“Come on man. How hard can it be? Sylvia will be there with you.” I laugh.
“Humph.” He grunts.
What is that about? What’s going on with them? “What’s that supposed to mean?” I can’t help but ask.
“Nothing.” He stands going to the cockpit.
Vegas looks at me shrugging his shoulders. Lazarus waits for Tango to disappear behind the door before he says anything. “They may have had a thing going for a while.”
“What do you mean a thing going?” Vegas asks.
“They slept together. Tango broke if off.” Lazarus shrugs.
“How do you know?” I ask.
“I over heard them.”
“That explains a lot.” I say off handily.
“I don’t know why she is se… cute.” Vegas finishes.
Whatever the reason I’m sure Tango thought it was necessary to do so. I don’t say any more about it. It isn’t anything to me what Tango does in his spare time. The guy could loosen up more though. I don’t ever remember seeing him smile or laugh.
Sara is still sound asleep when we land. Taking her in my arms carrying her off the plane with my bag slung over my shoulder. She doesn’t make a sound. Sylvia is standing there waiting for us. I automatically walk in her direction. Vegas is right she is sexy, but not my type. Her skirt is knee length and her blouse has two buttons popped open showing her cleavage with her red hair hanging over her shoulder. Her brown eyes says she has secrets. I can clearly see why Tango would have slept with her. Again I don’t feel anything, but friendship toward her.
“So this is Sara?” she asks.
“Yes.”
Sara opens her eyes looking around. “Where are we daddy?”
Sylvia looks at me, her perfect manicured brows raised in question. I just shrug not knowing what to say. Sara tightens her grip around my neck. “Sweetie this is Sylvia she is going to stay with you and Tango until I get back.”
“I don’t like her.” She whispers in my ear.
“Give her a chance. You’ll like her.”
Sara shakes her head no. Tears forming in her eyes again. She buries her face in my neck. Sylvia waits patiently for me to calm Sara. Rubbing her back gently I whisper. “It’s okay honey. No one will hurt you. I promise.”
“I don’t like her.” She whispers in my ear brokenly.
“Sara do you like shopping?” Sylvia asks.
Sara ignores Sylvia, asking a question of her own. “Daddy. Why can’t you come with us?”
“I have to get the bad guys remember. I’ll be right here if you need me. Sylvia will call me if you need anything at all. Okay.”
“But I don’t like her.”
“It will be okay. We will have lots of fun.” Sylvia says.
Sara looks up at me with sadness written all over her face. “While I’m gone Tango will play dolls with you.” I say gently. She looks over at Tango. He looks to the ground. I don’t know which he is afraid of more Sara or Sylvia. “I think he is afraid of you.” I whisper to Sara. For the first time she giggles.
“But I’m little. I’m not scary.” She says smiling.
“You’ll have to make friends with him.”
“How?” She whispers.
“He likes to play and shop for toys.” I know Tango is going to be pissed at me for this, but it’s the only way I can get Sara to agree to stay with Tango and Sylvia. “So what do you say? You want Tango and Sylvia to take you toy shopping?”
She nods her head yes, blonde curls flopping in her face. “I still don’t like her.”
“I know sweetheart. I won’t be gone long. You’ll be having so much fun, you’ll forget all about me.” I say smiling at her.
“I will never forget you, daddy.” There she goes using the D word again.
I stand her on the ground. Sylvia holds out her hand for Sara to take. She hesitates, then she places her tiny hand in Sylvia’s. “Here,” I had my bank card to Sylvia, “by her whatever she wants.” Sylvia raises her brow at me again in question, but doesn’t say anything.
Before Sylvia gets to the car, Sara breaks loose running back toward me. “I love you daddy.” She says hugging my neck tight.
“I love you too munchkin. I’ll see you real soon.” I kiss her on top of the head. This time Tango takes Sara leading her toward the awaiting car. I watch as they leave before I make a move to leave as well.
“Don’t worry man. She’s in good hands.” Lazarus says.
“I know.” Picking my bag off the ground I head to the waiting car.
