The Phoenix Blade: Project Justice

by Andrew Hess

  Mike pulled his plate closer and held out his fork. “Touch my plate and I’ll make sure you can only shoot one gun at a time.”

  We laughed, we ate, we had fun; it was almost like the last week never happened. It was something I could get used to, but unfortunately we were far from this being our normal lives.

  Once breakfast was over, Lilly cleared the table; allowing us to look over the files. There were six manila folders and a set of blueprints scattered over the table. We skimmed through them; finding multiple targets all seemed to be connected to each other.

  “I have a pair of targets,” I began. “Jonathan Mason and his wife Laurie were accused of money laundering and extorting a political official. One of his business partners offered to testify against the Masons in exchange for a lighter sentence for the charges brought up against him. The case was later dismissed due to all the witnesses suddenly changing their testimony.” I looked up from the file feeling very confused. “That didn’t seem that bad.”

  Mike put down his orange juice and picked up a file. “I got two targets as well; a Jesse and Judith Mason. Back in 2004, Jesse was accused of rape by a Rachel Corbin of Kansas City Missouri. The affidavit states she met the Masons back in early July 2004 at a bar in Missouri. Rachel claimed Jesse mason came on very strong and tried to convince her to go back to his house. She refused and was attacked by a man that forced himself on her a few nights later while coming home from work. Miss Corbin claimed the man that attacked her wore the same cologne as Jesse Mason. There are several calls made from Judith Mason’s cell phone to Rachel Corbin a week after she filed her police report. Miss Corbin dropped the charges and left town that month; no one has seen her since.”

  Lilly sat down and read the next file. She skimmed through the folder; reading the contents to herself. Lilly’s eyes widened with each passing page. “Oh no; this isn’t good.” She picked up the remaining files and flipped through them without hesitation..

  “What’s with her,” Mike asked.

  “I don’t know, but these targets aren’t that bad.”

  “Yes they are. They’re terrorists.”

  “What?” Mike and I yelled.

  “Each file lists another two members of the Mason family,” Lilly held each folder in the air and slammed it on the table while reading the names of each target. “Jimmy and Erica Mason, Lonny and Bethany Mason, finally Mark and Lisa Mason. They all work for the same oil company in the legal, management, and engineering departments. The company has been under investigation by the F.B.I. and the C.I.A for the last few years and they have been brought in for questioning while their offices were searched.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Mike said in a matter of fact tone. “They could have been looking for anything. It doesn’t make them terrorists.”

  “There’s more. The main supplier of oil has come from the Middle East from a man known only as the Reaper.”

  “Is that supposed to mean something to us?”

  “It says here that the Reaper is supposedly reported for hundreds of deaths overseas and several here in the United States.” Lilly handed us the files

  I took the folders and browsed them briefly. “It says the Masons have been getting oil at a lower rate and selling it at competitive prices here in the States. Mark and Lonny Mason have taken multiple trips to the Middle East once every four months for the last five years.”

  “Great, so the Benefactor wants us to target people that have connections to a terrorist.” Mike grabbed the sixth file as he stood up from the table. “That’s smart; let’s piss off the terrorists.”

  “I’d rather force them out of hiding,” I snapped. “We can take them out and make the world a better place.” Mike and Lilly were stunned with my desire to attack this family despite who his business partners and associates were. “Look, if we sever the Reaper’s connection with the Masons, that’s a few less people helping him inside our country.”

  “We need to get out of this,” Lilly cried. “We can’t go through with this. We can’t go after terrorists.”

  “Why not,” I snapped. “This is the change we wanted to create. We agreed we wanted to make the world a better place. This is our chance.”

  Mike slammed his fist on the table. “No, you wanted this. You were the one who wanted to do these missions; not us.”

  “If memory serves me right, you were the one getting all excited about using a sniper rifle and swinging around a sword saying you couldn’t wait to slice and dice someone.”

  Mike knew I was right. We might have argued over actually going through with these killings in the past, but he used to think it was a great idea and had no hesitation back in Florida.

  “Fine,” Mike threw the last folder on the table; spilling the contents onto the floor. “But we need to make sure this is legit. We need real evidence linking them to their crimes and to the Reaper.”

  I bent down to pick up the papers and found a note from the Benefactor; giving us the last bit of information we needed.

  Hello team. I hope you enjoy your stay in Texas. I am sad to say that it will be a short one. The files contain pictures of your targets and their crimes. All of them live in the same ranch house in Austin, which I have provided the blueprints for. You should find some extra weapons and video equipment in the shed. You will use the equipment to make a speech defending your actions. There is also a woman by the name of Sue. She is the live-in maid and caretaker of the children. Keep her and the children safe and take them with you. There is a van you can use; located by the shed. You only have a few days to complete this mission. But these targets are not just ordinary criminals; they are also related to the President of the United States.

  Chapter 43

  We waited until nine that night before taking the white van out to the Mason ranch house. We filled the van with the high powered binoculars, night vision goggles, a camera and a few guns. The van was parked just off the side of the road; hidden by a cluster of trees.

  “You should have let her come with us,” Mike said.

