Lilith Cohen Retribution

by William Manning

  “We got Colvin backed into a corner, but even a wounded viper can still get in a lucky bite,” Nina adds. Clare raises her hand.

  “Yes, Clare?” I say.

  “Where am I going to be in all of this?”

  “You will be riding with Dominic and Josef. You will remain in the truck with your Laptop your job will be to shut down their power. All of us will keep in touch with you via earpieces.”

  “Any questions?” Dominic ask. We

  all shake our heads no.

  “Then we all know our jobs. Let’s go put Colvin in the dirt,” he says holstering his 1911 and slinging his suppressed M4.

  Josef is as nervous as a private who has never been to combat… weird. I furrow my brow. “Surely you’re not stressing about going into combat.”

  “No, that’s not it, Agent Cohen. I am so honored to be in the Hunters. I’m just worried I’ll let you guys down.”

  I grasp the back of his neck and lock eyes with him. “Hey, you rescued Tiffany and Dominic. That alone earned you a spot on our team. Just remember your training and you will do fine.”

  He shoots a smile at me. “You’re welcome, Agent Cohen. It’s an honor to be working on an op with you.”

  “I must confess I was a bit doubtful of you, but I was wrong.”

  He grips my hand firmly andnods. “I’m glad to hear that. For the exception of this group the other Hunters seems to be indifferent to me.”

  “Ah give ’em time you’re new they’ll warm up to you.”

  Nina steps in locking lips with Josef. She pulls back and gazes into his eyes. “You watch yourself, Joe.”

  He places his hands on her hips and pulls her close. “You do the same.” He kisses her passionately and embraces her.

  “Agent Orlov! Dominic yells with a smirk. “Save it for your honeymoon will ya? Let’s go.”

  Nina releases him and joins me on the lift to the helipad.

  I thought about asking her about it, but I prefer to focus on the mission because whether they’re a couple or a casual thing it’s not my business.

  Black Reign’s pyramid-shaped building looms over the city like a dark shadow an eyesore is more like it. I cock the charging handle on my rifle and lay it across my lap.

  Nina smiles. “It is nice to be going back there to kill them this time rather than as one of them.”

  My eyes narrow. “The killing doesn’t stop, understand?”

  She grins at me. “Of course my dear friend, I would not have it any other way.”

  Nice to know we’re on the same page.

  “Look, Colvin is likely to have a chopper on the roof in case he needs a quick escape. So before we go in slaughtering everyone, let’s cut off his escape.”

  “Trap our prey and then kill it. I do love your thinking, Lilith,” she says, flashing a diabolical grin.

  Chapter 16

  The jet hovers over the Black Reign building. Nina and I fast rope down to the roof, and we cut the line the second our feet hit the ground. We run over to Colvin’s company helicopter. I raise the flap on the side of the chopper and sever the fuel line with my knife. The pilot appears around the corner. Hey!” He draws his gun Nina yanks her pistol. The suppressor lets out a hiss spraying the nearby A/C unit with his brains. “Sweet dreams, darling,” she says, holstering her weapon.

  “Testing, testing.”

  “We hear you loud and clear up here, Clare.” “Okay I’m patched into their system, and I’m

  uploading the virus now.”

  “Is the ground level team on standby?” I ask.

  “Ground level just took out the parameter guards and is waiting on me. Bam! This system now has CyberAIDS.” I scoff and shake my head. “That’s just fucked up.” “I’m fucked up and proud of it.” She snickers. Now that I’m done with the mental patient in my ear, time to get this door

  open.

  “Nina, let’s go. The virus is uploaded.”

  We stop at the door and notice the keypad is still

  active. “Keypad is still active,” I say, slipping my specs on.

  “Ah, not to worry my dear, Lilith. I can hack the keypad or,

  I can just steal the slide card off the dead pilot.” She pulls the

  card off the pilot and swipesit, and it unlocks. “See?” she

  beams a toothy smile.

  I turn my head to the side. “You could’ve just lead

  with that instead of being a show off.”

