Covert Game

by Christine Feehan

  I'm good alone, Zeke,Draden assured.

  I'm better that way,Gino added. He was grateful he had Draden though. The man was a machine when it came to killing or saving lives. Either one.

  There was more swearing. Gino ignored and began his move. The bulk of the guards had surrounded Zhu as best they could as they went out of the club onto the street. Three were left behind to burn the club to the ground.

  Fuckers are doing our job for us,Draden observed.

  One less job for us, tonight,Gino said. Let's get this finished. You boys watch your six,he added to Rubin and Diego.

  He waited until the guard finished pouring the alcohol along the bar and had lit a match. As he tossed it, the man turned, and Gino was standing in front of him. Close. The knife bit deep into his throat. His eyes went wide with shock. He tried to speak, but only a gurgle could be heard. Gino withdrew the knife, staring into the man's eyes as he helped him down to the floor. He watched the life ebb right out of him and then turned and walked slowly after the other two who had both tossed matches into the hive where the victims trapped in the cells were unable to get out.

  Sixteen is down.

  The guard tossing the match laughed and waved at a naked woman banging on the cell door before he turned to leave. Draden dropped down on him and snapped his neck. The naked woman stopped screaming and stared at him. Tiny flames licked along the bar and ran up the sides of the walls, the light illuminating Draden as he dropped the body to the floor.

  The third guard turned back just as the GhostWalker let go of the dead guard. Gino's knife took him through the throat as he lifted his weapon.

  Seventeen and eighteen,Gino said.

  Thanks, man,Draden said, glancing over his shoulder. The blaze was fast moving toward all the bottles lined up on shelves behind the bar.

  Diego and Rubin were opening cells, pulling people out and sending them toward the back door. Those that couldn't walk, they carried on their shoulders, running to beat the flames. The fire was picking up speed, accelerating with so much fuel in the silks hanging on the walls and draped over tables. Elegant sheets were on some of the beds, because no matter how much agony their victim was in, the patron had to have all the comforts imaginable.

  The sound of the fire was loud now, crackling and popping. Neither man even glanced toward it, rushing the women and children out first and then the injured men.

  Gino lost sight of them as he paused just inside the door to the club, scanning the street. Zhu had to have left a guard behind, just in case. By now, he had to know the cars up and down the streets were useless. He would go into the narrow alley and make for the warehouse district located right behind the red-light district.

  Gino threw a vase that was sitting on a small table in the foyer through the plate glass window. Outside, near the street, a guard leapt into view, his finger on the trigger of his semiautomatic. Gino threw his second-favorite throwing knife. A knife could fall over that distance, but what he loved about this particular blade was that it just kept going. It buried itself deep. Nineteen.

  All clear. To your left, heading into the alley,Trap said. Wish we'd brought my woman along. She'd have nooses all along their way out.

  It wasn't a way out. The GhostWalkers were herding Zhu and his men exactly where they wanted them to go. Zhu hadn't caught on yet, nor would he. Gino was certain he was too arrogant to ever conceive that a force would be able to outthink him in his own territory. He hadn't counted on the women's ability with computers to ferret out his every secret. He hadn't counted on the fact that Gino was a meticulous planner and had no problem biding his time in order to exact revenge. He had patience, and he'd learned that from Ciro Spagnola.

  Mordichai and Trap, get down there and help Rubin and Diego get those victims out. The fire is spreading fast. People are coming out of the other clubs and very soon we're going to have company. I want us gone before anyone else gets here,Ezekiel ordered.

  On it, Mordichai answered for both of them.

  Gino ignored the byplay. He ran with Draden, feeling for his surroundings. In the seventeen-plus hours on the plane, he'd run it a hundred times in his mind, finding his way with his footfalls, making certain he could do it fast and yet remain silent. Ezekiel had taken them through every detail of their mission, over and over until every move was automatic. With the detailed information the women had gotten for them, they had put together a good plan of attack.

  Draden kept pace, running practically in his footsteps, yet he couldn't even hear his breathing. Rodents scurried out of the way, but other than that, as they ran down the alley and across the next street toward the warehouses, there was no one to see or hear.

  Zhu was left with six men. He'd lost them one by one and no one had seen what chased them. GhostWalkers came out of the night and took their prey. That had to spook Zhu's elite force just a little. If he was Zhu, he would send one up high to be the eyes for him. Gino had even chosen the spot. There was a long bank of warehouses, rows of them, but the first bank had the ability, on the connecting roof, to hide a man with a weapon. He could wait up there and see if anyone followed them. The entire bank of warehouses was protected by a very high chain-link fence.

  The first and second row of warehouses belonged to Cheng. The third row was exclusively Bolan Zhu's. Intel was, he housed his own armory there as well as armored vehicles kept in the best of shape. He was definitely headed there. At the street facing the first long bank of warehouses, where Gino was certain a guard lay up on the roof, Draden and he split. One went to the left, the other to the right, until they were each at a corner. There were no lights back there; Cheng and Zhu didn't want anyone seeing what they were doing.

