They took the bikes to within a mile of the estate where Mae was being held. From there, Tool and Carnage took them in a big Humvee to just outside the perimeter of the estate. They were just about to call Ripper when they heard a second vehicle approaching. And it sounded like a bike. A fast bike.
“Goddamn,” Thorn swore. “That better not be who the fuck I think it is.”
A matte-black Ninja H2R pulled up next to the Humvee. The man on it was dressed in black leather with a black full-face helmet. Under normal circumstances, Vicious would have made fun of the crotch rocket, but all he felt now was rage. If they’d been played, Vicious was going to beat the fuck out of the entire Black Reign club. Starting with the motherfucker getting off that Goddamned bike.
“Rycks,” Thorn said, stepping toward the other man. “I swear by God and sunny Jesus, if you’ve fucked us over I’m gonna slit your Goddamned throat right here.”
“Of course it’s Rycks,” Vicious muttered. “What tie do you have to Mae?” he demanded the second Rycks’s helmet was off. “Why are you here?”
“Mae is… special.”
“El Diablo agreed that if we pull this off, Mae comes with us. You goin’ against your president?”
“Not at all,” Rycks said. “But I’ll make sure she’s safely away.”
Carnage spat on the ground. “Don’t trust that motherfucker. Or his rat-sass, piece of shit bike.”
“It’s the fastest bike on the road. We need a quick getaway, I can get her out.”
“Not that a fuckin’ Ninja isn’t noticeable or anything,” Vicious said. “Girl comes with us.”
“Let her decide. Either way, she’ll go back to your compound. I just want to make sure she’s safe.” Rycks wasn’t giving an inch. Vicious could see this wasn’t going to be easy.
Looking at Thorn, Vicious could see the other man running through the possibilities. Deciding which option to was more likely to bring them the outcome they wanted.
“Fine. You come with us.” He stepped toward Rycks until they were nose to nose. “But if you do anything to jeopardize my team or our ability to rescue that girl, you’ll be the first of many to die.”
“Understood,” Rycks answered without hesitation. “I just want her safe.”
Thorn held his gaze for several seconds. Neither man blinking or backing down an inch. “What’s she to you?”
Rycks shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Thorn snorted, turning away from him. “Is everything in place?” He addressed Carnage.
The big man nodded. “Just waiting your word. Ripper’s ready to go.”
Thorn turned back to Ryker. “Once we give the word and Ripper disables the security system we’ll have fifteen minutes to get in and get her out. We have to be outside the estate grounds. If we run out of time, we leave. I will not risk my brothers. No negotiation.”
Rycks raised his hands as if in surrender. “I follow your lead. I’m merely here to help.”
“Right,” Vicious muttered. “And I’m Mother Teresa.” Thorn gave him a quelling glance. “Come on, Thorn. Are we really doing this?”
“Man’s got a reason to be here. Better to have him where we can watch him.”
The members of Salvation’s Bane looked around uneasily. It was rarely anyone spoke against their president. And never in front of another club.
“No harm meant, Thorn. I just want Lucy’s sister back safely.”
“Understandable, brother.” Thorn clapped him on the shoulder. “All right boys. Let’s do this.”
* * *
The estate was about three acres surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Two sides faced the road, two sides were wooded acreage that acted as a buffer between houses. Thankfully, there were several of these natural barriers throughout the upscale neighborhood for added privacy. Those wooded areas would be their escape route. Seemed pretty straightforward to Vicious. Not that he was expecting much. This guy wasn’t exactly hard core. He was an investment banker. There was the expected security plus two security guards. The main thing they were worried about was the floodlights. If they cut them, it was a dead giveaway for an alert guard. So they had to maneuver around them in the shadows.
“Last proof of life showed the girl smiling while riding a horse.” Carnage said. Hopefully, that’s a good indicator she’s been treated well.
“Agreed, brother,” Vicious said. Rycks simply studied the estate and the route they’d laid out at Thorn’s instructions.
“Where’s the stable?” Rycks asked.
“There isn’t one.” Thorn answered. “Probably took her someplace away from the estate. She’s obviously not in distress in that photo.”
