by N. J. Croft
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by N.J. Croft… The Lost Spear
The Wall
Disease X
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by N.J. Croft. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Entangled Publishing, LLC
2614 South Timberline Road
Suite 105, PMB 159
Fort Collins, CO 80525
[email protected]
Edited by Liz Pelletier and Heather Howland
Cover design by Bree Archer
Cover photography by
bukitdamansara, AlexStar, and pniesen/GettyImages
Andrey_Kuzmin/Shutterstock
SergeyNivens/iStock
ISBN 978-1-64063-916-4
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition March 2020
“With Heaven’s aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. But my life was too short to achieve the conquest of the world. That task is left for you.” ~ Genghis Khan on his deathbed
Chapter One
Noah Blakeley revved his Harley and pulled out in front of the two riders flanking him. Behind them, the huge truck lumbered. Otherwise, the road was quiet, the way ahead lit only by their headlights, a narrow tunnel of light through the darkness. They hadn’t seen another vehicle since they’d turned off the freeway.
Might as well have been the road to fucking nowhere.
The knot tightened in his gut. The one he always got before a fight. Though if everything went to plan, then there would be no actual fighting tonight. That wasn’t on the agenda. He was almost sorry.
He’d know soon enough if things would go down as intended. They’d better. Otherwise, he’d wasted three months of his life on this deal.
As they rounded a curve in the road, the lights of the checkpoint shone up ahead. Noah eased back on the throttle, and the bike slowed. His muscles tensed. If they were stopped, it was over; something had gone wrong. But as they approached, the metal gates swung open. He didn’t see anyone as they drove through. The checkpoint appeared unmanned, though maybe they were just staying out of sight.
Through the gates, a long, straight road led into more darkness.
This was a military storage facility. One that had officially closed six months ago. Finally, a light flashed three times—that was the signal—and a huge warehouse structure loomed out of the darkness.
He peeled off the main track and headed to the right, pulling up outside the open double doors. The light flashed again as he switched off his engine and swung his leg over the bike. Beside him, Rick and Steve did the same.
Rick swaggered over, a big grin on his ugly face. “Hey, looks like we’re in business. I never thought we’d be making a deal with the fucking army, but Christ, these days, anyone can be bought.”
So it appeared.
Noah pulled off his helmet and rested it on the bike seat, running his hand over his shaved head. He checked the pistol stuffed down the back of his pants as two guys jumped down from the cab of the truck.
“Man, this could be the start of something big,” Rick said. “We already have a buyer for this stuff, and they’ll take anything we can get. You did good, bro.”
“Good enough that you’ll let me in on the deal?”
Rick’s eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Noah wondered if he’d pushed too far. He had been with the Brothers of Jesus three months, and while he was useful, they didn’t entirely trust him yet. “We’ll see. Anyway, we don’t have the goods yet. Where the hell are they?”
As he spoke, two figures appeared in the doorway, both in army fatigues. A corporal and a sergeant. Damn. It was unlikely they were anywhere near the top of the food chain. He’d been hoping they would be dealing with someone a little farther up the ladder.
He and Rick walked up, side by side. “You have the stuff?” Noah asked.
The sergeant stepped forward. “You have the money?”
Rick turned and nodded to the man at the back of the group. Jace hurried up. He carried a laptop. “I’m ready to make the transfer as soon as we have confirmation of the goods.”
Noah almost smiled. That was sophisticated stuff for a bunch of bikers.
“Then come this way.” The sergeant swung around and headed into the warehouse. Dim lights flickered to life, revealing a cavernous room, empty except for a pile of crates against the far wall.
They stopped beside them, and Noah whistled. The crates had been opened to reveal the contents. There were enough guns to start their own personal war. He pulled a paper out of his pocket and checked the weapons against the list. The buyers had been specific about what they wanted. They could cause all sorts of mayhem with what they had here.
But that part wasn’t his problem.
It took half an hour to go through the lot. Turning, he gave Rick a nod. “It’s all here.”
He moved off to the side as the payment was made, his eyes searching the building. Nothing was out of place. If this went down clean, they could move to the next stage, and things might just get interesting.
Finally, the deal was completed, and Jace headed back to the truck. The headlights came on, and it rolled slowly into the warehouse.
As it came to a halt beside them, all hell broke loose. Lights flashed on, and the sound of booted feet approached, together with engines heading their way.
Shading his eyes from the blinding lights, Noah stepped back behind the nearest crate.
