~Chapter 21~

~July 1st, 2019- An Anonymous Bar in Chicago
A red-haired Scotsman entered the small bar and viewed the scene before him. His small blue eyes shown from underneath thick eyebrows, surveying the room with a keen intelligence.
“Douglas, over here!”
Douglas “Wild” McFarl, a mercenary who was once affiliated with the Russian Mafia, walked over to the large round table where five others were seated.
The man who called to him was the smuggler pilot Steve Marr, known in the Underworld as “Wings”. The 5’ 9” tall airplane captain was around 45years old and had sky-blue eyes and graying hair.
Next to Steve, just to his right, was the platinum-blonde beauty known as Angel. At 6-feet and with a small face and ice-blue eyes, the lithe assassin was like tigress and just as exotic.
Her brother sitting next to her, Demon, was a dark and brooding thundercloud compared to Angel. His blue-gray eyes peered eerily from under his long black hair, his muscles rippling under his thin black t-shirt.
Beside the dark assassin sat the mercenary, Bear. An old friend of Nathan’s, Cal king was a 7-foot, 250lb giant of a man. The form of a body-builder and with no temper to speak of, the man’s weird violet eyes took in everything, missed almost nothing.
While Bear was a towering example of calm and control, the girl to his right was the exact opposite. Zenith was a mix-matched ball of hyperactive energy. Her hair was light blonde with bright, fire-engine red highlights. Her left eye was dark blue, but the right was a light gray color. Her just over 5-foot frame was sprawled in her chair like a cat, her eyes flicking around the room as if looking for something interesting to focus her mind on.
A chair away to Zenith’s right was Jessica Knapp, known to the Underworld and to Steve Marr’s smugglers as Sparks. She had black and blonde hair, but whether the black was natural or from the engine grease that usually coated her bare arms and torn jeans was uncertain. Her bright green eyes shone with a bored humor from under the welding goggles she had pushed up onto her forehead.
Douglas nodded to each member of the group, “Greeting tah ye all.”
He took the empty seat between Zenith and Sparks.
He eyed Zenith suspiciously, “No’one’s given her a dose ‘ah caffeine, ‘ave they?”
Sparks smiled, her red lips parting to reveal a perfect smile.
“No one here wants to get their heads talked off by her.”
Douglas nodded and looked to Steve, “Weel, what did ye call me fer?”
Steve’s eyes were serious, “The Taske Family. Something needs to be done.”
Angel spoke up, her tiny voice making its way across the table.
“Me and Demon have been in Russia the last month, what’s been going on?”
Bear leaned forward, his deep voice carrying farther than Angel’s.
“When Regent went down a few years back, a lot of other people went with him. Some were high-ranking Board members and their lackeys, but a lot were just the hired help, like us.
Since Hughes took over, the Board has put into motion a number of plans that have resulted in the captured or death of a great many Underworlders.”
Sparks nodded and spoke up, “James Hughes has cut the security they usually send along with Board shipments, and they have been sending us bigger, higher-risk shipments. With the shipments more dangerous to haul, and less security, we have lost seven planes and crews to Customs in the last three months alone.”
Zenith was sitting sideways in her chair, eyeing the cute bartender.
She looked back at the group, “So… what do we do?”
Steve shrugged, “I don’t know. If any one of us, or even a small number of us, tried to stand up against the Board then we will be crushed and obliterated. Does anyone have any ideas that doesn’t get everyone involved killed?”
Angel shook her head, “No… You are right, if we try anything we will end up on tomorrow’s ‘missing persons’ list. Demon?”
She looked towards her brother, who just grunted and folded his arms over his chest.
Douglas scratched his scalp and looked towards the bar, “Can I have a pint of yer best ale? Bring it fast, ye got yerself a thirsty Scott on yer hands, ye ken?”
He turned back to the others, “’Ah don’t know what we can do. It’s a puzzler if’n ye ever saw one.”
“Josh Taske.”
Demon’s voice was rough and gravelly, equally soft and dangerous at the same time.
Zenith stared at the assassin in mild surprise, “He speaks?”
Steve ignored the woman and looked curiously at Demon.
“Explain, please?”
Demon shrugged, “Josh Taske. Knows more about the Taske family than anyone. Only one with the power and reputation to unite people against the Board.”
Angel glanced at her brother, “That’s the most he’s said in a few months.”
A barmaid approached and set a large mug in front of Douglas.
“Your ale, Sir.”
Douglas nodded his thanks, “’Ah thank ye, Lass.”
Bear rested his head on his hands and gazed at Demon from over his massive fists.
“I think he’s got a point. Josh Taske might be our only option.”
Steve shook his head, “The Sharktooth wouldn’t help us. After what happened with his first wife and daughter, he doesn’t want anything to do with his family’s business.”
“Aye, an’ after that personal war he and his team waged a few years back, he isn’t gonna be willing tae start another one.”
Bear spoke up, “We can always talk to Nathan Wolv. He has always been a close friend to the Sharktooth and might be able to convince him to help us.”
Demon nodded once, “Worth a try.”
Angel smiled at her brother, “I’m game if everyone else is.”
Douglas glance at Steve Marr, “Weel, Ah’m all fer it.”
Sparks also looked at the smuggler pilot, “Well, Captain?”
Steve looked at Zenith, “Well?”
Zenith looked bored, “Gonna be a lot of fighting? Running around, shooting and stuff?”
Steve nodded, “Maybe even some explosions.”
The woman grinned and sat forward, “Hell yeah I’m in!!!”
Steve drank the rest of his beer and stood up.
“Then it’s settled. We will go and appeal to Josh Taske and ask him for help.”




