~Chapter 5~

~Chapter 5~

~June 12th, 2019- Samuel Grayson’s Apartment, NY
Samuel Grayson sat at the table in his little apartment, just staring at the wall. His gray eyes were glazed over with thought, plans and ideas running through his brain. A small-caliber pistol sat on the table in front of him, loaded and ready to fire.
Samuel had been granted a place on the Board just a few months after James Hughes became Chairman. Since then he had become allies with Jay Marcos’s and Hosea De Carlos and few others on the Board. He rarely voiced his opinion during the Board meetings, but when he did they were normally listened too and normally acted on. Few knew that the mysterious businessman had his own agenda.
A knock on the door stirred Samuel from his brooding, and his eyes came into instant focus. His gaze turned to the door.
“Enter.”
Jay Marcos and Hosea De Carlos entered the darkened apartment and approached the man at the table. They waited until Grayson invited them to sit with a gesture of his hand before taking their seats.
Marcos cleared his voice and spoke first, “I assume you heard James kicked Emma Lector out a few days ago?”
Samuel nodded, his unblinking eyes making Marcos uncomfortable.
“Will that change anything?”
Samuel blinked once and shook his head.
“No. Emma will go to Josh Taske to try to get him to take James out.”
Marcos and De Carlos exchanged surprised looks.
Hosea leaned forward, “Senor Grayson, how do you know this?”
Samuel loosed a vampirish smile, “James has voiced his fear of Josh to the Board and probably to her as well. She understands the threat Josh is to James’ career, and she understands she can’t simply go to the police and hand him over. They would never believe her without first investigating her claim. By the time they completed their investigation; James would either have erased all incriminating evidence or left the country.”
Marcos thought over Grayson’s logic.
“But will Taske help her? It would take more than a request from a cheated woman to get him involved.”
“She knows about James’ Plan. Once he hears about that, Josh Taske will be obligated to stop James. Not just as a favor for Miss Lector, but also as a service to his country. Remember, Taske is a patriot as well as a pragmatist.”
Marcos leaned back in his chair, “What about James?”
Samuel’s gaze locked with Marcos’.
“What about him?”
Marcos fidgeted uncomfortably, “When do we kill him?”
Samuel’s stare became thoughtful, “Not yet. Let us see how this thing with Taske plays out. Maybe we won’t have to kill him after all.”
De Carlos glance from Marcos back to Grayson, “Why not, Senor?”
Samuel’s smile sent a chill down Marcos and Hosea’s spine.
“Because, maybe, Josh Taske will kill James for us.”

~June 13th, 2019- Regency Inc Building, NY City
James Hughes sat at his desk and stared at the strange team that stood before him. He had been involved with the Underworld for over nineteen years and had seen his fair share of strange and bizarre mercs and assassins. But still, these two took the prize.
With their long, platinum-white hair and big ice-blue eyes, Pallas and Apollos reminded James of a couple of Japanese anime characters. Adding to the impression was their shockingly thin builds and the aura of just plain moodiness that surrounded them. They also both wore white slacks and shirts with long black over-coats.
As he had looked over their record James had noted that the twins had extensive gymnastics and martial arts training, in addition to training in bladed weapons and firearms. What had struck him, though, was how the each twin’s skill set complimented the others.
Apollos, the male member of the symbiosis, was proficient in small-arms and was an expert shot with not only a rifle, but with any manner of thrown or launched projectiles. He also had training in Japanese and European sword fighting styles, but had chosen to specialize in weapons like the bow staff, spear, mace, and other blunt-force implements.
Pallas, the woman, was also proficient in small-arms, but her skill lay with heavier short-range weaponry, like shot-guns, SMG’s, and explosives. She, like her brother, had training in Japan and Europe. But unlike her brother, she had chosen bladed weapons, like knives, swords, throwing-stars, and other pointed tools of destruction.
James, after a moment more of studying the odd pair, finally addressed them.
“Pallas, Apollos, you come from Florida?”
They both nodded.
“Yes,” said Pallas.
“We do,” finished Apollos.
James’ eyes flicked between the two, as if he wasn’t sure what to make if them.
“You were sent, along with a number of other mercenaries and assassins, by Pyros Lite and Carl Mash to kill Josh Taske five years ago. You failed then, why should I believe you will succeed now?”
This time Apollos spoke first, “We were defeated by the one called Scarlet. After that defeat we removed ourselves for a time…”
Pallas picked up her bother’s thought, “…We felt sure if one like Scarlet could defeat us, we were not ready.”
Apollos took over from his sister, “We only recently have returned from abroad…”
Pallas again, “…From learning how to be better…”
“…learning so we will not fail a second time.”
James nodded, pondering the twin’s words.
“So, I assume that you showing up here means you believe you are now ready?”
The Twins nodded.
“Okay then, lets discuss you price and you can be on your way.”
The Twins nodded.

