Crossfire (Book 1) (The Omega Group) (8 page)

Steve was losing his mind. Mirissa hadn’t come home from her
patrol last night, and she wasn’t answering her cell phone. He’d spent the
whole morning driving around, trying to find her, to no avail. He’d called all
of her friends, though there weren’t many left, hoping that she’d just met up
with one of them and spent the night. No such luck. In fact, none of them had
even heard from her in weeks.

He’d even tried tracking her using the GPS on her phone, something
that she would be really angry that he could do if she ever found out, but that
wasn’t working either. It was like she’d just dropped off the face of the
earth.

He called Greco again, but his phone still went straight to
voicemail, just like Mirissa’s. That could be a good thing, he thought. Maybe
they were together somewhere, training or something. He left yet another
message. “Greco, it’s Steve Colson again. Look, I still haven’t heard from
Mirissa and I’m really worried. Call me as soon as you get this message. If
she’s with you and your phones are turned off—
turn the damn things back on!
”

He was at a loss. He didn’t know what else to do. He could
call the police, but they wouldn’t do anything until she’d been missing for
forty-eight hours, and answering the questions they would surely ask could
prove difficult to say the least.

For now, all he could do was head home and wait.

As Steve pulled the car onto his street, he couldn’t help
but imagine all of the terrible things that could have happened to her. Why
didn’t he go with her? He’d gone out with her every night when she’d first come
back from training. He just needed to be with her to make sure she was safe. A
few months in, however, she started asking to go without him. He refused, of
course, but she just kept asking. She said it was because she thought it was
time she handled things on her own, but he knew the real reason. She was afraid
he’d get hurt. He saw it in her eyes every night they were out together.
Finally, he’d relented. Not because he was worried about getting hurt, but
because he was worried that trying to protect him would distract her, and that
could cost her dearly.

He also had to admit that she was really good. Better than
he’d thought possible. Maybe even better than her mom was. She could definitely
handle herself.

Then one night a group of Kakos got the drop on her and
managed to subdue her long enough to kidnap her. They took her to some hole in
the ground with the intention of torturing her to get information about other
Amazons—information she didn’t even have. According to Mirissa, she was able to
escape pretty quickly, and take out three Kakos when she did, but that hadn’t
made Steve feel any better.

He knew she was an accomplished fighter, and even though she
had stopped giving him too much information about her battles after his
less-than-calm reaction to her kidnapping story, he knew she could still take
care of herself. She had come out on top of every situation she’d found herself
in.

So then where was she?

He was about to pull into his driveway when he noticed
movement through his living room window.
Thank God
, he thought. She’s
finally home.

Just then, the front door opened and a man dressed in black
and gray military fatigues walked out. Covering his face with his left hand,
Steve continued past his house and pulled left onto the next side street,
parking about a hundred feet up and out of sight from whoever it was in his
house.

Grabbing his Glock from the glove compartment, he slid the
fast draw holster onto his belt and made his way into the bushes that lined the
back yards of all of the houses on his street. The bushes were only about five
feet tall, so Steve had to crouch down as he crept along behind the houses to
keep from being seen. The last thing he needed was for one of his nosy
neighbors to come out back and shout a greeting. As he neared his own yard, he
slowed his approach, listening for any sounds coming from his house. Nothing.
They must either be inside, or they’ve left already.

Steve pulled his weapon from his holster, gave one last look
to the windows to make sure no one was looking out, and silently approached the
back of his house. His target was the kitchen window. It was large enough to
allow him a good look at most of the downstairs and had shrubbery around it to
conceal him if anyone came outside.

When he reached the rear corner of the house, Steve stood
with his back to the wall, surveying the area. Once he was satisfied that he
was clear, he lowered himself so only his eyes were above the level of the
window sill and moved to take a look.

Two men, in the same military fatigues as the one he saw at
the front door, were standing in the kitchen. He couldn’t hear what they were
saying but they looked at ease, with their weapons holstered.
I guess they
aren’t expecting anyone
, Steve thought. At least not anyone they were
worried about.

