Jade (The Kings of Guardian Book 9)

by Kris Michaels

  "We got Carmine in protective custody. You're right, the guy is a piece of work. Threatening lawsuits for unlawful detention. Hope like hell your company's money will pay for the settlement that asshole is wanting." The LT made the announcement before he pulled out three pieces of paper. "Enough with the banter. If the peanut gallery has no further objections, and I really don't give a fuck if you do, this is the op. Now pay attention."

  Jade leaned back on the low table behind her and watched as the Lieutenant put the plan up on the board.

  "As I said, Guardian relocated the medical staff. It is a ten-bed facility in a larger medical professional building. We've cleared the building, and no one is being permitted inside to work due to a water-main break. Don't know how Guardian did it, but there are actually city crews out there working on the water main."

  Jade inspected the photo that the LT pinned to the board. She chuckled. Those weren't city workers. She'd bet her paycheck they were Guardian employees.

  "The vulnerabilities of the structure are numerous. The rooftop, windows on the private facility level, the shared underground parking area, and of course there is always a chance of a suicide bomber, but with the heavy equipment blocking the front of the building that threat is a moot point. Single entities slipping through the electronic monitoring systems are the biggest vulnerability."

  "So what the fuck? Are we are keeping them out or luring them in? I thought the plan was to trap them?" One of the marshals popped his question into the LT's briefing.

  "It is a smoke screen. Guardian is doing this so we can do what we are tasked with doing. Not our plan, not our operation. You are being briefed to make sure you know the totality of the situation. Guardian is monitoring the facility in the hopes of luring in whoever is getting paid to take out the Judge, but that is secondary to keeping the bastards occupied."

  "Wonderful, what the fuck are we going to do? Sit here with our thumbs up our asses?" The Fibbie spouted off again.

  "You can go ahead and do that, Swanson. The rest of us are going to track down the fuckers that killed over sixty people yesterday." The LT gave the man a cold stare as he pulled another sheet from his folder.

  "King, Swanson, Burns, you've got the detonation device. Burns, you're lead. Brief them on the way out."

  "Marlow, Norris and Sylvester, you've got the explosives. Sylvester, you're lead. Get these fuckers and let Guardian worry about setting the mousetrap and smokescreen. We need to know who made the triggering device, where they got the explosives, and who placed it at the courthouse. Let's put these fuckers away for good. If either team gets a whiff of who placed the device, I know about it the instant you smell it. Got it?"

  Jade stood along with the asshole Fibbie and Sexy and Dangerous. The detective grabbed his jacket and headed out the door without a backward glance. Fibbie followed, and Jade shut the door behind her.

  "Where are we heading?" Fibbie fell into step with the detective, as did Jade.

  "Guardian was able to reconstruct a mock-up of the detonation device. We've seen a triggering device like it before. Our explosive ordinance detail keeps a record of all the triggering devices they've found, or what was left of them. We believe one of the old school firebugs built it. Or he's taught someone his trade. Either way, LT pulled a golden ticket out of his ass and was able to hunt down a last known location right before we entered the briefing. We're paying him a visit."

  Jade pulled her SUV's keys out of her pocket. "Here." She said as she tossed them to Burns.

  He tossed them back at her. "I have an undercover vehicle."

  "Yeah? Is it armor plated, bullet proof, and have a traveling arsenal in the back?" She tossed the keys up and caught them in midair.

  "Can't say as it is. But I'm sure my Crown Vic will suffice."

  "Fucking Guardian has all the nice toys." Swanson chuckled. "So you're a King? As in the founding family type of King?"

  "That would be correct." They headed down the stairs and outside.

  "Hell, no wonder we got strapped with you," Swanson muttered. "You'd think Guardian would at least send someone who knew the job. Not a fucking pin-up princess that we need to babysit. We need to hit this hard and fast, sweetheart. Maybe you should go back inside and wait. You know, where it is warm, and there are lights?"

  "No shit." Burns spit out the agreement before Jade could comment.

  "Excuse me?" Jade stopped and squared off on the men.

