Barriers (Anderson Special Ops #3) - Melody Anne Page 0,1
fall than I am,” Smoke told Eyes.
“Nope. Not gonna happen. I’m just a broken old man who needs a lot of attention and care,” Eyes said.
“Broken my ass,” Brackish countered.
In reality both Eyes and Sleep had nearly lost their lives on their last mission with their SEAL team. It was a miracle they’d survived. But even saying that, none of them considered themselves weak or less than who they were before bullets had ripped into their bodies.
“I’m broken,” Eyes insisted. “That means I need a lot of medical care and sponge baths . . . from multiple nurses.”
“You need help,” Chad said with a chuckle. “All of you. The kind where they put you in straitjackets.”
That made them all laugh again. “Don’t forget that you’re the one who hired us,” Green said. “So, who needs more help? Us? Or You?”
Chad’s sigh came through the comms loud and clear. “Checkmate,” he said after a few seconds.
“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening . . .” Smoke began singing yet another Christmas song. Then the air shifted.
“Hold up,” Green said, all humor dropping from his voice. The team was instantly on alert. No one asked questions, no one said a word. They waited. They knew that tone, and they knew things had gotten serious . . .
Chapter One
Two weeks ago, Senator Miller had called Green, aka Hendrick Meeks, since he was only known to her by his real name. She’d requested a meeting with him . . . again.
Hendrick had been at the wedding reception for one of his best friends, Brackish, known to the world as Steve Bregon. The senator had made her first call to him then. He’d been putting her off for weeks, and he had her exactly where he wanted her — panting at his feet.
The Anderson Special Ops team, founded by Joseph Anderson, and run by Chad Remington, had been busy since they’d been organized the year before. From the beginning of their operation they’d been going a thousand miles per hour, things speeding up even more since Brackish and Erin had eloped.
Though this connection with the senator was essential to their ultimate goal of eliminating the huge drug ring that plagued Seattle and the surrounding cities, the consensus among the team was to make the senator wait to meet with Green.
She was eager, which put the power in their hands. It was quite fun for Green as he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Senator Miller was used to getting what she wanted — and she wanted Green. The fact that she wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted when she wanted it was humorous to them all. She might talk a big game, but she was about as useful as a cotton ball in a rock fight.
Green waited . . . and then waited a bit more as call after call went unanswered.
After the fourth day of waiting, the senator had one of her lackies call Green to check on the status of their meeting. He ignored that call too.
After a solid week passed, a new lackey called, this one leaving a stern message stating that a meeting needed to be solidified. He ignored this call too, all the while grinning.
When ten days had passed since her first call, Green got a call from the president of the political action committee, saying there were issues needing to be addressed immediately. He didn’t answer that call either.
“Well, guys, I just got a call from the chief operations officer for the shipyard. He’s the father of the idiot kid who thinks he’s my boss there.” He paused and grinned. “You know the senator has called, then had two lackies call, then the president of the political action committee was unleashed on me. They’re all eating out of the palms of my hands, and none of them can stand the fact I’m not responding — especially the senator.”
“What did the COO have to say?” Chad asked.
They were all sitting around their table in their operations center, food getting consumed, Brackish typing away on his computer, and Eyes and Sleep cracking jokes. Smoke seemed bored, and Chad was rolling his eyes as he tried to rein in the unruly group. Although they might be unruly, they knew exactly when it was time to get serious.
Green looked smug. “The chief said there’s nothing on my schedule to prevent me from meeting with the senator. He didn’t threaten, but he made it clear I would meet with her.”