He knew he was outnumbered at least three to one, perhaps
more, and most definitely outgunned, so storming the house was out of the
question. But he had to know who they were, why they were there, and if they
were the reason Mirissa hadn’t come home.

Steve made his way around to the side of the house where
there were only two windows on the second floor for the bedrooms, and the small
basement window. That would be his entrance. Patting himself on the back for
forgetting to get the latch fixed last spring when he realized it was broken,
Steve pushed the rectangle pane of glass inward on its hinges, slid through the
opening, and dropped to his basement floor without making a sound.

 As soon as he was inside, he could hear the voices of
the men upstairs. The door to the basement must have been open, even though he
hadn’t left it that way. They had obviously been looking for something—or
someone. The stairs up to the main level were made of heavy wood planks, so
Steve would be able to climb all the way to the top without worrying about
creaking sounds alerting the intruders to his presence. Once he was there,
however, he would have to travel down the hall to either the living room or the
kitchen, leaving himself wide open to attack. Holding his weapon pointed at the
floor in two hands, he slowly climbed the stairs. Five steps from the top he
heard someone walking down the hall toward the kitchen. With no time to hide,
and unable to jump to the basement floor without making a noise, Steve just
crouched down on the step and held his breath.

“Sir, there’s no unusual activity outside. Still looks like
Mayberry out there. What are your orders?”

“Hold tight, for now. He doesn’t have a job so he could come
home any time. Keep sharp.”

So they were looking for him, Steve thought.
That’s
interesting
. Just then he heard a radio crackle to life.

“Sir, we’ve got a vehicle pulling in the driveway. Lone
occupant. Male.”

“Understood. Let him get inside and close the door behind
him. Then grab him.”

Crap
, Steve thought.
Who the hell is coming over
now?
He heard the men shuffle into position, presumably out of sight of the
front door, and waited for his chance. There was a knock at the door, then
silence. Another knock. Steve let out a sigh of relief that the intruders
weren’t interested in kidnapping girl scouts selling cookies.

Just when he thought the visitor had left, the front door
opened and he heard an unfamiliar voice call out, “Mr. Colson. My name is Ken
Hodges. The front door was open. I hope you don’t mind, but it’s important that
I speak with you right away.”

Who the hell is Ken Hodges? He listened as his mystery
visitor came inside and closed the door behind him.
Not good
, Steve
thought.

Within seconds, the military men were coming down the hall
with guns drawn. Steve counted three of them as they passed the door,
accounting for everyone that had been in the kitchen. There was still at least
one more, most likely upstairs, that had radioed in the visitor’s approach, but
the back of the house was definitely clear.

Climbing the last few steps, Steve peeked around the
doorframe just in time to see Ken raise his arms and start yammering about just
being a neighbor and not wanting to get hurt and something about having two
kids to take care of. His blubbering would have been comical to Steve, if he
hadn’t been worried about the idiot’s safety.

Steve watched as the lead man, the one the others addressed
as sir, spoke to the visitor, who was almost in tears now. “Sir, take it easy.
Why don’t you have a seat?” The other two military men walked behind as the
lead guy herded the visitor toward the armchair. The last man in line reached
into his pack and pulled out a syringe, holding it low and behind his back.

Steve knew he would have to act quickly, but his options
were severely limited. He could go in shooting and maybe take out two of them
before one of the others shot him, or he could make some noise in the kitchen and
hope to bring as many of them to him as possible. Not a bad plan, but it didn’t
guarantee the visitor’s safety. Maybe he could…

Before Steve knew what was happening, the blubbering idiot
had pulled out a solid steel extendable baton, flicked his wrist to extend it,
and taken out the lead man with a vicious strike to his temple. Steve flew down
the hall and grabbed the one that was holding the syringe in a chokehold. He
held on tight while his opponent struggled to pull his arm off, then pulled
tighter as he used his other hand for leverage. A minute later and the intruder
was lying unconscious on the floor.

