Epilogue

~Epilogue~

~July 15th, 2014: 20 Days After Bombings

Regent Taske sat at his desk in his New York condo, answering e-mails and queries from potential business partners. It had been over a week since ha had sent Janelle after Josh, but he had told her to take her time and get the job done right. And she rarely failed an assignment.
A knock on the door interrupted his train of though, but he took no notice of it. He owned the building he was lived in and the lobby was filled with his people. Not to mention every one of the twelve floors between the ground floor and the one his room was on was heavily guarded.
“Come in.”
The door opened and he could hear footsteps moving from the entry to the office just next door.
“Yes, what do you want?”
“Can I have anything I want? Or did you want me to ask for something specific.”
Regent’s head shot up and his eyes popped.
Nathan, dressed in black from head-to-toe and armed to the teeth with grenades, pistols, and an M16 assault rifle, stood in the office door.
Nathan grinned, “Hey; got any beer?”
With that men in black body armor and “Secret Service” stenciled on their backs swarmed into the office. While the commandos searched Regent for weapons and took him into custody, Nathan turned to the three people who had walked up behind him.
Wraith and Scarlet were dressed similarly to Nathan, and the third man wore a black bullet proof vest, but underneath he wore a business suit.
John Nicolas, head of the Secret Service, held his hand out to Nathan.
“I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Wolv. And you, Miss Scarlet and Wraith. The country is indebted to you for this.”
Nathan shrugged, “Hey, duty and all that. It was nothing.”
As Wraith, Nicolas, and Scarlet turned to escort Regent out, Nathan pulled out his blue Razor phone. Dialing a number, he listened to the phone on the other end ring twice before it was answered.
“Hey, Josh. Yeah, I got some great news about your uncle…”

Miles away in Oregon, Lexy Gold sat on Josh’s back step. She sat looking at the newly refurbished swing set. Josh had her had spent most of the afternoon cleaning the rust and, to Lexy’s horror, three year-old dried blood off the struts and seats of the swings. Josh had also replaced the chain that had broken, so both swings were now usable.
Josh came out the back door and handed her a glass of lemonade.
“Nathan just called me. Regent is in federal custody, and it doesn’t look like they want to let him go.”
Lexy felt relieved, and she smiled as Josh sat next to her.
“So it’s over then? No more assassins?”
Josh took a drink from his glass.
“Nope, no more assassins.”
“So what am I going to do now? What will you do?”
Josh fidgeted nervously with his glass, and finally set in on the ground at his feet.
“Well, we seem to work pretty well together, even when we fight. And I could use someone to help me keep the house clean, keep up with the laundry, and kinda keep me company.”
Lexy laughed and said “Sounds a lot like a wife,” before she realized what she was saying. But the implications of her statement finally hit her, and she just stared at Josh with a kind of terrified excitement.
Josh met her stare and held it.
“That was kind of what I had in mind.”
He reached into his pocket and brought out a small black velvet box. He turned to her and, kneeling on one knee, opened the box for her to see.
It was a platinum band with, and Lexy had to laugh again, a tiny silver bullet circled by small sapphires.
Her blue eyes locked again with Josh’s gray ones.
“Lexy Gold, will you marry me?”
Lexy threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, deeply and passionately.
“I will!”

The End

Chapter 20

~Chapter 20~

Both Josh and Nathan stared in shock at the woman who stood before them. She bore a stunning resemblance to Josh, from the brown showing through the blonde in her hair to her sharp gray eyes.
Nathan whispered to Josh, “Relative you never told me about?”
Josh didn’t answer, just stared at her. And at Lexy, who knelt next to her with the woman’s pistol against the side of her head.
“Damn,” Nathan whispered, “Look at Scarlet.”
Scarlet lay on the steps between the kitchen table and the living room, either dead or unconscious, Josh couldn’t tell.
Josh’s eyes flicked back to the woman in front of him.
“Who are you? What did you do to Scarlet?”
A smug smile crossed the woman’s mouth.
“She’s alright… for now. And you can call me Athena for now.”
Josh nodded slowly, “Okay, Athena. Gray-eyed goddess of war and weapons. You a weapons dealer?”
Athena nodded appreciatively.
“Yes, along with many other things. But right now, I’m the one with a gun on your girlfriend.”
Josh swallowed, “I can see that. And what do you want from me?”
The woman looked down at Lexy, who was looking at her with a terrified expression out of the corner of her eye.
“Interesting, the women you choose. A Doctor, and assassin, and the President’s daughter.”
She cast a distasteful look at Scarlet’s inert body.
“Oh yes, I know about your long ago affair with that cow over there. And you really don’t need to worry about her, I shot her with a tranquilizer dart. She’ll wake up eventually.”
Athena turned her gray eyes back on Josh.
“What do I want? I want you to give yourself up to me. My employer wants you alive, but out of action.”
Nathan had dropped his hands to his sides. He snorted at her words.
“You mean he wants Josh dead. And how would you know about Mariah or Scarlet being with Josh? He dated Scarlet back before he ditched his vindictive family, and even some of his closest friends didn’t know that. So either you are very well informed or…”
Josh finished the sentence, “Or you were there.”
The woman laughed and gestured to her gray eyes and face.
“You mean you haven’t figured it out yet? Dear Uncle Regent said you would recognize me right away.”
“Wait,” Nathan was confused, “Regent’s your uncle? So that makes you… ah Hell.”
She looked pityingly at him, “Yes, Nathan, Josh is my brother.”
Josh blinked once, “Janelle? But they said you died.”
Janelle laughed again, her voice high and mocking.
“Died? Oh no, I just went off for some special training. You would have too if you hadn’t betrayed the family.”
Josh shook his head, “I didn’t betray my family. My family betrayed my family. You killed Mariah and Mara, tried to kill Lexy, and you tried to kill me.”
Janelle’s smile chilled even Nathan to the bone.
“Well, you’ve gotten revenge for your precious wife, didn’t you?”
Josh looked at her strangely, “What do you mean?”
Janelle pretended to look surprised.
“You didn’t know? Pyros was the one who pulled the trigger.”
Nathan swore under his breath and Josh’s eyes became gray chunks of ice.
“Do you even care? I’m your brother! Doesn’t that mean something to you?”
Janelle seemed to think a moment, “Um… No, not really. You are a traitor to our family; I don’t even consider you a brother anymore. You are just a target.”
Josh’s eyes were fixed on Janelle, but Nathan noticed that, lying on the floor behind Janelle, Scarlet twitched. She was waking up.

“So, do you want to know how you save your little flame and save her life?”
Janelle smiled winningly at Josh.
Josh sighed, “Fine. What is your deal?”
Janelle’s smile turned instantly cruel.
“You lay down all your weapons, especially that Desert Eagle you have holstered under you coat, and I walk out with you in handcuffs, maybe sedated. You come back to Regent and your little friends can go on with their lives.”
Josh shrugged absently, “And if I don’t give myself up?”
Janelle gestured with a nod of her head to Scarlet.
“I put her down with a dart, next time it will be a bullet. And Lexy here will get to let all the air out of her blonde head.”
A shaky voice piped up from behind Janelle.
“Speaking of witch, I need to have a word with the ass that shot me with this damn needle!”
Janelle’s eyes went big and she turned her head just in time to see a red-fletched crossbow bolt materialize through her wrist. She tried moving her hand, her fingers, but couldn’t.
While Josh had been talking to Janelle, Scarlet had woken up and regained her senses. She had quietly pulled her way to where she could reach over the back of the couch to where she had left her crossbow that morning. It was already loaded and ready to fire, so fire Scarlet did.
Janelle started to reach up with her good hand to unclasp the hand holding the gun, but Josh took a quick step forward and drew the pistol from under his coat with a speed and motion that would have made many cowboys jealous.
BLAM!
He fired on shot into Janelles thigh, causing her to let out a small scream and fall to her knees. Lexy quickly scrambled away from her, and Josh took three long steps forward and placed his gun between Janelle’s eyes.
The gray eyes of the assassin had lost all their cruelty and were filled now with fear.
“Josh? You wouldn’t, not your own sister…”
The voice that answered her was dead, emotionless. It no longer was Josh Taske, grieving widower and ex Marine, speaking. It was Sharktooth, cold killer and unmerciful assassin.
“You are a traitor to my family; I don’t even consider you a sister anymore. You are just a target.”
BLAM!
Josh pulled the trigger.

