AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fortunately, the man she’d found to teach her how to shoot had been ex-military. Gruff and harsh in his criticism, he’d nevertheless made sure she was an expert by the time he’d earned his fee.
When they’d parted, he’d looked at her askance, “Whatever you’re doing, is it worth it? Ask yourself that question before you take a life. You can never lose that knowledge or feeling once someone falls beneath your scope.”
He didn’t wait for her to answer and they’d gone their separate ways. Each time she eliminated one of Jarad’s criminal partners, she asked herself if it was worth it. So far, the answer was always yes.
Niehl, definitely, yes. Probably more than the others. Among his list of transgressions was selling the highly addictive drug, Azure.
Users inhaled the blue vapors from a tube and stayed in a fogged state for days under heavy hallucinations. Niehl gave away samples at a party for students about to complete their trade training program. Young men and women about to embark on their lives and careers.
All seventy-two enrollees jumped off the roof of their school building the day before graduation, thinking they could fly and leaving devastated family members behind.
Niehl could burn in the fires of eternal damnation as far as she was concerned.
Setting the laser to the side, she withdrew several shock grenades. She didn’t often like to use them but in this case she had to. The small bombs made a big punch causing confusion and enabling her to easily slip away in a crowd.
A few electronics to help her bypass security at the event and her nano armor were set to the side too. The adjustable suit would protect her against up to level 3 laser blasts if she was spotted and someone fired on her as she fled on foot.
Gathering her supplies, she stood and toed the mechanism to close the hidden door. Back in her room, she tossed everything on the bed. Time to review the schematics for the building where Niehl would hold his speech.
***
Aweek went by. Thenanother. Ghost Unit remained on high alert status, ready to respond the moment they had an idea of Tempest’s whereabouts. They’d gone on two in and out missions, but it didn’t distract Rook.
He spent his nights torn. Dreams of Tempest plagued him. The way she’d smiled, laughed. The way she straddled his hips and teased him before sinking low on his aching cock.
The dreams ended in nightmares as he feared one of Jarad’s men getting to her before he could. The latest update from Kyele didn’t help. Rewards were popping up on various illegal sites for anyone who would accept a contract on her.
It didn’t make sense that she was suddenly drawing attention from the underworld after remaining hidden for so long. No doubt Jarad was behind some of those incentives. The criminal mastermind was running scared.
The game Tempest played had deadly consequences and she was out there alone. He gritted his teeth and wished he had some clue or idea of where she was. He slammed his locker closed and turned with a sigh.
“Ready?” Dorian asked from his place at the locker a few feet away.
They were on their way to the underground training field to practice hostage rescue maneuvers. It wasn’t often they accepted those type of assignments but Kyele liked them to stay up to date by designing scenarios to keep their skills sharp.
“Ready,” he told Dorian with a brisk nod and moved around the bench seating. His boots thudded on the floor with each step.
Both of them wore the specially augmented mech armor for this training. The suits were designed to withstand small bomb blasts, high level laser fire and were equipped with targeting technology systems in the helmets that linked to the weapons slung over their shoulders.
Lightweight and easy to maneuver in, Rook still didn’t like the armor. He felt stifled in the tight constraints but admitted the suits had saved their asses on more than one occasion. It gave them speed and agility they wouldn’t normally have.
The only way to get to the underground complex from this side was through a stairway behind a thick door with a manual lock. Initially, the lack of sensors confused him but the location also acted as a secure bunker and Kyele wanted it accessible if electronics ever failed. They might disagree a lot at times but Rook couldn’t imagine serving under a better Unit Leader.
Every text he’d studied at the Jutak Academy spoke of the successes each member achieved serving with Torkel Alonson. Seeing the forethought and planning in person was a totally different experience. It made Rook a better soldier.
As they circled the final landing of the stairs, he couldn’t resist asking the tech of the group. “Have there been any new reports on Tempest?”
Curiosity flickered but the other man didn’t probe the reason behind the question. One of the things he appreciated about him. Dorian shook his head. “No. For all intents and purposes, she’s vanished.”
“How is that possible?”
Dorian huffed, shoving open the stairwell door. He ran his fingers through his hair as he paused to answer. “She knows her way around technology. Or at least the basics. Traces of the woman known as Tempest blipped out of existence for a while. It was as if she’d never been born. All the history, transactions, any credit expenditures at the fancy shops we’d pulled, gone.
“Suddenly I get a hit on the tracer set to track any relevant information on her and she’s back. Fully formed background and all.”
Thoughts flew through Rook’s mind. He scratched at his head and tipped it to the side, trying to piece together the reasons. “She was scared. Deleted the fake identity because we had her.”
Dorian nodded and a rare grin tugged his lips up. It wasn’t often you saw his teammate smile but his grin grew wide at Tempest’s ingenuity. “Exactly.”
