by Barb Shuler
“What about Alpha team, Sir?” one of the men behind me asked. It was then that we all heard a message across our earpieces.
“Alpha team’s in place. You girls just do your part, we got your asses covered,” I chuckled at Marcus's words and shook my head.
“Kane, keep your team in line,” Robert snapped. Gabe snorted and turned back to the monitor.
“Alpha team, out,” Kane said and they were silent again.
“Now, there are two feathers in the wind tracking the scattering ants and prey. We are recording as we go. Make sure you know who or what you are taking down before you just shoot,” Gabe said. I saw the look on Gabe’s face change as he spoke. Drew and I stepped forward, my heart kicking into overdrive as Drew spoke. I had a bad feeling.
“What does that mean?” someone asked.
Gabe and Robert exchanged a look before he hit the screen again. We could see pictures live streaming in from above the trees. Drew cursed and I grabbed his arm when he went to move closer to Gabe. “You didn’t?”
“What in the hell is going on?” the agent beside me asked. His face was a mask of confusion and worry.
“They are out of the inner perimeters. They each have two agents with them,” Gabe said. I just blinked. They who? Then it hit me. I looked at the screens and it was only then I realized Derek and Carter, who had helped to set up the computers and the surveillance, were missing.
“Oh shit,” I said.
Drew lost his shit then, his face burning red with anger. “Derek and Carter are out there? Gabe, have you lost your fucking mind? Robert, how could you? They are not trained for this shit! You just let them go out there? They’re fucking kids!” he snarled.
“They should be well out of range from the operation. We have them set up in remote locations. We need the drones and there was no time to teach someone else to use them. Derek and Carter are both smart and resourceful kids. Just focus on your tasks,” Gabe said. I could feel the tension rolling off Drew in waves.
“Hey, we can hear you, chill. We got this…”
I heard Derek panting as if he were running and stiffened. When Charlie moved past us I raised a brow. “Dani Lynn is gonna kick your ass, man,” Charlie said, giving Gabe and his father the stink eye. “Not to mention Stella’s reaction…” he muttered. “Nice knowing ya.”
“GET DOWN!” the shriek came through the earbuds and I winced. There was a loud popping sound to follow that and we all looked around. “Shit. Derek!”
“What in the hell was that?”
“What the fuck, man?”
“Derek? Carter? Get your asses out of there, now!” someone snarled through the earpiece. There was more popping sounds along with shuffling.
“Carter is clear,” a gruff voice said as there was another round of popping noises. That was gun fire.
“Move your asses, you’ve been spotted,” Kane barked out to someone.
“Can’t! We have a man down!” the tone of Derek’s voice set off the panic inside me. Drew and I moved to the map. There was blinking red lights on the screen. One was moving to the south, away from the mapped out area, the other was moving to the north, right through the blue area.
“That’s them. Go get them. Be safe,” Gabe barked. We all set off like rockets, fuck being stealthy now. We were a half mile from the designated areas but there was no time to be slow. We hit the trees at a full sprint. Thank God we all stayed in shape. There was more popping sounds and then an explosion. What. The. Fuck?
“KANE! What was that?” Gabe’s voice was a booming call in the ear piece.
“Shit, they have underground tanks, or buried explosives.. I don’t know. Boys, be careful not to shoot the fucking ground,” Kane said and I could hear the shuffling and popping continue.
It felt like it was taking forever to get to the gate that would lead us to where Kristol said the cages were. As I vaulted over it I held my gun tight across my chest. I hit the ground and crouched. I whistled to let Drew and Charlie know it was safe. We had two agents working with us. They were slower, but went right over the fence behind them. We all looked around and skirted around the trees, our eyes scanning the area around us.
“Derek, what’s your twenty, kid?” Charlie whispered as we crouched behind a stand of trees, peering around to see what was close by. The silence was killing me. I could only imagine what was happening. There was a loud scream. The kind that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
We moved faster, rounding the trees and jumping over downed ones as we made it deeper into the woods. Scattered throughout the forest were the cages Kristol described. I passed one that was empty, but the next one was in front of me, maybe fifty feet away with a girl curled up into a ball. She was shaking and as I approached her she shrieked. I had to ignore her for now. We would get them out soon enough. The mission right now was to figure out who was shooting, where Derek was, and how to take the shooter down.
