Cobra- The Vigilante Box Set 2

by Nicholas Bella

  I shrugged. “Well, only if you want to.”

  He snorted. “My god, Eric. You’re unbelievable sometimes. How can you even think about fucking at a time like this?”

  “My cock is hard, so it does some thinking for me.”

  He looked down for confirmation and shook his head when he saw my little—wait, above average—sidekick poking a vertical tent through my sweats.

  “I see your ‘Boy Wonder’ is vying for my attention,” Jordan said with a chuckle.

  “He’s ready for some action, too,” I said with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

  “I can’t. Sorry, babe. Breaking this bastard’s computer won’t take long and I’m already close to getting into his cell phone. Time is of the essence, because now he knows you have these things. He’s probably trying to cover his tracks and as soon as I’m in, I have to get to work. I can’t be fucking you or recovering from fucking you. You understand, right?”

  I was disappointed, but I totally understood. “Of course. This is important. Do your thing.”

  “Good.” Just then, a little alarm sounded on one of his devices and he yelped in excitement. Then he turned around, snatching up Richard’s phone from the desk. “Yes, we’re in his cell.”

  “First thing I want is his list of contacts,” I said. Now, I was all business as I leaned over Jordan to gaze at the screen that mirrored Richard’s cell.

  “I’m already on it,” Jordan confirmed. “He tried to delete the list, but I’m working my magic to retrieve it from his phone’s internal back up. I’ll check the external backup for any goodies there, too.”

  Again, Jordan’s fingers were flying across the keyboard, typing fast and furiously in his attempt to combat any actions Richard was trying to do to erase himself remotely from the two devices we had. He may be successful on some level, but Jordan wasn’t going to give up until he had something to take Richard down with. I decided it was best to leave him to his thing. I needed to do some research of my own, see what I could find about Takahashi and anything on Enhanced Humans.

  When Jordan was done cleaning Richard’s shit out, I was going to see what he could find on that drug that took me down, both of them. The one that was slipped into my drink and the one they made me inhale. The good thing was I was becoming immune to the drugs. That seemed to surprise them, and maybe it was my ability to heal that helped me out in that regard. Whatever the case, I needed more answers.

  I did my research, which didn’t really turn up anything we didn’t already know about both Richard and Takahashi. But then again, I wasn’t a hacker like J was. My computer skills were basic as fuck. I turned my laptop off and stood up, stretching my muscles. I gave Jordan a quick glance and saw that he was deep into what he was doing, so I left him alone. I needed to sleep, and I was sure by tomorrow, the ball would be in our court.

  Chapter Ten

  “Eric, get up!” That was what I kept hearing over and over in my dream that morphed into me being on a rocking ship that was literally battling the waves. Slowly but surely, I began to come to and blinked to see Jordan standing over me, the look of urgency in his expression.

  Immediately, I became alert. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I looked around.

  “Richard just filed a flight plan to Russia. He’s leaving from his private hangar. You have to get there before he leaves,” Jordan said.

  “Fuck!” was all I could say to that disappointing information. But if I was honest, I couldn’t say I hadn’t seen it coming. He knew we had a direct link to him. The files he had on his laptop were like a golden ticket. But the things Jordan could do with something like that was magical. No doubt, Richard was going to try to erase whatever he could, and leaving the country was going to help him out. I would bet he was going to go to the people in charge of the Killing Game… I mean, why Russia?

  I was thinking all of this as I dressed quickly in black cargo pants and t-shirt.

  “Anything else?” I asked.

  “I have satellite coverage of his private hangar. There are seven employees there. I don’t think they are armed, or at least, I can’t tell for sure. But I will be able to give you intel on their positions once you get there,” Jordan said as he followed me down the stairs.

  “Good, I’ll need your eyes when I get there. Stay in contact.” I threw on my boots and was out the door in no time. I hadn’t bothered to ask Jordan what time it was because that didn’t matter, but now that I was outside, I knew it was early morning. The sky was still dark and the streets were relatively empty. I didn’t have time to put on my outfit, nor did I want to. Not until I had them where I wanted. What I did want to do was transform into my favorite average American boy visage. I didn’t want them to have any inkling of my true identity. The fact that they had samples of my blood was bad enough in my eyes. I really needed to wrap this up. I might have to return to Tate Towers later and do a cleanup in the living room.

