by Michael Todd
Troy put a note in her HUD. “Note saved.”
Billie chuckled. “See, Marcus? You don’t take notes for me. Half the time, I have to remind you to remind me.”
“Sorry I’m not made out from a computer,” Marcus grumbled. “Trust me, if I could be, I would be.”
“That’s getting weird there, buddy. You’re like the guy who tattooed himself so much that he looked like a real dinosaur. Or the people who think they’re vampires and sharpen their teeth to points.”
Marcus groaned. “I didn’t say I would do it. I only meant—never mind.”
Billie’s cheeks and lips relaxed into a confident gaze as she pushed on and several green dots appeared ahead of her. She slowed and brought her hand to her belt. The bushes rustled and one by one, team members from Heavy Metal stepped out and stood in silence as they waited for her.
The leader from the fight earlier put his hand out to shake hers. “We thought maybe, when you were done, you might need an escort. We heard the fight with the dino on the comms.”
Billie chuckled and nodded her thanks at everyone around her. “Yeah, that bitch was golden and then that dumb ass agent burst the sac.”
The mercs groaned and she waved her hands in irritation. “I know, right? But you should have seen his friend—she was tossed around like a fucking rag doll.”
The men snickered. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and Billie flailed a little to stabilize herself. “What the fuck is that? Another big-ass beast?”
The team leader shook his head and pointed ahead of them. Billie squinted into the canopy as two mechs separated the tree branches and looked down on them. They opened the comms. “We thought you might need an escort out of these bowels of hell. By now, you are probably pretty fucking tired.”
Billie clapped her hands, leaned her head back, and laughed. “This shit is awesome. Seriously, you guys are the best.”
The merc leader shook his head. “No, ma’am. The Ghost is the fucking best. We watched you take down a shit-load of highly trained and skilled black ops agents who hunted you. On top of that, you saved some of our guys’ lives, and then you battled a dino. I am fairly sure you get the record for the most God damned awesome shit done in one trip to the fucking Zoo.”
She laughed. “Do I get a trophy for that?”
The men chuckled as they headed through the jungle. “We can make one for you.”
“Sweet. I’ve never had one.” She pumped her fist. “I always saw the bowling trophies and was like, I’ll have one of those one day. But I never went to a bowling alley in my life.”
The group pushed through and followed one of the mechs as the other brought up the rear. They were one hardcore group and not even a single animal wanted to fuck with them. Everything and everybody knew better. Heavy Metal was in the Zoo and when they protected someone, they went all out.
They reached the edge of the jungle and Billie sighed heavily with relief but kept her HUD on for the time being. The team leader led her to one of their vehicles and she climbed inside and rested her head against the back of the seat. She winced and pressed her hand to the stab wound in her side. When she removed her hand, it was covered in blood.
Marcus whistled, the sound one of immediate concern. “I can see that on the video. It looks bad.”
Billie shut her eyes. “It’s not that bad. It’s healing slowly but that last bout of exercise opened it again, I think. I need to rest and I’ll be fine. Oh, wait. I need to kick some more ass. I forgot about that.”
Marcus groaned. “We’ll see when you get back. That might have to wait a couple of days.”
They reached the gate and the team leader helped her out of the passenger side. He glanced toward the front and Billie followed his gaze and smiled with genuine pleasure. Holly stood there with a cowboy hat in her hand. The other mercs took off toward their headquarters and left the two women standing beside the Jeep. Hickok removed her HUD and slowly reached forward to give her friend a hug for the first time ever. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”
Chapter Twelve
The weather in Dubai was exactly like every picture she had ever seen, only a little sandier. It blew in from the desert and drifted across the concrete jungle positioned perfectly beneath the bright blue skies. Even with the breeze, though, the air was hot and sticky. Billie stepped out of the cab and stared at the Dubai United Arab Emirates hotel that stretched high into the clouds.
She absorbed the view, turned, and handed the driver 150 dirham with a grin before she walked cautiously toward the hotel. Her long blonde wig had a scarf tied around it to keep the sand out. Her large rimmed sunglasses covered down to her cheeks and her lips were painted a perfect pink. She wore a pair of blue cotton slacks and a white blouse, complemented by her matching blue flats and her white handbag.
The woman behind the reservation counter smiled happily as Hickok handed over her passport. “Reservation for Angela Rose.”
Check-in went smoothly and quickly, and the assistant seemed to know that she had booked one of the suites close to the top of the building. The luggage attendant helped her up to her room and she tipped him before she closed the door and removed her glasses. She sighed and sat in a chair for a moment. She raised her shirt, looked at the bandage over her wound, and cringed at the bright red stain on it. They had made her rest for three days and even sewn her up, but it seemed that the last small area that hadn’t healed liked to bleed.
Her phone rang in her purse and she pulled it out and put the Bluetooth in her ear. “Hello, Marcus. Yes, I made it to my location in one piece.”
He sighed. “I still wish you had given it a couple more days. I know it was bleeding when you left.”
Billie shrugged. “At this point, it’s a superficial wound. It’s only in a weird place so it’s easily aggravated. Look, I need you to keep it together over there. No more worrying. How long have I done this?”
