiny button to activate her device. After embedding it in her ear. “Testing. This is Hannah Kader, code name Blink.”
“Blink?” That was one of the strangest handles Isaac had ever heard.
She gave him a shit-eating grin. “Yeah, piss me off, and I’ll kill you in the blink of an eye.”
She slid into the backpack straps and buckled them securely around her hips and across her chest. She handed him her alpine touring skis. “Tuck these into the straps, please.”
“Tango one is thirty feet down the hedge on the east side of the yard.” The clarity of the transmission from Atlanta was amazing. “He just slipped over to the neighbor’s side to avoid the automatic external lights. No worries for you. I have disabled them.”
“What happened to tango two?” Isaac held Hannah’s gaze.
“He’s playing peeping Tom at the house next door which we already know is vacant,” Atlanta informed them.
“Should I take him out?” Hannah looked at Isaac as she asked the question, but she could have been asking Atlanta for sanction on the kill.
“Let’s keep this extraction as clean as possible.”
Isaac stilled at the sound of Alex Wolf’s voice.The owner of the company, he mouthed to Hannah who nodded in understanding.
“SOCOM and Homeland are watching with us, but no one has assets close enough to help you tonight.” Alex’s voice sounded regretful.
That explained why they had thermal satellite in real-time. This was so much bigger than Isaac had ever imagined when he agreed to take this personal protection gig. With the two government agencies on board, he didn’t dare fuck up protocol. No matter what, though, he had to get Hannah to safety.
He withdrew the six-inch, black matte blade from the sheath on his belt. Its rough handle was comfortable against his palm. It had killed before and would do so at least once more.
“You stay here until I give you the all-clear,” Isaac ordered Hannah.
“Not fucking likely.” Hannah screwed the silencer onto her pistol. “You need backup.”
“Listen to the lady,” Alex instructed. “Never underestimate a woman warrior.”
“Yes, sir.” Isaac then added, “That sounds like the voice of experience.”
Low male laughter rumbled through his earpiece. “You haven’t met the other owner of Guardian Security, Katlin Callahan, have you?”
“No, sir. I haven’t had the privilege,” Isaac admitted.
“When this is over, I’ll make that happen,” Alex promised.
“Atlanta Center here. Suggest you move now. Tango one is twenty feet from your location. Tango two is returning to the backyard.”
Isaac took one last look at Hannah. Her single nod was all the consent he needed. “Moving out.”
In step, knees bent, Hannah’s hand on his shoulder, they slipped silently down the hedge in the deepest of shadows.
Two yards in front of them, the bushes shook.