“What the fuck?” Rick crouched down beside him.
Exactly Noah’s sentiments. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go down.
Three months he’d been undercover with the Brothers of Jesus. Three fucking months with a load of fucking assholes. And it looked like he’d wasted every second of that time.
The Brothers were merely a link in the chain, and it was the parties on either side Noah wanted to n
ail—namely, whoever in the military was dealing arms and then the terrorists who would ultimately use them. Tonight was supposed to have put him on the path to discovering both.
His mind raced. Could they still salvage the night’s work? Get out of there? They needed the goddamn merchandise. He peered around the crate and assessed the situation. His eyes were still adjusting to the light, and things didn’t look good. A line of soldiers were strung out across the doorway, all in full combat gear and pointing their weapons in his direction.
The blood fizzed in his veins, and he came instantly alive. His body told him that maybe he was going to get that fight after all. His head told him otherwise. No way could they win this. All the same, his gaze flicked to the crate in front of him—they would have no shortage of guns.
“Toss your weapons and come out with your hands behind your head. You have one minute.”
Time slowed. He looked at Rick, his eyebrows raised in question, though he already knew the answer.
“I say we go for it,” Rick said.
Jesus, but he’d always known the man was an asshole. “What? You want us to go up against the whole fucking U.S. Army?”
Rick grinned. “They’re pussies compared to the Brothers.”
Actually, he might be right. Most of the brothers had military backgrounds. They were also tough as shit, and they liked a fight. But they were outnumbered ten to one, and Noah wasn’t ready to die just yet.
“Come on, bro.” Rick grinned. “Let’s go down fighting.”
I don’t think so.
Noah glanced around, assessing the situation. The corporal and the sergeant had vanished—had they been part of the take down? He had to presume so. Jace was nowhere to be seen. He must have been picked off at the truck. That left two of their guys in play. He spotted them behind a crate a few feet down. He could just see the edge of their leathers.
Rick had already pulled his pistol. Was he bat-shit crazy?
Easing his own weapon out from the back of his pants, Noah held it at his side, his brain frantically scrambling for any way out of this that wouldn’t be considered a total failure.
“Your time is up.”
Something shot over his head, landing just behind him with a pfft. Clouds of dense gray smoke billowed out, and his nostrils clogged with the distinctive acrid stench of a gas grenade, his lungs already tightening with the need for oxygen. His eyeballs were on fire, melting from the inside out. He could barely see through the thickening air, but he could hear the booted feet heading toward them.
Time to get the hell out of there.
“You ready?” he mouthed at Rick.
Rick gave a maniacal grin.
Yup. Crazy.
As Rick stepped forward, Noah lunged to the side, raised the pistol, and crashed it down on the side of the other man’s skull. Rick’s eyes widened. Noah whirled and kicked out, and Rick crashed to the floor. He made to get up, and Noah stepped on the arm holding the pistol, heard the crack of bone.
“What the fuck?” Rick growled.
“I just saved your goddamn life,” he said. “Say thank you.” He clipped the other man on the forehead, and he went down and out.
Noah tossed his pistol out beyond the crates. “I’m unarmed, and I’m coming out!”
His skin prickled. This was a dodgy moment. There was always a chance they would shoot him anyway or the Brothers would take a pot shot at him from behind. But they also came out, hands in the air, coughing and choking.
As he stepped forward, men ran at him from all directions, gas masks covering their faces. Someone kicked his legs out from under him, and he swore as he crashed forward onto his face, his nose slamming into the floor with a grinding crunch. Blood flooded his mouth as his hands were yanked behind him and cuffs snapped on. He rolled his head to the side, watching as they dragged Rick, still unconscious, from behind the crate and cuffed his hands behind his back.
Someone yanked Noah roughly to his feet. He stood, impassive, while another man patted him down. His mind searched furiously, but he couldn’t see a way to make this work in his favor.
What the hell had happened? Had someone snitched?
The place was emptying out. The other three Brothers were hauled away.
He blinked, trying to clear his vision. Then someone came up behind him, and the cuffs were unlocked. A man in uniform stopped in front of him. Noah recognized the face behind the mask, just as he pulled it off and grinned. Captain Alex Breyer, Noah’s second-in-command.
“Welcome back, Major. Love the leathers. Suits you.”
“Fuck off,” Noah growled.
“The general wants to see you.”
Fucking great.
