~Chapter 1~

~Chapter 1~

~June 6th, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
Lexy Taske was confused. How had Josh sorted them? Foreign-make and American? Or did he sort them alphabetically by the brand name?
The puzzle before her was her husband’s car keys, all organized on a line of hooks before her. In her hand she held a key with the red and silver Pontiac logo engraved on its black plastic remote.
“Mommy!”
Lola, four years old with her mom’s light-brown hair and blue eyes, stood at the bottom of the ramp leading up into the garage above their heads. She had her hands on her hips and looked disapprovingly at her mother.
“We go inside now?”
Lexy sighed, “Hold on, Sweetie, Mommy just needs to remember where Daddy wanted her to put the car keys.”
A small voice rang out behind her.
“They go there.”
Lexy turned to see her other daughter, Maria, pointing to a hook.
Lexy nodded to the three year old and hung up the key.
Maria had Josh’s mind, although untrained, and could retain a surprisingly massive amount of information. Lexy could always count on her to remember where she put her phone, or her keys, or how Josh organized certain items around the house. Maria was not the quietest of her four children, but her sharp gray eyes missed nothing.
Lexy ruffled her daughter’s wild brown hair.
“Thanks.”
Maria looked up at her mom and smiled sweetly.
“’Welcome.”
Lexy and Maria walked along the row of vehicles parked in her husband’s underground garage to where Lola stood waiting.
Holding everything from a 1967 Pontiac GTO to a 1966 Nova and a newly bought 2016 Ford Mustang, the selection of cars was impressive. And the bikes along the back wall, including but not limited to a custom Harley and Josh’s precious Ninja 3, was a collection that would make quite a few hardcore bikers water at the mouth.
The garage was accessed by a ramp that, when raised, made up the floor of half of their two-car garage above. No one who wasn’t in the loop would ever know there was an entire car show beneath the Taske’s little garage.
Quickly typing the numerical code that raised the ramp to the lot below, Lexy and her two girls went out the back door of the garage and into the house via the glass door looking into the backyard.
Standing in the middle of the backyard stood a swing set with two swings and a pull-up bar. After letting the set rust and fall apart after the murder of his first wife and daughter, Josh and Lexy had repaired it the same year they were married.
Lexy thought back to the murders eight years ago. She had not been in Josh’s life then, it had happened about two years before they met. But she had heard accounts from Josh, Wraith, Nathan, and even Scarlet of the day Josh had returned from a successful ten years of service in the Marine Corps only to witness his wife and daughter killed by a hired gunman sent by his evil uncle, Regent Taske.
Regent had tried to kill her as well, but that had been back when her father was the President of the United States. Regent’s attacks on her and her father’s house were considered attacks against the President; so when Josh had given the Secret Service the information they needed to make an arrest, it wasn’t long before Regent was sentenced with the death penalty.
Lexy’s thoughts were interrupted and instantly forgotten at the sight of a head of dark brown hair and a pair of gray eyes heading towards her.
Elijah Taske threw his arms around his mother’s legs and hugged them tight.
“I miss you, Mommy.”
Lexy smiled down at him and put a hand fondly on his head.
“Missed you too.”
Maria’s twin, the boy shared the same gray eyes they had both inherited from their father. While he didn’t have the capacity for information his twin had, Elijah was a manipulator. Not in a bad way, but he was the one who could calm Maria’s temper, or rile Lola’s. He always knew what to say to make you feel better, or to make you feel annoyed, or even angry.
The last member of their family, Jackson, was only a year old. The only thing they knew about him was he, like Lola, had Lexy’s eyes, but the dark-brown hair of his father.
Remembering Jackson, Lexy quickly disentangled herself from Elijah’s embrace and headed for the back door. Josh could hold his own against any assassin or mercenary his vindictive family sent at him, and he knew how to frustrate some of the best lawyers with their own logic. But give him a baby and he’d need a detailed instruction manual.