Chapter 19

~Chapter 19~

~July 7th, 2014: 13 Days After Bombings
A week had past since Wraith had left. Nathan still hadn’t fixed his bike, and Scarlet kept finding reasons to stick around. Or maybe she just had a lack of reasons to leave.
Josh and Lexy grew closer as the week went by. They did something every night, either a movie out or at home, dinner out, and one night Josh even made an amazing stir fry.
Nathan was not as obnoxious as normal, and he didn’t seem to drink as much. And he didn’t fight with Scarlet as much or as violently. In fact, they seemed to be treating each other with a sort of fondness that made Josh and Lexy smile and trade knowing glances.
It was near the end of the week when Nathan finally figured out what was wrong with his bike. He came into the house dripping oil and grease from his hands and holding some part with a weird name Lexy could never remember. He said it needed replaced, and the bike would need to be taken to a shop because so the piece could be fitted and installed properly.
Josh looked over the part, pointing out stress points and places where the metal had started to come apart or corrode. When he was done, he looked up and Lexy and Scarlet, who had come in to hear the verdict on the bike.
“Yeah, it will need professional attention. I don’t have the tools to install it here, even if we could get a hold of the part. I think it’s cheaper to have the shop order it than order it ourselves.”
Nathan nodded and sat down across the kitchen table from Josh.
“So, when you want to take her in?”
Josh set the part on the table and sat back thoughtfully.
“Tomorrow morning.”
He glanced up at the three people gathered around him.
“Get washed up and wear something nice, we’re going out for dinner tonight.”
Lexy was ecstatic, she rushed upstairs with Scarlet and started looking through the dinner dresses she had accumulated since coming to stay with Josh. She eventually settled on a dark purple strapless dress with a red sash.
Scarlet wore the black dress with purple sash she had worn to dinner with Matt Gold and Lexy in Washington DC. She then brushed her hair so it flipped up at the bottom, and helped Lexy curl her brown hair so it seemed to float around her shoulders.
When they got downstairs, Lexy was pleasantly surprised by Josh. Dressed in a full tux with a blood-red vest, the former Marine looked strong and imposing.
Nathan, on the other hand, at least put on a clean white T-shirt and new jeans. He tried combing his ragged hair, but gave up, and donned a black blazer over an under-arm gun holster.
When he came down the steps Lexy had to hold back a smile and Scarlet stifled a giggle. Josh just looked him over and nodded, the ghost of a smile playing over his mouth.
“Very stylish.”
Nathan shrugged, “To Hell with stylish, its damn comfortable, is what it is.”

Josh selected a black Jaguar from his row of cars, and drove them to a fancy French restaurant the name of which Lexy couldn’t pronounce. The man who showed them to their seat was gracious and spoke with a faint French accent. But both Lexy and Scarlet could barely hold their laughter in when they saw the looks he kept shooting at Nathan.
Nathan spent about half a minute looking over the menu before handing it to Josh.
“You order, I don’t read French.”
Lexy handed her menu to Josh as well, “I bet you don’t even speak it.”
Scarlet laughed at the two of them, and Josh’s eyes sparkled with amusement.
Lexy and Nathan made a game out of trying to pronounce items on the menu, getting Josh, who actually spoke French, to judge their attempts. After a few minutes, the waiter came back to take their orders.
“Puis-je prendre votre commande?”
Josh looked up and smiled, “Oui. Qu’est-ce que la salade du jour?”
“Salade verte, monsieur.”
Josh nodded and consulted his menu.
“Ah, quatre salads vertes et de quatre steaks de votre maison particulière avec tout sur eux.”
The waiter jotted Josh’s order down on his notepad and nodded his head.
“Très bien, monsieur. Quelque chose à boire?”
“Chardonnay pour moi et pour la dame aux cheveux rouges, du cidre mousseux pour l’autre dame, et quelle que soit la bière que vous avez sous la main de l’homme mal habillè.”
The man bowed slightly, “Très bien, monsieur. Je serai de retour prochainement avec vos boissons.”
Josh bowed his head to the man, “Merci.”
As the man walked away, Nathan made a face.
“Tres bien, monsier. Merci. Wow, what the Hell did you say to him?”
Josh smiled, “Anyone care for steak?”
Lexy and Scarlet laughed and Nathan was annoyed.
Nathan sat back in his chair, “Couldn’t you order that in English?”
Josh shrugged, “I guess. Besides, Last time I remember you don’t speak any languages.”
Nathan grinned, “Betullkah, Encik Taske? Saya lupa. Peliknya, Adakah anda bertutur Bahasa Melayu?”
Lexy looked to Scarlet, “What was that?”
Scarlet eyed Nathan with surprise, “I actually don’t know. Nathan?”
Nathan cocked his head and grinned, “Malay. I picked it up on a mission a few years ago.”
Lexy grinned back at him, “Cool!”
Nathan winked at her before marveling at the beer placed in front of him by the waiter.
“Totally!”

The Next Morning Josh and Nathan loaded Nathan’s Harley into the back of Josh’s Silverado and took it off to a shop to get it fixed.
The shop was a little hole-in-the-wall place in Portland run by a big black man known to the Underworld as Anubis. And ex-Mafia hit man, Anubis was known for two things; getting rid of bodies and fixing vehicles.
After explaining to Anubis what they thought was wrong, they unloaded the bike into the back of the garage and left it next to a Honda street bike Anubis was turning into a flashy looking tricycle.
The big man then led them into the main office, where he got them each a beer and Nathan paid for the bike’s repair.
Anubis ran a big hand over his bald head as he jotted down some contact information for Nathan.
“It’ll be done in about a week if my supplier can get his hands on the part. If sooner, I’ll call you.”
Nathan sipped his beer and nodded.
“Hey, thanks a lot, man. Business doin’ good?”
Anubis grinned and laughed, “Ha! It’s been better, but I can’t really complain. I own the building, and I have enough favors owed me that I won’t run out of inventory for basic parts. But special jobs are rare these days.”
Josh looked up from a black binder full of car pictures.
“You still do custom jobs?”
Anubis looked at him levelly, “You thinking a soup-up, or a military job?”
Josh went back to looking at cars.
“Military job.”
The black man leaned against the counter and looked at Josh curiously.
“What you have in mind?”
Josh didn’t look up, “I have a Chevy Trailblazer I want armored and fortified.”
Anubis grinned, his eyes lighting up.
“A Trailblazer? It would be tough, but I think I can do it. You want the windows shatterproof?”
Josh closed the book and face him.
“Yes. And I want the fuel tank plated.”
Anubis cracked his knuckles with excitement.
“Bring it on, Sharktooth! I’ll have that baby ready to storm the Whitehouse!”
Nathan laughed, “WE just stopped a bunch of jackasses from storming the Whitehouse, and it wasn’t so we could come back later and do it ourselves.”
The ex-hit man handed Josh a small stack of papers.
“Fill these out with the specs you want and bring them back with the vehicle. What do you want it for anyways?”
Josh took the papers and him and Nathan started for the door.
“Just a precaution. See you later Anubis, thanks for the help.”
Anubis waved to them as they headed out, “Thanks for the business. Come back soon.”

Josh and Nathan arrived home sometime after twelve-thirty and entered the house through the front door. The first thing they noticed was the quiet. No TV, no talking, no sound of movement from upstairs.
“Lexy? Scarlet? We’re back!”
Josh and Nathan came through the dining room and turned the corner into the kitchen area.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Josh and Nathan both ducked as three shots rang out Two bullets zinged over their heads and embedded into the dining room wall behind them, the third blew out the window.
“Stand up.”
The two of them stood slowly, keeping their hands in plain view.
Then Josh looked up, and his own gray eyes stared back at him from a determined feminine face.

