Crusade For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 2)

by Adrian D. Roberts

  “Got it,” Hanna said triumphantly. “Here, I’ll put it up on your VI screen.”

  All three turned and watched the recording play through. Yamaguchi’s face got whiter and whiter the more he watched.

  “That’s the Casaletto estate. Where did you get that?” he demanded.

  “Milicevic wanted to know how good you were,” Hanna said with a shrug. “I tracked you to their Family home and Hacked the security system. I was only watching. I didn’t help. There was no need, you’re really good. Even Milicevic was impressed and that doesn’t happen very often.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “Not for her,” Deni said. “When she says she’s the best Hacker in the system, she’s right.”

  “So, are you in or out?” Hanna asked.

  “What if I’m out? What then?”

  “We walk away,” Hanna said to him. “You’ll never see or hear from us again.”

  “Probably because we’ll be dead.” Deni muttered and Hanna shot her a look.

  “Indefinite zero rates?”

  Hanna nodded. “That’s the deal.”

  “You girls want a beer?”

  “I’m sure Deni will,” Hanna said and smiled. “I’ll take some of that apple juice if it’s OK?” she pointed to the bottle lying unnoticed on the floor next to the split shopping bag.

  “Hah, apple juice and beer it is,” he replied and laughed.

  Yamaguchi gathered up his shopping with Hanna’s help and handed out the drinks, before inviting them to sit at his kitchen table.

  “Who else knows about me?” he asked.

  “Milicevic, us and Cracker,” Deni answered. “That’s why you were our first stop. You’re likely to want to help and Rapaport doesn’t know even know you’re in the territory.”

  “What about Cracker? He wouldn’t stand for this. He likes Milicevic and you girls.”

  “You know him?” Hanna asked.

  Yamaguchi leaned back in his chair and took a sip of beer. “We go way back. Used to run together as kids. He’s the one who suggested I meet with Milicevic. Why isn’t he here?”

  Hanna glanced at Deni.

  “What?” Yamaguchi asked.

  “I’m sorry, Mr Yamaguchi. We think he’s dead. We know he went to Anja’s flat this morning and he hasn’t left. Anja was there at the same time as him before leaving to attack the Workshop.”

  “Damn... He was a good guy to have in your corner. In this business, you kind of expect to lose friends, but it never makes it any easier.” He raised his glass. “To Cracker, he’ll be missed.”

  The girls raised their glasses in salute with him. The three sat in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts.

  “So, is it just the two of you then and what are you up against?”

  “You want to take that out now, Mr Yamaguchi?” Deni said with a sad smile.

  “Hades, no! I’m in. I want to talk to this Anja personally. They must have suckered Cracker, he wouldn’t go down easy.”

  “You can’t miss her, Mr Yamaguchi. Slim, shorter than me and bright pink hair, kind of wavy across the top of her head.” Hanna tried to imitate it with her own much longer hair, but it just fell back into its usual mess.

  “I’ll keep an eye out for her. You can both stop with this whole Mr Yamaguchi business. I appreciate the respect, but let’s just make it Yama OK? It’ll save us a lot of time.”

  “OK, Yama,” Hanna said with a smile. “In answer to your question, Rapaport has two local Enforcers that we know about. One of them, Anja, worked directly for us. She knows all of our backup plans. You’re just about the only thing she doesn’t know. She may have convinced others to join her but we don’t know. We also saw twenty, what looked like, hired guns from out of town.”

  “What else doesn’t she know?” he asked pointedly.

  “She thinks we’re locked in the rear of the Workshop, cut off from everyone. We got out and I still have limited access to my Rig.”

  “And?”

  Hanna looked at Deni, who raised her eyebrows. There was no way they could tell him everything. She drummed her fingers on the table before making a decision.

  “And, I can track coms. It’s how I knew you were at the Casaletto estate and Cracker’s location. We’ve never told anyone that,” she looked him as firmly as she could in the eyes. “The rest I’m not going to tell you.”

  He stared back for what seemed like a very long time before nodding. “Fair enough. Do you have a plan?”

