Cobra- The Vigilante Box Set 1

by Nicholas Bella

  “Awesome! Have I told you how fucking amazing you are?”

  “Not today, you haven’t.”

  “Well, you are. Thank you.” I slid up closer to the monitors, happy to get my in-depth view of Walter’s home. It looked like I was going to be watching this all night and coming up with a plan B.

  “I’ll get a pot brewing,” Jordan stated, then stood up and walked away.

  A few minutes later, I could hear the sound of him sweeping. I turned to see him cleaning up the mess I’d made. “You don’t have to do that, I’ll clean that up.”

  “No, you need to keep your eyes on that screen. I’ve got this. You also need to be thinking of a way to get that son of a bitch. I don’t want him killing anyone else,” Jordan said. “He was logged in tonight, but then logged out. I guess that’s when you were attacking.”

  I nodded. “Most likely.” I turned back around to look at the screen. It also gave me a better lay of the land, which was something I should have done prior to carrying out my half-assed strategy. Lesson learned. Patience and plotting was the name of the game. “I need to know everything you can get on this guy, J. I need to know what he eats, where his other properties are, what floor his office is on. I need to know his security team and where they come from. I need to know if he has anyone special in his life, shit like that.”

  “Some of that I’ve already gathered for you,” Jordan said as he tossed the last of the glass into the trash. “Look at the folder over there.”

  I looked to my left, then right, and saw the folder in question. I opened it up and there were numerous files on some of the people Jordan had uncovered who patronized the site. He currently had three targets for me. Walter, the mayor, and another mogul. I looked over Walter’s information first because he was the man I was focusing on at the moment. I made sure to keep checking on the monitor in between reading the file. I now knew more about Walter than I’d care to know, but it was enough for me to come up with another idea.

  “I’ve got a plan B,” I said, then turned to see that Jordan was on the sofa fast asleep. I smiled, then rose out of my seat. It felt good to give my ass a break and stretch my muscles. I walked over to Jordan, scooping him up and placing him in our bed. Then I put on some civilian clothing in the form of a business suit. I took out my contacts, replacing them with my eye glasses. I wanted to look as unassuming as possible. I put my vigilante outfit inside my bag, which was also full of weapons and other necessities, and climbed back into my car. The best place I was going to capture this bastard was at his place of employment. With him beefing up security at his home, I hoped his business wasn’t going to be as tight.

  I drove to his company, Darring Inc., and parked my car a mile away where there were no street cameras. I then took a quick nap because soon, Mr. Darring, aka Mr. Jingles, would be pulling inside the underground parking lot of his place of employment. Something he had done faithfully for the past fifteen years, never missing a day, save vacation time. Some might find that admirable, but I just thought he was a fucking control freak and wanted to keep his eye on everything and everyone under his employ. I was counting on his need to micromanage right now.

  ***

  I took a quick three hour nap and was up bright and early to get to the extraction point in time. I called Jordan and it took him a little while to answer, but he did.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Listen, I need you to tap into the security at Darring Inc. If you can control what the cameras see, I’ll be able to sneak in better.”

  “I’m on it. Just give me a few minutes,” he said. “You should start making your way there.”

  “I’m already on my way.” I walked there with my guns under my suit in a double holster. One was my real gun loaded with human killing bullets and the other had the tranquilizers. I really wanted to avoid killing his guards. I didn’t have any proof that they deserved to die, so if I could take them out peacefully, I would. “Okay, I’m in the alleyway.”

  “Yeah, I see you.”

  “On satellite?” Damn, Jordan was a fucking computer genius. I was always left in awe by his superpower.

  “Yeah, I want to be able to be your eyes and ears, if I can,” he said.

  “That’s why I love you.”

  “You also look really fucking hot in that suit with your glasses.”

  I smiled, because I liked the flattery. “Concentrate.”

  “Oh, I am. But you know, I’m a multitasker. I can do two, three, sometimes even four things at once,” Jordan teased. “Okay, get ready to move…now.”

  With that, I slithered into the parking garage, narrowly avoiding the camera that rotated in the opposite direction. “Any more cameras I need to avoid?”

  “I’m in their feed now. Don’t move, because I’m going to put it on a loop for about five minutes. You need to get into a pretty good hiding place close to where that asshole parks his car. I would think someplace near the door as to avoid the inconvenience of having to walk.”

  “Wait, look on their camera system and see if you can find which level his parking spot is on. He might have it marked off,” I instructed.

  “Yeah… that is a better idea than having you running all over the place.”

  “We need to step up our game in a few areas, I think. For one, we need communication devices so we can stay in contact without me having to call you,” I pointed out.

  “Great idea,” Jordan agreed.

  We were still new at this crime-fighting thing. That was pretty fucking evident, but I thought we were slowly getting our shit together. Soon, we would be a well-oiled machine. This was just our first time dealing with the big leagues, you could say. I didn’t need a high-tech computer hacker’s skills to take out the petty pieces of shit on the streets. This was another level, and one where I had faith we’d be successful.

  “Okay, yeah… I found it. It’s on the second level, J-1 section – North,” Jordan told me. “Wait.”

