Colorado Flames WIth A Texas Twist (18 page)

Chapter Twenty

Roger, Billy, and Zander ignored each other as they loaded onto the plane. They’d chosen to fly commercial to Rio de Janeiro instead of private. Traveling on fake passports still bothered Roger. He understood the need. He and his crew were going to travel to Brazil and murder someone. If they were caught in Brazil, they didn’t need to have any ties back to the ranch, the US government, or the people who’d hired them.

The short hop to Houston wasn’t enough time for him to sleep. On the ground, he didn’t speak to Billy or Zander, instead he spent the time studying the information Duff had given him. Nervous didn’t even begin to describe how he felt. They had a plan in place, one that should be easy to execute, but he was nervous about how things would go down. What if he messed up? During his time with his Seal team, he’d killed people, but never like this. He was convinced that this man needed to be exterminated. The bastard spent time in jail before and the government let him go early because he’d paid money. If he were captured again, even if the US government was involved, that didn’t mean he would actually spend any time in a real prison. Plus, even in US prisons, he could still run his operation. They needed to shut this guy down permanently.

The call to board in Houston came over the loudspeakers and Roger stood, bumping into someone.

“Oh, sorry.” It was Billy. He grabbed Roger’s arm and squeezed.

“No problem.” Roger reached out and took Billy’s hand in a firm handshake, accepting a piece of paper Billy handed him. He stuck his hand in his pocket and dropped the paper inside.

Once the plane took off and leveled out, he headed to the bathroom. With the door locked, he pulled the paper out of his pocket and unfolded it, reading the words Billy had scrawled across the page.

There’s a guy I know from my unit traveling with us. I’m going to take a cab to the other side of the city then meet up at the hotel much later. Stay safe and don’t try to contact me. If he asks to go grab a beer, I’ll go with him.

Roger read the note again before folding it once and ripping it in half. He shredded the half piece of paper and flushed it then stuffed the rest into his pocket. If this guy recognized Billy the entire mission could be compromised. Of course they all had rehearsed reasons for being in Brazil. They’d planned for every contingency, even making plans for vacations they were supposedly taking. If questioned, they had something they could tell.

The flight south was long and boring. He worried about Billy for about an hour before he relaxed and fell asleep. After a few hours he woke as they were serving drinks and food. When he’d flown to South Africa then England, he’d been alone and the trip had seemed to pass quickly. This flight was taking forever. He decided it was because Zander and Billy were on the plane with him and he couldn’t talk to them. Communication was cut off and he didn’t like it.

He slept a bit more and felt rested when they landed in Rio. After grabbing his carry-on, he exited the plane and caught a ride to a shopping center where he walked across the plaza, circled around and then caught another cab to the hotel. It was silly to spend so much time making sure he didn’t have a tail, but they were doing a very dangerous mission this trip. If they fucked up, everything could go south. One of their biggest fears was Craig talking about Wild Bluff. There were people in the government who knew they existed, but that knowledge was held closely by a trusted few. The threat of being followed by someone who didn’t know their purpose was very real.

A few minutes before he was set to arrive at the hotel he texted Zander, giving the code that he was near. Zander sent back the room number. Roger relaxed a bit. If Zander suspected he’d been followed, he wouldn’t have returned Roger’s text.

The taxi stopped in front of a hotel and Roger paid before exiting the cab. He wasn’t booked into this hotel, it was just a good place to check for another tail. Normally, they didn’t plan as much subterfuge in arriving. There was something to be said about making a simple plan and following that plan, but the Craig element added a layer of uncertainty to everything they did.

He knocked at their room and the door flew open. Zander pulled him in and slammed the door. “Fuck, I haven’t heard from Billy.”

“Relax. He passed me a note before our last flight. I didn’t want to draw attention to us and I guess he didn’t either.”

“What’s up?”

“Someone from his unit was on his last flight. He was going to humor them if they recognized him. Don’t worry, once he’s safe he’ll check in.”

“Damn it, I hate this mission already.”

Roger patted him on the shoulder. “Have you eaten?”

“No.” Zander grabbed the room service menu and opened it. He stared at the pages but it didn’t look like he was really reading the choices.