His mystery visitor was struggling with the third guy who,
seeing his commander go down, was ready for the baton attack. Steve got beside
him just as Ken landed a mean right hook, allowing Steve to land an equally
mean left hook that left the guy drooling on the carpet.

Putting his forefinger to his lips and pointing upstairs
with his other hand, Steve led Ken up the front stairs to find the fourth, and
hopefully last, intruder. Assuming that he had to be in the front room to have
seen Ken’s car pull up, they took flanking positions at the door. Reverting to
his SEAL training, Steve signaled for Ken to go in first, while he followed
silently behind. The man was still staring out the window, completely oblivious
to the events downstairs, and Ken used his baton to keep him that way.

After completing a quick sweep of the rest of house, Steve
joined Ken in the living room, where he’d just finished tying and gagging the
four military men.

“I’ve called in some of my people. They should be here in a
few minutes to collect our friends here.” Ken didn’t look anything like the
blubbering loser that Steve had seen earlier. In fact, he looked a lot like the
SEALs he used to work with.

“That was a nice act you put on back there.”

“Yeah, whatever gets the job done,” Ken said with a grin.

“Speaking of which… what exactly is your job? And why are
you looking for me?”

Ken turned to Steve and held out his right hand. “Ken Hodges.
Omega Group. Your wife sent me to collect you. Your daughter is with her.”

Steve just stood there, dumfounded, dropping the stranger’s
hand mid-shake.

“I know all of this…” Ken waved his hands at the hogtied
soldiers on the floor, “is a lot to take in, but we really need to go. I’ll
keep an eye on our guests while you pack a few things for yourself and your
daughter. It might be a while before you can get back here so make sure you get
everything you need, but hurry. These guys work for one scary group and we
don’t want to be here when they come looking for them.”

Steve walked stiffly up the stairs to his bedroom. He
grabbed an old suitcase from the closet and threw in whatever clothes were
easiest to grab. Then he went to his bathroom to get his toothbrush and
deodorant. He laughed when he thought about what Myrine would have said about
the way he’d just packed. He’d better take more care with Mirissa’s stuff.

Within a few minutes, Steve and Ken were walking out the
door and the cleanup crew was walking in. It occurred to Steve at that moment
how strange his life was. He’d taken out a military strike team in his home
with some guy he’d never met. His superhero daughter, whom he’d feared was dead
only a few minutes ago, was now in the care of his superhero wife, who had
disappeared twelve years ago. And now he was on his way to reunite with them
both. Perhaps he should have gotten a haircut, or put on some cologne, or at
least nicer clothes.

“Most guys wouldn’t be smiling like that after what just
happened,” said a slightly confused Ken.

“Well,” Steve said, adding a bounce to his step, “I’m not
most guys.”

Mirissa sat quietly for the rest of the drive to the safe
house, pondering what her mother had told her. She had mistakenly thought that
all of the weirdness in the last year of her life—and there’d been plenty of
it—was the only weirdness she’d be dealing with. Now, according to her mother,
she was the target for a really, really bad guy, and she was a super-special
warrior that would lead an army in some major battle to save the world. And, oh
yeah, somehow, unbeknownst to her, she had magical powers.

No big deal.
Not!

Giving up on making any sense of the day’s revelations,
Mirissa looked out the window and took in the beauty of the Jacksonville Beach
residential neighborhood they were driving through. They were on Duval Drive, a
very wealthy street located right off the beach and only a mile away from the
famous Ponte Vedra golf club. The houses were huge and Mirissa could just
imagine the rich people that were sauntering around inside.

Before she could ask what they were doing in this
neighborhood, Mirissa’s mother pulled into the driveway of a nice ranch style
house. Definitely not of the same caliber as the other houses that lined this
street, but still impressive, if for no other reason than its location. There
was a car already parked in the spot closest to the front door, so Myrine
pulled in behind it, checking her watch.

“It looks like some of my team is already here. The others
should be arriving shortly.”

“Your safe house looks like a regular home,” Mirissa said,
admiring the area.