Vegas is driving and Lazarus is on the passenger side. I’m in the back seat making sure we have all the essentials we need. Checking my gun for the third time making sure it’s fully loaded and the silencer in in tight. I don’t know what to expect when I do face William, but I know for sure it isn’t going to end well. I will probably kill him. I think over what Braxton had said and it makes my blood boil all over again. How could anyone use a child for their gain? What was William going to do with the child? I don’t want to think on that answer too long.
“Coming up on the strip now.” Vegas informs us.
We drive up the street slowly. Finding a parking place is more difficult than we had intended. It seems everyone is out tonight. Finally parking in a lot across from where William’s casino is. It’s a perfect spot. A Black sports car pulls up in front of us blocking the view. We wait for a few minutes to see if it’s going to move. When it doesn’t I step out.
“What are you doing?” Lazarus asks grinning.
Walking up to the car I knock on the tented window. The window slowly descends down. A bleached blonde smiles at me clearly checking me out. “Could you please move.” I smirk at her.
“For you baby I’d do anything. Want to take a ride. My friend and I…”
“Sorry. No can do.” I cut her off.
Her plump lips turn in a pout. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Come on baby.”
“I’d really appreciate it if you moved.” I smile.
“Make me.” The girl says smiling wickedly.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think you want that.” I’m more serious now. I don’t have time for this. I need her out of our way.
“Fine.” She continues to pout.
“Thank you.” I walk back to our car before she can say anything more.
Getting back in the car Lazarus looks over his shoulder at me. “Did you get a blow job? It took long enough.”
“Fuck you.” I retort laughing.
“Damn man. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been with a woman?” Vegas asks.
“Don’t care man.” I say rolling my eyes.
“Game on boys.” Lazarus perks up.
Looking out the window I spot Vancard and his men lurking outside of William’s casino. William must already be inside. “You know I think Braxton was a distraction.”
“As in him and Marco taking Sara?” Vegas asks.
“Yeah think about it. They take Sara knowing we would turn around and head back. I bet they didn’t think we would make it here in time for their meeting.” I say watching Vancard give instruction to his men.
“Makes sense.” Lazarus opens his door ready to make a move as Vancard vanishes inside.
This is going to be tricky. Lazarus is wearing a black suit jacket, button down white shirt and slacks. The man looks as if he could wrestle a bear and come out the winner. That’s how big he is. His expensive watch glaring in the lights from the casino. The man has an aurora around him that screams money. It isn’t hard for him to get inside. He needs to keep his distance from William or this little raid will fall all to hell. Lazarus has to pose as a potential buyer. So his job is to approach Vancard. Vegas is up next. The man feels right at home here, after all this is how he got his name. He is also dressed expensively. He makes his way inside. William has no idea who Vegas is. Tango recruited him after William went rouge. It’s his job to convince William that he is a buyer as
well. I wait exactly ten minutes before I make my move.
I’m dressed in black. My job is to scale the building get inside and break into William’s office. Sounds simple right. Wrong nothing is never simple in this line of work. Always expect the unexpected. I crouch low running in the shadows what little there is. I make it to the side of the building taking out my grapple I shoot for the first ledge. Once my wire is secure I real myself up. I do this until I’m on the top of the building. Going to the door that I know is locked I take out my code breaker. After several minutes of taking the damn security pad apart I plug the device in and wait until it breaks the code.
The door clicks and the light turns green. Opening the door slowly I make my way through the brightly lit hallway. I come to a sudden stop. When I spot two men standing outside a large door. This has to be William’s office. Before I can duck out of sight. The men come barreling toward me shouting. I brace myself for the fight. One man pulls out his gun aims and fires. Ducking I roll to the side the bullet grazing my arm. Pointing my gun I fire shooting him in the head. The other guy pulls out his gun, before he has a chance to fire I take him out shooting him in the head as well. Shit is already starting to go wrong. I need to get my shit straight. I need to be more aware. I should have known William would have men all around. I should have anticipated that. Ducking out of sight I wait for the door to open and someone come out to investigate the noise.
