by Kymber Jones
Rip was stunned. When he left the Marines, he thought his one chance to do what he wanted was over. Now, here he was, standing next to some of the people he has always admired the most and finding out he had a chance to achieve his dream again, possibly.
Seeing the indecision in Rip’s face, Captain Hopkins put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Don’t worry about it right now,” he told him. “Right now, there are more pressing matters we’re about to discuss. Then we’re going to talk about a new move for the Team. You might be interested in that. It might help you decide whether you join us or not.”
Rip nodded. “Thank you.” He said, then turned to Snake. “You know where my case is. I’ve shown you the invitation. Can you ride back and get it for me?”
Snake didn’t like the idea of leaving the discussions coming up but figured it would be better if he went instead of the Prospect who was still wet between the ears and didn’t know shit about covering his six, so he took a deep breath to make sure he was calm, and nodded.
“I’ll go now. Give me a couple of hours, and I’ll be back with that piece of cardboard you need.”
Rip gave him a slight smile, saying, “Thanks. If that’s all this group needs, besides seeing me in action, then I want to make sure they get it.”
“It’s not a problem. I’ll get it and be right back. Does anyone want me to bring anything else back while I’m at it?” Snake asked.
Daelan shook his head but looked at his son-in-law Axel to make sure he didn’t want anything either.
“No,” Daelan said. “We’re good here.”
“Alright. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Three hours later, the group had moved their meeting to one of the hotel’s conference rooms which gave them more room to spread out. Twenty-three Spec. OPS all in one room got to be stifling.
“No,” Pryce, one of the three Triple D’s and Chrys’s sister in all ways but blood, was arguing with Daelan and Axel. “We know Salvatore and Timón are having the MC compound watched. They want Marla, who Sal paid two million dollars for, and they don’t care who they have to hurt to get to her. Sal already spent several years trying to groom her as she grew up. Taught her several languages to speak, which she picked up very easily. She’s good at fitting in places most people tend to stick out. Most people would call her a chameleon; only she’s a natural. She doesn’t have to be taught. That’s a big reason as to why he wants her. He could make a fortune on Marla alone if he were to sell her. How he can spot children like her has yet to be determined, but Marla is the only one in a long line of children Sal has targeted, kidnapped, and sold. They’re the only way he has been making his money over the past twenty-five years, and this is the closest we’ve ever been to catching the Bastard and taking him out. Every time we start to get close, he disappears on us, and we can’t afford to let that happen again.”
One of the men with Bret spoke up. “How do you know so much about Salvatore and Timón? It sounds like this is personal to you, that it’s not just a job.”
Pryce looked between Chrys and Brianna, the other two girls that made up Triple D’s, and they nodded. The truth couldn’t be hidden any longer. Since Chrys just found her biological family Pryce and Bri decided they too wanted to reach out and try to be reunited, but they couldn’t do that and keep the truth of what they were or what they did hidden.
Turning back to the Soldier that asked her the question, Pryce took a deep breath before letting it out and answering.
“Yes, it is personal. It’s very personal. For my sisters and me.” She pointed at Chrys and Bri. “We’re not his first victims, but we are some of his earlier victims. That’s how we got involved in the program that we’re in. All three of us were kidnapped at very young ages. We were taken away from our families and found by a couple of men in the U.S. Government who decided to form a Spec. OPS group around us. They trained us in languages, weaponry, and hand-to-hand combat. We can fly planes, helios, drive any type of tank. You name it. Vacation time for us has been survival training in different types of terrain. And it doesn’t matter how much we may want it; we’re never alone. We may get to go outside by ourselves, but that’s as far as we get. We can’t go to the store or just down the street on our own. We have to have one of the guys with us at all times. And believe me, it’s not our choice. It’s what the Government decided for us. But, as a result, the three of us have resources of money no one else does, we have the pull to get things approved that no one else can get, and the three of us are the youngest ranking officials of our paygrade. Two of us are Captains, and the third is a Commander in the Navy. We’re also Colonels and a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force. Though we do have Enlisted ranks in the Army and Marines. We chose to use the Enlisted ranks in those branches so that we weren’t just involved in the Officers' lives. We wanted to be immersed in both, though granted, we do tend to use our Officer ranks a lot more than our Enlisted ranks.”
“What rank did you three start as?” Another of Bret’s men asked.
Brianna answered this time. “We all started out either as an E-1 or an O-1 and worked our way up to our current positions. Right now, I’m in the lowest ranking of the three of us. I hold the ranks of Command Sergeant Major (CSM) and Sergeant Major (SgtMaj) in the Army and Marines and Commander and Lieutenant Colonel in the Navy and Air Force. Chrys and Pryce are both one rank above me, though I’ll catch up in a few months if everything goes well.”
A third man raised his hand to speak.
“Go ahead,” Chrys told him, answering for the first time in a while.
“So are we here to take down these Mafia and Cartel guys, or are we here to take down the Government raising children. Which is just wrong, by the way.”
“Yeah,” Someone else interrupted. “Have any of you found your real family?”
