The Kasparov Agenda (Omega Ops Legion Book 1) (12 page)

Varick sneered at Leo. “So, you’re going to mock me now too?”

“I think he wants you to fetch,” Alex said, laughing.

Varick gave a loud sigh. He knew his injuries would keep him out of commission for a good while—a couple of weeks at least. He leaned back into the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table. Patience was not his greatest virtue.

Footsteps from above could be heard thumping down the stairs and into the living room. Bruce normally carried a light step, but he appeared agitated today. “Alex!” Bruce barked.

“Whoa, what?!” Alex exclaimed, startled.

“Turn that off.”

“What did I do?” Despite his confusion, Alex did as he was told.

Varick glanced at Bruce from the corner of his eye. “Ever think that I was watching that?” As if to ask the same question, Leo raised his head and stared at Bruce.

Bruce ignored them. “Okay, Alex, let’s head down to the basement.” Without waiting for a response, Bruce turned and walked. Alex looked at Varick—he was just as mystified as Alex was. Alex dropped the remote into Varick’s outstretched hand and followed Bruce downstairs to the basement.

What could he have possibly done?
He
was generally well-behaved, and
he hadn’t done anything stupid as of late to get his
dad worked up. Alex stepped down into the basement. The manor’s basement was
massive
. Upon coming down the stairs, one immediately entered into the gym space. It was fully-equipped with free weights, an exercise bench, treadmill, rowing machine, and a hanging punching bag. The
pièce de résistance
was a custom-designed jungle gym for every conceivable bar exercise.
Bruce stood in the center of the gym with his arms crossed and wearing a stern look. Alex shifted uncomfortably on the spot. “So...what’s this about, Dad?”
 

“Step forward,” Bruce instructed.

Oh boy,
Alex thought to himself. He
didn’t like
where this was going. Alex walked forward hesitantly. Bruce immediately stepped in and tripped him to the floor. Alex had his hands up in a position of surrender while Bruce’s finger pointed straight down at him. “Training starts today.”
 

Alex took several seconds to process this. “Wait...what?” Alex immediately got back up, pushing Bruce’s hand out of the way. “What?! Are you serious?” Alex’s eyes lit up. “Omega Ops stuff?”

Bruce grinned. “Yeah, that’s right.
Omega Ops
stuff.”

This seemed too good to be true. Alex still wasn’t entirely sure it was. “This isn’t one of your jokes, is it? ‘Cause you have a sick sense of humor...”

Bruce shook his head. “Honest—no tricks, no jokes. We can start your training today. If you’re up for it, that is.”

“Hell yeah!” Alex exclaimed, slapping Bruce on the shoulder.

“Now, just so that we’re clear, this doesn’t mean you’re a member yet. Nor does this mean you’ll be going out on any missions. This is simply a precursor to joining the ranks. Training to get you physically and mentally up to scratch.”

“Absolutely, no problem. I’m ready. So, what do I address you by? Master? Captain? Chief?”

Bruce frowned. “How about ‘dad’?”

Alex shook his head. “No, that’s no good. Sensei? Sensei sounds about right.” Alex gave Bruce a thumbs-up with one hand and punched the air with the other. “We’re going to be learning martial arts, right, Sensei?”

“Yep. Mind you, these first couple of weeks will be some of the hardest in your life. When you’re not eating, sleeping, or doing school work, you’ll be training.”

“I’m up for the challenge. It’s not like I haven’t been taking care of myself.” It was true. Alex was already in excellent shape for a sixteen-year-old. He ate right, exercised regularly, and was managing to incorporate all of the gym equipment into his workout regimen.

Bruce walked a full circle around Alex, looking him over. “Not too bad—it’s a start
.
B
ut we’ll be cranking up the intensity...
just a smidge
.” Alex could tell by the evil gleam in Bruce’s eye that his idea of a smidge was going to leave him in excruciating pain daily. “But more than that, Alex, the focus of my teachings will be technique. You’re going to learn how to fight and how to defend yourself. Hand-to-hand combat against one foe—two foes—several foes.”

“Good.” Alex was already at the punching bag and striking it with impressive speed. “
That’s good
.” He was pumped—but... “I have to ask, Dad… Why the sudden change of heart? I mean, just a few days ago you weren’t even considering it.”

“I suppose you have Santos to thank for that.”

“Mr. Santos?”