Noah had lost the ability to relax in the last three months, always sleeping with one eye open, listening for anything that might be a threat. Now he recognized bone-deep exhaustion. He’d probably sleep for a week once he found out what the hell had fucked up his mission.
So far, he hadn’t been able to find anything. All Alex knew was that the unit had been ordered to intercept the deal at the warehouse, not the reason why. That was the army for you.
Now he was in the back of a vehicle driving to D.C., where General Peter Blakeley, Noah’s commanding officer—and also, incidentally, his uncle—was based. That likely meant that his cover had been irreparably compromised and he was heading for debriefing.
He’d volunteered for a position in Project Arachnid, the new anti-terrorist initiative, just over two years ago when it had come into being. Before that, he’d been working as a military liaison with the CIA. At first, his uncle had refused to consider him, but it hardly qualified as nepotism. There weren’t that many people volunteering seeing as how it was unlikely to be an advantageous career move.
Noah had wanted to be someplace he would make a difference, and for him, terrorism was where the current war was happening. All around them. If he could be instrumental in slowing the spread down, then he would be doing something worthwhile with his life.
Going after the bad guys.
His ex-wife, Eve, had always said he saw things as too black and white. For Noah, that’s the way they’d always been.
Eventually, he fell into a light doze, only waking when the car pulled up outside the Pentagon.
Alex had handed him his ID back at the warehouse, but he still got some strange looks walking through the building. They had given him an escort at the first checkpoint. “Sorry, sir, but I don’t think you’ll get very far otherwise.”
He supposed there weren’t too many six-foot-four guys with shaved heads wearing gang leathers strolling through the Pentagon. Especially at this time of night. It was around four in the morning.
“Good God,” Peter said as he opened the door and waved Noah in. “You look…”
“Like an asshole,” Noah finished for him.
Peter grinned. “I was going to say you look the part.” He studied him, head cocked to one side, eyes narrowed. “And you do. More than look it, actually. I can feel the menace oozing off you. You’re good at this.”
Noah shrugged. “It’s a matter of getting inside their heads.” He’d always been able to do that. Maybe he should have been an actor.
“And your nose is broken.” Peter waved him to a seat and took the one on the opposite side of the big desk. He opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out a bottle of scotch and a couple of glasses. “You also look tired,” he said, pouring them both a glass and pushing one toward Noah.
He picked it up, swallowing the contents in one go, then placed it back on the table. Peter raised an eyebrow but refilled it. Noah blew out his breath and slumped back in the chair. “I didn’t realize how tired I am until I was on my way here. I haven’t been sleeping too well.”
“I can imagine.”
He took a sip of scotch this time, holding it in his mouth and savori
ng the peaty flavor—it was a shit ton better than the cheap stuff he’d been drinking the last few months. “So what the hell went wrong? Why the raid? That wasn’t the plan. I was supposed to stay under. Follow the trail.”
Since he’d started working with the unit, he’d begun to see patterns. Before that, he’d always believed that terrorism was basically random. Perpetrated to cause chaos and terror, but with no long-term strategy involved. Now he wasn’t so sure. He had a theory that there was some sort of global plan, someone choreographing all the larger terrorist groups. To what end, he couldn’t see.
Once he’d seen the pattern, he’d started to predict where and when the attacks might take place. That had led him to the Brothers, and he’d gone undercover, found the military connection. They were supposed to let the deal go through and he’d follow it along the chain while his team went after the military angle, found out just how far up the corruption went, and cut it out.
“There was a leak somewhere,” Peter said. “They knew about you. The soldiers were going to reveal your identity once the product had been loaded. They would have taken you out. So we made the decision to rescue you first.”
“Thanks,” he said drily.
“Well, you were no further use in your present position. And I do have a slight fondness for you.”
“You wouldn’t have done the same for anyone?”
“Of course. I am sorry, though—this mission was three months of your life. Anyway, at least we have some leads to follow. The two soldiers.”
“I’d like to question them myself, sir.”
Peter placed his empty glass on the desk. “I love it when you want something and call me ‘sir.’ But it’s not going to happen. You’re dead on your feet. You’re going to take a couple of weeks leave, and then we’ll regroup and decide where to go next.”
“We have to get them.”
“I know.”
“And I enjoy my job.”
Peter snorted. “Sometimes too much.”
What the hell did that mean? When they were married, Eve used to say something similar—that he enjoyed the danger. He rubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheek. “I just want to put an end to this. Terrorism is bad enough, but at least the people believe in what they’re doing. This, on the other hand, is pure evil.”