~June 27th, 2019- Regency Building, NY
Wraith had spent the night before in his small hotel room, updating a complex computer virus designed to infiltrate the Secretarial Desk at the Regency Building. It would worm its way into the system and make its way through the network to the Vault’s outside network system.
The Vault had two systems; one was the Vault’s outside network, which was on an open network to allow maintenance and monitoring of the system. The second part of the system was the Vault itself, which was on a closed network. Closed, except for the one little net connection that allowed the outside system to monitor the Vault’s database for corrupt data. One problem with the Vault’s compression program was a tendency to scramble data. The data was easily unscrambled, unless it was a Class 3 scramble, whereas a specialist was required. And, since the Taske Family outsourced a few specialized personnel to save money, a notice of a Class 3 data scramble would have to be called out to a Board-friendly company who would then send a technician who specialized in their compression program to fix the problem.
Wraith’s program mimicked a Class 3 scramble, causing an alert notice to flash on the Vault’s monitoring system. Then, all the Informer had to do was to intercept the call and take the place of the technician. He had planned for a similar eventuality back when Josh was first waging his personal war against the Board and its associates. All he had to do was update the virus’s infiltration program to account for updates to the Regency’s firewalls, and he was ready to go.
At 7:30AM, the virus entered the system through a backdoor Wraith had programmed into the server that monitored the secretary’s desk and, after making its way through the server network to the server that monitored the Vault’s outside system, released the string of code that would fake the Class 3 alert in the Technician’s desk in the Regency’s Files & Record Department.
At 8:15AM, Wraith’s Shadow Tech X-Cell smart phone rang with the diverted call from the Regency Building’s Tech Group.
“Shadow Tech Incorporated, this is James.”
Wraith’s voice was smooth and professional, yet friendly and welcoming.
“Yeah, I work for Taske Research, and we have a problem with one of our data storage units.”
“What kind of a problem?”
The Tech paused a moment, “Class 3 data scramble.”
Wraith smiled slightly, “Okay, I don’t have any members of our Service Team in your immediate area, but I can have one there in, say… half an hour?”
The man on the other line sounded relieved, “Okay, thanks. I’ll tell security down at the front desk to let him up when he gets here.”
“Thank you for your service.”
Wraith hung up and went to the bed where a black Shadow Tech Inc. bag and Service Team uniform lay neatly on the covers. Shadow Tech was publicly owned by computer tycoon Mike Murdock. Behind the scenes Wraith actually owned the company, and he supplied Mike with a lot of the company’s ground-breaking discoveries. Little did the tech world know that Shadow Tech Incorporated, the company that had beat Microsoft out of the top ranking software manufacturers and now threatened to send Apple to second place in the tech industry, was run by an Underworld Informer who had barely finished High School, never went to college, and had officially died almost twenty years ago.
At 9:01AM, a technician in the black-and-grey uniform of the Shadow Tech Service Team strode through one of the large glass doors in the main lobby of the Regency Building. He walked over to the Secretary’s Desk and smiled at the pretty brunette behind the counter. With just an initial observation, Wraith knew her name was Vicky. She was vain, slightly lonely, tired, and almost desperate to please.
“Hey, your Tech Department called and said there was an issue we needed to look at.”
Vicky checked her computer screen and nodded, popping gum loudly between her teeth.
“Aw, yeah… Just go over to the Security Desk and check in with them. They’ll sign you through.”
Wraith nodded and smiled at her as he turned away, “Okay, thanks.”
Wraith approached the Security Desk and handed his ID to the guard at the computer.
The guard, whose badge said his name was “Michael”, scanned the card and looked up to confirm the man pictured was the man before him.
“James Regal?”
Wraith smiled amiably and nodded, “Yep, that’s me!”
“Michael” gestured to satchel at Wraith’s side.
“What’s in there?”
Wraith shrugged, “Oh, laptop, some backup software, a few tools…”
“Let me see.”
Wraith handed the satchel to the guard who took his time rifling through it.
The guard nodded and, satisfied, handed him his satchel along with a clipboard with a check-in roster.
“Please write down the date, time, and sign your name.”
Wraith accepted the clipboard and the accompanying pen and wrote the required information in the designated blanks. Signing his name as “James Regal” was easy, almost second nature. After all, it was his name, in what seemed a lifetime ago.
He handed the guard back the clipboard and was given a laminated “Visitor” ID tag with another card attached to it. Wraith knew what the second card was, but he let the guard explain it anyways, just as if it was his first time there.
“The second card there is a Security Clearance card. It has the floor number you are allowed access to, along with a data chip that contains who you are, who you work for, and why you are in the building. I warn you, do not, I repeat, do not, try to go to any other floors besides the one that card gives you authorization to visit. Understand?”
Wraith nodded and looked the card over, as if he had never seen it before.
“Got it, thanks.”
He turned away, then back again with a sheepish grin on his face.
“Uh, where are the elevators?”
“Michael” pointed to the hallway between the Security Desk and the Secretary’s Desk.
“Just down there.”
Wraith thanked the guard again, and headed for the six elevators that allowed access to the upper levels of the building. When he got there, he pushed the button for “V.L.30”, or “Vault Level 1” as his clearance card stated.
The Regency Inc. Building had 51 floors and 4 sub-floors. 35 of the above-ground floors were easily accessible, while the remaining 16 were restricted to only those with the highest clearance level. The sub-levels were mainly parking garages, but the very lowest level, “X.SL.”, or “Restricted Sub-Level”, housed the building’s emergency power generators.
There were five people in the elevator when Wraith got in, two got on at the Main Lobby while the other three came up from the Sub-Levels. The elevator had two stops before reaching “V.L.30”, and there was only Wraith and one other man when the door opened onto the thirtieth floor.
Samuel Grayson watched Wraith get off the elevator, his harsh gray eyes calmly tracking the Informer until the doors had closed. At one point, just before the doors closed, Wraith turned and his clear green eyes met Grayson’s cloudy gray ones. A flicker of recognition crossed over Wraith’s face, and then the doors were shut.
Samuel leaned against the back of the elevator, smiling to himself.
Wraith never lost his calm, but the sight of Samuel Grayson sent a shiver up his spine. And the look the businessman had gave him made it clear that Grayson had somehow recognized him.
But how? Wraith was a nobody! If, somehow, someone discovered Wraith’s real name, all they would find was a death certificate, a grave with what was supposed to be his cremated remains, and nothing else. Could Grayson know who Wraith used to be?
Shaken slightly, Wraith filed the encounter and the disturbing problem away and turned back to the mission at hand. The Vault took up the thirtieth and thirty-first floors of the Regency Building. Rows upon rows of data nodes and servers housed what was likely the biggest data base on the planet. Even to someone like Wraith, who learned complex computer programming from speed-reading library books and tech magazines, the very concept was staggering.
Scattered among the racks of blinking hardware were twenty-one work-stations. Ten on the first level, ten on the second, and one monitoring station just outside of Level 1’s elevator. It was this station that Wraith approached and identified himself to the tech behind the computer.
“Hey, James Regal, Shadow Tech Service Team, I heard you had a problem you needed me to look at?”
The Vault Tech was a younger man, maybe twenty-five, and had short blonde hair. He smiled and showed Wraith to one of the workstations.
“Yeah, Class 3 Data Scramble. We really need to get some of our guys trained in fixing things like that.”
Wraith nodded and withdrew the laptop from his satchel.
“Well, what program are you using, the Shade 0.3? I hear the boys in the Research Division are planning to release the Shade 0.4 in the next year or two. It isn’t supposed to have the scrambling problems the 0.3 and 0.2 have.”
In truth, Shadow Tech had actually finished the Shade 0.5 compression program, but was holding off on releasing it for a few years. They also had another program they were struggling to design, the Ghost 0.1. The compression program Wraith had written for the Den in Josh Taske’s house was actually the Ghost 0.2, and he had given the Research Division enough information to get them started, but had decided to let them figure it out on their own. He hated releasing technology to early.
Wraith plugged two cords into data ports on the side of the workstation. Then he opened a number of programs on the laptop and sat back to watch.
The Tech was looking over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
Wraith glanced up at the Tech, then back at his screen.
“Running diagnostic software to ascertain where exactly the scramble occurred. I’m also running a reverse-scrambling program that takes the scrambled data, de-compresses it, then re-compresses it, eliminating the scramble. And, of course, I’m running a search program to see if there is any other scrambled data you either haven’t been alerted to, or was masked by the initial alert.”
Really, Wraith was running a search program for information on James’ Villa and personnel files on Josh’s team of assassins. Any information he found on the team, he copied onto the laptop and initiated a Class 4 scramble on the original data. A Class 4 was literally unheard of in the tech world. In fact, Wraith had specifically designed the Class 4 to eliminate unwanted data without leaving a trail for someone to follow.
An alert flashed on Wraith’s screen, telling him the Villa files had been located and copied. This surprised the Informer, since the Villa search had been just a general key-word search. It should have taken longer to find the Villa files than to find the personnel files and scramble them.
“What’s that mean?”
Wraith glanced back up at the Tech, “It means that no other files were corrupted.”
The Tech looked relieved, “Oh, that’s good.”
Another alert flashed, telling Wraith the personnel files had been copied and scrambled. Wraith unplugged the laptop and stood up.
The Tech looked at him in surprise, “That’s it? Last time it took the guy a full hour to unscramble the data.”
Wraith shook his head and patted the laptop.
“New programs, doesn’t take as long as it used to.”
The Tech nodded and, looking uncertainly at Wraith, walked back to the monitoring console. He checked something on the screen and nodded again.
“Hey, whaddya know? You fixed it.”
Wraith smiled and walked towards the elevator.
“Well, that is my job.”
And with that, Wraith proceeded to leave the building.
Monday, June 28, 2010
~Chapter 15~
~June 26th, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Emma woke up more rested than she had in a long while. Maybe it was the feeling of safety she had in this house full of killers. Ironic how that worked, she was safest with the men and women most people feared.
Emma had been assigned what she was told was Lola Taske’s bed, and while the modern style with its pink coloring wasn’t really her thing, the bed was comfy. She looked over where Scarlet was laying on what she understood was Maria Taske’s bed. The red and black ninja motif seemed to fit Scarlet; and Emma had to wonder how well it matched the little girl it belonged to.
She got to her feet, trying to keep as quiet as she could to not disturb the red-haired assassin.
“Don’t bother, I’m awake.”
Scarlet didn’t move a muscle, and her eyes stayed closed.
Emma was surprised, and slightly thrown off guard.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you…”
“You didn’t, I’ve been awake for a few hours. I don’t need much sleep normally, and there isn’t much to do around here.”
Emma sat back down on her bed, “There isn’t?”
Scarlet cracked an eyelid to peer at the other woman.
“Well, there is a small gym downstairs and Nathan usually has the fridge well-packed with beer. Other than that, there’s nothing to do.”
Emma was already in a white T-shirt and athletic shorts, and the gym sounded like a welcome distraction.
“A workout sounds like a good idea.”
As she rose to go Scarlet closed her eye and shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“Have fun.”
It took Emma a few tries to find the door to the workout room. She caught a glimpse of Sniper sleeping on the couch, but other than that she saw no one. At least, no one until she found the gym.
As she walked in her attention was first caught by the wooden stand against the far wall that held a number of practice weapons. Between her and the rack was a padded blue mat. Next to the mat was a boxing bag, and along the wall to her right she saw an elliptical and a treadmill, along with a few medicine balls and a rack of dumbbells.
Then the sound of heavy breathing caused her to look to her far right to where a weight bench stood. And there, bare-chested and sweating, was Nathan Wolv. He lay on his back on the bench, rhythmically lifting a bar with three large weights on either end.
As she approached, she was awed by the mercenary’s bulging muscles. They rippled beneath the tanned skin, strong and powerful. She glanced at the weights and was shocked to see they accumulated to 250lbs, and the man was using them as easily as if they were dumbbells.
Nathan seemed to have noticed her approach and lifted the bar up to hook it on the mounts above his head. He sat up, toweling his head off with a white clothe he grabbed off the floor.
Another shock greeted Emma’s eyes, across Nathan’s chest and shoulders were a crisscross pattern of scars. Bullet wounds, knife wounds, wounds left from surgeries, even what appeared to be marks from a lash.
Nathan glanced at her and noticed where her attention was directed.
“You like? Who needs tattoos when you got yer own decorations?”
Emma was almost at a loss for words, “You look like you’ve been through Hell!”
Nathan laughed and stood up. He walked over to the punching bag and picked up a pair of lightweight boxing gloves off the floor.
“Sister, I’ve been through more Hells than God was supposed to have created. Now you hear to workout or stare?”
Emma quickly averted her eyes and moved to a corner of the mat where she commenced with a series of stretches.
“I’m sorry…”
Nathan threw a couple light jabs at the bag.
“Don’t be…”
He suddenly launched six lightning-fast punches that made loud thudding sounds as they connected.
“…Everyone stares.”
Emma was sitting in a butterfly-stretch, and she looked up.
“They shouldn’t, though.”
Nathan turned to glance at her before continuing his assault on the bag.
“Why the Hell not?”
Emma started stretching her legs in a modified pike-stretch.
“It’s not polite to stare at another’s deformity…”
Nathan started laughing so hard he had to stop punching the bag. Shocked and embarrassed by what she had just said, Emma stammered in an attempt to correct herself.
“Uh, what I said… what I meant to say… I don’t mean it is a deformity, I just…”
Nathan’s blue eyes rested on her, and for once they weren’t glaring, accusing, or icy. They were kind, world-weary and tired, but kind.
“They are a deformity. Each scar has a story, a memory, and each story is a part of who I am. I aint perfect, I aint even close to being not perfect. And even if I can forget for a time, and other people can forget for a time, the scars always serve as a reminder that you can go through Hell, and you aint always better off for it.”
Nathan grabbed his towel and walked out of the room. Emma curled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. She stared numbly at the blue mat, rocking back and forth.
“Are you okay?”
Emma’s head snapped up at the voice, but she relaxed upon seeing it was only Sniper. She stared up at him, feeling he was the only person there who she could really talk to.
“I don’t belong here, not with these people.”
A tear ran down her cheek and the blonde mercenary sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head against his chest and just cried.
Max, taken by surprise by both her crying and his own impulsive actions, just rocked back and forth and spoke in a soft, comforting voice.
“Hey, it’s okay. No one really belongs with these people. They are a team forged by combat and love and they work and think and live with a greater understanding of each other that anyone else could even dream about. But you, your world has fallen around you and your life is in danger. So, yeah, you belong. Their job is to protect lives, especially people like you. You belong.”
He swallowed hard, “And, even if you don’t think you belong with them, you belong with me.”
Somewhere between Los Angeles and Eugene, Sniper had noticed Emma’s frailty, hidden somewhere behind the bold front she normally wore. And, somewhere on that road, the urge to protect that frailty had sprouted deep within him. Maybe that was why he had decided to sit down with her, to try and comfort when normally he let them come to grips.
Emma’s crying had died down, but she had wrapped her arms around Max’s shoulders and still held on tight.
“Sniper…”
Max stroked her dark head softly, “Call me Max.”
Emma smiled through her tears, “Max, will I get through this?”
He smiled back and kissed her head, “We will get through this, together.”
“Together? I’d like that.”
Max, who had followed his instincts and his own logic all his life, had finally decided to follow his heart. And he couldn’t help but wonder: why hadn’t he done it sooner?
~Steve Marr’s Private Airstrip Outside of New York City
Wraith disembarked from the Learjet 36A a little before noon. Steve Marr, the smuggler pilot known as “Wings”, met the Informer on the airstrip, just outside of the hangar.
Steve was an old friend of both josh Taske and Wraith. The graying forty-five year-old smuggler used to be a fighter pilot, but he had applied his talents to the smuggling business when he was discharged under false thieving charges.
The two men shook hands, Wraith with his characteristic amused smile and Marr with a wide grin.
“Wraith, how yah been? What brings you to New York?”
Wraith accepted his small duffel from Joe Binkley, the pilot who had flown the luxury jet.
“Everything is good. I’m here to get information from the Board.”
Steve ran a hand over his crew-cut and whistled.
“Whew, I don’t know how you plan on doing that, but good luck. You gonna need a flight back?”
Wraith slung his duffel over his shoulder and the two men started walking towards the main office.
“Yes, probably tomorrow afternoon. Did you get what I requested?”
Steve nodded and handed Wraith a set of keys, “Yeah, rental car. White Buick, non-descript and easily forgotten. And either me or Binkley will be around to fly you back.”
Wraith opened the door to the office and started for the door leading to the front parking lot.
“Thank you, Steve, see you later.”
Steve watched him go, “Yeah, good luck.”
~ Samuel Grayson’s Apartment, NY
Samuel looked up from the papers spread out on his dining room table as Jay Marcos walked into his room without knocking.
“Ah, my dear Mr. Marcos, was your mission a success?”
Marcos slumped down on the couch and rubbed his tired-looking eyes.
“It took me all night to collected the data and put it in a file, but its there. It should be one of the first things Wraith finds when he starts his search.”
Samuel nodded and sat back in his chair with a contented look in his eyes.
“Good, now we just wait.”
~Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Due to the number of people and the situation they were all in, Josh and Lexy decided to serve all their meals buffet-style. And, also due to the position they in which they found themselves, they couldn’t go anywhere or order out. Josh and Nathan said they could go for groceries, if needed, but otherwise everyone would have to do with what they had.
Breakfast was easy, cereal and toast with coffee. Lunch was also simple, canned chili, salsa and chips. Dinner, however, did not go so well. Lexy soon found out how hard it was to try and grill steaks in the oven, and they burned. So, they settled for sandwiches, beer, and popcorn.
As they ate, Josh, Lexy, and Emma watched TV while Sniper, Scarlet and Nathan played poker at the table. Josh and Lexy were fans of “CSI: Portland”, which was in its fifth season. Emma was unsure at first, but she found she actually enjoyed the show.
The night’s show was about a pair of kids who saw a mob hit and had to be convinced to cooperate with the CSI team. Halfway through the show the mob attacked one of the kids and put him in the hospital. The second kid disappeared, and it wss up to Larry Groben, the CSI team leader, to find the kid and apprehend the bad guys. Emma was surprised to see connections between the CSI team and the group of people she was currently associated with. The leader was strong and intelligent, the women on the team were beautiful and dangerous, and everyone had both a sense of purpose and an uncanny understanding with each other. Not as surprising were the similarities between the mob hit squad and Josh’s group of soldiers. Their ruthlessness and desire to get the job done was almost fanatical.
The TV show had ended, of course, with Larry Groben arresting not only the four hit men, but also their handlers. The card game in the other room ended about the same time and Max and Scarlet came to join them in the living room. Nathan stayed at the table nursing a beer.
Scarlet plopped down on the couch and brushed a strand of dark red hair from her face. She glanced at her watch, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
“Yikes, only eight? It feels like it should be later.”
Max took a seat next to Emma. They did not touch, but their eyes met and held each other for a quiet moment.
“Hey, anyone think about what we do once Wraith gets back with the data?”
Nathan was standing behind the couch Scarlet lay across, beer in hand. He stared at Josh, waiting for an answer.
Josh was lying on the other black-leather couch with Lexy, an arm around her and her head on his chest. He looked up at Nathan, his grey eyes flickering in the semi-dark living room.
“We plan an entry and take the villa.”
Nathan nodded; it was the answer he expected. He gestured to Emma, blue eyes still on Josh.
“Anybody ask her if she can shoot yet?”
“No, I don’t think we bothered.”
Josh turned his head to look expectantly at Emma.
“Well?”
Emma swallowed, “Well, I used to shoot rifles on my dad’s ranch in Texas, but that was years ago. I’m afraid I haven’t had the need recently.”
Josh nodded and looked back to Nathan, “Grab a suitable pistol from the cache upstairs and take her into the garage for target practice. Use as much ammo as you need, get her up to speed. Oh, and maybe show her around a MP5, just in case.”