  Under cover of darkness, both sprinted across the street, again in absolute silence. They had to chance that the guard was watching the alleyway. It would stand to reason that if anyone was following, they would come from there. Draden went up one side of the building, Gino the other. It was Draden's job to take out the guard on the roof.

  Ezekiel and Malichai lay up on the roof across the street, eyes to scopes, waiting just in case. They wanted this operation done in complete silence if possible. Any evidence left behind was evidence damning Zhu and his men. Nothing remained of the GhostWalkers. Every knife had been retrieved, and no fingerprints were left behind. They couldn't risk an international incident. Major General would never have sanctioned this operation and he wouldn't be able to get them out of it if they fucked up.

  Gino was up and over the chain-link fence in seconds. He heard the running beat of several shoes. His enhanced speed enabled him to fall in line behind the last guard.

  Twenty,Draden said. Coming after you, Gino.

  Gino took the guard as he ran, matching steps, getting close and driving a knife deep into the base of the skull. He had to swerve around the body, but before it actually toppled to the ground, he was on the next one. The others had rounded a corner, leaving the guard alone for a few steps. It was enough time for Gino to kill him.

  Twenty-one and twenty-two.

  He paused at the corner. It would be suicide to blindly run around it, but he needed to get inside Zhu's warehouse with him and the rest of his elite guard. Without the one on the roof, Ezekiel and Malichai made their way to the same rooftop, setting up to take their backs and give them eyes from above.

  Gino went up, scaling the side of the wall to the second bank of warehouses. Running across the rooftop in a low crouch, he saw Zhu with the remaining three men surrounding him as he unlocked the door to his warehouse. All looked back, waiting for the other guards.

  One swore when no one came. "Who is doing this, Bolan? I haven't even seen the enemy and he's taken out just about all of us."

  Zhu shrugged and swung open the double doors. "I suspect I saw him once at the American embassy." He said no more. He didn't run. He walked inside.

  "It's only one man? It can't be one man," the same guard protested.

  Gino was already in the shadows just to the
side of the door. Draden had joined him. The two slipped inside just before the doors were pulled closed. Instantly the warehouse went dark. Gino and Draden both could see easily in the dark. Their DNA enhanced by Whitney gave them that advantage.

  Zhu leveled a cold gaze on his bodyguard. "Does it matter if it is one man or several? We have to leave this place. We'll get them another time, Dai." He snapped on a single dim lightbulb that hung from the center of the very large room. That left a lot of darkness for a GhostWalker to hide in.

  Dai shook his head. "We didn't even hear him. Or them. Did anyone see or hear anything? Feng?" He looked at one of the remaining men, who shook his head.

  "I never even saw a single one of our men go down, Dai."

  Dai looked expectantly at the remaining ex-soldier. "Longwei?"

  Longwei shook his head. "Nothing."

  "Bolan, seriously, we've never come up against anything like this. I don't like you exposed this way. Call your brother. Have him send reinforcements," Dai said. "I can't protect you against something I can't see."

  "You would have me whine to my brother that we cannot protect ourselves against a single man? Or those with him?"

  "There are three of us left to protect you. Every one of us was trained in all special forces under you. You know what we're capable of. This man or men following us isn't human."

  "I suspect they aren't. Not fully," Zhu said. "It would be a great thing to kill one and bring his body back to my brother so we could have these same kinds of advantages. I will not go crying to my brother. He would forever look down on us. Right now, he fears us. He would think he could make a move against us."

  That was news. Zhu and Cheng weren't completely in sync with each other. Zhu's bodyguards were in a tight cluster, but they would have to fan out at some point.

  Clear,Diego reported in. We got everyone alive out. Some of them were in very bad condition. Found the owner of the club hiding in one of the cells. Chained him to a pole with enough evidence for the cops to prove that he was dealing in human trafficking and using them for sadists to torture and kill. Found a small group of women being held below the club. Name's Moffat of all things. He's good friends with Cheng and Zhu. I know this because he told me multiple times.

  He see your faces?Ezekiel asked sharply.

  We weren't born yesterday, Zeke.

  Just making sure you're in the clear. Gino, report in.

  Just standing around here sucking my thumb, boss-man,Gino said.

  He never took his eyes off his prey. Zhu stood there, his features as impassive as ever. Looking at him, no one would ever think he could have done the sadistic things he had to the three victims. Gino couldn't help but notice that the woman he kissed and then cut so badly had red hair. She hadn't looked exactly like Zara, but she was probably a substitute for her. The other woman--the one he'd stabbed repeatedly and disfigured--had blue eyes and skin like Zara's.

  If Zhu didn't die tonight, he would make another try for Zara. Gino knew that with absolute certainty.

  "Bolan." Dai was obviously the head of Zhu's security team. "It doesn't matter what your brother thinks. I can hire another crew. I can find the right ones, men who like the same things as us. We allow them to make life or death decisions for their sexual partners and the power will be addicting. It won't take that long to build another force and then we can go after this man."

  Zhu shook his head.