  “We need to round up as many allies as we can,” Deni said. “While we do that, can you scout out what Rapaport’s hired guns are doing? Call in their locations with whatever images you can get.”

  “Why can’t miss super Hacker track them?”

  “I don’t know who they are and there are no cameras in the Ghetto to get a look at them.” Hanna answered. “I can only access my main system intermittently so not to drain the power. I’d rather do it in one go than piecemeal. Rapaport, her Enforcer Orrick and Anja, are already locked into my datapad. I can also track anyone else in the gang.”

  “Pull them up now,” Deni suggested. “If any of them are with Rapaport or the others, we know they’re either working with them or captured.”

  “Or dead,” Yama pointed out.

  “Or dead,” Deni agreed quietly.

  “I can do that,” Hanna placed her Quartz on the table and projected a map of the local area above it. “OK, Hopwood and his Enforcer Leigh are way over here and not moving. Shit, I’ve got a message from him. It’s three hours old and I missed it. He’s hold up and unsurprisingly wants to know where Milicevic is. I’ll tell him-“

  “Hang on, Hanna,” Deni interrupted. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. See where everyone else is first. Then we can plan when we know everything.”

  “You’re right,” Hanna pointed to the map. “Here’s Hayley, she’s got Flint, Calcutta, Barber and Layman with her. Let me see if we can listen in.”

  “Listen in?” Yama asked worriedly.

  “Don’t worry. It’s not something I can do with everyone. Their wristcomps have my software on them. That gives me remote access to their microphones.” Selecting Hayley’s feed; Hanna played it on the Quartz’s speakers. There was only silence.

  “Something wrong?” Deni asked.

  “No,” Hanna shook her head. “The system’s fine. No one’s saying anything though.”

  “That won’t help.” Yama said and Hanna resisted saying something pointed back to him.

  “Send her an encrypted text message,” Deni suggested. “See what she says when she thinks we can’t hear her.”

  “Nice, I like it. I’m telling her we’re alive and asking if she’s safe. There it goes.” They waited with bated breath.

  “Guys!” Hayley’s voice shouted out from the Quartz. “I’ve just got a message from Hanna.”

  “What does it say?” a man asked.

  “That’s Flint,” Deni said for Yama’s benefit.

  “She and Deni are alive and she’s asking if I’m safe.” Hayley answered.

  “Why hasn’t she called any of us?” a woman asked.

  “Calcutta,” Hanna told Yama.

  “She doesn’t say,” Hayley said.

  “Probably doesn’t know who to trust,” another woman said.

  “Barber,” Hanna said.

  “After that bitch Anja turned,” Barber continued. “She’s got to be running scared.”

  “How are we going to convince her we’re not with Rapaport?” a second man asked.

  “And that’s Layman,” Deni said.

  “I don’t know,” Hayley said. “I’m sending her a note back to say I’m safe, but what I want to know is, where’s Milicevic? She should have been in there hours ago and wiped the floor with these fuckers!”

  “I’d say we can trust them,” Deni said.

  “I agree,” Hanna nodded. “I’m calling Hayley directly now.”

  “I’m getting a call, this can’t be a c
o-incidence,” Hayley told the others before answering. “Hello?”

  “Hayley, it’s Hanna. I’m with Deni and...” she looked over to Yama who shook his head. “A friend who can help. Is anyone with you?” she didn’t want them to know she could access their coms like that.

  “Barber, Flint, Layman and Calcutta and we got the aircar out.”

  “You’ve got the aircar?” Hanna said. “Fantastic. Do you know about anyone else?”

  “Dead,” was the simple reply.

  Hanna looked at the fourteen other locations marked on the map hovering in front of her.

  “You sure?” she asked.

  “Yeah, we’re sure,” came the deadpan response. “Ambushes mostly. Anja told them where we lived.”

  “I’m sorry, I know they were your friends.”

  “Yeah, well. We’ll grieve later. After I’ve shoved my Thermal up Rapaport’s cunt! Unless Milicevic does it sooner. Where the fuck is she?”

