Crossfire (Book 1) (The Omega Group)

by Andrea Domanski

  After taking one last look around, satisfied that she and her daughter had what they needed, Myrine led Mirissa out of the storage unit and hit the road for Jacksonville Beach, where Safe House Beta was located.

  It was about a twenty-five mile drive, so Myrine wasn’t surprised when Mirissa took the opportunity to try and get a few answers. “So, you want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “We’re under attack,” Myrine said absently as she smoothly weaved in and out of traffic, staying within a few miles of the speed limit.

  “I got that much. What I’d like to know is by whom and why?”

  Myrine took a deep breath, unsure of how to begin. “Kakodaemons aren’t the only threat out there, Mirissa. They are just the tip of the iceberg.”

  Chapter 15

  Mirissa sat in the passenger seat of the Ford Taurus waiting for her mother to continue. Announcing that the Kakodaemons were only the tip of the iceberg was quite a bombshell, yet she hadn’t made any attempt to expand on the statement.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Mirissa watched her mother drive them to Jacksonville Beach. In the twelve years since she’d last seen her, she hadn’t changed that much. Yes, she had a little gray hair in a few spots, and there were minor wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but for the most part, she looked for all outward appearance like Mirissa remembered her—beautiful. She was tall, about the same height as Mirissa had grown to, slender and muscular but not masculine, and with the same long brown hair. Her eyes appeared to be the only part of her that looked different. They were the same dark hazel, encased in long dark lashes, but they had lost the sparkle that Mirissa remembered seeing in them. Now they were the eyes of someone who’d seen too much. Someone who had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  In all of the daydreams Mirissa had over the years about being reunited with her mother, never had she imagined it would be like this.

  “Is that really all you’re going to say?” Mirissa said as she stared out the window.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s just…”

  “Don’t call me that! You left us. You left me!”

  Mirissa sat there, quietly fighting back the tears that threatened to overrun her. Sweetheart? Really? She hadn’t seen or heard from her mother in all these years and she wasn’t about to let loving pet names be used. Not yet, anyway.

  “There is so much that I want to tell you. So much that you need to know. I just don’t know where to begin,” Myrine said in such a low voice Mirissa had difficulty hearing her.

  “Why not start at the beginning. Where did you go twelve years ago, and why?”

  Myrine got a faraway look in her eyes as though she was remembering something she hadn’t thought of for a long time. “The night before your piano recital I did what I normally did. I know you weren’t aware of it at the time, but I’d been fighting Kakos for many years. I would patrol the hot spots in and around Jacksonville and take them out, much like you’ve been doing this last year.”

  Mirissa wanted to ask how her mother knew anything about what she’d been doing, but she stayed quiet. This information was too important to her to risk interrupting.

  “That night I came across a couple of what I thought were Kakos. They were out in the open in a crowded area but didn’t make any attempt to get a human secluded enough to drain their soul. I followed them for over an hour before I realized that they were up to something else. Now, you have to understand, sweet—Mirissa.” Myrine corrected herself before she caused another outburst. “For over two thousand years, Kakos have had only one purpose. Kill humans, and Amazons when possible, and steal their souls. So these two were acting way out of the ordinary. It was like they were looking for something—or someone. After watching them for almost two hours I finally decided to just take them out and worry about their unusual behavior later. That’s when things got weird. It took a while for them to put themselves in a place that had the privacy I needed, but as soon as they did I went after them. The first one went down easily, but I’d lost the element of surprise. When I looked at the other one he just stood there, smiling at me, like he wasn’t worried at all. The next thing I knew, he was gone.”

  “You just let him go?” Mirissa asked.

  “No. You don’t understand. He disappeared, right in front of me. One minute he was there, the next he wasn’t. I’d never seen anything like it. I didn’t even think it was possible.”

  “So, you’re saying that Kakodaemons can vanish into thin air?”

  “No,” Myrine said, “I’m saying that he wasn’t a Kakodaemon. He was something else.”

  Mirissa didn’t know what to say. She’d only been at this for a year so she was well aware that there was still a lot she didn’t know, but surely Greco would have told her about other threats hanging out with the Kakos. It didn’t make any sense. It also didn’t explain why her mother had left.

  “Okay,” Mirissa started, “so, I get that you came up against some unknown big bad guy, but you still haven’t told me why you left.”

  “When I left you and your dad the next morning, the day of your recital, I went to the office I used to rent. I never really needed an office, but I wanted to keep that part of my life separate from you for as long as I could. I called some of my Amazon sisters to see if any of them knew anything about this new player, but none of them had ever come across anything other than Kakos. So, I went to Tritonia to talk to Artemis. That’s when I learned about your destiny.”

  “What about my destiny?”

  “Mirissa, you aren’t like the rest of us. You’re special. You have powers that are going to make you a force to be reckoned with.” Myrine smiled at her daughter for the first time since they’d gotten in the car.

  “You’re wrong, Mom. I don’t have any powers.”

  “Yes, my girl, you do. I don’t know how much your Guardian has told you, obviously not much considering you still don’t know how to use your ring properly, but you are most definitely special.”

