Page 38 of Unintended Love

“Lukas Murillo, senior NCO, close quarter battle specialist, fucking good sniper, and damn good door kicker. You can call me Wraith,” said the dark-haired man with the full beard sitting beside Clint. He looked like he would blend in to any terrorist group.

“I’m Shawn Beck, sent here yesterday to be the senior NCO.” He ran his hand over his short military-cut hair. “Boomer has been my handle for over twenty years. As you can guess, I’m an explosives expert, to the point that the Navy had me teaching young’uns for the past three years between special missions.”

“Lyam Barker, codename Dog, I’m the team sniper, but I’m equally as good with any gun. I look forward to working with you Ladies.” When he smiled, he turned from good-looking to downright handsome enough to be a model on any magazine cover.

“Last, but certainly not least, I’m Chester Wiley, better known as Coyote for obvious reasons. I’m the team doc, and I’ll put my skills up against yours any day.” He wore his straight light brown hair pulled back loosely in a ponytail at the base of his skull, but it was his golden-brown eyes rimmed by beautiful, long, dark eyelashes that caught Ashlin’s attention. No man should be allowed to have eyes that gorgeous.

Kayla looked at Kira and nodded.

“I’m Navy Lieutenant Kira Frost. My call sign is Lady Cougar. We are all pilots and can fly our airplane and our helicopter, but when we’re on the chopper, I’m primary crew chief. On the ground or in the air, I am always the team doc. I’m also secondary sniper.” She smiled at Lukas. “Like you, also damn good with any gun.” She looked at Mia, by her side.

“I’m Army Captain Mia McCormick. Call me Lady Cheetah. My specialty is communications and electronics, which crosses over into explosives. And of course, all the other shit they mentioned; pilot, sniper, whatever I have to do to get the job done.” She smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Did Director Wolf tell you that our team has a one hundred percent success rate? Yes, assholes, we’ve been on more than one mission.” You’re up.” She looked at Piper.

“I’m Navy Lieutenant Piper Knight, known as Lady Leopard. My specialty is water, on it or under it. Pilot, sniper, door kicker, and this Florida girl recently proved herself as a cold-weather survivalist in Alaska.” She looked at Ashlin and nodded once.

“I am Air Force Captain Ashlin Cartwright, but you guys can call me Lady Tiger. I’m the team’s primary pilot and primary sniper. I’m also the jump master. And yes, Clint and I are married. But as Director Wolf pointed out, we can both be professional, especially on a mission.” Her gaze met Kayla’s.

The Black Swan Team leader announced, “Now that we know each other’s names, I suggest we get to work⁠—”

“Before we leave this room,” Clint interrupted before anyone could move, “I suggest we only use our handles, unless we’re in public. It’ll make it easier once we move out.”

Kayla nodded. “Agreed.” She moved to the door. “The rest of the day, we will be operating in the dark room. Since this is the only conference room large enough for all of us, I’ll reserve it for lunch. We’ll have it catered in by our staff. No outside food or drink is permitted.” She glanced over her shoulder at Clint. “Unless you have other plans. We usually take thirty to forty-five minutes for lunch and downtime.”

“That sounds perfect,” he reassured her.

Kayla opened the door and then turned around. “If you make a call or text using your private cell phone, it will be scrambled and encrypted and may be recorded. This is an electronics-secure building, which extends out to the sidewalks. Consider yourselves notified.”

Clint and Ashlin were the last ones out of the conference room. “You’ve texted me from work before.”

She shrugged. “I have nothing to hide. I don’t give a shit if Josie up on the Watch Floor sees my texts to you. Neither of us is sexting or sending any kind of code.” Before they reached the darkroom, she wanted to ask him about the new guy. “You kept watching Shawn Beck. I take it he’s the man who interrupted us last night.”

Clint smiled down at her. “Yes.”

“Do you want me to run a deep dive on him? It’s easily justifiable because he’s new to your team and was not part of the original vetting.”

“I’m sure Dell has already cleared him, or he wouldn’t have been sent to me last night.” Clint’s eyebrows pinched together. “On second thought, yes. I’m curious to see whether you come up with anything. I haven’t been out of the game that long, but we couldn’t find anyone that we both knew. Spec-ops isn’t that big of a community.”

They reached the door to their workspace. “Go in and tell Kayla that I had to do something in my office. If you get her alone, or at least out of earshot, tell her I’m putting in the request on Shawn Beck.”

Chapter 15

Clint walked into the darkened room as Kayla was explaining their process. “Sometimes, you just have to go back to basics. We found using computers wasn’t as accurate as the actual photographs and images. When expanding a photograph, for instance, a computer will fill in what it thinks that a shadow is exactly that: a shadow. On the other hand, when you look at the same satellite picture at twenty times its original size, you can see it’s a man, or a deer.” She looked directly at him with a raised eyebrow, so he tilted his head toward a dark corner of the room.

“Ladies, please go back to the station you were at before the conference.” Kayla wiggled her fingers, as if stretching them, but Clint saw it as a signal. “Gentlemen, feel free to walk around and ask questions. If you find a table that interests you, feel free to stay.” She headed toward the darkest corner.

Clint met her there. “Ashlin went to her office to ask permission to do a deeper dive on Shawn Beck. I’m positive my company has already gone far beyond résumé-level, or they wouldn’t have sent him to me. But she pointed out that Homeland has vetted each and every one of us except him.”

“Good thinking,” Kayla complimented.

“I’m going to work my way around the room. Is everyone working on the same location?” Clint asked.

“Not exactly.” Kayla’s gaze swept the room. “Each table is looking at a possible site within Montana.”

“How reliable is your intelligence that there’s a camp in Montana?”

Kayla hesitated, shrugged, and then said, “We were informed that last week, Border Patrol picked up a couple of guys crossing the northern border of Idaho, carrying two manpad missiles. He knew he was headed to a camp in Montana but didn’t know anything beyond his next pickup location.”

“You’re fucking kidding me?” Clint said in a low voice.