The Sharps Unleashed, page 12
“No, not that I can think of. Jacob is always the angry one, and Andre is always the attention seeker. Andre loves attention and feeling in charge and like he is a big shot. If he has extra money, like from winning a poker game or something, he just has to treat dinner and drinks to show off. Jacob hates that, but he lets him do it. If they’re up to something crazy, Jacob is in it for his revenge, but Andre is probably doing it for power and attention.”
“Ok, can you restate your full name.”
“Sara Jessica Fields.”
“Thank you. I’m going to end the recording.”
Robin turns the recorder off, and Sara slumps forward, resting her forehead on her arms on the table.
“Son of bitch. What the hell did my stupid brother do?”
“We don’t know that yet, but for your protection, we’re going to need you to stay here for now. If you haven’t eaten yet, we’ll order you dinner.”
“Yeah, fine, whatever.”
Chapter Fifteen
Robin turns the recording off after the end of Sara’s testimony, and Hodgins reaches for his phone. He calls in an order for the governor and senator Sara mentioned to be located and taken into protective custody. He orders a full bomb squad sweep of City Hall and around the clock surveillance till they find the missing officers. Then he calls the US Postal Service to alert them to possible suspicious packages. He orders an alert to be sent to every single government office and agency across the country to be vigilant with mail, visitors, and trash pickup. Then he calls in an order for the Spears family cabin in Henderson to be searched. It takes him over thirty minutes to make all of the necessary calls and orders.
After he hangs up, he stands and motions for Robin and Grace to follow him. He calls out across the floor, telling everyone to get to the conference room. Everyone rushes in with pads of paper and tablets.
Hodgins gives the room of twenty agents a summary of the information learned in the interrogations, and then starts giving everyone orders on what he needs them to do to ensure a catastrophe doesn’t happen.
“Grace, you are off of every other case till this is resolved. You and Robin are going to get us the intel we need on those mills, then lead the raid. Harrison, you will be their direct line of communication to the rest of us. I want these sons of bitches brought down in less than forty-eight hours. Get to work. Sharps, get out of here and get ready for tomorrow. You do whatever is necessary to bring these assholes down so we don’t lose any innocents. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
When they’re in the car, and on their way home, Grace takes Robin’s hand and kisses it before holding it tightly on her lap. Robin leans over to rest her head on Grace’s shoulder while Grace drives, and Grace kisses the top of her head.
“I’ve missed working with you.” Grace smiles and kisses Robin’s head again. “Me too, babe, but I understand why you needed a break from the bureau. How do you feel about being back into some real action?”
“I feel good about it.”
“You were great at the station. I loved seeing you take charge like that, and I really like playing ‘good cop, bad cop’ with you.” Robin laughs and kisses Grace’s cheek. “I’m actually surprised Hodgins is allowing us to work alone together. They don’t like to allow family and spouses to be partners.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice change of pace, but I know it won’t last. I mean, David is a great partner, but you are my woman. I’d go through hell and back for and with you.”
“Me too, babe.”
Robin kisses Grace’s cheek and neck, and Grace turns her head to give Robin a quick kiss before looking back at the road.
When they get home, they go straight to the basement. Grace pulls a picture off of the wall, revealing a digital keypad, and she punches in an eight-digit code, then presses her thumb to a censor pad. The wall splits and creates a four-foot wide doorway, revealing a ten foot by ten-foot hidden room. There is a steel table in the center of the room with cabinets and drawers. The walls are loaded with various types of firearms, crossbows, and knives. There is a shelf with climbing gear, medical supplies, surveillance tools, GPS tracking devices, small explosives, and satellite phones.
Grace grabs two sleek black rock climbing backpacks, and Robin hands her the gear to pack. They pack first aid kits, climbing ropes and carabiners, pistol ammo, pistol silencers, knives, and basic field provisions, like food bars, energy gels, and pouches of emergency water. The most important tools they pack are two military grade surveillance cameras that will allow them to make out human figures up to five miles in daylight or at night with thermal imaging to see through obstructions.
