by Melody Adams
Contents
Title
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
Strike
Alien Breed Series Book 3.1
Melody Adams
Science Fiction Romance Novelle
Strike
Alien Breed Series 3.1
Melody Adams
German Edition 2014
English Edition 2019
Love & Passion Publishing
www.lpbookspublishing.com
[email protected]
copyright © 2014-2019 by Melody Adams
[email protected]
© Cover Art by CMA Cover Designs
[email protected]
When his friend Ice needs help, Strike doesn't hesitate a second. But to help his friend, he needs help himself. From a hacker legend. AlexOne is one of the most notorious hackers, but what hardly anyone knows: Alex does not stand for Alexander, but for Alexandra. Strike's help is a woman. And what a woman she is.
Alex is the best in her field. When a giant of a man asks her for help, she accepts the job, but she suspects: This guy is her downfall! He arouses feelings in her that she had buried for a long time. After what she went through, she has no desire to ever trust a man again. If only Strike weren't so damn sexy!
Chapter 1
New York, USA
April 10, 2033 / 5:26 p.m. local time
Alex
"You should be careful what you do, Alex. One day you'll pay a high price for your recklessness."
I gave Tamtam an annoyed look, but softened it with a smile. Tamtam only meant well. He was worried. Since he picked me up from the street five years ago, he had become my big brother, my protector. Lately, however, he seemed to have feelings for me that were not at all brotherly. That had somehow made the relationship between us a little awkward. The lightheartedness I had felt towards him was no longer there. Instead, I often flinched involuntarily when he touched me. Even if his touches were still harmless. He never touched me in any improper way.
"I am too clever to let myself get caught," I replied confidently. "I’ll you, something big is going on. I just don't know yet how far the government is involved. It's possible that the president doesn't know anything about all this. But I will find out."
"If the FBI guys show up here, we’re fucked, baby! We can't do anything against them." He dragged one hand over his dreadlocks and his brown eyes looked at me pleadingly. "Please, Alex, don't touch that!"
"You know me well enough Tamtam."
"Yes, unfortunately I know you far too well and know that you will get yourself into some epic clusterfuck again," my friend replied sighing.
"Don't be such a baby. I can take care of myself!"
"Yes," Tamtam snorted. "Like when you pissed off the Chinese. By a hair, we would have become food for the Piranhas. I can still see it now. The pool, full of blood, after they threw the dog in to show us how fast the fucking monsters can tear flesh of bones."
I shook myself involuntarily at the memory.
"Yes, that was ... scary," I admitted reluctantly. "But this time ..."
"Scary?" Tamtam cut in. "That was more than scary. It was a close call, Alex!"
"I got us out of there! Didn’t I?" I talked back, shrugging my shoulders. "They got involved in the deal I suggested and we got out of it well."
My cell phone rang and Tamtam, who had just been about to return something, stopped and looked at my phone.
"Number unknown," he said frowning.
I took my phone in my hand and, after a short hesitation, pressed accept.
"Yes?"
"Alex One?" A man's voice answered.
"How did you get this number?" I wanted to know.
"It doesn't matter now," the caller replied. "My boss has an assignment for you!"
"What kind of assignment?"
"We'd like to discuss this in person and not over the phone."
"I don't make appointments," I said.
"You will! Meet me tomorrow at eleven at Café Marilyn!"
"I said, I do...," I began when a beep signaled to me that the man had ended the call. "Hanging up on me? Such an idiot!"
"What is it?" Tamtam wanted to know. "Who was that and what did he want?"
"Some guy who thinks his boss has an assignment for me. He wants to meet me tomorrow morning at Café Marilyn. I told him I wouldn't make any appointments!"
"What are you going to do? You're not going to go for it, are you? It could be a trap!"
"Of course I won't go. It is my principle that I don’t meet anyone personally until I know with whom and what I am dealing with. I just want to know where the guy got my number from?"
"We should retire soon. I'd feel more comfortable if you didn't put yourself in danger anymore."
"Hacking is all I want to do," I disagreed. "I can't stop! Especially not now that I'm on this thing."
"Then I will go, Alex!"
I looked at my friend, confused.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That I can no longer watch you risk your life! I am going to Argentina. If you don’t come with me, then I will go alone!"
"You know I won't stop my work now, Tamtam. I have ..."
"You said we were going to Argentina!"
"Yes, in a few years, Tamtam. I'm not ready to give everything up here just yet!"
"Then I wish you good luck," Tamtam replied angrily and turned away.
"Don't go," I begged him.
