A Taste of Liberty: Task Force 125 Book 2 (8 page)

You got class.  I still don't like you.

“Is that Johnny Walker blue?”

Angelo grinned. 
“My choice as well.”
  He poured the amber liquor into two crystal glasses and handed one to Vince.  “Please.”  He motioned for Vince to sit in one of the chairs. 

Gracious bastard.  God, I hate this guy.

Angelo sat in the empty chair and smiled at Vince.  “Let's be honest, shall we?”

Vince nodded. 
“Fewer stories to keep straight.”

“Are you and Sarah together?”

Vince shifted in his seat.  “We work together.  What made you ask that?”

“I've been studying people for thirty years,
Vincenzo
.  You obviously don't like me.  I've read your dossier.  Your mother is Italian so an aversion to Italians is out of the question.  My record is impeccable so the only possible reason for you to dislike me as you do is my brief but significant history with Sarah.”

Vince didn't break eye contact as he took a drink, savored it and swallowed.  “I'd hardly call it significant.  What's your point?”

“Obviously I would like to keep our relationship professional but my intentions lie elsewhere with Sarah.”

The hair on the back of Vince’s neck stood up.  “And just what would those intentions be?”

Angelo smiled.

Cocky son of a bitch.

Vince didn't let Angelo speak.  “If you're the professional your people make you out to be, I shouldn't have to tell you, as a vital member of my team,
Sarah
should be allowed to concentrate on the mission at hand rather than fending off advances by our host nation liaison.”

“She may not choose to fight them off.”  Angelo smiled a wide toothy grin.  “So you aren't together?”

Back off.

Vince took the last gulp of his drink and stood.  “Thanks for the drink, but I need to get my team set up.”

Angelo sat back in his chair.  “
Prego
,
Vincenzo
.”

~~~

Vince stomped out to the patio and looked at his team enjoying the breakfast Angelo's cook laid out for them.  There was fresh squeezed orange juice, espresso and warm, freshly baked pastries. 

Sarah appeared completely at home with an espresso in her hand and a smile on her face. 

What a beautiful smile.

When her gaze met his, she set her cup down and replaced the smile with a sour look.

I miss that smile.  Hey, if she's gonna hold a grudge because I saved her from one of the bad guys then maybe Angelo deserves her.

“Alright people, this isn't a Tuscan vacation.  Let's get to work.”

Vince heard the clink of cups and glasses as his team scrambled behind him.  He walked directly to the chapel and started talking.  “Our host has graciously granted us the use of this chapel for our base of operations.”

“Holy shit, these walls are solid.”  Jason was doing his job and checking all the walls for vulnerabilities.  “This is a damned bunker!”

“Yeah, it'll do.  Jason, you set up the armory.  Brian,
get some security
working.  Chris, get the communications uplink operational and check in with our handler at Sixth Fleet.  Will, we're gonna need the maps and schematics set up and can you check on that shipment from Nikolai to see if it got in yet?”

“What can I do?”  Sarah's voice came softly from behind him.

Vince didn't turn around.  He didn't want the distraction of thinking about her.  “Study that dossier on Victor, and, when Chris is done here, you two can practice your Russian.”

A mumble was all he heard in response. 
“Yes, sir.”

~~~

Sarah walked up to her room and pulled Victor's dossier out of her bag.  She mumbled to herself over her frustration with Vince.  “Study the dossier.  Practice your Russian.  He might as well have told me to go fuck myself.”

She dropped the dossier on the bed and changed into her bathing suit.  “You want to treat me like an amateur, fine.”  She grabbed the dossier and her tanning lotion before leaving the room.

When she arrived at the patio, she was still pissed.  She mumbled to herself some more as she applied the tanning lotion.  “You want to treat me like a bimbo, that's fine, pig.”

Sarah browsed through the dossier she could already recite word for word and then dropped it on the table.

“Is that how you study?”  Sarah could make out Chris' dimples at ten yards.  He was smiling as he asked the question.

Sarah put on a stern look.  “No lip from you, Christopher.  You know damned well I've already memorized the contents of that file.”

He chuckled and continued in Russian.  “I know.  I know.”

Sarah enjoyed their language games.  They'd often switch between Russian, French or Spanish, sometimes all three, in the same conversation.  Chris was so easy to talk to their language practice hardly seemed like work at all.

“Don't sweat the boss.  He's just feeling a little pressure on this job.  The Italians want details, the Agency wants to keep everything quiet and Vince is
caught in the middle trying to negotiate between two intelligence agencies while running an operation.  It just makes for high tension.”  

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

They continued their conversation in Russian and talked about the weather, golf and whatever else came to mind until Angelo came outside and took a seat near Sarah.

“May I join you?”  To Sarah's surprise, he spoke in Russian.

“Of course.
  I didn't know you spoke Russian.”

Angelo's smile lit up his face and the lines at the corners of his eyes punctuated his smile.  “There are many things we don't know about each other.  I'd like to change that.”

Chris stood.  “I think I'll go check the satellite equipment and make sure Jason isn't surfing porn on my computer.  Angelo, make sure she gets plenty of practice.  Her Russian is coming along but it would do her good to practice with somebody else.”

Angelo nodded.  “Yes, we'll practice Russian all afternoon.”  He looked at Sarah.  “Go get dressed.  We’re going for a ride.”

“But I have to practice.”

“We will practice.”  He switched easily to Russian.  “Now go get dressed.” 

