Ruthless Game (49 page)

Javier counted off the minutes. Time slowed down to a crawl. This kind of combat took nerves of steel. He waited quietly. Lucas didn’t so much as move a muscle. They were both used to living in the shadows of the night, and stillness was a big part of that. Something heavy hit the ground. There was a grunt, and then silence. Another minute, and the chair creaked and rolled, hitting the wall with a thump.

Javier gave the thumbs-up sign but waited another three minutes before cutting the gas to the room. They opened the door with caution. A body lay on the floor only a few feet from dozens of screens. An armory decorated one wall, every kind of weapon that might be needed to defend the Lopez stronghold. A second man was slumped down in his chair, wedged against the wall. They didn’t touch either man as they leaned over the desk to peer into the screens.

Phase two complete. We’re in control,
Javier reported.

Mack looked at Ethan.
You’re up. Those guards are on the lookout. They can’t see you or the tower guards going down.

I’m on it, Top.

Ethan crawled on his belly through the grass. This would be the longest wait. He had to scale all eight towers and one by one, take out the tower guard without detection. The towers were straight up and down with no real finger-or toeholds so even Gideon couldn’t help, and he was the second most adept at climbing.

Ethan slipped out from cover and began the slow journey to the nearest tower. He crawled across the dirt and grass, out in the open, blending—as did all GhostWalkers—with the terrain. The tower was straight up, and he flexed his fingers, slipped out of his special shoes in order to use his toes as well. Top needed fast, so he’d use both. He had microscopic hairs on his hands and feet, and each of those individual hairs had smaller hairs, or setules, each with a triangular tip. Because of the hundreds of contact points, the setules allowed him to climb nearly any surface without fear of falling. He could support 170 times his own weight.

He went up fast and silent, climbing inside the tower and hovering above until the guard bent toward his coffee mug. He dropped down, inserting the dart quickly and retrieving it nearly in one motion. True to his word, he was fast and efficient, changing attack as needed, but eventually working his way from tower to tower without detection. The last guard was lifting a pair of binoculars to look at the tower across from him, aware that he couldn’t see any of the other guards. He was reaching for his radio when Ethan darted him, hanging off the edge by only one hand.

Phase three complete.

Mack looked around at his team. “Let’s do it. You all know where to go. Get in position and let me know. We can’t mess this one up. We have to make this work.”

His team flashed him looks that told him they were up for the job, and they melted away into the night, working their way up the slope to lie just outside the fence in the space their assigned guard patrolled. Rhianna and Mack positioned themselves between the two roving guards each of them was supposed to take down.

Mack waited patiently for those the greatest distance away to give the word they were in position. Phase four was extremely dangerous. One miss, and they might as well go home. Everything depended on complete secrecy, a simultaneous attack. To orchestrate such a feat was nearly impossible—unless you had the men and women in your unit he did. He had faith in them. He glanced to his left where Rhianna waited. Teleportation was difficult under the best of circumstances. She would have to shoot her dart and send herself to the next station, ready to fire again. There could be no warning raised.

In position, Top.
One by one, his team reported in until he was certain they were ready.

Mack glanced at his watch.
On my mark. Three, two, one . . .

He exploded into action, shooting his guard in the back of the neck, and instantly teleporting to the second station. The wrenching of his bones was incredible, almost like the g-force in a jet. There was a split second of disorientation, as if his body wasn’t quite all there, but his finger on the trigger was steady, and he’d fired the shot before the first body hit the ground. Guards crumpled around the entire estate. He crawled forward to retrieve the dart, all the while fighting the blackness that threatened to engulf him and the bile rising in his throat, protesting the disorienting feat.

Rhianna’s first dart went in smoothly. She immediately set herself for the twisting anguish of her body, as if it was being torn apart, as she teleported to the next section of fence. Struggling to breathe when the air had left her lungs in a rush, she shot the dart even while the soldier was still blurry. He went to his knees, his eyes wide, one hand coming up as if to slap at a stinging bee. She felt her own body crumple and she went down, the taste of blood in her mouth.