  "Never mind sweets, don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you." Swanson made a move to past her. She put her hand up, and he stopped.

  Jade smiled sweetly at Swanson. The condescending piece of ass wipe. He didn't surprise her, Burns on the other hand… she wouldn't have called that one. So she spun toward him and punched where she knew it would hurt. "Are you telling me, Detective Burns, that you don't believe a woman can do this job?"

  Burns turned and stared straight through her. Anger, pain and something else lanced through his glare. "No, I'm telling you a woman shouldn't do this job."

  Jade crossed her arms and settled her feet shoulder's width apart. "So Jai being undercover has tainted your view of females in law enforcement? Not my fault you don't trust her."

  The man moved, but she was ready for his lunge. Jade caught his wrist, spun and slammed Burns into the wall leveraging his arm high up on his back. She whispered next to his ear. "Now we can do this one of two ways, asshole. We can admit that women are capable of doing this fucking job, and you can say you're sorry, or I'll leave you strapped with that asshole over there, call in backup of my own, and leave you in the dust. Think about it rationally. If we take the Triad down, Jai will be able to come home. So how about you shelve your bullshit and let's go to work?" She upped the pressure on his arm, and he grimaced, slapping the side of the building.

  "Fuck you."

  "Uh uh. That wasn't an apology." She tweaked his arm a fraction of an inch higher. The man growled in frustration.

  "Sorry, fuck you, bitch." Burns spit the words out. They dripped with poisonous hatred.

  "Excellent choice. I'll get my own backup." Jade pushed him into the wall and spun away but kept him in her peripheral vision. She glared at Swanson as Burns rubbed his shoulder, his glare potent pinning her, still and hostile. "You know I have better ways of handling asshole government employees. Fibbies live for advancement, placement, and promotion, don't you? How well do you know Deputy Director Cole Davis? He's a very close friend. Bottle your fucking attitude and put a cork in it, Fibbie, or I'll make sure your record states you don't play well with others. Ever been to the field office up there by the Bearing Sea?" Jade spun on her heel and headed toward the Guardian SUV. Her phone was on and palmed before she made it three steps.

  "What's up, buttercup?" Jewell answered on the first ring.

  "I need information. Last known address on the bomb maker the NYPD suspects made the device."

  "Hang on." Jewell put her on hold. Jade keyed the fob and unlocked the SUV after she did a 360 looking for anything that didn't belong on, or under, the vehicle. It was a habit.

  "Okay. Found it. Sending it to your phone. Weren't you supposed to be working with the task force on this?"

  Jade heard the notification of the address reaching her phone. She mounted the cell to the dash of the truck. The vehicle's Bluetooth activated and put Jewell on speaker. Jade put the SUV into gear and spared a glance toward the assholes heading toward the detective's car.

  "Yeah, that isn't working out so well. Hey? If I give you a license plate can you find out if the vehicle has LoJack?"

  "Ummmm… yeah, I'd have to run it, find the VIN number and then cross reference it to the manufacturer's system. Why?"

  "Take this number down and do that, would you? Off the books." Jade rattled off the plate number on the undercover vehicle that Burns and Swanson were getting into.

  "Girl, what ar
e you doing?" Jade could hear Jewell's keyboard working in the background.

  "Striking a blow against misogynistic assholes for all women in law enforcement." Jade looked at the address and did a mental calculation. "Hey, do me another favor. Don't kill that engine for about five or ten minutes. I want them far enough away from the precinct that they won't be able to swap out cars."

  "Oh, damn. You are really pissed aren't you?"

  "Believe me, they deserve it."

  "Well, then, by all means, consider this a done deal, and I'll keep it off the books. But you gotta know, I'm not okay with you going after this bomb dude alone."

  "I'm not stupid, nor do I have a death wish. I'm not going alone. Talk to you later." Jade hit her navigation app and loaded the address Jewell had sent her. She'd head that way, but there was a phone call and a stop to make first.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Nic looked down the street trying to pick out the Guardian SUV he and Jade had been using. The blur of headlights made the feat impossible. Jade had called almost twenty minutes ago and explained what she needed and why. He briefed Jared and left the man upstairs to deal with Jason's wrath.