“Yellow quadrant, clear. Two in need of medics. Ten in custody, copy?” someone barked out.
“Cop-” I winced as another shriek came through the earpiece cutting off the guys at the basecamp. Derek’s angry voice quickly followed it.
“Stop, don’t touch that!”
There was another shriek and then what sounded like someone scrambling out of something. Derek’s grunting then angry growls filled the earpieces again. We really needed something different if this happened again. Cause, yeah. My ears were bleeding.
“Leave her alone, you fucking cowards. You want a fight? Why don’t you pick on someone your own size! Are ya scared?” Drew cursed.
“Derek, what the fuck, kid? I’m gonna beat your ass!” he snarled as he and I rounded the next line of trees.
We skidded to a stop when we came to a ditch with one helluva incline. Damn, we’d have to jump or go around. I looked at Drew and we ran to the south, then cut back through the trees. Charlie was in the lead and we all stopped when we came to a tree laying over a ditch. I shrugged and hopped up on it, making my way across in no time. They followed and we scaled the downward slope, trying to keep a steady pace.
The shrieking in the earpiece had been grating on my nerves earlier but now that silence filled my ears - it was worse. Silence could mean too many things.
“Derek,” I grunted as I ran up a small incline. “Kid, answer me,” I said. I heard a grunt in place of what should have been him speaking. Both Drew and I kept trying to get him to talk but there had to be a reason he wasn’t speaking.
“Red quadrant, clear. Four evacuated. Seven DOA. Sixteen in custody,” there was a pause. “Copy?”
“Copy,” came a gruff voice. I shook my head as I let the numbers sink in. Seven DOA. Had they been fighting back? Had they taken themselves out? I hated cases like this. You always had more unanswered questions after than you had to start with.
“Anyone have eyes on the kid?” Gabe growled out each word. It wasn’t until we crested the next line of trees that I spotted him. Drew cursed again at the sight before us and we took off running towards the fight. It was two against one. The shine of a knife in one of the men's hands had my feet moving faster.
“Got him. Two suspects. Both armed,” I ground out into the mic attached to the ear pieces.
21
Enough of This
Derek
All right, this was easy enough. We would fly our drones over the chaos that would be the raids on the property and go home with no one the wiser. Or so I thought. The moment Gramps started talking about feathers in the wind I knew we were doomed. The fellas were not happy but, eh, they’d get over it. We had this under control. I made sure I was on the side of the property that could potentially be the dangerous side.
I mean, I had some idea of how to keep myself out of trouble. No way Carter could have handled things going bad. He knew how to fight, but he was not as level headed as I was. He hadn’t grown up fighting for himself like I had. Life's a bitch like that sometimes.
Would things g
o wrong? Probably. We had been doing so good… until, well… things decided to go to hell in a pretty little handbasket.
I saw the agent to my right go down as the sound of gunfire hit my ears. The other one ran for cover without giving his partner a second look. Asshole. I ducked and rolled to get to the downed man. His shoulder was bleeding and the only thing I could do for him was to pull him - which was not an easy task when you are dodging bullets flying at your head - to the cover of the trees. I applied as much pressure to the wound as I could and hoped we could stay undercover until the cavalry arrived.
As usual, that wasn’t possible. I heard footsteps and then a shriek. My God, it was as if an animal had been wounded. When I peeked around the trees I saw a young girl flailing as two men stalked towards her. When she jumped up and grabbed the fence closest to her she shrieked again, the pitch was enough to make your ears bleed. As she hit the ground she jerked with terror. The men kept towards her. She got up again and reached for that damn fence.
I jumped up and moved passed the trees, yelling to get her attention. “Stop! Don’t touch that!” She didn’t listen and the men reached her, one of them snatching her up. The kid couldn’t be more than eleven, twelve, maybe. My anger rose. They were going down if it was the last thing I did.
