Operation Date With Destiny (6 page)

Her gaze briefly flickered upwards focusing at some point behind him
,
but he didn
’
t have time to turn his head and see what it was before he felt a sharp hit to his head and everything went black.

****

His head was hurting but this time it wasn
’
t alcohol or drug induced—no this was a blow to the head from a rifle butt kinda hangover and he swore a string of verbal abuse that would do his old Drill Sergeant proud as he waited for the thumping to stop so he could force his eyes open.
When he did, he found that he was lying on the floor and his hands were once again tied together.
Deja
-
frickin
-
vu.

“
Shall we try again?
”
Destiny asked, sitting at the table, watching him calmly.

Man this chick was cool.
In fact, he
’
d be turned on right now if his head didn
’
t hurt so freakin
’
bad
. “
You know, we really need to do something about this kinky obsession of yours. I told you, if you wanna
’
tie me up—all you gotta
’
do is ask,
”
he muttered.

“
I am not playing games here. Do your job and we won
’
t have a problem.
”

“
I want to know what Tre
’
ago has to do with this? These coordinates are his compound
,
aren
’
t they?
”

“
They
’
re
a
compound.
”

“
This isn
’
t a coincidence.
”

“
It doesn
’
t matter what this is, but yes, Tre
’
ago has taken something from me—just like he took something from you. I don
’
t expect you to care about what he
’
s done to me—but I
know you want to make sure he pays for hurting other people
w
hich is the other reason I knew you
’
d want in on this job.
Look,
I didn
’
t have time to ask you nicely and I couldn
’
t take the chance you might say no—hence making the decision for you.
”

This wasn
’
t making sense. Maybe she hit him harder than he
’
d thought…maybe he wasn
’
t really awake—maybe this was all a warped, messed up dream?
“
Tre
’
ago
’
s in prison. He can
’
t be behind this.
”

“
Tre
’
ago may be in prison—but trust me
, h
e
’
s behind this. You know damn well they can
’
t control him from behind bars. He
’
ll find a way to get to someone—he always finds a way to get to someone.
”

Oh yeah—he knew all about Tre
’
ago
’
s reach. He
’
d been on the receiving end more than once. The guy was like a damn cat—he had nine lives. Well, it was time to cash in the last of those lives; and this time he
’
d damn well make sure he couldn
’
t hurt anyone ever again.

“
Are you sure we can trust him?
”
Ponleu asked quietly
,
falling into step alongside her as they walked from the new groundskeeper
’
s hut to the schoolhouse across the playground.

“
Pon, w
e don
’
t have a choice,
”
she said
,
using the shorter, less formal name
she usually called him when they were alone.

“
I don
’
t like the way he looks at you.
”

Destiny turned a glance on her old friend and sent him a weary smile.
“
I can handle Johnny Tupperoni.
”

“
I told you I could do this for you. My men are trained fighters. We don
’
t need the American.
”

Destiny stopped walking and turned to the man who had been her childhood friend.
“
I know you and your men can fight—I know you would do this for me—but he has the experience—he knows this place. I can
’
t take the risk of not using him for this. I mean no disrespect to you, my friend. You have helped me more than you know already—without you I wouldn
’
t have been able to get even this far. Please. Trust me that I know what I am doing.
”

“
I do trust you, Destiny. It
’
s him I don
’
t trust. How
can we even be sure
he
’
ll help us? What
’
s stopping him from abandoning us once we get into the jungle?
”

“
Believe it or not, beneath all that talk—Johnny Tupperoni is a good man. He
’
ll stay. He
’
s the only other person I know
,
who hates Samuel Tre
’
ago more than I do.
”

Chapter
Four

Tupper made the arrangements he needed. Not happily by any means, but he made them.

He was given photos of the compound and it was just as he remembered it. They didn
’
t have aerial shots which would have made it easier to see how far in relation to landmarks things were so he could calculate a little more accurately, but at least he had a fresh image in his head now to correlate his plans.