  “There’s no need to bring her with us until we decide to go through with the plan.”

  “Which is?”

  The truth was we never came up with one. We were too busy all afternoon arguing over attacking the targets and who would go to the Mason house.

  “I’ll let you know when I come up with one. All I know is we need to get the maid and the kids out before we take out the Masons.”

  We waited in silence while watching the lights in the house slowly extinguish. We kept note of what times certain lights went out; figuring it was another Mason going to bed.

  “We could always send Lilly in. She can help us get the kids out and watch over them while we go inside and handle our business,” Mike said; breaking the silence.

  “Are you insane? I’m not letting her go in by herself.”

  “Lilly is a sweet innocent girl. She can get inside; giving us the opportunity to get inside.”

  “And say what? Hi, I’m Lilly. I’m here with two friends to kill everyone in this house except the kids.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who doesn’t want her to get blood on her hands. Like it or not; she’s part of this team and we need to use her the right way.” Mike went on to tell me an elaborate plan using both the van and pickup truck to our advantage. His plan included Lilly finding an excuse to enter through the front door while Mike and I snuck around back.

  “Fine, but I don’t want her in that house for long. According to those files, the Masons are very dangerous people.”

  “No problem; I understand why.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Come on Drew, I’m not stupid. I caught you two kissing and see the way you look at each other.” He looked up and noted another light being turned out upstairs. “Do you love her?”

  “I’ve been in love with her for years.”

  “Have you guys talked about it?”

  “Not much; we’ve been too bus
y running from the Feds.”

  “You need to before it’s too late.”

  “But with everything going on, I don’t know what kind of future we’ll have together.”

  “Screw the future,” Mike shouted. “Just say how you feel and focus on the here and now.”

  I wanted a life with Lilly, but these missions were getting too dangerous. Our first mission had us wanted for questioning, our second had us wanted by the Feds, and after this the President would want our heads.

  Mike closed the notebook loudly. “All the bedrooms are dark.” He looked at his cell. “And only at eleven thirty. This should be an early night.”

  “Hold on, someone’s still up.” I pointed to a light shining brightly in the living room.

  “We can’t wait any longer. We need to check this place out.”

  I held Mike back for a moment as I saw the living room light turn off. “Give it five more minutes; just to make sure she goes to bed.”

  Mike moved to the back of the van and pulled on a pair of night vision goggles. “Wait here, I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Chapter 44

  The door flung open and Mike was gone before I could voice my protest. He hurried to the edge of the tree clusters; tiptoeing around as he checked to see if there were any light sensors ready to go off at the slightest movement.

  Within moments, Mike vanished as if he fell through a hole. My heart was thumping loudly; hoping no one found him; hoping that no one came downstairs and saw him trying to break in.

  I jumped as my phone rang; causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. I was relieved to see Mike’s name appear on the screen.

  “Where the fuck are you?”

  “I’m inside the house.”

  “How did you get inside?”

  “I found the cellar doors in the backyard. The lock was broken and I decided to sneak in.”

  I knew he was in dangerous territory, but we needed to know if this family was guilty of what the files accused them of.

  “You see anything we can use?”

  “There’s nothing down here. All I see are tiled floors and concrete walls.” I could hear his heavy footsteps lightly echo around the basement. “I’m going to check upstairs.”

  “Don’t, you’ll wake them.”

  “Relax, I got this.” His footsteps made a clunking sound as they moved up the wooden steps. The door squeaked as Mike opened it. “Dude, they have a huge kitchen.”

  “It figures you’d find their kitchen during a stakeout. Hurry up and get back here before someone catches you.”

  The loud clunking sound returned. “Hold on; I see a door at the bottom of the stairs.” He touched the door. “Damn, it’s a metal door and has two pad locks on it.”

  “Two? Why would they need two locks for a random door?”

  “Maybe they’re hiding something.”

  “I think we need to come back here tomorrow with something to get that door open.”

  Chapter 45

  Lilly and I emerged from the bedroom around two in the afternoon. We spent too much of the day sleeping, but needed the rest before heading back to the Mason house that night. We entered the kitchen; finding Mike with a large sandwich on his plate with a full sized bag of potato chips next to it.

  “Can you do anything besides eat?”

  “Well there’s not much to do in this place other than sleeping. And with the noises I was hearing, even the deaf would find it hard to sleep.”

  Lilly blushed and hid behind me.

  "Well thanks for broadcasting the bedroom news.” I pulled out a chair and let Lilly sit down while I picked through what Mike left of the deli meat. I pulled together enough to make a sandwich for both of us before sitting at the table. “Listen we need a solid plan for tonight."

  “Tonight?” There was shock in Lilly’s voice. “You want to do this tonight? But, we don’t have a plan yet.”

  My eyes met Mike’s as Lilly turned to face each of us. She knew we plotted something without including her.

  “There’s no easy way to say this,” I began. “We need you to get the maid and the kids out of the house before we go in.”

  “I-I can’t go in there by myself.”

  “You won’t be. We have a way in through the cellar, but Mike found a locked room that we want to check out before eliminating the Mason family.”