Josh Taske sat on the floor of his bedroom looking over the contents of a rugged-looking army pack. Ration packs, a rain jacket, thermal blanket, combat knife, water-proof matches, the kit was everything you’d need to survive at least a week in almost any kind of wilderness.
Jackson sat on the floor next to him, a toy water-pistol in one hand and a toothbrush clenched in the other. He peered at the colored plastic and gently scrubbed parts of the pistol with a serious expression on his small face.
Josh had a pistol of his own, a silver Colt .45. He sat with a cleaning kit laid out in front of him, a cleaning cloth in hand.
It was what Josh and Lexy called “Spring Cleaning”, where Josh went through his enormous arsenal of weapons and through all his gear and equipment and cleaned and updated everything. He had spent the last week going through the secret caches of guns, knives, swords, bows, arrows, and other personal weapons he had hidden in the office and living room. This week was the week Josh prepped what he called his “Alcatraz Kits”. Basically, it was the gear that would make it possible for him and his family to escape and disappear without leaving a trace.
Lexy walked into the room, a small plastic bag in her hand. Maria followed closely behind her.
“We’re home, how’s Jackson?”
Josh looked up and smiled at his wife. At thirty-six years old, Josh was the image of human health and fitness. Broad shoulders with well muscled arms, chest and legs, Josh knew more about combat than almost anyone. He had grown up learning to fight and use weapons from his criminal family and their associates. Then, his ten-year stint in the Marines focused his lethal talent even more.
Now, however, Josh had retired as best as he could, although he still was prepared for any event.
“Oh hey, Honey, me and Jackson were just going through the Alcatraz Kits.”
Maria squatted down next to her father and ran her sharp eyes over the kit and the gun in Josh’s hand.
“Can I help?”
Josh had all his kids figured out. Lola was going to be something to do with fashion; maybe an actress or clothes designer. Elijah was going to be some sort of lawyer or politician; where he could use his people skills every day. Jackson was difficult to tell, but he seemed to be leaning towards something technical; if his interest in mechanical items and moving parts meant anything.
Maria was the fighter. She loved weapons as much as Josh did, and always wanted to help clean them, or use them if she got the chance. Of the three older kids, Maria was the one who truly enjoyed and excelled in the martial arts classes they had three times a week. She was a natural athlete and was quickly learning to use that to her advantage.
Josh handed her the cloth and the .45, “Here, clean off all the oil and polish it good.”
Maria’s face brightened and, after accepting the items, sat down with Jackson and began to go over the handgun with a thorough eye.
Lexy shook her head in amusement at little Jackson.
“I see Jacky is doing his cleaning as well?”
Josh stood and hugged his wife, “Yeah, he also helped test the emergency rations to see if they were still good.”
He glanced at the bag in her hand.
“What do you have there?”
Lexy’s smile widened as she pulled out a brand new CD from the bag. On the cover was a blond man with a dark suit and sunglasses playing a silver saxophone.
“Jay-Jay Monroe’s latest album, I thought you might like it”
New as of three years ago, Jay-Jay Monroe was the newest king of the Jazz scene. After only three albums and a few small concerts, he was already rated up there with BB King and Ray Charles himself.
Josh’s eyes lit up as he took the CD.
“Thanks, Hon! But, you know what this means, don’t you?”
Lexy put her arms around Josh’s neck and her dazzling blue eyes met his sharp gray ones.
“Please tell me, what does this mean?”
Josh kissed her on the lips, then the neck. His mouth lingered near her right ear.
His voice was soft, “I’m going to have to make this up to you later tonight.”
Maria looked up from her project, “Are you gonna kiss and take all your clothes off again?”
Josh looked down at his daughter, “Why, there something wrong with that?”
The little girl shrugged, “Nope. It’s just kinda gross.”
Josh picked her up from the ground and, after depriving her of the handgun and handing it to Lexy, tossed her lightly on the bed and began to tickle her.
“Gross, huh? Well, you know what’s worse? Putting up with silly little girls!”
Maria laughed helplessly, her eyes alight.
“Daddy! Stop! Stop, Daddy!”
Lexy was laughing as well, but then she heard the phone ring and she hurried downstairs to the kitchen to get it.