  “What? Why?” I asked.

  “Walter hasn’t left his mansion yet.”

  That was something I didn’t want to hear. This motherfucker was making shit more difficult than I wanted it to be. “What’s happening? What do you see?”

  “More security vehicles pulling up, more guards covering the grounds. You were right, he’s beefing up his protection,” Jordan sighed.

  “Fuck!” I hissed. Looked like I needed to come up with a plan C. “I’m coming home now.”

  “Wait, what if he does go to work later?”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to stay in the garage for hours waiting to see if he comes in. You can’t keep the cameras on a loop forever. I’ve got another idea. Have a sandwich waiting for me when I get there.” I left the garage and walked back towards my car. Once I was behind the wheel, I took a few moments to just focus. I had made one stupid maneuver after another, because I put myself on a clock. Both Jordan and I wanted to take this guy out for what he had done to that kid, but I couldn’t be sloppy about it, which was how I had proceeded so far.

  However, if Walter had brought his ass to work today, my Plan B would have been successful. Of that, I was certain. But he hadn’t, so now I needed another way to get to him. I started the engine and drove home.

  “So, did you think of anything?” Jordan asked me once I got home and climbed out of my car. “Your sandwich is in the fridge.”

  “As a matter of fact, I did.” I walked to the fridge, grabbed the roast beef sandwich, and devoured that bastard as Jordan looked on in amazement. In four bites, the sandwich was gone and I was satisfied, for the moment.

  “So, you gonna fill me in?” Jordan asked.

  I nodded. “It’s what I should have done last night, but the thought didn’t come to me.” I started taking off my suit. I walked into my bedroom, going to my closet to get another outfit. One I could change out of quickly. I pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, then slipped on a pair of sneakers.

  “So, ummm,
am I ever going to hear what this plan is, or do I have to guess?” Jordan asked, coming into our bedroom.

  “As much as I hate doing it, I’m going to take the form of one of his guards. That’s the only way I’m going to get close to this son of a bitch. I may even have to take the form of his driver. I need to take one of them down so I can see what they look like and be able to get the details right,” I said, walking over to him.

  “Do you think we should wait? I mean, what if that doesn’t work?”

  I shook my head. “It’s true, we’ve hit some walls, but the more time we give him to get his shit together, the harder it will be for me to get to him. I want to strike now that he’s still unnerved and getting things in order.”

  Jordan nodded slowly as he took in what I was saying. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

  “I’m going to his house right now. I need you to keep me updated on his activities until I get there. I don’t want this motherfucker leaving and not finding out he’s gone until I get there.”

  Jordan nodded. “Okay.”

  I climbed back into my car and headed out. Mentally, I was kicking myself for not thinking of this last night. I could have shot just one guard, transformed into him, and then walked through the front door. No one would have been the wiser. Sometimes, I didn’t think about that ability. I relied far too much on my super strength and impenetrable skin when a lot of the physical combat could be avoided just by infiltrating as someone my target knew.

  I need to be smarter about this vigilante shit, starting now. My next target was the mayor. I couldn’t afford to mess up any more. It was a little before noon by the time I got back to Walter’s mansion. When I called Jordan, he had informed me that the man was still in his house, and that was good. Before I climbed out of my car, I took my EMP device, tranq gun, two clips filled with tranq darts and two syringes filled with the same tranquilizer. Too bad my tranq gun wasn’t silent. That’s why I needed the syringes.

  “How do the grounds look? Can I sneak on?” I asked as I walked over towards the mansion.

  “This neighborhood is so beautiful. These houses are amazing.”

  “Jordan, stay focused.”

  “Sorry. Where are you coming from?”

  “From the east.”

  “Okay, yeah… that’s close to his guest house. There are lot of trees and bushes over that way, too.”

  “Perfect.”

  “I see you on the sky view.”

  “Do I look sexy?”

  “Always.”

  I laughed, then leaped over the high gate, landing softly near some bushes, which I promptly ducked behind. I peeked to check out the camera situation. I had my EMP device with me again, but I wasn’t going to use it until I was inside the mansion, so I had to be mindful of those bastards until I could do my thing.

  “Heads up, guard coming your way,” Jordan said.

  I could hear the sound of grass crunching under the man’s foot getting louder as he drew closer to where I was hiding. I made sure to stay real low because I didn’t want to give away my position until I was ready. A few seconds later, he walked past my hiding spot, and I caught the whiff of his cologne, which told me just how close he was to me. That was when I popped out, taking him from behind. I covered his mouth as I put him in a sleeper hold. He struggled as best as he could before the lack of oxygen rendered him unconscious. I drug his body back behind the bushes with their excellent cover.

  The guy was just an inch shorter than me, so this transformation wasn’t going to hurt too much. I started the process once I had stripped the man of his clothes. It hurt like hell to shrink my bones and reform my body to look like his. Even my vocal cords underwent the transformation so I’d sound exactly like him. I moaned low as my organs shifted to accommodate my new form. It was an agonizing experience.