"I have to! You have to do this? Well, I have to find peace somewhere. I can't go on like this any longer, Alex!"
"Okay," I said quietly. It hurt me, but in a way I also felt relief. Maybe it was better that way.
"Think about it, Alex. I’ll leave in three days. You know how to reach me," he said and left the room.
I stared at the locked door and sighed, then turned back to my laptop. I had to work. The thing I was about to do was too important to let it rest.
Baltimore, USA
April 11, 2033 / 1:48 a.m. local time
Strike
The house was quiet. Quiet, except for the ticking of the old fashioned clock on the wall. It was a quiet ticking. Normal people would probably hardly notice the sound. But I wasn’t a normal person. I was something else. I had been created to do justice. At least that's what X, my boss, said. Usually I eliminated villains. But tonight my assignment was a different one. I was supposed to find a notebook that was somehow important to X. I had turned off the alarm and sneaked quietly through the house. A growl behind me made me stop. Slowly I turned around. A big black dog stood in the door. A boy, about six years old, stood next to the dog with his eyes wide open in fright. I cursed silently. The last thing I wanted, was to kill a child.
"Not a sound! And calm the dog down," I said quietly, but with enough sharpness that the boy nodded hastily and began to talk quietly to the dog.
"Are you a burglar?"
I nodded and the boy swallowed visibly.
"W-Will you kill m-me?"
"Not if you do what I tell you!"
Again the boy nodded violently.
"What is your name?"
"Jer-jeremy."
"Okay, Jeremy. Come here. Quietly! And keep the dog under control, or I'll have to shoot him!"
"Be good, Diva! Good girl," Jeremy said to the dog and the two of them slowly approached me.
I could smell the boy's fear and I knew the bitch could do the same. The fur at her neck stood up and she kept her eyes on me.
The boy bravely met my gaze and nodded.
"Maybe you can help me, then I'll disappear faster," I said and looked at the boy. "I'm looking for a notebook. It's orange with blue lettering. DMI is written on it. And a few numbers. Did you maybe see it or know where your father could keep something he wants to keep secret?"
"In his study. There's a safe. I know the number. I saw him enter it."
The boy sounded excited. The smell of fear had disappeared. He seemed to like his little nocturnal adventure. I grinned at him and he grinned back.
"Good! Lead the way!"
Jeremy nodded and told me to follow him. Then he grabbed the bitch by the collar and the two walked in front of me. We entered the hall and followed the long passage to the end. We stopped in front of a door covered in dark green leather.
"Here it is," whispered Jeremy and opened the door.
We entered the room and I closed the door behind us. Jeremy turned on the light. I would have seen everything, but the boy didn't have my eyesight. Of course, if he wanted to show me the safe, he had to see something. He walked purposefully towards a picture hanging over the desk and carefully took it off the hook. A safe was embedded in the wall behind it. Jeremy looked at me triumphantly and I nodded at him approvingly.
"Open it," I asked quietly.
Jeremy entered an eight-digit code and the door opened with a soft click. There were several stacks of banknotes and boxes, probably containing jewelry or coins, and a stack of papers. And at the top of the stack lay the orange notebook.
"Give it to me!"
The boy reached for the book and handed it to me. I smiled at him and he beamed. It didn't seem to bother him that I robbed his parents.
"Do you want the money too? Or the jewelry," he asked.
I shook my head.
"No, my friend. I just need this. But now, unfortunately, I have to tie you to the chair here. After all, you don't want your parents to know that you helped me voluntarily, do you?"
The boy nodded eagerly. He sat down on the chair in front of the desk and I took a rope from my backpack. I tied him up and then looked at him questioningly.
"Isn't it too tight? It's supposed to look real, but I don't want to hurt you."
"It's okay," Jeremy replied with a grin.
"Good! Count to fifty, then scream as loud as you can. Do you think your parents will hear you?"
"If I scream, Diva will bark and you can hear her all over the house!"
"Good! Thanks for your help, Jeremy. It was a pleasure!" I winked at him.
"When I grow up, I want to be a burglar too," he said. "Or FBI agent!"
I had to laugh quietly at his childish enthusiasm.
"Bye, Jeremy!"
It was cool in the bank's large entrance hall, tiled with marble. I walked with my black briefcase in my hand over the brightly polished tiles, past tall, round marble columns and large planters. My destination was the counter in the back corner, where a blonde woman in an elegant pinstripe costume entered something into a computer. She turned to me when she noticed my presence and put on a professional smile.
"Good afternoon, Sir. What can I help you with," she asked.
I took a key out of my pocket and put it on the counter. The blonde took it, looked at the number engraved on the key and nodded to me.