  I was stopped by a train on my way to Richard’s hangar, so this was the perfect opportunity to change forms, which I did. It wasn’t as painful as some, because I didn’t have to change my height or body mass. Once the train passed me, I was moving out and being careful not to attract the police. I doubted if Alexi was on my boyfriend scale where I could call in favors on tickets… or was he? Was he my boyfriend? Shit… these were thoughts I couldn’t be distracted by right then. I needed to be thinking up a plan on the fly for when I reached Richard and his EH boyfriend/bodyguard.

  Best thing about early morning travel was avoiding traffic. Doing so got me to my destination faster than I would have during rush hour. I parked far enough away that I had to make a mini hike to the place only because I didn’t want my car on anyone’s radar. That was how I had been avoiding detection all of this time. I kept up my good practices. The only thing I brought with me from my bag of weapons was my gun with the lovely suppressor and my EMP device. That plane wasn’t going to go any-fucking-where. I just had to get within range.

  “Can you hear me?” Jordan asked over my comm.

  “Yeah, what do you see?”

  “From my viewpoint, I can see some employees fueling the plane. Some are on board. I guess making sure everything is spiffy for his rich ass. Others are inside the building. There’s a limo near the hangar with three people inside. One in the driver’s seat and the other two in the back,” J said.

  “Looks like the boss is there and ready to flee on schedule,” I stated.

  “You might want to hurry, Richard and Takahashi are exiting the limo and making their way to the plane,” J informed me.

  “Shit. I’m almost there.”

  I kept to the shadows, which was a refined skill of mine. Once I got to the hangar, I took a peek around the corner to see Richard’s private—no doubt, luxury—jet parked on the tarmac. The crew was doing its final check, making sure everything was ready to go like J had said. The limousine now leaving the tarmac let me know I had gotten to this motherfucker in the nick of time. Not to say that if I hadn’t, that would be the end of me going after Richard. But it would have been that much harder. We had to strike when he was vulnerable because this might be the last time I caught him in this state.

  One thing that wasn’t going to be avoided was the crew knowing about my presence. Luckily with my EMP device, they wouldn’t be able to contact the police for fifteen minutes. That was going to have to be enough time for me to take out Takahashi and nab Richard’s snakish ass. I waited until the last of the hangar employees exited the plane, having completed their final inspections.

  Another crew member, a flight attendant, sauntered out of the hangar and made her way up the stairs. That was also when I turned on my EMP device, grounding that motherfucker and everything else that depended on electronics to function. I could see the lights go off in the plane, which I was sure had put them on alert. It was going to take my device about fifteen minutes to recharge for one more EMP shock. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need another jolt. That would just be sloppy on my part if I did.
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  People get nervous when shit goes wrong, and with the plane being completely disabled, I was sure they were on high alert inside. My guess was right when I saw the pilot appear in the doorway to inquire about the shutdown. The other employees were scrambling about, trying to get generators up and running. I placed my device by the building and took this opportunity to run at top-speed toward the plane. I pushed one of the employees out of my way and he went flying across the tarmac, landing hard on his side. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too injured, but I didn’t have time to worry about him or anyone else.

  I leaped and landed on the stairs right in front of the pilot, who froze like a deer in the headlights. No doubt, marveling at my superhuman skills since that had been quite a leap. Still, he needed to get the fuck out of my way. So I gave him a swift arm block, sending him over the railing of the stairs and down to the hard ground below. He yelped and grunted with pain upon impact. I entered the airplane and closed the door behind me, locking it.

