Bermuda Triangle Blues: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (Scions of Magic Book 4)

by TR Cameron

  “Put ʼem on,” Ozahl said and moved to Dalton’s back. He unzipped the duffel and withdrew the hoodie, then turned so the other man could do the same with the one he carried. In less than a minute, the team wore the recognizable outfits of the Atlantean gang which, to be fair, weren’t exactly an exclusive choice. He counted on the soldiers to be able to put the pieces together and make the assumption to blame them, but it really didn’t matter. Every member of the Zatoras on the raid had an alibi in place with people ready to swear they’d been with them the whole time. As long as they all made it off the base, suspicions about their involvement should never rise to the level of certainty.

  He led the way to the door on the right but let two of the four he didn’t care about open it and advance through ahead of him. The corridor beyond was empty of people but nameplates protruded near the ceiling beside the doors along its length. Perfect symmetry and perfectly annoying. He had assumed there wouldn’t be much security on this level and was pleased to see confirmation of it. Their contact at the Fort had indicated that the underground part, redesigned in the last several years as a secure facility for prisoners, would be a different story.

  An elevator filled the wall at the end of the hallway. He ordered his group to a halt and pointed at it. “One of you stand in front facing it. The other stand back to back to watch the entrance.” He turned under the sign that said Stairs and pointed at the remaining two he didn’t know well. “You two take the lead but stop at the bottom.”

  They nodded as one, opened the door to the basement, and took turns to descend under the cover of the other’s rifle. Ozahl met Barton’s eyes, and the other man shook his head and followed them. At least I have a couple of true professionals with me. He took the next position and Lila moved close behind him.

  The staircase ended at another door. This one looked like much thicker metal and was wide enough to accommodate a couple of people at a time, which was logical for prisoner transfer. He motioned his team out of the way and Lila stood beside him, her rifle trained on the barrier. “In three, two, one….” At the end of the countdown, he used force magic to hurl the door into the room beyond and followed her as she darted through.

  Her weapon coughed bullets in three sets of three in the time it took him to get through the entrance. A guard who had stood at a different door now slid down the wall beside it, trailing blood. The other six rounds had put pockmarks in a shield that covered a guard post. Inside it, a soldier rapidly overcame her distraction from the weapons fire. Ozahl raised his hands and discharged a double force blast that shattered the bulletproof shield where it had been weakened. The shards erupted into the area beyond and removed their foe from the equation before she could sound the alarm.

  He turned to the other door and blasted that off its hinges as well. It careened down the hallway and clattered as it slid on the tile floor. “One of you get in the guardroom and unlock the cells. The rest of us, anyone who might be our target gets tied up, bagged, and dragged. Get a move on.” He followed the others as they rushed into the area, except for Dalton, who kept his rifle trained on the staircase without needing to be told to.

  At the far end of the hallway was another locked door, and he advanced toward it with Lila at his side. It had been unlocked at the guard station, so all he had to do this time was pull it open and let her work her magic. After a flurry of soft barks and loud screams, she announced, “Clear.” Two figures in white lab coats sprawled with bullet holes leaking dark blood onto the light-colored floor. Four beds were present in the room and two of them held exactly what he’d hoped to find. He shrugged out of the duffel bag and reached for Lila’s rifle. She handed it over and headed to the nearest man to release him from the Army’s custody into theirs.

  In the end, they captured three Atlanteans, the two wounded and another who’d been in a normal cell. There had been a couple of other prisoners present but Ozahl decided to leave them locked up. If he could have trusted them to wait until his team was clear, it would have been a different story as any additional chaos that would direct attention away from his next target worked for his benefit, but he lacked confidence in that outcome.

  He used force magic to float the bags up and out of the building. The front guard post had a key box, and they snatched all of them. A jeep was parked to the left of the entrance, and Dalton matched the keyring label to the number painted on the side and threw the appropriate one to Lila. He moved to a different vehicle and repeated the process before he climbed behind the wheel.

  After less than three minutes, they transferred the prisoners into two of the SUVs. Ozahl sent them away, one directly south and the other to move East and take the long way home. The remainder of his team scrambled into the vehicles and proceeded to their second objective.

  Sirens and the sound of engines fading from their position toward the airfield brought a smile to his face, and he grinned out the window.

  That’s the first part done. Now for the fun stuff.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The trip to the Mission Training Complex was a little longer than it needed to be because they looped to the north of the base to avoid the main road. While the likelihood that they’d be noticed in the confusion created by the airbase fire was small, Ozahl liked to control whatever elements he could. Plus, if it somehow drew the guards posted at the facility away, so much the better.

  Despite its martial-sounding name, the MTC was really nothing more than a glorified computer instruction facility. Units would rotate in for Virtual Reality training in a variety of scenarios. The electronic nature of it all allowed for maximum configurability with minimum expense. As they passed several unmarked buildings, the mage shook his head. The likelihood that the anti-magic bullets would be in an annoying location was high and he still hadn’t decided exactly where the line between acceptable and too dangerous lay.