“My real family? These men and women are my real family.”
“I mean your bio family. Surely they’re still looking for you.”
“They never stopped, and if you look to the right of me, you will see some men in suits. These men are my biological brothers. We just found them almost three weeks ago, and they too have some skills that will help take these men down. When this is done, we will be taking our first ever real vacation in Italy, of all places, where I will be meeting my birth parents and the rest of the family, then we will be coming back here. We just got the paperwork through, and we now own thirty-five hundred acres of land in Elgin, where we are setting up our new primary facility. We’ll do some training there, but this will mainly be for us to live and work. We will also have at least two large vineyards, maybe more. We just need to get them back into working order, but that shouldn’t be too difficult to do. I’ve already put some ads out for people looking for jobs in the vineyards. Previous workers are to get priority consideration.”
Jack stood and walked over to Chrys, who was standing next to her sisters.
“You did this for us, didn’t you?” Jack asked.
“I did this for all of us,” Chrys replied, smiling.
“I don’t think a thank you will be enough this time. Stella was already freaking out about not wanting to be separated from Marla. Spence said he was old enough to stay on his own and get a job; he didn’t need us. Tate and I thought we would probably have to choose between the Team and them.”
Chrys nodded. “I know. At least, that’s what I figured would happen. So, when I got in last night, instead of sleeping, I was on the phone organizing this property deal. And I just found out everything went through a bit faster than expected. It is officially in my name. When everything settles, we’ll put part of it into Stella and Spence’s name so that they have a place to call their own. And they’ll have a source of money coming in to help them out.”
“You know you are the best? Right?” Jack asked, choking up as he hugged her.
“I love you too, Uncle Jack and Uncle Tate. And I would do anything for the two of you, especially if it means keeping you with u
s. I’m not going to let my family get separated. Not if I can do something to keep it together. Which I can, here. Besides, after everything they’ve been through with Marla, they deserve to be together.”
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me later with a couple of pets I’m always told I can’t have.”
“Damn, you play dirty. You got a deal. We’ll get you those pets. Your father can yell at us.”
Chrys smiled and threw her arms around her Uncle’s neck. Her entire face lit up; she looked so happy. “Thank you! You two are the best Uncles ever!”
“Stone?” Captain Hopkins growled.
“Hey, after what the Brat just pulled off for Tate and me, she deserves more than just her pets, and you know it. So the two of us will gladly take you bitching at us for the critters.”
Captain Hopkins shook his head, grumbling. “I can’t believe I’m going to allow this.”
Chrys turned her smile onto her father. “You know this will be good for Farijika, not just me. It will help him become more responsible.”
“And how will it be good for you?” Captain Hopkins asked, smirking.
“It’ll give me a couple of friends I can play with outside of the Teams.”
Captain Hopkins nodded. “Yeah, you never did have that. I’m sorry. Alright. Alright. Get your damn pets. But you are responsible for them. I want nothing to do with them. Understand?”
“Yes, Daddy! Love you!” Chrys threw her arms around Captain Hopkins' neck and gave him a hard squeeze.
“Now we just have to find these critters you so desperately want.” Jack laughed.
“I’ve already found a couple of places that are selling them,” Chrys muttered. “They’re both underground farms that need to be shut down ASAP. So, as soon as we finish here, I want you and Uncle Tate to go and deal with them. And bring all the animals back here to the vineyards. We’ll have the places set up for them by the time you get back. And we’ll see about finding good homes for them too.”
“Alright, sounds good.”
“Thanks,” Chrys said, still smiling, thrilled that she was finally getting her long-awaited pets, but knowing she had to get the meeting back on track. “Okay, we need to focus here. If someone can hand me a diagram of the MC Compound, I would appreciate it.”
Axel stood and handed her a copy of the diagram, showing her the layout of their Compound.
“Thank you,” Chrys said, quickly glancing it over. “Okay, we’re going to need all our best shooters on the roof with two people in each corner. I want two people in each corner, down below. Two people are going to be at the front gate. The house across the street will have two people on its roof, and the tree facing the Compound will have one person in it. Captain Hopkins will be in charge of this Operation. I will be a little further down the road, following the group as they approach. Once they arrive, I will be behind them. That will put me and the house to their backs, so those on the roof, be ready. You’ll be getting a lot of the action.”
“When will this go down?” The first man from Bret’s Team asked.
“Sal is currently taking potshots at the Compound as we speak. He’s using the cover of night to hide his men so they can get Marla as soon as she leaves the safety of her family’s home. C-Day* is tomorrow, April 18, 2021, with an L-Hour** of 2200, but we won’t be waiting past 2300. We’ll set up by 1900, and our go/no-go will come from Captain Hopkins when he feels everything is good to go.”
“Where are we meeting up?”
“Staging Area*** is going to be in Huachuca City at the Huachuca City Elementary School. Take the third right, just North of Circle K, which will be School Rd. We’ll meet behind the school at 1600 and travel there in groups of four and five at thirty-minute intervals. We don’t want to go traveling in one huge group.”
