“Why is she still sleeping?” Judge asked.
“Best guess?” Hawk stated. “She’s been through a lot and her body just needs a little time to recover. Her pulse is getting stronger but she’s lost a lot of blood. Her body can replace it but again, that takes time.”
Judge glanced over at Bull. “What happened? Did she say anything? Does she know who it was that hurt her?”
Bull nodded and handed him the notebook Charlie wrote in earlier. He walked over to the window and searched the street below while Judge and the others read her words.
A few minutes later, Judge joined him at the windows. “So she witnessed a murder huh?”
“I have a feeling it was a little more than that. I think there’s a whole lot about this she isn’t saying, not yet anyway.”
“You think she’s knows more about this murder?” Judge asked.
Bull nodded still watching the street below.
“You think she’ll tell us about it?”
Bull shrugged. “She doesn’t seem to trust very easy and she’s scared. I just know she’s got more to say.”
Judge scoffed. “Do you blame her? She’s been dragged into a war with the River Ratz, beaten to hell and her throat slashed. I’m surprised she isn’t dead yet. You know the Ratz, they won’t stop until they’re sure she’s dead. That’s why they’ve never been arrested, they protect themselves by making sure all the bodies are buried and buried deep.”
Bull nodded. “But I’m not going to let them get to her again. I don’t know why but there’s something here I need to protect.”
“Protect?” Judge asked.
Bull glanced at him then turned to search the street again. “My gut is in overdrive right now and everything inside me is telling me I have to protect this woman.”
“Your gut?” Judge frowned. He searched Bull’s eyes for a moment then turned to look at Hawk. When he turned back to Bull he said, “Your gut usually only worked like that in battle, doesn’t it?”
Bull shrugged. “I know and that’s what makes this girl impossible to ignore.”
Hawk joined them and slapped Bull on the back. “Hey man, if your gut is speaking to you, you’d better listen to it. It kept us alive more than once over in the sandbox.”
Brava Victor Unit became so successful because the men knew what they were doing and they all learned to listen to Bull’s instinct. His gut told them when danger was near and it was always right. Except when he needed it the most. That time he hadn’t paid attention to his gut feelings and two of the men he considered closer than the brothers he never had, died.
He had a feeling this time he needed to listen to his gut. This time, there was more at stake than he could bear to lose. Gazing over his shoulders at the woman lying on the bed he couldn’t help but wonder what she meant to him.
His belly rolled when he turned to watch the streets again. Right now, everything was quiet but he didn’t think it would stay that way. No, he had a feeling something bad was brewing out there. He didn’t know what but it was coming to his town and he didn’t like it one bit.
“What is it?” Judge asked quietly.
“War is coming,” Bull whispered. “And this is a war nobody will win.”
“Fuck a duck.” Hawk swore as he ran his fingers through his hair.
One of the new men joined them at the window. “Hey dude, what’s with all the lights up here? Aren’t you afraid someone down there will see them?”
Bull snorted. “No one will see them. When I bought this place and fixed it up, I tinted the windows with special paint, so I could see out but no one could see in. They don’t even know the lights are on up here. This is my safe house and I made sure it was not only secured…” He motioned toward the camera system he had set up, “but also so I could watch over the city when I was here.” Turning back to the windows, he asked them, “Did you guys see any lights on inside when you drove up?”
“Come to think about it now, I didn’t notice,” Tank muttered.
Bull nodded, making his point.
* * * *
Hours later, Bull was still at the window watching over his city. Things had been quiet all night but he knew the dawn was coming and his belly was still rolling. The others were resting same as Charlie.
Charlie had woken up at one point during night, very early in the morning hours. At first, she’d been afraid of the extra men then Bull explained who they were and that they would help to keep her safe.
Charlie wrote that no one would be safe as long as the Ratz were around. They would tear the city apart until they found her.
When Judge asked her more about the murder she’d witnessed, Charlie shut down. She refused to tell them anymore and it frustrated Bull to no end.
Now it was an hour to sunrise and the quiet was deafening. Suddenly, there was an explosion that shattered the quiet, then screams and chaos could be heard. Looking to his left, Bull saw a fireball light up the pre-morning sky. Then another blast shattered the quiet. This time, he turned to the right.
This second explosion was only a few blocks away. Wails of sirens drew people from their homes as the fires grew in size. Police and firetrucks screamed down the streets. Horns blared. Red and blue lights flickered, lighting up the still darkened sky.
“What the fuck?” Judge and Hawk stumbled from their beds and came to join Bull at the windows.
Mustang went over to the security cameras that blanketed the building they were in.
Charlie sat quietly in her bed shivering. The first blast tore her from her sleep and they could all see the fires. Her knees pulled to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She was staring at nothing in particular. Her eyes were haunted and her whole body was trembling.
As the roar of the closest fire grew louder, Bull watched as part of the nearby building collapsed under the heat of the fire. People screamed and moved back. He could see the people running in the street below. As the sky lightened in the dawn, the shadow became clearer.