Marcus groaned. “A long time.”
She nodded firmly, stood, and gingerly removed her blouse. “Right. And I will be fine. I gotta go. Talk to you later.”
Before he could argue, she hung up and changed her clothes quickly. She headed downstairs to the pool area and sat in one of the lounge chairs. Once she was comfortable, she retrieved her phone and clicked the button on the side, then aimed it in the direction of Fire Fox, who lounged with a couple of women across the deck. She slid the piece into her ear and kept her head down.
The man was beyond disgusting—old, wrinkled, and richer than God. “My honeys, we will go to the lounge tonight in the hotel, remember? We are guests of honor with VIP service. Besides, I’ve had a long, stressful week. I don’t want to go to the clubs. We will eat in our rooms, preferably unclothed, and head down around eight. Can you be ready?”
Billie removed her earpiece and snickered with amusement as she turned the phone off. “I can definitely be ready. But are you ready, Mr. Fire Fox?”
She had gone out of her way, with the help of Marcus, to track down the two members of the organization that had voted to terminate both their lives. Thanks to a couple of the agents that she had set free, the information came to her relatively quickly. As for them, they intended to stick around the Zoo, presumed dead by the agency. Billie wouldn’t rat on them. Not after she had done the same thing. She wasn’t sure what happened to the other two, but presumed they had headed off to places unknown.
The truth was that she was tired of killing, but she knew that if she didn’t take care of these last two targets, neither she nor Marcus would ever be safe again. In fact, there were too many people who wouldn’t be safe with them roving around and giving orders that they had no right to give.
Billie gathered her things and headed back inside. She really didn’t want Fire Fox to see her until that night. Safe in her room once more, she removed her wig and glasses and walked to the window. She put her hand up and leaned against it to stare out over the city. “Tonight, the Fox says goodbye.”
The dining room was bus
y although dinner had finished an hour before. The place went from upscale dining to upscale drinking in about two seconds flat. This was where all the rich people stood around, sipped overpriced martinis, and talked about how they were the wealthiest people in the world. They patted each other on the back and ignored the atrocities and disgusting immorality that defined each and every one of them. Then again, maybe they didn’t even realize that at all. Maybe their privilege made them blind to reality. Either way, it was the least enticing place Billie would ever have thought of going to.
Still, there she was, at the top of the steps where she paused to look at the crowd. The men closest to her stopped and stared. She ignored them all. With her head held high, she stepped down carefully in her strappy silver heels and remembered to steady her ankles with every step to avoid tilting and tumbling down the remainder. Her dress was black and silver, haltered at the top and cinched at the waist, with a slit so high she had to make sure not to get in the way of a breeze. Her long blonde wig was curled perfectly in a twenties style and her pouty red lips called to the testosterone in the room.
Marcus sniffed and steadied his tone. “May I say that you look fucking killer tonight. Pun intended, of course.”
Billie had practiced keeping a straight face and with everyone staring at her, she couldn’t respond. He chuckled. “I like it when you can’t snark back. So, if you look across the bar to your left and toward the middle—with the silver scarf around his neck and the tux. That is your man. Make sure you—”
Billie eased the earbud from her ear, deactivated it, and dropped it in her clutch. She stuck her chest out, walked across the room, and squeezed into a small space beside her mark to order drinks. He looked at her and she smiled. “Oh, excuse me.”
She leaned toward the bartender. “I’ll have a glass of champagne. Thank you.”
The old man stared at her for a moment and winked at the bartender. “Put that on my tab.”
Billie swallowed a sip and tried to choke down the nausea. “Why, thank you. I saw you when I came in, and I have to admit, I knew I had to meet a man of such distinction before the night was over.”
Fire Fox obviously lusted hard for her if the bright gleam in his eyes was any indication. “Oh yes? Well, you are the most beautiful woman in the room so I must have done something right. Tell me, when exactly do you expect your night to be over?”
She knew it was forward, but she could tell this guy didn’t like chatter. “If you take me to your room now, we can discuss it.”
The old man motioned to the bartender. “Charge my tab to my room.”
He put his arm out and winked lasciviously. Billie threaded hers through it and they walked out of the room together. She remained silent and merely simpered and batted her eyelashes as the elevator moved smoothly to the top floor. This, she mused, was quite possibly a record time for closing on her target.
The doors opened to a magnificent room with an amazing view. She walked over to the glass wall and looked out as she fought to choke back the anger and disgust she felt for this man. All in due time. Take it easy, sister.
Fire Fox walked up beside her with a glass of champagne. “Shall I show you the whole place?”
Billie gave him a seductive grin and nodded. She followed after him as he described the art, the paintings, and everything else she gave zero fucks about. Finally, though, they made it to the bedroom. She paused and looked out at the lights through the window. Fire Fox stood beside her in front of the bed. He put one finger on her shoulder and traced it down her skin.
She bit her bottom lip and turned to him, took his glass, and set it on the dresser behind her before she let her clutch and shawl fall to the floor. With both hands on his chest, she shoved lightly and pushed him onto the bed. He laughed as she climbed on top of him and pinned his hands down with her knees.
