~Chapter 12~

~Chapter 12~

Back where he parked the van, Josh reloaded the clips for his Desert Eagles as he gave last-minute instructions to Nathan.
“I’m going to get Lexy to the airport and get us a flight to Oregon. I’ll call Wraith in route and get him to pick us up. I want you to go back and get Scarlet, and then follow us.”
Nathan nodded, “What about Matt?”
“He’ll be safe where he is, and Lexy can call him either on the plane or when we get to my place. They are now gunning for both me and Lexy, so she’ll be safer with me, and he’ll be safer without either of us.”
Nathan left his S29 in the back of the van.
“I’m out of ammo for it, and besides, I don’t think I’ll need it for one cocky Brit assassin.”
Josh handed Lexy a helmet and donned one himself. Climbing onto the Ninja 3, he motioned Lexy to get on behind him.
“Be careful, this guy isn’t one of the best just because of good looks and charm.”
Nathan nodded and started off at a run for the house.
“I hear yah!”


Scarlet stood before Carl Mash, her lithe body held in a casual defensive pose. She watched the foreign assassin as he pulled himself off the ground.
“Who are you?”
Scarlet gave him her best glamour-girl smile, “You can call me Scarlet, born an’ bred in the USA.”
Carl was standing now; he looked over her and nodded.
“Yes, I noticed the poor craftsmanship.”
“Ever seen a British car? Now there’s crappy craftsmanship, yet it does the job.”
“You have a big mouth, even for an American.”
“You have a big head, even for a Brit.”
Carl nodded his acknowledgement at her jab, then, taking a quick step forward, launched a high kick aimed at Scarlet’s head.
Scarlet ducked and attempted a classic drop-kick. She grazed Mash’s ankle, causing him to slightly loose balance. He quickly recovered, though, and threw a lightning-punch at his opponent. Scarlet blocked it with her forearm and threw her own punch, connecting with the European’s jaw.
Mash took a step or two back, wiped blood from his mouth, and nodded at her in respect for her skills. Then he went into action.
Stepping forward, he launched a series of kicks and strikes that Scarlet barely could keep track of, let alone defend against. She blocked most of the assault, but received two sequential kicks to her right side, a jab to the stomach, and another strike across the jaw.
Now it was Scarlet’s turn to take a step back, but Mash pressed his advantage and landed numerous more gut-strikes and a few blows to the side of the head. He finished with the same drop-kick Scarlet had used on him just a moment ago.
Scarlet fell hard to the floor, her head cracking painfully on the tile.
Her head felt like it was on fire. She spit blood out of her mouth and blew some out of her nose, but could barely raise herself from the floor.
The Brit was good. He had managed that whole assault flawlessly, and had made every strike count. And all the hits received had inflicted the maximum damage possible.
As Scarlet lay trying to recover from Carl’s attack, the European walked calmly over to the foot of the stairs and retrieved his P226 from where he had dropped it. He walked over to Scarlet, who had rolled over on her back and was looking up at him. Her eyes were filled with rage and agony, but she was not defeated.
Mash leveled the pistol at Scarlet’s forehead.
“What is it you American’s say? Ah yes, “Yippie-Kai-Aye, motherfu…”
His quote was cut off as Nathan collided with the assassin and brought him to the floor. The pistol went off and placed a bullet hole in the ceiling before Mash was forced to drop it.
“How about “God Bless Texas”?”
Carl threw Nathan off him and rolled to his feet, ready for anything.
He wasn’t ready for Nathan to be waiting for him with his leaden right-hook. Carl took it full on the jaw and went down again.
Carl came up again, this time taking a step back as he did, and then lashing out with a left round-house kick.
Unable to step back, Nathan took the brunt of the blow on his forearm, then jumped and kicked with both legs. He connected neatly with Carl’s breastbone, and Carl hit the ground winded.
Carl turned over onto his stomach and seemed to be crawling away from Nathan. Nathan took a step to follow him, but Carl suddenly spun around and snapped a shot off with the P226.
The bullet grazed Nathan’s shoulder, and a second left a bloody groove in his bicep.
Before Carl could get another shot off, the gun was struck from his hand by Scarlet and her bow staff. There was a sharp crack as the staff connected with the back of the Brit’s hand, and both Scarlet and Carl knew she had effectively shattered the bones in his hand.
Carl rolled over backwards and came up on his feet. He lashed a kick at Nathan, catching him in the stomach, and deflected a strike from Scarlet’s bow staff with his forearm.
As Carl took a hurried step back, Nathan motioned Scarlet to toss him the bow staff. She threw it and he caught it deftly with his right hand and spun it around his body and brought it crashing into Carl’s side. He then whipped it around and brought the other end to connect with the European’s head, stunning him. Three more lightning-fast strikes to the knees and other side of the head brought Carl to his knees.
Nathan walked over with the same casual indifference Mash had earlier and retrieved the assassin’s P226 pistol. Walking back over, he placed the barrel to the man’s head and smiled.
“Yippie-Kai-Aye…”
The rest of the quote was drowned out by the report of the gun.
Carl Mash was dead.