“Wish we could see what’s going on out there a little better,” Mustang muttered.
“We can,” Wild Child told him. He was one of the new guys Judge had working for them.
“How so?” Judge turned to his man with a frown.
“You know me Judge, I never go anywhere without at least one of my toys.” Wild Child told nodded. “It’s time to let loose the Krakken.” He went downstairs and brought a big box back with him. Then he set the box down on the floor and snapped open the lid.
Inside the box was a drone. Lifting it out carefully, he reached back inside and got out a control panel and a small laptop computer. Taking it over to the desk where Bull had the security cameras located, he turned the camera on the drone and fiddled with the frequency on the laptop.
Handing the drone to his buddy Tank, who took it over to the window Wild Child started up the drone. Everyone but Charlie gathered around the place where Wild Child was sitting to see what the camera on the drone could see.
Bull opened the window just enough to let the drone out.
Wild Child flew the drone first to the fire on the left. Passing over the houses, the drone flew in as close to the fire as possible without being too obvious. It showed an old abandoned gas station burning out of control. There was one fire truck battling the flames and a large crowd gathered there.
Wild Child scanned the crowd and everyone could see a few of the people watching the fire wore River Ratz colors. They didn’t seem too concerned about the blaze but rather they were watching the crowd.
“Is that drone one of the quiet ones?” Judge asked his teammate.
“Yeah, nobody will even know it’s there, at least until the sun comes up and then only if they look up.”
“Come back over to the fire closer to us,” Judge ordered.
The drone turned around and flew back over the houses flying past the building they were in and hovered over the neighborhood. They watched as the empty warehouse burned even hotter. Part of the ro
of fell in and again, people scattered, screaming.
Scanning the crowd watching the building burn again, they saw River Ratz in the crowd and again the Ratz were watching the people more than the fire.
Bull looked at Judge and Hawk and shook his head. “They’re looking for someone,” he whispered as he turned his head to stare at Charlie.
She was rocking back and forth on the bed now.
“It can’t be her they are looking for,” Judge reasoned. “She’s all beat to hell. She would stand out in a crowd looking the way she does.”
Bull shrugged. “Then who are they looking for? Why blow up two buildings?”
Suddenly, there was another explosion. This one was in another part of town.
Bull jerked his head toward the windows and ran over to see if he could see where this explosion came from. His eyes were tight when he knew the part of town. Turning his head to stare at Wild Child he asked, “Can that thing make a sweep over the town to find that fire?”
Wild Child nodded and moved the drone over the town to search out the third fire.
As it closed in, Bull came back to the table and watched as his own neighborhood came into view. The drone flew past his house and narrowed in on the path he drove every day to the gym. Finally, the drone hovered over the street where Smokey’s Gym used to be. The explosion took out the gym and the laundry mat next door.
Bull swore. “Son of a bitch.”
He and the others watched as the fire grew out of control. People began gathering. They were standing back away from the flames but no firetruck or police swamped the area.
“Why would they target a gym?” Tank asked.
Bull searched the crowd and tightened his lips when he saw a familiar face. He pointed the man out. “That was the bastard I saw earlier tonight. He and his three friends were riding around in a car searching for something.”
“Are you sure it was him?” Judge asked.
“Oh yeah,” Bull growled. “He made sure I saw his face and he lifted a gun and posed with it in his face. His message to me was he wasn’t afraid to use it.”
Judge lifted his head from the screen and stared at the girl on the bed. He didn’t have to say the words out loud. Everyone in the room knew what the gangsters were looking for.
Charlie raised her head and stared back at the six men in the room with her. There was fear in her eyes but there was also defiance. She said with her eyes what she couldn’t say with her voice as she dared them to comment on the fact that she was the one the Ratz were looking for.
No one said a word…
CHAPTER THREE
Hours later, the morning news was full of speculation as it reported the three fires that ripped through the city during the early morning hours. Susan Moran and Dan Coulter, the news crew told them that while three businesses burned to the ground there were only two deaths associated with the blazes. The first two blazes took out abandoned buildings but didn’t do much damage. While the fires ran hot, they were quickly contained.
Smokey Langer and his girlfriend, Lori Evans were caught inside the gym when it blew up. Susan told everyone that Smokey had living quarters above the gym and he and Lori were still in bed when the explosion took out the building. Susan hinted the fire chief would be looking into each blaze to make sure it wasn’t arson but things were pointing at the fact that these fires were suspicious.
When he heard the reports, Bull swore again and ran his fingers through his hair. His hair was now longer than it had been during his service years and the red color seemed to burst into flames on his head and shoulders. He was pacing as the news report played out.
“Did you know this guy?” Judge asked as he watched the other man struggle.
Bull nodded. “Yeah, he was my ticket into cage fighting. I had the skills for MMA but no sponsor. Smokey took me on and didn’t ask a lot of questions about how I got my skills. I was gonna retire from the cage within the next year. He signed me to a contract for two years. I was going to look you guys up when my contract ran out.” He exhaled deeply. “I guess I’m a free agent now.”