“Why don’t I go down and grab us some food. I saw a Subway sandwich shop across the street. I’ll bring some food back and we can chow down,” Roger offered.

“Okay, I’ll start setting up. We’ll do recon tomorrow. We have very little time for this operation. We have to be spot on.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Roger grabbed a keycard and headed out of the hotel. He ordered four sandwiches, chips, and bottled water. They’d be busy tonight and wouldn’t want to go out again. If Billy showed up soon he’d most likely be hungry.

On his way back to the hotel he saw Billy exit a taxi. He was alone in the cab except for the driver. Roger breathed a sigh of relief and continued into the hotel, walking directly to the lift. Billy strolled up behind him but he didn’t acknowledge the other man’s presence. The doors opened and they both stepped on, Roger pressing the button for the seventh floor. He thought they were going to be on the elevator alone until a woman raced over, shoving her hand in to stop the doors from closing.

“So sorry,” she said with a thick English accent.

“It’s okay. So what floor?” Roger asked.

“Ten.” She pulled out a small compact mirror and sighed. “That was a long day. I’m going to head to the bar later. Will you both be coming down for a drink?”

“I’m turning in for the night,” Billy said.

The woman looked at Roger and lifted a brow. “My colleagues and I are working late. We have an early presentation.”

“Ah, well, maybe tomorrow.”

The elevator stopped at seven and Billy exited first, then Roger. Billy turned left and Roger right, ignoring each other as strangers would. The lift doors shut and Roger turned around, heading the way Billy had gone.

“Shit,” Billy said when he caught up to him.

“Yep.” Roger used the key card to enter their room.

Once inside, Billy tugged off his jacket and tossed it on his suitcase. “That was fucking close. Zander, do you have a secure connection set up?”

“Almost. You clear? Anyone follow you?”

“No. But then we got in the elevator and some woman steps in as the doors are shutting.”

“You two came up together?” Zander asked.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything to tip off that we knew each other.”

“One of you should have waited.” Zander narrowed his eyes, his gaze sliding from Billy to Roger.

“It looked natural the way we approached the elevator. We were in the clear until this woman got on. She assumed we were together, asked if we were heading to the bar later.”

“I said I was going to bed,” Billy said.

“I told her me and my colleagues were working late,” Roger replied.

“Would you recognize her if I showed you a photo?” Zander asked.

“Yeah,” they both said.

Roger placed the bag of food on the table beside Billy and kicked off his shoes. “I’m taking a quick shower.”

Zander turned to stare as Roger took off his shirt. Billy reached for a sandwich and tapped Zander on the shoulder.

“What would Marshal say if he knew you were staring at Roger?”

“We’ve all seen Roger without a shirt on, I was just curious if he was going to strip right in front of us.”

“Damn it, guys, I’m not stripping in front of you. I’m not that stupid.” Roger grabbed his bag and headed to the bedroom. They’d snagged a suite, allowing them a little privacy. It was only a one bedroom with a den, but the added space would keep them from being on top of each other for the entire trip.

“You could if you wanted to. You know, just so we understand what Grant has for himself,” Zander said.

“Fuck you,” Roger called out as he shut the bedroom door. He leaned against the wood as his heart squeezed. Working with these guys was different. On his SEAL team, he would have stripped without a second thought. Of course, none of the guys on his team would have looked. They all knew he was Hayden’s and none of them cared about his dick.

He pushed off the door and entered the bathroom, washing quickly. After stepping out of the shower he wrapped a towel around his waist and headed out to the main room where Zander and Billy were.

“Any progress?”

Zander turned and shot him a stupid grin before pulling up a browser window. “This her?”

“Yep,” Roger said.

Another browser window was opened and Roger stepped closer, looking at the state issued ID for a Marion Thompson. Zander opened a third window which gave a run down of Marion’s credit, her work history, and her parking tickets.

“She doesn’t look like she’s a threat to us,” Roger said.

Zander tapped his pen on the table. “I’ll do some more digging, but it appears that she’s here on business, nothing else.”

“When we leave and enter the hotel, we can’t be together,” Billy said.

