Deadly Spurs (3 page)

“
In the building, you need to call in Status change to RED,” Voodoo said in his ear wick. Dagwood nodded like his friend could see him. He listened while Voodoo gave him the info and then told him to Standby, while he called in the Stat change.

It only took moments for the response they needed. Dagwood told his
friend what the JOC told him. “We need to remain close to Paint the car with the laser. When is he leaving?”

“
One hour,” Voodoo whispered.

“
Shit, okay, we will get transpo,” Dagwood said.

Voodoo faded into the hallway and monitored what was going on through the link he established and the bug he had thrown in the tray of food as it went by. He could listen
to everything that was being planned, the only thing he didn’t have was eyes on Target. He would get it though, he had to confirm. Shit, he needed to do that before they left so he could guarantee who was in the car. Sliding back out, he glided stealthily to the kitchen. Listening the whole way while dodging the personnel from the building.

During the
briefing, LC told them the tip came from an anonymous source inside a Middle Eastern Embassy, in San Diego. They had no clue who was sending the info because the sender was encrypted, and they had been unable to break it yet. It was not the first time they received tips from this person and so far, they had been spot on.

It was easy to find the uniform he wanted, slipping into the closet he changed and
then changed his appearance yet again so no one would realize he was the worker who had previously been in the Breaker Box a few minutes ago. He pulled his hair down from the cap and added glasses before sliding out of the small room and walking with purpose to the office the asshole was in.

He paused briefly and knocked gently. “
Come,” he heard someone say both through the door and in his ear wick. Shit, his commander would be pissed if he knew he was this close to the Target. If they recognized he didn’t belong here, it could screw everything the fuck up. Keeping his head down he nodded and walked to the tray. Looking through his hair, he knew his commander would be thrilled. Not only was Number 5 on the Most Wanted List in the room, but so was Number 9. They apparently were working together. Two birds, one stone—nice.

Voodoo cleaned up the coffee tray and quickly hid another bug
, added and then walked out. None of the men had paid attention to him. Figures, they were self-absorbed and thought they were untouchable.

Dumping the cart in another room
, Voodoo changed again, and then moved back into the spot he was in before. He listened and then tapped his ear wick, they were going to be leaving in fifteen. As he waited, Voodoo listened but moved to the back entrance, hoping his partner was a few minutes early and already there and waiting. He needed to get the Laser Painter out of his bag.

“
Stat?” Voodoo whispered and slipped out of the door.

“
Left.” Dagwood and he moved quickly around the corner of the building and stopped. "Really. Fucking scooters?”

“
We will flank him, these babies are fast,” Dagwood argued. “You paint one side and I paint the other.”

“
Fine, let's get moving they are coming out of the underground garage in five minutes,” Voodoo said.

The duo moved quickly and efficiently as they got into position. Voodoo was across the street while Dagwood went up a few blocks and waited. They needed to make contact with the air support, they were on their
way so Dagwood was guiding them to where they were.

Finally,
the black SUV with tinted windows pulled out, and then another and another. Shit, three SUV’s, it didn’t matter they were all targeted now. He hit his earpiece to let Dag know there were three cars. He heard his friend swear and relay the information.

The
y moved and Voodoo waited a few seconds and pulled out as well. He had attached his Laser Painter to the handlebars as Dagwood had done as well. All they had to do was turned the small device to keep it on the car. As they moved Dag fell into line on the other side, they flanked the caravan and kept the laser on the middle SUV.

Voodoo had finally linked into the JOC and his
partner’s communication so he could listen. Now that he was out of contact with the bug, there had been no interference.

“
ETA?” Dag asked.

“
Two clicks,” the pilot responded.

“
Roger that,” Dag said and they remained with the caravan as the pilot counted down his approach, there was one plane, one chance. This was it.

“
Flash,” the pilot ordered and they turned the Laser on. “Spotted, clear shot, request permission to take shot.”

Voodoo held his breath as he rode quickly on the scooter. He looked and knew then they were too close, they had not gotten into the open yet, and it would be several bl
ocks before they did. When the pilot took the shot, he and Dag would have to stop quickly. He looked and played it out in his head. Dag was his partner, since they had been together Voodoo always protected him, always made sure he was safe. Finally deciding what he had to do, Voodoo pressed on the accelerator and listened again.

“
Eagle Eye Approved,” the JOC said.

Voodoo took a deep breath. He would do what he had to in order to keep Dag safe, as well as accomplish the mission.