Nathan nodded and beckoned Emma to follow him. Reluctantly, she got up and they started out of the room.
“Nathan,” Josh’s sharp gray eyes bore into the mercenary’s back, “Don’t damage any of the cars.”
Nathan turned and saluted in precise military style.
“Aye-aye, Sir!”
Upstairs in the office, Nathan pulled the picture of Crater Lake off the outside wall. Punching the 17-digit combination code into the safe behind where the picture hung, he opened the large wall-safe concealed behind it.
Emma gasped when she saw what the safe contained. Guns of all kinds, pistols of all kinds, machine guns including, but not limited to, a pair of AK-47’s, M-16 assault rifle, and a number of MP7 and MP5 variants. To one side hung a compound bow, crossbow, and four .357 Desert Eagle pistols, Josh Taske’s trademark weapon. On the floor of the weapons cache were boxes of ammo, bundles of arrow, and attachments for the projectile weapons.
Nathan ran a trained eye over the selection and, finally, chose a Zastava M70(k) pistol and a Sig Sauer P228. He also grabbed a compact, boxy-looking firearm, an FN P90. Along with the pistols and the P90, Nathan snagged two boxes of 9mm Parabellums along another of regular 9mm bullets, and a number of long, strange-looking clips for the P90. He then led Emma back downstairs and out the back door.
Before leaving for New York, Wraith had moved Josh’s ’16 Mustang back outside the garage, allowing access to the underground portion of the structure. Nathan quickly typed the counter code to the lockdown and the ramp lowered with a quiet hum of hydraulics.
Once again, Emma was stunned by what she saw. The collection of vehicles, while fairly small, was still very impressive. The garage stretched under the property just behind and to the side of Josh’s Taske’s house. This, of course, lent enough room for Josh’s large collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
Along the wall to the left Josh had left an area open for a small, one-man firing range. A booth stood at one end of the garage where a person could shoot from. Down at the other end was a large rolling target board that was big enough so anyone with even a bad aim wouldn’t miss and ricochet off the concrete behind it. The target could be rolled back and forth, moving it closer or farther away from the shooter, and thereby giving them a variety of distances to test their skill.
Nathan walked over to the booth and placed the guns on the counter. He started loading the clips to the P228 and the M70(k). As he loaded the weapons, he explained to Emma about the guns.
“This little pistol is a Zastava M70(k). Its brother, the M70, is made to fire 32 ACP rounds, but this one chambers nine-mil’s. The Yugoslavian Police swear by it, and it’s popular among civilians as a personal-defense weapon.”
He finished loading the nine-round clip and, chambering a round and setting the safety, handed the gun to Emma to examine. As she looked at the small gun, Nathan moved on to prepping the P228.
“This is the Sig Sauer P228. It was designed to be a more compact version of the P226, which is popular among European assassins. It’s got an aluminum-alloy frame, four-point safety system, and is blowback-operated. Back in the 1980’s, the P228 beat out the Beretta at the US Army Trials. They gave it the designation of M11 and it became the favorite sidearm of anyone who wanted something more compact than the M9. It still is used by a number of intelligence agencies, but it’s been set aside in favor of .40 cal’s in military circles.”
Emma laid down the M70 and accepted the slightly heavier pistol from Nathan. The mercenary picked up the P90 and slid one of the elongated clips into the top of the weapon.
“Last, but not least, is the FN Herstal P90. Also a child of the 1980’s, it’s designed with a cocking handle on both sides of the gun so it can be used ambidextrously. It’s got rails for laser and light attachments, and uses a fifty-round mag with 5.7mm FN ammo. It’s popular as both a personal defense and as a special forces close-quarters weapon. I think it’ll be easier to use than the MP5 or MP7.”
Nathan smiled at her, his crystalline-blue eyes twinkling.
“Well, that’s the history, you ready to try them out?”
Through the next hour and a half, Nathan ran through everything he could think of pertaining to the use of the firearms. Stance, posture, safeties and reloading, and, of course, targeting. Nathan was an expert marksman with any kind of ranged weapon, and he passed as much of his knowledge as he could to the one-time secretary.
It helped that Emma had distant experience with her father’s firearms. She remembered her father had a couple hunting rifles and a revolver she used to shoot with. He also had a shotgun, but he never would let her shoot that, claiming the recoil would knock her on her back. Most of what Nathan showed her on stance and posture her father had taught her years ago, so it was like a refresher course. With the exception of the blowback on the P228 and the procedure for reloading the clips, handling of the handguns was also very familiar.
The P90 had some kick to it, but not as much as she expected. It was designed to absorb as much of the recoil as possible, one reason it was popular among SWAT and secret service agencies. It was also easy to reload, all you did was release the old clip, slide it out of its slot on the top of the gun, and slide the new clip in place. Another merciful feature, spent bullets were ejected through a slot on the bottom of the gun. Other guns, such as the pistols, which ejected their spent rounds out of the side, had always scared Emma.
After watching her aim get quickly better, Nathan left to go back up to the house. He left her five cartridges for the P90, along with the three boxes of pistol ammo. He also left instructions to practice until she was sure he would be satisfied.
Emma watched him go from the corner of her eye as she reloaded the P228. It had proven to be her favorite of the weapons Nathan had introduced her to, although all firearms still held a small amount of terror for her. Sliding the clip into the pistol’s handle, she chambered a round and, taking careful aim, proceeded to empty the weapon’s thirteen-round clip into the target that was now at about a hundred-and-fifty meters. She actually found it rather therapeutic.
She had gone through two clips with the Sig, and another with the M70 when she finally realized she was no longer alone. Max stood, leaning against a car, watching her.
He nodded to her in greeting and, nodding back, she picked up the P90 and chambered one of its 5.7mm FN rounds. She emptied half the clip in a matter of seconds, and was proud to note that only four shots missed the head of the paper silhouette.
“Nathan told you to practice headshots?”
Emma turned and, making sure the safety was on, set the submachine gun on the booth’s counter.
“No, he actually said to aim for the center of the chest so I would be sure to hit my target. But if… I just want to be prepared.”
Max walked over and, standing next to her, started loading the clip to the M70.
“But if you run into James Hughes on this mission, you don’t want to miss, but you don’t want to just wound him either.”
Emma stared at his nimble finger loading the clip and nodded dully.
Finished, Max slammed the clip home, chambered the first round, and emptied the clip into the target’s forehead. Not a single bullet missed, and when the sharp report of the pistol died down, there was only one hole in the target’s black head.
Max set the still-smoking gun on the booth and, looking very satisfied, surveyed the target.
He turned to look inquiringly at her, “What do you plan on doing after James is gone?”
Emma shrugged, “I don’t know… I haven’t thought that far ahead, really.”
Max nodded and began sweeping the spent shells into a hole set into side of the counter. They tumbled into the hole, tinkling lightly as they fell into the recycling container beneath.
“Would you like to see the world?”
Emma stared at him, her heart aflutter.
“Max, what are you asking?”
Max turned and looked into her eyes, a small smile playing across his mouth.
“Run away with me.”
Emma was speechless and, emboldened by her surprise, Max plowed ahead.
“We can go wherever you want, do whatever you want, even be whoever you want to be. We can pick up a pair of fake ID’s from Hollywood, elope at Disneyland maybe, whatever. Just, come with me!”
Emma stared at him, words refusing to leave her lips. Max took a step forward and put his arms around her.
“I don’t have much, I can’t promise you money like James could, but I can promise you me. And…”
Emma stopped him with a kiss on the lips.
“Max, that is all I could ever want.”
Emma woke up more rested than she had in a long while. Maybe it was the feeling of safety she had in this house full of killers. Ironic how that worked, she was safest with the men and women most people feared.
Emma had been assigned what she was told was Lola Taske’s bed, and while the modern style with its pink coloring wasn’t really her thing, the bed was comfy. She looked over where Scarlet was laying on what she understood was Maria Taske’s bed. The red and black ninja motif seemed to fit Scarlet; and Emma had to wonder how well it matched the little girl it belonged to.
She got to her feet, trying to keep as quiet as she could to not disturb the red-haired assassin.
“Don’t bother, I’m awake.”
Scarlet didn’t move a muscle, and her eyes stayed closed.
Emma was surprised, and slightly thrown off guard.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you…”
“You didn’t, I’ve been awake for a few hours. I don’t need much sleep normally, and there isn’t much to do around here.”
Emma sat back down on her bed, “There isn’t?”
Scarlet cracked an eyelid to peer at the other woman.
“Well, there is a small gym downstairs and Nathan usually has the fridge well-packed with beer. Other than that, there’s nothing to do.”
Emma was already in a white T-shirt and athletic shorts, and the gym sounded like a welcome distraction.
“A workout sounds like a good idea.”
As she rose to go Scarlet closed her eye and shrugged her shoulders slightly.
“Have fun.”
It took Emma a few tries to find the door to the workout room. She caught a glimpse of Sniper sleeping on the couch, but other than that she saw no one. At least, no one until she found the gym.
As she walked in her attention was first caught by the wooden stand against the far wall that held a number of practice weapons. Between her and the rack was a padded blue mat. Next to the mat was a boxing bag, and along the wall to her right she saw an elliptical and a treadmill, along with a few medicine balls and a rack of dumbbells.
Then the sound of heavy breathing caused her to look to her far right to where a weight bench stood. And there, bare-chested and sweating, was Nathan Wolv. He lay on his back on the bench, rhythmically lifting a bar with three large weights on either end.
As she approached, she was awed by the mercenary’s bulging muscles. They rippled beneath the tanned skin, strong and powerful. She glanced at the weights and was shocked to see they accumulated to 250lbs, and the man was using them as easily as if they were dumbbells.
Nathan seemed to have noticed her approach and lifted the bar up to hook it on the mounts above his head. He sat up, toweling his head off with a white clothe he grabbed off the floor.
Another shock greeted Emma’s eyes, across Nathan’s chest and shoulders were a crisscross pattern of scars. Bullet wounds, knife wounds, wounds left from surgeries, even what appeared to be marks from a lash.
Nathan glanced at her and noticed where her attention was directed.
“You like? Who needs tattoos when you got yer own decorations?”
Emma was almost at a loss for words, “You look like you’ve been through Hell!”
Nathan laughed and stood up. He walked over to the punching bag and picked up a pair of lightweight boxing gloves off the floor.
“Sister, I’ve been through more Hells than God was supposed to have created. Now you hear to workout or stare?”
Emma quickly averted her eyes and moved to a corner of the mat where she commenced with a series of stretches.
“I’m sorry…”
Nathan threw a couple light jabs at the bag.
“Don’t be…”
He suddenly launched six lightning-fast punches that made loud thudding sounds as they connected.
“…Everyone stares.”
Emma was sitting in a butterfly-stretch, and she looked up.
“They shouldn’t, though.”
Nathan turned to glance at her before continuing his assault on the bag.
“Why the Hell not?”
Emma started stretching her legs in a modified pike-stretch.
“It’s not polite to stare at another’s deformity…”
Nathan started laughing so hard he had to stop punching the bag. Shocked and embarrassed by what she had just said, Emma stammered in an attempt to correct herself.
“Uh, what I said… what I meant to say… I don’t mean it is a deformity, I just…”
Nathan’s blue eyes rested on her, and for once they weren’t glaring, accusing, or icy. They were kind, world-weary and tired, but kind.
“They are a deformity. Each scar has a story, a memory, and each story is a part of who I am. I aint perfect, I aint even close to being not perfect. And even if I can forget for a time, and other people can forget for a time, the scars always serve as a reminder that you can go through Hell, and you aint always better off for it.”
Nathan grabbed his towel and walked out of the room. Emma curled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. She stared numbly at the blue mat, rocking back and forth.
“Are you okay?”
Emma’s head snapped up at the voice, but she relaxed upon seeing it was only Sniper. She stared up at him, feeling he was the only person there who she could really talk to.
“I don’t belong here, not with these people.”
A tear ran down her cheek and the blonde mercenary sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head against his chest and just cried.
Max, taken by surprise by both her crying and his own impulsive actions, just rocked back and forth and spoke in a soft, comforting voice.
“Hey, it’s okay. No one really belongs with these people. They are a team forged by combat and love and they work and think and live with a greater understanding of each other that anyone else could even dream about. But you, your world has fallen around you and your life is in danger. So, yeah, you belong. Their job is to protect lives, especially people like you. You belong.”
He swallowed hard, “And, even if you don’t think you belong with them, you belong with me.”
Somewhere between Los Angeles and Eugene, Sniper had noticed Emma’s frailty, hidden somewhere behind the bold front she normally wore. And, somewhere on that road, the urge to protect that frailty had sprouted deep within him. Maybe that was why he had decided to sit down with her, to try and comfort when normally he let them come to grips.
Emma’s crying had died down, but she had wrapped her arms around Max’s shoulders and still held on tight.
“Sniper…”
Max stroked her dark head softly, “Call me Max.”
Emma smiled through her tears, “Max, will I get through this?”
He smiled back and kissed her head, “We will get through this, together.”
“Together? I’d like that.”
Max, who had followed his instincts and his own logic all his life, had finally decided to follow his heart. And he couldn’t help but wonder: why hadn’t he done it sooner?
~Steve Marr’s Private Airstrip Outside of New York City
Wraith disembarked from the Learjet 36A a little before noon. Steve Marr, the smuggler pilot known as “Wings”, met the Informer on the airstrip, just outside of the hangar.
Steve was an old friend of both josh Taske and Wraith. The graying forty-five year-old smuggler used to be a fighter pilot, but he had applied his talents to the smuggling business when he was discharged under false thieving charges.
The two men shook hands, Wraith with his characteristic amused smile and Marr with a wide grin.
“Wraith, how yah been? What brings you to New York?”
Wraith accepted his small duffel from Joe Binkley, the pilot who had flown the luxury jet.
“Everything is good. I’m here to get information from the Board.”
Steve ran a hand over his crew-cut and whistled.
“Whew, I don’t know how you plan on doing that, but good luck. You gonna need a flight back?”
Wraith slung his duffel over his shoulder and the two men started walking towards the main office.
“Yes, probably tomorrow afternoon. Did you get what I requested?”
Steve nodded and handed Wraith a set of keys, “Yeah, rental car. White Buick, non-descript and easily forgotten. And either me or Binkley will be around to fly you back.”
Wraith opened the door to the office and started for the door leading to the front parking lot.
“Thank you, Steve, see you later.”
Steve watched him go, “Yeah, good luck.”
~ Samuel Grayson’s Apartment, NY
Samuel looked up from the papers spread out on his dining room table as Jay Marcos walked into his room without knocking.
“Ah, my dear Mr. Marcos, was your mission a success?”
Marcos slumped down on the couch and rubbed his tired-looking eyes.
“It took me all night to collected the data and put it in a file, but its there. It should be one of the first things Wraith finds when he starts his search.”
Samuel nodded and sat back in his chair with a contented look in his eyes.
“Good, now we just wait.”
~Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Due to the number of people and the situation they were all in, Josh and Lexy decided to serve all their meals buffet-style. And, also due to the position they in which they found themselves, they couldn’t go anywhere or order out. Josh and Nathan said they could go for groceries, if needed, but otherwise everyone would have to do with what they had.
Breakfast was easy, cereal and toast with coffee. Lunch was also simple, canned chili, salsa and chips. Dinner, however, did not go so well. Lexy soon found out how hard it was to try and grill steaks in the oven, and they burned. So, they settled for sandwiches, beer, and popcorn.
As they ate, Josh, Lexy, and Emma watched TV while Sniper, Scarlet and Nathan played poker at the table. Josh and Lexy were fans of “CSI: Portland”, which was in its fifth season. Emma was unsure at first, but she found she actually enjoyed the show.
The night’s show was about a pair of kids who saw a mob hit and had to be convinced to cooperate with the CSI team. Halfway through the show the mob attacked one of the kids and put him in the hospital. The second kid disappeared, and it wss up to Larry Groben, the CSI team leader, to find the kid and apprehend the bad guys. Emma was surprised to see connections between the CSI team and the group of people she was currently associated with. The leader was strong and intelligent, the women on the team were beautiful and dangerous, and everyone had both a sense of purpose and an uncanny understanding with each other. Not as surprising were the similarities between the mob hit squad and Josh’s group of soldiers. Their ruthlessness and desire to get the job done was almost fanatical.
The TV show had ended, of course, with Larry Groben arresting not only the four hit men, but also their handlers. The card game in the other room ended about the same time and Max and Scarlet came to join them in the living room. Nathan stayed at the table nursing a beer.
Scarlet plopped down on the couch and brushed a strand of dark red hair from her face. She glanced at her watch, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
“Yikes, only eight? It feels like it should be later.”
Max took a seat next to Emma. They did not touch, but their eyes met and held each other for a quiet moment.
“Hey, anyone think about what we do once Wraith gets back with the data?”
Nathan was standing behind the couch Scarlet lay across, beer in hand. He stared at Josh, waiting for an answer.
Josh was lying on the other black-leather couch with Lexy, an arm around her and her head on his chest. He looked up at Nathan, his grey eyes flickering in the semi-dark living room.
“We plan an entry and take the villa.”
Nathan nodded; it was the answer he expected. He gestured to Emma, blue eyes still on Josh.
“Anybody ask her if she can shoot yet?”
“No, I don’t think we bothered.”
Josh turned his head to look expectantly at Emma.
“Well?”
Emma swallowed, “Well, I used to shoot rifles on my dad’s ranch in Texas, but that was years ago. I’m afraid I haven’t had the need recently.”
Josh nodded and looked back to Nathan, “Grab a suitable pistol from the cache upstairs and take her into the garage for target practice. Use as much ammo as you need, get her up to speed. Oh, and maybe show her around a MP5, just in case.”
Nathan nodded and beckoned Emma to follow him. Reluctantly, she got up and they started out of the room.
“Nathan,” Josh’s sharp gray eyes bore into the mercenary’s back, “Don’t damage any of the cars.”
Nathan turned and saluted in precise military style.
“Aye-aye, Sir!”
Upstairs in the office, Nathan pulled the picture of Crater Lake off the outside wall. Punching the 17-digit combination code into the safe behind where the picture hung, he opened the large wall-safe concealed behind it.
Emma gasped when she saw what the safe contained. Guns of all kinds, pistols of all kinds, machine guns including, but not limited to, a pair of AK-47’s, M-16 assault rifle, and a number of MP7 and MP5 variants. To one side hung a compound bow, crossbow, and four .357 Desert Eagle pistols, Josh Taske’s trademark weapon. On the floor of the weapons cache were boxes of ammo, bundles of arrow, and attachments for the projectile weapons.
Nathan ran a trained eye over the selection and, finally, chose a Zastava M70(k) pistol and a Sig Sauer P228. He also grabbed a compact, boxy-looking firearm, an FN P90. Along with the pistols and the P90, Nathan snagged two boxes of 9mm Parabellums along another of regular 9mm bullets, and a number of long, strange-looking clips for the P90. He then led Emma back downstairs and out the back door.
Before leaving for New York, Wraith had moved Josh’s ’16 Mustang back outside the garage, allowing access to the underground portion of the structure. Nathan quickly typed the counter code to the lockdown and the ramp lowered with a quiet hum of hydraulics.
Once again, Emma was stunned by what she saw. The collection of vehicles, while fairly small, was still very impressive. The garage stretched under the property just behind and to the side of Josh’s Taske’s house. This, of course, lent enough room for Josh’s large collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
Along the wall to the left Josh had left an area open for a small, one-man firing range. A booth stood at one end of the garage where a person could shoot from. Down at the other end was a large rolling target board that was big enough so anyone with even a bad aim wouldn’t miss and ricochet off the concrete behind it. The target could be rolled back and forth, moving it closer or farther away from the shooter, and thereby giving them a variety of distances to test their skill.