  Nic rolled his shoulders and lowered his head, trying to stretch the tight muscles of his neck and shoulders. Other than the stress induced body aches, he was numb. Thoughts swirled through his mind, jostling the information and tactics they were employing to take down the bastards that had bombed a federal courthouse. He drew a deep breath. The tightness in his chest constricted his ability to take in air. He'd talked to Mario minutes before Jade had called. His little brother's pain seeped across the phone's connection and amplified his own. God, he was fucking exhausted. Cognitive reasoning, strategic planning, hell, adding two plus two was more than he could manage right now. He put his hands in his pockets and lifted his head gazing down the street once again. He'd pull his shit together, though. He needed to be on task when they found the bastard that created the trigger for the bomb.

  Nic's eyes caught on a dark SUV traveling in the lane closest to the building. The blacked out passenger side window rolled down as it approached. The barrel of an assault pistol pointed out the window and the world slowed into a stop motion nightmare. The muzzle flash of the weapon registered as he lunged to his right, knocking the woman beside him to the ground. Glass fragments and chips of limestone and cement flew up around him. The woman under him crumpled. He kept his body over her, keeping her shielded from the bullets.

  The weapon's reports silenced. Nic rolled with the woman cradled in one arm, his weapon drawn with his free hand. He aimed and emptied his clip into the rear of the dark blue Chevy. He memorized the last portion of the plate as it careened out of view. It was a mere fraction of a second after he emptied his weapon before all hell busted loose. Guardian personnel poured out of the office building. Nic sat up bringing the woman with him. She slumped into him. He pulled her close and hugged her, for no other reason than it felt right to try to give some comfort even though he knew the time for comfort had passed.

  Nic watched the men deploy from the building with weapons drawn. Both Jason and Jared traveled with security teams. The Kings' security was the best of the best, and the men who protected them were loyal, fierce and deadly. They set up a cordon around him. The woman sagged. He tightened his grip on her to keep her up. Nic blinked to clear his vision. He took stock of the bullet holes, the men and women who were writhing on the sidewalk, and of those who were impossibly still.

  Suddenly, Jared was beside him. He felt Jared grab his shoulders. His best friend's voice penetrated the eerie sense of disassociation that wrapped around him. "Nic, for God's sake, answer me!"

  Nic blinked up at his friend. The worry and concern on his face were all wrong. What had Jared asked? He couldn't be certain, so he relayed the information he knew, "It was a Mac 10." Nic brought his hand holding his weapon to his ear. "The report of the weapon was stifled or suppressed. Could be a Tek 9, but those fuckers are louder. Definitely an assault pistol by the shape. Didn't see the shooter. I got a partial on the plate and emptied a clip in the ass end of the Suburban. It was dark blue. Blacked out windows." Nic went to lower his hand and stopped with it held about shoulder level. Blood coated his hand, the white of his dress shirt appeared to be dipped in blood. He turned his head and examined the woman he held.

  Nic swallowed hard and closed his eyes for a moment before he laid her down, slowly. Reality marched like a fucking brass band into the adrenaline-fueled explosion of clarity. Nic knew exactly what happened and when. He recalled the coppery scented tang of blood and knew the instant the woman died. The distinct and unforgettable odor of open wounds exposing internal organs filled his senses while he waited for his own death via a Triad bullet. Looking at the woman now, he felt… nothing. A bullet had blown off a large portion of her skull. Blood, brain matter and bone covered his face and clothes.

  Several men converged on them at once, taking the woman from where she rested. He let Jared help him up. "You're not going out there. They declared fucking war."

  Nic snapped his attention toward his best friend. "Bullshit. I am going with Jade to track down this bastard."

  "Nic, get real. You've barely survived a fucking drive by!"

  One of the Guardians who was providing first aid stopped in front of Nic. "Are you injured?"

  "No, blood from the victim." Nic pointed toward the woman. The man shoved a towel into his hand. Nic swiped at the sticky mess covering his face and hands.