“Is that why you’re all beat to hell?” Wild Child asked as he noted Bull’s injures. “MMA fighting?”
Bull shrugged. “I needed something to let the rage out before it swallowed me whole. When I woke up in that damn hospital in Germany after the ambush and remembered the two lives we lost on the fucked up mission, I kinda lost it.”
Mustang chuckled but didn’t say anything.
Bull glared at him and Judge turned his back for a moment.
Wild Child looked among the members of the old team and asked, “What am I missing here?”
Hawk snorted and informed him, “When Bull came back from lala land in the hospital and was told by the staff he was being sent home because of his injuries, let’s just say he didn’t agree with that decision. He wanted to get better and go after the bastards that put him hospital. We stopped by to tell him we were all going home and he kinda went berserk.”
“Berserk? Is that what you call it?” Mustang snorted.
“Now I gotta know, what did he do?” Tank asked.
Bull closed his eyes and flushed red. “I put my bed through one of their windows and tore up the recovery room. Damn near took out one the doctors and two nurses before they got me doped up again.”
Wild Child gazed at Judge confused. “Wasn’t he wounded?”
Judge nodded. “Yeah, he took a couple bullets in the fight with Salim. He took one in the shoulder and another in his side.”
“How long before the ruckus was this?” Tank wanted to know.
Hawk turned to Bull and asked, “How long were you out? A couple of hours? They hadn’t even taken him into surgery before he went nuts.”
“Wow,” Wild Child whispered as he stared in awe at the man in question. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
“Yeah, none of us liked what happened to us,” Judge replied. “We lost two members of our team then we were forced to retire from the only job we were good at. We might have gotten one of the bad guys but we didn’t win the battle. It seemed like someone higher up in the food chain was tying our hands and none of us liked that feeling.”
“Were you able to find out who that was?” Wild Child frowned.
“Not yet,” Judge admitted. “Whoever it was hid his involvement rather well.”
“Whoever it was,” Mustang growled. “Was definitely not on our side. What he was protecting was the drug trafficker and all the money he was making on the side.”
“You guys think one of our own betrayed us to a drug ring?” Wild Child asked.
“We know someone did.” Judge looked angry. “We just haven’t uncovered who or why.”
“Damn that’s cold.” Tank shook his head.
“When you think about it,” Judge commented. “It wasn’t only our two men that died. Salim took out seven other teams before we began tracking him. In total, twenty of our guys died in that sand before he was killed.”
“Do we know anything about Salim’s route or where the drugs went, once they left his control?” Bull asked
“We managed to track them to Mexico via an old steamer boat. The steamer belongs to a shell company hidden under so much paperwork we can’t find the real owner,” Mustang explained. “Nor can we discover where the drugs go once they hit the coast of Mexico. This is a well thought out route. It’s been in place a long time and is well hidden. We keep coming up with nothing and it’s very frustrating.”
“Even with your awesome skills?” Bull was surprised. Mustang was well known for his hacker skills and there wasn’t much he couldn’t uncover when he set his mind to do something.
Mustang nodded. “Someone out there has better skills than I do.”
Bull ran his fingers through his hair again. “Fucking hell.” The silence of the room was disturbed when Bull’s phone chimed. Digging it out of his pocket, he frowned at the message he received. Then he swung his gaze over to Judge. “What the hell?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I just got a message from someone named Conrad Bane. He wants a meeting to discuss my contract.”
“Did you say Conrad Bane?” Mustang asked suspiciously.
Bull nodded.
“What the fuck do you have to do with him?” Judge barked.
Bull shrugged. “Nothing. I’ve never heard from the man before just now. Nor do I want anything to do with him. He’s bad news anyway you fucking slice it.”
Wild Child looked from one to the other. “Ok for those of us who don’t know what’s going on who the fuck is Conrad Bane?”
“Conrad Bane is a local link to organized crime,” Bull told him. “He’s big underground and runs several gambling establishments. He tries to stay out of the limelight due to his connections but anybody who knows him, knows he’s connected.”
“What does he have to do with your contract?” Judge asked.
“I have no clue.” Bull shrugged. “My contract was for two years with Smokey. Now that Smokey is dead, the contract should be gone as well.” Bull texted him back and put his phone back in his pocket.
“What did you tell him?” Judge wanted to know.
“I told him my contract was with Smokey and if he was gone so was my obligation to the MMA world.” The phone chimed again and Bull’s frown deepened when he checked the message. “What the fuck?” he muttered.
“Now what?” Judge asked.
“Bane is claiming he owns my contract. He said Smokey put it up as collateral for a gambling debt within the last week. He’s giving me until two o’clock to meet with him or he’ll send his goons after me. ”
“What are you going to do?” Judge frowned.
“I’m going to call this fucker and let him know I’m not interested in a meeting.” Bull growled as he placed the call. Before the call went through, he went over to the security cameras and flipped a switch, turning his cell phone into a secure line. This place was protected already but he didn’t want any chance of getting traced back to the safe house.
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