  “We just need you to play lookout for us tonight,” Mike interjected. “Keep an eye out and make sure no one wakes up or comes snooping around.”

  “And how am I supposed to get the kids out of there without tipping off the rest of the family?”

  “You’ll go up to the house to ask for help. Tell them you’re having car trouble or that the truck died.”

  I could see the fear growing in Lilly’s eyes. I quickly grabbed her hand; turning her attention away from Mike. “If anything goes wrong, we’ll be right downstairs.”

  Lilly’s eyes filled with tears as she pulled her face away from mine. “Are you sure it’s the only way?”

  “We can try to hold off killing the family for now, but we need to get into that room tonight.”

  “But we need you to play lookout tonight,” Mike said as he put his arm around Lilly. “We need to know what’s in that room. There could be anything in there; maybe even something that can prove their innocence.”

  “Or it could be evidence linking them to the Reaper,” I abruptly said. Mike and Lilly gave me a startling look. “Either way, it could be a bargaining chip to help get us out of this mess.

  Lilly let out a small smile. For the first time, we could see a possible end that didn’t result in us dying or in jail.

  Chapter 46

  We waited until eleven thirty before driving to the Mason ranch house. It was pitch black out; not a single light in the sky. We parked the red pickup truck on the side of the road; just before the turn down the dirt driveway to the Mason estate. The white van passed by us as it turned down the path and parked in the cluster of trees from the night before.

  Lilly sat in the driver seat of the pickup; gripping the leather steering wheel tightly.

  I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Relax, it’ll be okay.”

  “I know. I’m just…”

  “Scared, I know. If this goes down tonight, we’ll be right downstairs. Nothing bad will happen to you. I promise.”

  There was a knock on the passenger side window; causing us to jump. I turned around to see Mike standing there; dressed in all black carrying the night vision goggles.

  “Looks like they’re all down for the night. You ready to go?”

  “Yeah, we just need a minute.”

  “Oh great, we’re going to be here all night. Should I avert my eyes now or are we keeping this one PG?”

  “Shut up. I’ll be right there.” I shut the window and watched Mike walk towards the house. I grabbed Lilly’s hand. “I have to go.”

  She squeezed my hand tightly. “Go, I’ll be fine.”

  I knew she didn’t want me to leave. There was too much on the line and she was a crucial part of the mission’s success. I gave her a kiss before leaving the truck.

  Mike led the way to the van. “Is she okay with all of this?”

  “Not really. That’s why we need to do this fast. I don’t want her being in there alone for long.”

  “Understandable, but I think we should be ready for anything.” He opened the back doors to the van and saw the black bags on the floor. “I made sure we were well stocked.”

  He opened the bags and saw it filled with multiple handguns, clips of ammunition, a couple of silencers and several knives.

  “Where are the swords?”

  “Sitting in the front seat along with a change of clothes; just in case we need to put plan B in action.”

  “Good, grab the tools and let’s go.” I put a gun in the back of my waistband along with a silencer and knife in both front pockets. We put the night vision goggles on and ran to the back of the house.

>   Mike examined both locks. “This is going to take me a while. I’ve never picked a lock before.”

  “With all the stupid and immature things you’ve done, you never picked a lock?”

  “I never needed to learn how. I usually just kicked down doors if I needed to.”

  “Well there’s a first time for everything. You never used a sniper rifle to kill someone but you did that just fine.”

  He took the tweezers and bobby pins and started working on the top lock. After a few minutes, my cell vibrated. I knew something was wrong. There were only two people who could have called my number and one of them had a reason to. I looked down and saw a number I didn’t recognize.

  “Hello,” I whispered.

  “Hey baby it’s me,” Lilly replied with a slight quiver in her voice. Something was wrong and I needed to get to her, but we were far from getting into the room.

  “What’s wrong? Did someone find you?”

  “Yeah, I’m having some trouble with the truck. Some nice man found me on the side of the road and let me use his phone to call you.”

  “I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone and quickly ran to the cellar entrance.

  “Wait where are you going,” Mike whispered loudly.

  “Lilly’s inside the house. Get that room open now. Our plan is going down now and I need to know what’s in that room.”

  I heard the click of one lock as I walked up the steps. “One down,” Mike said softly with triumph in his voice.

  Chapter 47

  I hurried back to the van; using the change of clothes Mike brought to change my shirt to look less suspicious before walking up to the front doors. I could see two women standing in front of the bay windows. One was wearing black pants and a white blouse. Her dirty blond hair was pulled back into a bun. I knew that had to be Sue. But it was the other girl with the petrified look on her face that I was more concerned about. Lilly knew she was in trouble and the only person she could depend on to get her out of there safely was me.

  Lilly’s eyes locked onto me; turning her quivering lips slowly into a halfhearted smile. I knew then anyone could have seen me running to the van from the back of the house, but I knew they didn’t. If they had, someone would have been out the door with a gun in hand or at the very least would have called the cops.

  As my hand reached for the doorbell, a sickening feeling turned my stomach. “Which one found her,” I thought to myself.