“Yeah, he had a talk with me this morning. He went through one of his ‘spiritual enlightenments’ at the church last night, apparently.”

Alex smiled with mild amusement. “Really? A spiritual enlightenment about me?”

“No, not you specifically, but I suppose it was on his ‘things to take care of’ list. Anyway, we’re going through a bit of a precarious time right now, as you may or may not know, and I might have made some people angry.” Bruce phrased the last bit as delicately as he could. Alex raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “But as long as we take the proper precautions, there’s no need to worry. For example, there’s a slim chance that certain parties will try to get to me through you, Alex. That’s why, until further notice, when you leave the house, you’ll inform Santos, Varick, or myself; and we’ll arrange an escort for you.”

Alex laughed. “Wait, no-no, time out, I don’t need a babysitter. I can watch my own back.”

Bruce raised a hand to stop any further argument from Alex. “I’m sure you can, but it’s happening anyway.”

Alex scoffed. “Well, what’s the point of this training, then? I thought it was to learn how to defend myself. Don’t need that if I have someone holding my hand to cross the street to school.” The basement stairs creaked as Santos and Varick came down them.

“Well now, what’s happening here?” Varick asked.

“Ah, good timing, guys,” Bruce responded. “I was just telling Alex a little bit about the current situation with the Legion.”

“And how I need to be escorted off the premises, apparently,” Alex muttered. “You guys sign up for this?”

Varick shook his head. “This is the first time I’m hearing about it.”

“But that
is
the plan,” Bruce confirmed. “You’ll always have someone safeguarding you, Alex, but it won’t be intrusive—they’ll have no contact with you. In fact, I’d be surprised if you were able to notice your tail. As you know, we Legion members are a slick bunch.”
 

“Well, as long as no one else notices it...”

“Believe me, we want that even less than you,” Bruce replied.

Alex scratched his head. “But are you sure it’s absolutely necessary? Surely you guys have better things to do than waste time watching over little old me?”

Varick grinned. “You got that right. But since I have the busted ribs, I won’t be much use anyway and won’t have the pleasure of changing your diapers, kid.”

“Well, Dad’s started training me, so pretty soon I might be the one changing
your
diapers, old man,” Alex countered.

Varick raised an eyebrow. “Really? You started training?”

“Impressive, right?”

Varick looked to Bruce, who confirmed the news with a nod. Varick stuck out a hand. “Well then, I guess congratulations are in order, Alex. One step closer to working alongside us.”

Alex shook Varick’s hand. “Thanks.”

“But you have a long way to go before you can stand toe-to-toe with me,” Varick said, smirking.

“Yeah?” Alex was still holding Varick’s hand and tried to pull him in, putting one arm around Varick’s neck and aimed a kick at Varick’s shins for the takedown. Alex was leaning back with all of his weight off balance, but Varick barely budged. In response, Varick stuck his foot behind Alex’s leading leg and simply pushed him over.

Varick laughed. “Even with my injuries, you’re going to have to do a lot better than that.”

Alex got back on his feet, grumbling. “Touché.” It suddenly dawned on Alex what he just did. “
Crap
—sorry, Varick. I completely forgot about the ribs; I didn’t mean to attack you like that. You just don’t give off the vibe of someone recovering from injuries.”

“Well, since you didn’t actually do anything, no harm done.”

Alex was impressed. “Isn’t it painful? Walking around and stuff?”

“Extremely,” Varick said, grinning. “But I don’t plan on lying in bed twenty-four-seven until this heals.”

Hmm.
Varick always did strike Alex as a glutton for punishment. The doorbell rang upstairs.
 

“Wonder who that is?” Bruce muttered.

“Who knows. I’ll get it.” Varick made his way back upstairs. He waved a hand before leaving. “Train hard, Alex.”

“Will do.”

“Maybe I’ll head back up too—let you guys get to it,” Santos said.

“Actually, I might need your help for this first part of training,” Bruce responded. “Stick around.”

Santos shrugged. “Sure.”

“Hey, thanks for talking to my dad, Mr. Santos. I heard you were the one that convinced him to start training me.”

“Don’t mention it, Alex; I did the easy part.” Santos smiled. “You’re the one that’s going to have to endure it.”

Varick caught the door on the second ring and was greeted by familiar faces. “The guy that’s supposed to be on his death bed is getting the door...” Roy grinned. “And yet, I’m not surprised.” Varick didn’t expect to see his friends from the NYPD on the front steps in civvies.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“We came to see you of course!” Laura said, beaming. In her hand was a large brown paper bag.