Nathan walked over to the booth and placed the guns on the counter. He started loading the clips to the P228 and the M70(k). As he loaded the weapons, he explained to Emma about the guns.
“This little pistol is a Zastava M70(k). Its brother, the M70, is made to fire 32 ACP rounds, but this one chambers nine-mil’s. The Yugoslavian Police swear by it, and it’s popular among civilians as a personal-defense weapon.”
He finished loading the nine-round clip and, chambering a round and setting the safety, handed the gun to Emma to examine. As she looked at the small gun, Nathan moved on to prepping the P228.
“This is the Sig Sauer P228. It was designed to be a more compact version of the P226, which is popular among European assassins. It’s got an aluminum-alloy frame, four-point safety system, and is blowback-operated. Back in the 1980’s, the P228 beat out the Beretta at the US Army Trials. They gave it the designation of M11 and it became the favorite sidearm of anyone who wanted something more compact than the M9. It still is used by a number of intelligence agencies, but it’s been set aside in favor of .40 cal’s in military circles.”
Emma laid down the M70 and accepted the slightly heavier pistol from Nathan. The mercenary picked up the P90 and slid one of the elongated clips into the top of the weapon.
“Last, but not least, is the FN Herstal P90. Also a child of the 1980’s, it’s designed with a cocking handle on both sides of the gun so it can be used ambidextrously. It’s got rails for laser and light attachments, and uses a fifty-round mag with 5.7mm FN ammo. It’s popular as both a personal defense and as a special forces close-quarters weapon. I think it’ll be easier to use than the MP5 or MP7.”
Nathan smiled at her, his crystalline-blue eyes twinkling.
“Well, that’s the history, you ready to try them out?”
Through the next hour and a half, Nathan ran through everything he could think of pertaining to the use of the firearms. Stance, posture, safeties and reloading, and, of course, targeting. Nathan was an expert marksman with any kind of ranged weapon, and he passed as much of his knowledge as he could to the one-time secretary.
It helped that Emma had distant experience with her father’s firearms. She remembered her father had a couple hunting rifles and a revolver she used to shoot with. He also had a shotgun, but he never would let her shoot that, claiming the recoil would knock her on her back. Most of what Nathan showed her on stance and posture her father had taught her years ago, so it was like a refresher course. With the exception of the blowback on the P228 and the procedure for reloading the clips, handling of the handguns was also very familiar.
The P90 had some kick to it, but not as much as she expected. It was designed to absorb as much of the recoil as possible, one reason it was popular among SWAT and secret service agencies. It was also easy to reload, all you did was release the old clip, slide it out of its slot on the top of the gun, and slide the new clip in place. Another merciful feature, spent bullets were ejected through a slot on the bottom of the gun. Other guns, such as the pistols, which ejected their spent rounds out of the side, had always scared Emma.
After watching her aim get quickly better, Nathan left to go back up to the house. He left her five cartridges for the P90, along with the three boxes of pistol ammo. He also left instructions to practice until she was sure he would be satisfied.
Emma watched him go from the corner of her eye as she reloaded the P228. It had proven to be her favorite of the weapons Nathan had introduced her to, although all firearms still held a small amount of terror for her. Sliding the clip into the pistol’s handle, she chambered a round and, taking careful aim, proceeded to empty the weapon’s thirteen-round clip into the target that was now at about a hundred-and-fifty meters. She actually found it rather therapeutic.
She had gone through two clips with the Sig, and another with the M70 when she finally realized she was no longer alone. Max stood, leaning against a car, watching her.
He nodded to her in greeting and, nodding back, she picked up the P90 and chambered one of its 5.7mm FN rounds. She emptied half the clip in a matter of seconds, and was proud to note that only four shots missed the head of the paper silhouette.
“Nathan told you to practice headshots?”
Emma turned and, making sure the safety was on, set the submachine gun on the booth’s counter.
“No, he actually said to aim for the center of the chest so I would be sure to hit my target. But if… I just want to be prepared.”
Max walked over and, standing next to her, started loading the clip to the M70.
“But if you run into James Hughes on this mission, you don’t want to miss, but you don’t want to just wound him either.”
Emma stared at his nimble finger loading the clip and nodded dully.
Finished, Max slammed the clip home, chambered the first round, and emptied the clip into the target’s forehead. Not a single bullet missed, and when the sharp report of the pistol died down, there was only one hole in the target’s black head.
Max set the still-smoking gun on the booth and, looking very satisfied, surveyed the target.
He turned to look inquiringly at her, “What do you plan on doing after James is gone?”
Emma shrugged, “I don’t know… I haven’t thought that far ahead, really.”
Max nodded and began sweeping the spent shells into a hole set into side of the counter. They tumbled into the hole, tinkling lightly as they fell into the recycling container beneath.
“Would you like to see the world?”
Emma stared at him, her heart aflutter.
“Max, what are you asking?”
Max turned and looked into her eyes, a small smile playing across his mouth.
“Run away with me.”
Emma was speechless and, emboldened by her surprise, Max plowed ahead.
“We can go wherever you want, do whatever you want, even be whoever you want to be. We can pick up a pair of fake ID’s from Hollywood, elope at Disneyland maybe, whatever. Just, come with me!”
Emma stared at him, words refusing to leave her lips. Max took a step forward and put his arms around her.
“I don’t have much, I can’t promise you money like James could, but I can promise you me. And…”
Emma stopped him with a kiss on the lips.
“Max, that is all I could ever want.”
~Chapter 14~
-Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Emma Lector wondered what she had gotten herself into. After being greeted by the gaping barrel of a shotgun, she had been told to sit at the kitchen table while Sniper, Josh Taske, and the men she assumed to be Wraith and Nathan Wolv conversed in hushed tones. Two women, one with red hair who Emma took to be the assassin called Scarlet, and the other with light-brown hair and blue eyes who she thought must be Lexy Taske, sat at the other end of the table from her. They went between watching her suspiciously and watching the men in the living room.
Now that she was here, Emma was at a loss for what she would do. Should she make a demand? Would that just anger the one the Underworlders called the Sharktooth? What would he do if angered, kill her? Should she just remain silent and calm and only offer information when asked? Would that make them see her as arrogant? Maybe that would also end with her death. Any way Emma looked at it, she was unprepared for this.
Finally, the conversation in the living room ended and Josh Taske and Wraith left the room. Emma glanced around at the others in confusion, fear making her pulse quicken.
Nathan gestured Emma to follow him. With Sniper at her side and Scarlet and Lexy behind her, Emma followed the mercenary called the Wolf up the stairs, through a bedroom, and into a world of computers and information. Josh Taske already sat at the circular table with two large computer monitors flickering behind him. Wraith stood just behind him and to his left.
Lexy went to sit next to her husband, and Nathan sat next to her. Scarlet guided Emma to the seat next to Lexy, and then took her own place beside her. Sniper opted to stand behind Emma, mirroring Wraith.
Josh stared at her a long time.
“Your name is Emma Lector?”
Emma nodded numbly.
“What are you doing here?”
Emma thought fast, trying to decide what tale she should spin to these dangerous individuals. The look from Josh convinced her, and she decided to stick with the truth.
“I was working for James Hughes, who is Chairman of the Board in New York City… I know he has put a bounty on all your heads, and I think I have information you can use to take him down. But, most of all, he cheated me and used me, and I want revenge.”
Nathan and Scarlet traded glances and smiles. Lexy looked surprised, and Wraith remained impassive.
Josh’s hard gray eyes remained unblinking, focused uncomfortably on her. They reminded Emma of Samuel Grayson for some reason.
“Miss Lector, what do you have that can help us?”
Emma swallowed hard, “Well, I know what James’ Plan is…”
Wraith finally showed some sign of being more than a statue as he looked at Josh.
“That could be useful.”
Josh nodded once, “Is that all?”
Emma shook her head, “I also know he’ll be in a place where, compared to the Regency Building, he is vulnerable.”
Josh glanced at Nathan, who looked like he was willing to hear her out.
“And what do you want in return for this information?”
Emma looked down at the tabletop, slightly embarrassed at her meager request.
“Only two things: that you let me help take James down, and you don’t betray me like he did.”
Josh’s eyes softened, the gray stone became soft mist.
“We don’t betray our allies, Miss Lector.”
Emma smiled slightly, “Please, call me Emma.”
Josh nodded an acknowledgement, “Very well, Emma.”
Nathan leaned forward, “’K, you can call me Nathan, that there’s Lexy an’ Red, Wraith is the silent type in the back an’ you’ve been talkin’ to Josh. Now can you tell us what James’ up to?”
Lexy slapped Nathan on the shoulder and Scarlet smiled apologetically at Emma.
“Sorry, Emma, you can call me Scarlet. Now, if you please, we really do need to know what James is planning.”
Emma nodded, “Okay, it started about five years ago when James was on Regent Taske’s think-tank. He came up with what everyone called “The Plan”. No one talked about it really; it was just “The Plan”. James submitted it to Regent and Regent approved it, but it was going to take some time to set it up. James needed a Hacker and a bunch of equipment and information before the plan to be initiated. He gave Regent an estimate, saying the Plan would be ready in five-years. He plans on putting the Plan into action sometime this year.”
Wraith’s eyes were slightly glazed over, “What exactly is the Plan?”
Emma took a deep breath, “The Plan is to steal all currency in the United States.”
The silence in the room could have been cut with a knife. They all stared at her in shock. Emma started to have second thoughts about her own plan.
Nathan finally spoke, “Uh, hey, Hon? You wanna run through that again?”
Emma braced herself and explained, “James had Cipher, the Hacker he hired, to design what is essentially a computer virus that once enabled and uploaded onto the Net, will divert all digital currency into a secured private account that only James controls and knows about. People might start to question the reason why their money is disappearing, but they will just blame it on identity theft or fraud. They will get a new credit or debit card and go on spending like they usually do. By the time people realize what is happening, James will have most of the virtual money in the US in his personal account. Then he plans on using that money to black mail the government and large businesses. He’ll tell them that if they do this for him, he’ll give them back this amount, they do this other thing, and they get this much back. And if they try to take him out or hack his account, he’ll just delete the money and the US will have to make more, rendering their currency to be worth far less than it is. It would ruin the country’s economy.”
Silence once again rained in the Den. The magnitude and audacity of James’ scheme hit them all like a ton of bricks. If what Emma said was true, and there was no evidence to say she was, James was going to mount a coup the likes of the world had never seen before.
Josh’s gray eyes came back to rest upon Emma.
“You said something about James being in a place where he is vulnerable?”
Emma nodded, “Yes, he is launching his plan from his villa in California, a few miles outside of Los Angeles. The place is built like a fortress, but the security is fairly low compared to the Regency Building. He’s planning on staying there for at least three weeks.”
Josh nodded and spun around to type something into one of the computers behind him. He glanced over at Wraith as he did so.
“Wraith?”
Wraith shook his head, “Sorry, I have heard of James’ villa, but nothing specific. And I have never had any reason to look into it until now.”
Josh waited a moment until the computer beeped quietly. He turned back around, his face creased in thought.
“I have nothing in my files either. He’s kept it a very well-kept secret.”
Nathan looked mad, “Then where in Hell to we find something? Or do you plan on us going in there with no intel?
Josh and Wraith seemed to have the same thought.
“The Regency Vault.”
Nathan looked fed up with all the mysteries and secrets.
“And what the Hell is that!?”
Josh ignored him and turned back to his computer, so Wraith explained.
“The Regency Building has a huge computer data vault that contains all the information the Board or Taske Family has collected over the years. James would have had to have files on his villa somewhere, even if they are incomplete.”
Scarlet raised a hand, “Uh, why would he have to? Is it required or something?”
Wraith shook his head, “It isn’t required, but if James ever wanted to do some renovating or remodeling, or if some emergency ever arose where he might have to break in, it is only prudent that someone like James would have some kind of blueprint or basic floor plan for the place.”
Scarlet nodded and, getting to her feet, started to walk out the door.
“Well, since we can’t do anything until we have some sort of picture of the place, I’m going to go down stairs, get a cup of coffee, and try to figure out how I’m going to live when James controls my finances in a few weeks.”
Nathan looked up at Sniper, “Sorry, Max, looks like our job is going to have to wait.”
Emma looked up in surprise at Sniper.
“Your job!?”
Sniper nodded, “Me, Nathan and Scarlet were planning on meeting here and heading off to accept a job in Europe. That’s why I was in Hollywood’s shop, to get a passport and ID.”
Emma was furious, “So both you and Hollywood knew where Josh was, yet you lead me along and acted like you weren’t sure!”
Sniper met her angry glare calmly, “Yes.”
Josh looked over from his work at the computer.
“Emma, if someone you didn’t know and didn’t trust was looking for a friend of yours, would you just point out where they live? Or would you try to give your friend some forewarning?”
Emma sat back, her anger sated by Josh’s logic.
“I guess I’d try to warn them.”
Nathan grinned, “They could have just said they didn’t know anything.”
Emma shot a killing glance at Nathan.
Sniper put his hand on her shoulder, “Come on, lets go get something to eat.”
After Sniper and Emma left, only Josh, Wraith, Nathan, and Lexy remained in the Den. They looked at each other, still slightly stunned by Emma’s news.
Nathan glanced at Josh, “Think she’s on the level?”
Josh rested his head in his hands and sighed.
“I think she’s telling the truth. Wraith, what do you think?”
Wraith’s green eyes were as cool and calm as ever.
“She’s telling the truth, at least to the best of her knowledge. If anything we have take James out, even if his Plan isn’t what Emma says it is.”
Josh sat up and nodded. Two loud beeps sounded from the computer behind him and he turned back towards it. Taking a USB drive from the hub on the desk, he handed it to Wraith.
“This drive has access codes for a backdoor I hardwired into the Regency’s Vault. It will get you in, and there is room on the device for whatever information you find on the villa, and on James’ Plan.”
Wraith accepted the USB and nodded once.
“I’ll leave right away. One of Steve Marr’s smuggler pilots over at PDX should be able to fly me to New York and back. Give me… three-and-a-half days or so?”
Josh reached out and grasped the Informer’s hand.
“Good luck.”
Downstairs, Scarlet sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She watched as Emma and Sniper entered the kitchen and the mercenary started rummaging through the fridge.
“There’s a few kinds of beer in there, some soda, a few apples, and I think some leftover pizza and breadsticks from the other night.”
Sniper looked over at Emma, “Anything sound good?”
Emma shrugged, “I guess the pizza sounds okay.”
Sniper nodded and handed her a Round Table Pizza box. He grabbed a Guinness and the smaller box of breadsticks and came to sit across from Scarlet. Emma sat down next to him, placing the pizza box in the center of the table.
She looked hesitantly at Scarlet, “So… Um, you’re Scarlet?”
Scarlet nodded, “Yep. And you’re Emma Lector.”
Emma looked embarrassed and uncomfortable, “Uh, yeah…”
Scarlet nodded a greeting to Sniper, “Max, how’ve you been?”
Sniper shrugged, “Since that job in Vegas a few years ago? I had a job in Texas, training border guards, and then I helped fight a small war in Mexico. After Mexico I’ve been hanging around on the west coast, picking up odd jobs. The Brussels job with you and Nathan is the first major job offer I’ve had in a while.”
Scarlet turned her sharp green eyes on Emma.
“So, what’s your story?’
Emma had just taken a bite of cold pizza, so Scarlet had to wait until she had swallowed before she got an answer.
“Um… born in Texas, worked my way into a position as secretary at the Whitehouse during Matt Gold’s term in office. I made the mistake of letting a handsome, to-good-to-be-true businessman lure me away from my position with the promise of love and riches. I found out just recently he was a lying, cheating scoundrel, so here I am.”
Scarlet shook her head and smiled slightly in mild wonder.
“Most gals I know would love to be seduced by a roughish scoundrel.”
Emma grimaced, “Wrong kind of scoundrel.”
Scarlet laughed.
Emma took another bite of pizza and, after swallowing, decided to try to alleviate some of the suspicion Scarlet obviously held towards her.
“So, um… what about you?”
Scarlet shrugged dismissively, “Eh, the usual sap story. Born in Florida and raised by a thief. We moved to New York when I was ten and there I met Josh and Nathan. My thief of a guardian was killed when I was thirteen, and that was when I started my career as an assassin. And I’ve been one ever since.”
Emma looked at the other woman in amazement, “You’re serious? What a life you’ve had!”
Scarlet dismissed her shock and awe, “It’s just a life.”
Wraith walked in just then and grabbed keys to Josh’s Ninja 3 from next to the phone.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days. Josh wants me to get the files on James’ villa from the Regency Vault.”
Scarlet waved at the Informer, “Good luck, you going to get one of Steve Marr’s pilots to fly you?”
Steve Marr was a smuggler who ran a nation-wide Underworld airline. Josh and the pilot had an unofficial alliance going back years. Steve had felt terrible after learning one of his planes had flown the assassin who killed Josh’s first wife and daughter to his destination. He had told Josh that if he ever needed transportation his fleet of airplanes and helicopters were at his service.
In answer to Scarlet’s question, Wraith nodded.
“Yes, Joe Binkley landed at PDX yesterday morning, and is scheduled to go out this afternoon. I called Steve and he said he’s radio Binkley to wait and give me a lift.”
Scarlet watched Wraith leave and repeated her farewell.
“Good luck.”
Emma Lector wondered what she had gotten herself into. After being greeted by the gaping barrel of a shotgun, she had been told to sit at the kitchen table while Sniper, Josh Taske, and the men she assumed to be Wraith and Nathan Wolv conversed in hushed tones. Two women, one with red hair who Emma took to be the assassin called Scarlet, and the other with light-brown hair and blue eyes who she thought must be Lexy Taske, sat at the other end of the table from her. They went between watching her suspiciously and watching the men in the living room.
Now that she was here, Emma was at a loss for what she would do. Should she make a demand? Would that just anger the one the Underworlders called the Sharktooth? What would he do if angered, kill her? Should she just remain silent and calm and only offer information when asked? Would that make them see her as arrogant? Maybe that would also end with her death. Any way Emma looked at it, she was unprepared for this.
Finally, the conversation in the living room ended and Josh Taske and Wraith left the room. Emma glanced around at the others in confusion, fear making her pulse quicken.
Nathan gestured Emma to follow him. With Sniper at her side and Scarlet and Lexy behind her, Emma followed the mercenary called the Wolf up the stairs, through a bedroom, and into a world of computers and information. Josh Taske already sat at the circular table with two large computer monitors flickering behind him. Wraith stood just behind him and to his left.
Lexy went to sit next to her husband, and Nathan sat next to her. Scarlet guided Emma to the seat next to Lexy, and then took her own place beside her. Sniper opted to stand behind Emma, mirroring Wraith.
Josh stared at her a long time.
“Your name is Emma Lector?”
Emma nodded numbly.
“What are you doing here?”
Emma thought fast, trying to decide what tale she should spin to these dangerous individuals. The look from Josh convinced her, and she decided to stick with the truth.
“I was working for James Hughes, who is Chairman of the Board in New York City… I know he has put a bounty on all your heads, and I think I have information you can use to take him down. But, most of all, he cheated me and used me, and I want revenge.”
Nathan and Scarlet traded glances and smiles. Lexy looked surprised, and Wraith remained impassive.
Josh’s hard gray eyes remained unblinking, focused uncomfortably on her. They reminded Emma of Samuel Grayson for some reason.
“Miss Lector, what do you have that can help us?”
Emma swallowed hard, “Well, I know what James’ Plan is…”
Wraith finally showed some sign of being more than a statue as he looked at Josh.
“That could be useful.”
Josh nodded once, “Is that all?”
Emma shook her head, “I also know he’ll be in a place where, compared to the Regency Building, he is vulnerable.”
Josh glanced at Nathan, who looked like he was willing to hear her out.
“And what do you want in return for this information?”
Emma looked down at the tabletop, slightly embarrassed at her meager request.