  “Out of the system.”

  “What? You’re fucking kidding.”

  “No, I really wish I was. She won’t be back for a while.” If ever, Hanna thought in the privacy of her own mind, then squashed it firmly. Whatever happened to Valerie, they would find out after they got the gang back under control. “We’re going after Rapaport without her and doing it tonight. Are you guys in? I can understand if you’re not. No one would blame you.”

  The silence from the other side was deafening. With Hayley on speaker, Hanna had to turn off the spy program or it would get too confusing. She was sorely tempted to switch it back on but held back. If ever there was a time for privacy, it was when someone decided to commit suicide or not.

  Time dragged out and it was a struggle for Hanna to hold her nerve. Yama was relaxed, but Deni was practically vibrating in her chair.

  “Yeah, we’re in,” Hayley said, putting the girls out of their misery. “Do you have a plan?”

  Hanna’s breath exploded out of her in unison with Deni’s. She had to take a moment before she could speak again.

  “Not yet. Can you get me any names or pictures of Rapaport’s people?”

  “We’ve got some already. I’ll send some over to you. I take it you’re going to do some special Hacking stuff. Are you out of the Workshop?”

  “Yeah, I am and yes we are. I won’t say where.”

  “I understand. Willem is on the team with all the other kids. I’ll get them to get the pics and send them to me. I’ll route them to you.”

  “Tell them to be careful. Anya knows what they do for us.”

  “He’s aware and so are the others. They know the risks, just as we did at that age.”

  “OK. I’ve got a location on Hopwood. I’m going to give him a call. Can a couple of you pick him up?”

  “Yeah, we’ll sort that. Anything else?”

  “How are you for weapons?” Deni asked.

  “Pretty good,” Hayley answered. “The aircar is well stocked.”

  “At least that’s going right,” Hanna said and looked across to Deni with a raised eyebrow. Deni answered with a shake of the head. “That’s it from our end.”

  “Same here,” Hayley replied. “We’ll get on it. Stay safe.”

  “You too,” Hanna said and cancelled the connection.

  “Lucky,” Yama pointed out. “Do you still want me out scouting?”

  “If you don’t mind,” Deni said. “You’ll see things the kids could well overlook.”

  “As I said, I’m in, but it sounds like there’s queue forming for Anja’s head.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Hanna agreed.

  “When did the two of you last sleep?” Yama looked at them both pointedly.

  Hanna glanced at the chrono on her wristcomp. “I don’t know, forty-five hours ago?

  “Right, I’m going out and you two are going to get some sleep.”

  “We can’t,” Deni disagreed. “We’ve got too much to do.”

  “No, you don’t,” Yama said firmly. “Nothing is going to happen for a while. I’d guess you’ve got about seven to eight hours until all the info you want is in. Both of you get your heads down for at least five of them. If you don’t, you’re likely to get us all killed by not being on your game. If you struggle to sleep, there are pills in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Nothing strong, just enough to take the edge off all the adrenaline pumping through your systems.”

  “He’s right,” Hanna agreed. “It’s exactly what Milicevic would say.

  “Yeah, she would.” Deni agreed.

  “Smart lady,” Yama drained the last of his beer and stood. “You got a number for me to send the info to?” Hanna gave him one to one of her secure sites from memory. “Good, get some sleep.”

  After he left, both of the girls took his advice and crashed out in his spare room. Hanna even took some of the proffered pills, after she checked their side effects and how addictive they were on the datanet.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “They think they’re in a turf war,” Hanna mused.

  “Are you talking to yourself again?” Deni asked.

  “Oh, sorry. Yeah.” Hanna went back to staring at the map displayed on Yama’s table. He had been right and the sleep did them both a lot of good. Pictures of all Rapaport’s people were waiting for them, over half directly from Yama. He really was very good at not being seen. Hanna spent over an hour linking the calls from Rapaport, Orrick and Anya to those pictures. She now had all of their coms Hacked and the hired guns locations on the map in front of her.

  “Care to share?” Deni prompted.

