Badass Strikes Back

Undisclosed Location, February 1, 2013/1448 Zulu

 

The entire reason for special operations is to be able to do things without any attention. When I first joined special operations, I looked up the definition of clandestine and it means needing to be concealed, usually because it is illegal or unauthorized. Many people make the mistake of thinking we’re a clandestine organization, we're not. But in the recent case of Bella Juarez we've had to become a little, creative. And in some instances maybe bend the rules, a little. This last incident demonstrated to me that clandestine was a K-Bar that cut both ways and we were the ones who got cut this time.
 

Clandestine was the nature of the project I was working on when all hell broke loose (see my previous post, hell, see all of them to get caught up).  We were in a tight spot because we’d manage to break into Bella's computer and start downloading files.  And, much to Rock’s dismay, we all snagged her latest book from BookStrand when it was released on Wednesday.  Captain had ordered all of us not to download it but we did anyway. Captain was reading it and I could tell life was about to get very uncomfortable here.  There’s an old saying in the Navy, shit rolls downhill.  It wasn’t going roll, it was going to rain this time.  After the last episode, I’d managed to escape with my life. After everyone calmed down and realized that I’d been trying to tell them all along, we weren’t ready to go after Bella the way they wanted.  That’s where Senior Chief Walsh comes in handy. 
 

Senior Chief Gavin Badass Walsh had been the victim of Bella’s second book.  He was FBI and a reservist in our group.  After he quit laughing his ass off at the fact that we ALL had books coming down the pipe, he was able to figure out that she may have crossed the line with this last incident.  Badass decided to bring her in for questioning.  We were all curious about seeing the woman who had turned our clandestine world upside down.  Badass went to her job site and asked her to come in for a little chat.  I was surprised when he informed us she’d be showing up this morning at ten. 
 

 “Did you hear the latest?”  My dive buddy Shaq asked as he took his usual seat in my office. 

I need to move those chairs out of my office.  Here lately, more damn trouble has started in those chairs.

“Get out, Shaq. I’m busy!”  I snapped. 

I needed to get a new dive buddy, too.  This one would get me killed.  I loved him a like brother but Lieutenant JG Shaq Harman was pure trouble and a danger to my health after the last incident. 

“Hey did you two here the latest?”  Master Chief said taking the other chair. 

Yes, sir.  Those damn chairs need to go! 

“No disrespect, Master Chief.  But I really have a lot to do and a short deadline.”  I said trying to kick them both out of my office. 

I didn’t care if I pissed off Shaq.  I cared about pissing off Master Chief, even though, technically, I out ranked him.  I’m convinced he gave me PTSD while he was training me at Coronado. 

“Ah, bullshit.  I know what Rock asked you do and you’ve got until noon to get it done.  Hell knowing you and your anal retentive ways, it’s already done and you’re just fucking around.”  Master Chief growled.

Master Chief was right.  I was done but I wasn’t fucking around. I needed to change all the security keys once Bella left the building this afternoon.  We weren’t leaving anything to chance.  I had the keys changed and ready to deploy but I was hooked on book four for Bella's series because it was a dozy! We'd manged to snag it and the Captain asked me to read it and then give him a report when I was done. I was looking forward to March. That evil bastard sitting across from me who’d made my first year as a SEAL pure hell was gonna get his. 

“So what are you really doing?”  Shaq asked.

“I’m changing the security keys for the building,”  I said. 

Senior Chief Alex “Doc” Richards, our senior medic, passed the office and stopped. 

“What’s going on in here?”  Doc asked as he came in.

“What the hell is this?  The conference room is down the passageway and to the right.  Get out of my office!”  I snapped. 

Apparently it was fill the Lieutenant’s office day because Friday, the Captain’s admin, poked his head in next.  Shit! My office could hold any more.  It was exceeding the maximum capacity for bullshit. 

“Chill out man, you’ve been a little tense lately.”  Doc said. 

“I have work to do.  All of you get the fuck out of my office!”

“What the hell are you really up to?”  Master Chief asked narrowing his eyes at me. 

“Shut the hell up all of you!  She’s here!  The front gate just called and she’s on her way.”  Friday said. 

It was amazing how fast my office emptied at that news.  The word that Bella Juarez was about to make an appearance in our building spread like wildfire.  Ever SEAL in the building found a reason to loiter around the passageway to see what she looked like.  The Captain and Badass stepped into the front office of the command suite.  Captain saw the crowd and frowned.

“This ain’t a fucking sideshow!  Get back to work!”  The captain ordered when he threw open the doors to the command suite.