“Only two things: that you let me help take James down, and you don’t betray me like he did.”
Josh’s eyes softened, the gray stone became soft mist.
“We don’t betray our allies, Miss Lector.”
Emma smiled slightly, “Please, call me Emma.”
Josh nodded an acknowledgement, “Very well, Emma.”
Nathan leaned forward, “’K, you can call me Nathan, that there’s Lexy an’ Red, Wraith is the silent type in the back an’ you’ve been talkin’ to Josh. Now can you tell us what James’ up to?”
Lexy slapped Nathan on the shoulder and Scarlet smiled apologetically at Emma.
“Sorry, Emma, you can call me Scarlet. Now, if you please, we really do need to know what James is planning.”
Emma nodded, “Okay, it started about five years ago when James was on Regent Taske’s think-tank. He came up with what everyone called “The Plan”. No one talked about it really; it was just “The Plan”. James submitted it to Regent and Regent approved it, but it was going to take some time to set it up. James needed a Hacker and a bunch of equipment and information before the plan to be initiated. He gave Regent an estimate, saying the Plan would be ready in five-years. He plans on putting the Plan into action sometime this year.”
Wraith’s eyes were slightly glazed over, “What exactly is the Plan?”
Emma took a deep breath, “The Plan is to steal all currency in the United States.”
The silence in the room could have been cut with a knife. They all stared at her in shock. Emma started to have second thoughts about her own plan.
Nathan finally spoke, “Uh, hey, Hon? You wanna run through that again?”
Emma braced herself and explained, “James had Cipher, the Hacker he hired, to design what is essentially a computer virus that once enabled and uploaded onto the Net, will divert all digital currency into a secured private account that only James controls and knows about. People might start to question the reason why their money is disappearing, but they will just blame it on identity theft or fraud. They will get a new credit or debit card and go on spending like they usually do. By the time people realize what is happening, James will have most of the virtual money in the US in his personal account. Then he plans on using that money to black mail the government and large businesses. He’ll tell them that if they do this for him, he’ll give them back this amount, they do this other thing, and they get this much back. And if they try to take him out or hack his account, he’ll just delete the money and the US will have to make more, rendering their currency to be worth far less than it is. It would ruin the country’s economy.”
Silence once again rained in the Den. The magnitude and audacity of James’ scheme hit them all like a ton of bricks. If what Emma said was true, and there was no evidence to say she was, James was going to mount a coup the likes of the world had never seen before.
Josh’s gray eyes came back to rest upon Emma.
“You said something about James being in a place where he is vulnerable?”
Emma nodded, “Yes, he is launching his plan from his villa in California, a few miles outside of Los Angeles. The place is built like a fortress, but the security is fairly low compared to the Regency Building. He’s planning on staying there for at least three weeks.”
Josh nodded and spun around to type something into one of the computers behind him. He glanced over at Wraith as he did so.
“Wraith?”
Wraith shook his head, “Sorry, I have heard of James’ villa, but nothing specific. And I have never had any reason to look into it until now.”
Josh waited a moment until the computer beeped quietly. He turned back around, his face creased in thought.
“I have nothing in my files either. He’s kept it a very well-kept secret.”
Nathan looked mad, “Then where in Hell to we find something? Or do you plan on us going in there with no intel?
Josh and Wraith seemed to have the same thought.
“The Regency Vault.”
Nathan looked fed up with all the mysteries and secrets.
“And what the Hell is that!?”
Josh ignored him and turned back to his computer, so Wraith explained.
“The Regency Building has a huge computer data vault that contains all the information the Board or Taske Family has collected over the years. James would have had to have files on his villa somewhere, even if they are incomplete.”
Scarlet raised a hand, “Uh, why would he have to? Is it required or something?”
Wraith shook his head, “It isn’t required, but if James ever wanted to do some renovating or remodeling, or if some emergency ever arose where he might have to break in, it is only prudent that someone like James would have some kind of blueprint or basic floor plan for the place.”
Scarlet nodded and, getting to her feet, started to walk out the door.
“Well, since we can’t do anything until we have some sort of picture of the place, I’m going to go down stairs, get a cup of coffee, and try to figure out how I’m going to live when James controls my finances in a few weeks.”
Nathan looked up at Sniper, “Sorry, Max, looks like our job is going to have to wait.”
Emma looked up in surprise at Sniper.
“Your job!?”
Sniper nodded, “Me, Nathan and Scarlet were planning on meeting here and heading off to accept a job in Europe. That’s why I was in Hollywood’s shop, to get a passport and ID.”
Emma was furious, “So both you and Hollywood knew where Josh was, yet you lead me along and acted like you weren’t sure!”
Sniper met her angry glare calmly, “Yes.”
Josh looked over from his work at the computer.
“Emma, if someone you didn’t know and didn’t trust was looking for a friend of yours, would you just point out where they live? Or would you try to give your friend some forewarning?”
Emma sat back, her anger sated by Josh’s logic.
“I guess I’d try to warn them.”
Nathan grinned, “They could have just said they didn’t know anything.”
Emma shot a killing glance at Nathan.
Sniper put his hand on her shoulder, “Come on, lets go get something to eat.”
After Sniper and Emma left, only Josh, Wraith, Nathan, and Lexy remained in the Den. They looked at each other, still slightly stunned by Emma’s news.
Nathan glanced at Josh, “Think she’s on the level?”
Josh rested his head in his hands and sighed.
“I think she’s telling the truth. Wraith, what do you think?”
Wraith’s green eyes were as cool and calm as ever.
“She’s telling the truth, at least to the best of her knowledge. If anything we have take James out, even if his Plan isn’t what Emma says it is.”
Josh sat up and nodded. Two loud beeps sounded from the computer behind him and he turned back towards it. Taking a USB drive from the hub on the desk, he handed it to Wraith.
“This drive has access codes for a backdoor I hardwired into the Regency’s Vault. It will get you in, and there is room on the device for whatever information you find on the villa, and on James’ Plan.”
Wraith accepted the USB and nodded once.
“I’ll leave right away. One of Steve Marr’s smuggler pilots over at PDX should be able to fly me to New York and back. Give me… three-and-a-half days or so?”
Josh reached out and grasped the Informer’s hand.
“Good luck.”
Downstairs, Scarlet sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She watched as Emma and Sniper entered the kitchen and the mercenary started rummaging through the fridge.
“There’s a few kinds of beer in there, some soda, a few apples, and I think some leftover pizza and breadsticks from the other night.”
Sniper looked over at Emma, “Anything sound good?”
Emma shrugged, “I guess the pizza sounds okay.”
Sniper nodded and handed her a Round Table Pizza box. He grabbed a Guinness and the smaller box of breadsticks and came to sit across from Scarlet. Emma sat down next to him, placing the pizza box in the center of the table.
She looked hesitantly at Scarlet, “So… Um, you’re Scarlet?”
Scarlet nodded, “Yep. And you’re Emma Lector.”
Emma looked embarrassed and uncomfortable, “Uh, yeah…”
Scarlet nodded a greeting to Sniper, “Max, how’ve you been?”
Sniper shrugged, “Since that job in Vegas a few years ago? I had a job in Texas, training border guards, and then I helped fight a small war in Mexico. After Mexico I’ve been hanging around on the west coast, picking up odd jobs. The Brussels job with you and Nathan is the first major job offer I’ve had in a while.”
Scarlet turned her sharp green eyes on Emma.
“So, what’s your story?’
Emma had just taken a bite of cold pizza, so Scarlet had to wait until she had swallowed before she got an answer.
“Um… born in Texas, worked my way into a position as secretary at the Whitehouse during Matt Gold’s term in office. I made the mistake of letting a handsome, to-good-to-be-true businessman lure me away from my position with the promise of love and riches. I found out just recently he was a lying, cheating scoundrel, so here I am.”
Scarlet shook her head and smiled slightly in mild wonder.
“Most gals I know would love to be seduced by a roughish scoundrel.”
Emma grimaced, “Wrong kind of scoundrel.”
Scarlet laughed.
Emma took another bite of pizza and, after swallowing, decided to try to alleviate some of the suspicion Scarlet obviously held towards her.
“So, um… what about you?”
Scarlet shrugged dismissively, “Eh, the usual sap story. Born in Florida and raised by a thief. We moved to New York when I was ten and there I met Josh and Nathan. My thief of a guardian was killed when I was thirteen, and that was when I started my career as an assassin. And I’ve been one ever since.”
Emma looked at the other woman in amazement, “You’re serious? What a life you’ve had!”
Scarlet dismissed her shock and awe, “It’s just a life.”
Wraith walked in just then and grabbed keys to Josh’s Ninja 3 from next to the phone.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days. Josh wants me to get the files on James’ villa from the Regency Vault.”
Scarlet waved at the Informer, “Good luck, you going to get one of Steve Marr’s pilots to fly you?”
Steve Marr was a smuggler who ran a nation-wide Underworld airline. Josh and the pilot had an unofficial alliance going back years. Steve had felt terrible after learning one of his planes had flown the assassin who killed Josh’s first wife and daughter to his destination. He had told Josh that if he ever needed transportation his fleet of airplanes and helicopters were at his service.
In answer to Scarlet’s question, Wraith nodded.
“Yes, Joe Binkley landed at PDX yesterday morning, and is scheduled to go out this afternoon. I called Steve and he said he’s radio Binkley to wait and give me a lift.”
Scarlet watched Wraith leave and repeated her farewell.
“Good luck.”
~Chapter 13~
~June 24th, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
The next day was a frenzy of preparations for any possible contingency the defenders could think of. Josh and Nathan spent the morning going through Josh’s extensive collection of weaponry, loading and prepping guns and placing them in strategic places around the house. A pair of FN SCAR’s in the front hallway, a Mossberg 590 next to the back door, and either an Accuracy International AW or an SSG 3000 sniper rifle at each of the upstairs windows. Nathan prepped and loaded a number of pistols and placed them in areas where they might be needed most, places such as the living room coffee table, the bar in the kitchen, the dining room table, nightstands in the bedrooms, and even on bathroom counters. With each weapon they made sure there was at least two fully loaded clips of ammo and, if possible, a box of loose bullets.
Wraith was in charge of locking down the underground garage. He moved Josh’s Ninja 3 cycle, the ’16 Mustang, and the Chevy Trailblazer Josh had had modified into a small tank a few years before out of the garage. Then the green-eyed informer moved Nathan’s Jeep, the white BMW the Twins had used, and his own Yamaha XVS650 motorcycle into the garage and, using the keypad on the wall inside the garage’s back door, sealed the ramp closed.
Wraith then moved the Trailblazer and Mustang into the two-car garage’s parking spaces, and parked the Ninja 3 between them. Checking in, briefly, with Josh, Wraith’s next step was to conceal two H&K MP53 submachine gun/assault rifle hybrids under the seats in the two larger vehicles, and a Micro-Uzi in the Ninja 3’s small trunk. Upon Nathan’s suggestion, Wraith also hid a Sig Sauer P225 in the vehicle’s glove boxes, and FN40GL 40mm grenade launcher in the trunks.
As the armaments were prepared and placed, Scarlet and Lexy were setting up the house’s alarms and security systems and fortifying the place. The house’s windows were already shatter-proof and built to withstand any normal-sized handgun, rifle, or submachine gun. But the two women still went and covered the smaller and unusable windows with sheets of reinforced steel. When Josh had built the house he had designed the windows so the sheets of metal could be simply screwed to the inside of the frame, and it only took them about four minutes to do each window.
Next, Lexy went to the Den and began the lengthy process of backing up the Den’s four computers. Down in the underground garage was a panel that housed a backup system that could hold over 400terrabyts of information. Combined with Wraith’s complicated compression programs, this was a stunning amount of information. Wraith guessed that you could probably hold every important piece of literature ever recorded, not to mention the government records from both the United States and Britain, and still have room to spare.
As Lexy was busy backing up Josh’s databases, Scarlet was occupied with activating and checking the twelve perimeter sensors that surrounded the house. Placed one at each corner and two in between, the sensors could pick up audio and even visual confirmation of anyone trying to get to the house. The system was designed by Wraith, and was tied into the system housed in the Den. Anyone so much as twitched, sneezed, or got within forty-eight feet of the perimeter sensors, the Telecom system in the Den would bring up the visual and audio feed from the sensors.
Finally, after exhausting themselves checking and rechecking their security measures, the four of them collapsed on the couches in the living room. They stared at each other silently, wondering if all their planning and preparing was enough to save them.
-Samuel Grayson’s Apartment, NY
Jay Marcos paced back and forth in Grayson’s small apartment, frustrated with they fact that they knew so much, and yet, so little.
He spun to pace by Samuel Grayson, who sat calmly on the couch.
“She isn’t telling us anything?”
Grayson, the ghost of a smile playing across his lips, shook his head.
“No, Miss Hollywood refused to give me any information on the whereabouts of Miss Lector. And I could not reveal my identity, so I had to leave it at that.”
Hosea De Carlos sat on a recliner by the window, staring at the cityscape outside.
“So, Senor Grayson, what do you know that you are not telling us?”
Marcos stopped pacing and glared at Grayson.
“You’re hiding something from us?”
Grayson shrugged, his ghostly smile becoming more tangible.
“Not really. What I know is a simple matter of following the logical path of things. What is Hollywood?”
De Carlos glanced momentarily at Marcos, “She is a Forger.”
“And what do Forgers do for a living?”
Marcos ran a hand through his short brown hair, “She keeps tabs on Underworld agents so she can get hold of one when a job comes up. Then she manufactures fake documents and papers so the agent can carry out his job without to much hassle.”
Grayson nodded, “So then, why would Miss Lector pay Holly a visit?”
De Carlos got it first, “She was looking for Josh Taske!”
Marcos sat down on the edge of the coffee table, “So, Emma Lector is going to see Taske?”
Grayson shrugged again, “That is the logical assumption. At the very least, she is on her way to see Josh Taske.”
De Carlos looked confused, “What do you mean, Senor?”
Grayson met Hosea’s look with cold grey eyes.
“Hollywood and the other Forgers know a lot, but Josh Taske knows how to disappear. He has even managed to keep his last name without gaining too much attention from Underworlders. Even if Hollywood knew where he lived, she wouldn’t just give away where Josh Taske lived that easily.”
Marcos nodded, “You are saying she probably sent Lector to a middleman, allowing her to get in contact with Taske and warn him someone is looking for him.”
Grayson’s smile became solid, “Yes, exactly. So, while we do not know where Miss Lector is at this moment, we know where she is destined to show up. We also know what information she holds, and from that we can discern Josh Taske’s next move.”
De Carlos was skeptical. Grayson’s predictions usually came true, but at first they often seemed like terrible leaps of logic.
“So what do you think Taske will do next?”
Grayson rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. The smile remained on his pale face.
“Josh Taske does not want to risk a full-scale assault on the Regency Building, so he will stay put and stay prepared for now. Emma will tell him about James’ Plan, convincing him that James must be dealt with. Then, Emma will tell him that James is due at his villa soon. That will give Taske the opportunity to make a strike against James without risking the wrath of the Empire.”
Marcos nodded, “But the only knowledge of James’ villa is in the computer vault in the Regency Building. How will Taske plan his assault and escape?”
Grayson’s smile got wider, revealing his vampirish teeth.
“Simple, he will send Wraith to get the data.”
Now it was Marcos’ turn to be skeptical, he stared hard at Grayson.
“I have heard of this “Wraith”, but how will even he get into the Regency’s computer vault?”
Grayson shrugged, “He will find away, although it might take him a while.”
De Carlos thought that over, “Then why don’t we make it easier for the Sombra to find what he needs?”
Grayson’s eyes flicked open and he sat forward on the couch.
“Good idea, Hosea! Now how can we do this?”
Marcos snapped his fingers, “I know, TDS!”
Grayson looked at Marcos with mild surprise, “What is that, some new kind of disease?”
Marcos ignored the remark and explained, “TDS stands for “Temporary Data Storage”. It is where computer data is placed when it is wanted for immediate access, like when a meeting is being held in the Board’s conference room. A secretary or someone who has access to the database finds the files beforehand and places them in TDS inside of a file that bears the name of whoever is going to access it. So all someone has to do is type their name into the database’s search engine and the first thing it will bring up are any files in TDS.”
Grayson pondered it for a moment, “Can anyone else see the data?”
Marcos shook his head, “No, TDS’ search engine is set so the files only appear in the results if the exact name is entered. But, if someone was to do an encrypted data sweep, it would pull up all TDS files and allow that person access.”
Grayson smiled, “And Wraith is the kind of person to use just such a data sweep when he begins his search. So we create a file for him, label it either “Wraith” or “James’ Villa”, and let him find it.”
Marcos nodded.
Grayson jumped up from the couch and clapped the Chicago drug lord on the shoulder.
“Well then, let’s do it!”
~June 25th, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
That morning, Scarlet woke to something hard jabbing into her side.
“Ow… Dammit!”
The object was the spare clip she had put on the bed next to her. Somehow during the night it had gotten between her and the bed and now was pressing hard into her ribcage.
Scarlet removed the offending item and sat up. She was in Maria and Lola’s shared bedroom, on the bed that, based on the two crossed Sais on the comforter, belonged to Maria. As Scarlet got up and changed out of the pair of night-shorts and tank top she usually slept in, the thought of the little girl who the bed belonged too made her smile; especially the memory of the little girl trying to play poker just a few days before.
Dressed but with her hair in a mess, Scarlet made her way downstairs. Josh and Lexy were still asleep in their room, and Scarlet passed Wraith dozing in a chair in the office. She went down the stairs and glanced around the living room where Nathan had slept, but he was not there.
“In here, Red.”
Scarlet walked farther into the living room to where she could see the kitchen and breakfast area, and there she saw him.
Nathan was sitting at the far end of the kitchen table, arms crossed and staring out the glass backdoor. He still wore the same clothes as the night before, and from the looks of the pillow and blanket Lexy had brought down, he hadn’t used them.
Scarlet went into the kitchen, intending to start the coffee maker, but saw it had already been started. Filling a mug with the still-hot liquid in the carafe, she went to sit at the other end of the table from Nathan.
She watched him for a long time. The man’s eyes were hollow and tired; his face weary. He didn’t seem to take much notice of her; he just stared out at the play set in the backyard. Not for the last time, Scarlet worried about him.
“Did you sleep at all last night?”
Nathan shook his head, but remained silent.
Scarlet sipped her coffee, her eyes still on him.
“You want to talk?”
Nathan didn’t answer so, after waiting a few minutes, Scarlet rose to go back to her room.
“Okay then…”
She had taken three steps when Nathan’s hoarse voice interrupted the silence.
“You remember when we were in Gold Rush, about two years ago?”
Scarlet came back and sat down.
“Yeah, we spent a few weeks there.”
She didn’t mention they almost got themselves killed there.
Nathan nodded slowly, “Yeah, well I’d been there before. About six years ago.”
“Yeah, I figured that out when we were there.”
Scarlet remembered the familiarity in which Nathan greeted some of the people in the little town in Texas. He had refused to tell her what happened the last time he was there, but she suspected whatever it was weighed heavily on the man’s mind.
Nathan continued, his voice cracking slightly.
“Well, when I was there before, it was just after that San Diego mission where we all split up…”
That was also fairly fresh in Scarlet’s memory. It had been during the time Josh had been exacting vengeance on the Taske Family’s crime organization. They had gone to infiltrate and destroy a warehouse the Family shared with the Irish Mafia. The Op had gone bad and everyone involved had been forced to go their separate ways. She had gone to Washington while Josh and Wraith had hid out in Portland. Nathan and Sniper, who was a member of their strike force at the time, had disappeared without a trace.
“…I had been shot by the cops those Mafia thugs called in. Somehow, running entirely on fumes and alcohol, I managed to make my way to Gold Rush. I ran my truck into that statue in their main street, and the doctor there fixed me up. Afterwards, while I was still recovering, I was taken in by a woman and her younger brother. Her name was… Marcella.”