  A squeal of tires dropped everyone into firing positions with all weapons drawn. Nic hadn't reloaded, but his magazine hit the ground, and he inserted a fresh one by the time his knee hit the sidewalk. He drew a bead on the vehicle. Jade flew from the driver's side door and pounded around the front of the vehicle. Nic dropped his weapon as she slid to her knees and wrapped her arms around him. He could feel the impression of the weapon she had in her hand pressing against his back. "God damn it, DeMarco! It is a damn good thing you're pretty. Otherwise, I don't know if I could justify sticking around through all this shit." She pulled back and raked her eyes over him, assessing. "My God, are you hit?" The hand that wasn't holding her automatic moved his jacket and patted at his body.

  He grabbed her hand and lifted it up to his mouth, placing a kiss on it. She stilled immediately. They locked eyes and time stood still. The emotion that passed between them sizzled. One hundred percent, over-charged, high-octane, and ready to explode. Not the sexual tension that usually bound them together, this was different. They couldn't deny this connection. A shuffle of feet beside him broke the moment. Nic shook his head to clear it before he chucked her under the chin. "I thought I asked you not to call me pretty?"

  Jade choked out a half sob, half laugh. "Yeah, well you are, so get over it."

  "When you two get done down there, with whatever the fuck is going on, we need to get inside." Jared's voice separated them further.

  "So much for the families not knowing."

  Nic shook his head at her whispered comment. God, the woman was irreverent and impassioned and what the doctor fucking ordered. He needed her vibrancy and energy.

  Jade jumped up and extended her free hand down to him. Fuck it. Nic grabbed her hand and allowed her to pull him up from his knees. "We've got to move. I have a head start on the fuckers from the task force, but if we don't hurry, the bastards they assigned to me will get to the last known location first. I want him, and I want the intel. We can get Guardian to relay any leads to Lieutenant Flowers and call in backup if necessary." Nic fell into step with her heading toward her vehicle.

  Jared whistled sharply, bringing them both to a standstill. Nic looked back at his friend. Jared took off his suit jacket and threw it at Nic. He grabbed it out of the air and shrugged out of the blood soaked suit coat he wore and dropped it on the cement as he got into the vehicle. The new jacket covered t
he majority of the blood and bodily fluids his shirt had absorbed. Jade threw the vehicle into gear and forced her way into traffic.

  "Whose blood is it?" Jade didn't look at him. She was transfixed on navigating through New York traffic.

  "I don't know who she was. She was standing next to me when the shooting started. I pulled her down to try to get her out of harm's way."

  "All the more reason to find these fuckers. Why in the hell would they do a drive-by on you?"

  "As far as they know mom is alive and is in a secure facility. The one who is ordering this is unstable or is pissed and acting out."

  Jade looked over at him. "Pissed people make mistakes. Let's hope for pissed. Unstable is crazy, and you can't get ahead of crazy."

  "Fuck, don't I know it." Nic rifled through the glove box and pulled a first aid kit out. He grabbed the alcohol wipes out of it and tried to clean his face and hands. At best, his attempts were ineffective.

  The drone of the GPS app on Jade's phone directed them through the city. "What intel do you have on the device maker?"

  "Not much. Burns said it was an old school device. They matched the design with something one of the Explosive Ordinance guys had seen before. That's where we are heading. Give Jewell a call. She should have more on the maker by now."

  Nic palmed his phone and placed the call.

  "Holy horseshit, DeMarco! What the fuck was that? I watched the footage from the security monitors. We got the full license plate. You were right; it looked like a Mac 10. The slugs the guys are pulling out of the walls look like .45s, so that lines up."

  Jade cut through Jewell's one-sided info dump, "Registered owner of the SUV?"

  "A sixty-seven year old man from Yonkers. Stolen this afternoon."

  "Fuck." Nic spat the word out. They couldn't fucking catch a break. "What information do you have on the device maker?"

  "Oh yeah… hang on, I'll let Zane fill you in on that." Nic exchanged a confused look with Jade. Why in the hell would Zane brief them?