“Give me some of those tracking buttons as well. If they’re moving vehicles out of there, we’ll try to affix them so we can track them and apprehend them, if we can get close enough.”
Robin hands her the requested devices, and then opens the cabinet just under her, next to Grace’s legs. She passes her a couple of signal flares, just in case their technology fails them and they get in a desperate situation.
“Anything else?”
“Compasses. We’ll pack the maps we have upstairs. Ok, I think we’re good. Have you shot Sally, yet?”
“No, I need to do a full cleaning and take her outback to do some target practice.”
“Ok, let’s do that now. I need to service my pistol as well.”
They shoulder their backpacks, grab their gun cleaning kits, and a box of ammo. Grace locks the hidden room, and they go back upstairs.
“I think this is an emergency pot roast night.” Robin releases a small laugh and nods. “Yeah, definitely. I’ll pull it out if you want to get the table ready for Sally’s strip down.” Grace laughs and gives Robin a kiss on the lips. “Ok, babe.”
At least once a month for as long as they’ve been together, they’ve worked on creating and freezing “emergency meals” for nights like tonight. With their demanding and unpredictable schedules, it’s not uncommon for them to get home late or need to work through the night to prepare for a big case. Robin pulls an aluminum foil pan out of the freezer, removes its paper lid, and tops it with foil to pop in the oven. The pan includes enough pot roast, mashed potatoes, and roasted carrots for both of them, and should be ready to eat by the time they finish servicing and test firing their weapons.
With gloves on their hands, they get to work cleaning their pistols and making sure they are properly lubed. Robin is meticulous and works slowly, making sure Sally is perfectly up to par. She had cleaned and lubed her before she was returned to the bureau for storage, but she needs to get all of that old lube removed and reapplied with fresh.
As they take their stance at the small firing bench for their backyard shooting range, Robin releases a small moan of satisfaction from feeling Sally in her hand again.
“Oh, it’s been too long, Sally.”
Grace releases a small laugh and just watches Robin as she fires off five rounds, hitting each small bullseye dead on at thirty yards.
“The pistol the police force issued me just can’t compete with Sally. I don’t have to compensate for her at all. I aim, and she goes where I want her to. That pistol from the force has to be adjusted down and to the left, no matter how much I work on those sights.”
“Sally is a fine pistol, babe. Do you need to be alone with her?” Robin laughs and shakes her head. “No, but I wouldn’t mind getting some quality one on one with you. ”
“Oh, I’m going to give you plenty of that after dinner. My turn.”
Grace steps forward, and releases five shots, hitting each bullseye perfectly dead center. She smiles at Robin in a seductive way, then puts a new magazine in her pistol. It takes her a couple magazine changes, but she shoots out a semi-perfect heart in the paper.
“Very nice. My turn.”
Robin adds an “I” and a “U” on either side of the heart, and Grace giggles as she leans in to kiss Robin.
“I think we have adequately tested our firearms. Are you ready to eat so I get to loving on you?”
“Oh, hell yes.”
While Grace pulls the dinner out of the oven and dishes it up, Robin cleans up their mess from cleaning their pistols. Robin washes her hands really good, and then pours two tall glasses of red wine for them.
Sitting with their sides pressed together on the couch, with their ceramic fireplace lit, they eat mostly in quiet. Occasionally, they discuss tomorrow’s plans for their scouting mission, but mostly, they just enjoy the moment of being safe in their own home together.
As they lean forward to set their empty plates on the coffee table, they look at each other and smile. Grace caresses Robin’s cheek and draws her in closer. Their lips press and part, enveloping each other’s mouths. Grace inhales deeply as she pushes Robin on her back and climbs on top of her. Robin reaches between them and starts unbuttoning Grace’s blouse.