Sarah was game for anything that removed her from Vince's orbit for a while.  A drive with Angelo was just the ticket.  She walked quickly to her room and put on shorts and a shirt over her bathing suit.  When she returned downstairs, Angelo was waiting in the entryway with two helmets.

She took the helmet he offered. 
“A motorcycle ride?”

“Yes.  It is a beautiful day for it.  We can take a ride along the coast.  I know a great place where we can have dinner.”

“Dinner?
  Well, maybe I should change.”

“No,
cara
.  You would be beautiful in kitchen rags.”  He grabbed her hand.  “Let's go.”  He led her outside to where his Ducati motorcycle waited.

This guy doesn't skimp on anything.  Everything he does oozes class.

Sarah put on her helmet and climbed on the bike behind Angelo.  She wrapped her arms around him, grateful for the fun distraction he provided at
just the right time.  If given time to stew alone, she'd have worked herself into a full-blown tizzy over how Vince was treating her.  Now, she hadn't a care.

Sarah and Angelo returned from dinner happy and relaxed after a beautiful sunset ride.  It was late when they joined the rest of the team out having drinks on the patio.  Angelo excused himself after a few minutes to make some phone calls.

“Hey, pork chop, while Angelo’s out of earshot, I think it is time we talked about something important.”

Sarah was suddenly aware that all eyes were on her.

This must be serious.

“What is it, Will?”

Will leaned forward in his chair.  “It’s no secret we're in a pretty risky business here.  Something you need but the agency won't tell you about is a fallback plan.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there are the basics like an alias and a passport to go with it.”

“Why would I need that?”

“There are lots of scenarios where you might need to travel undetected by the government.”

“The next thing you need to think about is a place to fall back to.”

“But I've got my apartment in Vegas.”

“But the agency knows about it.”

What
Will
was saying finally hit.  If something, anything, ever went wrong with the agency and her identity was compromised, she'd need to get the hell out of Dodge to a safe haven.

“Wow.”  She blinked hard a couple of times while the necessity of such a plan struck home.  “I really never thought of that.”  She looked around the small patio at the other guys.  “Do you guys all have plans?”

Will spoke up first.
  “I've got a horse property in Venezuela.”

Brian smiled.  “You know about my place in Mexico.”

“I've got some isolated property in northern Montana.”  Jason put his feet up on an empty chair.  “Good hunting up there.”

Sarah looked at Chris and smiled.  “Let me guess. 
Something on a golf course?”

Chris grinned and put on his best Scottish accent. 
“Near St. Andrews in Scotland.”

Sarah pulled her gold cigarette case from her pocket and lit a cigarette.  “What about you, Vince?”

Vince nodded.  “I've got a place in Dubai.”

Will stood and stretched.  “Give it some thought, kid.  You never know when you might need that fallback plan.  When you work it out, let me know.  I've got a good guy who can do up some identity documents for you.”  He yawned.  “Goodnight, ladies.”

Chris yawned.  “Yeah, I'm calling it a night.”

“Me, too.”
  Jason laid his hand on Sarah's knee.  “For you, I'm thinking Monaco.”

“Not a bad idea.”  Brian stretched. 
“Night,
darlin
'.”

Sarah watched as all but Vince walked into the house, suddenly uncomfortably aware they were alone together.

The tip of his cigarette glowed brightly as he took a drag in the dark.  “He's got a point there.  Monaco is good.  You speak the language. 
No taxes and people don't ask about each other’s pasts because they all have something to hide.
  Good place to disappear while still keeping a semblance of a life.”

Sarah knew he was right but just didn't want to admit it.

Why does it bother me so much that he's with other women?  We can't be together.  I have no right to be jealous.  It's not like I couldn't find a man of my own.  Hell, Angelo is single and a great way to pass some time.

“I'll figure something out.”  Sarah stood as her body crawled with discomfort.  She hated that being alone with him hurt so much.  “I'm going to hit the hay too.  Goodnight.”  She walked quickly into the house.  The light was on in Angelo's study, and she poked her head in the door.  “
Buona
notte
, Angelo.”

He looked up from his computer.  “Going to bed so early?  Please, come in.  Will you join me
for
a drink?”

“Sure.  That would be nice.  Thank you.”

Sarah walked into the study and was surprised at what a comfortable room it was.  She sat in one of the large leather chairs by the huge globe and watched as Angelo poured a glass of Brandy.

He gave her the glass and poured one for himself. 
“
Salut
.”

Sarah raised her glass. 
“
Salut
.”

Angelo sat in the other leather chair and sighed.  “So how did you come to be in this business, Sarah?”

Sarah sat back and took a deep breath. 
“Long story.”

“I have all night.”

“I'd had a very bad day.”  She was finally able to smile about the day she was discharged from the Air Force and then found her boyfriend with another man.  “I was a cop in the U.S. Air Force, but I was overweight so they discharged me.”

“Overweight?  That is ridiculous.”

Sarah smiled at the handsome Italian.  “I didn't always look like this, Angelo.”

He raised his eyebrows in interest.  “Continue, please.”

“My commander gave me a business card for a camp where I could lose weight.  It was all very secretive.  I called, they accepted me and I lost weight.  As it turned out, it was a training camp for the C.I.A.”  She chuckled.  “After being tested, I was asked to join this team.  I accepted.”

“But why?
  Surely you must have had other options?”

“Not really.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  I loved being a military
cop
but couldn't see myself in a civilian police force.”