  She slips on her on specs. “Oh, come on you know

  you love my theatrics.”

  Nina opens the door, and I creep through the door

  with my rifle at the ready, scanning the halls. Advancing to

  a corner at the end of the corridor, there’s a security

  checkpoint with four hostiles armed with shotguns. We raise

  our weapons and unleash a storm of auto fire ripping the

  Mercs to pieces. Stepping over the bullet-riddled corpses, we

  continue down the hallway; we move toward the office

  entrance in a firing line formation. This is a useful formation

  when there is only two of you in a hall with no cover. Upon reaching the entrance to the offices, the alarms

  wail. “Lilith watch your ass they were ready for us! We

  walked into a goddamn ambush!” Dominic shouts over the

  gunfire.

  “Clare, come in over.”

  “Yes, Lilith. I know, I know. The security system

  shrugged off my virus and rebooted. Damn it! I should have known the security system was on a separate grid. Fuck! I

  am so sorry, guys.”

  She's right. She should’ve known, but it’s not going

  to change anything to chew her out.

  “Clare, it is what it is. We still need you so don’t shut

  down on us now.”

  She sighs. “Copy that,” she murmurs.

  Nina and I stalk through the maze of cubicles. A lady

  screams and darts in front of me and rushes toward the

  elevator. “Let’s watch our fire, Nina.”

  “Yeah, I would hate to kill some poor cubicle slave,

  working for these pieces of shit.”

  A weapon cocks and a flashlight pierces the darkness

  on the other side of the partition. “Down, Nina. Target 12

  o'clock.” I point to the divider wall.

  She nods and hides in an office space.

  I sling my rifle and draw my sword. “He’s mine,” I

  whisper.

  Staying low, I surge through the cubicles. With

  blinding speed, the sword cuts clean through his neck. His

  head falls to the floor along with his headless body. “Let’s

  go,” I say, motioning for her. “Colvin’s office is on the top

  floor of this pyramid. Dominic, we're heading up to Colvin’s

  office. What's the ETA on those charges?”

  “We’re going to be a while. These assholes are hitting

  us on allsides. We’re pinned down pretty bad. So ETA is

  unknown at the moment. Shit grenade!” An explosion

  shatters glass in the background. “Look, Lilith.

  Find Colvin and put him in the dirt. Don’t worry about us.” “Bullshit! We’re coming to help you.”

  “Negative! Find and kill Colvin. That’s a fucking

  order, Agent Cohen! Over and out!” he barks.

  We rush across the office and into the stairwell. I

  glance at the staircase going up and the one going down.

  Nina keeps glancing toward the stairs leading to the lobby.

  It’s apparent she wants to save Josef, but her sense of

  devotion to the mission won’t let her admit it. “Nina, go help

  Dominic and Josef.”

  I made the decision for her. She’s lucky to have a man

  who loves her and won't betray her. I don't want her to throw

&
nbsp; that away.

  “No! We do not deviate from the plan, Lilith. Besides

  you heard Dominic, he gave you an order.” She grits her

  teeth. “Ugh goddamn it! Why can’t you just for once follow

  fucking orders?”

  I grab her collar and yank her to me. “Because the last

  time I blindly followed orders half my squad was wiped out

  in the IDF.”

  Her jaw slouches as she narrows her gaze. “Lilith,

  like you Dominic and Josef knew the risks.”

  My brow furrows. “So you’re willing to let Josef die

  for the mission? The man you’re in love with?” The very

  mention of Josef shatters her stony expression like a

  sledgehammer.

  She shrugs. “I-I don’t love him, Lilith. I already told

  you he was just sex.”

  “Bitch, please. You two are more than just fuck

  buddies. Any person with half a brain can see that. Now cut

  the shit and go rescue him or prove me wrong and leave them

  to die!”

  She slumps her shoulders and lowers head. “Fine.

  You made your case. But do me a favor and don’t get

  yourself killed or captured.”

  A smile sneaksacross my lips. “And lose the ability

  to make your life a living hell, I wouldn’t dream of it.” She shakes her head. “Bitch.” She pushes the button

  on her earpiece. “Dominic, you and Josef watch your fire.

