Ruthless Game (GhostWalkers #9)(97)
Author: Christine Feehan

“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.