by Melody Anne
“You need to leave here immediately,” Green yelled, getting closer to Smoke.
Brackish was staring at the monitor, slightly bummed he wasn’t in the middle of the brawl. He grinned at how well his team could act. He’d have to keep that in mind when they were throwing pranks at one another. They might be better actors than he was. He kept his eyes glued to the monitors, knowing his part was quickly approaching.
Eyes jumped from the ground and immediately shoved Smoke, giving him the briefest moment of a cocky smile. He was obviously enjoying his role of pushing Smoke around. Though they were acting, they had to make it look real and it would pretty much take a wrecking ball to knock any of these men over so Eyes shoved hard, and Smoke staggered back a couple of steps.
“Enough!” Green yelled as he grabbed Smoke’s arm and tried pulling him toward the front entrance.
“Piss off you little cockroach,” Smoke said, throwing Green off of him with a simple flick of his arm. Green crashed into an empty table, flying across it and tangling himself between two chairs. He let out a cry of pain to really sell it.
The crashing waiter finally made Jorge’s table stand, the women showing fear as they gasped in shock. Two of the men stood, their faces blank, obviously not sure what to do. Two of the other men moved up next to Muscleman. From the look in their eyes, Brackish knew they were the ones who loved violence, thrived on it, in fact. They’d relish crushing a homeless man in the most vicious way possible.
Muscleman looked with disgust at the two men standing with the women. “Get the boss . . . now!” He then moved toward the homeless man, his minions on his heels.
Smoke pushed Eyes hard as the group approached, his demeanor instantly changing, showing the warrior inside the getup. That look caused the trio a momentary hitch in their steps.
“Enough!” Green thundered, as he took his time trying to get to his feet. “I’m calling the cops right now.” He finally rose, strategically placing himself at the heels of the three thugs, his team effectively boxing the opposition in.
Eyes moved between Smoke and the three gang members, doing his best to appear weak and intimidated. “There’s no need to hurt this man. He just needs food.”
“Ha. You were dismissing him seconds ago,” Muscleman said with a scoff. “Now step aside so we can teach this scum a lesson about going somewhere he’s not welcome and interrupting a pleasant evening.”
“Sir, please, we can’t make this situation worse,” Green pleaded.
Smoke now had the look of a feral animal that was trapped. Muscleman obviously knew that look and he smiled, angling for a fight.
“Shut up,” Muscleman said. “We’re going to teach this asshole a lesson.”
“Come and get me,” Smoke taunted, a devious smirk on his lips. Smoke might seem like a homeless idiot, but he saw everything. He noticed Muscleman’s hand slip inside his pocket and come out with brass knuckles. He was over six foot, and probably weighed about 250. He’d obviously had a lot of fights, but never with someone like Smoke. Smoke was seriously bummed he wasn’t going to be able to teach this man a lesson. But that wasn’t the plan — for now.
When Muscleman was a full stride away, Smoke threw his head back, laughing like a hyena for several seconds, before he stopped, then let out a monstrous burp. The sound was enough to stop the forward movement of the men intent on fighting him. Smoke didn’t look at them again as he bent his head down like a mad bull and then took off fast as lightning through the restaurant and out the front door.
The restaurant went utterly silent for at least five full seconds as each person in the room looked around in confusion. They weren’t sure what in the hell they’d just witnessed.
“I think it’s over,” Green said, his face dripping blood. He’d obviously given himself a little cut to sell the fight, but the patrons didn’t know that. “It goes without saying that dinner is on the house. I’m so sorry this happened.” Green deserved an Emmy for his acting ability. He’d say he was the best. Of course, each of the team members would say the same.
“Where’s Jorge?” Muscleman suddenly asked as several of his group pulled out their chairs to sit again. Obviously, they were used to strange events like this happening, and they were assuming they were going to go right back to eating. Jorge, nor the two men who’d been sent to find him, were back.