Breathe. You’re holding your breath.

Rhianna cursed silently. It would have to be Javier in the control room, able to see her thrashing like a fish out of water on the ground, gasping for breath. She should have known he’d be watching her. She dug her hands into the dirt and propelled herself forward to retrieve the dart. She still had to go back to the first guard and remove that evidence as well. She tried to push herself to her feet, but there was no way to get air. She fell again.

Rose. Get to Rhianna,
Javier commanded.

Rose retrieved the dart and glanced to her right. Rhianna was a force to be reckoned with. She couldn’t imagine that the woman would need help with anything, but she sprinted across open ground without questioning the order. Rhianna had already retrieved the dart from the second guard. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She pointed toward the fallen guard in the section of fence just down from her. Rose saw that the man had fallen in the center between the two fences.

She didn’t hesitate, leaping straight up to grasp the chain-link just below the barbed wire. Twisting her body upside down, she pushed off with her hands. Clearing the barbed wire, she jumped in between the two fences, landing on her feet beside the body. Retrieving the dart, she reached down to take the man’s ID, as all the rest of them had done. Souvenirs to give to Cesar Lopez. She sent word that she and Rhianna had both completed their tasks. When everyone had checked in, Mack gave the signal to proceed.

Phase four complete. We have a go.

Rose had to repeat the process she’d used entering the fences, leaping straight up and gripping the top of the fence just below the barbed wire, and once again turning upside down to thrust herself in the air like a rocket to clear the pointed barbs and land on the other side. One by one the other members of her team cleared the fence, descending on the barracks for the next phase. Rose waited for Rhianna. The other woman stumbled to her feet, swayed for a moment, and then her body went ramrod straight.

Sheer guts, Rose knew. Psychic talent could take a tremendous toll on all of them. Teleportation was a nasty business. In combat, a soldier dug deep and never—
ever
—let his team down. Rhianna was up and over the fence, wiping the blood from her mouth with her arm. She flashed a grin at Rose. The two of them sprinted for the barracks, joining the rest of the team already converging on the building.

Javier and Lucas in the control room were their eyes and ears, using the security cameras set up in the barracks against the guards.

Two up playing cards in the first room on your left. You’ve got three in the pool room straight ahead of you, the hallway dead-ends to the pool room. One in the kitchen just to the right of the pool room. Four in their bunks.

All of them had studied the layout of the barracks, but with Javier’s voice whispering in their minds, the maps were even clearer. They had to enter unseen into each room and either gas or dart the occupants. If darts were used, they had to be retrieved. Each guard would have to give up his ID,in order for Cesar Lopez to return them. This was a psychological assault rather than a physical one. They planned on completely destroying Cesar Lopez. The plan was risky and called for precise timing, something that Lopez—that anyone—would believe impossible. They were ghosts entering his personal stronghold, slipping past every guard, into his very home. He would never feel safe again. Over time he would question himself, and he would lose confidence in those guarding his family. They would strike at his mind—and instill sheer terror in his heart. Cesar Lopez would understand that he was vulnerable—that his entire family was vulnerable.

Rose was particularly grateful that Kane didn’t treat her any differently than he did his other team members. He didn’t hover, didn’t guard her as she feared he might. If anything, they all took extra care to stay close to Paul. He pulled his weight, handling each phase of the assignment as everyone else did, but she noticed the team members seemed to watch out for him a little more than anyone else. She found herself doing the same thing. She noticed Rhianna did as well. If anyone had asked her why, she wouldn’t have been able to articulate why exactly, but he seemed out of place in the environment—far too sensitive for this kind of work.

Rose and Jacob released the gas into the room where four guards were sleeping in bunks. Kane, Gideon, and Rhianna took the three playing pool. Mack and Paul darted the two men playing cards, and Ethan did the same with the one in the kitchen.

Phase five complete,
Mack reported.
Entering house for final phase.

