What a sight it was.
From the hacked video cameras, I saw bodies scattered everywhere, a heavy concentration of them outside the hanger on the landing strip.
“It looks like the Revenants and the Chinese mangled each other,” I said.
Reiko leaned back in her chair. “Good riddance to them both.”
On the screen, I made out the figures of Cairo and Lincoln scrambling across the grounds of the airbase. They were both heading back to the rendezvous point. From my estimates, they were still a few hundred yards away.
“Guys, the package and the black bear are openly visible. Is the tower secure?” I shouted.
More gunshots crackled through the mic, until finally there was silence.
“Beau? Braydon?” I asked.
No reply.
Did I send them to their deaths? I thought about Beau. Despite all his nuances, he wasn’t that bad of a guy to be around. He was a little charming even, in a stupid boy type of way. I didn’t want him to die.
“Beau?” I called out again. “Please?”
His voice was a wave of instant relief. “Well since you asked so nicely, the Command Tower is secure. We have visibility over everything, like that big spooky eye in that movie with them sword wielding hobos.”
“Hobbits,” Reiko corrected him.
“Hobos, hobbits. The fuck do I care. Let’s just get out of here so I can pour myself a drink and rub a steak over the bruise my bastard brother gave me.”
“You’re such a pussy—ow fuck!”
“Hurts, don’t it shithead?” Beau snapped.
“You fucking jackass. I should tear out your spine with my teeth.”
“Why don’t you start with my dick first? I’m sure having a mighty penis in your mouth isn’t something new.”
“Guys, please fucking shut up,” I cried out. “We’re almost done. Beau, Braydon, get out of the tower and then make your way to checkpoint two. We’re onto third phase of extraction.”
Reiko suddenly perked up in her seat, like an animal sensing a predator.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Reiko put her finger to her lips and then switched on the mansion’s security system monitor.
I noticed dark shadows, moving across the gray, grainy picture of the camera.
I held my breath.
“Reiko, what am I looking at?” I asked.
She frowned. “We’re being invaded.”
Chapter Nineteen
Shadow
Calisto had found me.
My first thought was, how?
The mole, of course—the fucking Judas amongst us.
If I wasn’t sure about a traitor existing then, I was sure of it now. I had to get Aria and Reiko out of here.
As I watched men gather around the outer perimeter of my mansion, I knew I had to prepare for war, but first there was this matter of the door. I had told Aria to lock it with a password which would be impossible for me to figure out.
I guessed it in fifty-two seconds. If I remembered later, I’d have to tell Aria that her cell phone number was not a suitable password—though under present circumstances, I’m glad she used it.
I grabbed my handgun and stepped out into my master bedroom.
I was instantly greeted with armed men crashing through the large bay windows of my bedroom, automatic rifles in hand.
They were dressed all in black outfits with only their faces uncovered.
Asians.
One of the men raised his gun at me. “We’ve got—”
I didn’t allow him to finish speaking. I put a bullet right through his neck and then dove behind the bed while the others returned fire, bullets tearing into my bedframe. There was an explosion of fabric and fibers while they unloaded their ammunition at me.
I waited for a break in the gunfire before I glanced over the bed, catching glimpse of two armed men.
They locked their eyes onto me and another hail of bullets erupted.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Up until a couple of months ago, my biggest annoyance in life was sitting in long, drawn-out boardroom meetings. Now, it seemed like every other day I was in a fight for my life.
The spray of bullets continued ripping into my king-sized bed. I was thankful the frame was made out of thick, sturdy wood; perfect for absorbing a gluttonous heap of bullets.
The key to winning any firefight with trigger happy mercenaries was patience. I waited for that brief moment of silence, which told me their bullets had ran out.
When I heard it, I sprung from behind the bed and fired two single shots, both of them finding their targets smacked-dabbed in the center of their heads.
With the room clear, I allowed myself to take a deep breath. “Amateurs,” I muttered as I picked up one of their guns and loaded it with a fresh cartridge of ammo.
From downstairs, I suddenly heard a shriek.
“Aria!” I cried out, bolting down the steps.
In the kitchen I was greeted with a pair of dead bodies.
Standing over them were Reiko and Aria—Reiko holding a pistol with a silencer and Aria a large steak knife.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“This girl’s shot is as good as yours,” Aria said, gesturing towards the bodies on the ground. “Are you alright? I heard the gunshots from upstairs.”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” I reassured her.
Reiko tapped one of the heads of the bodies with the point of her shoe. “So the Chinese are after us?”
I nodded. “It seems like. It looks like the Dragon has finally woken.”
Aria raised her brow. “The dragon?”
“Yuen Xi, quite possibly the most dangerous man in this world. In some shape or form, forty percent of the world’s business transactions run through his organization. He also has a long history of bloodshed and cruelty that makes Vlad the Impaler look like the Dali Lama.”
“Great,” Aria said. “Is it me or is your rogue gallery completely gonzo?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t think he was my enemy, up until now. I guess he suspects that I had something to do with his daughter’s death.”
“Well, technically you did,” Reiko said. “You were a witness. You could try to reason with him and tell him what really happened?”