Just as everyone was moving, the front doors to the building opened and a woman walked inside.  It seemed as if the world stopped spinning because the entire building we were housed in went dead silent.  There was only the sound of high heels tapping on the concrete floor as she walked toward the command suite.  She was a lot shorter than I’d expected, but she looked a lot like her profile picture on Facebook.  It was Bella.  She ignored the attention she was getting in the passageway as she greeted the Captain. 

“Captain O’Malley, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”  Bella said extending her hand.  

“Ms. Juarez.”  Captain said shortly as he took her hand and shook it. “This way.”

Captain opened the door to the command suite and she stepped inside.  She extended the same greeting to Badass.  I could tell both the Captain and Badass were a little uncomfortable with Bella.  They walked into the Captain’s office and shut the door.  When it closed it seemed as if life in the building started again.  There was the familiar buzz of conversation and machines.  Those of us still walking around glanced at each other.  We were uneasy at having this enemy within our midst and Bella being so close was making me nervous. 

“So that’s what trouble looks like?”  Shaq joked. 

“Pint sized ain’t she?”  Master Chief quipped.

“Grenades are pint sized, too.  But they’ll still fuck you up pretty bad.”  Doc said staring at the command suite.

I needed to get back to my desk because  I wasn’t even half way through her forth book and the security keys for the building needed to be changed once Bella left.  We weren’t taking any chances this time. 

“So what the hell are you really working on that’s got you almost running back to your office?” Master Chief asked.

“I told you, Master Chief.  I have to get the security keys changed.  Now that she’s here I really need to finish what I was doing.”

‘Uh-huh.  I know you’re lying to me or at least only telling me part of the story.  But I’ll find out.”  Master Chief said as he went the opposite way.

I smirked on the way back to my office Oh yes you will – and prepared to bend over when you do!  March 2013 would be the highlight of my year.  In the meantime the Captain was getting his right now with Bella’s latest, Dominant Deception. 

Karma is a beautiful thing!
 

 

 

See Bella's series at bookstrand.com 

 

 

Bella's Revenge

Undisclosed Location US Navy Special Warfare January 18, 2012/1534 Zulu

 “Dan, I need to know what your ETA is on that plan you’ve been working on.  I need it to be soon.”  The Captain said.

We were sitting around the conference table at our Friday staff meeting.  This hadn't been a really merry Christmas here.  Usually everyone who was here and not deployed was happy and merry.  Not this year.  Asses have been puckered so tighter around here you would think these guys were lining up for a prostate exam from Cruella DeVille.  It wasn’t Cruella probing, it was Bella Juarez and she was going a lot deeper than people’s asses.  She’d just released a book right before Christmas about Badass.  Senior Chief Gavin Walsh, aka Badass, had been working day and night to get a federal court to shut Bella’s damn face.  So far, all attempts had been unsuccessful. 

After we broke from our staff meeting, I went back to my office and started working on modifying a program that I had written.  It was actually a computer virus that would open a backdoor on Bella’s computer so we could take a peek at what was going on.  Since no legal means had worked to shut Bella down, Master Chief and Captain reached the conclusion that maybe we should use more clandestine methods to harass Bella.  It worked for a little while until she caught on. 

What we’d done at first, was to break into her email account.  We were able to snag a few requests for some guest blog appearances.  Badass, being the sick bastard he is, gave the interviews to Master Chief who had a field day with them.  Master Chief, aka Bella, made a few blog appearances in December and is schedule to make a few more in January.  We all laughed our asses off when we read what some of these bloggers posted.  At least we got some kind of revenge for Badass. 

I was working along when my dive buddy, Shaq came into my office and took a seat.  I should’ve gotten a sense of déjà vu he was the one that got me into trouble the last time.  I was working, Shaq was babbling on about something that was going down later in the week.

“Well did you check?”  Shaq asked.

“Check what?” 

“Did you check Bella’s Facebook page?  Is it true?” 

“What the hell are talking about?”  I asked because I hadn’t been paying attention to what Shaq had been talking about to begin with. 

“You were at the staff meeting!  Did he say anything?”  Shaq asked. 

I knew by the look on Shaq’s face I was headed for trouble.  In fact, I’d made a New Year’s resolution that I wasn’t going to let him get me into any more trouble so I went back to work

“No he didn’t say anything.”  I said not know what the hell I was answering.  

“No, Master Chief didn’t say anything?” 

“Master Chief spews shit all the time.  Very little of it pertains to me.” 

 

“Damn!  I just knew Master Chief would say something!”  Shaq exclaimed. 

“Shaq, what the hell are you talking about?”  I finally asked. 

“The new book.” 

“What?  What new book?” 

“What new book!  Where the fuck you been, man?  Mars?  Bella’s new book.  It’s all over her Facebook page, man!  Pull your head of that nanobot ass of yours and keep up!”