He said the name with such reverence and pain Scarlet couldn’t help but feel his hurt. She wanted to go to him to try to comfort him, but she new he would most likely close himself off again. So she staid put, her heart quietly breaking for him.
“Anyways, we hit it off. She made me feel… complete? I felt as if I could talk to her and she wouldn’t judge me. She seemed to understand me in a way no woman ever has. I could look in her eyes and forget all the pain and hurt I’ve seen… I could forget my own pain…”
Scarlet thought she saw a tear in the corner of the ex-Marine’s eye. Her heart completely fell apart, and a feeling she had hidden deep inside her slowly began to make its appearance. She didn’t know what to do, for Nathan, or for herself.
Nathan subdued whatever emotion he was struggling with under his face of stone. Only his eyes revealed what he was truly feeling.
“I told you a little bit about the slave ring I helped break up there, what I didn’t tell you was that Marcella, and her brother, were both killed. She had been captured in an attempt to try and blackmail me into leaving the group alone. I found her and we were escaping when… she was shot.”
Scarlet had known Nathan for over twenty-six years; she had seen him angry, sad, drunk, and sober, so she thought she already knew how his story ended.
“What did you do?”
Nathan grimaced, as if the memory pained him.
“I killed them… everyone involved, I made sure no one who had a hand in her death was left alive. I killed seventeen men in less than twenty-four hours. And you know what the ironic thing was?”
Scarlet shook her head.
“I still felt empty inside. When that bullet tore through her, it tore through me as well. And it hasn’t healed yet.”
Scarlet stared at the man. The pure force of the emotion caged behind those ice-blue eyes was greater than anything she had ever seen. Every myth, legend and song about love being the most powerful thing in the universe ran through her mind.
Nathan reached into his shirt and pulled out the chain he wore his dog tags on. Next to the two metal pieces engraved with his name and serial number, was a ring with a brilliant sapphire set into it. Nathan stared at it a long moment, his voice lost somewhere in the rush of emotion conjured by the ring.
“This ring belonged first to Marcella’s mother, then to Marcella. It was given to me by Doctor Mortensen, who preformed both Marcella’s and her brother’s autopsies. I don’t know why I keep it; all it does is remind me of what I lost. Of what my life could have been if I could have just saved her.”
Scarlet stared at the ring, then at Nathan. It had never occurred to her that maybe all the man had ever wanted was a little peace and quiet in his life. She tried to come up with the words to comfort him.
“Nathan, I’m… I’m sorry…”
Nathan grunted, and his eyes went dead. Just like that, he shut himself off. Scarlet had seen both Nathan and Josh do it before, focus their mind into a sharp point that was all business, no emotion or feeling. “Emotional tunnel vision”, that was what Wraith called it.
A sudden beeping coming from the smoke detectors caught both of them off guard. Different from the normal fire alarm, the warning meant something had been detected crossing the perimeter sensors.
Nathan and Scarlet exchanged worried glances and jumped up from their seats. Nathan grabbed the Mossberg he had leaned against the table the night before and headed for the front door. Scarlet snatched the H&K USP from her back pocket and took the steps leading upstairs two at a time.
At the top of the stairs she was met by Wraith, armed with a Glock 22, and the two of them turned to where Lexy had opened her and Josh’s bedroom door.
Dressed in simple black nightshirt and shorts, Lexy’s hair was ruffled and sticking up in places, but her eyes were bright and alert.
“Josh is already in the Den.”
Scarlet headed for the open door of the Den while Wraith handed Lexy his Glock.
“I’ll see what the issue is. Nathan is probably by the front door, take this and go help him. Either me or Scarlet will be down in a minute.”
Lexy nodded once and ran for the stairs. Wraith entered the Den and his green eyes went straight for the Telecom screen.
Josh was sitting at the keyboard to the computer that controlled all the perimeter sensors and alarms.
“Large blue 2012 Hummer just pulled into the driveway. No one has gotten out yet and the windows are tinted, we can’t see in.”
Josh and Wraith had installed hidden cameras into all the outside light fixtures. Combined with the perimeter sensors, they had eyes on every angle of the property.
Wraith stared at the Hummer for a moment, his eyes glazed as he ran it through his mind’s own recognition software.
Finally, “Stand down, its Sniper.”
As if to backup Wraith’s statement, Sniper opened the driver’s door and jumped to the ground. As a woman Josh recognized as Emma Lector slid out of the passenger door, Sniper opened the door to the backseat and grabbed a duffel bag and long carry-case.
Scarlet walked quickly out of the Den, “I’ll go down and tell Lexy and Nathan.”
Josh nodded, keeping his eyes on the screen.
“Good, Lexy might want to come up and change while you and Nathan handle the initial welcoming party.”
Sniper and Emma had just reached the front door when it was opened by Scarlet. Nathan stood just behind her with the Mossberg 20 gauge trained primarily on Emma.
The blue-eyed merc grinned at her as Scarlet ushered them into the house.
“Welcome to Oregon.”
The next day was a frenzy of preparations for any possible contingency the defenders could think of. Josh and Nathan spent the morning going through Josh’s extensive collection of weaponry, loading and prepping guns and placing them in strategic places around the house. A pair of FN SCAR’s in the front hallway, a Mossberg 590 next to the back door, and either an Accuracy International AW or an SSG 3000 sniper rifle at each of the upstairs windows. Nathan prepped and loaded a number of pistols and placed them in areas where they might be needed most, places such as the living room coffee table, the bar in the kitchen, the dining room table, nightstands in the bedrooms, and even on bathroom counters. With each weapon they made sure there was at least two fully loaded clips of ammo and, if possible, a box of loose bullets.
Wraith was in charge of locking down the underground garage. He moved Josh’s Ninja 3 cycle, the ’16 Mustang, and the Chevy Trailblazer Josh had had modified into a small tank a few years before out of the garage. Then the green-eyed informer moved Nathan’s Jeep, the white BMW the Twins had used, and his own Yamaha XVS650 motorcycle into the garage and, using the keypad on the wall inside the garage’s back door, sealed the ramp closed.
Wraith then moved the Trailblazer and Mustang into the two-car garage’s parking spaces, and parked the Ninja 3 between them. Checking in, briefly, with Josh, Wraith’s next step was to conceal two H&K MP53 submachine gun/assault rifle hybrids under the seats in the two larger vehicles, and a Micro-Uzi in the Ninja 3’s small trunk. Upon Nathan’s suggestion, Wraith also hid a Sig Sauer P225 in the vehicle’s glove boxes, and FN40GL 40mm grenade launcher in the trunks.
As the armaments were prepared and placed, Scarlet and Lexy were setting up the house’s alarms and security systems and fortifying the place. The house’s windows were already shatter-proof and built to withstand any normal-sized handgun, rifle, or submachine gun. But the two women still went and covered the smaller and unusable windows with sheets of reinforced steel. When Josh had built the house he had designed the windows so the sheets of metal could be simply screwed to the inside of the frame, and it only took them about four minutes to do each window.
Next, Lexy went to the Den and began the lengthy process of backing up the Den’s four computers. Down in the underground garage was a panel that housed a backup system that could hold over 400terrabyts of information. Combined with Wraith’s complicated compression programs, this was a stunning amount of information. Wraith guessed that you could probably hold every important piece of literature ever recorded, not to mention the government records from both the United States and Britain, and still have room to spare.
As Lexy was busy backing up Josh’s databases, Scarlet was occupied with activating and checking the twelve perimeter sensors that surrounded the house. Placed one at each corner and two in between, the sensors could pick up audio and even visual confirmation of anyone trying to get to the house. The system was designed by Wraith, and was tied into the system housed in the Den. Anyone so much as twitched, sneezed, or got within forty-eight feet of the perimeter sensors, the Telecom system in the Den would bring up the visual and audio feed from the sensors.
Finally, after exhausting themselves checking and rechecking their security measures, the four of them collapsed on the couches in the living room. They stared at each other silently, wondering if all their planning and preparing was enough to save them.
-Samuel Grayson’s Apartment, NY
Jay Marcos paced back and forth in Grayson’s small apartment, frustrated with they fact that they knew so much, and yet, so little.
He spun to pace by Samuel Grayson, who sat calmly on the couch.
“She isn’t telling us anything?”
Grayson, the ghost of a smile playing across his lips, shook his head.
“No, Miss Hollywood refused to give me any information on the whereabouts of Miss Lector. And I could not reveal my identity, so I had to leave it at that.”
Hosea De Carlos sat on a recliner by the window, staring at the cityscape outside.
“So, Senor Grayson, what do you know that you are not telling us?”
Marcos stopped pacing and glared at Grayson.
“You’re hiding something from us?”
Grayson shrugged, his ghostly smile becoming more tangible.
“Not really. What I know is a simple matter of following the logical path of things. What is Hollywood?”
De Carlos glanced momentarily at Marcos, “She is a Forger.”
“And what do Forgers do for a living?”
Marcos ran a hand through his short brown hair, “She keeps tabs on Underworld agents so she can get hold of one when a job comes up. Then she manufactures fake documents and papers so the agent can carry out his job without to much hassle.”
Grayson nodded, “So then, why would Miss Lector pay Holly a visit?”
De Carlos got it first, “She was looking for Josh Taske!”
Marcos sat down on the edge of the coffee table, “So, Emma Lector is going to see Taske?”
Grayson shrugged again, “That is the logical assumption. At the very least, she is on her way to see Josh Taske.”
De Carlos looked confused, “What do you mean, Senor?”
Grayson met Hosea’s look with cold grey eyes.
“Hollywood and the other Forgers know a lot, but Josh Taske knows how to disappear. He has even managed to keep his last name without gaining too much attention from Underworlders. Even if Hollywood knew where he lived, she wouldn’t just give away where Josh Taske lived that easily.”
Marcos nodded, “You are saying she probably sent Lector to a middleman, allowing her to get in contact with Taske and warn him someone is looking for him.”
Grayson’s smile became solid, “Yes, exactly. So, while we do not know where Miss Lector is at this moment, we know where she is destined to show up. We also know what information she holds, and from that we can discern Josh Taske’s next move.”
De Carlos was skeptical. Grayson’s predictions usually came true, but at first they often seemed like terrible leaps of logic.
“So what do you think Taske will do next?”
Grayson rested his head against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. The smile remained on his pale face.
“Josh Taske does not want to risk a full-scale assault on the Regency Building, so he will stay put and stay prepared for now. Emma will tell him about James’ Plan, convincing him that James must be dealt with. Then, Emma will tell him that James is due at his villa soon. That will give Taske the opportunity to make a strike against James without risking the wrath of the Empire.”
Marcos nodded, “But the only knowledge of James’ villa is in the computer vault in the Regency Building. How will Taske plan his assault and escape?”
Grayson’s smile got wider, revealing his vampirish teeth.
“Simple, he will send Wraith to get the data.”
Now it was Marcos’ turn to be skeptical, he stared hard at Grayson.
“I have heard of this “Wraith”, but how will even he get into the Regency’s computer vault?”
Grayson shrugged, “He will find away, although it might take him a while.”
De Carlos thought that over, “Then why don’t we make it easier for the Sombra to find what he needs?”
Grayson’s eyes flicked open and he sat forward on the couch.
“Good idea, Hosea! Now how can we do this?”
Marcos snapped his fingers, “I know, TDS!”
Grayson looked at Marcos with mild surprise, “What is that, some new kind of disease?”
Marcos ignored the remark and explained, “TDS stands for “Temporary Data Storage”. It is where computer data is placed when it is wanted for immediate access, like when a meeting is being held in the Board’s conference room. A secretary or someone who has access to the database finds the files beforehand and places them in TDS inside of a file that bears the name of whoever is going to access it. So all someone has to do is type their name into the database’s search engine and the first thing it will bring up are any files in TDS.”
Grayson pondered it for a moment, “Can anyone else see the data?”
Marcos shook his head, “No, TDS’ search engine is set so the files only appear in the results if the exact name is entered. But, if someone was to do an encrypted data sweep, it would pull up all TDS files and allow that person access.”
Grayson smiled, “And Wraith is the kind of person to use just such a data sweep when he begins his search. So we create a file for him, label it either “Wraith” or “James’ Villa”, and let him find it.”
Marcos nodded.
Grayson jumped up from the couch and clapped the Chicago drug lord on the shoulder.
“Well then, let’s do it!”
~June 25th, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
That morning, Scarlet woke to something hard jabbing into her side.
“Ow… Dammit!”
The object was the spare clip she had put on the bed next to her. Somehow during the night it had gotten between her and the bed and now was pressing hard into her ribcage.
Scarlet removed the offending item and sat up. She was in Maria and Lola’s shared bedroom, on the bed that, based on the two crossed Sais on the comforter, belonged to Maria. As Scarlet got up and changed out of the pair of night-shorts and tank top she usually slept in, the thought of the little girl who the bed belonged too made her smile; especially the memory of the little girl trying to play poker just a few days before.
Dressed but with her hair in a mess, Scarlet made her way downstairs. Josh and Lexy were still asleep in their room, and Scarlet passed Wraith dozing in a chair in the office. She went down the stairs and glanced around the living room where Nathan had slept, but he was not there.
“In here, Red.”
Scarlet walked farther into the living room to where she could see the kitchen and breakfast area, and there she saw him.
Nathan was sitting at the far end of the kitchen table, arms crossed and staring out the glass backdoor. He still wore the same clothes as the night before, and from the looks of the pillow and blanket Lexy had brought down, he hadn’t used them.
Scarlet went into the kitchen, intending to start the coffee maker, but saw it had already been started. Filling a mug with the still-hot liquid in the carafe, she went to sit at the other end of the table from Nathan.
She watched him for a long time. The man’s eyes were hollow and tired; his face weary. He didn’t seem to take much notice of her; he just stared out at the play set in the backyard. Not for the last time, Scarlet worried about him.
“Did you sleep at all last night?”
Nathan shook his head, but remained silent.
Scarlet sipped her coffee, her eyes still on him.
“You want to talk?”
Nathan didn’t answer so, after waiting a few minutes, Scarlet rose to go back to her room.
“Okay then…”
She had taken three steps when Nathan’s hoarse voice interrupted the silence.
“You remember when we were in Gold Rush, about two years ago?”
Scarlet came back and sat down.
“Yeah, we spent a few weeks there.”
She didn’t mention they almost got themselves killed there.
Nathan nodded slowly, “Yeah, well I’d been there before. About six years ago.”
“Yeah, I figured that out when we were there.”
Scarlet remembered the familiarity in which Nathan greeted some of the people in the little town in Texas. He had refused to tell her what happened the last time he was there, but she suspected whatever it was weighed heavily on the man’s mind.
Nathan continued, his voice cracking slightly.
“Well, when I was there before, it was just after that San Diego mission where we all split up…”
That was also fairly fresh in Scarlet’s memory. It had been during the time Josh had been exacting vengeance on the Taske Family’s crime organization. They had gone to infiltrate and destroy a warehouse the Family shared with the Irish Mafia. The Op had gone bad and everyone involved had been forced to go their separate ways. She had gone to Washington while Josh and Wraith had hid out in Portland. Nathan and Sniper, who was a member of their strike force at the time, had disappeared without a trace.
“…I had been shot by the cops those Mafia thugs called in. Somehow, running entirely on fumes and alcohol, I managed to make my way to Gold Rush. I ran my truck into that statue in their main street, and the doctor there fixed me up. Afterwards, while I was still recovering, I was taken in by a woman and her younger brother. Her name was… Marcella.”
He said the name with such reverence and pain Scarlet couldn’t help but feel his hurt. She wanted to go to him to try to comfort him, but she new he would most likely close himself off again. So she staid put, her heart quietly breaking for him.
“Anyways, we hit it off. She made me feel… complete? I felt as if I could talk to her and she wouldn’t judge me. She seemed to understand me in a way no woman ever has. I could look in her eyes and forget all the pain and hurt I’ve seen… I could forget my own pain…”
Scarlet thought she saw a tear in the corner of the ex-Marine’s eye. Her heart completely fell apart, and a feeling she had hidden deep inside her slowly began to make its appearance. She didn’t know what to do, for Nathan, or for herself.
Nathan subdued whatever emotion he was struggling with under his face of stone. Only his eyes revealed what he was truly feeling.
“I told you a little bit about the slave ring I helped break up there, what I didn’t tell you was that Marcella, and her brother, were both killed. She had been captured in an attempt to try and blackmail me into leaving the group alone. I found her and we were escaping when… she was shot.”
Scarlet had known Nathan for over twenty-six years; she had seen him angry, sad, drunk, and sober, so she thought she already knew how his story ended.
“What did you do?”
Nathan grimaced, as if the memory pained him.
“I killed them… everyone involved, I made sure no one who had a hand in her death was left alive. I killed seventeen men in less than twenty-four hours. And you know what the ironic thing was?”
Scarlet shook her head.
“I still felt empty inside. When that bullet tore through her, it tore through me as well. And it hasn’t healed yet.”
Scarlet stared at the man. The pure force of the emotion caged behind those ice-blue eyes was greater than anything she had ever seen. Every myth, legend and song about love being the most powerful thing in the universe ran through her mind.
Nathan reached into his shirt and pulled out the chain he wore his dog tags on. Next to the two metal pieces engraved with his name and serial number, was a ring with a brilliant sapphire set into it. Nathan stared at it a long moment, his voice lost somewhere in the rush of emotion conjured by the ring.
“This ring belonged first to Marcella’s mother, then to Marcella. It was given to me by Doctor Mortensen, who preformed both Marcella’s and her brother’s autopsies. I don’t know why I keep it; all it does is remind me of what I lost. Of what my life could have been if I could have just saved her.”
Scarlet stared at the ring, then at Nathan. It had never occurred to her that maybe all the man had ever wanted was a little peace and quiet in his life. She tried to come up with the words to comfort him.
“Nathan, I’m… I’m sorry…”
Nathan grunted, and his eyes went dead. Just like that, he shut himself off. Scarlet had seen both Nathan and Josh do it before, focus their mind into a sharp point that was all business, no emotion or feeling. “Emotional tunnel vision”, that was what Wraith called it.
A sudden beeping coming from the smoke detectors caught both of them off guard. Different from the normal fire alarm, the warning meant something had been detected crossing the perimeter sensors.
Nathan and Scarlet exchanged worried glances and jumped up from their seats. Nathan grabbed the Mossberg he had leaned against the table the night before and headed for the front door. Scarlet snatched the H&K USP from her back pocket and took the steps leading upstairs two at a time.
At the top of the stairs she was met by Wraith, armed with a Glock 22, and the two of them turned to where Lexy had opened her and Josh’s bedroom door.
Dressed in simple black nightshirt and shorts, Lexy’s hair was ruffled and sticking up in places, but her eyes were bright and alert.
“Josh is already in the Den.”
Scarlet headed for the open door of the Den while Wraith handed Lexy his Glock.
“I’ll see what the issue is. Nathan is probably by the front door, take this and go help him. Either me or Scarlet will be down in a minute.”
Lexy nodded once and ran for the stairs. Wraith entered the Den and his green eyes went straight for the Telecom screen.
Josh was sitting at the keyboard to the computer that controlled all the perimeter sensors and alarms.
“Large blue 2012 Hummer just pulled into the driveway. No one has gotten out yet and the windows are tinted, we can’t see in.”
Josh and Wraith had installed hidden cameras into all the outside light fixtures. Combined with the perimeter sensors, they had eyes on every angle of the property.
Wraith stared at the Hummer for a moment, his eyes glazed as he ran it through his mind’s own recognition software.
Finally, “Stand down, its Sniper.”
As if to backup Wraith’s statement, Sniper opened the driver’s door and jumped to the ground. As a woman Josh recognized as Emma Lector slid out of the passenger door, Sniper opened the door to the backseat and grabbed a duffel bag and long carry-case.