~June 14th, 2019- Josh Taske’s House in Eugene, Oregon
The last few days had been fairly quiet, even for the Taske family. Wraith, having nothing better to do for the time being, had decided to stay with the Taskes, and they welcomed his presence. Maria had indeed chosen him for her favorite uncle and stayed close by him.
Wraith had noted Maria’s ability to remember facts and data, so he played games with her that would help her hone her ability to a useful tool. He would do things like give her a list of numbers, sometimes up to twenty digits, and ask her to remember them until the next day. If she could remember them when he questioned her nearly twenty-four hours later, he would buy her a candy bar or show her a trick with a knife.
Other times he would give her a list of items, ranging anywhere from fifteen to thirty, and ask her to remember them. Then he would recite them to her, leaving out one item on the list. If she could remember what item had been left out, she was rewarded with a piece of candy or a demonstration of a trick.
Wraith had also taken to letting Maria and Elijah visit him before they went to bed, whereupon he would tell them a story. They especially liked stories about Wraith and Josh’s exploits, and their favorites were from when their parents had first met. They would ooh and ah at the evil actions of Regent Taske and his hired assassin, Pyros Lite.
Unfortunately, much to Josh and Lexy’s amusement, Maria had taken a certain liking to Wraith’s tales of “Uncle” Nathan Wolv. The last time Nathan had visited, Maria and Elijah were only about a year or so old, so she didn’t remember him. But now, he was her favorite action hero.
Lexy and Wraith had also taken to sparring every morning, afterwards Wraith would run through a number of breathing and relaxation exercises. Lexy learned a lot from Wraith, even how to do a few pressure points and nerve-strikes similar to the one he had used on her during their first sparring match.
Josh and Jackson had moved on from cleaning their Alcatraz Kits to checking on vehicles in the garage. Jackson would sit inside the car and “test” the CD players and radio, while Josh would check under the hood.
Today, however, Wraith had volunteered to go shopping for Lexy, while Lexy tried to help Lola clean her side of the room she shared with Maria.
Josh had been challenged by Elijah and Maria to play their new “Cartoon Network: Racers Unleashed” game on their PS5 game console. For the last two or three hours, they had raced through brightly-colored racetracks with an entourage of characters including the Mystery Gang from the classic Scooby Doo TV show, the girl-powered trio of the Power-Puff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and many others Josh had never even heard of. So far Elijah held the lead with Maria and Josh in close succession.
Elijah loved to play as the old man from Courage the Cowardly dog. He would race through the track, throwing grenades and obstacles in the path of his opponents while yelling dated sayings like “gosh-darn it” and “blimey”.
Maria would then come streaking in behind him as Blossom from the Power-Puff Girls, using her laser-vision to keep Josh’s Scooby Doo character solidly in third place.
Jackson was content to sit on the couch behind Josh and look through some of Josh’s old comic books.
Lexy had just come down the stairs with a bag of garbage from Lola’s room when their front door was assaulted by a loud knocking. Dropping her trash bag on the ground by the downstairs bathroom door, Lexy went to see who was trying to break their door down.
She opened the door to find Nathan and Scarlet on the front step. Nathan stepped forward, a stern expression on his face.
“Mrs. Taske?”
Lexy leaned against the door and pretended to be serious.
“Yes, may I help you?”
Nathan exchanged a look with Scarlet, “We regret to be the ones who have to inform you that your husband…”
He stopped and looked to Scarlet with the same glance you always see the cops exchange when they are trying to tell someone a loved one had been killed.
Scarlet stepped forward, “We regret to inform that your husband is a mercenary and assassin who used to work with a major US crime syndicate.”
Nathan nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, so we gotta arrest him.”
Lexy took a step back and motioned them inside.
“Oh, is that all? Well then come right in, he’s in the living room.”

Josh and his two children sat intently in front of the TV, Josh and Maria desperately trying to steal first-place from Elijah.
Without even looking behind her, Maria sensed Nathan and Scarlet’s presence.
“Daddy, there are people here to see you.”
Josh nodded, “I know, I’m waiting for them to say something instead of standing back there waiting for me to notice.”
Lexy walked past with the trash bag.
She winked at Scarlet, “Josh, they’re here to arrest you.”
Maria spun around to look wide-eyed at the two of them.
“You gonna arrest my daddy?”
Scarlet opened her mouth to say something, but Josh turned around and spoke first.
“What are you going to arrest me for? Saving both of your butts on multiple occasions?”
Nathan shrugged, “Whatever works. But we might waive the arrest warrant in exchange for a beer.”
Josh got to his feet, “It’s a deal then. Scarlet, Nathan, this is Maria and Elijah. The last time you saw them they were only about two years old.”
Maria walked up to Nathan and looked up at him.
“Are you really Nathan Wolv?”
Nathan threw a cautious look at Josh, “Yeah, guilty as charged.”
“Did you really help save mommy from assassins?”
“Yeah, I happened to be in town and your dad invited me to the party.”
Maria smiled, “I like you!”
Nathan seemed slightly embarrassed, “Well… Okay then.”
Elijah was hanging over the back of the couch. He looked at Scarlet with interest.
“If he’s Nathan, are you Scarlet?”
Scarlet, a bit more comfortable around kids than Nathan, smiled at the boy.
“Yep, that’s me.”
“You got beat up by Carl Mash.”
Scarlet’s smile faltered a bit, “Yeah, that was me.”
Nathan looked accusingly at Josh, “What’s this I hear about you naming a kid after me?”
Josh reached over the back of the couch and pulled Jackson from his comic book.
“Hey! Batman in trouble!”
Josh set the comic back on the couch and turned to face Nathan and Scarlet.
“Batman will still be there when you get back, but I want you to meet someone. Jackson, this is your Uncle Nathan.”
Jackson smiled and waved at Nathan, “Hi, Uncle Nathan!”
Nathan looked surprised, “Uh, heya Jackson.”
Josh looked from Scarlet to Nathan, “You two gonna be able to stay awhile?”
Maria had been studying Scarlet, now she jumped up and down with excitement.
“Daddy! Can Scarlet sleep in my room!?”
Scarlet laughed and looked to Nathan, who just shrugged.
“I guess we can stay a few days, if you put up with us.”
Josh set Jackson back down on the couch, “Stay a week if you want to! I’ll tell Lexy you’ll be staying a while.”
Nathan was watching Jackson, “Sounds fine by me.”