Chapter 18

~Chapter 18~

~July 1st, 2014: 7 Days After Bombings
Josh and Lexy had stayed up late the night before, talking things over and trying to comfort Lexy. She was suffering from what Nathan called a bad case of shellshock. Because of this, Lexy was allowed to sleep in, even though the other three members of the household got up early to take care of some remaining business from the night before.
After a quick breakfast, Josh and Wraith went upstairs into Josh’s bedroom. Walking into the room, the wall to the left had a large door set into it. While it was designed to look like a normal door, upon close examination one would see it was made out of a very thick metal. And, should one try to open the door, they would find it nearly impossible. This was the door to Josh’s “Den”, his secret office. The door was held closed by a powerful magnetic lock that also, through reversing the poles of the magnetic force, would open or close the door without the aide of a person.
Inside the Den was an impressive Telecom video and audio communications setup along the wall to the right of the door. To the left was a desk with four computers, all useable and in perfect working order, all routed through two large monitors. Next to the desk was a number of shelves, loaded full of all sorts of communications and intelligence gathering gear.
In the center of the room was a circular table with holographic image projectors set into the table and into the ceiling above. The projectors worked together to create a 3D image in the space between them. Designed by Shadow Tech, a company publicly owned by a man called Mike Murdock and secretly owned by Wraith, the projector system was not currently available to the public.
While the projector system was impressive, and all the equipment in the room was very expensive, the thing of real value in the Den was the wall of filing cabinets along the back wall. Here was stored Josh and Wraith’s records of every criminal and criminal action since the 1990’s. Here was a store of knowledge and information that would make the CIA and FBI jealous. This, of all the things Josh and his little team had every done or collected, was the most dangerous.
And it was through these files that Josh and Wraith went through and removed six folders from. One for each of the members of the team Pyros had hired last night, and the last for Pyros himself.
Josh and Wraith copied each file and put the copies into manila envelopes. Then Wraith took the files and drove off in Josh’s black Silverado pickup, the bed of the truck covered by a blue tarp. The plan was that Wraith would take the bodies and leave them somewhere the police would find them, along with the files. The files held more than enough evidence to condemn the men to life in prison, and in the case of Cult and Pyros, the death penalty. This, then, was Wraith’s destination.

After eating his breakfast, Nathan spent most of the morning outside working on his Harley. Now that Pyros and Carl Mash had been eliminated, he planned on going on with his life as he always had. Which for him meant mildly intoxicated and as wildly as possible.
Scarlet, on the other hand, was not doing so well. She sat in the living room on a couch, a half-eaten bowl of cereal on the coffee table before her, watching the morning news with a glum expression and even glummer attitude.
The strange thing, as Nathan noted on one of his trips to the kitchen to wash his hands, was that there was also a tequila bottle on the table next to the cereal. Scarlet rarely drank in the morning, and never drank anything as strong as tequila. Nathan made a mental note of it, intending to bring it up with Josh later, and went back out to work on his bike.

Wraith got back around noon and put the Silverado away in the underground garage. He walked into the dining room where Lexy was learning how to sharpen a throwing knife from Josh, and Scarlet looked on.
“I am leaving.”
Lexy looked up surprised, but Josh just continued with what he was doing.
“You want to borrow a car?”
Wraith shrugged, “Actually, I was hoping you could drop me off at the airport.”
Josh nodded, and Lexy threw him a disbelieving look before turning back to Wraith.
“Where will you go?”
“Back to New York. I have business there I left unfinished and someone has to keep an eye on the Board and their actions.”
Josh put the knife and his sharpening kit away and rose to his feet. His gray eyes settled on Lexy.
“You want to go out to dinner? Maybe go to the mall? See a movie? Anything?”
Lexy took a surprised moment to think.
“Um… I don’t really care.”
Josh nodded as if she said she wanted to do something specific.
“Ok, we’ll go with all of the above.”
Wraith and Lexy exchanged bemused glances as Josh got the keys to the Mustang he left on the bar and headed into the living room.
He put a hand on Scarlet’s shoulder, “Me and Lexy are going to take Wraith to the airport, then go to the mall and get dinner and maybe see a movie. Don’t expect us back until late.”
Scarlet nodded absently, her eyes fixed blankly on the TV.
Josh watched her for a moment, and then headed for the back door.
He called over his shoulder, “Lexy, Wraith, come on. We’ll tell Nathan where we’re going on our way to get the car.”
Lexy was very pleased with this turn of events. While she was sad to see Wraith go, she was getting an afternoon and late night out with Josh. For her it was a dream come true, a night in Heaven.
Nathan was sitting on the step to the garage’s backdoor, looking over some greasy piece of his cycle. He looked up and grinned.
“Hey, I think I almost know what’s wrong with her.”
Josh stopped and looked at the pieces of Nathan’s bike that were strewn over the walkway.
“What’s wrong?”
Nathan shrugged, “Dunno, I only said I almost knew. You guys goin out?”
Josh nodded and opened the door leading into the garage for Lexy and Wraith.
“Yeah, Wraith is heading back to New York and me and Lexy are going to go to dinner, hang out at the mall, and probably see a movie.”
Nathan touched his fingers to his forehead in a kind of casual salute.
“Translation: You won’t be back until around like four in the morning and you want us to behave and not wreck the house.”
Josh smiled and clapped his old friend on the back.
“Close enough.”

Nathan stayed outside trying to figure what was wrong with his bike until sometime around six o-clock. Then he went inside and, after washing his hands and grabbing a beer from the fridge, plopped down on a couch in the living room. Since Josh had left Scarlet had disappeared, taking with her the breakfast she had left on the coffee table, but leaving four empty tequila bottles.
Nathan didn’t worry about the bottles, but turned on the TV and started surfing channels in search of something good to watch. As he surfed he called over his shoulder in the direction of the stairs.
“Hey, Red, you wanna watch some TV or something? Looks like we have all night to ourselves.”
“Yes, all night.”
The sultry voice from behind him caused him to turn around in surprise. But what he saw, standing by the end of the pool table in the adjacent room, surprised him even more.
There, her hair flowing down over her shoulders, was Scarlet. Her pose accented her body’s curves, her legs clad in black jeans that almost sparkled in the dim light. Her light, almost white, blue shirt was partially unbuttoned, and the plunge of the neck gave the illusion that she was wearing little, if anything, underneath.
Nathan just stared, his brain not fully registering what was happening.
Scarlet walked towards him and around the couch, her hips swaying seductively with each step. She straddled his legs and leaned in close to him. Her scent filled his nostrils and her hair fell forward and brushed against his shoulder. Her shirt fell away from her body, revealing that the illusion of having nothing underneath was not an illusion.
Nathan’s breath caught in his throat and he found it difficult to speak. When he did it was in a hushed, husky tone.
“Scarlet, what are you doing?”
Scarlet ran a hand down his chest, and Nathan could feel his heart quicken.
“Don’t play silly with me; you know how I feel about you. And I know you feel the same way.”
Nathan had a hard time keeping his eyes on her face; they kept dropping to her neckline, and beyond.
“What… how would you know how I feel?”
Scarlet laughed lightly and brushed her lips against his.
“Call it woman’s intuition.”
Nathan had women on his mind all right, but it wasn’t their intuition. But something was nagging at the back of his mind, something out of place.
Then it hit him. Alcohol, Nathan smelled alcohol.
Scarlet was drunk. She had never been able to take her liquor well, and normally was very careful about what and how much she drank. The four empty tequila bottles and the song “Tequila makes her clothes fall off” ran through his head.
He grabbed her hands, which were slyly making their way to the hem of his shirt and, gently, pulled them away.
“No, Scarlet.”
Scarlet sat back slightly, a look of disappointment and confusion playing across her face.
“What? Don’t you want me?”
Nathan shook his head, “Not now, not like this.”
Scarlet leaned in and kissed him full on the mouth, her green eyes glinting playfully.
She drew back after a moment and licked her lips.
“You’re just being silly, you’re a man. Men will take a girl anyway they can get her.”
Nathan pushed her back and made her get to her feet.
“No, not me. And not with you. If we ever are going to be together I want it to be because you and I both want it to. Not because one of us is drunk and not thinking straight.”
Scarlet stood before him, lost. Her eyes suddenly flared up and she shoved Nathan back onto the couch.
“Fine! But as far as you are concerned, this was your last chance!”
She turned haughtily and began making her way to the stairs. But halfway she stumbled and fell against the pool table.
Nathan jumped up and got to her just as she fell to the floor. He took her unconscious form and laid it on the guestroom bed. Then, quietly and more sober than he had been for a long time, Nathan went back downstairs to watch TV.

Josh and Lexy walked hand-in-hand out of the Hollywood Theatre in Portland. They had, at Lexy’s request, gone to see the new James Bond movie, Cold Vengeance. Now, as they walked to their car, Lexy couldn’t stop talking about how great she thought the movie was.
“Wasn’t that awesome? I just love Harry Chase, he’s such an amazing actor. What did you think, Josh?”
Josh shrugged, “I dunno, been there, done that.”
Lexy laughed and playfully punched his shoulder.
“Whatever, Mr. Tough Guy! I bet you never have jumped out of a three-story building into a pickup bed!”
Josh thought a moment, “No, your right. It was five stories.”