Scarlet walked quickly out of the Den, “I’ll go down and tell Lexy and Nathan.”
Josh nodded, keeping his eyes on the screen.
“Good, Lexy might want to come up and change while you and Nathan handle the initial welcoming party.”
Sniper and Emma had just reached the front door when it was opened by Scarlet. Nathan stood just behind her with the Mossberg 20 gauge trained primarily on Emma.
The blue-eyed merc grinned at her as Scarlet ushered them into the house.
“Welcome to Oregon.”
~Chapter 12~
~June 23rd, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Josh, Wraith and Nathan spent most of the morning in the Den finishing up their research. With Wraith’s perfect-recall memory showing the way, it didn’t take them as long as it could have to find all the data they needed.
A little after noon, Gwyn showed up to take the kids back with her. She stayed and talked a while but, ultimately, she decided she could make it back the same day. So, with Lola, Maria, Elijah, and little Jackson in the back of her station wagon, she whisked them away to her place in Washington.
Not ten minutes after the kids left, five defenders met around the circular table in the Den. Josh commandeered the swivel chair by the computers with Lexy positioned at his right. Wraith stood to Josh’s left, just behind Scarlet’s chair, and Nathan re-occupied the chair he had claimed earlier on the other side of Lexy.
Josh looked around at his little team.
“Okay, so here is what we already know; James Hughes is the current Chairman of the Board and he has reinstated the bounty my uncle Regent placed on all our heads a few years ago. Emma Lector, the woman who was recently James’ right-hand, has apparently left James and is on her way here, possibly looking for help.”
Scarlet nodded quietly and Nathan put his feet up on the edge of the table.
Nathan glanced over at Josh and Wraith, “So, do we have anything to add to that overwhelming amount of information?”
Wraith directed the small remote he held in his hand towards the middle of the table and tapped a button with his finger. 3D images of Pallas and Apollos appeared in the air.
“Pallas and Apollos, assassins originally from Florida, and deceased as of just the other day. We know James hired them, and it is probably safe to assume they were only the first.”
Nathan admired the holo-images.
“Damn, Wraith, you really did a great job with this holo-projector thing.”
Wraith half-smiled at Nathan and bowed his head in the Merc’s direction.
“Thank you, Nathan.”
Josh glanced over at Scarlet, “Scarlet, can you think of any upper-class Mercs or assassins that might accept the hit?”
Scarlet shrugged, “Isis currently is unemployed, but she’s not pressed for cash and is on good terms with both Nathan and me. And Odin doesn’t have the guts to go up against the invincible Sharktooth, especially when he is backed by the beautiful Scarlet and the insane Wolf.”
Nathan snorted, “Beautiful?”
Scarlet stuck her tongue out at him, “Shut up, or instead of “Wolf” I’ll start calling you “Dog”.”
Nathan rolled his eyes at her and turned back to Wraith and Josh.
“So, what else?”
Wraith clicked another button on his remote. A 3D image of James Hughes took the place of the twin assassins.
“How about a review of the players? This is James Hughes. To recap of his file; thirty-nine years old and hailing from California, James Hughes started as a lowly problem-solver and was a member of a think-tank Regent Taske put together to come up with bigger and more daring crime schemes. Last November, James Hughes was elected as the Board’s new Chairman.”
Wraith clicked another button and next to James an image of Emma Lector shimmered into view.
“Emma Lector, thirty-two years old and from Texas, she used to work as a secretary at the Whitehouse during Matt Gold’s time in office. Our recent understanding of her is that she was seduced from her job by James Hughes to help him with some unknown scheme. Based on what we have heard from Hollywood and Lucy Vale, it seems her and James recently had a falling out and James might even want to take her life.”
Wraith met each of their eyes, silently allowing them to ask any questions they might have. When everyone remained quiet, Wraith moved on with his presentation, the images from the 3D projector changing in response to his report.
“Next we have Jake Williamson, also known as the hacker called Cipher. He has been closely affiliated with James for some time now, presumably working on the same project Miss Lector was brought in to help out with.”
“Jay Marcos, forty-nine and from Chicago, has been a leading member of the Board for a great many years. He worked under Sean, Belle, Regent, and now James. As of right now, there is no definite connection between him and James’ plans, but his position requires him to at least be privy to them.”
“Hosea De Carlos, forty years old and from Mexico, he has been a member of the Board almost as long as Marcos. Same as Marcos, we have no reason to bother with him at this time, but he is one to keep an eye on.”
“Last but not least, Samuel Grayson joined the Board three months after Regent was executed. He runs a nation-wide armored car service based out of North Dakota.”
Nathan stared at the image of the tall, gaunt man.
“Damn, did anyone tell him he looks like death warmed over?”
Wraith ignored Nathan’s comment and continued, “Grayson does a lot with the Taske Empire’s finances, budgeting and such. He is a low-key member of the Board, but he still carries much weight with the other members.”
Josh interrupted Wraith, “Why did you include Grayson in the report?”
Wraith’s green eyes met Josh’s grey ones, “Grayson’s bio is clean, too clean. It is almost as if it is fabricated. Everything in his file checks out, the high school he went to, the roommate he had in college, his DMV records, et cetera. It matches up so well it doesn’t. He isn’t who he claims to be, and I think he deserves at least a casual glance.”
Josh stared thoughtfully at the image of Samuel Grayson. The other three watched Josh, wondering what was running through the ex-soldier’s mind.
Finally, Josh looked up and nodded once.
“Okay then, we’ll keep tabs on Marcos, De Carlos and Grayson. Everyone start thinking about how to deal with James.”
Wraith raised a hand and was acknowledged by another nod from Josh.
“I think our only real option is to cut the head off the snake.”
Scarlet was curious, “How do you mean?”
Wraith’s green eyes flicked to rest on her, “If James dies, his plans and schemes dies with him. It will be some time before the Board can elect another Chairman, which will buy us time to find a more permanent solution.”
Josh agreed with the Informer, “Yes, but as of now we have no way to get to James save for storming the Regency Building in New York. Until we have a feasible plan, we need to hole up and stay ready for another attack.”
Nathan got to his feet and stretched, “Al’right then, let us prepare ourselves for battle!”
Josh, Wraith and Nathan spent most of the morning in the Den finishing up their research. With Wraith’s perfect-recall memory showing the way, it didn’t take them as long as it could have to find all the data they needed.
A little after noon, Gwyn showed up to take the kids back with her. She stayed and talked a while but, ultimately, she decided she could make it back the same day. So, with Lola, Maria, Elijah, and little Jackson in the back of her station wagon, she whisked them away to her place in Washington.
Not ten minutes after the kids left, five defenders met around the circular table in the Den. Josh commandeered the swivel chair by the computers with Lexy positioned at his right. Wraith stood to Josh’s left, just behind Scarlet’s chair, and Nathan re-occupied the chair he had claimed earlier on the other side of Lexy.
Josh looked around at his little team.
“Okay, so here is what we already know; James Hughes is the current Chairman of the Board and he has reinstated the bounty my uncle Regent placed on all our heads a few years ago. Emma Lector, the woman who was recently James’ right-hand, has apparently left James and is on her way here, possibly looking for help.”
Scarlet nodded quietly and Nathan put his feet up on the edge of the table.
Nathan glanced over at Josh and Wraith, “So, do we have anything to add to that overwhelming amount of information?”
Wraith directed the small remote he held in his hand towards the middle of the table and tapped a button with his finger. 3D images of Pallas and Apollos appeared in the air.
“Pallas and Apollos, assassins originally from Florida, and deceased as of just the other day. We know James hired them, and it is probably safe to assume they were only the first.”
Nathan admired the holo-images.
“Damn, Wraith, you really did a great job with this holo-projector thing.”
Wraith half-smiled at Nathan and bowed his head in the Merc’s direction.
“Thank you, Nathan.”
Josh glanced over at Scarlet, “Scarlet, can you think of any upper-class Mercs or assassins that might accept the hit?”
Scarlet shrugged, “Isis currently is unemployed, but she’s not pressed for cash and is on good terms with both Nathan and me. And Odin doesn’t have the guts to go up against the invincible Sharktooth, especially when he is backed by the beautiful Scarlet and the insane Wolf.”
Nathan snorted, “Beautiful?”
Scarlet stuck her tongue out at him, “Shut up, or instead of “Wolf” I’ll start calling you “Dog”.”
Nathan rolled his eyes at her and turned back to Wraith and Josh.
“So, what else?”
Wraith clicked another button on his remote. A 3D image of James Hughes took the place of the twin assassins.
“How about a review of the players? This is James Hughes. To recap of his file; thirty-nine years old and hailing from California, James Hughes started as a lowly problem-solver and was a member of a think-tank Regent Taske put together to come up with bigger and more daring crime schemes. Last November, James Hughes was elected as the Board’s new Chairman.”
Wraith clicked another button and next to James an image of Emma Lector shimmered into view.
“Emma Lector, thirty-two years old and from Texas, she used to work as a secretary at the Whitehouse during Matt Gold’s time in office. Our recent understanding of her is that she was seduced from her job by James Hughes to help him with some unknown scheme. Based on what we have heard from Hollywood and Lucy Vale, it seems her and James recently had a falling out and James might even want to take her life.”
Wraith met each of their eyes, silently allowing them to ask any questions they might have. When everyone remained quiet, Wraith moved on with his presentation, the images from the 3D projector changing in response to his report.
“Next we have Jake Williamson, also known as the hacker called Cipher. He has been closely affiliated with James for some time now, presumably working on the same project Miss Lector was brought in to help out with.”
“Jay Marcos, forty-nine and from Chicago, has been a leading member of the Board for a great many years. He worked under Sean, Belle, Regent, and now James. As of right now, there is no definite connection between him and James’ plans, but his position requires him to at least be privy to them.”
“Hosea De Carlos, forty years old and from Mexico, he has been a member of the Board almost as long as Marcos. Same as Marcos, we have no reason to bother with him at this time, but he is one to keep an eye on.”
“Last but not least, Samuel Grayson joined the Board three months after Regent was executed. He runs a nation-wide armored car service based out of North Dakota.”
Nathan stared at the image of the tall, gaunt man.
“Damn, did anyone tell him he looks like death warmed over?”
Wraith ignored Nathan’s comment and continued, “Grayson does a lot with the Taske Empire’s finances, budgeting and such. He is a low-key member of the Board, but he still carries much weight with the other members.”
Josh interrupted Wraith, “Why did you include Grayson in the report?”
Wraith’s green eyes met Josh’s grey ones, “Grayson’s bio is clean, too clean. It is almost as if it is fabricated. Everything in his file checks out, the high school he went to, the roommate he had in college, his DMV records, et cetera. It matches up so well it doesn’t. He isn’t who he claims to be, and I think he deserves at least a casual glance.”
Josh stared thoughtfully at the image of Samuel Grayson. The other three watched Josh, wondering what was running through the ex-soldier’s mind.
Finally, Josh looked up and nodded once.
“Okay then, we’ll keep tabs on Marcos, De Carlos and Grayson. Everyone start thinking about how to deal with James.”
Wraith raised a hand and was acknowledged by another nod from Josh.
“I think our only real option is to cut the head off the snake.”
Scarlet was curious, “How do you mean?”
Wraith’s green eyes flicked to rest on her, “If James dies, his plans and schemes dies with him. It will be some time before the Board can elect another Chairman, which will buy us time to find a more permanent solution.”
Josh agreed with the Informer, “Yes, but as of now we have no way to get to James save for storming the Regency Building in New York. Until we have a feasible plan, we need to hole up and stay ready for another attack.”
Nathan got to his feet and stretched, “Al’right then, let us prepare ourselves for battle!”
~Chapter 11~
~June 21st, 2019- On the road somewhere between Los Angeles and Eugene
Emma had lost track of how much time had passed since they had left the Los Angeles city limits. She had fallen asleep, and then woken again to the sound of a soft country band playing from the Hummer’s car stereo system.
Sniper, eyes hidden by his black sunglasses, drove silently, tirelessly. The only times they stopped where when Emma needed to, the man was a machine.
Hesitantly, Emma decided to try and strike up a conversation.
“So… Sniper, what exactly do you do?”
“I’m a Mercenary.”
Emma nodded, “An assassin?”
Sniper shook his head, “No, a Mercenary.”
Emma was confused, “So there is like a whole structure within the Underworld?”
Sniper shrugged, “I guess.”
“Can you help me understand it better?”
Sniper thought a moment before answering.
“Mercs are basically hired guns. We do anything from security to acting as bodyguards to bounty hunting. Assassins are more covert, they sign on for only one contract at a time. Once they’ve killed their target and get paid, they disappear.”
Emma thought she understood, “Okay, What does Hollywood do?”
“Hollywood is what’s called a Forger. She specializes in fake ID’s, passports, legal papers and documents, whatever you need.”
Emma was surprised. She never thought the crime world was so organized.
“So there are Mercenaries, Assassins, and Forgers. Are there others?”
“Informers you can hire to investigate or keep tabs on a person or organization. Spies are like informers, but you normally send them for a specific piece of information. Hackers are exactly as they sound, they hack computers to get whatever you need. Or if you need a specific program designed, normally they can program it for you.”
Emma nodded slowly, “Wow, any others?”
“Well, there are also Smugglers and Thieves, but they are kinda self-explanatory.”
“So you are a Mercenary, Hollywood’s a Forger, what is Josh?”
Sniper checked his blind spot and moved his tank of a vehicle in the next lane over.
“Josh is a kind of cross between a Mercenary and Assassin. When he gets involved with Underworld business, he normally does a bit of both.”
“What about Nathan Wolv and Scarlet?”
“Nathan is a Merc, Scarlet is an Assassin. And if you ever meet with Wraith, he’s an Informer.”
Emma had never heard of Wraith before.
“Wraith?”
From behind his dark glances Sniper glanced into his rearview.
“Wraith is an ally of Josh and Wolv’s. He is a master Informer and, from what I hear about him, there isn’t anything he can’t do.”
“Will he be with Josh?”
Sniper shrugged, “I dunno. He might be, but Informers move around a lot.”
“I see.”
Emma turned to look out the window and ponder all that Sniper had told her.
~June 22nd, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Ring-Ring-Ring….
“Hello?”
“Hi, Gwyn?”
Lexy stood in the kitchen, fixing breakfast with the help of Scarlet and Maria, telephone held to her ear with one shoulder while her hands were occupied with a rather large bowl of pancake batter.
Her cousin, Gwyn Nettleson, currently lived in Washington, although she had probably lived in all fifty states at one point in time. She was one of Lexy’s closest friends, as well as the relative who lived the closest to Josh’s little family.
Gwyn, of course, was happy to hear from Lexy.
“Lexy, Honey! How have you been? How are the kids? How’s that handsome husband of yours?”
Lexy laughed, “Everything’s fine, Gwyn, but I did have a favor I need to ask you.”
“Go ahead, shoot.”
“Well, me and Josh want to take a vacation with some of our friends, and we were hoping you could come and take the kids to stay with you while we are gone.”
Gwyn laughed knowingly, “Ah, a second honeymoon, eh?”
“You could say that.”
Gwyn laughed again, “I suppose I could take them. How long you planning to be gone?”
Lexy was hesitant to answer. Her cousin was a good friend, but she never fully made up her mind until the last minute.
“We don’t exactly know. But we’ll call you when we do.”
“Wow, you kids are spontaneous! Okay, I can be down there by, say, tomorrow night? Then I can stay the night and bring the kids back the next day.”
Lexy sighed in relief, “Thanks Gwyn, you’re a lifesaver!”
Gwyn was obviously proud of herself, “No problem, Hon, see you tomorrow, ‘K?”
“Bye Gwyn.”
Lexy hung up the phone and looked over at Scarlet.
Scarlet looked back over Maria’s head, her green eyes solemn.
She came around to where Lexy stood and put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be alright. Don’t worry, Me, Nathan and Josh have been through things like this before, and Josh has always gotten us through in one piece.”
Lexy nodded and a tear ran down her cheek.
“I know, but what if we don’t come back? What if Josh is killed?”
Scarlet stared at the floor, “Then we do what we always do. We survive.”
Upstairs in the Den, Josh, Nathan and Wraith searched through file after file in search of everything they could find on James Hughes.
The Den was Josh’s office. Sealed shut by a powerful magnetic lock, it contained everything Josh and Wraith had ever gathered on the criminal Underworld and its associates.
Upon entering the room, the first thing you would notice was the circular table with a Shadow Tech holographic image projector built into the tabletop. Behind the table, making up the entire back wall of the room, were filing cabinets that housed the bulk of Josh and Wraith’s collection of knowledge.
To the right of the door was a state-of-the-art Telecom video and audio communications setup. To the left was a desk containing four working computers routed to two large plasma monitors. Next to these were ceiling-high shelves that stored Josh’s extensive collection of surveillance equipment. With everything from bugs to radios and miniature security cameras, Josh could keep tabs on a whole office building if he wished it.
Now, Nathan and Wraith searched through the filing cabinets along the back wall, pulling all files on James Hughes and the people working for him.
Josh sat at the desk running a similar search on all four of his computers.
Anything they found was either being piled on the table or, in Josh’s case, downloaded to the hologram projector’s memory card so it could be brought up in crystal-clear 3D imagery later on.
While they were sorting through data, Nathan threw a brief glance at Josh and cleared his throat.
“Ehem… Does Lex know about your stint in the armed forces?”
Josh nodded, “Yep.”
“Even the Delta Force part?”
Josh sat back and stared at the wall behind the computer monitors.
“No… not that part.”
Wraith glanced from Nathan to Josh, but said nothing.
Nathan put his file back in its place in the filing drawer, and took a sip from his beer that sat on the table next to him.
“Are you going to?”
“I don’t know…”
Wraith’s green eyes did not look up from the file he was scanning.
“Would it change anything?”
Josh turned to look at the informer, “What?”
Wraith looked up to lock his green eyes with Josh’s gray ones.
“Would you being in a top-secret division of the armed forces that little is known about change your relationship with you wife?”
Josh shrugged, “I don’t know, good question.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
“I’d tell her, worst it can do is maybe cause a little mistrust on her part, but not much. And at best it explains a bit about us three.”
Wraith and Josh both looked over at him.
“Explain what?”
“Why we are like we are. I mean, give us an impossible mission where we’ll get shot at and will have to kill a bunch ‘a people, and we are good to go. Ask us to go to a Christmas party at the neighbors, and we are afraid they might ask too much about what we do or have done, or we are paranoid that there is an assassin about to storm through the door with guns blazing.”
Nathan straightened up and met each of their looks.
“Come on; don’t tell me you don’t feel like that too. Why else do you still work as an informer, Wraith? Or you, Josh, why did you take that job as Matt’s Chief of Security? We are good at what we do and comfortable doing it. Combat and espionage are what we know, and little else.”
Josh nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“When I dropped the girls off at that birthday party a few days ago, knocking on that door scared me more than knocking down one in Cairo ever did.”
Wraith’s eyes rested on Nathan, “Yes, it is true that we are most at home on the battlefield. I do find it surprising that you are the one to make that analysis, Nathan.”
Nathan grinned sheepishly and shrugged, “Hey, I had a long flight with only a magazine on psycho-analysis or some crap like that.”
Josh laughed and turned back to his computers.
“Well, that’s enough soul-searching for now; let’s get back to data-searching.”
Nathan spun his chair around and pulled another file out from the open drawer behind him.
“Roger that, Captain.”
Emma had lost track of how much time had passed since they had left the Los Angeles city limits. She had fallen asleep, and then woken again to the sound of a soft country band playing from the Hummer’s car stereo system.
Sniper, eyes hidden by his black sunglasses, drove silently, tirelessly. The only times they stopped where when Emma needed to, the man was a machine.
Hesitantly, Emma decided to try and strike up a conversation.