“Fox Two,” the pilot called and Voodoo slammed on the brakes, knowing the targeting was complete. He could hear the whistle of the missile. Dagwood had as well, and he knew they were well within the blast range. Dropping his scooter, he ran for his friend. Just as he felt the concussion of the explosion, Voodoo tackled his friend, taking him down and covering Dag’s body. His friend struggled a little but Voodoo held tight as he felt the heat from the gas tanks as they exploded.

“
Made the Kill,” Pilot said in his ear wick, letting the JOC know they accomplished their task. Now they had to get the fuck out of there.

“
Dag, move it,” Voodoo said as he pushed up off his friend who instantly jumped up and glared at him.

“
Really? I didn’t need your protection!” Dagwood yelled as they ran for cover.

“
Doesn’t matter you got it. Suck it up, Dag!” Voodoo yelled back.

“
Dude, you are not going to be there all the time,” Dagwood said.

“
Bet!” Voodoo rounded on his friend and got into his face. “It's my job.”

“
Whatever,” Dagwood grumbled.

***

Unfortunately, that was his greatest regret
, Voodoo thought. He had failed his friend, and Arden. He hadn't been there for Dag and he hadn’t had the guts to go back and comfort Arden. He was a coward.

Really, did her life have to continue to suck even m
ore each day? Since her best friend and brother died, she had no one to tell her things were going to be all right. That was what Dagwood would do when she would call to bitch about her life; it was a continuing saga with only brief bright moments.

She missed Mason, the asshole had walked away that night with the promise he would call when they got back and talk to her brother with her. He told her he wanted a relationship, he felt a connection with h
er and wanted to see where it led. Arden had felt the same way and had been over the moon when he agreed with her feelings. They had both fought the attraction since the day they met and now, it was gone. Taken from her without her knowledge. For weeks she had waited for Mason to call and tell her to come to him, for weeks she cried for her brother and Mason.
Well fuck him
. She knew Dagwood would want her to call Mason and ask for help, but she refused. If she needed help, she had to do it one her own, there was no other choice. Mason made his decision.

Arden sniffe
d. Damn it, she had gotten herself into something, but she had no idea what. One day she was at work, busily working to get a case off to the courts. In her job, they couldn’t make mistakes like missing a filing. Being a law secretary, it was up to her to keep things running smoothly. What her boss was thinking right now she had no idea. She only hoped she had a job to go back to when this was over.

Okay, think
. Dagwood taught her how to evade and protect herself. She had rolled her eyes often enough at him, and now she needed to remember the lectures her best friend gave her.
Wait
, he gave her a phone number to call if she was in trouble. Some SEAL who worked on a different team, but lived in the area.

Arden dug through her purse. She was in her car, the same place she had been for seven days, driving around the
bayous where she could and then camping in the back seat. Thank goodness, she had been smart and gotten an SUV. The salesman tried to sell her something small and cute, but Dagwood had interrupted him and told him to show them the SUVs. It was the first purchase she made when she got her job. It had been so exciting, compared to not having the money to afford anything while she was in college. Hell, Dagwood had supported her through college, telling her that one of them needed to graduate.

Both of them were from foster
families, and had met at a Christmas party for the poor, needy children. Arden laughed, her parents had money, they just couldn’t control her. She thought sourly about her parents. It was easier to just pretend she was an orphan than to think about them.

When she was fourteen, her father had an affair, Arden became very angry and acted out.
Nothing major, just drinking, and staying out late. However, the one night when she was out and a guy she didn’t know robbed a liquor store while she was in the car waiting with her friends after they had asked him to buy it for them—was apparently the last straw. They placed her in the system, claiming she had been unruly.
Who the fuck even said that word anymore?
Arden refused to go back home when she finally realized she was hurting herself because of her father’s mistake.

She had not spoken to he
r parents in years; they obviously felt their only daughter was a disappointment. She was good with that. The only thing positive they gave her was her grandmother’s inheritance. Last year when she turned twenty-five, they had to turn it over, of course, not without a fight but she had won with the help of her boss. The fifty-five year old lawyer was more of a father to her than her own was. Arden knew if she called him he would help her, but she refused to put him in danger. Especially when she had no clue who or what she was dealing with.

When Dagwood
died they notified her, she had been his only next of kin contact. She was put in touch with the family support. The last few weeks they asked them to call and check in regularly. No explanation, nothing, so Arden assumed it had something to do with one of the missions. Dagwood couldn't tell her about them, but she knew they were dangerous.

