Code Name: Luminous (9 page)

The guys burst out laughing.

Ghost raised his gaze from his wife. “It’s
your show, Bale. Who else do we pull into the mission?”

Tony scrubbed his chin with one hand while the
men waited.
“Sixteen more men.
One
squad for Nevada, and one for New Mexico.
When does she get the next
injection, Stitch?”

“We’re going to rush the process a bit.
Six-hour intervals.
When I say rush, I mean by a week.
Lumin, if you experience any side effects you need to tell me immediately.”

“Why didn’t they take Lumin between Las Vegas
and San Diego?” Mace muttered under his breath. Everyone stopped and waited.

Ed narrowed a look on her. “Good question. They
trailed you. They could have taken you on one of the stops between Vegas and
here, but they didn’t. Why?”

Kayla approached her. “Lumin, you said Dr.
Bjornson was Dr. Carmichael’s partner. Did they say how they left the lab? Did
they escape? Were they released?”

Lumin closed her eyes and tried to remember
the doctor’s slurred words. Between begging for forgiveness and how he’d been
tricked, he told her he and the other doctor had been held captive. Had he said
how they got away?

Lumin opened her eyes when Kayla’s hand rested
on her shoulder. “Was Dr. Bjornson the man who was with him in Vegas?”

Lumin shook her head. “No. The other guy was a
friend, as far as I could tell. Someone he knew from Lebanon. None of it made a
lot of sense to me. Once I got Dr. Carmichael settled in bed, he was delirious.
He’d pass out for a few seconds and then start talking again.”

“Does it make any sense at all, that this guy
would be partying in Vegas if he was trying to hide?” Ed asked the squad.

“He was nervous all night,” she said, curling
her brow. “He kept looking around, and that’s what made me pay attention.
That’s when I noticed the two men watching us.”

“What if they were trailing him?” the Admiral
added.

“Why?” Lumin asked.

The Admiral squared a look on Kayla as if working
it out. “Come on, babe, we’ve got pieces to the puzzle. What does it show us?”

“Carmichael is a viral specialist. They
wouldn’t let Carmichael go unless he’d finished his job, and then they released
him but gave him a slow-acting drug to kill him. It’s not the plague because
Lumin would have seen the symptoms. Two men watch the doctor then trail Lumin
here without taking her. They don’t try to grab her until she arrives at
Tony’s.” Kayla’s gaze shot to the Admiral’s. “Bjornson got away. He didn’t finish,
and they thought the other doctor would lead them to him. Carmichael spent time
with Lumin. They’re trying to find him.”

The Admiral and the rest of the team nodded.
“It’s plausible,” the Admiral said. “In fact, it’s likely. Lumin, when they
take you, you’re going to have to keep yourself alive. Keep them dangling as if
you know where Dr. Bjornson might be.”

“And you don’t think they will torture it out
of her?” Tony asked sharply.

“Not at first,” the Admiral said, offering
Lumin a sympathetic smile. “We won’t be far behind. We have to find the lab. We
might even find who is behind this.”

“Why aren’t we having this meeting in the Base
Commander’s office?” Ditz asked what Lumin had wondered all along.

The Admiral flashed a look at Captain Cobbs.
“The White House believes whoever is behind this had help. You can’t walk into
a drug supply store and ask for a specimen of the Plague. It had to have come
from a high security lab. That can only mean intervention from the highest
level,” Cobbs stated.

“Someone gave them the Plague to play with?”
Mace said. “The terrorists have a high-ranking American in their back pocket?”

The Admiral nodded. “That’s why this stays
within our squad. Only I give the reports to JSOC, and they will be
misleading.”

“You think there’s a traitor in SPECWAROPS?”
Stitch queried.

“Who knows where he or she is, but the White
House is certain there is one,” Admiral Austen supplied. He wrapped an arm
around Kayla and nodded. “Check your gear, men. We go hot in twelve hours. Load
out. As soon as Lumin is given her second injection, we deploy.”

“Sir?”
Nathan’s expression was tentative at best. “You said ‘we.’”

“You’re two men down,” the Admiral explained,
sharing a look with Captain Cobbs.

Kayla groaned loud enough for everyone to
hear. “Thane, you have a job. It’s in Hawaii.”

“Mrs. Austen,” the Admiral growled back. “You
have a job, it’s raising our son.”

Kayla rolled her eyes, and Lumin couldn’t keep
the chuckle in. Tony leaned toward her ear. “Just like old times.”

The rest of the men broke the circle, shaking
their heads as they aimed for their lockers.

Kayla’s voice tightened. “I swear
,
if you go with the squad I will divorce you.” With her
hands riveted on her hips there was no mistaking this woman was a match for the
surly Admiral.

Although a foot taller, Ghost paused. “No, you
won’t.”

“I sure as shit will.”

“Baby—”

“You gear up, so will I.”

“Like hell you will. You’re retired, sort of.”

“You need Nina and me on this mission. Who did
we agree makes the decision on whether I retire or not?”

Ghost rolled his lips and darted a quick look
around. “You do,” he said quietly.

They were standing toe to toe, both glaring at
each other.

“Well then?”

“What good are we to Adam if we’re both dead?”
Ghost hurled at her loudly, losing his patience.

“This will be a pandemic. It will kill our son
if we don’t stop it together.”

Ghost towered over her and Kayla didn’t even
blink. “I—need—you—
alive
, woman. You
can do what you need to do from Base Command. That’s as close as you’re
getting.”

“Don’t count on it, Admiral.”

“That’s right,” he yelled. “I am a god damn
admiral, but you seem to forget that.”

Lumin stood cemented to the spot, watching
them volley back and forth. “Aren’t you concerned,” she asked Tony.

“About what?” he asked, absently watching the men.

“Them.” She motioned toward the Admiral and
Kayla.