  I’m coming down.”

  He lets out a frustrated sigh. “Agent Cohen, you

  hardheaded, bitch.”

  I smirk. “You’re welcome. Over and out.” He’s pissed at me, but he’ll get over it and thank me

  later. I’m not about to sacrifice two people for the sake

  Colvin.

  After climbing ten sets of stairs, I reach the top floor. Peering into the office space, Colvin has a nine-man squad on this floor. Lauren’s Black Guard Unit clad in matching black tactical gear, and night vision glasses. The mystery Asian guy that was with Lauren at the pub that day and the one Agent Michaels mentioned to me is here. Now that I got a look at the Asian Guy, I recognize him. It’s Cai Lao. The Hunters have had an active contract on him for the past five years. He has eluded us till now.

  I wonder how good he is. For his sake, I hope he brought his A-game because I am going to take him apart after I slaughter all his fellow mercs.

  Plucking a Frag from my TAC vest, I ease the door open and toss the grenade in the midst of them. It’s dark; they won’t see it. All they will be able to do hear hit the floor nearby. I dive into a cubicle. The whole room lights up for a millisecond from the ear-shattering explosion. Screams of agony and panic fire fill the air. I sit back in the shadows of a cubical shaking my head.

  So far things are not looking too good for them . Colvin tears out of his office. “We need her alive if we are going to replicate Athena.

  “No, Mr. Colvin. Capturing her is impossible. By the

  way, where the hell is Lauren?” He aims the gun at the Merc. “Lauren has parted company. Now do your fucking job!”

  “Fuck that! Where is she?” We heard what happened at her house.”

  “Then you know Lilith killed her, Marco. Now stop dicking around and capture Lilith. Lose those rifles and get some dart weapons.”

  Marco turns to Cai. “Lao, are you seriously going to still buy this motherfucker’s bullshit on taking her alive?” He glances at the squad of Mercs and glares at Colvin. “Goddamn it, Lao. Order your men to go load up with tranq weapons and hunt Lilith down.”

  “Marco, locate Lilith and kill her.”

  Colvin whips his gun around and points at his head. “What the fuck do you think you are doing? Have you lost sight of the big picture here?” His jaw spasms with anger. He turns to Colvin. “No, I have not. In fact, I see the big picture clearly. Let me paint it for you. Since you learned about Lilith’s state of the art nanites and how they cured her cancer, you have sent us on suicide missions to capture her in hopes her nanites will heal your terminally ill wife. And when you finally captured Lilith and got what you sacrificed so many for, the nanites killed your wife because her body was too weak to endure the drastic change. He takes a few steps closer to him. “And now, you want more of our blood just to appease your lust for fame and greed?”

  “Come on, Lao. This is business and Lilith will net us a shitload of money. She will revolutionize Nanotechnology, but for the love of God; you people have to work with me here,” he says through his teeth.

  “I wonder, did you fire Lauren because she gave you the same lecture I am giving you. Or did you fire her because she refused to go along with your plan to assassinate The President of the United States for that power hungry asshole Sam Cook?”

  “To hell with Lauren! I fired her because she lacked vision and the will to do what is necessary to be the pioneers in creating a new era of transhumanism. And I tried to have The President killed because that ignorant bitch in the Oval Office would have never signed a bill to allow nanites like Athena to exist. Don’t you see? The whole plan was to kill her and replace her with Cook, and in return, he does away with the TrinityLaw.” A euphoric smile builds across his lips. “We are going to save humanity, Lao. So that people like my wife will never have to suffer such illnesses again.”

  So the entire reason to kill Connie was to overturn a fucking Law? Connie was right the political process is dead.

  Cai shakes his head in disbelief of the honeyed bullshit pouring from his mouth. “There are two major problems with your plan. The Vice President is dead, and Zasha is burning you down to the FBI. Soon the world will know it was Black Reign who tried to kill the President of the United States. When the FBI starts bringing the hammer down on your company and all its assets, I am willing to bet all your pals in DC throw you under the bus to save their own asses.”