Grace sits up and rips her shirt off, tossing it behind the couch. She pulls Robin’s tie loose and roughly rips her buttons apart. Robin sits up and Grace shoves Robin’s shirt off of her shoulders, leaving her in a tight white tank top and her army green uniform tie. Grace smiles, and grabs the tie, yanking Robin’s face up into a kiss.
Robin grabs Grace’s thighs, pulling them around her waist, and she stands up. Grace tightens her arms around Robin’s shoulders to steady herself as Robin walks out of the living room with her wrapped around her waist.
Grace latches onto Robin’s neck, sucking hard, causing her to stall in her progress up the stairs, and she releases a surprised moan of pleasure. Grace smiles and playfully bites her chin.
“Get moving. I want to have my way with you.”
Robin quickens her pace and brings Grace to the bathroom. Grace turns the shower on, and while they kiss, they strip each other of their clothes.
With the shower raining hot water over them, their lips and tongues tumble together, and their hands rub up and down their torsos, asses, and backs. Grace breaks free from Robin’s urgent kiss with a smile, and runs her hands over Robin’s head, slicking her wet black hair back.
“Let’s wash. I want to make love in bed so I can feel your weight on top of me.”
With a grin, Robin slips a hand between Grace’s thighs, eliciting a sweet gasping moan from her wife.
“I want to make love to you till the sun comes up.”
Grace moans and grips Robin’s shoulders as Robin’s hand traces firm slow circles and strokes up and down her center.
“Get on your knees.”
Robin kisses Grace’s lips, and then kneels in obedience to her wife’s needs. Robin grabs Grace’s ass in both hands and pulls her center against her mouth.
Grace runs her hand through Robin’s hair, pulling her in harder against her for a moment, but then lifts Robin’s head to look in her eyes. Grace caresses Robin’s cheeks, and traces both of her lips with her thumb while she studies her wife’s face.
“You ok, babe?” Grace smiles down at Robin and nods. “Yeah, I just wanted to look at you for a minute.”
Robin smiles and glides a hand up her stomach, lovingly caressing her. She kisses her stomach and hips, and then enters Grace’s center again.
Chapter Sixteen
Grace opens the garage and pushes the button on the key fob to start their Hummer . They look at each other with matching excited smiles as the engine roars to life and the bright white lights turn on.
Wearing form fitting black tactical pants, tactical boots, and form fitting black neoprene jackets, they climb in the truck with Grace in the driver’s seat.
The Hummer is all black with blacked out tinted windows, and black rims and bumpers. The Hummer is equipped with large off-road tires, roof racks, a tow hitch, and can operate as a moving radio base with satellite connectivity and computers installed in the underside of the back bench.
It’s not typical for agents to have such high-tech vehicles or hidden rooms with a stash of supplies, but Robin and Grace have been field agents for over nine years and are often called out to work a case with little notice and little or no backup. Having the tools of their trade on hand, instead of having to go into the field office to obtain them, has made a huge difference on the success of many missions.
With the coordinates typed into their GPS, they follow the prompts from the computer in the dashboard to a small winding pass about midway up the side of the mountain with the two saw mills they need to observe today. It’s just after two in the morning, so it’s still pretty dark, and there aren’t many people on the roads. As they turn off of the last paved road, and dive into the thick forest, Grace slows her pace, and Robin uses the thermal imaging setting on her surveillance camera to scan the woods for possible bodies.
“You see anything?”
“No.”
Grace increases her speed a little bit, and Robin continues to survey the woods around them.
“You have reached your destination.”
“Well, thank you, Bonnie.” Robin laughs at Grace’s comment to the GPS. “Ok, I’m activating the security system. If anyone so much as looks at the truck, we’ll know it. Ready?”
“Absolutely.”
With the backpacks on their backs, their pistols on their hips, and their surveillance cameras in hand, they trek into the woods.
They studied topography maps for a possible higher vantage point to be able to observe the mills from a distance and found two possible rock ledges they can use. If they still can’t see enough of what’s going on at the mills, they’ll have to go in closer.