“So… Sniper, what exactly do you do?”
“I’m a Mercenary.”
Emma nodded, “An assassin?”
Sniper shook his head, “No, a Mercenary.”
Emma was confused, “So there is like a whole structure within the Underworld?”
Sniper shrugged, “I guess.”
“Can you help me understand it better?”
Sniper thought a moment before answering.
“Mercs are basically hired guns. We do anything from security to acting as bodyguards to bounty hunting. Assassins are more covert, they sign on for only one contract at a time. Once they’ve killed their target and get paid, they disappear.”
Emma thought she understood, “Okay, What does Hollywood do?”
“Hollywood is what’s called a Forger. She specializes in fake ID’s, passports, legal papers and documents, whatever you need.”
Emma was surprised. She never thought the crime world was so organized.
“So there are Mercenaries, Assassins, and Forgers. Are there others?”
“Informers you can hire to investigate or keep tabs on a person or organization. Spies are like informers, but you normally send them for a specific piece of information. Hackers are exactly as they sound, they hack computers to get whatever you need. Or if you need a specific program designed, normally they can program it for you.”
Emma nodded slowly, “Wow, any others?”
“Well, there are also Smugglers and Thieves, but they are kinda self-explanatory.”
“So you are a Mercenary, Hollywood’s a Forger, what is Josh?”
Sniper checked his blind spot and moved his tank of a vehicle in the next lane over.
“Josh is a kind of cross between a Mercenary and Assassin. When he gets involved with Underworld business, he normally does a bit of both.”
“What about Nathan Wolv and Scarlet?”
“Nathan is a Merc, Scarlet is an Assassin. And if you ever meet with Wraith, he’s an Informer.”
Emma had never heard of Wraith before.
“Wraith?”
From behind his dark glances Sniper glanced into his rearview.
“Wraith is an ally of Josh and Wolv’s. He is a master Informer and, from what I hear about him, there isn’t anything he can’t do.”
“Will he be with Josh?”
Sniper shrugged, “I dunno. He might be, but Informers move around a lot.”
“I see.”
Emma turned to look out the window and ponder all that Sniper had told her.
~June 22nd, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Ring-Ring-Ring….
“Hello?”
“Hi, Gwyn?”
Lexy stood in the kitchen, fixing breakfast with the help of Scarlet and Maria, telephone held to her ear with one shoulder while her hands were occupied with a rather large bowl of pancake batter.
Her cousin, Gwyn Nettleson, currently lived in Washington, although she had probably lived in all fifty states at one point in time. She was one of Lexy’s closest friends, as well as the relative who lived the closest to Josh’s little family.
Gwyn, of course, was happy to hear from Lexy.
“Lexy, Honey! How have you been? How are the kids? How’s that handsome husband of yours?”
Lexy laughed, “Everything’s fine, Gwyn, but I did have a favor I need to ask you.”
“Go ahead, shoot.”
“Well, me and Josh want to take a vacation with some of our friends, and we were hoping you could come and take the kids to stay with you while we are gone.”
Gwyn laughed knowingly, “Ah, a second honeymoon, eh?”
“You could say that.”
Gwyn laughed again, “I suppose I could take them. How long you planning to be gone?”
Lexy was hesitant to answer. Her cousin was a good friend, but she never fully made up her mind until the last minute.
“We don’t exactly know. But we’ll call you when we do.”
“Wow, you kids are spontaneous! Okay, I can be down there by, say, tomorrow night? Then I can stay the night and bring the kids back the next day.”
Lexy sighed in relief, “Thanks Gwyn, you’re a lifesaver!”
Gwyn was obviously proud of herself, “No problem, Hon, see you tomorrow, ‘K?”
“Bye Gwyn.”
Lexy hung up the phone and looked over at Scarlet.
Scarlet looked back over Maria’s head, her green eyes solemn.
She came around to where Lexy stood and put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be alright. Don’t worry, Me, Nathan and Josh have been through things like this before, and Josh has always gotten us through in one piece.”
Lexy nodded and a tear ran down her cheek.
“I know, but what if we don’t come back? What if Josh is killed?”
Scarlet stared at the floor, “Then we do what we always do. We survive.”
Upstairs in the Den, Josh, Nathan and Wraith searched through file after file in search of everything they could find on James Hughes.
The Den was Josh’s office. Sealed shut by a powerful magnetic lock, it contained everything Josh and Wraith had ever gathered on the criminal Underworld and its associates.
Upon entering the room, the first thing you would notice was the circular table with a Shadow Tech holographic image projector built into the tabletop. Behind the table, making up the entire back wall of the room, were filing cabinets that housed the bulk of Josh and Wraith’s collection of knowledge.
To the right of the door was a state-of-the-art Telecom video and audio communications setup. To the left was a desk containing four working computers routed to two large plasma monitors. Next to these were ceiling-high shelves that stored Josh’s extensive collection of surveillance equipment. With everything from bugs to radios and miniature security cameras, Josh could keep tabs on a whole office building if he wished it.
Now, Nathan and Wraith searched through the filing cabinets along the back wall, pulling all files on James Hughes and the people working for him.
Josh sat at the desk running a similar search on all four of his computers.
Anything they found was either being piled on the table or, in Josh’s case, downloaded to the hologram projector’s memory card so it could be brought up in crystal-clear 3D imagery later on.
While they were sorting through data, Nathan threw a brief glance at Josh and cleared his throat.
“Ehem… Does Lex know about your stint in the armed forces?”
Josh nodded, “Yep.”
“Even the Delta Force part?”
Josh sat back and stared at the wall behind the computer monitors.
“No… not that part.”
Wraith glanced from Nathan to Josh, but said nothing.
Nathan put his file back in its place in the filing drawer, and took a sip from his beer that sat on the table next to him.
“Are you going to?”
“I don’t know…”
Wraith’s green eyes did not look up from the file he was scanning.
“Would it change anything?”
Josh turned to look at the informer, “What?”
Wraith looked up to lock his green eyes with Josh’s gray ones.
“Would you being in a top-secret division of the armed forces that little is known about change your relationship with you wife?”
Josh shrugged, “I don’t know, good question.”
Nathan leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
“I’d tell her, worst it can do is maybe cause a little mistrust on her part, but not much. And at best it explains a bit about us three.”
Wraith and Josh both looked over at him.
“Explain what?”
“Why we are like we are. I mean, give us an impossible mission where we’ll get shot at and will have to kill a bunch ‘a people, and we are good to go. Ask us to go to a Christmas party at the neighbors, and we are afraid they might ask too much about what we do or have done, or we are paranoid that there is an assassin about to storm through the door with guns blazing.”
Nathan straightened up and met each of their looks.
“Come on; don’t tell me you don’t feel like that too. Why else do you still work as an informer, Wraith? Or you, Josh, why did you take that job as Matt’s Chief of Security? We are good at what we do and comfortable doing it. Combat and espionage are what we know, and little else.”
Josh nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“When I dropped the girls off at that birthday party a few days ago, knocking on that door scared me more than knocking down one in Cairo ever did.”
Wraith’s eyes rested on Nathan, “Yes, it is true that we are most at home on the battlefield. I do find it surprising that you are the one to make that analysis, Nathan.”
Nathan grinned sheepishly and shrugged, “Hey, I had a long flight with only a magazine on psycho-analysis or some crap like that.”
Josh laughed and turned back to his computers.
“Well, that’s enough soul-searching for now; let’s get back to data-searching.”
Nathan spun his chair around and pulled another file out from the open drawer behind him.
“Roger that, Captain.”
~Chapter 10~
Inside the house Pallas heard the shot and she half-turned in its direction, glancing frantically over her shoulder.
She knew Apollos was dead. She didn’t know how, but she knew her twin was no more.
Pallas turned back to face Josh, her crystalline eyes hollow and cold. She adopted a two-handed grip with her sword over her head.
Josh shook his head slightly and whispered, “No, don’t try it.”
Pallas suddenly dropped her poise and charged Josh head-on, bringing her sword sweeping down as she came.
Josh brought both his Sais up and caught her wrists with the prongs, and then twisted hard.
Pallas gasped as her left hand bent backwards with a sharp crack. The katana fell out of her other hand and stuck blade-first into the hardwood.
Cradling her broken wrist, Pallas fell against the back of one of Josh’s black leather couches.
Josh turned and, sheathing his Sais, picked up the Desert Eagles off the table.
“JOSH!”
Scarlet brought her crossbow up and fired a bolt over Josh’s shoulder, catching Pallas near the heart.
Fatally wounded, Pallas fell to her knees. The 9mm she had retrieved from the couch and leveled at Josh’s head fell from her hand and clattered to the floor.
Josh rushed over and caught the assassin as she fell backwards.
“Pallas! Who sent you to kill me?”
Pallas’s eyes, clouding over in death, stared blankly at Josh.
“Why… should I tell you?”
Josh cradled the assassin’s head him his arm, willing her to live just a little while longer.
“You and you brother were sent to your deaths, don’t you want to have revenge in some way?”
Pallas smiled slightly, “Revenge… Hughes sent…”
Her head lolled to one side and her last breath left her body.
Josh looked up at Scarlet, “James Hughes.”
Scarlet nodded, staring solemnly at the dead assassin.
~June 21st, 2019- “Hollywood’s Prints”, Los Angeles
Holly Wood, who called herself “Hollywood”, sat staring at the phone. She had taken the trouble to pull the wool over Emma’s eyes at least until Sniper got her to Josh’s place.
She hadn’t bothered to tell Emma that Sniper was on his way to see Josh Taske, or to be exact, Nathan Wolv who happened to be staying with Josh Taske. She didn’t bother to tell her that the passport stamp she had forged for Sniper was for a foreign job he was co-opting with Scarlet and Nathan. She didn’t say that she knew where Josh lived.
But now, staring at the phone with Josh’s number running through her head, she felt afraid.
As Sniper had told Emma earlier, mentioning the Taske family in the wrong crowds would get you killed. Talking to a member of the Taske family could be even more lethal.
Holly’s own father had made the mistake of contacting Belle Taske a few years before she had died. A week later a group of five assassins led by Pyros Lite had broken into their Miami home and killed her father and burned the place to the ground. Holly was pulled out of the burning house by a neighbor and turned over to an orphanage. Her mother disappeared and had never been heard from again, although it was rumored that Pyros killed her as well.
But, then again, not all the Taske family had been bad. Jay Taske had been a decent person, if Holly remembered correctly. So had Sean, and Sean’s son Josh was rumored to be one of the nicest of the Taske family. He had even spent a while in the Marine Corps and on the President’s personal security detail.
Hollywood braced herself and, after wondering briefly what she was getting herself into, picked up the phone and started dialing.
~June 21st, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Nathan had just walked into the house with Apollos’ body over one shoulder when Josh’s phone rang.
Josh was busy looking over some of the papers Wraith had found in the Twin’s car, so Scarlet answered it.
“Hello, this is Scarlet. Oh hi, Holly.”
Josh and Wraith looked up at her.
Scarlet listened a moment and handed the phone to Josh.
“This is Josh.”
Josh listened for a time to Holly’s account of Emma’s visit to the print shop.
After she was done he nodded to himself, thinking over what she had told him.
“Thank you, Holly. This helps me clear up a few things and answers a few questions. If you ever need anything, I owe you one.”
Josh hung up and turned to look at Scarlet and Wraith.
“Well, we now know why Emma is looking for me.”
She knew Apollos was dead. She didn’t know how, but she knew her twin was no more.
Pallas turned back to face Josh, her crystalline eyes hollow and cold. She adopted a two-handed grip with her sword over her head.
Josh shook his head slightly and whispered, “No, don’t try it.”
Pallas suddenly dropped her poise and charged Josh head-on, bringing her sword sweeping down as she came.
Josh brought both his Sais up and caught her wrists with the prongs, and then twisted hard.
Pallas gasped as her left hand bent backwards with a sharp crack. The katana fell out of her other hand and stuck blade-first into the hardwood.
Cradling her broken wrist, Pallas fell against the back of one of Josh’s black leather couches.
Josh turned and, sheathing his Sais, picked up the Desert Eagles off the table.
“JOSH!”
Scarlet brought her crossbow up and fired a bolt over Josh’s shoulder, catching Pallas near the heart.
Fatally wounded, Pallas fell to her knees. The 9mm she had retrieved from the couch and leveled at Josh’s head fell from her hand and clattered to the floor.
Josh rushed over and caught the assassin as she fell backwards.
“Pallas! Who sent you to kill me?”
Pallas’s eyes, clouding over in death, stared blankly at Josh.
“Why… should I tell you?”
Josh cradled the assassin’s head him his arm, willing her to live just a little while longer.
“You and you brother were sent to your deaths, don’t you want to have revenge in some way?”
Pallas smiled slightly, “Revenge… Hughes sent…”
Her head lolled to one side and her last breath left her body.
Josh looked up at Scarlet, “James Hughes.”
Scarlet nodded, staring solemnly at the dead assassin.
~June 21st, 2019- “Hollywood’s Prints”, Los Angeles
Holly Wood, who called herself “Hollywood”, sat staring at the phone. She had taken the trouble to pull the wool over Emma’s eyes at least until Sniper got her to Josh’s place.
She hadn’t bothered to tell Emma that Sniper was on his way to see Josh Taske, or to be exact, Nathan Wolv who happened to be staying with Josh Taske. She didn’t bother to tell her that the passport stamp she had forged for Sniper was for a foreign job he was co-opting with Scarlet and Nathan. She didn’t say that she knew where Josh lived.
But now, staring at the phone with Josh’s number running through her head, she felt afraid.
As Sniper had told Emma earlier, mentioning the Taske family in the wrong crowds would get you killed. Talking to a member of the Taske family could be even more lethal.
Holly’s own father had made the mistake of contacting Belle Taske a few years before she had died. A week later a group of five assassins led by Pyros Lite had broken into their Miami home and killed her father and burned the place to the ground. Holly was pulled out of the burning house by a neighbor and turned over to an orphanage. Her mother disappeared and had never been heard from again, although it was rumored that Pyros killed her as well.
But, then again, not all the Taske family had been bad. Jay Taske had been a decent person, if Holly remembered correctly. So had Sean, and Sean’s son Josh was rumored to be one of the nicest of the Taske family. He had even spent a while in the Marine Corps and on the President’s personal security detail.
Hollywood braced herself and, after wondering briefly what she was getting herself into, picked up the phone and started dialing.
~June 21st, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Nathan had just walked into the house with Apollos’ body over one shoulder when Josh’s phone rang.
Josh was busy looking over some of the papers Wraith had found in the Twin’s car, so Scarlet answered it.
“Hello, this is Scarlet. Oh hi, Holly.”
Josh and Wraith looked up at her.
Scarlet listened a moment and handed the phone to Josh.
“This is Josh.”
Josh listened for a time to Holly’s account of Emma’s visit to the print shop.
After she was done he nodded to himself, thinking over what she had told him.
“Thank you, Holly. This helps me clear up a few things and answers a few questions. If you ever need anything, I owe you one.”
Josh hung up and turned to look at Scarlet and Wraith.
“Well, we now know why Emma is looking for me.”
~Chapter 10~
~June 21st, 2019- “Hollywood’s Prints”, Los Angeles
Emma Lector walked through the swinging glass door into a world of printers and art. Hollywood’s Prints wasn’t your normal print shop, it was also part art gallery. The walls were hung with artwork from local painters, with a few others by well known artists. Printers of all sorts and kinds lined the interior of the shop, giving a wide range of options for just about any printing job you could imagine.
“Heya Honey, can I help you?”
Emma turned to see a young-looking woman with platinum blonde hair come out of a back room. She was short, but not too short, and she carried her thin frame like a model straight off the runway. Her eyes were a sparkly pale blue, and they revealed much of the woman’s mischievous personality.
Behind her came a man with darker blonde hair. He was about 5’9” and had dark, almost black, brown eyes. He carried a small side-satchel and what appeared to be a long bag that might have contained a camera tripod.
Emma nervously approached the counter and, after setting down the large duffel and backpack she carried, addressed the blonde woman.
“Um… yes, are you Hollywood?”
The woman’s defenses went instantly up, “Depends, who wants to know and why?”
Emma swallowed hard, “My name is Emma Lector, and I was told you might be able to help me find someone.”
The man that had come out of the back room with the woman was casually looking over some of the art hanging on the walls. The woman rested her hands on the counter and stared levelly at Emma.
“Who you workin’ for?”
“No one, I was recently associated with Chairman of the Board, James Hughes, but that relationship has recently been terminated.”
The woman stared at her a moment longer.
“Okay, yeah, I’m Hollywood. And I might be able to help you find your man, but no promises. And it’ll cost yah.”
Emma smiled, relieved, “I have money, but not much.”
Hollywood shrugged, “I don’t even know who you are looking for, so I don’t know how much the price is yet.”
She looked over Emma’s shoulder at the man, “Maxie, your passport will be done in just a few moments, so hold on while I help this lady?”
The man nodded and went back to looking at pictures.
Hollywood smiled at Emma, “That’s Max, don’t mind him though. He’s a regular customer here, and a perty fine assassin if I understand the stories.”
Emma nodded, “So… back to my problem?”
Hollywood shook her head, “Oh, I’m sorry! I get distracted sometimes. So, who you lookin’ for?”
“Josh Taske.”
Hollywood froze and the man called Max turned to stare at her.
Hollywood glanced nervously at Max, then back to Emma.
“What would you be wanting the Sharktooth for?”
Emma was a bit worried about their reaction; she hoped Hollywood would tell her what she knew about Josh’s whereabouts.
“I need his help getting out of some trouble.”
Hollywood nodded slowly, “Well… I guess I can give you that for free. Yah see, I don’t know where he is.”
Emma’s spirits fell, “You don’t?”
Hollywood shook her blonde head, “Nope, and that’s a big confession for a Forger. Last anyone in the Underworld heard, the Sharktooth was off workin’ for the President. But that was five years ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Or at least, they aint sayin’ if they have.”
Emma looked desperately at the woman, “You don’t have any information you can give me?
Hollywood shook her head sadly, but then perked up.
“Heya Max, you were buddies with the Wolf, right?”
Max stepped up to the counter, “Yeah, worked a few jobs with him a while back.”
“An’ the Wolf is like blood-brothers with Taske, right?”
Max grimaced and nodded.
Hollywood smiled sweetly at him, “Would you be so nice as to help dear Miss Lector here with finding one or the other?”
Max looked doubtful, but Hollywood batted her big blue eyes at him.
“Ah, come on Maxie, for me?”
Emma added her pleas to Hollywood’s, “Please, Max, I need to find him, and soon.”
Max looked from one woman to the other and smiled sheepishly.
“I guess I can take you to see him. I think I remember where Josh Taske was living. There is just one thing…”
Emma nodded vigorously, “Anything!”
Max’s dark eyes locked sternly with Emma’s.
“Don’t call me Max.”
Emma was surprised, but decided to comply.
“Of course, but what can I call you?”
“Sniper.”
Hollywood smiled one of her big, glittery smiles.
“That’s his codename, aint it dashing?”
A loud beep from the back room caused Hollywood to spin around and rush back. A few seconds later she ran back in with a passport in one hand.
“Here you are, Maxie, one falsified passport just for you!”
Max nodded his thanks and handed her a wad of cash.
“Thanks Holly.”
She just smiled and winked coyly at him.
Max turned and, after motioning to Emma to follow, walked out of the store. After grabbing her bags, she hurried out behind him.
Outside on the bright sidewalk, Emma fell in step with the man.
“So, Sniper, right?”
“Yep.”
“How do we find Josh Taske?”
Sniper turned abruptly on Emma, “Don’t say that name! The Taske family name can get you killed just as well as save your life! It is not a wise thing to bandy about carelessly.”
Emma was taken aback, but this man was her only way to find Josh.
“Can I just call him Josh then?”
Sniper resumed walking, “Sure. Plenty of Josh’s out there.”
