Wicked Nights

by A. D. Justice

  “On your six,” Reaper replied as Bull stepped through the door.

  “Stairs, looks like a basement,” Bull advised.

  Light briefly illuminated the basement before it disappeared.

  “He’s on the move,” Bull said and flew down the stairs. “There’s a door down here.”

  Reaper was close on Bull’s heels. “It’s a crawl space door. He must be going for the car. Shadow, Rebel, get outside now!”

  Reaper and Bull followed into the crawl space while Rebel and Shadow ran outside.

  “Flashlight moving,” Shadow called. “I’m on it.”

  “I’ll cover the car and the house,” Rebel replied.

  Reaper and Bull emerged from the other end of the crawl space and out of the half door that Turan had exited. A bulky giant ran past them in the dark with the signature prowess of Shadow. His strides lengthened and his speed increased, then he lunged through the air and landed on a much smaller form. The scuffle only lasted a second or two before Shadow sat completely on top of him, had his arms twisted behind his back, and handcuffs locked around his wrists.

  “And that’s a wrap,” Shadow said into his comm. “Shadow, one. Pansy-ass terrorist, zero.”

  The other men laughed into their comms, sharing in the revelry of the moment. As Shadow stood Turan up to walk him back into the light with the other men, the power to all the houses and businesses shut off for as far as they could see. Turan smiled from ear to ear. His face was covered in sand and dirt from his scuffle with Shadow, his clothes were dirty, and his hair was matted. But the pride on his face was evident and the fact he refrained from speaking about his accomplishment demonstrated his resolve.

  This one wouldn’t give up his secrets easily.

  “Brianna. Chaise. Liz,” Noah whispered to Bull. “Rebel, call the others and tell them it’s safe to get out of their cars now. They can take custody of this asshole now.”

  Turan glared at Rebel as he called Joe and relayed Reaper’s message. Within thirty seconds, Joe and Bill walked up. “You knew we were watching?”

  Reaper looked at them like they’d just asked the dumbest question ever. “Of course, I knew. You can’t tail a subject for shit,” he chuckled. “Take this guy to your office and interrogate him. Call us if you need any tips on effective interrogation techniques.”

  “We got him,” Joe replied. “Come on Ali Baba. Time to pay the piper.”

  “Let’s get home. I don’t like this at all. Something’s up,” Reaper said when Turan was out of earshot. “Get Brad over here to go through everything he has on these computers. We need to know what he’s already done and what he’s about to do.”

  “On it, boss,” Shadow replied as Reaper put his phone to his ear.

  “Brianna” The urgency in Reaper’s voice was palpable. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Noah. The power went out, but the generators are on and we’re okay. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, babe. We got him, but it feels a little too easy. Call it a gut instinct. I’m on my way home. Keep the doors locked and keep the guns close. If anyone but me tries to get in the gate, shoot first and ask questions later,” he ordered.

  “Hurry home, Noah. But be careful,” she replied. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too, babe. I’ll be there within twenty minutes.”

  14

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Ladies, don’t panic.” Liz extended her hands out in front of her, spread her fingers, and exaggeratedly pumped them up and down. “We’ll be fine. There’s no reason to be scared.”

  “We’re fine, Liz,” Chaise replied calmly. “Anyway, the generators kicked on when the power went out, so the security system is still operating.”

  “We also have a couple of security guys outside. Plus, we’re both armed.” Brianna motioned between Chaise and herself.

  “I won’t let anything happen to either of you.” Liz continued her attempts to soothe them.

  “We feel so much better with you on guard,” Brianna laughed.

  “Are my boys all okay?” Liz asked.

  “Yes, they’re all fine,” Chaise answered. “Colton just called and they’re on the way home now.”

  “I’d better get the Twister mat ready for our game now,” Liz replied. “Shadow and Rebel are mine tonight.”

  “Here, let me help you,” Chaise offered. “I actually want to see this.”

  “Feel free to take notes, girly. You might need them later for Bull,” Liz replied with a wink. “I’ve got the moves.”