~The 4th of July, 2019- James’ Villa Just Off Ortega Highway, CA
Josh’s Trailblazer was parked just off the Ortega Highway, flanked by Sniper’s Hummer. Just ahead of them was an unmarked exit. Few knew the rundown, overgrown turnoff lead to James Hughes’ state of the art Villa.
The Team had been held up about a day and a half due to one of the nastiest hangovers Nathan had had in decades. Fifty miles after they left the first hotel they had to pull over again and put Nathan to bed. The mercenary was one sick Wolf. He didn’t wake up until midday on the 3rd, when they set off once more and pushed until they reached the turnoff to James’ Villa that morning.
Josh and Wraith were going over a few last minute details while Sniper and Nathan go ready to install the M-240B on top of the Blazer.
Lexy and Scarlet were inside the Blazer, making some remarkable changes to the inside. They folded down the back and seat so it was flush with the floor and folded down pieces of the walls to make bench-seats.
Lexy reached up and slid the sides of the skylight back slightly, widening the opening so someone could stand up in it to use the machine gun.
When Anubis had remodeled the Blazer, he had installed some custom-made brackets both on the top of the roof and to go on the bottom of a machine gun so it could easily attach and detach as needed.
When the girls were done, Nathan and Max lifted the large, 7.62mm machine gun and locked it into place on the roof. Max installed the large metal shield that attached to the front of the gun.
“Hey, Josh, the gun is installed.”
Josh looked up, “Okay, good. Everyone, arm up.”
Max’s Hummer was designated the armory. He opened the back doors and revealed two gun racks with six MP5K’s between them. The marksman rolled back a panel on the floor to show the four .45 and four .22 pistols and extra ammo for all of them.
While the rest of the team selected their weapons and loaded up, Max took out the long carry-case he had been carrying around since Emma met him.
Un-zipping the duffel, he withdrew a long rifle with a boxy shoulder-stock. It was a beautiful gunmetal-gray color with matte-black scope and shoulder padding. Attached to the underside of the rifle, just forward of the middle of the gun, was a matte-black bi-pod.
Emma walked over, her Mp90 slung awkwardly over her shoulder.
“Wow… what is it?”
Sniper ran a cloth along the barrel, “It is an Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum sniper rifle. Bolt action, .300 Winchester Magnum rounds loaded into a 10-round cartridge. Modified 29inch barrel and a unique boring to give me around a 400-meter range.”
Emma knelt down next to him and watched him attach the scope and manually load one of the long .300 bullets into the chamber before sliding the ammo cartridge into the underside of the rifle.
“Max, it’s beautiful.”
The mercenary looked up at her, his eyes sad.
“It’s a killing machine, designed to take lives from a safe distance. There is nothing beautiful about it.”
Emma nodded and, getting up, left the man alone.

Ten minutes later the team was ready. Max closed and locked his Hummer and engaged a beacon that would alert him if the car doors were breached.
Josh opened the door for Lexy, “You going to be okay?”
Lexy kissed him on the lips and smiled up into his face.
“Crash the barrier, turn the side towards the gunfire, and shoot the bad guys. Easy, right?”
Josh smiled back at her, “Of course.”
Lexy climbed into the driver’s seat while Emma took her place on the passenger side.
Josh climbed in the back and took the MP5K Nathan handed him. The team was seated on the fold-down bench seats; MP5’s resting stock-down between their knees like a group of highly trained soldiers waiting for the mission to get underway.
Emma looked back at them from her front seat.
“Hey, I was thinking… shouldn’t we have some kind of way to communicate with each other? Headsets or earwigs or something?”
Josh and Wraith shook their heads silently.
Nathan spoke up, “Nope, sorry. We prefer ops like this without comms, the enemy can’t listen in an’ it forces us to keep each other in line-of-sight. No freelancin’ if we all wanna get out alive.”
Josh reached up and tapped Lexy on the shoulder, “Let’s go, Hon.”