Javier studied each room. Most of the occupants were asleep. Bodyguards sat outside the rooms of Cesar and his son. There was no camera in Cesar’s bedroom, but every other bedroom had surveillance. His two daughters were still visiting together in the conservatory while their husbands slept in the bedrooms. Two of the teens had gone to the kitchen and were getting snacks, while a third sat in Cesar’s den and watched porn. A guard stood outside the conservatory, but no one had followed the teens. Javier relayed the information to his team.

Rose had one job. Kane shadowed her through the labyrinth of halls, up the stairs to the master bedroom. The other team members were each assigned to specific rooms and families. She had to believe they would do their jobs, one by one, putting every household member to sleep and collecting some kind of evidence to show Lopez. Kane held up his hand, and she halted at the top of the wide staircase. The house was dark but for a few dim lights. It enabled them to use the shadows, sliding from one to the other in complete silence.

The whispers in her head began coming fast.
Done. Done. Done.
Still she waited, breathing in and out, amazed at the capabilities and unity of such a large team working together. Whitney’s idea had been two-man teams. He had stressed that the larger the number, the more room for error, and yet this unit of men—
her
unit—had penetrated the head of one of the largest and most dangerous cartels with an intricate and daring plan.

You have a go,
Mack said.

At the soft order, Kane, lying prone on the floor just feet from the guard, shot the arrow into his neck. The guard tried to slap at what he thought was a stinging bug, but the needle had entered his bloodstream, and the fast-acting concoction had him slumping over, his semiautomatic slipping from his hands. Rose caught the gun and lowered it to his lap. Kane removed his ID. This was going to be the most dangerous moment. There were no cameras. They had to enter the bedroom without detection, put the wife to sleep, and have a talk with Cesar.

The door was bolted, and it took Kane a few precious minutes to pick the lock. They were on a time line. The guards had to wake up before sunrise, and all of them had to be gone and out of Mexico before that happened. Kane inched the door open and went in on the floor, rolling to the right of the bed—the woman’s side—staying in the darker shadows. Rose came in after him, softly closing the door behind her. The bed creaked, and she froze, lying in plain sight if Cesar happened to look down.

She counted to sixty and then began a slow crawl to Cesar’s side of the bed. He would be armed and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot. He was sleeping facing her, and she smiled as she slipped her hand under the pillow to remove his gun. A knife lay on the bedside table, the hilt pointed toward him where he could easily grab it. She waited until Kane had darted the wife and slid into the darkness. She knew his knife was out and ready to throw.

She crouched down, presenting a smaller target, lifted Cesar’s knife, and placed it ever-so-gently against the artery pumping in his neck. “I think you should wake up, now, Senor Lopez,” she announced softly.

The eyes snapped open, instant awareness there.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you, but take a good look at my face. I want you to remember me, to know who I am.”

No one wanted Cesar Lopez to remember them. The eyes burned with arrogance, with fury, with the promise of reprisal. Rose smiled at him. “I think, before you go all macho on me, you might consider that you haven’t looked at the condition of your wife.”

His gaze flicked toward his wife of forty years. He couldn’t turn his head, but he could see the outline of her beside him.

“She’s sleeping soundly. I want you to really think about this situation you’ve found yourself in, Senor Lopez, because if you don’t, some very bad things are going to happen to you and every single person you love.”

The door opened, and dark shadows flitted in and out of the room, dropping IDs on the bed between his legs. The IDs raining down on him were from his guards, his son, his daughters, their spouses, and eventually something taken from each child supposedly safe in his home.

Rose leaned in close. “As you can see, we could have killed every man, woman, and child on your estate and in this house.
Everyone.
You don’t know us, Lopez, but we know you, and we know where all of them live. No one else knows we’re here but you. They’ll all believe they fell asleep. You can tell them whatever you want when you give them back their IDs and whatever else we’ve confiscated from them as proof that we could have killed them. Call off the contract on me. Walk away and pretend I don’t exist. You and I won’t have any more trouble. If you don’t, my friends and I will be back, and believe me when I tell you, you don’t want any part of us. Not now. Not ever.”