I hadn’t been able to keep up with Facebook and all my pseudonyms because I’d been busy and was TDY for week.  I minimized the program window I was working in and logged into Facebook.  Holy Shit!  No wonder the Captain’s been a fucking wounded bear lately!  I scrolled through her stuff and it was all over the place.  Her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and even a little forum called Inner Goddess.  I felt every ounce of blood drain to my feet when I saw book three of the Black Ops Brotherhood Series was on the way, Dominant Deception, and it was about Captain Jack “Rock” O’Malley. 

“Now that one’s worth the price of admission!  Shit I’d pay double to read that biography.”  Shaq said. 

“Get out of my office!  I’ve got to get busy!”  I said closing everything on my desktop except the program I was working on. 

“What are you working on?”  Shaq asked looking over my screen. 

“Shaq!  Do you need a project?  Every time I see you, you’re fucking around.  Get busy or I’ll find you the shitest project I can make up!”  Master Chief said for the doorway. 

“I was helping Dan, Master Chief.”  Shaq said. 

“Bullshit!  Dan doesn’t need you holding his dick while he’s working.”  Master Chief snarled. 

While Master Chief and Shaq were debating what kind of project Shaq needed, I got busy on the program.  I was close, real close, to coming up with a way to hack Bella’s computer and shut her down for good.  It was then I caught it, the little bug in the code that was keeping me from getting this to work right.  I made the changes to the program and ran a couple of test.  It worked like a champ!  Yes!

“I’ve got it!”  I said.

"Got what?"  Master Chief asked. 

"I think I've got that data tracer and capture program working." 

"Deploy it," Shaq said. 

“I need to test it a little more.” 

 

“Then why the fuck did you say it was ready?”  Master Chief demanded.

“I said, I’ve got it, I had a problem with the code and I found it.  I just tested a couple of times on my computer and it works.  I didn’t say it was ready. ” 

“Well if it’s working on your computer, why wouldn’t it work anywhere else?” 

Just what I needed, my best friend and dive buddy helping me.  There were a few more tests I wanted to run to make sure that the code was solid.  Sometimes the guys around her only hear what they want to hear.  The command staff; the captain, master chief, Badass and a few others, locked-up in a seizer every time some said Bella Juarez.  Shaq's attempts to help me wasn’t helping.

“Dan, what’s the status?”  Captain asked from the doorway.

“It’s ready!”  Shaq said. 

“What the fuck, Shaq?  I said—“ I started

“What the hell are you waiting for?  Deploy it.”  Captain said cutting me off.

“See, I told you,” Shaq said to me.  “That’s exactly what I told him to do, Captain.” 

“But—“  I tried to explain again. 

“What about deploy don’t you understand?”  Master Chief snapped.

“Deploy it.  RIGHT FUCKING NOW! I want her stopped, like yesterday!”  The Captain ordered.

“Yes, Sir.” 

I had a really bad feeling about this for some reason.  I knew it was working but for some reason I wasn’t sure if it was ready.  I opened my Mary Smith gmail account and sent Bella some fan mail.  She must’ve been sitting at her computer reading her email because the message was opened almost instantly.  I opened the window with my tracker and started watching the virus’ progress.  I smiled because when she opened that mail the virus installed itself on her computer.  So far, this thing was working flawlessly.  I opened a remote terminal window, meaning I could look through Bella’s computer as if I were sitting at her desk, and started searching her computer.  As I was digging,  I found a folder labeled blackops brotherhood.  Opened it and started looking through it. 

“Captain, I found the books.”  I said. 

“Download them! We need to find out what the hell she’s doing next.”  Master Chief said. 

“Yeah, we need to do some more research,” Shaq added.

“Do you need a fucking project, Shaq?  Why is it when I see you, you’re always fucking off?” the Captain snapped. 

 

“I’m not fucking off, Captain, I’m helping Dan. I need to figure out a strategy on shutting her down, so I need to read her books, remember, sir?”  Shaq said innocently. 

“Strategy, huh?  Let’s hear it.  If ain’t a damn good one, you’ll be helping Master Chief for a while.”  Captain said.

“Oh goody!  You get to be my special pet for a while, Shaq.”  Master Chief said with an evil grin. 

I started downloading the file folder as well as a few other tidbits I’d found on her computer while the Captain and Shaq were discussing what kind of strategy Shaq was working on.  As I watched the files download, my duty cell phone rang so I picked it up and answered. 

“Lieutenant, we have a major problem here.”  One of my comm guys said on the other end, “Our server’s been breached.” 

“What!”  I shouted into the phone. 

“I don’t know, Sir.  I’m trying to figure out where, it just started.  But it’s downloading all of our classified personnel records and the back brief files from some of our recent missions.  And they’re specific ones,” Chief Petty Officer Camacho informed. 