  I pulled my gun out, and the female stewardess did the smart thing by huddling quietly in the corner by the cockpit door. Once she was out of my way, I turned toward the main area. I had my gun close to my chest but ready for action, and action was exactly what I got. Takahashi came at me, his sword slicing with vicious precision as the flight attendant broke her silence in an ear-piercing scream. I would have thought it impractical to wield a sword in such a confined space as a jet, but that wasn’t slowing Takahashi down one bit. Thankfully, I didn’t have that bitch-ass drug in my system, making me weak. This time, I was sure that sword wouldn’t do me any harm. Or at least, that was what I thought until he caught me slipping and sliced my arm.

  I yelped in pain at the sting, but kept my eyes on my attacker. Either that sword was made out of something that could harm an EH or he had put some of that drug on it and I was still susceptible to it. Probably the latter. I was glad I knew, because that meant I had to be extra careful fighting this motherfucker. He combined his sword skills with his martial arts and I really had to go all out. Fuck, why would I pick today to be the day that I didn’t bring my fucking sword? Being rash and half asleep didn’t help me fight smart, that was for sure.

  I jumped back, dodging his sword, but tripped over the sofa. He came at me, aiming the blade down toward my chest, but I swept his leg out, knocking him to the floor. We were both on our feet a second later, sizing each other up.

  “What are you doing? Kill him!” a voice ordered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Richard Tate near the back of the plane. His body was tense as he observed our fight.

  “You will die on this plane,” Takahashi threatened, no doubt inspired by his boss and lover.

  “My only regret is that I won’t get the chance to torture the living shit out of you,” I countered with some choice words of my own. I mean, really… that was my regret. I wanted to put this motherfucker in a hurt locker, but the opportunity didn’t present itself that way. I had to take him out fast in order to get to my real target. Richard motherfucking-sorry-son-of-a-bitch Tate.

  The cut on my arm burned less as I began to heal. I was guessing they increased the toxicity of the solution, but I was still removing it from my system nonetheless. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to run me through if I slipped up again. So, that was my focus. Staying alive.

  He charged me, which I knew he would by how tense his stance was. I blocked his arm with the sword, but he punched me with his free hand, knocking me back. Damn it, why did he have to be strong and fast? He wasn’t superhuman fast, but he was faster than me, so some of his blows were landing. I was trying hard not to get stabbed or sliced. I needed to switch up my fighting style or see another defeat, which was unacceptable.

  He kicked my chest, sending me falling into one of the leather chairs. I jumped up, going on the offense this time. I blocked his sword with my gun as I countered with a few blows of my own. I dodged several of his slashes and ducked some slices, then attacked with several shots of my weapon, which he managed to dodge. Shit! Gat damned zip-a-dee-doo-dah motherfucker! I lunged towards him, blocking his sword with the barrel of my gun again as I slammed him against the wall of the plane. The plane actually rocked from the impact of our combined force, but stayed upright.

  He was almost as strong as I was, but not quite. I could see that now. We were snarling and grimacing at each other as we struggled for dominance. I was winning as I pushed the blade of his sword closer to his neck.

  He headbutted me, which hurt like a motherfucker, but luckily had done more damage to him than it did to me. I saw a bright flash, but by how his face slacked and with the dazed look in his eyes, I knew he was seeing stars. I took advantage and tilted the barrel of my gun under his chin. He released one hand from his sword to grab the barrel in an attempt to move it from his face. That told me he wasn’t bulletproof like I was. That was good to know.

  “Fucking die!” Takahashi spat at me. I could see the rage in his eyes. He knew I had the advantage, all I had to do was keep it.

  I didn’t let his taunt distract me as I pushed harder against him, using all of my strength to push my gun with both hands; one finger on the trigger and my other on the barrel, countering his force.

  “Ahhhh, baka!” he cried out in what sounded like “idiot” in Japanese. I’d seen enough animes to have learned that much. I didn’t care what language he cussed me out in, this was my moment, I could feel it. As soon as the barrel was under his chin, I fired.

  The sound of the bullet leaving the chamber echoed in the confined space, causing my ears to ring. Blood and brain matter splattered across my face as I put an end to Takahashi. I looked at my handiwork to see half of his jaw had been blasted off, a piece of broken bone and teeth had fallen to the floor, along with thick globs of blood. I pushed myself off him and aimed my gun again, shooting him right between the eyes. I was satisfied when I saw more of his brain splatter across the wall of the plane and all over the leather seating.