  I guess I pegged Zasha wrong. I thought she would be the type to flee the country. Not stay and help Connie destroy Colvin's empire.

  “No, I can make this right, Lao. Give me some time. I can pull some strings.” His voice breaks.

  Cai grips the slide and shoves the weapon out of the line of fire. The gun discharges, but after that, it jams. He smashes his elbow in his nose leveling Colvin to his knees. “You’re strings are cut.”

  He bellows out a groan as blood pours from his nose. ‘Fuck!”

  He backhands Colvin with his own weapon. He doubles over spitting teeth and blood. “See, this is what a mixture of greed and grief does to the mind. It makes you too stupid to see you burned down your empire.”

  He sits on his knees squeezing his eyes shut and sobbing. “Then how about a bullet.” He grabs the barrel and guides it to his forehead. “Come on do it. A traitor’s death.” He yanks the gun away and kicks him to the ground. “Death is too easy for you. You’re going to live and reap the fruits of yourgreed. Oh and something to remember if you’re thinking of fleeing the country, FBI has a jurisdiction, The Hunters don’t. Life in prison or death. The choice is yours.”

  “Lao, what do we do about Lilith? That bitch is still lurking in here somewhere,” Marco says.

  “We kill her, and then we leave the country. Make it quick we won’t have long before the FBI raids this place. Now break into pairs and find her.” Marco and his squad disperse into two-man teams.

  About time the peons grew a damn brain.

  Two Mercs walk side by side scanning the room with their rifle sights. I creep up on the one on the right, snapping his neck. His partner spins on his heels pointing his rifle at me. I trap the HK and jerk the barrel forward slamming it into his nose. As he stumbles backward, I extend my wrist blade and slice his throat spilling blood down his vest. I return to the concealment in the shadows, sneaking through the blackness.

  Two more lambs for the slaughter sweep the cubicles left to right. For a split second, I let them see m
e. They gaze upon me in terror as if they see a ghost. I yank two knives from my belt and hurl the blades into their Adams apples. They slump to their knees asphyxiating. “Goddamn it,” Marco screams. “Hose those cubicles.” I duck into an office as they unleash a hail of bullets, cutting the cubicles down heaps of scrap.

  I set the rifle on the desk, lining up a shot with Marco’s head.

  Time to sear their souls.

  Slowing my breath, I swap the fire rate to semi-auto. My finger inches back on the trigger. The rifle bucks in my arm blowing a gaping hole, sending spatter on his men. I change positions to another cubical. Bullets shred my previous location.

  Give them a few minutes to check the body. Then another for them to realize their leader is dead. Let grief and anger build a home in their hearts.

  One of them screams out in anger. “Where are you, you fucking, bitch? You killed our brother a goddamn war hero.”

  And lastly, let rage bloom and turn them stupid. Charged with anger, they make the mistake of lone wolfing it. The side effects of blind hot rage kick in. One of them walk past the cubicle I’m hiding in. Gliding up behind my prey as he walks into an office. “Little girlie wants to play army. Come out, and I’ll be sure you have an open casket.” He draws a large blade from his sheath.

  “You promise?” He freezes in his tracks and turns to slash at me, but I grab his wrist and snap his arm like a twig. The knife falls to the floor. Before he could let out a wail, my fist slams into his throat several times. The merc falls to the floor gagging. I sneer at him. “Asshole.”

  I keep low and leave the office heading toward the rest of his pals. There is only four of them left, and like idiots, they split up into two- men teams, leaving one who is bringing up the rear. Creeping behind one of them, I slice open his neck. Kicking the other in the groin, I flip him over my shoulder and slam my boot into his throat, breaking his neck — the 4th asshole charges at me in a rage brandishing a Marine Issue Kabar. My wrist blades shootout and I shove them both through his gut and kick him away. His body crashes through an office window. “Behold the Angel of Death with her blackened wings has come forth to claim the soul of all ye wicked men,” I say, stalking through the shadows.