  Liz and Chaise spread out the dotted mat on the floor and giggled like schoolgirls as they chatted about the mental pictures of Rebel and Shadow twisted into strange positions. They heard the squealing tires before the driveway alarm rang to alert them. Brianna rushed to the window just in time to see the tail end of Noah’s truck flying into the garage. The door from the garage burst open when Noah and Bull both rushed inside, weapons drawn and aimed at the floor.

  Noah stopped when his eyes met Brianna’s. “You’re okay?”

  “We’re fine, babe. Thanks for rushing home so fast, though.” She smiled. “Where’s Ali?”

  “Joe and Bill took him in for questioning. I expect to hear from them soon,” Noah replied.

  Chaise walked into Bull’s waiting arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she told him.

  “I’m fine, baby. We were never in any danger at all,” Bull replied. “The whole thing was a piece of cake.”

  “Something’s definitely wrong with that picture,” Brianna said. “I can’t believe the house wasn’t booby-trapped, he didn’t put up a huge fight, or really even try to wipe his hard drives.”

  “You know too much about this kind of thing,” Chaise replied dryly to Brianna. “It scares me sometimes.”

  Brianna laughed. “Yeah, well, my time as a reporter, on top of my years with Noah, has taught me a few things. I’ve asked to officially join the team, but they won’t let me.”

  “It was definitely too easy,” Bull replied. “I’d like to know what’s going on right now in that interrogation.”

  “Shadow and Rebel should be here soon. Let’s see if Shadow can get any information from his CIA buddies,” Noah suggested.

  “Have you gotten used to this yet?” Chaise asked Brianna.

  “Used to what? Noah putting his life in danger and waiting up to see if he’ll make it home safely?” Brianna asked. “No, I’ll never get used to it. He knows that. All I can do is trust that he’s the best at what he does.”

  “Can I get a GPS tracker on you?” Chaise asked Bull. “One that sends me constant updates to let me know you’re okay”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” he chuckled.

  “You and Noah could each wear one of those adventure cameras on your heads. Then Brianna and I can watch your missions together and rush in to save you if you get in trouble.” Chaise grinned mischievously.

  “You can use those cameras in the bedroom, too,” Liz added. “Spice up your love life and all. Can I borrow it?”

  “Sure, as soon as we start wearing cameras on our missions, we’ll let you borrow it,” Bull replied.

  “Be sure to look at Shadow. A lot. From behind,” Liz answered.

  “Who’s looking at my behind?” Shadow asked from the doorway, his sly smile covering his face.

  “Bull will watch it with the adventure camera he’ll wear on his head,” Liz replied.

  Shadow’s smile faltered as his eyes bounced around the room, met the others’ amused gazes, and decided it was best to not pursue the topic. “Good to know,” he laughed. “Reap, Bull—need to talk to you both outside. Rebel’s already out here.”

  “You got it,” Noah replied and stepped toward Shadow.

  “Be right back, babe.” Bull kissed Chaise.

  They met Rebel in the driveway and huddled up for the update. “Bad news, boys,” Shadow started.

  “What?” Noah asked, instantly on alert. “I knew it was too easy.”

&nb
sp; “Yeah, Turan has already been released,” Shadow relayed. “As soon as Joe and Bill got him into the interrogation room, Bill received a call from the higher-ups. They had to release him because he has diplomatic immunity. His uncle, Bachar, is the ambassador from Turkey. Turan is also considered a diplomat since he works for his uncle.”

  “But he’s a terrorist,” Bull countered. “How can he be protected under our laws if he’s a terrorist?”

  “We don’t have enough hard evidence to prove he is. We can’t expel him back to Turkey without evidence. Legally, we’re not even supposed to have the wiretap on him, and we can’t use that evidence since it wasn’t obtained legally.”

  “That’s why he was smiling smugly at us,” Rebel said. “He wanted us to catch him so we’d find out he’s untouchable.”

