Ruthless Game g-9 Read online

  “Everything we do is dangerous,” Mack said evenly, ignoring the overt threat. “Teleportation is not exact, but it will get the job done. Rhee, if you prefer another method, we’ll work it out.”

  Rhianna tilted her chin, not looking at Mack but keeping her large, liquid eyes on Javier. “I have no problem with it, Top.”

  Javier didn’t so much as glance at her. “You’d better not have a problem with it.”

  Mack turned his attention back to blueprints, ignoring the little byplay. Rose looked around at the circle of faces. None of Javier’s team seemed concerned. The same thing couldn’t be said of the pararescue men. They appeared uneasy. She shrugged off the goose bumps and leaned forward to study the plans.

  “His remaining soldiers are housed here in this building.” Joe shoved the first blueprint aside and pulled a second one up. “Two stories and they have an escape tunnel that connects with the tunnel from the main house leading to this exit here.” Again he pushed aside the blueprint to pull out a meticulously hand-drawn map.

  “So those guards have to be disposed of as well before we enter the house.”

  Joe nodded. “The tunnels aren’t guarded. We’ve gone all the way to both the main house as well as the barracks. The doors leading into the structures aren’t locked or guarded either. Lopez has gotten a little sloppy with his security. He’s used to everyone fearing his reprisal—even the government. The tunnel in the main house exits into the control room. The control room is bulletproof. When you go through that door into the room, you’ll be vulnerable. Both men inside are armed to the teeth, and they won’t be sleeping.”

  Javier shrugged as if men armed to the teeth were of no consequence.

  “No killing, Javier, you have to get in and put them out without them seeing you or knowing anything is wrong,” Mack said. “That’s essential to the plan.”

  “No worries, Top,” Javier said and winked at Lucas. Lucas grinned back at him.

  They reminded Rose of two mischievous boys about to play a game they both knew was off-limits but they wanted to play anyhow.

  “This is a hell of a time for you to choose to go after Lopez,” Joe said. “This weekend was the big family reunion . . .”

  Kane grinned at him. “We know. Thought this was a perfect time to pay them a visit.”

  Malichai shook his head. “You’re all a little nuts. He has an enormous family. Right now, in the house, his two brothers and their spouses along with children and bodyguards are present. A grandfather. Cesar’s two daughters, their husbands and children, and his son with his wife and daughter. All of them have personal bodyguards. They’re all involved in the family business. Don’t discount his wife, who looks sweet but would blow you away as fast as he would to keep her position.”

  “That’s what we were counting on,” Kane said. “A clean sweep.”

  “You were waiting for this.” Joe made it a statement.

  “We have ears in the cartel, and we knew the family reunion was taking place,” Mack admitted.

  Malichai swung around. “You have someone on the inside?”

  “Working their way up, just for information. Nothing big.” Mack dismissed it.

  “We’ve tried for three years to penetrate the inner circle,” Joe explained. “They’re getting more violent. At first the wars were against each other with few civilians caught in the cross fire, but since el presidente declared war on them, Lopez has gone after the police, the military, and recently political figures. Decapitated bodies thrown in the streets, killings at the police stations, kidnappings, and now car bombs. It’s war,” he declared. “We could use a little help.”

  Mack frowned at him. “I thought your unit dealt with terrorist activity.”

  Joe didn’t respond, and Mack grinned at him. “I see. Running weapons to our little bomb-happy friends.”

  “As I said, we could use help.”

  “One thing at a time. We get through this, and then we’ll talk,” Mack decreed.

  Malichai and Joe exchanged a long, frustrated look. “If you make it through.”

  Mack grinned at him. “We’ll make it. I have every confidence in my team.”

  Rose looked from the papers strewn out on the table to Rhianna and the men surrounding her. There were a lot of variables, and in her experience, the more variables, the less the chance of success, yet they all appeared confident. They were a tight team and relied heavily on one another. Whitney would have said that was their weakness. She thought he was wrong. She thought their reliance and belief in one another was their true strength.

  “We’ll do this in six phases,” Mack said. “Phase one, Kane gains control of the dogs. Phase two, Javier and Lucas take the control room. Phase three, Ethan takes out the guards in the towers. Phase four, we take out the ten guards in the fence. Phase five is the guards in the barracks. We have to complete each phase to gain the main house. Any fail, and we abort and go home. I want you all coming home.”

  His team gave him brief, humorless grins in acknowledgment of the order.

  “Javier and Lucas,” Mack said, glancing at his watch, “you’re up. We do this by the numbers. Stay safe. I’ll be royally pissed if anything happens to either of you. Wait until you get the go-ahead from Kane and then get in there.”

  Javier and Lucas grinned at each other. “Got the message, Top,” Javier said with a small salute. He and Lucas left the room without further discussion.

  “Kane, make your way to the fence and keep those dogs calm.”

  “On it, Top.”

  Kane’s hand brushed across Rose’s face briefly as he stepped away from her. She felt the impact all the way to her toes. For a moment their eyes met. Her heart shuddered in her chest. She loved him with everything in her. Every cell. Every breath. Be safe.

  You too, sweetheart. You know I won’t make it without you.

  He jogged away from her. She felt Rhianna’s gaze on her, but she didn’t look up, needing to compose herself. It was important to set aside all emotion and just get the job done. She couldn’t think about Kane going into a dangerous situation, or that if anything happened to either of them, Sebastian would be without a parent. At least she knew Jaimie would take care of him and the team would protect him. She shoved all that aside and took her place outside, waiting for the go-ahead from Kane.

  Kane was impossible to detect in the dark. Like Javier and Lucas, he disappeared, a mere ghost in the night, sliding easily and silently from one shadow to the next. A dog rushed the fence, and a guard turned toward it and then looked outward. The dog calmed, whining a little and turning in a circle before lying down and panting. The guard frowned at the animal and resumed walking his route. He was in between two high chain-link fences, away from the dogs, but able to see inside the estate as well as outside. On the flip side, he had little or no cover for most of his route.

  Kane inched closer to the fence, reaching out to all the dogs in the compound. There were two on the far side, a great distance from him, and much more difficult to control. When they began scenting strangers, it would set them off if he wasn’t able to command them. It was essential to gain domination over them. He had to stretch his range to include them. Both dogs were resistant to the manipulation. He fought for supremacy, ruthless now, aware of time slipping away. They had to be in and out before dawn.

  Phase one complete. Javier. Lucas. You have a go. Good luck.

  Both men slipped into the tunnel and began moving fast, nearly running in an almost crouch. The tunnel was narrow with a low ceiling and no lighting. It was very dark, almost black, but both men had excellent night vision. There was no hesitation where the tunnel branched off, connecting to the barracks. They continued along the main passageway until they came to the entrance.

  Using hand signals, they stood to either side of the door listening for movement inside. A chair creaked. There was a rustle of papers. Lucas pointed to his left. Javier nodded. He laid his hand gently on the door to keep it from making a sound as Lucas
pushed the nozzle of a hose just under the door, not enough to go through all the way, but about halfway through the thickness of the door itself. It was enough to fill the room with gas. Both donned masks. The idea was to allow the gas into the room slowly so neither man realized there was a problem. The formula used was one of Jacob’s inventions. They’d long ago dubbed him the “mad scientist” with his laboratory and chemicals. He provided all sorts of fun stuff for them to use when blowing things up or, like this, an odorless gas needed to put the two men to sleep. The gas couldn’t be fast-acting but had to be gradual, so they yawned and grew sleepy, not suspicious. Gradual took precious time.

  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 the
ir 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.