“Agreed.” Zander began an email to Duff, attaching the information about Marion.

Roger wanted to clear the air about him being naked. He didn’t know if he could spend the rest of his work life with these guys worrying about stripping in front of them.

Roger stood in front of the guys and placed his hands on his hips. “Okay, so are you guys really going to give me a hard time about dressing and undressing in front of you?”

Zander opened his mouth to say something then closed it. He bit his lip then shook his head. “No man, I’m sorry. I was just razzing you.”

“Billy, what about you?”

“I don’t care. I’ve seen one dick, I’ve seen them all. Unless it’s Tucker, his is amazing.”

“I probably didn’t need to know that,” Zander said.

“You’ll never get up close and personal with Tucker’s dick because he’s mine,” Billy said.

Roger made his way back to the bedroom to get dressed. “I’m surprised none of you have had group sex before,” he called over his shoulder.

“Oh hell no,” Billy said. “No freaking way I’m sharing my Tucker.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Marshal would be willing to share. Hell, he’s barely able to admit he likes guys. The first time I kissed him...fuck, I’ll never forget that.”

Roger stopped before he entered the bedroom and turned back to Zander. “What happened?”

Zander took a deep breath, his cheeks turning a little pink. “We were out in a pasture and Marshal was upset. I hugged him and he was too tempting to pass up. Marshal had his nose pressed against my neck, his breath tickling my skin. My dick was so hard I thought I was going to pass out. We stayed like that for a few seconds then Marshal lifted his head just a bit and placed his nose behind my ear. I felt his whole body quiver and he jerked away a little. That caused his cheek to rest against mine, his scruff rubbed against my jaw, nearly sending me into orbit. Fuck, it felt so good.”

Billy looked up from his sandwich, his smile was wide and his eyes were full of merriment. “Tell me more.”

“He groaned. My hands were already near his hips so I hugged him tighter, wrapping my arms around him more. His fingers brushed over my hips and then he curled them in, increasing the pressure. He slid his lips over just a bit, lining up with my mouth. At first I thought it was a mistake and I almost jumped back, but then he slid them over my mouth again and...oh God, he moaned so sensually I almost lost it.”

“Oh shit, that’s sexy,” Roger said.

“Very sexy. Hell, he swiped his tongue over my lips and I opened. Marshal tightened his grasp on me and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. We were grasping at each other, our lips pressed together as our tongues twisted. It was hot and then Marshal brushed his hips against mine, grinding hard. I freaked because I almost came. Hell, I was in love with him and wanted more. I’d just kissed him, and I thought for sure he was going to haul off and hit me.”

“What happened next?” Roger asked.

“I took off.”

“You ran away?” Roger shook his head. “I can’t believe you ran away.”

“I was afraid. I didn’t know what would happen next, but I was too scared to find out. I really thought our friendship was over.”

“Wow, and now you two are like inseparable,” Billy said.

“We’ve had our issues, but I think we can work through anything.”

“I’m going to go get dressed then we can run through our plan and get some sleep.”

“Sounds good,” Zander said.

Roger didn’t shut the door all the way as he pulled clothes out of his suitcase. He dropped the towel and pulled on his underwear then tugged on a pair of black sweats. His t-shirt felt good going on after being dressed in the starched business shirt on the flight down. A knock sounded on the bedroom door then Billy pushed it open.

“So there were four sandwiches?”

“Yeah, I got us an extra one. Eat it if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, I’m starving.” Billy turned to leave then stopped and waited for Roger.

He couldn’t get past Billy so he stopped in front of him. Billy reached out and pulled Roger into a hug. At first he hesitated then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around Billy.

“I’m glad you’re on this team. These guys, they’re my brothers. You fit in well with us.”

“Thanks,” Roger said.

Billy took a step back and let Roger pass but not without popping him on his ass.

“Ouch, what was that for?”

“You’re freaking sexy too. Now let’s get this party started.” Billy danced his way over to the table where they were set up.

Roger grabbed a sandwich, opened the wrapping and took the first bite. He groaned and took another. “I didn’t think I was that hungry.”