Jorge’s wife looked around, still stunned and confused. “I don’t know. With all of the chaos I didn’t notice he wasn’t back,” she said, tears overflowing her eyes as reality settled in on her. Maybe she wasn’t as used to the chaos as the rest of the group.
“Move!” Muscleman barked to the two men who were at his side, disappointment on their faces that they hadn’t been able to brawl. The people who’d began to sit, immediately stood up again. Muscleman moved to the back of the restaurant and quickly entered the bathroom, where he found his boss gone and the men sent to find him passed out on the floor.
Muscleman left the bathroom and rushed into the kitchen, finding it empty, food burning, pots boiling over. The back door was busted wide open. The team wanted him to know it was an outside job. They didn’t want any revenge taken out on the staff at this place.
“Manuel, did you find him?” one of the men called to Muscleman.
“He’s not here,” Muscleman called back. “What in the fuck happened?” His voice thundered through the entire place.
He heard a noise that made him pull out his gun as he moved toward the walk-in freezer. He opened the door and found the terrified staff huddled together, looking up at the fierce man in front of them with genuine fear in their eyes.
“What happened? Who did this?” Muscleman thundered.
“We don’t know. Two men with guns broke down the door, then locked us in the freezer. We didn’t see anything, just heard a lot of commotion,” a small man said, his skin slightly blue, his teeth chattering.
“I want descriptions,” Muscleman shouted. “Give them to me now or I’ll throw you back in the freezer and lock it.”
“I don’t know. They were huge, but they had masks on,” the man said, terror in his eyes.
Muscleman slapped the worker, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him up on his toes. “You have two seconds to give me what I want.”
“That’s enough, Manuel. Let this man go,” Jorge’s wife said, steel in her tone. The team was impressed. They hadn’t thought she was capable of it from her sweet demeanor. It made sense though, since she was married to a dirtbag. She had to have some spine to survive.
“No, Marcia, not until this idiot tells me what happened,” Manuel screamed.
“We only saw them for a couple of seconds, and they didn’t say a word, just pushed us in here,” a large woman said, her hands on her hips, her eyes filled with defiance. She was obviously used to dealing with huge male egos.
“Useless. All of the staff here are useless,” Manuel said, shoving the small man away, making him land on his butt. He didn’t move, just looked down and hugged his legs as he rocked himself.
Sleep stepped inside the room, looking injured and frightened. Manuel turned his rage on him.
“Where were you?” he thundered.
“I went to the bathroom, saw a man at the pisser, didn’t think anything of it, and turned to go into the stall. Then I felt pain in my head and the lights went out. I just woke up.” His voice was slurred, and he had blood dripping down his neck, making his story very believable.
That hadn’t been what had happened but no one in that room would know otherwise. Sleep had actually slipped outside, met up with Brackish, put on a disguise, then broke through the back, placing the staff in the cooler to keep them out of harm’s way. Then Brackish had whisked Jorge away while Sleep had slipped back inside and given a face full of chloroform to the two men sent to find their boss, knocking them out as soon as they entered the bathroom, their boss long gone already.
“I’ve already called the police. They should be here any minute,” Green said as he staggered into the kit
chen, still seeming disoriented from the fight.
“Let’s go,” Manuel said at those words.
“But, sir, they’ll need witness testimony,” Green called.
Manuel didn’t acknowledge Green’s words as he moved to the dining room, gathered the rest of his group, and quickly exited the front doors. They got into their cars and were gone in seconds.
The team didn’t break character as they each walked away from the restaurant, leaving the stunned staff to talk to the police. They got into their waiting vehicles and drove away, peeling away their disguises as they moved through the city. Brackish would come in later that night and strip away the hidden cameras and microphones.
Their job was done, and it had been done well. It was 2200 hours, and the night was just beginning for the team. They’d gotten the package and they were ready to move forward.
The reign of terror that had been held over the city of Seattle and surrounding areas was coming closer to an end than ever before. And it was because Joseph Anderson had hired the best of the best to run a kick ass team. It was only just beginning — and they wouldn’t stop until the final mission was complete.
