Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers, #9)(118)

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 their 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.