Sometime around four in the morning, Scarlet came down stairs massaging her temple. She had changed into regular blue-jeans and a white tank-top, but Nathan still saw her in the sparkly black jeans, plunging blue top, and desire-filled green eyes.
Scarlet slumped onto the other couch.
Nathan glanced over at her, “Feeling better?”
Scarlet shook her head slightly, “Hell no. Fells like a rock band had auditions for a new drummer inside my head.”
Nathan didn’t comment, but after a moment Scarlet’s head came up sharply.
“Oh Hell… Nathan, I’m really sorry about anything I said earlier. I let the drink get to me… I don’t even remember what I did, was I bad?”
Nathan cast a quick glance at her, and the horror and fear in her eyes told him she remembered everything she had done.
But he just shrugged, “Nah, you weren’t so bad. People say and do crazy stuff when they’re drunk.”
Scarlet just sat there, and after moment, rose to go back upstairs.
Before she headed upstairs, she turned and looked back at Nathan.
“Thank you…”

Chapter 17

~Chapter 17~

“He said Firelighter sent him?”
Josh and Lexy sat in Josh’s living room, Josh on one couch, Lexy on the other with Scarlet. Nathan sat on the edge of the coffee table, and Wraith leaned against the back of the couch Josh sat on.
Nathan was reviewing some of the finer details in the events of that night. Josh had told the story once already, and now Wraith and Nathan were gathering what information they could from the incident.
Josh nodded, rubbing his temple with two fingers in an attempt to alleviate the headache he’d been getting since they got home.
“Yeah, Firelighter.”
Wraith and Nathan exchanged glances as Wraith came around the arm of the couch to sit next to Josh.
Wraith’s green eyes clouded over slightly, a look Nathan and Josh recognized to mean the man’s amazing mind was fast at work analyzing and strategizing.
“Firelighter is the name Pyros Lite goes by in the Underworld.”
Nathan rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward.
“So we can assume the jackass has caught up with us.”
Lexy laughed slightly, “Heh, that’s a great assumption.”
Scarlet put a comforting arm around Lexy, who was still obviously shaken.
“So what now?”
Josh looked up at Wraith, whose computer-like brain was still hard at work.
“Do we have any contacts in the Underworld we can get in on this to help us out?”
Wraith shook his head, but didn’t blink or move his eyes from the point on the floor he had chosen to stare at.
“Sniper maybe; and there is Anubis and Bombshell over in Portland. But otherwise, no one who is of particular use to us.”
Lexy shook her head to try and clear her mind. An idea was starting to form.
Nathan dropped his throwing knife out of its wrist-sheath and began spinning it through his fingers.
“Do we know where he’s holed up? Can we just blast in, kill the guy, and get out? Problem solved.”
Wraith shook his head at that as well.
“No. We don’t know where he is based, or even where he would want to set up a headquarters.”
Lexy spoke up, “Why don’t we draw him out?”
Josh, Nathan and Wraith all looked at her in surprise. Nathan stopped playing with the knife and threw a glance at Scarlet, who was smiling with a proud look in her eyes. She shrugged at Nathan as if to say she had nothing to do with Lexy’s idea.
“Explain,” Wraith said, looking at the young lady with interest.
Lexy swallowed nervously, “Well, we don’t know where he is, and it’s just us against him and whoever he’s got against us. My father is a big fan of Sun Tzu and his book, The Art of War. One thing Sun Tzu always stresses is to choose your battleground, don’t let the opponent choose it for you.”
Nathan and Josh exchanged glances, thinking they might know where Lexy was going with this.
Scarlet’s smile had gotten bigger, and she murmured something that sounded like; “Yep, she’s family.”
Wraith’s eyes had clouded over again and, judging by the smile on his face, he was seeing hope in what little of Lexy’s plan she had revealed to them.
“What exactly did you have in mind?”


~June 30th, 2014: 6 Days After Bombings
Sometimes Pyros loved his job. His current contract with Regent Taske stated that he was not allowed to take any missions, attack any individual, or take any antagonistic action against any group or individual, without Regent’s explicit consent. So most of the time Pyros was stuck doing mundane jobs, such as threatening, extorting, bullying, stealing, and the occasional odd arson job, but then there were the other jobs.
Regent would sometimes call upon Pyros to act as an assassin or a bounty hunter. Now of course Pyros loved all the jobs he got, but it was these rare assignments that he lived for. The chase, the hunt, Pyros loved it all. But sometimes, not often mind you, but sometimes Pyros’ prey walked right into his accelerant-stained hands. Sometimes Pyros loved his job, sometimes his job loved him.
Now the job Pyros had been currently assigned, specifically to kill Josh Taske and Lexy Gold, had taken a surprising turn. After the fiasco at the restaurant the night before, Pyros had put a tail on Josh and Lexy as they drove home. For the last two days, Pyros had had the house watched by either himself or one of his hired agents.
The day immediately after had been really quiet. There had been movement inside the house, nothing you wouldn’t expect from a house being lived in. But no one came or went, or even looked out a window.
The next day, however, showed a bit more action. The tall black-haired man with the green eyes had come and gone to a few local stores, and Nathan and Josh had gone out to the backyard to look over a red and black Harley Davidson motorcycle parked behind the garage.
But it wasn’t until that night that Pyros’ luck really showed. At about four o-clock, Nathan and the red-haired woman came out and drove off in the Mustang convertible Josh had left parked in front of the house. As they drove off Pyros could hear them arguing loudly about what bar or club they wanted to visit. At about four forty-five, the green-eyed man rolled a Yamaha motorcycle out of the garage and rode off.
Pyros could not believe his good fortune. Now only Josh and Lexy were left in the house. Pyros radioed in five of his agents to come prepared for a fight. But, as he waited, his luck changed again.
At about six o-clock, Josh and Lexy came out of the house and started walking down Broadway Alley in the direction of Monroe Park.
Now, as any good assassin knows, the best time to kill a target is when they are alone. And the best place to kill a target is when they are not at home. And Pyros just had the perfect time and place handed to him on the proverbial silver platter.
After quickly whispering commands to the Underworld agents who had just arrived, Pyros started off in the direction Josh and Lexy went. One of the men he had called in followed him, while the remaining agents split up into two teams of two and headed down Broadway and 10th Ave, which paralleled Broadway Alley and also led to Monroe Park.

Cult and Roderick opted to take 10th Ave. They followed 10th down until it turned onto Adams St. They then left the road and made their incursion onto Monroe Park. Neither of them noticed the dark shadow that was following them.

Bell and Sal, the second assassin team, followed Broadway until it intersected with Adams. They arrived almost the same time Cult and Roderick reached the edge of the park. As the other team did, they also failed to notice they were followed.

Pyros reached the intersection of Broadway Alley and Adams St. and headed straight into the park. He was followed closely by Madden, the remaining member of his assassin squad. Just as luck would have it, Josh and Lexy had chosen a bench near the center of the park and now sat, with their backs to the park entrance.
Pyros checked the clip on his HK MP5SD SMG, as did Madden. The MP5SD was a small but effective submachine gun with a silencer and flash-suppressor. Small, quiet, and deadly, it was the optimum choice for Pyros’ little team of assassins.

Bell and Sal, also armed with MP5’s, had line-of-sight on Josh and Lexy. As they drew beads on the two talking quietly on the bench, someone tapped them on the shoulder.
They turned to see a grinning Nathan Wolv.
“Hey, Mates, nice night, eh?”

Cult was armed, not with the MP5 as his associates all were, but with the HK PSG-1 sniper rifle. He rested the barrel of the sniper in a low tree branch and centered Josh’s head in his sights.
Next to him, Roderick chambered a round and sat waiting.
“Hey, Cult, take the shot. Cult?”
Roderick looked up at Cult, and had to catch the other man as he fell sideways on top of him. One look at the throwing knife lodged in the back of Cult’s neck told Roderick all he needed to know.
He turned with wide eyes to look at the black figure a few yards away in the bushes. Two luminescent green eyes stared back.
Roderick brought his MP5 to bear and let out a short, controlled burst of fire in the direction of the man, but he wasn’t there.
Reason leaving him, Roderick turned and ran pell-mell in the opposite direction.
Which happened to be the direction Josh and Lexy were in.