  Reaper inhaled deeply and gave each of his brothers a hard gaze. “You all know what this means. If you want out, I understand, but this changes nothing for me. The government disavows any knowledge of my actions anyway, so I don’t view this any differently. He’s threatening my family and my country, and a law that protects terrorism isn’t valid in my eyes.”

  “I’m in,” Bull replied instantly.

  “Me, too,” Rebel answered.

  “You know I have no problem with breaking silly laws like that,” Shadow replied. “Landry and Daniels have been pulled from the case. Joe and Bill will still be around but, officially, not as much as before.”

  “We should expect retaliation soon,” Reaper warned. “He won’t be satisfied with just being let go. He’ll want to cause more trouble for us.”

  “Exactly. He’s been waiting for us to show up at his house, waiting for us to make a move on him, just so he could blatantly make his next play,” Rebel replied. “He wants to rub it in our faces.”

  “What if we let him?” Shadow asked. “He can make his next move, get it out in the open, and we’ll use his momentum against him. With every blatant attack, the news can keep carrying coverage of how he’s at large. The pressure from inside is bound to reach his uncle and the rest of his cell.”

  “That’s taking a big risk, though. Look around—we already don’t have power. Have either of you heard any updates on that?” Bull asked.

  “I talked to Joe,” Rebel said. “They know he’s behind it, and the crews are at the substation looking for the problem. Joe said Turan laughed openly, like he knew they wouldn’t find anything.”

  “Call Brad, get him to help dig through Turan’s online activities. Maybe he can identify something the crews would miss,” Reaper replied.

  “He’s been free for almost an hour now,” Shadow said. “I don’t see him waiting long for the next move. We need to make some decisions—fast.”

  “Let’s go inside and have some coffee. The emergency generators I had installed will be put to good use. It’s late, or actually, early, and it doesn’t look like we’ll get to sleep anytime soon,” Reaper said.

  They walked inside and relayed the news to Brianna, Chaise, and Liz. “You should go to bed, babe. Looks like we’ll be pulling an all-nighter,” Noah said. “Chaise, you can pick one of the spare bedrooms and make yourself at home.”

  “I’m leaving the Twister mat where it is,” Liz said. She pointed her finger at Shadow as she issued her demand. “Don’t play without me.”

  “Don’t worry. It wouldn’t be any fun without you.” Shadow winked.

  Inside Reaper’s home office with a full pot of coffee, the four men went over every possible scenario they could prepare for in advance. The wild card was the same as it had always been—Turan didn’t fit the profile of the typical jihadist. He didn’t strictly follow the cell’s rules to remain invisible until the very last second, until the time his enemy had no time to react.

  Contingency plans were in place for direct attacks on their households, but plans for their extended family were harder to account for. Bull’s parents, John and Beth, were traveling the country and enjoying his retirement. Steve and Sara were away but due to be back in a matter of hours. Silas, Noah’s brother, still hadn’t been located.

  “Noah,” Brianna called sleepily from behind him.

  “Yeah, baby?” He turned toward her, his demeanor instantly changing from trained killer to protective husband.

  “Just got a call on your cell from the guys in the office. Steve and Sara’s house was just broken in to and ransacked,” she said grimly. “A couple of your guys are on the scene with the police. The power is still out over there, too, but they knew you’d want to know.”

  “Could be a trap to draw us away from here,” Bull replied. “If he’s been watching the house, he knows the security detail was pulled when Steve and Sara left town. I say let the men handle it until morning. We’ll go over there together, pack up Steve and Sara’s stuff, and send them to Texas early.”

  “I agree, Reap,” Shadow replied. “It has to be part of his play.”

  The cell in Brianna’s hand began to ring again. She glanced down at the screen and a concerned look covered her face. “It’s the office again,” she said. “Hello?”

  She was silent over the next several seconds as the person on the other end relayed more information to her. “That was Brad. Good news or bad news first?”

  “Bad,” Noah replied.

  “Turan’s house just burned to the ground. We’ve lost all virtual connections to him and the information we were getting from the wiretap,” Brianna replied.