Contacts he hadn
’
t had to call on in a long time had to be used—but thank God they were reliable.

“
Pete, I need your services. I
’
m doing a solo job for a client. Yeah,
”
he replied to Pete
’
s surprised question.
“
You know me—can
’
t resist playin
’
the hero,
”
he said and heard Pete
’
s
skeptical
bark of laughter. When
Pete
wanted to do it for cost price, Tupper turned
him
down.
“
No. Charge full
price Pete—and add a bit extra on top.
”
That,
he thought smugly
, was for hitting me over the head with the rifle.

He was able to make the phone calls he needed to make under the watchful eye of Destiny
’
s second in command—
Pongfu
or whatever the hell his name was. There was a mutual dislike between the two men and Tupper had a feeling it came from a lot more than just a vague distrust of strangers.

The guy was jealous. He
’
d watched
them
leave the hut the previous night after dinner and saw the way he
’
d watched
Destiny
when he thought she wasn
’
t looking. Tupper might not be the most in touch with his emotions kinda guy on the planet—but he knew unrequited love when he saw it. And
Pongo
had it bad. Can
’
t say he could blame the guy—she was hot.

She
’
d blown his mind in that red dress
.
He gave a silent snort—even dressed in drab old camo gear, the woman still managed to look hot. His thought went back to the set of angel wings on her back. It had been that damn tattoo that had sealed his fate. It was a pity she
’
d had it covered up ever since that night.

He gave Pete the lat and
longitudes
to a pick up point and told him when they
’
d need him. On the other end of the phone, Pete went unusually silent.
“
Are you sure that
’
s the correct coordinates, Tup?
”

“
That
’
s an affirmative, Pete. Make arrangements
for an
y
extra equipment
you might need to find for the job, and I
’
ll radio you when we need an evac.
”

“
Solid copy. Roger that, over,
”
Pete replied and Tupper was relieved when he
got
the straightforward reply. In his friends tone, he heard that he understood what Tupper wanted done and not for the first time in his life, was glad for the almost telepathic connection he had with the men he
’
d worked so close with over the years. Once Pete had those coordinates, Tupper knew he
’
d
recognize
them
. Hopefully, he
’
d
dropped enough other hints that Pete would piece together the fact something was wrong
and bring
the right equipment for the job.

****

Destiny made a final inspection of the gear as they loaded it into the four-wheel drive, ready for the early morning start in a few hours.

“
You took a risk bringing me up here.
”
Johnny
’
s voice came from close behind her and Destiny hid the start his quiet words gave her.
Damn it
—she
’
d been so side-tracked thinking about what she could have forgotten that she hadn
’
t even heard him approach.

“
It was a calculated one.
”

“
I
’
m willing to bet that
’
s the only
kind
you ever take, right? Calculated ones? You
’
re one of those control freak types who have to do everything themselves.
”

“
It
’
s the only way to make sure it
’
s done right,
”
she shrugged.
“
Don
’
t waste your time
analyzing
me, Johnny. You should be getting some shut-eye.
”

“
Did I get a bit close for comfort?
”

If only he knew!
She forced the thought from her head and slid him her coldest look.
“
It
’
s nothing personal.
”

“
Well that
’
s where you
’
re wrong, sweetheart. I tend to take being set up
very
personal.
”

“
I think we
’
ve got bigger problems to worry about right now, don
’
t you?
”

“
What happened to you? How does a woman with everything you
’
ve got going on, turn into such a cold hearted bitch?
”

Destiny fought hard not to let him see the effect his words had on her.
Damn it! Why did it even matter what he thought of her? What anyone thought of her?
Only it did…it always had. That was the reason she
’
d turned into some sort of machine over the last few years—when you worked as hard as she had
for so long
, something had to give
,
and for her it was
a
social life and personal skills. She didn
’
t need to make friends—she just needed to make something of herself. Besides
,
in her old line of work
,
friends were a rare commodity. She was never home long enough to keep any
,
and friends at work tended to make you vulnerable
.