Holy Fuck! I shoved my chair away from my desk and ran down to the comm center.  I stood behind one of my technicians who was busy trying to shut down the intruder.  As I watched what was happening, it suddenly hit me what’d happened.  This virus was infiltrating our entire network and if we didn’t shut it down quickly, it could breach the Headquarters Naval Special Warfare and maybe even Special Operations Command networks because we were connected to them all.  I remembered that Bella owned an IT company.  Suddenly it hit me, like an RPG, exactly what’d happened.  It was a honey pot or a trap.  Bella had let me into her computer and she’d been waiting for us all along.  Once we were inside, she’d been able to reverse what we’d done and had breached our systems through my virus. 

“Shut it the hell down!  Now!”  I ordered

“Shut it down, sir?  The server?” 

“Yes!  Shut everything down connected to a network!  Right fucking now, Petty Officer!  Unplug it from the wall if you have to!”  I shouted. 

“What the hell’s going on?”  The captain asked from the door way. 

“Shut down all the computers in the building, Sir.  Right now we’ve had a security breach.” I said leaving the room.

I started down the passageway ordering everyone to shut down their computer.  As I passed Master Chief’s office I saw him staring at his screen, white as a sheet.  He hadn’t even noticed I’d walked into his office and was standing behind reading what was up there.  As I read I felt my blood run cold, Bella was one evil woman. 

 

Pedicure?

“What the hell does that mean?”  I asked. 

Master Chief moved so quickly that I didn’t have time to move out of his way.  He knocked me backwards as he picked up his computer and threw it against the wall.  Well that one’s turned off now. Our chief medic, who was in the office next door, ran over to see what‘d happened. 

“Have you lost your fucking mind, JJ?”  Doc demanded looking at the damage on the wall and the computer laying on the ground.

Master Chief slowly turned around and looked at me.  Oh shit!

“Doc, you need to shut down your computer.”  I said. 

“Why?”  Doc asked.

Master Chief didn’t move and I decided to get the hell out of Dodge before he picked me up and threw me against the wall.  I rushed out of the Master Chief’s office and into Doc’s office to shut down his computer.  I walked to Doc’s computer as he followed behind. 

“Let me save what I was working on,” Doc said as he sat down.

Doc moved the mouse to wake-up the screen that’d gone black.

Position two.

“What the —“ Doc whispered in shocked fear as we both read the message on his screen.

“What does it mean?”  I asked. 

“None of your fucking business!”  Doc snapped as he reached around and unplugged his computer. 

I rushed into the Captain’s office and Friday was shaking head. 

“Did you get a message?”  I asked

Friday was speechless as he nodded.  I hurried into the Captain’s office and saw his message just as he was shutting his computer off. 

Checkmate

“Do you want to tell me what the fuck just happened?”  The captain asked in a harsh whisper. 

“Uh—“ 

“Sir, the Admiral wants to speak to you.”  Friday said from the door. 

The Captain glanced at me.  Now, I was really scared.  I decided to make my exit while I could still walk.  I remembered my computer was still on so I hurried back to my office wondering how the hell I was going to fix this. I moved the mouse so my screen would come up and when I looked every ounce of blood in my body ran cold.  There was a message on my screen, too.  I shut down my computer and leaned back in my chair, defeated.  Shaq came in and slowly sank to the chair in my office. 

“What did yours say?”

“Nothing.”  Shaq whispered. 

It was unnaturally quiet in the building.  I had to think and think fast but at the moment I was having a hard time focusing.  Master Chief walked in and sat in the other chair.  We sat there for a while in silence.

“What the hell’s going on here? Did someone die?”  Badass asked from the door.

It was reserve weekend and all of our reservists were scheduled for duty.  No one in the room answered.

“What happened?”  Badass persisted. 

“Bella.”  Shaq finally said. 

I started to tell Badass what’d happened and how it had all gone down.  When I finished Badass broke out in laughter. 

“Bend over boys and grab your ankles, I won’t be alone! She just fucked you, too!”  Badass laughed as he pumped his fist in the air.

“Do you think this is funny?”  Master Chief snapped. 

“I think this is fucking hilarious!”  Badass said wiping his eyes.  “It’s not so bad. You’ll survive.  I did.” 

Suddenly there was a chime on our phones so we dug them out and checked them.  It was an email notification from BookStrand for Bella’s latest release Dominant Deception.  Apparently all of us had BookSrand accounts now. 

“LIEUTENANT!”

I closed my eyes and shuddered. 

 

More to follow, I hope.