Myrine smiled and said, “The Omega Group purchased it five
years ago through several layers of shell companies to hide our connection to
it. Cameras and motion sensors are hidden throughout the trees and landscaping.
Bulletproof glass replaced the original windows and all of the exterior doors
and their frames contain solid steel lining. An escape tunnel runs from
underneath a hidden hatch in the kitchen pantry floor, alongside the deep end
of the pool, and exits on the other side of a rock outcropping near the beach.

“Most of the work was easily concealed as standard
remodeling or landscaping work, something that happens a lot in this
neighborhood. The tunnel proved to be a little more difficult. Digging so near
to the ocean meant that the work could only proceed during low tide, and even
then several pumps were required to remove water. Quick drying cement was
sprayed on the floors, ceiling and walls immediately after digging to keep the
rising tide from flooding their work. At the next low tide, the cement would be
blown away at the end of the tunnel, and digging would continue. It took months
to complete, but it was well worth it, because, no matter how secure the house
is, the assumption has to be made that someone will figure out a way to breach
it and if that happens, we need a way out.”

Mirissa grabbed the duffel from the back seat. Myrine lead
her daughter to the door, stopping when she heard the telltale rumble of a
motorcycle. A slight smile graced her face as she waited for the rider to pull
in.

“Perfect timing,” Myrine said as Mirissa’s dream motorcycle
came to a stop beside their car. It was a cherry red Ducati 1199 Panigale. A
bike that, with an almost 200 horsepower engine, could outrun pretty much
everything else on two or four wheels.

The driver stepped gracefully off the bike, removing the
matching cherry red helmet, and Mirissa couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Asteria?”

Shaking out her long blonde hair, Asteria looked at Mirissa
with a broad smile.

“Hey, girl. Glad you finally made it,” she said, walking
over and giving Mirissa the hug of a long-lost friend.

“What are you doing here?” Mirissa asked as she struggled to
put a puzzle together that was maddeningly missing most of its pieces.

“I’ll explain everything,” Myrine interrupted, “once
everyone is here.”

Entering the house, Asteria made her way directly to the
large living room, throwing her black leather jacket over the back of an
armchair, and plopping herself down on the white, overstuffed, sectional sofa.
She grabbed a complicated looking remote and turned on the sixty-inch flat
screen TV that was mounted above the fireplace. The sounds of the laugh track
from the
Big Bang Theory
rerun that was playing wafted out of the
surround sound speakers strategically placed throughout the room.

Mirissa followed her mother into a kitchen that Wolfgang
Puck would be comfortable in. Standing beside a stainless steel refrigerator that
looked big enough to hold food for an entire football team, Jackie Barns, AKA
Barbie, finished off the last bite of a sandwich before nodding a greeting to
Mirissa. Two men that had been standing off to the side broke off their
conversation and came over to introduce themselves.

“I’m Carter,” the one that looked Native American said.
“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Carter was about an inch taller than Mirissa
and had long straight black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His dark eyes
narrowed as he gave her the once over.

Mirissa shook his hand, then the other guy, a shorter Asian
man who introduced himself as Han, captured her attention. His hair was short,
cropped close to his head, and he had an easy smile that immediately put her at
ease.

“Where is everyone else?” Myrine asked without preamble.

Jackie answered in her usual no-nonsense tone. “Julian and
his team are up and running at Safe House Alpha and are continuing their work
there. Myrick is still gathering supplies but should be here within a couple of
hours. Orano and Beck are en route from Greece, but they won’t arrive until
sometime after midnight. Phoenix should be arriving shortly after that. Ken is
on his way right now with your husband and should be here in about fifteen
minutes. They ran into a little trouble, but nothing they couldn’t handle.”

Mirissa snapped back to attention after drifting off during
Jackie’s report of team members she didn’t know. “Trouble? What happened? Is
Dad all right?”

“Don’t worry,” Jackie reassured her. “They came across some
unexpected visitors at your house, but they handled it. The clean-up crew is
there now.”