Captain Hopkins stood up and went to get a cup of coffee. As he was getting a refill, he held up a cup to Chrys, who just nodded, saying yes, of course, she wanted another cup - did he even have to ask?
Chuckling, Captain Hopkins shook his head, then looked at Daelan, whose phone went off in the middle of Chrys’s instructions as she continued to speak to the group.
“Where?” Daelan demanded, getting everyone’s attention. “Is he alive? How many are there? Just hold them off as long as you can. We’re on our way there now. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“Pops?” Axel asked as soon as Daelan disconnected the call.
“Load up, boys. We’re going home.” Daelan said to their men in response, then turned to Axel and Rip. “Snake’s been shot. He was flown to Banner Medical Center. They don’t know if he’s going to make it or not. The shot caused him to lose control and crash his bike. The Compound is being attacked as we speak. They’re taking hits left and right. Now, you people can do what you want, make all the plans you need to, but that’s my home and my family being attacked. We’re heading home to help even out the fucking score.”
“Fuck.” Chrys swore. “Pryce?” She asked.
“You sure?” Pryce responded with a question of her own, confusing everyone around them, except those who knew them and knew their bond was tighter than those of a twin.
“Yes. Bri?”
“Already on it.”
“Good. How much does this change the plan?”
“Do we go in with finesse or stealth?” Bri asked.
“Both.”
“Not an option on this one.”
“Stealth.”
“Same plan, go now.”
“Finesse?” Chrys asked, wanting to know if there would be much of a difference.
“Just the three of us go in. Everyone else holds the same positions as in the plan. They cover us, making sure there are no stragglers and taking out anyone we tell them to.”
Chrys nodded. “Cisco, hand out the radios and program them to channel 16. We’re going with finesse. Everyone is going to hold the same positions just laid out. The difference is Pryce, Bri, and I will be the three to go in and remove everyone unless we say otherwise. Be ready to move on our mark. Let’s head out!”
* x * x * x * x * x * x * x *
Two hours later, Chrys and the other Team members surrounded the Inferno Wolves MC Compound far enough away that they could see all the players stupid enough to be showing themselves and their activities to the outside world.
“Comms check, Delta 1, over,” Chrys spoke softly, watching a couple of Salvatore’s men below her get ready for another shot at the Compound.
“You’re loud and clear Delta One, over,” Cisco told her.
“Roger. Delta 1 is in position, and I am now taking my shots. Delta 2, over?”
As Pryce and Brianna did their Comms check and told their Teams they were in position and beginning to take their shots, Chrys took out the two men below, one shot to each of them, directly to their head.
“Does anyone have eyes on Salvatore or Timon yet, over?” Chrys asked, climbing out of her tree and making her way to the back of the Compound.
“Affirmative. The Targets are two streets away, waiting at a neighboring ranch. They plan to sweep in when their men have cleared the way for them at the Compound, over.”
“That won’t be happening any time soon,” Chrys assured the voice informing her of the situation. “Uniform 1, Uniform 2, if you two can make your way safely inside the Compound, do so. We need a couple of good people inside. And take the Old Man and his son with you. I don’t know how they’ll hold up out here not knowing what’s going on in there with their family, over.”
Bullet answered. “Roger that, Delta 1. Uniform 2 and I will make sure everyone inside remains safe, over.”
“10-4.” Chrys replied, then said to Bret, “Bravo 1, Delta 1, I need you to take me as close as possible to Salvatore’s position. We’ll be coming in behind him. Papa 1, you and three of Bravo 1’s men will surround Salvatore and Timon from the front and sides, staying out of view. On my mark, we go in, removing them from their vehicle. Be prepared to eliminate their security
before their extraction. We are not taking these men to prison, so as soon as there is a clear shot, shoot to kill. Is that understood, over?”
“Affirmative, over.”
“Roger, over.”
“10-4, over.”
“Good. Let’s move. Over and out.” Chrys said.
Once she was behind the Compound, Chrys ran to where her vehicle was hidden and climbed inside the passenger seat. Once she was situated, Bret climbed inside and started the car. He quickly made his way to where Chrys was told their targets were located, by taking a long way, so that neither one of them would be able to hear their SUV approaching.
“How are you holding up?” Bret asked her, surprising her since no one had ever asked her that before.
“Fine, thank you,” Chrys said, not sure how to answer that question.
“You sure? You look like you’re strung up as all hell.”
Chrys shrugged. “This is nothing new. The same type of work we always do,” she said. “Nor is this the first time we’ve gone after these Bastards. But it will be the last. Maybe that’s why I look tense.”
“Maybe.” Bret agreed. “But I think it’s more than that. I don’t think you enjoy this work. I think you want to do anything else than what you’re doing right now. Am I right?”
Again Chrys shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It’s what we do. Thanks to Salvatore, this is the life Pryce, Bri, and I lead.”
“Don’t kill me; I’m just asking here. But does it have to be? Do you have to lead this life if you don’t want to?”
“What do you mean?” Chrys asked, intrigued by the thought of a different life.
“You just found your biological brothers, correct?”