 

 

For all the latest BlackOps Brotherhood News, like Bella's Fan Page on Facebook

DOMINANT DECEPTION

Book Three in the BlackOps Brotherhood Series

 

Navy SEAL Captain Jack “Rock” O’Malley is playing a deadly computer game with a hidden enemy.  Jack must look outside his SEALs to an unlikely savior.  Anna Santiago keeps her head down as a quiet system administrator hiding a painful past.  Anna buried her outgoing, confident personality along with her husband and daughter but Jack sees behind the glasses and is drawn to the irresistible Anna. Both fight the pull of a powerful attraction.  Can Jack keep his relationship with the unwilling Anna professional?  In fighting an enemy he can’t see Jack drags the reluctant Anna into his BlackOps world.  They’re sucked into a cyber-rabbit hole of dire consequences.  Jack and his SEALs discover that his beloved Anna is the terrorist’s next target and is faced with a choice that could end his military career and possibly his life.  Can Jack and his SEALs keep Anna alive before the terrorists stalking him decide its GAME OVER?

 

 

Lieutenant Dan’s Hack

Man!  The last month here has been hectic and tense.  I’ve been trying to figure out how to hack into Bella Juarez’s computer.  I knew she owned and ran an IT company as her day job so hacking her computer would be a challenge.  I decided to get warmed up with some easy targets by hacking a couple of the suspected terrorist cells that I knew were a problem.  I planted a really hot chick on my Facebook wall and when they downloaded and opened it on their computer, the image launched a backdoor, also known as a Trojan Horse.  These guys weren’t the best and brightest but it gave me an opportunity to watch their computer activity a little closer. 

I was sitting at my computer when my dive buddy Lieutenant JG Shaq Harman walked into my office.

“What’s up, man? Are we still playing Ghost Recon tonight?  Pizza or Thai?”  Shaq asked taking the seat in front of my desk. 

“Yeah, I’m up for it. You know Thai’s my favorite.  I’m trying to figure out how to get into a computer so I can take a look-see and figure out what this tango’s up to.” 

“Who’s computer?  That terrorist cell or those unfriendlies we’ve been watching for a few months?”  
“Bella Juarez, she’s unfriendly all right.  She’s spilling every damn secret we have here including what we do with our private playtime,” I said.

“Oh yeah,”  Shaq smiled in understanding, “Captain, Badass and Master Chief start twitching every time someone says that name.  Shit, I thought Badass was going to have a seizure a couple of weeks ago.  So, what’s all the fuss? Some book she wrote?”

“Some!  It looks like from her website she’s writing a series, BlackOps Brotherhood. And twitching?  Badass had a shit fit when he heard what she’d done to him in her second book.  Apparently he’s the hero,” I said rolling my eyes.    

Shaq started laughing.  “Hero, huh?  Ain’t we all?  What was the scandal with Master Chief over all of that?” 

I started laughing this time, “Master Chief has an account with BookStrand. They’re a romance e-book site, kind of like Amazon, only smaller.” 

“Come back with that?  An account did you say?”  Shaq asked wide-eyed.

“Apparently, Master Chief is a romantic, an erotic romantic.” 

“Now that’s fifty shades of fucked up!”  Shaq said screwing up his nose.  “Hey! Hack his computer. Let’s find out what he reads.” 

“I’m miles ahead of you, buddy.  I put a username and password capture program on his laptop when I did maintenance a couple of weeks ago.  He hasn’t been anywhere interesting lately.”

“Check now,” Shaq urged. 

My dive buddy is like a brother to me but he gets me into so much trouble sometimes.  I should’ve known better than to listen to Shaq.  I should’ve listened to the voice in my head that screamed, STOP! ALTO! Danger Will Robinson!  Did I listen?  Nope!  The temptation was too great and I just had to take a peek.  One little peek wouldn’t hurt, I reasoned.  It was just a peek…

“Bella’s book is supposed to be up for pre-order. I can’t remember when it was coming out, but I know it’s soon.  I guess we could take a peek and see if he’s ordered it yet,” I reasoned. 

“Well, yeah.  You’re supposed to be watching her right?”  Shaq said being a good enabler. 

We managed to justify what we were about to do.  Despite the voice in my head telling me not to go there, I opened the password capture program utility.  I saw I now had the username and passwords for his bank and TriCare accounts, his personnel records, but nothing from BookStrand yet.  I opened up the remote terminal window to his computer and watched him surf.  He was reading his email and I wanted to stick hot pokers in my eyes when I saw what he was reading!

“EWW! Master Chief’s due for a colonoscopy on Tuesday!” 

“I could’ve lived my whole life without that picture in my head, Master Chief’s lily white ass sticking out, waiting to be probed.  I’ve been traumatized. That’s some serious PTSD!”  Shaq said shaking his head.