He licked his grubby lips. “Well, you don’t waste any time.”
The smile faded from Billie’s lips. “I decided that since you didn’t when you ordered my death, I wouldn’t with you either…Fire Fox.”
She could see by his face that he immediately knew who she was. Before he could react, she jabbed a needle in his neck and pressed the plunger. “This will paralyze you so I don’t have to listen to you scream.”
His eyes fixed wide in horror as the drug took almost immediate effect. She smiled and with a slow, deliberate movement, withdrew her dagger from the front of her dress and grasped it with both hands. His pupils dilated as she slammed it into his heart and leaned forward to use her weight to thrust it deeper. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
She twisted the knife viciously and wished for a brief moment that she could have heard his scream.
Cars raced past at speed and honked wildly at each other. The streets of Macau were far busier than they were in Dubai, but Billie had to admit that she did not miss the sand. She somehow still chewed down on grains of it eight hours later. Her trip from the desert to China had been hasty but well planned to ensure that the other agent did not know that Fire Fox was dead.
She pulled her glasses down and flipped a piece of black hair from her face. Her wig had blunt-cut bangs and her hair streamed down her back, perfectly straight. She wore the same large-rimmed glasses but had ditched the girlish clothes. Instead, she wore riding boots, jeans, a red tank, and a black leather jacket. She sat firmly atop the motorcycle and studied Python as he emerged from the high rise in the center of the city. He carried a briefcase and looked around nervously. She wondered if that had anything to do with her.
Marcus spoke quickly over the comm in her ear. “I still can’t believe you fucking cut comms on me. That was the worst time for you to do that.”
Billie sighed, raised her glasses, and looked the other way as her target drove past. “We talked about this, remember. Look, I had to do some things and didn’t want to hurt your fragile sensibilities. Besides, there was nothing to hear. Only some gurgling and a last deep breath. Very poetic. I loved it. Okay, I gotta drive.”
She replaced her glasses and eased away from the curb on the bike. It was easy to remain far enough behind the town car to not be spotted but close enough to keep an eye on where they went. They headed to the edges of Macau and down a neighborhood street. On the corner three blocks down was a huge mansion set back from the road and surrounded by a wrought iron gate. Billie parked a few blocks away.
“What are the stats on his place?” she asked.
Marcus hummed to himself as he gathered the intel. “Five guards at night. One in the front shack, one out back, one out front, one stationed by whatever room he is in, and one has a roving watch. They do not set any security system until well after he has gone to sleep, and the guards remain in their stations throughout the night.”
Billie turned her bike. “Perfect. This mighty Python is about to be shortened.”
He chuckled. “Really?”
She revved her bike. “Shut up.”
Hickok grunted as she hauled herself up and over the back fence. She landed hard and immediately ducked behind a bush as the roving guard passed her. Marcus whispered in the comm, “As soon as he moves around the corner, you have twenty-three minutes to locate that back guard near the pool, get in, kill him, and get out before the roving watch returns.”
Her gaze shifted continuously around the yard. “Got it.”
She hurried across the yard and crouched behind the short brick wall that enclosed the pool area. The guard turned away and she hopped over it and ran toward him. She leapt off one of the pool chairs and wrapped her hand around his mouth and her legs around his waist. She pulled the cap of a syringe off with her teeth and stuck it in his neck with her free hand.
She hopped down and smiled at him as she eased him into the pool. “Bye, bye.”
As soon as she was inside, she hurried to the wall and flipped the switch to turn off the pool lights. She removed her shoes and stuffed them in her bag. Carefully, she tiptoed through the house and around the cor
ner, then poked her head out. A guard stood in front of the open study doors.
Billie held her breath and froze as she waited for him to turn his head. When he finally did, she ducked low and hurried along the wall in the shadows and over to the doorway. He turned back and looked at her, his mouth agape with shock. Before he could summon his wits and yell a warning, she grabbed him with a hand on each side of his head. He looked at her, startled, but in a split second, she twisted fast and hard. His neck broke with an audible crack.
He was heavy but she eased his body to the floor. She straightened and looked into the study through the small crack between the door and the frame on the hinge side. Python sat in a chair and stared at the doorway, a faint frown on his face. She remained motionless and kept her breathing even. After a moment or two, he shrugged and turned away to lean back in a relaxed way. Billie grinned, loving it when it worked out that way. She retrieved a syringe from her pocket and clicked the lid off as she moved quietly across the room and dropped to her knees behind him. With a swift movement, she stabbed the needle into his neck and pushed the chemical into him.
She rubbed his head and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Everyone thought I would shoot them from afar. But that is too easy. I kill the gutless with a knife so you know how little I think of you. One should never attack a Ghost, for we cannot be stopped.”
Chapter Thirteen
Deep beneath the building, down a dimly lit hall and inside the top-secret meeting room, the round table was gone. The room had been transformed, no longer intended for only three council members. A platform stood at the back where twelve agents were seated with files in front of them. Down one level was a smaller table with three chairs and a microphone.