Josh and Lexy had been sitting on the bench, watching their surroundings carefully. So far, it appeared everything was going to Lexy and Wraith’s plan.
Josh had an earwig communication device in one ear, and was linked with the comm. Units Scarlet, Nathan and Wraith were equipped with. Through this, Josh had received reports of the three teams converging on his and Lexy’s location.
As they waited, they talked a little, but for the most part Josh tried to get Lexy to rethink her plan before it was too late. But, of course, she refused. And so, they were still there when the sound of gunfire exploded out of the darkness, soon followed by a terrified Roderick.
As Josh jumped to his feet to meet the threat, Roderick stopped and snapped his MP5 up in Josh’s direction.
And a shot rang out in the night.

Pyros heard the shot and was about to step out of the trees to confront Josh, when he heard a body thump to the ground behind him. He turned to see Scarlet standing over the body of Madden.
Pyros brought his MP5 up to shoot her, but she kicked the gun from the startled assassin’s hands. He took a step forward to engage her in hand-to-hand combat, but she had her small cross bow out and shot him in the leg with one of her red-fletched bolts. Pyros went down on one knee, tried to rise, but a stunning kick from Scarlet took the rest of the fight from him.
As she reloaded her crossbow, she grinned down at the arsonist and nodded at Madden’s body, “I’m sorry, was he one of yours?”
Pyros nodded reluctantly, “Yes, yes he was.”
Scarlet clucked her tongue at him, “My, my, Pyros. Then again, I should have recognized the result of your training in how quickly he went down.”
Her eyes widened in mock astonishment.
“Oh, was that an insult? Did you just get burned?”
She smiled at him and Pyros tried to smile back.
“But you like to get burned, don’t you?”
Against his better judgment, Pyros made another lunge at Scarlet, hands stretched towards her like claws.
Scarlet, almost casually, shot him in the throat with the crossbow.
Pyros fell to the ground, gurgling and twitching sporadically. Finally, with one last wheezing cough and an upheaval of blood, the man once called the Firelighter lay still.

Scarlet ran out of the trees and stopped short, her eyes going from the body of Roderick laying sprawled on the ground, to the small handgun in Lexy’s hand.
Nathan also arrived on the scene, Bell and Sal’s MP5’s slung over one shoulder, and dragging the said assassins behind him on the ground.
He dropped their unconscious bodies on the ground and whistled as he looked at Lexy’s handiwork.
“Damn, Girl! You sure you never shot one of those things before?”
Before they left Nathan and Josh had insisted Lexy take a small-caliber pistol from Josh’s weaponry. She had insisted she had no idea how to use it, let alone hit anything with it. But, of course, she brought it with her and now was staring at the lifeless form of the man she had just shot.
Wraith stepped out of the bushes and turned Roderick over. Lexy’s bullet had taken the man right in the heart.
Wraith looked up from the man’s corpse, “It was a lucky shot.”
Nathan nodded his agreement, “Damn right it was.”
Josh just put his arm around Lexy’s shoulder and pried the gun from the death-grip she had on it. Handing the gun to Scarlet, Josh and Lexy started walking slowly back towards Josh’s house.
Wraith, Scarlet and Nathan watched them go, but when they had disappeared into the night they went about cleaning up.
Nathan turned to Scarlet, “Hey, you get Firelighter?”
Scarlet nodded and patted her crossbow slung at her waist.
“Yeah, he bolted.”
Nathan rolled his eyes, “Dammit, Red, that was the worst pun I’ve ever heard.”
Wraith looked up from where he was stripping Roderick of his weapons.
“No it isn’t.”
Nathan turned on Wraith, “Oh yeah!? Then what was?”
Wraith smiled slightly, “The time Anubis killed a gun runner by hiding a grenade in a pale before engaging him in a fight. The man tried to kick the bucket into Anubis’ face, causing the grenade to detonate and killing the man. He later stated that the man “kicked the bucket”; and you said that was the worst pun you ever heard.”
Nathan thought a moment, “Oh… Yeah.”

Chapter 16

~Chapter 16~

Four o-clock found Josh and Lexy back in the house. Josh was busy talking to Wraith and Nathan was fast asleep on the couch, so Lexy went upstairs to find Scarlet.
She found her in the office; her gear spread out over the round table in the center of the room, all of it carefully cleaned and organized. Looking over it all, Lexy couldn’t help but be impressed.
Besides the small crossbow and the red-fletched crossbow darts, there were a number of small throwing knives, a small pistol with three extra clips, a military-grade combat knife, a lock picking set, a pair of night vision goggles, and a number of other tools and devices Lexy didn’t recognize.
Scarlet sat at the table facing the door, a black MacBook laptop in front of her. Scarlet’s eyes, green like Wraith’s, watched Lexy cautiously.
Lexy noticed, and came over to sit down in the chair next to her. A tinted sheet of plastic kept the laptop’s screen hidden.
After a moment of silence, Scarlet spoke, “Listen, Lexy, I’m sorry about earlier.”
Lexy put a comforting hand on the older woman’s arm.
“It’s alright. Even my dad and me have had some nasty fights.”
Scarlet sat back in her chair and closed the computer.
“Yeah, but… everything Nathan said down there… it’s all true. I do have a problem with men; and a problem settling down for longer than a few days.”
Lexy thought for a moment, considering how she would answer.
“Scarlet, I don’t care. Everyone has problems and issues.”
“Elaine.”
Lexy looked surprised, “What?”
“My name is Elaine, Elaine Night.
Lexy smiled, “You sure you want to trust me with that?”
Scarlet grinned back, “Why not? You’re almost family now.”
“I’m still going to call you Scarlet though.”
Scarlet shrugged, “Fine with me, I like Scarlet better than Elaine anyways.”
Lexy picked up a throwing knife with an arrow-head shaped blade and examined it.
“Does Josh have stuff like this?”
Scarlet laughed and began packing up her laptop.
“Oh yeah, he’s got more weapons hidden around this place than most military bases.”
“Scarlet, can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Ask away.”
Lexy set the knife down where Scarlet had placed it and looked at the other woman, her face serious.
“Do you ever think about settling down? Maybe having a few kids?”
Scarlet sat back smiled to herself, “Yeah, sometimes. But for some reason I just can’t bring myself to settle down. Even though I’ve had many opportunities.”
“Was Josh ever one of those opportunities?”
Scarlet laughed, “Hell no. Josh and me would never work out as a couple. He’s a bit too much of a romantic, and his ideas on romance are a bit out there.”
Lexy laughed as well, “Yeah, he’d probably propose with a ring made out of a bullet and a platinum band!”
Scarlet laughed so hard at the thought she had tears in her eyes. They rose and hugged each other before Scarlet started packing up her duffel.
Lexy helped, and Scarlet looked at her with a definite fondness in her eyes.
“Lexy, I think we are going to be great friends. Sisters even.”
Lexy grinned as she folded up the cloth case full of lock picks and handed them to Scarlet.
“I’d like that.”

After dropping Scarlet’s duffel off in the guestroom, the two women descended the stairs to find Josh waiting for them. He threw Lexy a coat and donned his own black leather jacket.
“Hey, I was thinking we could go out for dinner.”
Lexy and Scarlet exchanged knowing glances and Lexy put the coat on.
“Okay!”
Josh looked over at Nathan and Wraith, who had appeared behind Scarlet.
“Can I trust you three not to destroy the house while I’m gone?”
A half-smile slipped across Wraith’s face, and Nathan leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.
Nathan spoke up for the three of them, “Hell yeah!”
Nathan saw Josh and Lexy to the door while Scarlet and Wraith headed for the living room.
“Hey, bring me bag a doggy bag, ‘K?”
Josh laughed and turned to face his old friend.
“There might not be anything in it.”
Nathan made a face, “Dammit.”

Down in Josh’s underground garage, Josh gestured to the rows of vehicles.
“Well, which one should we take?”
Lexy walked down a line of cars to where a yellow 2009 Mustang convertible was parked. She turned and looked at Josh, her eyes wide with excitement.
“How about this one?”
Josh walked over to a rack of keys near the back of the garage, and selected one with the blue and white “Ford” logo on the keychain.
“Sounds good to me. How does Chinese food sound?”
Lexy got into the passenger seat of the Mustang and ran her hands over the smooth black leather upholstery.
“I love Chinese food!”


