~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.”