  “And the good?”

  “Brad was able to retrace his keystrokes in to the power substation software just in time. He said it’ll take him a couple of hours to rewrite the code, but he’ll have power restored pretty soon.”

  “Did he say anything else about the fire?” Rebel asked.

  “Obvious accelerant used—like blatantly used everywhere. It was a total loss. The crews are still on the scene making sure it’s completely out before they leave,” she replied.

  “Reap, he couldn’t have got to your parents’ house and torched his house that close together. Not when they’re still on the scene at Steve and Sara’s house outside of Miami and the firefighters are still on the scene at his house here,” Bull said.

  “It’d be nice to know if we’re dealing with more than one cell member in one location, or if his own cell torched his house to take him out,” Reaper replied as he stood. He moved around the table to Brianna, kissed her goodnight, and took the phone from her hand. “Get some sleep, baby. I’ll take phone duty for the rest of the morning.”

  “You know where to find me if you need any help.” She smiled sleepily and stroked his cheek.

  “No way am I leaving her tonight to go check out either scene,” Reaper said when Brianna was out of earshot. “He’s hit my parents’ house and possibly torched his own place. I’m not giving him any opportunity to get to my family.”

  “Agreed. We should all stay here tonight and take shifts,” Rebel replied. “He could’ve planned the fire timing with an extra-long wick or something slow-burning, just to throw us off. I think he’s trying to split us up.”

  “You know, Brianna said the same thing a little while back. She thinks he’s like a bully who’s afraid to take us on as a group, so he’ll try to get us alone and stab us in the back,” Reaper replied. “I have to agree. He shut the power down for a reason, but I doubt he accounted for the generators keeping my security system intact.”

  “The sun will be up in a couple of hours. Get some sleep and I’ll keep watch until daylight. I doubt he makes a move with all of us here, but I’m not willing to risk anyone’s life on that,” Rebel said.

  “You sure? I don’t mind staying up,” Shadow replied.

  Rebel shook his head. “No need to, man. I got this.”

  “We have guys outside, Rebel. Like you said, it’ll be daylight in a few hours. They can handle it until then. We should all get some rest. I have a feeling it’s going to take all of us to convince my parents to get out of town after they see their house in a fe
w hours,” Reaper replied.

  “All right,” Rebel agreed. “I just feel responsible for all of this.”

  “Don’t. His father, or whatever relation they were, was responsible for taking those hostages. He also made the choice to fire on us,” Reaper replied. “None of this is on you.”

  Rebel nodded slowly, not fully convinced but at least considering his friend’s assessment. “All right. Let’s all get some shut-eye then.”

  * * *

  Turan stood outside of his rental home and stared at the charred remains in disbelief. A few firefighters still combed through the remnants of his possessions, using their picks and axes to check for smoldering fires under the larger pieces of debris. Everything he owned was in that pitiful excuse for a home. Every possession and piece of technical equipment besides the cell phone in his pocket had been inside, but now it was all burned beyond recognition by the fire and covered in water and fire retardant residue.

  “I hate all of you. Bastards. You’ll all pay for this,” he cursed under his breath. “I’ll never stop.”

  Turan dug his keys out of his pocket and climbed back into his car. He backed out of the driveway, put the car in drive, and aimlessly wandered around the city until the sun appeared on the horizon. The lights across the city began to flicker on, people began to stir, and he realized his grand scheme to throw Miami into a complete blackout had been thwarted. Parked in a public parking lot, desperation and defeat got the best of him. He retrieved his cell phone and dialed the number from memory. He held his breath and put the phone against his ear. Dread filled him with each ring that passed.

  “I told you never to call this number,” the man answered.

  “I didn’t have any other choice,” Turan replied. “I need your help.”

  Silence met him, and he pictured the other man pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation and aggravation. “What do you need?”

  “Money. Laptops. Somewhere to stay,” Turan replied.

  “You lost everything I gave you?” he asked, anger filling his tone.