While Josh and Lexy headed off for dinner out, the three back at Josh’s house had set out bowls of chips and salsa along with a few beers, and were engaged in a game of poker on the kitchen table.
Wraith was dealing and, without looking, was shuffling the cards so fast it made Nathan’s head spin.
Wraith looked at the other two and hesitated before dealing them their cards.
“Anaconda?”
Nathan shrugged and grabbed a tequila from next to Scarlet.
“Why not, as long as we don’t play low-ball rules.”
Scarlet smiled sweetly at him, “Why not, Nathan?”
Nathan matched her smile, “I don’t want to give you a chance to win, Hon.”
Wraith quickly dealt each of them seven cards as Scarlet made a face at Nathan.
Silence reigned as the three of them consulted their hands and selected three cards to pass to their neighbor.
Scarlet looked up at the two men, “You think it’s a date?”
Nathan, who was sitting to the left of Wraith looking with disgust at the cards Wraith had passed him, looked up at her.
“What? Is what a date?”
Scarlet reevaluated her cards after receiving her three cards from Nathan.
“Josh and Lexy. It’s obvious they like each other, so do you think Josh taking her out to dinner like this counts as a date?”
Wraith stayed silent, setting his discarded cards to one side and placing the five cards he had selected to keep in a stack in front of him. Nathan soon did the same, then Scarlet.
Nathan dipped a chip into the salsa, took a bite, and then dipped it again.
“Why does it matter? My ‘rents got married an’ they never went on a date in their lives.”
Scarlet gave Nathan a strange look.
“What?”
Nathan slide three white chips and one red chip into the space between the players.
“That’s a hundred twenty-five bucks in the pot. And, Scarlet, Not all couples date. Some people believe in all that “love at first sight” crap, and others have arranged marriages.”
Scarlet threw her chips into the pot.
“Well yeah, I knew that… So what did your parents do? And I see you and raise to three-hundred.”
Wraith grinned and threw his chips into the pot.
“I see you and raise to five-hundred.”
Scarlet and Nathan stared at him, a bad feeling crawling across both of them.
Nathan turned to Scarlet, “From what I understand, they went with the whole “Love at first sight” line.”
Scarlet nodded and, after Nathan revealed a card, revealed her own. After Wraith laid out his first card, it was Scarlet’s turn to start the betting and she went with Nathan’s previous bet. Wraith raised and Nathan called.
It went on like that, turning over a card and then betting, until each player had all five of their cards laid out on the table. Nathan had two pairs and Scarlet a pathetic one pair.
But both stared at Wraith’s hand. A straight flush.
Wraith collected his chips and smiled at the other two players.
“Play again?”

Josh and Lexy drove to a small Chinese restaurant Josh knew of, and had a wonderful evening talking and laughing. Lexy had never been able to discover the science behind chopsticks, but with Josh’s guidance had them almost figured out by the end of the meal.
Josh showed her up though, being able to use his chopsticks for everything from his sweet-and-sour chicken to his rice. Lexy had to resort to a good old-fashion spoon for her rice.
As they were finishing up, a waiter brought them each a fortune-cookie. Josh cracked his open and cocked his head in amusement at the text on the small piece of paper.
“Life is about to get a whole lot more interesting.”
He threw a look at Lexy, “You think they mean more than it already has?”
Lexy laughed and read her fortune.
“Follow your hearts.”
Josh and Lexy looked at each other a moment, their eyes conveying volumes over the cheap red table cloth.
Josh was about to say something, but hesitated, then finally got it out.
“Are… are you sure it said “hearts” plural?”
Lexy checked her piece of paper.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Hmmm… weird.”
Lexy tilted her head and looked at him, her eyes laughing.
“And why is that weird?”
Josh shrugged as they rose and put on their coats.
“I dunno, you’d think they were talking to us or something.”
“What if they are?”
Josh’s eyes met hers, “I don’t know; what if they are?”
Butterflies filled Lexy’s stomach and her heart missed a beat. What was it about his eyes? And his smile?
Josh put his arm around her and they walked slowly to the front counter where Josh brought out an old and battered leather wallet to pay for their meal.
The cashier was a young woman who looked to be about nineteen. She had dark brown hair and smiled as if the she was working in paradise. Remember his first job and how he felt; Josh guessed that, for her, this was paradise.
The girl flashed her dazzling smile at them.
“First date?”
Josh let a half-smile creep onto his face and he immediately became distracted by the business cards in a little plastic holder on the counter, leaving Lexy to answer.
Lexy blushed slightly, “I’m not exactly sure…”
The girl, whose nametag said her name was Susan, nodded as if she knew exactly what Lexy meant.
“Ah, I get it. Sounds a lot like when me and my boyfriend started dating.”
Lexy was interested, “Oh, how so?”
Susan leaned on the counter, ready to launch into what was obviously a long and detailed story, full of post-high school romance and pithy bits of advice.
“Well… Ahhhhhhh!”
She never had tome to finish. Josh had thrown the holder full of business cards at her, causing her to duck to one side in order to save herself from the missile. Ironically, it also saved her from the bullet that zinged over the counter where she had been standing. This, arguably, was Josh’s intention behind throwing the card-holder at her; although he later would say it was to save them from being driven crazy by the girl’s soap opera of a life.
Josh also grabbed Lexy and threw her to the floor.
“GET DOWN!”
Lexy turned just in time to see a guy with spiky green hair fire two more shots from a small pistol. One bullet barely missed Josh and sank into the side of the counter; the other shattered the tile floor by Lexy’s foot.
From his knelling position on the floor, Josh reached his left hand around and grabbed the knife clipped to his belt. He straightened suddenly and, with a flick of his wrist, threw the knife at their assailant.
The knife caught the man square in the throat, and he went down coughing up blood.
Josh jumped up and charged the door, just as another man was about to burst in with a tactical 12-gauge shotgun. The man’s eyes went from cold determination to complete terror, just before Josh kicked the swinging door out so it smashed into the man and knocked him to the ground.
The man dropped his gun on the ground, which Josh quickly retrieved. Josh turned and, after pumping a shell into the chamber, put a round of shot through the man’s knee just as he was about to shoot Josh with a pistol he had taken from the back of his belt.
The man dropped to the ground clutching his leg. Josh placed the still hot barrel of the shotgun against the man’s forehead and pumped it once.
“Who sent you!?”
The man couldn’t speak for a moment, being shot and having his own gun put between his eyes seemed to drain him of what confidence he had.
“Fuh-fuh-Firelighter sent us!”
Josh nodded, as if he had guessed that was the case. He removed the barrel of the shotgun, but then spun the gun around and swung the butt around so it connected with the man’s skull with a sharp crack.
Josh turned just as Lexy came out of the restaurant, a frightened expression on her face.
Josh emptied the gun and threw it on the ground with disgust.
“Only two of them, he thought he could take me with only two mercs?
Josh glanced at Lexy, “Is Susan calling the police?”
Lexy nodded, her eyes taking in the unconscious mercenary, the merc’s shattered knee, the pool of blood on the pavement, and the discarded 12-guage.
Josh grabbed her arm and started for their car.
“Good, then we can go and let them take care of it.”
As they got into the car and Josh started the engine, Lexy cast a nervous glance at Josh.
“What did that thing say? You life was about to get a lot more interesting?”