Chapter Two
Joseph leaned back in his chair with a sigh. He despised the hours he had to spend on his computer. Those days should be long gone. But no. Since his wife had been diagnosed with cancer, he was on more than when he’d been working as the CEO of the vast Anderson Empire. He wasn’t complaining about helping his wife, he was internally complaining because he couldn’t be at her side twenty-four/seven. Instead he had to be on the computer, on phone calls, and in meetings.
After a moment of self-pity, he opened another email and began reading when he heard a rap on his office door. He looked up, and his butler, who as most of his staff was more family than employee, walked forward.
“Good afternoon, Timothy,” Joseph said as he ran a hand through his hair. He was tired and it was barely noon.
“Sir, Mr. Chad Redington has arrived. He’s in the den,” Timothy replied.
“Thank you. Leave my door open and bring him here,” Joseph said. Normally, he’d much rather sit comfortably in his den that was more man cave than family room, but there was too much work to be done to sit around and relax. Timothy nodded and walked away.
Joseph finished reading the email he’d just opened, typed out a quick reply to the doctor asking a question, then shut down the program. The man he regularly corresponded with was a top neurosurgeon in Spain. His friend, Dr. Spence Whitman, had given Joseph a top-ten list of medical experts from around the world months ago, and a few of them were working on Katherine’s case.
Sadly, each of the physicians had come to the same conclusion of cancer and had let him know it wasn’t going to be an easy journey. There were some variances in what they suggested to move forward and what care was required, but they all agreed an aggressive method was best. Some of the doctors he liked more, and some less. But he had respect for each one of them, and how advanced they were in the art of medicine.
“Joseph.” Chad’s clipped, deep voice was all business as he walked into the room after a short rap on the open door.
Joseph stood, feeling and hearing a few creaks in his aging body. If only his weathered body felt as young as his mind, he’d live to be 300. He didn’t let a few aches and pains slow him down, though. He moved around his desk to meet Chad halfway. Joseph had a lot of respect for his nephew-in-law. He was a man of honor and integrity and Joseph couldn’t be happier he’d married Joseph’s eldest niece.
“It’s good to see you,” Joseph said as he shook Chad’s hand then led him to the chair across from his desk. Chad waited until Joseph reached his seat and sat before he took his own seat. Chad was a man of respect through and through.
“How’s our team?” Joseph asked. They hadn’t met in almost a month. It was surreal how quickly time passed. “Is there progress?”
“I’m glad to say I have several items to discuss.” He stopped and smiled. “Great news first since we don’t get enough of that. Sleep and Avery are engaged now with a lot of help from Sleep’s teammates. Rumor is he’d packed that engagement ring in his pocket for over a month before he had the courage to pull it out. Eyes said they’re disgustingly gooey around each other when they think no one’s watching, and the last I checked the “secret” betting board, there’s a prediction of twelve children in ten years. I think that was Smoke’s bet.”
Joseph didn’t smile so much these days, but Chad’s words and humor brought a grin to his lips. “Twelve kids, huh?” Joseph said.
“Yeah, I wrote in two point five a week ago, letting them know I’d found their board, but I didn’t get any takers. Though I noticed my hundred-dollar ante was gone. I think I’ll win even if they all think there’s no way they’ll stop at one pregnancy. I think they’ll have twins and a puppy in twelve months. The puppy counts as half a kid.”
“Ah, I’m glad you’ve come in, Chad. I needed a laugh,” Joseph told him.
“I do what I can,” Chad said. “Now, we have a new romance on the ropes as well. Brackish seems to be falling for a pretty lady named Erin. I know, I know, you didn’t have anything to do with this one, and that might chap your hide a bit, but just think of all the meddling you can do along the way. It’s not hopeless.”
“Who is she? Where does she come from? Do you think they’re a good match?” Joseph fired off.