When both men turned towards me I raised a brow. I was like a fish in a barrel. I had no weapon, I had no cover, but I wasn’t about to let them hurt this girl. I groaned as I formed a plan, before I spoke again.
“Leave her alone, you fucking cowards!” They ignored me. Moving closer, I picked up a few rocks and tossed them at their backs. “You want a fight? Why don’t ya pick on someone your own size! Are ya scared?”
I heard the chaos through the earpiece and ignored it, along with Drew’s cursing and threats. Not now, dude. Not now.
I didn’t have time for that. When Conner snatched the ski mask from his face my rage tripled. Focus. I had to focus. There were two of them and only one of me. I could keep them distracted until someone got here. I was still ignoring the chatter in my ear. The guy with Conner charged me. I kicked out, my foot connecting with his head. He staggered, but it wasn’t until Conner told him to back off that he took a step back, continuing to circle me. Conner walked closer, a knife in his hand. I smirked. I waved my hands towards me.
“Come on, asshole. I’ve been waiting to beat your ass,” I said.
He took the bait and charged me. I was able to shift, hitting the ground in a crouch and taking his legs out all in one move. He stumbled, crashing to the ground. The knife went flying and I went for it. I kicked out as I stood, connecting with Conner’s gut. He grunted and cursed. I didn’t care what he said or thought of me, he was the one that was being a douche. I grabbed his arms as he got up and charged. Thankfully he was a bit slower now. I gripped him tighter and flipped us over, his body slamming into the ground as I toppled over with him.
The other guy went for the girl and held a knife to her throat. At first I pretended not to notice, but as Conner and I grappled, I heard her cry out. He was pressing the tip into her throat. I jumped up, ready to beat his ass.
My mistake was turning my back on Conner. He rushed me and I went down, hard. My face broke my fall, though, no worries. Yeah, that was gonna be a gnarly bruise… if I got out of this in one piece, that was. With a grunt I kicked out and flipped myself over. When Conner backed up slightly I saw the gleam of the knife in his hand. I was no knife expert. I knew about them but didn’t have a reason to train fighting with one.
I remembered what Drew and Jackson had told me about fighting someone with a weapon. Dodge, tuck myself in and hit them as hard as I could. This would make them unhand the weapon. Hopefully… was that all? Ugh.
What I hadn’t expected was the second asshole grabbing me. That was his mistake. I bucked against his iron grip. Conner charged, knife out in front of him. I kicked out, but missed my target, aka, the knife. Conner cursed, shaking his hand, his brows pulled in with a scowl. Shit.
Before I could readjust myself he struck again. I felt the burning pain slice down my thigh as the knife cut through my jeans.
“You little faggot, I’m gonna fuck you up. You and your damn reject family are always getting into shit you shouldn’t,” he said. His snarled words only served to piss me off more.
My anger spiked. Not only was he picking on some poor kid, now he was gonna stab me, and thought it was okay to insult my family. I growled out my words.
“Your family is the fucked up one. Kidnapping, beating women? You’re all a bunch of fucking pansy ass motherfuckers!”
Conner lunged. I desperately kicked out, hitting his hand (thank God) and sending the knife flying away. While he was distracted with losing the knife I shifted and was able to dislodge the douche holding me knocking him face first to the ground. Conner and I grappled, his fingers digging into my now bleeding leg. I grunted, my jaw clenched as I fought to keep the pain from taking me out. I struggled to my feet, his arms wrapping around me. Ducking down, I grabbed his legs and tugged up. His body came up and I flipped him over, and myself. I landed with a thud and cursed as the pain shot up my leg. Wheezing, I elbowed Conner in the face. I heard a sickening crunch right before he let out a very unmanly squeal. I crawled to my feet as he did and smirked.
“I’m gonna skin you, you little fucker!” he growled as he got up. I waved him forward.
“That the best ya got, asshole? Come on, bring it. I’m not some defenseless little girl. I will kick your ass!”