"If you would please follow me!"
She led me into an adjoining room and walked purposefully towards one of the numerous lockers. After unlocking the compartment that belonged to my key, she took out the box inside and placed it on a desk in the middle of the room.
"Press this button here, if you need me," she said, pointing to a button on the wall next to us, and left the room after I nodded to her.
I opened the lid of the black box. Some papers and passports were in it. The passports were sealed in foil, so I couldn't open them. But I didn't intend to do that anyway. I wasn't here to take anything out of the box either, but rather to add something. I put my briefcase next to the box and opened it. The orange notebook was in it. I wasn't particularly interested in what was written in it. I took it out of the suitcase and put it with the other things in the box. After locking the box, I took it back to the safe deposit box. I locked the safe and put the key back in my pocket. A look at my watch told me that it was shortly after ten o'clock. I closed my briefcase and took it.
The blonde was talking to another client when I passed her desk, but she gave me a smile. I nodded to her and left the bank.
Arriving at home, I immediately went into the small windowless room on the ground floor and sat down in front of the camera. I pressed the transmission button and a little later I heard the distorted voice of my boss.
"Do you have the notebook?"
I nodded. The video transmission was one-sided. I couldn't see X, but my boss could see me.
"I left it in the deposit box."
"Good," X replied. "Any complications?"
"No," I replied shaking my head.
I didn't mention the little boy. X would probably order his elimination and I didn't want to have to kill the child. I usually didn't feel remorse when carrying out my orders, but the thought of murdering a child didn't sit well with me.
"Well, at least some good news today," X replied. "For the time being I have no further orders. Ice was careless and was seen by a woman. Now we have to take the girl out and wait until the hustle and bustle has subsided. Wait until you hear from me again!"
That was the end of the conversation. The transmission indicator had jumped from green to red. I thought about what X had just told me. If a woman had seen Ice, the whole mission was compromised until things settled down. No wonder X sounded so pissed off. I didn't envy Ice. He would get a terrible punishment after he had taken the woman out.
I left the video room and hit the couch in the living room. My days weren't particularly interesting when I didn't have a job. I took the remote off the table and switched through the channels for a while. At this time of the day, the program was obviously aimed primarily at housewives. There was nothing that could hold my interest. Annoyed, I switched the TV off again and folded my hands behind my head. For a while I just stared at the ceiling, then my thoughts went back to Ice. There was no point in contacting him. If he was out somewhere, hunting that woman, he wouldn't answer his cell unless it was X. Our boss forbade us private contacts during our missions. I could only hope that Ice got out of this mess reasonably well.
Chapter 2
New York, USA
April 13, 2033 / 09:21 p.m. local time
Strike
I hadn't had anything to do since my last job. I spent my time doing sports, but I had always had to think about my friend Ice. Had he taken care of the woman? No! If he had done that, then X would certainly have let me know. Sighing, I logged into my e-mail account to see if there was anything new. No new e-mails. I wanted to quit the mail program when suddenly a chat message came in. It was from Ice. Finally the bloke came forward.
BigAlbino
Hi
sent 21:23
HitMan
Hi. You okay?
sent 21:24
BigAlbino
I need your help
sent 21:25
That didn't sound good. I was afraid that it would mean Ice was in trouble. I typed my answer, sighing.
HitMan
Fire away
sent 21:25
BigAlbino
Player has my target. He'll kill her if I don't follow his orders. To be brought to him tomorrow. Must save her. Need your help!
sent 21:26
HitMan
She's your target. Why do you want to save her?
sent 21:26
BigAlbino
I love her
sent 21:26
HitMan
No shit
sent 21:27
BigAlbino
Long story. Got eyes on me. Can you take them out? Then we can talk. My place.
sent 21:27
HitMan
Where? Who?
sent 21:27
BigAlbino
Don't know.
sent 21:28
HitMan
Fuck! On my way.
sent 21:28
BigAlbino
Be careful! Anything goes wrong, Miriam is dead.
sent 21:28
HitMan
Miriam, huh? I'll take care of it.
sent 21:29
BigAlbino
Thx
sent 21:29
HitMan
No prob, bro. C U
sent 21:29
BigAlbino
C U thx
sent 21:29
I closed the Messenger and logged out. Thoughtfully I closed the notebook and cursed quietly. What kind of clusterfuck had Ice gotten himself into? That didn't look like him at all. If anything, he was the one of us who was most likely to keep a cool head and never show emotions. And then a girl comes along and suddenly he loses his head?
"Fuck," I said angrily.