  In all honesty, transformation was actually a very interesting ability I had. I should probably use it more often. Maybe I would if it didn’t hurt like hell. The whole time, I had to be as quiet as I could so I wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention. It took me a minute to get my bearings, but after I had, I took off my clothes and put on his security outfit and strapped myself with his weapons and ID. I did replace one of his guns with my tranquilizer gun. Of course, I removed the bullets out of the other gun I didn’t need, not that he would be awake by the time I was done doing what I needed to do, but so he couldn’t use it on me just in case.

  Searching the pocket of my sweats, I pulled out a syringe with the tranquilizer in it, then stuck it in the guard’s arm. I wanted to make sure he’d stay asleep for a while. Now, I was one of them. Next, I needed to get to Walter. I stepped out from the bushes and walked around to the front of the house, where I ran into another guard.

  “How’s everything looking?” he asked me.

  “I think I found something and need you to check it out,” I said.

  “Show me,” the guard said in a no nonsense tone.

  I gestured for him to follow me. “It may not be anything, but I just want you to look to make sure.” I led him away from the camera’s point of view and, once we were clear, I turned on him, punching him hard enough to knock him out with one blow. I pulled out my tranq gun, shooting him with a dart, then dragged his body over to the other guard behind the bushes. From what I could tell, there were other guards roaming the grounds, but they were further out. I’d deal with them if I had to.

  I did another perimeter walk around the mansion to make sure there were no more guards. I also took this opportunity to locate the fucking generator. I had every intention of using my EMP again, but this time, I didn’t need that motherfucker getting in my way. I found it on the grounds and there was a camera nearby. I waited until the camera panned away from me, then I ran over there, leaped up, and snatched the camera off its mount. I crushed it in my hands with ease, then went over to the generator, breaking the lock on the door. I knew I had to hurry because a call went out over the radio for someone to check out the camera that just went down.

  Okay, this was where my superhuman strength really came in handy. I reached behind the huge generator and disconnected the wiring. I also busted the LCD display once the generator powered off. I reached into one of the many pockets on my uniform, I kind of missed wearing these. Anyway, I pulled out my EMP device and activated it. This time, there would be no panic room he could run into or any alarm he could sound for help. I closed the door and stepped out in time to meet two guards.

  “Jones, what the fuck is going on?” one of them said, aiming his gun at me.

  Jones was the name of the man whose face I was wearing. Since I’d shut down the electricity, there were no cameras to see me take them out. No need to play nice.

  “Taking out your fucking scum bag boss,” I said, then I drew my tranq gun quickly, shooting one of the guards, but not before the other shot me in the chest. The bullet proof vest helped shield me from the impact, which was a small blessing. I shot him in his neck with a dart, knocking him out completely. This was the kind of playing grounds I wanted. They couldn’t radio to each other and no one knew what was coming.

  I ran around to the front as another guard was coming out of the house. “Did you see anything?” he asked me.

  “No, but I can’t find Thomas or Watts,” I said, having read the names on the uniforms of the guards I’d just taken down.

  “Shit, right before all of the electricity went out, one of the cameras went black. They were sent to investigate,” the guard explained.

  “Yeah, I know, I heard it on the radio,” I replied. “I can’t find Blackburn, either.” He was the second guard I’d knocked out. Loved that these guards had their names on their uniforms, really helped me infiltrate.

  “Get in here, we need to double up our efforts,” the guard said, which was exactly what I wanted. I came in, locking the door behind me. “We can’t stay here, we’re too vulnerable.”

  “I agree,” I said, then shot him in his leg.

  “Motherf—�
� he said before passing out.

  I sighed. The only disadvantage I had attacking at this time of day was the lack of darkness to cover me. I thought I would have had an easier time infiltrating then, but who knows? He might have had even more security at night, so it was now or never.

  “Don’t move!” another guard yelled. He was joined by two more.

  Damn, how many guards did this motherfucker hire?! I went full out, taking their bullets as I fired back, rendering each one unconscious. One of the guards managed to get a direct hit to my skull and I fell back, crashing hard to the floor as blinding pain shot across my face.

  “Ahhh shit!” I griped from the searing pain pulsing through my brain at the moment.

  Thankfully, my super-healing came into play and the pain didn’t linger more than a few seconds. It was enough time for more guards to approach. I rolled out of the way as they fired their weapons at me, then braced myself for the pain as I stood up, taking aim. I shot my darts at the guards as I took their bullets to my chest, shoulders, and legs.

  With those guards down, I took to the stairs, making my way through the mansion. I heard the floor creaking and knew someone was coming my way from around the corner. I pressed myself against the wall and waited until he came into view. I grabbed his weapon with one hand and wrapped my arm around his neck with the other.

  “Where’s Walter?” I demanded.

  “Fuck you, Jones,” he spat back. “You’re never going to get out of here alive.”

  “I don’t want to kill you, but I will if you won’t tell me.” To prove my point, I kicked his leg hard enough to break his tibia bone.

  “Ahhhhh fuuck!” he cried out.

  I could actually see a white shard of bone poking out of his pant leg and knew that shit had to hurt. He screamed again as he thrashed about from the pain, but my grip on him didn’t budge. “Want your other leg broken? How about total blindness? I have no problem removing your eyes.”