I frowned. “It’s like trying to reason with a hurricane. What am I going to say? It wasn’t me?”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Aria suggested.
“Right, and the Midnight Society specializes in telling the truth,” I said sarcastically.
Outside, I heard the sounds of footsteps and whispering.
“Get down,” I whispered. I looked out the kitchen windows and sure enough, more men were filing onto my balcony. Meanwhile by the entrance, I saw the silhouettes of more attackers.
Jesus, they had brought an army.
“We can’t fight them off,” I whispered. “Our only chance is to get out of here. There’s a secret passageway in the bathroom, underneath the toilet.”
Aria looked at me like I was crazy. “Seriously?”
“Who would ever suspect of hiding out inside a toilet,” I said.
“I knew there was a draft coming from it,” Aria muttered. “My lady bits got the chills every time I sat on that thing.”
Before even taking three steps in the direction of the bathroom, armed men crashed through the windows and drew their guns on us. On the other side the front entrance of the doors burst open as more assassins came pouring through, like black ants through cracks of the earth.
We were screwed.
“Shadow, what do we do now?” Aria asked.
They had us completely circled, guns directed at us.
“Drop your weapons and get on your knees,” one of the men ordered.
“Shadow?” Aria asked again.
I knew a losing hand when I saw one. “Do as he says.”
We were at their complete mercy.
One of the men pulled out a phone and spoke i
nto it in Cantonese.
“We’ve got him,” he said.
His dialect wasn’t what I had expected from one of Yuen Xi’s men. Whereas the dragon’s people spoke in fluent mandarin, these men spoke in Cantonese with a Hong Kong accent.
That was when he walked through the door—that two-faced rat bastard.
“You piece of shit,” I spat.
Nathan Tse smiled at me. “Shadow,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”
Chapter Twenty
Aria
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
The frown on Cairo’s face could wilt a garden. “I’m not getting a response from HQ,” he replied. “It’s like the command center’s been deserted.
I thought of Aria and of her safety.
“Maybe it’s radio interference or something,” I suggested, remaining optimistic.
Cairo shook his head. “I’d be surprised if it is. When it comes to reliable comm links, there’s no one better than Reiko.”
I agreed. “She is one of the smartest girls I know.”
“Don’t think about my girlfriend, you degenerate.”
“Sorry.”
Cairo readjusted his Bluetooth device and spoke into it. “Reiko? It’s me, Cairo. You reading me?”
We shared a moment of silence.
“Nothing,” Cairo muttered. “Not a damned thing.”
“I’m sure they’re alright. They’re tough girls, they can handle themselves. Hell, in New Orleans, the first time Aria met Beau, she threatened to shoot off his dick.”
Cairo smirked. “I like that girl a little more every day.”
“So what’s the plan now?” I asked looking around our surroundings.
From what Cairo explained, we were waiting within the first zone of the airbase. Next to us was a giant steel container.
Cairo pointed to it. “Inside there.”
“You want us to get inside?” I asked, puzzled.
“No you idiot. Our way out of here is inside the container. Now help me.”
I raised my hands. “Kind of difficult seeing as how I have cuffs on, don’t you think?”
Cairo frowned. “I don’t have a key.”
“I never said you did.”
“Fuck,” he grumbled. “Just stay out of my way then.”
I watched as the black behemoth opened the hinges of the steel crate, and swung open the doors. Inside were three men, all tied up and dressed in yellow motorcycle jumpsuits. Behind them were four red Ducati sports motorbikes.
“Getaway vehicles,” Cairo pointed out.
That was when Beau showed up with a man the size of a truck.
“Asshole,” Beau greeted me. “Good to see you again.”
I rolled my eyes. “Great, it’s the king of cuckold.”
The large man chuckled.
“You’re one to talk. You seem to have a reputation yourself,” Beau snapped.
“Leave the guy alone,” the monster truck said. “Any guy who doesn’t like your stupid face is cool with me.”
Beau furrowed his brow. “Bastard.”
“Fuck you too, bastard,” the man replied.
I looked up Cairo and shot him a ‘huh?’ look.
“They’re brothers,” he said.
“Half-brother,” the man pointed out. “I’m Braydon. Now that we’re done with the pleasantries, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Where’s our voodoo princess?” Beau asked.
Cairo shook his head. “The girl went berserk. Found out that Calisto was here and went after her, right through the thick of gunfire. I have to be honest, I don’t know if she made it out. I do have this asshole though,” he said, gesturing at me with his thumb.
I sighed. “Are we all done with the insults? Does anybody even like each other here?”
“I got nothing against you and the big bad black over there,” Braydon pointed out. “My brother on the other hand…”
Beau interjected. “Guys, enough with the chit chat. I hear the search-and-destroy squad coming for us off in yonder. What’s the boss saying?”
“Nothing,” Cairo said. “The comm link is completely dead. We’re on our own.”
Braydon rubbed his chin “Get Lincoln prepared.”
I guess he was taking lead on this rescue mission.
“Get me prepared for what?” I asked.
Cairo walked into the container and pulled out a yellow jumpsuit, similar to the ones the tied up men were wearing.