“That? Christ no, they haven’t even gotten mad
at each other yet.”

Lumin cranked her head in shock. “That’s not
mad?”

Tony chuckled.
“Nope.
That’s just posturing.”

“I’d hate to see mad.”

Tony slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“You’ll know it. Kayla starts shouting in French-Canadian and if she’s really
pissed she’ll chuck shit at him. Apparently, she’s got great aim. Right now
she’s just annoyed, see—her hands are on her hips.”

“Wow, you guys know each other that well?”

“Those two
bark
at
each other like dogs, but it sounds worse than it is.”

Lumin saw Mace and Nina standing beside each
other shaking their heads at the same time. Mace said, “Your turn.”

“Nope,” Nina shot back. “It’s yours.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s yours,” Mace said.

“Fine.”
Nina raised her fingers to her mouth and gave a short hard
whistle. “Hey, anyone around here want to stop a pandemic? I know, crazy
thought, but instead of bickering, why don’t we all play nice and save the
world.
’K?
’K.”

Ghost and Snow White stopped arguing for a
split second and glared at Nina, but it didn’t last long.

Ghost raised a finger at Snow White. “You’re
not going into the hot zone.”

“I’m going where I’m needed.”

“Kayla, I’m putting my foot down this time.
The last time you came on a mission, you nearly died.”

“That wasn’t my fault.”

“I don’t care whose fault it was. The Taliban
almost shot you. They did shoot you. Now get your ass home.”

“My ass is going to Base Command. Come on,
Nina. We have more research to do.”

“Fine, stay at Command, but you’re not
coming.”

“Guess again, no-good SEAL.”

“It’s Admiral,” he shouted.

“Admiral no-good SEAL,” she shot back as the
door to the
Loadout
room slammed shut.

Nina gave her husband a playful wink and
strode after Kayla. Lumin felt a little better knowing Kayla and Nina would be
close by.

Nathan hung by the Admiral’s side. “That woman
never, ever listens to me. She’s the only person on the planet who doesn’t do
what I say. Why is that?”

Nathan’s brow cinched up and he said slowly, “
Cuzzzz
she’s the only person on the planet who isn’t scared
of you.”

The Admiral panned a look as if he’d just seen
a purple giraffe cross in front of him.

“Come with me.” Tony tucked her under his arm,
leading her toward the door.

“Where are we going now?” She clung to him
because she needed the extra courage. They reached a row of buildings and he
held a door open. The space was empty of human inhabitants.

“This is the teams’ Mess,” he explained, as
they maneuvered around a set of weights, skirted a foosball table and he led
her to a couch. A fridge and small bar sat along the far wall.
“Something to drink?”

“Sure, a soda.”

He opened the fridge and twisted the top off a
Sprite, handing it to her. With a gentle hand he brushed her cheek. “I will do
everything I can to keep you safe. Even if you can’t see us, I’ll be close by.”
She lay back against the headrest of the couch and stretched her legs out. Tony
ran his hand up her calf. “You have the best legs I’ve ever seen, and I want
them back.” He got up and went to a cabinet and pulled out a blanket, returning
to cover her. “Try to get some rest. I’m going to head to the galley and get us
something to eat. I’ll be back soon.”

“If I’m sleeping, wake me up.”

“You need to sleep.”

She sat up. “Would I sound like a silly female
if I said I want to spend every second I can with you until I leave?”

“I’ll be right here.” He gently prodded her to
lie back and kissed her.

She didn’t want him to go quite yet and
wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. “Thank you for being my
hero.”

Tony’s arms squeezed her possessively. Resting
her head against his chest and listening to his heart made her feel better.

“I’m not a hero, Lumin.
Just
a guy doing his job.”

Her heart sank a little. “I’m a job?”

His eyes darted upwards and he shook his head.
“No, you’re not. Nowhere near, but I have to think sharp the second you’re out
of my hands because I want you back in my arms as soon as humanly possible.”

“I don’t have the training you have. All I’ve
got are a few street smarts.”

“That’s all you need. We’ll do the rest. I
believe in you, Lumin. I need you to believe in yourself.” He kissed her
forehead and then her mouth. “If your gut tells you things are going in the
wrong direction, I want you to run. Don’t take any more risk than necessary.
Use every skill you have.”

“I wish I had the abilities Kayla and Nina
have. It’s like they can see into the future.”

Tony folded her hand within his. “You have
other skills. You have agility, and the skill to see and recall things.
Everyone has
a strength
. Use yours to stay out of
trouble. Now, get some rest. I’ll be back soon.”

He headed for the door. “Tony—” She paused and
waited for him to turn. “I believe in you too. That’s why I called you. You
might not see yourself as a hero, but you are. To me, you are.”

He hovered in the doorway. “Hard not to fall
for a woman who tells you something like that,” he said, so quietly the words
barely reached her.

“Do warriors believe in love?”

His shadow shifted, his shoulders straightening.
“Honestly, it’s mostly lust. Least it was for me, although I thought I fell in
love once before.”

Nina popped into her mind. The way she’d
looked at them gave Lumin concern. “Was it Nina?”

He nodded once. “Yeah, it was Nina, but Mace
and she had sparks from the word hello, and I just wanted in her pants. It
wasn’t love. It was infatuation. She would have ended up on the cutting room
floor like all the rest.”

“There’s something pretty amazing about her. I
think I understand.
Kayla too.
They’re both really
strong women. They fit in so well.”

In the doorway, with a muscled arm stretched
above him, his hand gripped the frame. Tony’s certainty of who he was and what
he could accomplish was always present. His confidence had a sexy energy, and
she loved it. Honorable and brave with an addictive persona, he was everything
her mind had conjured up since he’d left her in Las Vegas. Even his voice made
her tremble with excitement.