  Dai persisted. "Cheng would learn to fear you very quickly again. We visited his bedroom more than once when he got out of hand and we can easily do it again. Remember his face when he woke up to find the dead women sprawled all over him? Sheets coated in blood? He will fear us again. Better he has one moment of false triumph than something happening to you."

  "The car is armored." Zhu had made up his mind.

  Dai shook his head and shrugged. "Let's go then, before all hell breaks loose. Our men are strewn all over that club and probably down the street as well. They're known by everyone. We have to move before we are found and questioned."

  "Don't be ridiculous. No one would dare to question me."

  "That was before the Razor's Edge burned down and everyone inside it was shot. That was before the club was exposed for the things going on inside. This might not be so easy to sweep under the carpet." Dai was reluctant to leave what he thought was the safety of the warehouse.

  "Get more weapons," Zhu ordered and then ignored his head of security.

  He stalked over to the side of a large black SUV with tinted windows and special armor plating. The windows were bulletproof. He leaned against the door while Dai, Feng and Longwei hurried over to the large crates sitting to the back of the warehouse.

  "Need a crowbar," Dai muttered and pointed toward the far corner of the room.

  Longwei immediately rushed to get it. None of them wanted to stay, but they didn't want to leave either. They didn't know where safety was. Gino dropped in behind Longwei, a silent shadow, following him right into the corner where a long table held a variety of tools. Longwei took out his cell phone and shone a light along the table. Gino handed him the crowbar with one hand. Longwei took it, murmuring a polite "thank you." He stiffened, his head swiveling around, eyes going wide with shock.

  Gino was on him, one hand over his mouth, muffling any sound as he shoved the knife into the guard's throat. He stared down at the man. Eyes to eyes. Nose to nose. Gino breathing, Longwei unable to breathe. Gino took him to the floor, removing the crowbar from his spasming fingers and pulling the blade from him. Very carefully he wiped it on the guard's shirt.

  Twenty-three.

  "Hurry up, Longwei," Dai snapped. "We have to get these open."

  Silence met his demand. The crowbar hit the floor with a loud metallic sound. The tip was in the light. Dai, Zhu and Feng turned toward the sound. Zhu tried the door, frowned when it was locked and then walked around the armored car to the other side, putting it between the clattering sound and his body.

  The crowbar was lifted from the floor, but Longwei didn't step out of the shadows to hurry back to Dai. He just stood there. Unseen. In the dark. The three remaining men couldn't see his body, they could barely make out that it was a man standing there.

  "Stop playing around," Dai demanded. "You always make jokes and play pranks at inappropriate times."

  Gino had gone up the wall, moving sideways until he was so close to Feng he was afraid the man would lean back into him. Feng had taken refuge between the row of large crates and the wall, hoping by keeping his back to the wall, no one could sneak up on him. He was sweating, and Gino could smell fear.

  Draden stood where Longwei had been, the crowbar held loosely in his hand, keeping the attention of Zhu and Dai. Gino moved down the wall like a spider, until he was directly behind Feng. He reached out with both hands, one clamping tightly over the man's mouth while the other slit his throat. He held up him upright, waited until the guard began to slump and then slowly lowered him to the floor behind the crate.

  Twenty-four.

  Dai glanced over his shoulder toward Feng but the area was empty. When he looked back at Longwei no one was there. Instantly he moved toward the armored car, his eyes bouncing around the warehouse. "Bolan, we have to get the hell out of here. Get into the car."

  "The locks are jammed. I tried all of them," Zhu said. "We can't use the car."

  "We have three others," Dai pointed out, making his way warily toward his boss.

  "It stands to reason the locks are all jammed on them as well."

  "Send for more men. Make it clear to your brother that we need them now."

  "I've done so and told him I uncovered a conspiracy to kill him. In doing so, I set myself up as a target and am now in danger. If he believes the threat is to him, he will want us to live to help protect him," Zhu said.

  "At the word 'conspiracy,' he'll kill an entire floor worth of employees," Dai pointed out.

  Zhu nodded with a slow, cold smile. "I believe he will. He's descending into madness,
just as our father did."

  "Is Cheng sending help?"

  "He answered immediately that they're on the way. Relax, Dai. We are fine right here if we stay together and under this light. Even if this man is in this warehouse with us, he will make a mistake."

  "He hasn't so far."

  Zhu looked around the cavernous room with a cold smile. "But he is close to his goal and eager to get to me. He stole something of mine and he doesn't want me taking it back."

  "The woman."

  Zhu nodded. "I searched years for her. The perfect one. She would grace every public event I went to, especially after my brother meets an untimely death. She dislikes pain to the point that it terrifies her. She's intelligent, and her brain will be very useful. More than anything, she's American, like my mother, and I will have her complete obedience."

  He looked around the warehouse and tried taunting the man who had come for him. "I have so many plans for her. She'll crawl under tables and blow my guests if I demand it right in front of everyone." He smiled as looked around the warehouse again. "Think about that, GhostWalker. Think what I'll do to her. Those women suffering at my hands were mere substitutes for her. That was mild torture, mild compared to what I plan to do to that woman. She'll suffer for going with you. She'll be in agony for days, weeks, months. She'll beg my forgiveness."