  Going back to Grisham without the ammunition wouldn’t make him look good, especially since Strang had apparently accomplished his part of the mission without an issue. On the other hand, being noticed by the many, many soldiers on the base could lead to outcomes far worse than having to defend his team’s failure to the Zatora boss.

  The vehicles came to an abrupt halt at the loading dock at the back of the structure. Their contact had concluded that if they planned to use this building for the transfer, that would be where they’d do it. They clambered out onto the raised platform and he tried to lift the heavy door. It was locked, naturally.

  He wrapped his hand in a layer of force magic and grasped the thick padlock on the handle. Willing flame into life, he heated the thinnest part of the lock between two fingers and hoped it would give before his magical protection did. The metal surrendered first and he pulled the lock out, threw it aside, and lifted the door.

  It was definitely a warehouse area, the same as he’d seen any number of times before. No pallet filled with ammunition boxes awaited them, however, and he cursed. “Spread out and look quickly. You have two minutes.” He already knew they wouldn’t find anything.

  If they were here, they would be right at the entrance, ready to be redeployed. Sure enough, the others returned by the deadline with nothing to report. He strode out to the vehicles and slid into the one he’d claimed, followed quickly by Dalton and Lila.

  From there, he addressed the remaining members of his team. “Okay, you check the nearest warehouse, then move on to the next until I tell you to stop. We’ll head to the Class VII. And remember, if you get heat, go north and draw it away from the rest of us.”

  The four men wore varied expressions of concern from none to near panic, but they didn’t register a complaint as they removed the gang disguises and drove away. That’s something, anyway. He’d thought about dividing his small group so someone could be there to ensure they didn’t screw up, but he wasn’t confident about what he’d face at their destination and wanted his most reliable people with him. They pulled their hoodies off and drove down the fort’s main road, kept thei
r heads down and their eyes forward, and did their best to blend in. If they were stopped, the chances of talking their way out of the situation were minimal. And, if they had to do some damage in public, that would definitely cross the line that would force them to abandon the mission.

  They endured a stressful moment when a truck seemed to linger beside them for longer than required, but it accelerated and sped toward the airfield. Flickering orange showed on the underside of the clouds in that direction and Ozahl had to admit being impressed at the chaos Strang had caused.

  One more reason not to come back empty-handed. They pulled in at the building closest to the warehouse as their target was protected by a twelve-foot chain fence with razor wire on the top. Lights dispatched the shadows all around. Lila shook her head from the driver’s position. “That’s a little harder than sneaking into the medical ward.”

  Dalton snorted. “We should have kept some of the others and had them create another diversion.”

  The mage shrugged. “Sometimes, you have to do it the hard way. We’ll stay together and if necessary, I’ll give the word to retreat. If I’m incapacitated, do as you wish but it’d be good if you’d bring me along.”

  He finished with a smile and received the laughs he’d hoped for. It’s always good to keep it light where you can. He climbed out of the vehicle and his associates followed. They moved into the shadows of the building they were parked beside and he squinted ahead to make out the security measures. “At least they’re not doing foot patrols. They only have someone watching.”

  Dalton replied, “They probably sent people to the airfield.”

  “True.” Ozahl tapped his finger against his teeth for a moment as he considered their options. “Okay. The first thing we have to do is take care of the cameras. I’ll do that. Second, Lila will need to shoot the one on guard this side from beyond the fence. Can you make that shot?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, although probably not with only one bullet.”

  “As long as we’re still silenced, no worries. Once that’s done, I’ll cut through the fence and we’ll use the door he’s guarding to enter. I expect resistance inside but maybe we’ll get lucky and the bullets will be near an exit and far from the large-scale stuff.” He wouldn’t be averse to snatching a couple of rocket launchers simply on general principles, but they would be a target of opportunity rather than a priority. “If we have to run, we try this direction first. If we’re blocked, we’ll improvise.”

  Lila chuckled. “We’re good at improvisation.”

  He rolled his shoulders and rocked his head from side to side. “Okay, so. Cameras, guard, fence, hoodies, and in we go.”

  The first part of the plan had gone perfectly. He’d put an illusion in front of the camera lenses that would stand up to a casual glance, Lila’s initial triple burst had silently dropped the soldier watching their side of the building, and the fence was easily defeated. They’d scampered across the hundred feet of brightly lit pavement without detection and found the key to the door attached to the guard’s belt.

  The plan started to go off the rails as soon as they entered. Again, no pallet full of conveniently labeled bullets awaited them. That wasn’t a huge surprise as they’d entered through the side. The more likely location lay ahead and to the left. The unexpected wrinkle was the bustle of activity in the warehouse, apparently a maintenance night shift to judge by the calls between the various people present. He scuttled sideways toward an office at the corner of the building. The windows that enclosed it showed no one inside. They snuck into it and paused while he wracked his brain for the best approach.

  Dalton shook his head. “Let Lila kill them all. Then, we can take their stuff.” As usual, he couldn’t tell if the man was joking but imagined he probably was. With that wit, it’s no wonder he has so many one-night stands. No one wants to stick around for a second.

  She smacked her partner on the arm. “Focus, schmuck. They’re grouped too closely together to pull that off.”