Chapter 15

~Chapter 15~

Lexy sat on the couch, unmoving. Josh’s revelation to her had left her paralyzed.
“Shocking, isn’t it, Lady Sharktooth?”
Lexy spun around to see Wraith leaning against the bar, watching her with his deep green eyes.
Lexy rose and walked over to join him at the bar.
“What did you call me?”
“Lady Sharktooth.”
Lexy sat at the bar and looked at the man in confusion.
“Why Lady Sharktooth?”
Wraith shrugged and reached into the mini fridge at the end of the bar for a couple Cokes.
“Josh’s name in the Underworld is “The Sharktooth”. He got it during a mission in Hawaii where the natives compared him and his ferocity in battle to that of a Great White shark.”
Lexy laughed, “So he is the Lord Sharktooth?”
Wraith smiled and handed her a Coke.
“Yes, it seems to fit you. I see the capability for the same ferocity in you that I saw in Josh when his family was killed.
Lexy accepted the Coke and took a chip from the bowl he offered her.
“He still isn’t over it, is he?”
Wraith walked around the bar and sat on the stool next to her.
“No. He hasn’t told you what happened afterwards, has he?”
Lexy shook her head, “You mean there’s more?”
Wraith took a sip from his Coke and nodded.
“Oh, much more. You see, Josh’s family is a large crime syndicate that works out of New York. It is lead by a group of a hundred of the US’s top crime bosses who have control over every crime business in the US. Everything from drug running to gun smuggling, to murder and kidnapping, the Board has a say in it.”
Lexy nodded, impressed by the scope of the syndicate’s influence.
“So, that’s how they arranged to have Mariah and Mara killed and got away with it.”
Wraith smiled slightly and shook his head.
“But they didn’t get away. After the initial investigations and interviews with the police had been finished, Josh got together me, Scarlet, Nathan, and a few other friends he had in the Underworld. Then, with our help, he went and did what no one else would dare to do. He started attacking the Board’s investments, foiling their operations, and killing their contacts and associates. He did quite a bit of damage, even managed to kill seven Board members.”
Lexy didn’t understand at first, “Wait, how many people did you kill altogether?”
Wraith thought a moment, “As a group we killed one-hundred ninety-six high ranking operatives, seven Board members, and sixty mercenaries. That’s about two-hundred sixty-three people, and that isn’t including the security personnel and employees who were killed during the process. Not even I could keep track of all those.”
Lexy couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Hold on, you are telling me you killed over two-hundred people?”
Wraith nodded, his face serious.
“That I know of. But no one kept tabs on Josh the whole time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Nathan or Scarlet killed a few extra Board minions along the way and didn’t report them. But you must understand, Josh was insane with grief, He was berserk with anger and he actually did the country a small favor.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, the Board is the biggest criminal organization in the US, and possible the world. Because of what we did, many of the Board’s plans had to either be put on hold for a few years, or forgotten altogether. And the Board still hasn’t completely recovered from it. Because of it, Josh has become a legend within the Underworld, and nightmare for the Board. It was actually very surprising that the Board allowed the recent attempts on Josh’s life. If Josh ever decided he wants to finish what he started, he has all the inside knowledge he needs, and half the Underworld would join his side.”
Lexy thought about that a moment.
“Why doesn’t he?”
Wraith looked out the window by the kitchen table.
“After about two years of killing and getting revenge, Josh just stopped. He sat out there on the back step for months, just letting his life fall apart. Finally, I was able to talk him into taking the job your father offered him, and he snapped out of it.”
Lexy looked out the window with him, her mind on Josh and his past.
“But, just because he snapped out of it doesn’t mean he has recovered.”
Wraith shook his head and a sad look crept into his eyes.
“No, Lady Sharktooth. It doesn’t.”

~June 28th, 2014: 4 Days After Bombings
Lexy ate breakfast with Wraith, Josh was no where to be found. Wraith guessed that Josh was either sleeping in, doing some research on their assailants, or had left early without anyone knowing to do some errand.
Lexy was surprised to find three boxes of Apple Jacks cereal in a kitchen cupboard. She threw a questioning look at Wraith, who shrugged and grinned.
“I knew it was your favorite.”
“How!?”
“Simple, when you father hired Josh I did some research on you and your father, which involved taking a quick inventory of your house and reading your blog.”
“And you remembered that!?”
“Yes.”
Lexy shook her head and had to smile. People who knew the things Wraith did should probably scare her, but she was completely at ease with the green-eyed man and his instant-recall mind.
She poured herself a bowl of cereal, grabbed a spoon from a drawer by the sink and the milk from the fridge, and sat next to Wraith at the kitchen table. After a moment of eating in silence, Lexy looked up at Wraith, her mind full of questions.
“So… Wraith? I assume that isn’t your real name.”
Wraith shook his head as he swallowed a bite of bagel.
“No, it is not.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Wraith.”
“But you just said…”
Wraith sat back and Lexy felt like his green eyes were going to swallow her up.
“The man I used to be no longer exists. A few years ago, Josh helped me to effectively kill the person I was to become what I am now.”
Lexy thought she understood what he was saying.
“You faked your own death.”
Wraith smiled and nodded his confirmation.
“Yes, now I am invisible to everyone who tries to find me. No family, no known friends, no past, no future. I am a shadow, a wraith. So now I am known only by the name I am called in the Underworld, Wraith.”
“The Underworld is basically just the world of crime, right?”
Wraith thought a moment, “I wouldn’t say crime, per say. Maybe unlawfulness. It isn’t just the drug dealers, gun runners and smugglers. There are also informants like me and vigilantes like Josh.”
Lexy spoke around a mouthful of Apple Jacks.
“So, do all people who work in the Underworld have codenames?”
Wraith got up to take his dishes into the kitchen. He answered her questions while rinsing his plate and loading it and dishes from dinner the night before into the dishwasher.
“Most do.”
“How do they get their name?”
“Some choose their name, sometimes people give it to them.”
“And Josh’s codename is the Sharktooth? How did he get that?”
Wraith waited to answer until he had scrubbed some dried food off a plate and was able to shut off the water running into the sink.
“He was on a mission of some kind for his family when he was fifteen. He was already an excellent fighter and a ruthless opponent in combat. He was sent to Hawaii, and while I’m not sure exactly what happened, he got into trouble with a gun dealer down there. He was forced to storm the man’s main warehouse, along with all his security and bodyguards. The Hawaiians involved who saw him in action compared him to a Great White shark, and that name evolved rather quickly into simply “Sharktooth”.”
Lexy nodded, trying to imagine a fifteen year-old Josh Taske fighting and beating an army of thugs. It actually wasn’t that hard an image to conjure up.
“What’s Nathan’s codename?”
“The Wolf.”
“And Scarlet?”
Wraith leaned against the bar, “Scarlet is her codename. But she answers to it more than she does to her birth name, so it might as well be her real one.”
Lexy took her dishes in to the kitchen and began to wash them off. She flashed a smile at Wraith.
“And my codename is Lady Sharktooth?”
Wraith picked up a set of car keys and a small pistol off the end of the bar near the wall.
“Yes, as far as I’m concerned.”
Lexy watched him, “Cool. Where are you going?”
Wraith was halfway out the backdoor.
“I have to go pick Scarlet and Nathan up from the airport.”
Lexy watched him leave, then turned back and, after loading her dishes into the dishwasher and starting it, went to stand in the middle of the living room. The room was quiet and, Lexy thought sadly, rather lonely.
“Have fun, Wraith.”