“Wait!  He just logged into his BookStrand account!  I knew her book was coming out soon.”

Shaq jumped to his feet and stood behind my desk.  We watched as Master Chief looked through the BookStrand site.  Sure enough, he found Bella’s book and we found out it would be up for pre-order VERY soon!   He logged out of the site and out of his computer. 

“Did you get it?”  Shaq asked with a wide grin. 

“Yeah, let’s log back in to BookStrand,” I said as I brought up the window with the password capture information. “Jasmine22?” 

“What did you say!”  Shaq roared.

“Shush!  Dumb ass! Shut the fuck up!  He’s not that far away!”  I snapped.

“Jasmine22, junkie4romance.”  I said as I logged in not believing what I was saying.

“Junkie4romance? Are you serious?”  Shaq asked in shock.  “Who knew?”  He shrugged. 

I looked around and found his bookshelf.  Holy Shit, Batman! Master Chief was a FAN GIRL! And an avid reader!   I guess all those lonely deployments finally took their toll after thirty years.  He must’ve had a hundred books in his bookshelf.  I shuddered when I found myself wondering if I would be this way in another twenty years?  Gawd!  I hope not!

“Who’s that one there, Heather Rainier? He must have twenty books by her. What’s that one, His Tattooed Virgin? Divine Phoenix?”   Shaq glanced at me with concern.

Heather Rainier and Cara Covington were at the top of his list!  He also had a Corinne Davies on his list.  I watched the covers of the books scroll past.

“What the hell is Steampunk?”  Shaq asked and I shrugged, I didn’t know what the hell it was. It looked sort of science fiction-ish. I had to admit, it looked interesting.  Steampunk I might be able to read. When I got a look at the cover of the book, I was really interested.

“How many guys is that chick with?”  I asked turning my head trying to figure out what the hell I was looking at. 

“Looks like two or three guys to one girl!”  Shaq exclaimed, “What kind of kinky shit is Master Chief into?”  Shaq asked screwing up his nose.  “That’s some weird shit!”  He said pointing to the screen.

“I don’t know about that.  I guess it depends on your definition of weird…”  I said with a shrug.  I started to think maybe I needed to read some of these myself, you know, for research purposes.  I looked at Shaq and frowned, “Should you be criticizing the weird shit people are into? Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle, black?” 

“Seriously? I’m not weird, you are!”  Shaq said.

We looked back at the screen and then each other. We still couldn’t believe what we were seeing in Jasmine22’s Bookshelf. 

“Look in that deep archive, right there. Cara Covington?  Man, he sure likes cowboys doesn’t he? Wait!  Right there!”  Shaq said pointing.

“Love Under Two Navy SEALs!”  We both exclaimed at the same time.

“What kind of no good shit are you two up to this morning?”  A voice from hell said from the doorway.

Oh shit! Shaq and I both nearly jumped out of our skins at the sound of his voice. FUCKING BUSTED!  It was a voice we still heard in nightmares.  Master Chief not only works with us, at one point he trained us during our initial SEAL Qualification Training or SQTs and he had been one sadistic son-of-a-bitch.

“Morning, Master Chief,” Shaq said. 

“Morning, my ass. You two are up to no fucking good.”  Master Chief snarled.

“No! Not your ass, please, Master Chief!” Shaq begged.

“What kind of no good shit are you two useless fuck sticks up to this morning?”  Master Chief asked.  "And stay away from my ass!  It's off limits to you!"  He said pointing at Shaq.

As Shaq and Master Chief were talking, I had slowly moved my mouse and clicked to close the BookStrand window for Jasiman22’s Bookshelf.  I moved to close the password capture window and noticed Master Chief was eyeing me.

“Stop right there!  What the fuck are you up to?”  Master Chief growled at me. 

Master Chief knew.  He always knew when we hadn’t done what we were supposed to do or when we were doing something we shouldn’t have.  It seemed as if he had eyes everywhere. Even now, after all these years he could still tell.

“I was following up on some tangos, Master Chief.  I have to brief the Captain later this afternoon.” 

“Uh-huh,” Master Chief grunted, looking between me and Shaq suspiciously. “I know you two motherfuckers are up to no good, it’s written all over you.” 

“Master Chief, you busted us.  We were looking at porn,” Shaq said hanging his head. 

“You know that’s illegal on a government computer, boys.  Don’t let me catch you doing illegal shit like that, again,” Master Chief said reprimanding us. 

“Yes, Master Chief,” I said closing the password capture window. 

Master Chief laughed and shook his head.  He turned around and called out as he walked away, “You cocksuckers are lying to me, don’t think for one second I don’t know what you’re up to.  Bella’s book will be ready for pre-order QUICK. Keep an eye out.  If you can pull your head out of your ass long enough to see.” 