  He peered over the desk before him to take a quick look at the warehouse floor. Tanks and Humvees were parked in orderly rows and people in beige overalls crawled over them. All the way across the building lay a smaller garage door with a stack of boxes that could easily be ammo crates in front of it. The problem would be to reach there without being noticed. He sighed and cast about for a solution and finally located one high above them. It was far from perfect but it seemed stupid to make all this effort and leave before they’d exhausted all their options.

  Ozahl swiveled to face his teammates. “I’ll go up to the metal beams supporting the roof and cross. If there are bullets there, I’ll flash a light at you and create a diversion. Then, we’ll go with Dalton’s plan and eliminate them.” Dalton raised his hand for a high-five, and both the mage and Lila ignored it. “If I’m discovered, run to the door. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Quickly, he moved toward the office entrance and put his back against the wall. He’d long since determined the magical requirements of the action he was about to perform, but that didn’t make him any keener on heights than he’d ever been. Even though his magic would protect him if he fell, a part of his brain still whimpered and babbled when he got more than ten feet off the ground. This three-story-plus building would absolutely push that button.

  With an exhale to steady himself, he cast a veil and slammed a force blast into the floor. It launched him on a perfect trajectory, and he used the same power to control his flight and land cleanly atop one of the girders. He wound his arms around the cross-support that ran from it to the one above it.

  From there, it was a simple matter to maintain the veil with one part of his mind while he crept along the narrow beams to the other side of the building. Sounds and shouts from below might have threatened his focus, but he’d learned the art of segmenting his thoughts so he simply cataloged and discarded them. Only noises that suggested he’d been discovered would register as anything more than background sound.

  On the opposite side, he found a darkened area and dropped into it, then crept carefully toward the stack of eight medium-sized wooden boxes. Sure enough, stenciled on the side of each was the word ammunition, and even though it didn’t specify anti-magic, it would be too much of a coincidence if at least some of it wasn’t. Unfortunately, it couldn’t be checked without clearing the space. He summoned a light and flashed it at the office, then turned and delivered a blast of force magic at a set of shelves behind the tanks. It tipped and spilled large drums of oil and a substantial number of tools with loud thumps and shrill ringing sounds.

  The mechanics rushed to the place and he moved behind them to eliminate the stragglers with force blasts that bounced them off the heavy metal vehicles on either side of the path. His efforts went unnoticed in the shouting and chaos and doubtless, Lila took advantage of the same to fell her chosen targets. By the time the three met at the shelves, everyone else in the warehouse was down, although the lucky ones were only unconscious. He pointed at Dalton. “Find keys for a Humvee. Lila, come with me.”

  They crossed to the stack and he broke the crates open to reveal metal containers of bullets within. Of the eight, five contained standard ammo of a machine gun caliber but the last three held the object of his search, one with rifle ammunition and two with pistol rounds. He grinned at his subordinate.

  “Pay dirt. Grab two.” He swept up the remaining box and threw it in the vehicle Dalton pulled forward, then jumped inside. Lila deposited her boxes beside his and ran to press the opener for the huge garage door before she joined them.

  When they drove out, the outside guard on that side of the warehouse looked at them strangely in the instant before Ozahl hurled him against the building with a blow of force magic. He crumpled, and Lila leapt out to throw the switch to open the automatic gate in the fence. A minute later, they turned onto on the main road and ten minutes after that, they’d abandoned the vehicle, divided the ammunition between other vehicles, and were in their own SUV on the road
south to the city.

  Dalton and Lila chattered happily in the front seats. In the back, he closed his eyes and thought about the future and specifically, about how he could use the interrogations to come and the anti-magic bullets they’d acquired to his and Danna’s best benefit.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tanyith stepped through the portal into the bunker and turned to encourage Kendra to follow him. She wore a concerned expression as she did so, and he laughed. “You’ll face a criminal on the street with no hesitation but when your boyfriend uses a little magic, you freak out.”

  She shook her head and turned in a slow circle to examine the room. “This is weird. The portal, the place you’ve brought me, the situation. Weird, weird, weird.”

  “And perfectly appropriate for you, then.” She flipped him off and he laughed. “I’ll start collecting what we need from the lockers. Feel free to look around.” He’d cleared the visit with Cali beforehand and she’d agreed that letting the detective in on her parents’ secret likely had more positives than negatives. He’d sensed reluctance in her admission, and he assumed he would probably feel the same protectiveness if all he had left of his parents was an underground lair.

  As far as he knew, his mother and father were safe in their adopted city of Las Vegas. He’d sent them a message through a circuitous route of friends, friends of friends, and their friends, to tell them he was out, alive, and would be out of contact for a while. Tanyith had asked Zeb to let them know if something bad happened to him, and the dwarf had readily agreed.

  He had brought two heavy waterproof backpacks Cali had purchased for the trip with the money she’d planned to spend on boat tickets before Diana Sheen had used her agency funds. They were the same kind Navy Seals used and could be made more or less buoyant by increasing or decreasing the air in the outer portions. They already had the uniforms they’d worn to the last fight but he intended to shove as many of the other items as he could into them. There was no way to tell what they might need in New Atlantis, and they presumably couldn’t simply walk up to a store owner and ask for things.