“Put this on,” he said.
It dawned on me what the plan was. Those tied up men were to be decoys.
If we were all dressed the same, it would confuse our pursuers.
“Lincoln, you’re riding with me,” Braydon said. “The rest of you, grab a decoy and strap them to the back of the bike.”
“What about Isadora?” Cairo asked.
Braydon shrugged. “She’s on her own now. We’ll leave her a bike. However, the rest of us need to get the hell out of here now. I’m hearing wheels coming at us, fast and hard. It’ll only be a matter of time before they get aerial eyes on us as well.”
“You think it’s the Chinese or Calisto’s men?” Cairo asked.
“I don’t care. A bullet is still a bullet. Doesn’t matter whose gun it’s fired from.”
“Makes sense,” Cairo agreed.
I managed to free my hands and swap clothes in under a minute. Meanwhile Beau and Cairo had loaded their bikes with their decoys.
One prisoner still remained, originally intended for Isadora to use.
“What are we going to do with him?” Beau asked as he walked over to the captive and knelt down in front of him. “He’s one of Calisto’s bitches, which means he automatically qualifies for a bullet in the head.”
“The guy’s defenseless. Just leave him,” Cairo said. “Not like he can do anything at this point to hurt us.”
Beau shook his head. “Think about it. We start letting these Revenant cocksuckers live, we’re going to look weak. Given the same situation, you don’t think they’d execute us on the spot?”
I decided to add my two cents. “We’re not in the business of executing unarmed captives. Yes, we’re vengeful and cruel motherfuckers, but I’d like to believe the Midnight Society still has some boundaries when it comes to killing.”
Braydon sighed, walked over to the prisoner and took out a knife. He sliced open the rope binding him together. “Here,” he said, giving the knife to the prisoner.
What the fuck was he doing?
Instinctively, the man lunged at Braydon with the knife, but in one fluid motion Braydon dodged the attack, pulled out another knife from behind his back, and buried it into the man’s throat.
“There,” he said. “Problem solved. It was a matter of self-defense. Now let’s get the fuck out of here. We just wasted a minute on this stupidity”
Who the heck was this guy?
Braydon nudged me towards one of the bikes. “Ready to hold on, princess?”
“Can I drive? Typically I like being little spoon, especially when I’m operating motorized vehicles,” I suggested.
“Saddle up buttercup,” he said which I took for a no. He placed a helmet over his head. I did the same.
Instead of clinging onto his waist like a lady friend, I decided to sit back-to-back instead. “Well, if I’m manning up the rear, I might as well be useful. Give me a gun.”
Braydon shrugged, passed me an automatic pistol, and then fired up the engine of the bike.
The vehicle roared like a beast from hell, and then sped through the open gate and out of the airport.
From the way Braydon drove—reckless speed with pin point accuracy—I could tell he rode quite often. The other two bikes trailed behind us, failing to keep up with Braydon’s pace.
Meanwhile from above, I heard the sounds of a helicopter, fast approaching.
We raced across the long asphalt road of the barren desert that surrounded the airport.
With the speed Braydon a
nd the others were riding, I didn’t think Calisto nor the Chinese could keep up.
Yet somehow, they did.
Bursts of light erupted from the passenger side of the cars pursuing us.
“Let the bullets fly,” I muttered to myself.
Up ahead we reached a roundabout. Braydon made a hard left that almost jerked me out of my seat. Cairo took the right deviation and Beau continued on straight ahead.
They were splitting up, which made sense—thin out the forces that were pursuing us.
Unfortunately for us the chopper decided to pursue Braydon’s bike, along with two black BMWs. Guns blazed from the passenger side of the vehicle.
Braydon was adept at dodging gunfire, weaving from side-to-side. It was as if he could see the bullets coming at us with invisible eyes on the back of his helmet.
It was time for me to do my part. I returned fire at the vehicles, hoping to hit the driver. The bullets bounced harmlessly off their windshield, as if they were made of rubber. The BMWs were armored.
I did my best to stay low, returning fire periodically just to keep the two cars at bay. We were heading towards the industrial district; another smart move.
This particular section of the city was filled with a cluster of winding overpasses, which helped break the line of sight from the chopper tailing us.
Braydon broke off from the main road, deciding to go through narrow alleyways instead in an effort to lose the tails. However one of the BMWs managed to squeeze through—at the expense of their rearview mirrors—and was now gaining speed.
Thankfully there was no room in the alleyway for them to stick their hands out the window and fire their stupid guns at us.
I, on the other hand, didn’t have that restriction and had a clear shot at the vehicles tires. Surely those weren’t bulletproof as well?
I fired into the two front wheels and watched as the rubber exploded. Sparks erupted from the pavement where the metallic rims grinded into them.
One down.
The alleyway eventually opened back onto the main street, where we were greeted by the second BMW, who wisely decided to try and cut us off.
The front bumper of their car just narrowly missed our bike.
The passenger of the second BMW stuck his head out the window and pointed his gun at us. However before he could fire a shot off, I hit him first, using the last of the bullets in the gun.
Revenant (The Midnight Society #3) Page 13