Free Code Name: Red Rock by Taylor Lee

Chapter 1
    “Who’s there? Get the hell away from the desk and be quick about it. That is, if you want to live to see the dawn!”
    At the sound of a too-familiar click, Major Jesse O’Donnell sucked in a deep breath and slid her hand holding the miniature screw driver into her jacket pocket next to her Walther.
    She stammered, “It’s just me, Franklin. Millie… Millie Roane.” Nervously licking her lips, she swallowed hard. “I… I’m working late.”
    Franklin’s heavy brows furrowed then the glare of his flashlight blinded her.
    Jesse shielded her eyes with one hand but kept the other within reach of her Walther PP3.
    The dark-skinned heavy-set guard’s brows drew together in a thick line. His small beady eyes squinted in disbelief.
    “Does Mr. Walker know you’re here, girl?”
    Jesse tucked the stray ends of her frizzy hair behind her ears. She bit her bottom lip and gave him a shaky smile.
    “Yes, yes, sir. He… he said I had to stay until I finished my work.”
    She spoke in a rush. “I… I’m almost done. I’m sorry. I should have tried to work faster.”
    Franklin bore a stark resemblance to the pot-bellied iron stoves that bore his name. “No girl, what you should have done was made sure that Miss Ambrose put you on the late list. I don’t like surprises.”
    He gave her a twisted grin devoid of humor, and pointed his gun in her face.
    “And the people who surprise me don’t much like it, either.”
    Jesse gasped. She clamped her empty hand over her mouth and swayed, then reached for the desk to steady herself. Her frightened little rabbit act must have convinced the bored guard that she wasn’t dangerous or interesting enough to bother further.
    His voice was gruff.
    “Don’t forget to sign out at the front desk, you hear, girl?” He mused, “I don’t know when I saw Mr. Walker let a girl like you in his private office.” He gave her a salacious grin. “At least, none that looks like you.”
    At the doorway, he perused her body and said with a sneer, “No girl, you most definitely ain’t the kind of girl Mr. Walker usually has working late.”
    His ugly guffaw echoed down the empty hallway. Jesse waited until she was sure he’d turned the corner then locked the office door.
    She took one calming breath, then another and shook her head. That was closer than it should have been. Franklin was fifteen minutes ahead of his customary schedule. Good thing she was quick. She spoke into her com. “Hang in, Whiplash, give me three minutes and I’ll be done.”
    Checking once more to ensure that the recording device she’d planted in the base of the desk was secure, she walked by the file cabinets with a jaunty wave.
    Minutes later she leaned against the elevator wall watching the floor indicator lights flash by. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirrored walls, Jesse stifled a grin. The reflection in the mirrored panels proved that being ordinary was the best disguise. It was even better if you were ugly to boot. Taking in her frizzy dank hair, thick-lensed, black-rimmed glasses and splotchy skin, she was gratified to note that she’d gone the extra step from plain to homely. Add in the shapeless blazer jacket, buttoned up shirt, calf length plaid skirt and heavy scuffed loafers, Jesse contented herself knowing that second looks would be few and far between. In confirmation, the guard at the lobby desk grunted and barely looked up when she said good night.
    When she was sure she’d cleared the front of the office building, one of the dozens in Trafalgar Square, she retrieved her earring from her pocket and fastened it on her earlobe. She allowed herself a silent congratulatory slap on the back knowing that the cheap bauble was in fact a high powered camera that now held documentation that three crack MI 5 teams had been unable to secure.
    “Red Rock calling Storm Cloud…”
    “Storm Cloud here. Damn, Jess. That was close. Are you okay? I barely got the transmission back up before