  Mirissa tried to digest all of this new information, but once again, every new revelation led to more questions. “So, you left us because I was different?”

  “No, Mirissa. I left you because it was the only way to keep you safe.” Myrine’s short-lived smile disappeared from her face. She looked at her daughter and for the first time that day Mirissa saw the pain and loneliness in her eyes. “The big bad guy, as you called him, is bigger and badder than you can imagine—and he knows you’re out there. When I came across him that night, he only knew that you would be born to the current Amazon queen, but he didn’t know I was that queen, or that you had already been born, when we met that night. I got lucky, but that luck wouldn’t hold forever. It wouldn’t take him long to learn who I was, and then it would be a simple matter of watching me until I led him straight to you. I couldn’t let that happen, Mirissa, so I made the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make. I left you and your dad so that no matter who was watching me, they’d never find out about you.”

  Mirissa’s head was spinning. For all these years she’d thought her mother had abandoned her because she didn’t love her. Her father had spent years trying, unsuccessfully, to convince her that it wasn’t her fault. That she hadn’t done anything wrong. Now, her whole world was turned upside down. Nothing was what she thought.

  “Why bring me in now?” Mirissa asked.

  “Because he knows who you are now.” Myrine kept her voice even, but Mirissa could see real fear in her eyes. This guy must be really bad news.

  “What does he want with me? Why am I so special?”

  “He needs to get rid of you before you can fulfill your destiny. You see, you are going to be the most powerful Amazon to ever walk the earth. You’re going to lead us, all of us, into the battle that will decide the fate of all mankind.”

  Okay, she thought. No pressure there at all.

  Suddenly, Mirissa had an even scarier thought.

  “What about Dad? If this guy knows who I am then he m
ust know about Dad. I need to call him and warn him!” Mirissa was almost screaming now.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Ken has already gone to pick him up. They should be on their way to the safe house now.

  Chapter 16

  Steve was losing his mind. Mirissa hadn’t come home from her patrol last night, and she wasn’t answering her cell phone. He’d spent the whole morning driving around, trying to find her, to no avail. He’d called all of her friends, though there weren’t many left, hoping that she’d just met up with one of them and spent the night. No such luck. In fact, none of them had even heard from her in weeks.

  He’d even tried tracking her using the GPS on her phone, something that she would be really angry that he could do if she ever found out, but that wasn’t working either. It was like she’d just dropped off the face of the earth.

  He called Greco again, but his phone still went straight to voicemail, just like Mirissa’s. That could be a good thing, he thought. Maybe they were together somewhere, training or something. He left yet another message. “Greco, it’s Steve Colson again. Look, I still haven’t heard from Mirissa and I’m really worried. Call me as soon as you get this message. If she’s with you and your phones are turned off—turn the damn things back on!”

  He was at a loss. He didn’t know what else to do. He could call the police, but they wouldn’t do anything until she’d been missing for forty-eight hours, and answering the questions they would surely ask could prove difficult to say the least.

  For now, all he could do was head home and wait.

  As Steve pulled the car onto his street, he couldn’t help but imagine all of the terrible things that could have happened to her. Why didn’t he go with her? He’d gone out with her every night when she’d first come back from training. He just needed to be with her to make sure she was safe. A few months in, however, she started asking to go without him. He refused, of course, but she just kept asking. She said it was because she thought it was time she handled things on her own, but he knew the real reason. She was afraid he’d get hurt. He saw it in her eyes every night they were out together. Finally, he’d relented. Not because he was worried about getting hurt, but because he was worried that trying to protect him would distract her, and that could cost her dearly.

  He also had to admit that she was really good. Better than he’d thought possible. Maybe even better than her mom was. She could definitely handle herself.

  Then one night a group of Kakos got the drop on her and managed to subdue her long enough to kidnap her. They took her to some hole in the ground with the intention of torturing her to get information about other Amazons—information she didn’t even have. According to Mirissa, she was able to escape pretty quickly, and take out three Kakos when she did, but that hadn’t made Steve feel any better.

  He knew she was an accomplished fighter, and even though she had stopped giving him too much information about her battles after his less-than-calm reaction to her kidnapping story, he knew she could still take care of herself. She had come out on top of every situation she’d found herself in.

  So then where was she?

  He was about to pull into his driveway when he noticed movement through his living room window. Thank God, he thought. She’s finally home.

  Just then, the front door opened and a man dressed in black and gray military fatigues walked out. Covering his face with his left hand, Steve continued past his house and pulled left onto the next side street, parking about a hundred feet up and out of sight from whoever it was in his house.

  Grabbing his Glock from the glove compartment, he slid the fast draw holster onto his belt and made his way into the bushes that lined the back yards of all of the houses on his street. The bushes were only about five feet tall, so Steve had to crouch down as he crept along behind the houses to keep from being seen. The last thing he needed was for one of his nosy neighbors to come out back and shout a greeting. As he neared his own yard, he slowed his approach, listening for any sounds coming from his house. Nothing. They must either be inside, or they’ve left already.