  I looked toward the back of the plane, only to discover that Richard wasn’t there. Had he somehow gotten past me as Takahashi and I were fighting? I turned to the flight attendant, who was still in shock and folded up in the corner. I must have looked like a horrid sight to her, covered in body bits and blood, but I didn’t give a shit. “Where’s Richard?” I demanded.

  “He… he… he…” Her lips trembled as she struggled to get the information out.

  Let me help her. “WHERE!?” I yelled, furious.

  She jumped in fear, closing her eyes as tightly as she could. “He ran!” she screamed as she pointed toward the open door.

  Fuck! At least that bitch was on foot, because the EMP was still doing its job. I ran toward the door and pushed one of the employees, who must have been coming to help, down the stairs. I looked out using the advantage of the height to see if I could see the direction his bitch ass had run in. Ahhh, there you are, dumb fuck. I leaped, forgoing the stairs and the crew who’d come to the aid of the pilot. At least they had the good sense not to try to enter the plane, and for good reason. I might not be able to run super-fast, but I was one white boy who could jump. I continued to leap, covering great distances until I closed in on Richard.

  I tackled his slow ass to the grass and climbed on top of him, pinning his arms behind his back. I used one of my zip ties to bind his wrists and feet, then I rolled him over so we were face-to-face. “Yeah, bitch… I finally got your ass, and this time, you will be answering my questions.” His face was full of fear and he tried to stammer out a response, but I didn’t let him. I gave his ass a nice right hook, rendering him unconscious. My EMP was about to reach its limit and I needed to be gone by then. The only reason the cops weren’t there already was because no one could reach them. Sometimes, you had to love the digital age.

  I rose to my feet and scooped Richard up, tossing him over my shoulder. Again, I leaped, making it to the roof of the hangar, then jumped down to pick up my EMP device from where I’d hidden it. I ran off, leaping further and
further away from the scene, back to my car. What I saw before I left the hangar was the co-pilot assisting the pilot who was still incapacitated where I’d knocked him to the ground. The crew was there as well, many trying to get a signal on their cell phones.

  Now that I was out of the area, they’d call the police and report what had gone down and that Richard Tate was missing or maybe even kidnapped. Depending on if anyone saw me with his ass draped over my shoulder as I leapt away. I doubted it, though, but you never knew. Didn’t matter. They wouldn’t be able to describe Eric Cayden one bit, or even the vigilante named Cobra. A few of the people I had helped in the past had given accounts of the handsome, masked stranger who had saved them from rapists, robbers, and certain murderers in the city. But I wasn’t in my normal costume, so police would be left baffled.

  I did enjoy that my name and style was circulating. Yes, I was now on the police’s radar even more, but I was already on their radar when I killed Walter Darring. But police didn’t like vigilantes. Personally, I thought it was because we made them look bad. But they would say some shit like “we don’t work within the law, we think we’re above it,” or “there’s such a thing as due process” and all that bullshit. Fact of the matter was, good people got to go home at night when we did our thing. The phrase, “how come there’s never a cop around when you need one” was replaced by “thank you so much for saving my life.” That, at least, had been my experience.

  Richard Tate was about to find out just how seriously I took my calling, too. I placed his ass in the trunk of my ride and made sure to put some tape over his mouth. Didn’t need him making a lot of noise. I already had a place I was going to torture him at. Now, the real fun could begin.

  Chapter Eleven

  I was dressed in my outfit, which I’d had Jordan drop off for me before I sent him off. I wasn’t planning on letting Richard live, but I still didn’t want him to see J. I was also in my own sexy, hot-as-sin skin. Richard was tied to a St. Andrews cross that I had constructed out of a few planks of wood. This place had been abandoned for years in a neighborhood that had seen better days a long time ago when the government had put money into it and businesses had been allowed to flourish. Then people, looking for a better life, had moved in and business opportunities dried up. And now, this neighborhood was just another dark place where derelicts lived and preyed on the unfortunate people who didn’t have the funds to move.