Page 17 of Ghost

I released the blankets and pulled her into my chest.

“This kid better not have your damn smile,” Luna said. I closed my eyes and pulled her closer without replying.

It was quiet,andI started to dose when she said, “Maybe it is that easy.”

I smiled wide then and fell into the deepest sleep I’d had in a very long time.

Chapter Eight

Ghost

We rode through the streets and made our way to the Tenth Ave. Marine Terminal. With the number of bikes, plus the time of themorning, we’d left in intervals of four, five minutes apart, in the hopes not to draw too much attention as a huge group would.

Some of us took the interstate while others took the back roads. We’d planned to stash our bikes well before we reached the warehouse where the Black Hearts were hiding.

Arial shots that Data downloaded had shown a dirt service road that ran from a locked gate only accessed when the utility companies neededto work in the area. It was how Maxi and the other had snuck in before. So it was where we planned to enter also, because no way would we be able to access through the main entrance.

My groupconsistedof me, Flirt, Maxi, and Ice. By the time we reached the entrance, the gatewasopen,andit looked as if everything was going as planned. We moved down the road until we reached the area we’d chosen from the map. It was spacious and would allow ample room to park our bikes. Then we would be on foot the rest of the way. The ones that left before us had their bikes positioned for a fast retreat.

Going in, time wasn’tlimited, butonce the job was done, our departure and distance from the area were timed down to the minutes it would take responders to get to thescene. Especially with the short amount time the alarms could be blocked.However, the noise, there was no way to muffle it.

My group joined the others to wait for the remainder of the groups. No one talked and wouldn’t until the business was taken care of. All communications would be handled by hand signals.

Once the last men arrived, the mile hike to the backside of the warehouse took us sixpointseven minutes at the pace set by Speed and Easy. I rubbed my chest thankful for not letting my workouts gobythe wayside after I left the military.

When Easy’s arm went up with his hand in a fist, we stopped. Coast prepared and launched one of his toys. The drone went up in the air and would circle the area around the warehouse, giving us a view of any possible activity. As the screen was watched, Easy let the signals fly. Two fingers meant two sentries were posted on the outside of the building. He motioned that one was on the left side and one was on the right. The spinning fingerletsus know they were in motion, not stationary guards.

Flirt, Maxi, Ice, and I were up first. The sentries belonged to us. While we moved in, Data and Numbers monitored their computers and stood by to stop any and all alerts from reaching the outside. The four of us split when we were close to the warehouse. Flirt and I moved with no sound toward our mark. We were on our man in a blink of the eye, but the man didn’t go down without a fight. He swung at Flirt, Flirt’s hand flew out and throated the man. The only sound was the small strangled breaths that the man tried to pull in before everything went silent.

“The others should be in position,” Flirt whispered, and I nodded. I looked around and spotted some of the men as they moved in the shadows.

Flirt and I moved to the corner of the warehouse,andI grinned when the two remote control tanks headed for the metal door that was lifted approximately a foot off the ground. The gap was plenty enough space for the miniature tanks to roll under.

No sooner than we watched them disappear, the door came up,anda few bikers steppedout. I glimpsed the surprise on their faces before they shouted a warningand then the sounds inside of men moving around and yelling filled the air.

“Fucking hell!” I yelled and moved out into the open as a biker started toward me. I drew my arm back, bent the fingers down on my hand, then punched forward and hit the man on his nose with the bottom of my palm. The move sent the bone in his nose up into his brain,andhe dropped to the ground.

“Hope Data and Numbers have everything blocked ‘cause shit is going to get real,” Flirt said ashe and Itook off for a row of stacked shipping containers about a hundred feet away.

Just as Maxi and Ice joined us, someone in the distance yelled, “It’sa go!”

From our position we watched the men take off for cover. The groundshook,and debris shotintothe air. Then the sounds of it hitting the ground and pinging off metal rippled around us. When I moved to the edge of the container I was behind and looked out, the building was in shambles. The large cloud of dust broke apart enough to show the building had been leveled. Coast’s C-4 that he’d rigged on the remote control tanks had done its job. If anyone had a heartbeat under that rubble, theywouldn’tfor long.

Once the debris had finished falling, everyone started to move from where they’d taken cover.

“Thank fuck the power and gas was turned off in the old ass building or this would have gone a whole other way,” Creed said as we started to move toward the building.

“We have fifteen minutes max to get the hell out of here and back to the bikes or we are going to have a lot to answer for,” Crusher said as he walked up.

“If anyone is alive the cops can deal with them,” Creed said just as his phone went off. Creed pulled it out and read the text. “Goddammit, Sledge wasn’t in the building. Data said when the men started moving around inside, there was no fucking sign of him. Where the fucking hell is he?” Creed shoved the phone back in his pocket.

“Fuck, Creed, we don’t have time to worry about that,” Fork said as he joined us.

“Yeah, I know. Pisses me the fuck off. Bug out, we are down to twelve,” Creedsaid,and we started in the direction where we had entered. We reached the last row of shipping containers that looked to have been the last worked on for the day. Several were still stacked while a couplewasin the air held by the chains that would swing them onto a ship. I’d seen that plenty when our SEAL team would hitch a ride on a Navy vessel. The ship supplieswereswung onto the deck by a crane, though they were crates instead of the huge metal containers.

I was bringing up the rear when a man stepped out from between two containers. With his eyes on Creed, I tucked myself out of view on the other end of the container where the man had stepped out. As I moved around between the stacks to get closer to him, I heard the man speak.

“Looking for me, boys?”

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