Shaq and I exchanged nervous glances. Whew, that was close.  I felt like I had just dodged a bullet. Believe me, I’ve dodged bullets and didn’t feel like I was feeling now.  This time, I actually saw all twenty-seven years of my life flash before my eyes.  I sat back in my chair waiting for my heart rate to get back to normal.  Shaq resumed his seat. 

“I don’t know why I let you talk me into shit like this. You get me into more trouble,” Shaq said, shaking his head. 

“Fuck you! Get out of my office! You’re the one that started it!”

Shaq started cracking up and before long we both were rolling because we were laughing so hard.  I guess we should laugh now because it was going to get worse before it got better.  If Bella’s book was coming up for pre-order, it meant the book would be coming out pretty soon.  This was not going to be a Merry Christmas for some of us.  Bella’s first book had become unofficial required reading for our little group.  The cat was out of the bag and Badass was already in orbit because he had made an appearance in book one.  As a matter of fact, a few of us had cameos in book one, including yours truly.  I shuddered to think about what was in book two, Hostile Home Front.  Things were going to get hostile all right.  Poor Badass…

 

 

Rapid Dominace is in avilable at BookStand and Amazon

Hostile Home Front on pre-buy from BookStrand

 

Bella's Watch List Saga Continues …

Undisclosed Location US Navy Special Warfare November 15, 2012/1243 Zulu

I was settling into my desk and cuddling up to a hot cup of coffee because the weather had turned cold in Texas.  Just a few days earlier, some of us guys had run the Rock and Roll Marathon for fun through the streets of downtown San Antonio; it had been almost eighty degrees that day.  The weather was like that here, unpredictable.  I logged onto my computer and waited for my email to download. I also opened up Facebook and checked around on some of the people I had been told to watch.  It was the usual list of suspects, a couple of unfriendly foreign nationals, a few people we suspected of being involved in a terrorist cell, and of course my new pain in the ass … Bella Juarez. 

I had created a bunch of fake profiles and friended all my tangos so that I could keep track of what was happening with each of them.  Bella had been making some noise about something new coming up.   Other than the pictures of the tied up guys (which scared the shit out of me), she had been pretty quiet.  I logged on to my fake profile Mary Smith and started snooping.  This chick was making me paranoid, I never knew what to expect when I logged onto her page.  I almost cringed when I saw that she had run the half marathon on Sunday along with us.  Jeez!  Was I going to have to start looking over my shoulder now?  Really?  There had been a lady right before the cutoff who had a bunch of firemen line up for a picture.  Me and the guys had laughed about it, joking that we would offer to pose too, if she was collecting dicks in uniform.  I'll be damned if she didn't have that group of firemen on her wall!  Just as I was about to log off and start with the rest of the day, Bella made a post.  I followed the link to her web site and as I read, my heart stopped in my chest. 

Holy fuck! Is she crazy!   She can’t be talking about this! 

I jumped out of my seat and hustled on down to the Captain’s office. 

“Hey!  Where’s the fire, boy?”  Master Chief called out as I blew past him. 

“I’ve got to see the captain, she’s at it again.  This one is serious, because she took aim at Badass!”

“Say what?”

“Get out of the way Master Chief!” 

We both almost ran down the hallway to the Command Suite and fought for the door when we got there. 

“What the hell?  Did something happen?”  Friday asked, he was the captain’s admin.

“I’ve got to see the Skipper, right now!”  I demanded.

“Come on in Dan,” the Captain called out. 

I almost leaped into the office; we needed to come up with a plan and quick!  Badass was scheduled to be in today for his usual weekend Reserve duty, and he was the one who would go ballistic when he found out what was about to happen to his world. 

“What’s up, Lieutenant, you look worried,”  the Captain said taking a drink from his cup. 

“Bella Juarez, she’s about to release another book and this one’s about Badass and his OP down in Victoria!” 

I was grateful that I wasn’t standing that close to the Captain because his coffee went spraying everywhere, and he started choking on whatever had managed to make it into his throat.  I guess I should have waited to break it to him until after he had swallowed.

“What!”  Master Chief yelled. 

“Are you fucking serious!”  The Captain managed in between coughing bouts.

“Yes sir, and she’s going into detail on this one, all about his work in Virginia, the work down in Victoria and even his personal relationships. And--” I started. 

“And!”  The Captain screamed. 

“And!  What the hell do you mean and?” Master Chief demanded.

“Sounds like a shit storm brewing, what’s up?” 