“Lexy? Hey, it’s Dad, how’s the kids?”
Lexy smiled at the sound of her father’s warm voice. After serving one term as President of the United States, Matt Gold had retired and now lived in Texas. He came to Oregon on the holidays, and tried to make it for the kid’s birthdays, but Matt was currently Mayor of El Paso, and had his hands full. But he still called almost every week.
“They’re great, Daddy, Lola is still our quiet little drama queen, but she’s started talking to kids at the park when Josh takes her. Maria is still learning all she can as fast as she can, I think she has all her dad’s number-keys and combination-codes memorized.”
Matt laughed, “She learned how to pick a lock yet?”
Lexy sighed, “Not yet, but I suppose that’s the next step, isn’t it? Anyways, Elijah took over a corner of his and Jackson’s room for building a giant Lego castle. And Jackson, when he isn’t knocking over Eli’s Lego sets or drawing on the wall with my lipstick, has been helping Josh clean up around the house. Hey, you want to talk to any of them?”
“How about all of them?”
Lexy laughed, “Okay, who first?”
Lola ran in and jumped onto a barstool.
“Is that Grampa!? Can I talk to him?”
Lexy smiled at her, “Dad? Lola is here, you want to talk to her?”
She handed the phone to her oldest daughter and began busing herself around the kitchen getting dinner ready.
The doorbell rang out over Lola’s excited chatter with her Grandpa, and Lexy went to go answer it.
A tall man with jet-black hair and bright green eyes stood outside on the front porch. When she opened the door a smile flashed over his face.
Lexy hugged him tight, “Wraith! When did you arrive?”
Wraith, old friend of Josh and Lexy, dropped the duffel he was carrying and hugged her back.
“I just got in this morning; I’m staying in a little motel in town.”
Lexy released him and stepped back to allow him entrance.
“Come in, come in! It’s been what, two years?”
Wraith grinned, “Two years, three months, and four days.”
Lexy stopped and her face went blank a moment. Then she shook her head and a bemused smile spread across her face. Wraith had a perfect-recall mind that ran four times as fast as the smartest people. It made him good at his job as an investigator and spy.
“I just can’t seem to get over how you do that.”
Wraith shrugged, “Sorry.”
Lexy took his arm and led him to the kitchen.
“No, it’s perfectly all right! It just catches me off-guard, is all. You want a drink? Josh is upstairs with Jackson and Maria.”
Wraith looked mildly amused, “Jackson? You named him after Nathan?”
Lexy winked at the informer, “Yeah, but Josh didn’t know how he’d react to our son having his middle name, so we haven’t told him yet. In fact, we haven’t heard from Nathan or Scarlet since we saw you last.”
She walked around the edge of the bar and into the kitchen.
“Anything to drink?”
Wraith shook his head and waved at Lola, who was still rambling into the telephone.
Lola waved back and, without taking the receiver from next to her mouth, yelled, “Hi Uncle Wraith!”
Wraith smiled at her and started upstairs.
“I think I’ll go see Josh, I’ll be back in a few minutes though.”
Lexy looked over at her daughter, “Lola, I think you need to let Eli or Maria talk to Grampa now, Okay?”
Lola nodded vigorously, “Grampa? Mommy says you can’t talk to me anymore; you need to talk to Eli. ‘K?”
Lola listened for a second, and then turned towards the stairs.
“ELIJAH! GRAMPA WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!”

Wraith almost collided with a rushed Elijah on his way up the steps to see Josh.
“Hiya, Uncle Wraith!”
With that he was gone to get the phone from his older sister.
Wraith stood at the door of Josh’s room and watched Josh, Jackson and Maria hard at work cleaning weaponry until Josh looked up and noticed him.
Josh rose and held out a hand to his old friend.
“Wraith! Good to see you, how you been? Where you been?”
Maria carefully set the huge Desert Eagle handgun down next to where she sat before jumping up and hugging Wraith’s legs.
“Uncle Wraith! Daddy let me shoot the .22!”
Wraith’s green eyes widened in exaggerated surprise.
“Really? A little girl like you?”
Maria stepped back and, putting her hands on her hips, gave Wraith a disapproving look.
“I’m not little, I’m three!”
Wraith bowed his head apologetically, “I’m sorry; you are growing to be quite the young lady. I had forgotten.”
He set his duffel on the ground and unzipped it.
“As a token of my regret at being so forgetful, I brought you a little present.”
He drew out a short katana with steel hand guard and a hilt wrapped with strips of leather. The black sheath was also leather, with small steel rings for attaching it to a belt.
Maria’s eyes grew big as she gently accepted the sword from the green-eyed man.
“Wow! Thank you Uncle Wraith!”
She held the katana carefully in both hands and walked carefully to her room across the hallway.
Josh knew she would carefully polish the blade with a cloth and set it on the wooden rack with her European short sword and fencing foil. She shared her room with Lola, and while Lola’s parts of the room were all silver, pink and blue girl colors, Maria was all Japanese calligraphy and a black, red and blue samurai motif.
Wraith watched her go, “I guess she likes it.”
Josh threw him a glance out of the corner of his eyes.
“If it wasn’t that you were already tied with Nathan for her favorite Uncle, I’d say you were her new best friend for life.”
Wraith felt a small hand tug at his pants leg. He looked down to see Jackson looking up at him with wide blue eyes.
“Uncle Wraith, didja bring me something?”
Wraith knelt down and looked earnestly into Jackson’s small face.
“What would you like?”
Jackson smiled at him, “Music!”
Wraith hid a smile, “What kind of music?”
Jackson thought a moment, and then looked at his daddy with a helpless expression on his face. His blue eyes went back to Wraith.
“Want Bee-King”
Wraith looked up at Josh.
Josh grinned, “He means BB King. He loves my BB king CD’s, but he really just likes Jazz music.”
Wraith looked back to Jackson, “You like Jazz?”
Jackson nodded and clapped his hands in anticipation.
“Yah, yah!”
Wraith looked into his duffel and, after digging a moment, brought out a Nat King Cole CD.
“Something like this?”
Jackson’s eyes went as big as dinner plates, and he snatched the CD to look adoringly at the cover.
Josh was leaning against the door, “Jacky, what do you say to Uncle Wraith?”
Jackson looked embarrassed and quickly put the CD behind his back.
“Thank you, Uncle Wraith, for the CD. I like it very much.”
Wraith ruffled the kid’s hair, “You are very welcome.”