  Steve pulled his weapon from his holster, gave one last look to the windows to make sure no one was looking out, and silently approached the back of his house. His target was the kitchen window. It was large enough to allow him a good look at most of the downstairs and had shrubbery around it to conceal him if anyone came outside.

  When he reached the rear corner of the house, Steve stood with his back to the wall, surveying the area. Once he was satisfied that he was clear, he lowered himself so only his eyes were above the level of the window sill and moved to take a look.

  Two men, in the same military fatigues as the one he saw at the front door, were standing in the kitchen. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but they looked at ease, with their weapons holstered. I guess they aren’t expecting anyone, Steve thought. At least not anyone they were worried about.

  He knew he was outnumbered at least three to one, perhaps more, and most definitely outgunned, so storming the house was out of the question. But he had to know who they were, why they were there, and if they were the reason Mirissa hadn’t come home.

  Steve made his way around to the side of the house where there were only two windows on the second floor for the bedrooms, and the small basement window. That would be his entrance. Patting himself on the back for forgetting to get the latch fixed last spring when he realized it was broken, Steve pushed the rectangle pane of glass inward on its hinges, slid through the opening, and dropped to his basement floor without making a sound.

  As soon as he was inside, he could hear the voices of the men upstairs. The door to the basement must have been open, even though he hadn’t left it that way. They had obviously been looking for something—or someone. The stairs up to the main level were made of heavy wood planks, so Steve would be able to climb all the way to the top without worrying about creaking sounds alerting the intruders to his presence. Once he was there, however, he would have to travel down the hall to either the living room or the kitchen, leaving himself wide open to attack. Holding his weapon pointed at the floor in two hands, he slowly climbed the stairs. Five steps from the top he heard someone walking down the hall toward the kitchen. With no time to hide, and unable to jump to the basement floor without making a noise, Steve just crouched down on the step and held his breath.

  “Sir, there’s no unusual activity outside. Still looks like Mayberry out there. What are your orders?”

  “Hold tight, for now. He doesn’t have a job so he could come home any time. Keep sharp.”

  So they were looking for him, Steve thought. That’s interesting. Just then he heard a radio crackle to life.

  “Sir, we’ve got a vehicle pulling in the driveway. Lone occupant. Male.”

  “Understood. Let him get inside and close the door behind him. Then grab him.”

  Crap, Steve thought. Who the hell is coming over now? He heard the men shuffle into position, presumably out of sight of the front door, and waited for his chance. There was a knock at the door, then silence. Another knock. Steve let out a sigh of relief that the intruders weren’t interested in kidnapping girl scouts selling cookies.

  Just when he thought the visitor had left, the front door opened and he heard an unfamiliar voice call out, “Mr. Colson. My name is Ken Hodges. The front door was open. I hope you don’t mind, but it’s important that I speak with you right away.”

  Who the hell is Ken Hodges? He listened as his mystery visitor came inside and closed the door behind him. Not good, Steve thought.

  Within seconds, the military men were coming down the hall with guns drawn. Steve counted three of them as they passed the door, accounting for everyone that had been in the kitchen. There was still at least one more, most likely upstairs, that had radioed in the visitor’s approach, but the back of the house was definitely clear.

  Climbing the last few steps, Steve peeked around the doorframe just in time to see Ken raise his arms and start yammering
about just being a neighbor and not wanting to get hurt and something about having two kids to take care of. His blubbering would have been comical to Steve, if he hadn’t been worried about the idiot’s safety.

  Steve watched as the lead man, the one the others addressed as sir, spoke to the visitor, who was almost in tears now. “Sir, take it easy. Why don’t you have a seat?” The other two military men walked behind as the lead guy herded the visitor toward the armchair. The last man in line reached into his pack and pulled out a syringe, holding it low and behind his back.

  Steve knew he would have to act quickly, but his options were severely limited. He could go in shooting and maybe take out two of them before one of the others shot him, or he could make some noise in the kitchen and hope to bring as many of them to him as possible. Not a bad plan, but it didn’t guarantee the visitor’s safety. Maybe he could…

  Before Steve knew what was happening, the blubbering idiot had pulled out a solid steel extendable baton, flicked his wrist to extend it, and taken out the lead man with a vicious strike to his temple. Steve flew down the hall and grabbed the one that was holding the syringe in a chokehold. He held on tight while his opponent struggled to pull his arm off, then pulled tighter as he used his other hand for leverage. A minute later and the intruder was lying unconscious on the floor.

  His mystery visitor was struggling with the third guy who, seeing his commander go down, was ready for the baton attack. Steve got beside him just as Ken landed a mean right hook, allowing Steve to land an equally mean left hook that left the guy drooling on the carpet.

  Putting his forefinger to his lips and pointing upstairs with his other hand, Steve led Ken up the front stairs to find the fourth, and hopefully last, intruder. Assuming that he had to be in the front room to have seen Ken’s car pull up, they took flanking positions at the door. Reverting to his SEAL training, Steve signaled for Ken to go in first, while he followed silently behind. The man was still staring out the window, completely oblivious to the events downstairs, and Ken used his baton to keep him that way.