“Hmmm.”
“Well, you’re obviously not impressed, Rycks.” Vicious didn’t like the man, but he respected him. If there was something they were overlooking, he wanted to know sooner rather than later.
“Don’t know. Do we know when the photo they sent us was taken?”
“Only by time stamp,” Thorn said. Rycks had his full attention now by the look of him. “Didn’t have Ripper or Data look into it too far. You think I should have?”
“Not sure,” Ripper said, continuing to study the layout, looking over the terrain before them from time to time. Probably to get his bearings and an idea of where he was going. “What was the time stamp?”
“A week ago.”
“To the day?”
Thorn nodded slowly. “Today’s Wednesday. Stamp said Thursday the previous week.”
“Hum.” Rycks’s gaze landed on Thorn. “Picture was sunny. Bright. She was smiling, but her eyes were squinted, and the trees had dark shadows on the ground.”
“Yeah,” Thorn said, his face going hard. “The day it was supposed to have been taken was one of the hardest rains we’ve had all year. All fuckin’ day.” Thorn swore as he holstered his gun. Not his normal piece. They were all armed with tranq guns and beanbag rifles. They weren’t there to kill anyone. Just secure the girl and get out. Not only would the sound of gunfire in such a neighborhood draw vast amounts of unwanted attention, but having dead bodies turn up in one of the most prominent neighborhoods in Palm Beach would just scream “investigation.”
“Don’t mean she’s not still fine.” Vicious tried to judge Thorn’s next decision, but had no idea what it would be. He saw no reason to deviate from the original plan.
“No. But she might not be in as good a shape as we’ve been lead to believe.” He nodded to Rycks. “Might be glad you’re with us if we have to carry her out. You’re the only one of use she knows. Would she fight you if she thought she was in danger?”
“No. I’ve never harmed Mae. I would never harm her. We had a contentious relationship out of necessity, but I’ve never done anything to let her think I’d hurt her.”
“She don’t know us. Seeing a familiar face might be the thing that gets her out of there quietly.”
“Understood,” Rycks said, holstering his own tranq gun. “I’d feel better with at least one pistol with real ammunition.”
“Can’t risk it,” Thorn said without hesitation. “We think we need that kind of firepower, we abort. Ain’t riskin’ anybody, and ain’t riskin’ the club.” Vicious glanced at Rycks to find the other man meeting his gaze. Thorn must have seen it too because he added, “Anyone goes against me, I’ll shoot you myself.” His tone of voice said he absolutely meant it. “Let’s move.”
Getting to the house proved less difficult than Vicious would have thought. They saw one guard who was pretty alert, but just not able to take in the whole grounds by himself. He was in regular contact with his counterpart, though, from what Ripper could tell, not at any set time. He’d been watching the place for three days. The guards checked in anywhere from five to ten minutes from the top and bottom of the hour. Which gave them their fifteen-minute window when Ripper dropped the security system. He had camera feeds to loop during their entry and exit so whoever was manning the cameras shouldn’t be the wiser, and any motio
n sensors would be switched off.
“Don’t see no obvious surprises,” Carnage said, filling Thorn and Ripper in on what was happening on the ground. “We good?”
“You’ll be good to go fifteen seconds after the guard’s next transmission. I’ll give you a countdown,” came Ripper’s voice over the earpiece. “Be ready on my mark.”
There was a churning in Vicious’s gut that shouldn’t be there. This was nothing compared to the missions he’d run with ExFil, the company run by Bones’s president, Cain. They were mercenaries who went all over the world into some of the most dangerous situations and he was getting nervous over an extraction in his own city? That was some bullshit right there.
He glanced at Carnage. The man’s face was an emotionless mask. Hard to say if he was bothered by it, but Rycks… Rycks checked and rechecked his weapon, paying special attention to the knife strapped to his thigh. They weren’t supposed to have live ammunition, but every one of them carried a knife. Wasn’t that they expected to use it to defend themselves, but sometimes a knife came in handy under any circumstance. Bottom line, Rycks was nervous, or anxious. It was possible the man wasn’t used to fighting or combat, but Vicious didn’t think so. Rycks struck him as calm and capable. He wouldn’t be in El Diablo’s inner circle if he were a shrinking violet.