I was taunting him as I staggered, trying to get my breathing under control. I had to keep myself in front of them while the other guy regained his footing. There was no way in hell I was letting them turn their attention back to the poor girl, who was curled up on the ground, crying. Keeping myself between her and the fence I yelled insults at Conner. I knew the guys were on their way, I could see them through the trees, but I had to keep Conner’s focus on me. I saw the guys edging towards the fence and knew I had to warn them. I punched Conner in the face and yelled out.
“Don’t touch the fucking fence!” I shouldn't have taken my eyes off Conner or the other man. They charged and with an oomph I was tackled. I fought to keep my face off the ground. I shoved back, but Conner had his arm around my neck and I was pinned. I was gasping trying to keep away the blackness that was coming in to cover my vision.
No! This wasn’t happening. I slammed my head back and the angry shout he let out meant I made contact with his nose again. I rolled over and kicked out, hitting him in the side of the head. He stopped moving and I laid there panting like I’d run a marathon. The other man was still on the ground when I turned my head.
I saw Jacks jump the fence and snorted. It wasn’t high. I should have just done that and got the girl out. I sat up only to be pushed back down by Jacks and Drew, who came from out of nowhere.
“Kid, I’m gonna kill you,” Drew snapped as he ripped my pant leg open. I hissed as pain shot up my leg.
“Dude, don’t fucking do that!” I started to breath heavy as the pain overtook me. My body was shaking as I tried to push Drew’s hands away.
“Kid, suck it up!’ he snapped at me, again. Was he serious? I cursed as he pressed something on the cut. Slice. Whatever it was.
“Take a deep breath, kid,” Jacks said as he rested a hand on my shoulder. “The girl…” I grunted out as I rolled my head, trying to see her.
“Charlie has her, relax,” Jacks said as he looked around. There was the sound of snapping twigs and then, gunfire. Drew and Jacks both hit the ground. Whether it was by their own accord or because of the gunfire I wasn’t sure.
“Gramps! We’re taking on gunfire!”
“Son of a fucking bitch,” I turned to see Jacks holding his arm before he crawled around to Drew. “Bubba?”
“I’m.. shit. I hate these mother fucking cunts!” Drew sat up as the gunfire came to a stop.
“Red quadrant, clear,” a voice came over the radio. A minute later the men in black, a
s Jacks so named them, came out of the bushes. Kane pulled the mask off his face.
“Well, you four look like ragdolls after a day in a kindy class,” I snorted and cursed as I sat up. I shifted my lower jaw and winced.
“Report!”
“All clear Gabe. Your boys will need medics,” Kane said as he knelt down over me.
“Kid, you have got to have brass balls,” he said.
“No, he’s lost his fucking mind,” Drew said as he stood up, his arm wrapped around his stomach.
“Are you hit?” Kane asked him and he shook his head.
“Vest got it.”
“Jackson?”
“It’s just a scratch,” he said but I could see the blood dripping from between his fingers. I clenched my jaw again as I moved to stand up. I was there, up right. That didn’t last long. The pain hit and that was all she wrote. The blackness took over. I tried to fight it but crumpled back to the ground.
22
Feeling Brand New
Kristol
The last two hours had been unreal. I’d been brought to Trudy’s Salon. The sign outside made me laugh when I got a good look at it. “Welcome to Trudy’s! We do hair Texas sized. You’ve been warned.” Shayna - the owner - was a doll. Apparently she and Peter Malone had been dating off and on since she graduated high school. Growing up with Stella as her best friend was sure to be a treat. The sparkle in her eyes when she mentioned Peter was heart warming.
Everyone seemed so relaxed and open in here. They had all known each other forever, so I was the new kid. But now, being here with them I felt anything but out of place. I felt welcomed. I felt liked for the first time in my life, I belonged. These women had taken me in and welcomed me to their group, to their lives. And, let’s not forget their love for all things Steel Magnolias. I had only recently watched the movie with Stella, and I will admit, I loved it.