Sure enough the door burst open. A man in a tux comes out. He looks from side to side noticing the two men lying on the floor. He runs in my direction. Sticking out my foot I trip him. He rolls over pointing a gun at me. Taking his wrist I bend it until it snaps. The gun falls. Before he can howl in pain I punch him in the face rolling his eyes in the back of his head. I pull all three men around the corner hiding them out of view.
Looking up I notice a camera. Just fucking great. Pointing my gun I shoot the lens. That’s just one more bump in the road. Going to the door that’s left wide open. I take a quick glance inside. It looks empty. I make quick work of slipping inside the room closing the door quietly behind me. It won’t be long until the guards alert William of the security breach. The office is dimly lit and screams money. Leather everywhere, the couch the chairs, every piece of furniture in this office is expensive. Pulling out my small flash light I thumb through the files on the desk. They are mostly things on the casino. Going to the filing cabinet I pull on the handle, but the damn thing is locked. Searching the desk for a key, I come up empty. I don’t have time to look for something to open the cabinet with. Pointing my gun at it I fire breaking the lock.
Pulling the drawer open I find there are not many files. Pulling out a file marked receipt, how interesting, I thumb through the pages finding a picture of a man and woman with a little girl standing in front of them. Sara. I tuck the file in my backpack. Taking the rest of the files out and flipping through the pages I find these are deals that have already went down according to the dates. These are no use to me now. Storing them back in the cabinet flicking off my flash light I make my way cautiously out of the room.
I wonder how Lazarus and Vegas are faring. So far William’s guards haven’t come to stop me. I find the elevator not sure where the hell I’m going. Pushing the button to the bottom floor I wait patiently for the flash of numbers over head to indicate that I have made it to the bottom. I look up to see another camera looking straight at me. Pulling out my gun, glad for the silencer, I shoot it out. I hit the stop button. Something isn’t right. It’s a trap. No way can it be this easy. I know William and I know he isn’t this stupid to just let me walk in here without having a plan first.
Chapter 8
Instead of continuing on down as I had planned. I scaled up in the elevator shaft. Hoping no one decides to take a ride up, not until I’m out of harm’s way. Dangerous I know. I wait a few minutes sitting on top of the elevator I need to find another way down without William knowing. Sara’s words come crashing back to me. I don’t want the bad guys to hurt you like they did mommy and daddy. My heart breaks for her. All the more reason for me to take them out. I realize that I’m not doing this for myself any more, but for Sara. I need to take them out as soon as possible. Scaling up the side of the elevator I find an opening. A floor above me. Prying the doors open I pull myself out of the shaft.
I know there are going to be more cameras here, but I really have no other option. Walking down the hall I shoot out everyone I see. Letting them know what floor I’m on. It can’t be helped though. I duck in the bathroom. Looking up at the ceiling finding the air vents. Taking my tools out of my belt; I unscrew the metal plate that’s in place and climb up inside the vents. It’s small as hell and I barely fit through the damn thing. I’m damn glad I’m not claustrophobic or this would probably be the end of me. Crawling in the direction of what I think is down. I descend until I hit a dead end. I must have missed a turn. Crawling backward is a feat in itself. But I manage.
Just as I thought there is a sharp turn to my right about half way back the way I came. After what seems like hours of crawling I come to an open area. Right below me is a huge room. As quietly as possible I crawl to it. Looking down I see Lazarus talking to Vancard. They both are drinking what I assume is whiskey. It’s hard to tell from this angle. Vancard is trying to sell Lazarus drugs and women.
“I have them from age seventeen to twenty- five.” Vancard chuckles.
I can’t tell what expression is on Lazarus’s face, but the slight tightening of his fist says he wants to tear Vancard apart. Looking over the room as much as I can without falling through the ceiling and being as quiet as possible I take in the scene below me. A guard at the door, one behind Vancard. I know there has to be more. Especially as big as Lazarus is, no damn way is Vancard that stupid to only bring two men to protect his sorry ass. I could drop down to pay a visit, but that would probably be a mistake. Someone would get shot, most likely Vancard and his boys, then I’d have Tango tearing me a new ass. So I patently wait.