“Fifteen seconds.” Ripper’s voice over the earpiece brought Vicious abruptly back to the situation at hand. “Ten seconds.” He scanned the area. They already had their route planned from blueprints of the house Ripper had obtained. Now, they executed the plan efficiently, and they would be out in less than fifteen minutes. “Five, four, three, two, one, mark.”
The three of them entered through the poolside entrance. The owner of the house was in his study, so they had easy access through the door closest to where they believe Mae was being held. Thorn and Tool would be spotting them from a distance, as well as Ripper keeping an eye on them via the camera links.
“I see you,” Ripper. “Way’s clear to the end of the hall.”
The crouched as they moved. Vicious was grateful the guy had minimal security, though he wondered about that. Either he didn’t feel the need for anything heavier because he had no anticipation anyone would come for the girl, or he’d just never done anything like this before and wasn’t prepared.
“Second floor, third door on the left. That’s where she should be. You’ve got thirteen minutes left. Still all clear.”
“Where’s the guy’s wife?” Rycks asked softly. “The kids?”
“Wife’s out of town. Kids’r at a summer camp, according to the texts he’s exchanged with them. Probably planned both around this kidnapping.”
Rycks only grunted. They didn’t stop moving until they reached the room in question. Carnage picked the lock quietly while Vicious kept a look out. Rycks alternately kept an eye out with Vicious and watched Carnage, obviously anxious to get inside the room.
The second the door was open, Rycks entered. There was only one light coming from the bathroom. There was no furniture, and the floor was a bare, hardwood laminate. A small whimper sounded, and Rycks was on the move. It took a moment for Vicious to see what Rycks had already spotted. A small figure huddled in the corner next to the bathroom. As he approached, she released a sound much like that of a wounded animal anticipating another blow. It was then Vicious realized this little creature was Lucy’s sister, Mae.
It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but she was dressed only in her underwear and was filthy. The room was spotless, so she had to have been moved here recently. A length of chain was fastened to her ankle, the other end bolted into the floor. Looked like she had enough room to get to the toilet but not much else.
“It’s me, Mae,” Rycks tried to soothe the girl, but she still cowered in the corner, whimpering pathetically. “It’s Rycks.”
It didn’t seem to help. He reached for her ankle to let Carnage pick the handcuff, and she shrieked, kicking out at him even as she tried to scoot farther into the corner.
“Damnit, girl. Stop!” Rycks didn’t yell at her, but his voice was decidedly firmer. “It’s Rycks. You know I’m not gonna hurt you. Settle down.” Surprisingly, she did. She still whimpered, but she let him have her ankle while Carnage freed her.
Vicious quickly examined her. “We may have a problem, Thorn. She’s hurt and traumatized. Not sure she can make it out on her own power.”
“I can carry her,” Rycks said immediately. “Just need these guys to cover my back and I’ll get her out.”
“Whatever works,” Thorn said. “Ripper? Time.”
“Seven minutes, thirteen seconds.”
“Get it done,” Thorn ordered. “We’ll be ready when you get out.”
“She’ll need clothes,” Ripper said as he pulled off his T-shirt and put it over her head. “Bastards had her in her underwear.”
“Not important,” Thorn snapped. “Get back here without being seen. Get her to the clubhouse.”
“On it. Depart in ten seconds,” Carnage said as he worked the lock on the cuff until it released. “Go!”
Rycks scooped Mae up, and the three of them headed back down the hall the way they came. Still, the place was eerily silent. The only people around seemed to be the two guards.
They made it to the sunroom and poolside entrance, crouching in the shadows. “We’re just inside the house. Ready to exit on your call.”
“The second guard joined the first,” Ripper said. Though he sounded calm, there was a note of anxiety in his voice. “They’re too close for you to get away clean.”
“How much time?” That was from Thorn. “Got to be getting close.”
“Four minutes before it resets automatically. Understand, the only way to prevent it is to cut power to the whole house, and that would be a dead giveaway.”