Chad held up a hand with a laugh. “She has quite a story, but before I get into that, we have some actual business to discuss.”
One thing that hadn’t changed at all was Joseph’s love of love. If he wasn’t working on helping his wife, he wanted to be meddling in the lives of his family and family friends. Once someone found love, their life was complete in his opinion. He’d made it his mission to bring the emotion to all he could. Joseph figured he could single-handedly solve the world’s problems. If everyone was in love there’d be no more war and no more bitterness. Easy, peasy.
“Fine, we’ll talk business,” he said after a few moments. “I’m quite pleased with how the operation launched. I also have the utmost confidence in you and your team. That’s helped ease my anger over what happened to Katherine. It’s still there, but now that I know the men who hurt my wife will pay the price, I can rest easier.”
Chad nodded. And then he began. It started with the normal and very mundane information: finances, places, locations, and team members’ stats. Joseph normally liked mundane details, though not when he was inundated with them each and every day in all aspects in his life. But he listened anyway. There might be something he truly needed to know.
When that was over, Chad leaned back, his face serious. “Last week, we had a breakthrough with a high rung on the ladder. They managed to make . . . contact with a man the team has been following for over a month.” He hesitated on the word contact, being careful to not say anything to Joseph that would cause him to ever have to lie under oath in a court of law. Joseph knew it wouldn’t come to that, but he respected Chad for protecting those who supported the organization that helped their neighbors.
“Very good,” Joseph said. He stood and moved to his coffee cart. “I’m sorry I didn’t offer a cup sooner. I blame my overworked brain.” He made them each a cup of coffee, throwing just a splash of buttered rum in each of them for flavor.
“Thank you,” Chad said, sipping it before continuing. “As you might recall, the man they were following was the head of the Latino chapter in the Seattle-Tacoma area. With deeper investigation they found he was also overseeing territories in BC and vast areas up and down the west coast from top to bottom, even going east into Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and Arizona. His operation had been headquartered in San Clemente, California, but when the FBI started closing in, he vanished.”
This was the ninth meeting he and Chad were having together. When the briefings had begun, Joseph had been shocked at the enormity of this underworld community. Now, nothing surprised him. There was a lot o
f darkness in the world. It was a damn good thing the light eventually flushed it out. Knowing how much evil existed though, gave him more resolution than ever to solve crime not only in his area, but all around the US.
Joseph waited for Chad to go on, not asking questions. Chad would tell him what he could and in the time he felt was right to share. He wouldn’t share anything that put either the team or Joseph at risk. Joseph patiently waited while sipping his coffee and wishing for a cigar in his fingers.
“Our team found out every detail possible about . . . let’s call him . . . Jack . . . and then heard of a small, upscale party being held in a five-star restaurant. We placed one of the team inside as a patron, two of them as servers, another as an agitator, and the final man in the van with video and audio.”
Joseph didn’t ask which man was in which position. Again, Chad would give him the information he needed to have — and nothing more.
“Great job,” Joseph said with another smile. “What I wouldn’t give to be one of those guys on assignment.”
Chad chuckled. “I’m sure you’d have been the agitator.”
“Damn straight!” Joseph exclaimed with a sparkle in his eyes.
“When Jack went to the restroom, the diversion was set into motion, keeping his bodyguards busy. The team grabbed Jack, and had him loaded into the van before anyone knew he was missing. Our agitator was kicked out of the restaurant, and the other team members were back in position while our surveyor had Jack far away when his bodyguards tried to find him, leading to no covers getting blown.”
Chad paused, and Joseph had no doubt he was mentally going through the footage they’d taped. “Like most suspects, he hadn’t been willing to share . . . at first. But soon, he was singing like a canary, giving our team more than we thought we’d get out of him. He gave numbers and some names, and that led Brackish to work some magic on his computer.”
Joseph sat a bit taller in his seat. “Do you have the person who attacked Katherine?” His body was nearly shaking.