Last week had been crazy and she
had forgotten to call in. Then she received a strange call from someone claiming to be with the family support. However, the phone number had not matched the one they gave her to save in her phone so she could recognize it. The man asked her questions she had already answered and Arden refused to give any information and told the man she would hang up and call back.

When she did, she found out it wasn
’t the family support that called her. Looking back, she should have realized something hinky was going on. But it wasn’t until the following day when she answered the door to some very big and scary men that she knew something was up. She slammed the door in their faces and yelled she was calling the police. Of course, she didn’t, she threw clothes and stuff into a bag and got the fuck out of there.

Now here she was stuck in the
bayou, camping in her Hummer, and considering trying to find a gun for protection, something had to give. Arden searched more for the number she knew she put in a safe place, she just didn’t remember where that was.

“
Ah…ha,” she crowed to herself. It was in the back part of her wallet…nice. Now she needed to drive somewhere and call incase her phone was being traced. She was going to need a disposable soon. She couldn’t take the chance, but every time she went to stop, Arden found something suspicious and didn’t go into the store. At least she had packed her Power Bars, dried fruit, crackers and cheese, and a case of water. That was all she had for the last week, and they were getting low.

Taking a deep
breath, she put her Hummer into gear and drove. Arden needed help and calling a SEAL would be the smart thing to do. This had nothing to do with being able to take care of herself, at five foot eight, she wasn’t a shirking violet. Her smooth black hair and green eyes were her best features, and although her frame was a bit lusher than the skinny models she saw all the time, Arden was in great shape. She ran three miles every morning, since she had gotten used to Dagwood draggin' her ass out of bed for the first few days when he was getting ready to go to Basic Training.

“
Ma, you have to stay in the car,” Mason grumbled. A man on a mission with his mom, it was sad. In addition, the guys would never let it go. It would be, ‘ask your mom…’ the assholes were relentless. Even now, LC was trying to hide his smile as they stood next to the truck in front of Arden’s apartment building.

“
Young man, I can protect myself, you know that. Remember who taught you to shoot,” Tulu Patrick said.

“
Dude, come on.” LC laughed and pulled on his friends arm, at least he understood there was no fighting Tulu.

“
She stays in the car,” Voodoo argued.

“
I will not stay in the car! If something goes wonky, I have my squirrel gun. I can shoot a can at more than two hundred yards,” Tulu argued and pulled out the long gun and gripped it in her hands.

“
Fuck, ma, you are gonna get arrested for carrying that in the city!” Voodoo yelled and grabbed the gun and put it back in the back of the truck in the cargo box and locked it.

“
Hey!” his mother argued.

“
If you want to come, you do it my way,” Mason growled. “You will be between LC and me at all times, no talking to people or waiting outside to look at things, you are with us, all the time.”

“
Fine, Mr. Bossy Pants,” his mother said and slid out of the car and then adjusted something he didn’t want to know about, before smiling up at LC who was now not even trying to hide his laughter and said, “Lead on, Commander.”

Mason growled one more time and then slammed the car door and nodded to LC to proceed. This was why he hated involving civilians, too much a pain in the ass.

The three of them walked across the street and up to the second floor where they knew Arden’s apartment was. As they approached the door, Tulu paused and looked back at her son. “Something isn't right.”

Voodoo nodded, he knew better than to blow off one of his
mother’s feelings. He saw the crack in the door first and cursed loudly, someone tried to break the door down, or Arden had a wicked temper he didn't know about and did this herself. For some reason, Voodoo didn’t think it was going to be the simple answer. If it was Arden, they could have put her in therapy and been on their way, now it seemed they were going to be involved in a mess. It really wasn't surprising after all.

He thought back on the
last few months, first Sable and then Jolie, both came to the ranch and both fell in love with his friends. It was getting to be a pattern and Voodoo had no desire to join their ranks. He didn't need a woman. He was too fucking messed up right now anyway.

Although his mother seemed to think it would be a good idea, he was certain it was a bad one. He also
had no intentions to play cupid for his friends. They needed to pick their own chicks. It was just damn embarrassing.

Voodoo turned to his friend and
mother, motioned with his hand they should stay on this side, and he would get to the other. They needed to make sure the woman wasn’t in the apartment hurt or wounded. Barreling in on a strange situation could be stupid as well. His training wouldn’t allow it to happen.

Slowly he looked around to see what the apartment buildings layout was. If they had to get
out quick, the way they came in was not going to work. Finally feeling confident he had a plan, Voodoo nodded slowly to LC, they were going to have to go in now to make sure the woman was not home.

Voodoo held up his hand and began the countdown for LC.
Five…Four…Three…Two…One…