“Give it a couple more minutes,” Thorn said. “If they haven’t moved, we’ll reevaluate.”
Mae still whimpered occasionally, but otherwise lay passively in Rycks’s arms. The big man’s face was hard, angry. No doubt he wanted to kill someone. Vicious could understand. He was itching to do some smashing, too.
“They’re not moving,” Ripper said, now showing his anxiety. “We’re gonna have to do something different.”
“Just relax,” Thorn said. “Give it a couple more seconds.”
“Seventy-three seconds,” Ripper said. “Seventy.” There was a beat of silence. “If I’m gonna cut the power I need to do it in the next thirty seconds.”
“Can you do it for the whole neighborhood?”
“No. I wasn’t prepared for that. I don’t have that kind of grid access, and it would take too long to get it.”
“They’re moving!” Thorn said. “Give it a second.”
“They’re going east of the house,” Ripper said. “Just rounding the corner. Go! Now! Go!”
They opened the door and sprinted across the yard. Vicious made sure to close the door so when the security system came on there wasn’t a breach detected.
“Fifteen seconds,” Ripper continued his countdown. “You have to get to the tree line and out of range of the cameras!”
“Got that,” Carnage bit out.
“Eight seconds. Five!”
Just as he called out engagement of the security system, they crossed into the woods. They didn’t slow down, but kept running as quickly as they dared. They didn’t want to sound like a herd of buffalo but needed to get back to the group.
“Stop, stop!” Vicious hissed softly, knowing the throat mike would catch his words. “Get down!”
Just ahead of them was a group of four men, moving like military. They were armed with what looked like M-16s and held them like they knew how to use them.
“Fuck,” Carnage hissed. “Four bogies in our path. Thorn, can you see them?”
“Negative. I’ve got no visual.”
“Due south of you. Just below that little knoll above the grounds. We’re in the dip just below them.”
There
was a short silence before Thorn finally said, “Got ‘em.” Then another silence. “Fuck.” Finally he said, “Military. No markings. Tranq ‘em.”
The second the words left Thorn’s mouth, Carnage and Vicious fired at the same time, each hitting a man in the thigh. It took several seconds for the drugs to take effect , so they followed up with beanbags. Thorn and Tool fired as well, hitting each man with multiple darts. It still took nearly thirty seconds for the four to go down. Unfortunately, one of them got off a radio transmission.
“Oh, shit! Get out of there, guys,” Ripper yelled. “There’s more of them, and I have no idea how many! Get out now!”
“Calm the fuck down, Ripper,” Thorn ordered calmly. “Can you make it, Vicious?”
He glanced at Rycks and Mae. The man was talking softly to Mae, who appeared to still be in a catatonic state. She’d mostly stopped whimpering, but showed no signs of coming back to the world around her.
“Rycks,” he called. “You good? We need to go now.”
“I’ve got her. Let’s go.”
Rycks scooped Mae over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. The girl wasn’t big as a minute so it wouldn’t have been hard to just carry her out. Rycks, like Vicious, probably believed there were more waiting for them and wanted to keep his hands free.
The men moved from their cover deeper into the woods. They were about five hundred yards away from Tool and Thorn. Didn’t seem like far, but when faced with an unknown number of enemies, Vicious felt like it was trying to reach the fucking moon.
He thought he could just make out the Humvee about a hundred yards out when two men shot out of the trees and landed heavily. One directly on Carnage, the other just missing Vicious. The assailants came at them with knives, their intent to kill. Vicious felt the bite of a blade graze his shoulder as he spun away. Conscious of the fact that Rycks would be hampered with Mae, he did his best to keep his body between his attacker and that of the other man and the girl.
A ferocious fight began as another man joined in. They were too close to use the beanbags or the tranq guns, so Vicious grabbed a dart from his belt and stabbed it into the leg of his attacker. Still they fought, taking precious seconds before the effect even started to slow the big guy down. Vicious heard Carnage swear as he fought his guy from his position on the ground, kicking out and throwing the guy back over his head against a nearby tree. The big man merely shook his head before climbing to his feet and launching himself at Carnage once again.
Vicious (Salvation’s Bane 1) Page 7