  “Look at where they are. Four groups, the largest with Rapaport at Ripper’s old place, one at the Workshop and two on the streets being led by Anya and Orrick. They’re securing the territory while hunting for Hayley and the others.”

  “OK, so what? Sounds normal to me.”

  “Come on, Deni. Yes, it would be normal to us two years ago. This is exactly how the gangs operate, but it’s not how Valerie trained us.”

  Her friend looked at the map again. “Oh.”

  “You see it?”

  “They’ve got us on total numbers, but if we hit each group individually, it’s closer to a fair fight.”

  “Not really.” Hanna tried her best approximation of Valerie’s deadly smile. “I know exactly where they are, all the time. I can tell our people what’s hiding round the corner.”

  “Don’t get over confident, Hanna. You’ve never done anything like this before. Neither of us have and please don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “That smile, it’s simpering, not intimidating.”

  “Fine, I’ll stop,” Hanna said in a huff. “And I’ll play it easy, no stupid risks.”

  “Good,” Deni checked her wristcomp. “It’s time for us to go and meet the others.” She stood and paused, her expression serious. “We’ll take it easy, but we’ll still kill these fuckers.”

  “Count on it,” Hanna replied and smiled naturally.

  ***

  “So, that’s the plan,” Hanna said as she finished her briefing. “Any questions?” She looked round at her Crew. Deni, Hayley, Hopwood, Leigh, Flint, Calcutta, Layman, Barber and Willem, all stood around the table in the small warehouse Hayley commandeered for her hideout.

  “What about you’re mysterious friend?” Hayley asked. “I see they aren’t here.”

  “Fighting isn’t really what he does. He’s more the sneaking type. He promised he’ll be about and help out where he can. He’s already given us a wealth of info.” Hayley nodded and the others shook their heads, only Deni looked like she had something on her mind. “What is it, Deni?”

  “I was thinking that I’d join them on the ground.”

  “I’ve never seen you fire a shot at someone, kid,” Flint interjected. “This isn’t the time to start.”

  “You’re right she never has,” Hanna said firmly.

  “Oh, and you’re so experienced with a single kill. That gives you
the right to judge does it?” Deni shot back.

  “No, that’s why I’m not going to be anywhere near the fighting.”

  Deni waved at those around them. “We can’t expect them to fight for us, if we don’t risk our lives with them.”

  “It’s what we do, Deni.” Calcutta said. The short brunette shrugged. “It’s what Milicevic pays us for. No one would expect Hopwood here to charge in guns blazing.”

  “Hey!” Hopwood exclaimed.

  “She’s right, Boss.” Leigh said. “It’s my job to keep you and the girls and boys out of trouble, not yours.”

  “Same goes for you, Deni,” Hayley said. “This is going to be hard enough as it is. We can’t take someone inexperienced in on a Job like this. The three of you are staying in the aircar.”

  Deni looked round at the group, her expression defiant. Hanna knew it well, her friend could be stubborn when she really believed in something. Hanna was struggling to disagree with her. Everything Valerie showed them about being a leader was about taking the same risks as your crew.

  “OK, hang on,” Deni said and strode over to the aircar and into the rear passenger compartment. The others all looked to Hanna and she only shrugged in response, she had no idea what her friend was up to. It didn’t take long for them to find out. Deni returned with a massive rifle over one shoulder.

  “Where did you get that?” Flint exclaimed.

  “Hidden compartment,” Deni answered. “I was going to mention it later when we started going through our gear.”

  “That’s a fucking Scythe! You don’t just find one tucked away in some smuggling bin.”

  “What do you mean, Flint?” Calcutta asked the big man.

  “That is high tech Legion shit. I’ve only ever seen one once before. Back in my army days, my unit worked with a Devil fire team, one of them were carrying it. They put her on a treetop and she was killing insurgents at ten miles. It uses self-propelled guided bullets that can penetrate even carbonide, let alone permacrete.”

  Deni looked guiltily over to Hanna. Valerie had never told them it was rarer than her armour. She’d just shown them how to use it. Hanna thought fast.