Mirissa didn’t know whether to feel relieved or angry. She
was tired of being kept in the dark about things that obviously affected her
and was reaching the limit of her already stretched patience. At least, with
Greco, she always knew what was going on. He wasn’t a great conversationalist,
sure, but he hadn’t kept secrets from her, and he would never make her feel
like an outsider.

“I need to talk to Greco,” Mirissa said.

“Greco?” Myrine’s eyebrows shot up in shock. “Your Guardian
is Greco? What the hell were they thinking?”

Great, Mirissa thought, something else she didn’t know. An
exasperated huff escaped her as she stared down her mother. “Yes, Greco is my
Guardian. What of it?”

“It’s, uh, nothing, sweetheart.” Myrine tried to recover.
“It’s just that… never mind. We can talk about that later. For now we have more
important things to do.”

Mirissa’s tenuous hold over her temper broke like a cracked
dam during flood season. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks and for a
moment her vision blurred. Her fists, clenched tightly at her sides since
hearing about the “trouble” her father had run in to, began to shake. Her ring
heated to the point of being painful and started to grow, wrapping its snake
around her arm. When the head reached her shoulder, its red eyes glowed
brightly and Mirissa’s vision changed instantly. The room, blurry only a moment
before, took on a focus like she had never seen before. It was as though her
eyes suddenly became high definition receivers and there was nothing that she
couldn’t see. It was amazing.

Myrine’s face appeared only inches from her own, holding her
shoulders asking her to calm down. Mirissa could see every tiny speck of color
in her mother’s eyes, every pore in her skin. Sweat was starting to form on
Myrine’s brow and she showed, for the second time that day, real fear.

Mirissa tried to get herself under control, but her mind and
body were on full alert.
This must be what a shot of adrenalin feels like
,
she thought.

“Center yourself,” Myrine commanded.

She took a few long, deep breaths, trying to rein in
whatever it was that was happening to her. Her heart was pounding in her chest
and her skin tingled with electricity.
Get control of yourself
.

The glassware and dishes started shaking in their cupboards
while a picture frame hanging above the sink came crashing down. The walls
around her seemed to expand and contract with every breath she took and the air
in the room filled with the electricity flowing from her.

Terror consumed Mirissa as she looked from one person to the
next, hoping to find an answer, but only seeing fear. The tiny hairs on their
arms were standing on end, and Carter, a smiling, statuesque man only moments
before, was hunched over and howling with his fists in his hair. She was
hurting him, but she couldn’t stop. Han put his arm around his friend’s
shoulders, but Carter reared up and threw him into the wall. When Han hit,
instead of bouncing off and falling to the floor, he went right through it. Not
breaking through from the force of Carter’s throw, but flying through, as
though the wall didn’t even exist. One minute he was in the room and the next
he wasn’t, and the wall was still fully intact.

Mirissa clenched her eyes closed, trying to shut out what
she was seeing and feeling and gain some control. She heard the front door open
and close, then a moment later Greco came crashing into the kitchen. He put his
hands on her cheeks and spoke softly, his face only inches away from hers.

“You’re okay, I’m right here. There is no threat, Mirissa.
You are among friends. Let the power drain from you. You don’t need it right
now.”

Mirissa opened her eyes and saw Greco staring at her. She
breathed deeply, in time with her guardian, focusing solely on his gaze, and
felt her heart slow down. The electricity in her skin dulled and then
disappeared completely. The dishes were no longer quaking; her vision returned
to normal and the snake slowly unwound itself from her arm before finding its
resting place on her now normal-sized ring.

“I’m sorry,” Mirissa said. “I don’t know what happened.” She
looked at Carter and found him stretching his neck, tilting his head from side
to side. His fingers slowly unclenched and the veins in his neck receded.
Whatever she had done to him, there didn’t appear to be any permanent damage.

The sliding glass door that led to the pool area in the back
yard opened and Han walked through into the kitchen, smiling as though nothing unusual
had happened.