“I want five. I’ll pay top dollar. I get to pick.” Lazarus requests.
“Top dollar you say?” Vancard stand to refill his glass.
“Do I need to repeat myself?” I can tell by the agitation in Lazarus voice that he can’t hold his composure for much longer.
“Mr. Fanon. What age range would you prefer? If you like I have a special one. My colleague,” meaning William, “has one a bit younger. Eight years old, blonde hair, green eyes.”
Sara! The way he describes the girl screams Sara in my head. I feel the blood pounding in my ears. It would be so easy to pull my gun shoot him in the top of the head right now. Lazarus would applaud me on a job well done. I can tell from the twitch in his hand he is going to explode. He knows as well as I do that Vancard is talking about Sara.
“I see. I like my girls a bit older. I want five. Seventeen to Twenty. My pick.”
“I can arrange that now if you would like.” The fucker has them here now? Where the hell is he holding them? No doubt somewhere well-guarded. Before I know it I have my hand on my gun. The only thing that stops me from blowing a hole right through his head is his next statement. “But of course you have to prove yourself. You see I can’t let just anyone in on my sales.” In other words he has to make sure Lazarus isn’t a cop. Vancard has no clue as to who is sitting right in front of him. If he did he would be begging for the cops to come take him away.
“How so?” Lazarus says annoyed.
“First I have to have a little insurance.”
“What would that be?”
Vancard snaps his finger and one of his men leave. While they wait for the man to return Vancard refills Lazarus’s glass. “Mr. Fanon.” Which is a fake name. No doubt Lazarus made it up before he got to the front door tonight. “What is your interest in these girls? I can understand the drugs. Most men, like yourself usually re-sales them. After all my drugs are high quality. But I’m puzzled about the girls. You don’t look like a man who…”
“Mr. V
ancard. My business with these girls is nothing to you. Are you selling them or not? I can always give my business to someone else. I’m sure they would love my money just the same.”
Before Vancard has time to come up with a retort to Lazarus, his man comes back with a young girl in toll. The girl looks to be around nineteen give or take a year. Her red hair is shielding her face. Her head bent down looking at the floor. I can visibly see her trembling. No doubt she is scared out of her mind. She doesn’t make eye contact with anyone in the room.
“Kneel.” Vancard demands the girl. When she doesn’t do as told Vancard back hands her. The girls head snaps to the side. Lazarus is keeping his cool, but barely. Again Vancard instructs the girl to kneel. This time she does. Vancard points a gun to the back of her head trying to get a reaction out of Lazarus.
“It’s your merchandise.” Lazarus drawls as if he is bored out of his mind.
If I were in that same situation I would have killed Vancard right there on the spot. I guess that’s why Tango sent Lazarus instead of me. He knew that I would have killed Vancard and brought back his body as a souvenir.
“Then, you won’t mind if I shoot her.”
The girl looks up at Lazarus, clearly with tears in her pretty brown eyes, pleading with him to stop this madness. The girl bows her head again. Lazarus’s hand tightens slightly. If you didn’t know the man well then you would have missed it. “You’re wasting my time Mr. Vancard. I have another meeting in an hour.” Lazarus check his watch for effect. The man is damn convincing.
Vancard removes the gun form the girl’s head handing it over to one of his men. I’ve had as much of this as I can handle. Vancard signals for his man to leave taking the girl with him. “I like you Mr. Fanon.”
I crash through the ceiling before he can finish his statement. I shoot the man standing beside Vancard in the head. Lazarus hits the other guy so hard he kills him instantly. I grab Vancard before he can make it around his desk. My hand on his throat squeezing, His face turns purple. The words float back in my mind. Him offering up Sara as a sex slave. All rational thoughts gone. In the distance I hear Lazarus shooting. Men falling all around me. I don’t let go of Vancard’s throat. Suddenly Lazarus is at my side coaching me to let go. Somewhere in my blurred vision I come back to reality. Easing my grip on him slowly until my hands are no longer around his neck.
Secret Ops: Ty's Revenge Page 6