I turned and looked at the door and started to shake in my boots because Senior Chief Gavin “Badass” Walsh had just walked in.  Holy hell!  Can this day get any more fucked up?  Badass had one hell of a reputation in the SEAL community, and he wasn’t known as Badass because he was the diplomatic type.  Senior Chief Walsh was also one mean son of a bitch.  The Captain shook his head. 

“Sit down Badass, the shit storm is all you,”  the Captain said.

“Me?  I’ve been laying pretty low, in fact, I can’t think of anything I’ve done that would make waves,”  Badass said and quickly added, “lately.”

“No, someone’s about to bend you over and fuck up your planet, boy,”  Master Chief said. 

“Seems like someone just wrote your unauthorized biography,”  Captain said.

“Are you motherfuckers on crack?  No one knows shit about me and I don’t talk to anyone other than my baby and you guys,”  Badass said. 

I went over to the captain’s computer, called up Bella Juarez’s website, and found the page with Hostile Home Front.  Everything was there, the front cover for the new book, a summary of the story and an excerpt – an adult excerpt.  The captain started to read and when he finished, looked up at Badass with his mouth open.

“What?”  Badass asked. 

Master Chief came around the corner and read it, too. 

“Holy crap on a cracker!  I sure don’t want that damn movie in my head!”  Chief said pointing at the screen.

“Say what?  What the hell are you guys talking about?”  Badass demanded as he stood.

“Come take a look,”  Captain said as he stood and Master Chief moved away. 

Badass sat behind the captain’s desk and started to read.  I shuddered with fear for Bella Juarez as I watched Badass’ face go from surprise, to shock and then pissed off. 

“Who the hell is this woman!”  Badass roared as he shoved away from the desk and pointed at the screen.  “And where the fuck did she get that information?” 

“That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out.  We’ve been working this for the last couple of weeks,”  I said. 

“We need to shut this down, Captain!  This is a threat to national security, and it’s a threat to our Ops.  How the hell did she find me out?”  Badass asked. 

I kept my mouth shut, Badass, Master Chief and the Captain were all some heavy hitters in the SEAL community and didn’t get where they were today by being soft and gentle.  All three of them were Badass, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be in their way.  I briefly felt sorry for Bella Juarez.   My job was to report what I found on the Ops I was assigned to follow; that’s exactly what I did.  I didn’t dare add to the current crisis. 

“Well? How the hell are we shutting her fucking face?”  Badass demanded.

“Rock, I think we oughta wait and see where this goes,” Master Chief said. 

“Are you crazy?”  Badass whispered turning white as sheet.

I had never seen Badass so … scared.  I also couldn't believe that the Captain would seriously consider Master Chief’s suggestion but much to my surprise he was thinking about it.

“We really won’t know what’s in the book until it comes out.  Based on this excerpt we really don’t know if there is something that’s related to national security or an ongoing Op,”  the Captain said taking his seat.

“What!”  Badass yelled. 

“We can’t go around shutting people down just because they take aim at us Badass, you know that better than anyone,“  the Captain said.

“This damn woman just laid open my life!  You can’t seriously be considering this.  Shut down the fucking publisher!  Crash the servers!  Do something!”  Badass demanded. 

“Aw, come on boy. It ain’t that bad, maybe it’s just all bullshit,  Master Chief said. 

“That looked pretty real to me!”  Badass said. 

“Really?  Do you really go at it like that, damn what are you on?  You’re fucking like a bunny!”  Master Chief said. 

We all started laughing; well, all of us except for Badass who didn’t see the humor in any of it.  He turned around and walked out. 

“Keep me posted, Dan,” the Captain said chuckling. 

“It should be going up for pre-order pretty quick here, let us know when,” Master Chief said. 

“Pre-order?  You know the system, do you, JJ?”  The captain asked.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I do, Rock.  Is there a problem?”  Master Chief demanded. 

The Captain started laughing all over again.  It was hell keeping a straight face, but I managed.  Thank God for my training.  It was the only thing that kept me from dropping and rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.

“No problem, just wondering who your favorite author is up there,” Captain said.

“None of your fucking business!”  Master Chief snapped as he stomped out. 

There were a lot of tempers flaring today, and Bella Juarez was causing quite a stir here in our little Black Ops world.  We were supposed to be hidden and Bella was exposing us to the light of day.  I was wondering who was next on her target list.  At this point we had to wait and see what Bella had coming for Badass.  Based on the excerpt, it wasn’t going to be pleasant for him.  There were some serious details in that little glimpse we got today.  More to follow; the book was coming in December.

I wonder, can I breech Master Chief’s account up at Bookstrand and find out who his favorite author is?  Or, should I start digging deeper and see if I can get into Bella’s computer and dig around for an advance copy of her upcoming books?  What should I do?

I pondered these questions as I walked back to my office.  Where should I start?