“So how do we find him?”
Sniper stopped at the corner and waited for the crosswalk to turn green.
“Last time I heard from the Wolf, the Sharktooth had settled down in Eugene, Oregon. Now that was a while back, so I don’t know if he is still there or not.”
Emma thought that through, “So, we go, see if he still lives there; and if he doesn’t’?
Sniper shrugged, “Then we ask around, see if anyone remembers him or knows where he went.”
They came to a little parking lot between two buildings and Sniper walked up a large blue Hummer.
Emma looked at it, wide-eyed.
“Is this yours?”
Sniper grinned proudly, “Yep!”
Emma put her duffel and backpack on the back seat and looked over at Sniper, who had climbed in behind the steering wheel.
“It okay if I ride up front?”
Sniper shrugged, and Emma got into the passenger side and buckled up.
Sniper pulled a pair of dark sunglasses out of the sun-visor and donned them.
As they pulled out of the parking lot Sniper glanced over at Emma.
“We need to stop, get some gas and some food, and then we can start for Oregon. We should get there in two or three days, depending on what hassles we have with hotels and traffic.”
Emma nodded, feeling that, finally, she had hope.
~June 21st, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Pallas kept her pistol trained at Josh as her crystalline eyes flicked over Scarlet and the rest of the room.
“Where are the others?”
Josh, who was casually dressed in black and gray canvas cameo pants and a black T-shirt, opened his hands dismissively.
“Where is your brother?”
Pallas glanced, almost imperceptibly, behind them at the back door.
Josh smiled, “Is he supposed to be coming in behind us? Perhaps through the garage?”
Pallas’ eyes narrowed and, setting down her gun on the couch, she reached behind and drew out a sword identical to the one she already held.
“I will enjoy killing you.”
Josh, drawing and setting his Desert Eagles on the kitchen table in imitation of the assassin, drew his Sais and spun them around so the blades rested against his wrists.
“You have to kill me first.”
Scarlet, who was armed with her miniature crossbow and a long dagger, stepped back towards the bar.
This fight was between Josh and Pallas.
Nathan and Apollos stared at each other, sizing the other up. Nathan was the best bow staff fighter on Josh’s team, but even he was skeptical about his chances against the strange white-haired assassin.
Nathan grinned at Apollos, “Hey, love the hair, you dye it like that or are you that scared to see me?”
Apollos’ blue eyes remained locked on Nathan.
“You do not scare me, Wolf; you will fall like the animal you are.”
Nathan touched a hand to his heart in mock hurt.
“An animal? Ouch, I’m hurt!”
Nathan took three steps forward, quickly covering the distance between him and the assassin. He brought his broomstick up and swiped at Apollos’ head.
Apollos easily deflected the blow with his bow staff and brought the other end up to strike at Nathan’s side.
Nathan parried with the center of his staff and spun around to bring an end of his weapon up towards Apollos’ shoulder.
Apollos blocked and, bringing his bow staff around in a blur, struck Nathan hard on the hip. Nathan winced at the sharp, jarring blow, and took a limping step back.
He grinned at the blue-eyed assassin.
This was going to be fun.
Josh waited for Pallas to make the first strike. The night before Josh had talked the Twins over with Scarlet and Wraith, getting all the information on them he could.
Scarlet, who had fought the Twins before, remember that Pallas was the impatient one, while Apollos could keep his head longer. Therefore, Josh decided to make things harder for them.
He had sent Nathan, who tended to be impatient and unpredictable, against Apollos, who Josh knew would try to outflank his little group. Nathan’s irrationality and frenzied combat style would frustrate the cool and rational assassin. Meanwhile, Josh’s cold and measured fighting style would be enough to throw Pallas off her game.
Or so they all hoped. It was pulling at straws, and even if they did gain the psychological advantage they hoped for, it was only a small one.
Pallas charged ahead and swung the sword in her left hand at Josh’s side.
Josh caught the blade of the sword between his Sai’s pronged cross guard and deflected the strike into the floor. He caught her next attack in the same way and, when both swords were down, he kicked her straight in the stomach.
Scarlet, who was watching the battle, winced. She had received similar hits, and knew how much they hurt.
Pallas fell backward, but quickly recovered and brought her right-hand blade in an upward sweep aimed at Josh’s head.
Josh stepped back and the blade missed his face by centimeters. He switched his grips on his knives so he could use one for stabbing, while the other he held in a back-handed grip for deflecting and blocking.
He stepped forward, ducked a left-handed swipe from Pallas, and stabbed at her stomach.
Pallas caught the stab on the flat of her blade and tried to spin his weapon away from her body.
But Josh was expecting it and, catching the sword blade in the prongs again, twisted the sword from Pallas’ grasp.
Pallas adopted a two-handed stance with her remaining sword and prayed Apollos would come soon.
Apollos and Nathan had been going at it for a few minutes now. Nathan was limping from the strike against his hip he had received earlier, and now he had blood running from a gash above his ear.
He had managed to mangle one of Apollos’ hands though, crushing the assassin’s left hand between the assassin’s metal bow staff and his own makeshift one.
Both of the fighter’s arms, legs, and shoulders hurt from hits they had received, but Nathan was definitely having the worst of it.
Taking a step back for a quick breather, Nathan and the assassin locked eyes.
Ice-blue eyes met crystal-blue ones. Hatred and rage was passed in that glance, along with the will to live.
Then they were at it again.
Josh, who still had both his Sais, watched Pallas like a hawk.
And if Josh was the hawk, then Pallas was the snake. A snake with one fang and little hope of victory.
She moved forward and tried to get through Josh’s defenses, but there was no way. He was that good.
Outside the house and across the street, Wraith eyed the Twin’s silver BMW. He had spent the last few minutes searching the vehicle, going through and committing to memory everything in the glove box, trunk, and back seat.
He had finished by crawling under the car and wedging a grenade up near the axle. Then he pulled the pin on it.
If either of the Twins managed to finish their job, or if they lost their battle and manage to escape, they wouldn’t get far. Once the car was started and moved only a few feet forward, the live grenade would shake itself loose and, upon hitting the ground, detonate and take out the car and any occupants.
Wraith smiled to himself; sometimes the deepest thinkers would use the simplest methods for bringing about their means.
And Wraith loved it when he could find a simple solution.
Nathan and Apollos clashed together, and they remained locked for a moment. The looked each other over, looking for a weakness.
Unfortunately, it was Apollos who found one. He faked a step backwards and brought his staff crashing into the hip he had already damaged.
Nathan went down on one knee and prepared for the strike he knew would follow.
Apollos flicked a small button on his bow staff’s grip, and a sharp, three-inch long blade slide out of the staff’s end. He brought the staff sweeping upwards and neatly cut Nathan’s broomstick in two. Then, with three lightning-fast motions, he knocked the pieces from Nathan’s hands and dealt a sharp blow to the side of Nathan’s head.
Nathan fell back onto his back with a groan. Blood ran from his temple and stars danced across his vision.
As Nathan propped himself up on one arm, Apollos raised his now bladed weapon for the killing blow.
“Any last words, Dog?”
Nathan started laughing.
Apollos hesitated a moment, and Nathan looked up and locked eyes with him again.
Nathan grinned up at him, “Yeah, I just want to say I’m sorry.”
Apollos was taken aback, “Sorry for what?”
Nathan put his other arm behind his back, as if to support himself better.
But he suddenly sat up, a small P.22 pistol leveled at Apollos’ head.
“I’m sorry for playin’ with yah.”
Nathan pulled the trigger and Apollos fell backwards, blood turning the assassin’s white hair red.
Nathan fell back, exhausted and in pain.
He laughed to himself, “Heh, damn that was good.”
Emma Lector walked through the swinging glass door into a world of printers and art. Hollywood’s Prints wasn’t your normal print shop, it was also part art gallery. The walls were hung with artwork from local painters, with a few others by well known artists. Printers of all sorts and kinds lined the interior of the shop, giving a wide range of options for just about any printing job you could imagine.
“Heya Honey, can I help you?”
Emma turned to see a young-looking woman with platinum blonde hair come out of a back room. She was short, but not too short, and she carried her thin frame like a model straight off the runway. Her eyes were a sparkly pale blue, and they revealed much of the woman’s mischievous personality.
Behind her came a man with darker blonde hair. He was about 5’9” and had dark, almost black, brown eyes. He carried a small side-satchel and what appeared to be a long bag that might have contained a camera tripod.
Emma nervously approached the counter and, after setting down the large duffel and backpack she carried, addressed the blonde woman.
“Um… yes, are you Hollywood?”
The woman’s defenses went instantly up, “Depends, who wants to know and why?”
Emma swallowed hard, “My name is Emma Lector, and I was told you might be able to help me find someone.”
The man that had come out of the back room with the woman was casually looking over some of the art hanging on the walls. The woman rested her hands on the counter and stared levelly at Emma.
“Who you workin’ for?”
“No one, I was recently associated with Chairman of the Board, James Hughes, but that relationship has recently been terminated.”
The woman stared at her a moment longer.
“Okay, yeah, I’m Hollywood. And I might be able to help you find your man, but no promises. And it’ll cost yah.”
Emma smiled, relieved, “I have money, but not much.”
Hollywood shrugged, “I don’t even know who you are looking for, so I don’t know how much the price is yet.”
She looked over Emma’s shoulder at the man, “Maxie, your passport will be done in just a few moments, so hold on while I help this lady?”
The man nodded and went back to looking at pictures.
Hollywood smiled at Emma, “That’s Max, don’t mind him though. He’s a regular customer here, and a perty fine assassin if I understand the stories.”
Emma nodded, “So… back to my problem?”
Hollywood shook her head, “Oh, I’m sorry! I get distracted sometimes. So, who you lookin’ for?”
“Josh Taske.”
Hollywood froze and the man called Max turned to stare at her.
Hollywood glanced nervously at Max, then back to Emma.
“What would you be wanting the Sharktooth for?”
Emma was a bit worried about their reaction; she hoped Hollywood would tell her what she knew about Josh’s whereabouts.
“I need his help getting out of some trouble.”
Hollywood nodded slowly, “Well… I guess I can give you that for free. Yah see, I don’t know where he is.”
Emma’s spirits fell, “You don’t?”
Hollywood shook her blonde head, “Nope, and that’s a big confession for a Forger. Last anyone in the Underworld heard, the Sharktooth was off workin’ for the President. But that was five years ago, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Or at least, they aint sayin’ if they have.”
Emma looked desperately at the woman, “You don’t have any information you can give me?
Hollywood shook her head sadly, but then perked up.
“Heya Max, you were buddies with the Wolf, right?”
Max stepped up to the counter, “Yeah, worked a few jobs with him a while back.”
“An’ the Wolf is like blood-brothers with Taske, right?”
Max grimaced and nodded.
Hollywood smiled sweetly at him, “Would you be so nice as to help dear Miss Lector here with finding one or the other?”
Max looked doubtful, but Hollywood batted her big blue eyes at him.
“Ah, come on Maxie, for me?”
Emma added her pleas to Hollywood’s, “Please, Max, I need to find him, and soon.”
Max looked from one woman to the other and smiled sheepishly.
“I guess I can take you to see him. I think I remember where Josh Taske was living. There is just one thing…”
Emma nodded vigorously, “Anything!”
Max’s dark eyes locked sternly with Emma’s.
“Don’t call me Max.”
Emma was surprised, but decided to comply.
“Of course, but what can I call you?”
“Sniper.”
Hollywood smiled one of her big, glittery smiles.
“That’s his codename, aint it dashing?”
A loud beep from the back room caused Hollywood to spin around and rush back. A few seconds later she ran back in with a passport in one hand.
“Here you are, Maxie, one falsified passport just for you!”
Max nodded his thanks and handed her a wad of cash.
“Thanks Holly.”
She just smiled and winked coyly at him.
Max turned and, after motioning to Emma to follow, walked out of the store. After grabbing her bags, she hurried out behind him.
Outside on the bright sidewalk, Emma fell in step with the man.
“So, Sniper, right?”
“Yep.”
“How do we find Josh Taske?”
Sniper turned abruptly on Emma, “Don’t say that name! The Taske family name can get you killed just as well as save your life! It is not a wise thing to bandy about carelessly.”
Emma was taken aback, but this man was her only way to find Josh.
“Can I just call him Josh then?”
Sniper resumed walking, “Sure. Plenty of Josh’s out there.”
“So how do we find him?”
Sniper stopped at the corner and waited for the crosswalk to turn green.
“Last time I heard from the Wolf, the Sharktooth had settled down in Eugene, Oregon. Now that was a while back, so I don’t know if he is still there or not.”
Emma thought that through, “So, we go, see if he still lives there; and if he doesn’t’?
Sniper shrugged, “Then we ask around, see if anyone remembers him or knows where he went.”
They came to a little parking lot between two buildings and Sniper walked up a large blue Hummer.
Emma looked at it, wide-eyed.
“Is this yours?”
Sniper grinned proudly, “Yep!”
Emma put her duffel and backpack on the back seat and looked over at Sniper, who had climbed in behind the steering wheel.
“It okay if I ride up front?”
Sniper shrugged, and Emma got into the passenger side and buckled up.
Sniper pulled a pair of dark sunglasses out of the sun-visor and donned them.
As they pulled out of the parking lot Sniper glanced over at Emma.
“We need to stop, get some gas and some food, and then we can start for Oregon. We should get there in two or three days, depending on what hassles we have with hotels and traffic.”
Emma nodded, feeling that, finally, she had hope.
~June 21st, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Pallas kept her pistol trained at Josh as her crystalline eyes flicked over Scarlet and the rest of the room.
“Where are the others?”
Josh, who was casually dressed in black and gray canvas cameo pants and a black T-shirt, opened his hands dismissively.
“Where is your brother?”
Pallas glanced, almost imperceptibly, behind them at the back door.
Josh smiled, “Is he supposed to be coming in behind us? Perhaps through the garage?”
Pallas’ eyes narrowed and, setting down her gun on the couch, she reached behind and drew out a sword identical to the one she already held.
“I will enjoy killing you.”
Josh, drawing and setting his Desert Eagles on the kitchen table in imitation of the assassin, drew his Sais and spun them around so the blades rested against his wrists.
“You have to kill me first.”
Scarlet, who was armed with her miniature crossbow and a long dagger, stepped back towards the bar.
This fight was between Josh and Pallas.
Nathan and Apollos stared at each other, sizing the other up. Nathan was the best bow staff fighter on Josh’s team, but even he was skeptical about his chances against the strange white-haired assassin.
Nathan grinned at Apollos, “Hey, love the hair, you dye it like that or are you that scared to see me?”
Apollos’ blue eyes remained locked on Nathan.
“You do not scare me, Wolf; you will fall like the animal you are.”
Nathan touched a hand to his heart in mock hurt.
“An animal? Ouch, I’m hurt!”
Nathan took three steps forward, quickly covering the distance between him and the assassin. He brought his broomstick up and swiped at Apollos’ head.
Apollos easily deflected the blow with his bow staff and brought the other end up to strike at Nathan’s side.
Nathan parried with the center of his staff and spun around to bring an end of his weapon up towards Apollos’ shoulder.
Apollos blocked and, bringing his bow staff around in a blur, struck Nathan hard on the hip. Nathan winced at the sharp, jarring blow, and took a limping step back.
He grinned at the blue-eyed assassin.
This was going to be fun.
Josh waited for Pallas to make the first strike. The night before Josh had talked the Twins over with Scarlet and Wraith, getting all the information on them he could.
Scarlet, who had fought the Twins before, remember that Pallas was the impatient one, while Apollos could keep his head longer. Therefore, Josh decided to make things harder for them.
He had sent Nathan, who tended to be impatient and unpredictable, against Apollos, who Josh knew would try to outflank his little group. Nathan’s irrationality and frenzied combat style would frustrate the cool and rational assassin. Meanwhile, Josh’s cold and measured fighting style would be enough to throw Pallas off her game.
Or so they all hoped. It was pulling at straws, and even if they did gain the psychological advantage they hoped for, it was only a small one.
Pallas charged ahead and swung the sword in her left hand at Josh’s side.
Josh caught the blade of the sword between his Sai’s pronged cross guard and deflected the strike into the floor. He caught her next attack in the same way and, when both swords were down, he kicked her straight in the stomach.
Scarlet, who was watching the battle, winced. She had received similar hits, and knew how much they hurt.
Pallas fell backward, but quickly recovered and brought her right-hand blade in an upward sweep aimed at Josh’s head.
Josh stepped back and the blade missed his face by centimeters. He switched his grips on his knives so he could use one for stabbing, while the other he held in a back-handed grip for deflecting and blocking.
He stepped forward, ducked a left-handed swipe from Pallas, and stabbed at her stomach.
Pallas caught the stab on the flat of her blade and tried to spin his weapon away from her body.
But Josh was expecting it and, catching the sword blade in the prongs again, twisted the sword from Pallas’ grasp.
Pallas adopted a two-handed stance with her remaining sword and prayed Apollos would come soon.
Apollos and Nathan had been going at it for a few minutes now. Nathan was limping from the strike against his hip he had received earlier, and now he had blood running from a gash above his ear.
He had managed to mangle one of Apollos’ hands though, crushing the assassin’s left hand between the assassin’s metal bow staff and his own makeshift one.
Both of the fighter’s arms, legs, and shoulders hurt from hits they had received, but Nathan was definitely having the worst of it.
Taking a step back for a quick breather, Nathan and the assassin locked eyes.
Ice-blue eyes met crystal-blue ones. Hatred and rage was passed in that glance, along with the will to live.
Then they were at it again.
Josh, who still had both his Sais, watched Pallas like a hawk.
And if Josh was the hawk, then Pallas was the snake. A snake with one fang and little hope of victory.
She moved forward and tried to get through Josh’s defenses, but there was no way. He was that good.
Outside the house and across the street, Wraith eyed the Twin’s silver BMW. He had spent the last few minutes searching the vehicle, going through and committing to memory everything in the glove box, trunk, and back seat.
He had finished by crawling under the car and wedging a grenade up near the axle. Then he pulled the pin on it.
If either of the Twins managed to finish their job, or if they lost their battle and manage to escape, they wouldn’t get far. Once the car was started and moved only a few feet forward, the live grenade would shake itself loose and, upon hitting the ground, detonate and take out the car and any occupants.
Wraith smiled to himself; sometimes the deepest thinkers would use the simplest methods for bringing about their means.
And Wraith loved it when he could find a simple solution.
Nathan and Apollos clashed together, and they remained locked for a moment. The looked each other over, looking for a weakness.
Unfortunately, it was Apollos who found one. He faked a step backwards and brought his staff crashing into the hip he had already damaged.
Nathan went down on one knee and prepared for the strike he knew would follow.
Apollos flicked a small button on his bow staff’s grip, and a sharp, three-inch long blade slide out of the staff’s end. He brought the staff sweeping upwards and neatly cut Nathan’s broomstick in two. Then, with three lightning-fast motions, he knocked the pieces from Nathan’s hands and dealt a sharp blow to the side of Nathan’s head.
Nathan fell back onto his back with a groan. Blood ran from his temple and stars danced across his vision.
As Nathan propped himself up on one arm, Apollos raised his now bladed weapon for the killing blow.
“Any last words, Dog?”
Nathan started laughing.
Apollos hesitated a moment, and Nathan looked up and locked eyes with him again.
Nathan grinned up at him, “Yeah, I just want to say I’m sorry.”
Apollos was taken aback, “Sorry for what?”
Nathan put his other arm behind his back, as if to support himself better.
But he suddenly sat up, a small P.22 pistol leveled at Apollos’ head.
“I’m sorry for playin’ with yah.”
Nathan pulled the trigger and Apollos fell backwards, blood turning the assassin’s white hair red.
Nathan fell back, exhausted and in pain.
He laughed to himself, “Heh, damn that was good.”
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