As Jackson pounded down the stairs to show his mom his CD, Wraith sat on the bed while Josh reclaimed his spot on the floor. Josh picked up the flare gun he was replacing a firing pin on and resumed his work.
As he worked, Josh glanced up at Wraith, “So, how’s life goin? Any new projects?”
Wraith took a Desert Eagle .357 caliber pistol from the holster hung on the bedpost. He examined it as they conversed.
“Not really, Shadow Tech released its new hologram projector a few weeks ago, sales are already booming.”
Josh smiled, “You mean the hologram projector you designed seven years ago and installed in the Den?”
Wraith’s green eyes glinted with humor, “It was six years ago, and yes.”
“Got to keep the world from getting ahead of itself, right?”
“Something like that.”
Josh expertly disassembled the flare pistol and tossed the aging part into the garbage by the door.
“What is the Board up to these days?”
Wraith spun the Desert Eagle around his index finger so fast it blurred.
“They have been busy, the search the Secret Service and FBI made of Regent’s apartment after his arrest led them to arrest a few other Board members and some of the lesser Underworld Agents working for them.”
Josh nodded, “But they are still in business and big as ever.”
“Yes. They are currently being led by a man called James Hughes. He was elected into Regent’s place last year, but hasn’t done much in the way of dastardly schemes and major crimes. Although rumor has it he has some big plan he’s been assembling, but no one seems to have any idea what it is or when he’d be putting his alleged plan into action.”
“Typical Underworld gossip.”
Wraith looked at his old friend with a humorous look in his eyes.
“By the way, speaking of Underworld gossip, there are people who think you are going to make a major coup d'état against the Board and its Chairman.”
Josh looked surprised at the informer, “Where did you hear that?”
Wraith shrugged, “Oh, here and there. There was talk of it in a bar in Washington DC, a pub in Brussels, a sake den in Japan, and even in a secret Mafia meeting.”
Josh cocked a smile at Wraith, “What were you doing in a sake den, in Japan no less?”
Wraith’s smile became secretive.
“Working.”
Josh raised his eyebrows in mock astonishment.
“No kidding.”

A few hours later the top secret meeting in the Regency Inc building in New York had come to a close. James and Emma sat at the head of the table in the now empty conference hall. Cipher was busy unhooking his laptop from the room’s elaborate multimedia set up a few feet away from the two of them.
Emma waited until Cipher was done, then cleared his throat to get his attention.
“Cipher, would you please step out for a moment, me and James must talk about some private matters.”
Cipher looked to James, whose nod told him he had permission to leave.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Cipher exited the room and, when the big doors shut with an echoing thump, pulled out his PDA-cell phone. Hitting a number on his speed dial, he waited for a response from the other end.
A female voice came through the phone’s speaker, “Hello?”
Cipher smiled to himself; out of everything in the world he loved only two things, his computers and his sister.”
“Hey, Codec, it’s Cipher. I was wondering if you had time for dinner tonight?”

Back in the conference hall, James turned to look at Emma.
“Well? He’s gone, what do you want?”
Emma’s eyes were sad, and her face was tense.
“James, do you still love me?”
James stood and, taking her hand, brought her to stand with him by the window.
“Of course I do, why do you ask?”
Emma stared at the city below, “I don’t know. We haven’t had a night to ourselves for a long time. You have always been working.”
James put his hands on her shoulders, “Darling, we are weeks away from the biggest heist in US history! I’m very busy.”
Emma brought her eyes up to meet his, “I know, but I checked the bank account you set up for me when we first started this. And, James, it hasn’t had a deposit in it for over six months.”
James smiled hugged her to him, “Is that all? This is where I ask you if you love me, I believe.”
A tear ran down Emma’s cheek, “James, I understand if you are busy right now and can’t spend time with me. But I know you just need to tell someone to move the money to my account. But that hasn’t been happening, that one little thing. And, it just makes a girl wonder.”
She took a step back from him so she could look into his face.
“That is why I ask if you still love me.”
James nodded, “Emma, Darling, listen; I am very busy, and the fact just slipped my mind. I’ll have Cipher transfer the funs I promised to your account when both he and I have a moment. But think, in a few weeks all the money in the United States will belong to you and me! Then you will have even more than that measly seventy-thousand-a-month I promised you.”
James looked at his watch and grabbed his briefcase from the table.
“Now I really must go, I have a meeting with Cipher and a few other people about this Josh Taske Problem, and I still don’t have all the details of their contract figured out.”
James pecked Emma on the cheek and rushed out of the room.
Emma stood and looked over the city, her heart heavy and her mind troubled.