“Well, I don’t know where you heard death bed, but I’m fine. Couple of broken ribs—nothing time won’t fix.” Varick eyed Laura and then turned to Roy and Henry. “Why did you bring her along? You
do
realize that the location of this manor isn’t something we just hand out, right? We can’t be bringing just anyone here.”
 

Laura sneered. “Varick...I
will
punch you in the ribs.”
 

“That’s quite a temper.”

“Left side or right? Maybe I’ll punch you twice to make sure I hit the broken ones.”

Varick raised up his hands in surrender. “Hey, well, if Roy and Henry vouch for you, that’s good enough for me.”

“Don’t worry, John, she can be trusted,” Henry reassured. “Her loyalty to the police and to the just cause is unquestionable.”

“Well, that’s good to hear...” Varick gave a sarcastic thumbs-up to Laura, who responded with an equally sarcastic smile and the finger.

“Alright, well, come on in, then,” Varick said, stepping aside.

“Oh wow, what a beautiful dog!” Laura exclaimed. She put down her paper bag and bent down to pet Leo; he was waiting behind Varick to see who was at the door. “Is he yours, Varick?”

“Yeah, I suppose he is.”

The long ridge of hair running in the opposite direction of the rest of the dog’s coat caught Laura’s attention, as it did most first timers. “Well, look at that, that’s really gorgeous. What kind of dog is he?”

“Rhodesian Ridgeback. One of the few breeds that have the ridge along the back.”

Roy made a quick click of the tongue. “How goes it, Leo?” Leo wagged his tail and let out a bark to greet Roy.

“Well, it’s good to see you up and about, John,” Henry said.

Laura looked up from petting Leo. “I thought he preferred being called Varick?”

Henry shrugged. “He prefers Varick, but I prefer John.”

“I told him the first few times but gave up,” Varick explained. “Schucker’s stubborn like that.”

“Anyone else around?” Roy asked.

“Yeah, Bruce is downstairs training his kid to fight. Santos is with them too; we probably shouldn’t disturb them.”

“Oh really? Bruce is planning to get his son into your club, huh?”

“Looks like it. I mean, it was always going to happen—was just a matter of when.” Varick walked into the living room and plopped down onto the sofa. “Grab a seat, gents and lady.”

“Sure, but we only came for a quick visit to see how you were doing after the fight with that Gregory Pike,” Laura informed. She picked up her bag off the ground and followed Henry and Roy into the living room.

“Oh, sorry, you want a place to put your things?” Varick stood up. “I can take that off your hands.”

“Sure, thanks.” Laura handed Varick the bag. “It’s for you actually.”

Varick was taken aback. “Yeah? What is it?”

“Shrimp fried jasmine rice,” Roy responded on her behalf. “The way Laura makes this rice is
absolutely
amazing. It’s got a South Asian flavor to it—really spicy.”

“That’s what I like to hear. The spicier the better.” Varick looked into the bag and a delicious aroma greeted him. He scrunched it closed again. “So, Ms. Bennett can cook?”

Laura shrugged. “Well, if you consider stealing recipes out of books cooking, then yes, I can cook.”

Varick cracked a rare smile. “Thanks, Laura, you didn’t need to go through the trouble.”

“No problem. I figured it’s always nice to get food packages when you’re sick…or in your case, broken bones after a fight.”

***

“Alright, Sensei, I’m ready when you are.” Alex raised his hands in a fighting stance.

“Ready for what? You don’t even know what we’re doing.”

“No sparring? See where I stand? What I need to work on?”

Bruce waved a hand, dismissing all notions Alex had about training. “No. Sit down.” Alex sat down on the carpet obediently. Bruce sat down as well and invited Santos to do the same.

“So...what
are
we doing, then
?” Alex asked.

“Orientation. I want you to really understand what the Omega Ops Legion entails. What you will learn and what is expected from you.”

Alex stared down at the carpet between his feet. “You know, Dad, it struck me as odd. I’ve grown up surrounded by people in the Legion, yet I barely know anything about the organization. I mean, my own father...” Alex suddenly felt an unexpected surge of anger. “I don’t even know how you became involved in this thing. Hell, your whole past is shrouded in mystery... Don’t I have the right to know these things?”