“It’s a nice morning.”
“Yeah, it’s a perfect morning for a hike and bird watching.” Grace releases a small laugh and takes Robin’s hand in hers. “Think we’ll spot any vultures?”
“Oh, definitely. If not, I guess it was a nice day out in the wild with my wife.”
Grace gives Robin a kiss on the cheek, then they fall silent again. They move quietly through the forest and check thermal imaging periodically to make sure there is no one around. It takes them a couple of hours to reach their first possible vantage point. The rock ledge is like a large ax head that protrudes up above the trees like a mini-mountain growing out of the side of the mother mountain. Using the natural groves in the rock’s surface, they climb up to the top, about fifty feet into the air. The top of the rock levels out with a five-foot-wide by ten-foot-wide floor for them to lay on. They creep forward on their stomachs, and using their cameras, they zoom in on the saw mill that they can just barely make out with the naked eye.
“Shit, that van has the sanitization logo the bureau uses for cleaning.”
Grace pushes a button on her ear piece, which dials her partner’s phone.
“You in the woods?”
“Yeah, we made it to our first lookout point. David, there is a sanitation van parked outside that they are loading with boxes. It’s the same company the bureau uses. There needs to be a checkpoint off-site to check all vehicles attempting to get near the bureau. Find out who else they service and try to do some sweeps. If those vans are spotted on the road, they need to be stopped and searched.”
“Ok, thanks. Be careful.”
“We will. Bye.” She disconnects the call, and Robin nudges her shoulder. “Look a bit to the right of the van.”
“Generators.”
“Yeah, a lot of them, way more than they’d need for just running some lights. So far, I’ve counted ten guys. What about you?”
“The same, but there’s probably more inside, or out keeping guard somewhere. Wait.” Grace changes to thermal mode and releases a small gasp. “Go thermal.”
“Shit. There has to be at least fifty people in there. Ok, let’s try to get closer to the other mill so we can hopefully rule that out as a base. Then we’ll try to get closer to figure out what’s in the boxes.”
They climb down the fifty-foot-tall rock wall, then check their navigation tool on their phones to know the direction they need to go to get to the next mill.
The closer they get, the slower and more carefully they walk, trying not to cause any noise. Every twig snapping will echo off of the trees and can be heard for long distances. If the men at the mill hear too many twigs snapping in the pattern of a person walking, they’ll know someone is in the woods.
Their second vantage point is about three hundred yards from the second mill, which is about five hundred yards from the first. It takes them thirty minutes of slow travel through the rough terrain before they reach a high hill that overlooks the saw mill. They lay down on their stomachs and pull their cameras up to their faces.
“I’m picking up ten bodies on thermal, but I don’t see anyone outside. There are two generators at the back. You think this is the command center and the other mill is the actual factory for whatever they’re making?” Robin nods and releases a hard exhale. “Yeah, it looks to be the case. We’ll have to run simultaneous raids, or else one will warn the other and they’ll get away.”
Robin starts to get up, but Grace pulls her back down.
“There’s a car coming up.”
Robin quickly gets her camera back up, and watches. The car parks with its side to them, so they can’t see any plates. The door opens, and an average build figure gets out wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up. They open the trunk and pull out a large black bag. As they’re closing the trunk, and turning to walk inside, two men in jeans and flannel shirts walk out and shoot the person four times in the chest with pistols .
One person grabs the bag, and one grabs the feet of the person to drag back to the trunk of the car. They clumsily shove the person inside, then get in the car, and drive behind the mill.
“The topographical maps showed a sheer hundred-foot drop twenty-yards off of the back of the mill.”
Just as Robin finishes saying it, the car slows to a crawl and the person gets out, closes the door, and watches as the car slowly drives off of the mountain ledge.
“I wonder how many cars and bodies are down there. Wait, another vehicle is coming. That’s a park ranger.”