Wraith returned a little over an hour and a half later with a worn and tired Nathan Wolv and Scarlet. Scarlet had a duffel she brought with her, which she emptied onto the kitchen table to reveal a small collection of weapons and tools, not to mention a few changes of clothes. She promptly began organizing and cleaning the contents of the duffel while Lexy looked on.
Nathan went straight for the fridge and, after grabbing a bottle of tequila, went into the living room and literally crashed in the big leather couch.
Josh came down the stairs a few minutes later and stood in between the kitchen area and the living room, his sharp gray eyes taking in both Nathan and Scarlet. After a moment, he approached Scarlet as she worked to fine-tune her small crossbow.
“Scarlet, how was your flight?”
Scarlet threw a crabby look at Josh.
“Great, if you like traveling with a half drunk jackass who smells of alcohol and blood. The slob snores as well!”
Josh and Wraith exchanged glances. Scarlet was not in a good mood, and they could guess Nathan would be in a bad mood as well. And Scarlet and Nathan together in the same room when tired, mad, drunk, or all three, was never a good thing to witness.
“If you want, Lexy has offered to share the guest room. Or you can have a couch in the living room.”
Scarlet nodded at Lexy with something akin to disgruntled thanks. Then she threw a nasty glance in Nathan’s direction.
“I suppose if I choose the couch I’ll have to share the room with Lone Wolf Mc-Stink over there.”
Josh gave Wraith a subtle signal, and the informant casually walked into the living room to sit on the couch Nathan wasn’t occupying.
“No, I’m going to move a cot into my room for Nathan, and Wraith will have the other couch. Or Wraith and Nathan will share the living room if you decide you want the guestroom.”
Scarlet set the crossbow chord she was waxing down and massaged her temples.
“I guess if Lexy doesn’t mind, I’ll take the guestroom. And I feel sorry for you, you might want to put a few air fresheners up in your room, maybe some scented candles. Oh, and make sure he empties his guns before bed. You wouldn’t want him shooting you in his sleep.”
Nathan had been listening with a half-smile from where he lay on the couch. Now he reached up and used the back of the couch to pull himself up into a sitting position.
“Hey, Red, I seem to remember you getting your ass handed to you by that Brit back in DC.”
Scarlet turned in her chair to face Nathan, and Josh went around the table to stand protectively behind Lexy.
“Well, maybe I would have beaten him if I didn’t have to watch to make sure you got out the door without getting yourself shot!”
Nathan grinned and took a swig from his bottle.
“And if I’m right, you’re the one who wanted to drive that damn Corvette home instead of taking the airplane.”
“Uh-huh, maybe it’s ‘cause I like my car and don’t want to leave it with people I don’t know and don’t trust!?”
“Wow, that must be some car.”
Scarlet looked confused a moment, “What!?”
Nathan got to his feet and walking into the kitchen area to lean on the bar.
“I mean, you are normally the type to show up, show off, bed down, and then show yourself out in the mornin’. You ever been with a guy for more than a night?”
Scarlet stood up to face Nathan so fast her chair fell over.
“And how many women have you dated, only to leave when the next blue-eyed blonde with a nice butt walks by!? Or do they all just stay away from you, afraid you’ll shoot them on accident?”
Nathan cocked his head as if he was trying to remember something.
“Um… I seem to remember the last six guys that took you to bed woke up dead in the morning.”
He winked at Lexy, who was looking a bit worried at this point.
“She’s got a kinda weird thing going; she likes to sleep with her victims before killin’ ‘em. Kind a like a Black Widow spider, but she’s red and not black.”
Scarlet righted her chair and glared at Nathan.
“Black Widow, huh? Well you’re the Wolf, aint you? And male wolves eat their kids, don’t they?”
She smiled sweetly at Lexy, “That’s why women don’t want him, they don’t want him to eat the kids when their born.”
Nathan set his now empty bottle in the bar.
“Well, at least they kick me out, I don’t leave. You never have been good at settling down, have you? A bit to wild yet? Or is it not wild enough for you?”
Lexy didn’t even see the knife Scarlet threw until Nathan had caught it. Scarlet jumped him, but the next thing they all knew was Josh had Scarlet by the arms and Wraith had come in between Nathan and Scarlet and grabbed the hand Nathan held the knife in.
Josh glared at them, “That’s enough. Nathan, go lie down and get some sleep. Scarlet, you can finish your inventory either in the office or the guest room. But if you two decide you want to fight again, you can fight me. Understood?”
Nathan grabbed another tequila from the fridge at the foot of the bar and headed back for the couch.
“Sure, if she can keep her yap shut.”
Josh released Scarlet and she grabbed her stuff from the table and stormed up stairs. Wraith went back to sit with Nathan in the living room, while Josh went out and sat on the back step.
Lexy came out to join him. She sat down and placed her hand on his arm.
“What was that all about?”
Josh sighed and put his head in his hands.
“They do that every once in a while. This actually isn’t as bad as it has been.”
Lexy looked shocked, “Why do they do that?”
“I don’t know. Both have fairly bad tempers, and Nathan does drink too much. But I think there is more to it than that.”
Lexy, hesitantly, put her arm around Josh’s broad shoulders.
“What do you mean?”
Josh didn’t move, but he seemed to relax slightly at her touch.
“They both came from hard lives, and both have issues committing and allowing others to commit to them. I think spats like this are their way of keeping their distance from each other.”
Lexy rested her head against Josh’s arm, and he reached over and put his arm around her.
“That’s so sad. They were made for each other.”
Josh looked down at her, his thoughts not on Nathan and Scarlet anymore.
“Yes, they are.”
They sat like that, comforting each other, for a long time. Neither wanted to leave, neither wanted the day to end.
But, of course, all good things come to an end.

Chapter 14

~Chapter 14~

When Lexy entered Josh’s house the first thing she noticed was the music. A man with a raspy voice and a twangy electric guitar sang out from the stereo on the table behind the couch in the living room.
Lexy smiled, she recognized the man as the blues master, B.B. King. The song was “Into the Night”, one Lexy had heard on the blues radio station her father sometimes played in his office.
As Josh came down the stairs Lexy shook her head in surprise.
“B.B. King?”
Josh nodded, “Yeah, you don’t like him?”
“Oh no, I’m just surprised, is all.”
Josh headed for the kitchen, and Lexy followed.
“Blues music seems to be the closest to earth, know what I mean? It has a strong idea of what is wrong and right and the musicians don’t try to water life down into something that will make people feel good. They tell it like it is.”
Lexy sat on a stool near the end of the granite-topped bar that separated the kitchen from the table area. Josh set a coke on the countertop in front of her and popped the top of one for himself.
“In a minute I can show you to the guestroom.”
Lexy nodded and took a drink from her pop can.
“Thanks. Is Nathan and Scarlet going to be staying here too?”
Josh nodded, “Nathan normally sleeps on the couch when he’s here. But I think I’ll move a cot into my room and we’ll let Scarlet have the couch. Unless of course you want to share the guest room with Scarlet.”
Lexy shrugged, “I guess that’s up to her. It might be fun, I like Scarlet.”
Josh leaned against the bar and peered thoughtfully into his coke can.
“I do too.”
Lexy hesitated before asking her next question.
“Um… are you and Scarlet… you know, is it possible…”
“Is it possible for me and Scarlet to be a couple? No. We tried that long time ago, and it didn’t work out for us.”
Lexy was secretly relieved.
“Why didn’t it?”
Josh straightened up, “Scarlet is a bit too wild yet. I was ready to settle down and she wasn’t, and still isn’t.”
Lexy didn’t know what to say. It was obvious that Josh had some remnant feelings for Scarlet, but he wasn’t going to even try to pursue a relationship with her. And from what Lexy could gather of Scarlet, Scarlet also had feelings for Josh, but also wasn’t willing to try for a romance. Lexy was kind of glad, but at the same time kind of sad. She was under the belief that for every person there was a special someone. But she was also under the belief that Josh was her special someone; so as long as Scarlet could find her special someone, or was content with having no one, everything seemed to be working out in Lexy’s favor.
“Let’s go see your room.”
Lexy dismounted her barstool and followed Josh through the entry and up the stairs. She noticed that next to the stairway was a fully equipped exercise room.
“Hey, Josh? Where’s Wraith?”
Josh looked back at her from the top of the stairs.
“Wraith is out shopping. I haven’t been home since I joined your father’s security team about a year ago, so there isn’t much food in the house.”
Lexy reached the top of the stairs and was greeted by an open area not narrow enough to be a hallway. Against the wall straight ahead was a shelf full of collectables from all countries. To her right where three doors, two of which she later found out led to a kind of fake office and a large walk-in coat and storage closet.
The middle door was guarded by two large suits of armor, and it was the door leading to the guestroom.
The guestroom was big enough to be a master bedroom. There was a bed along the wall to the right just as you walked in, and a desk next to the door on the left. Against the back wall next to the head of the bed was a large wardrobe-style dresser and a TV. In front of the TV was a large black leather armchair, and beyond was a large bathroom.
Lexy looked around in wonder, she had never seen a guest room so big or nicely furnished.
“Wow, thank you! Can I ask you a question though?”
Josh nodded.
“Why are the walls pink? Shouldn’t they be a more neutral color?”
Josh shrugged and turned to leave.
“Before it was a guestroom the room belonged to my daughter.”

It was dark before Nathan and Scarlet’s plane was ready to depart. They said goodbye to Steve Marr and boarded the plane. After saying hello to their pilot and after Nathan had given the plane a quick once-over, they settled down for the flight.
Steve Marr and one of his pilots, a black-haired man of about thirty named Joe Binkley, watched the plane taxi out to the runway.
Steve shook his head in wonder.
“I tell yah, Joe, there goes one of the toughest hombres in the US of A. You know he and that girl he’s traveling with, they killed that Brit that Regent shipped in to kill the Sharktooth?”
Joe scratched his scalp in amazement.
“Carl Mash? They killed Carl Mash? I thought that guy was like invincible!”
Steve turned to go back into his office.
“Think again, Joe. But do you know what the real kicker is?”
“What?”
“That Nathan drank half my fridge of Miller, and he’s still got enough of a head to check the plane in places some mechanics wouldn’t think of.”
Joe shook his head and followed Steve into the office.
“Damn…”

Josh had disappeared into the door to the left of the stairs and directly across from the guestroom. Lexy sat on her bed a while and tried to convince herself she was going to be more careful with what she said to Josh. But the more she told herself, the more she knew she would still slip up. Finally, after taking one more look around the room, she turned the light off and went downstairs.
In the living room B.B. King’s jazzy voice still played softly from the Sony stereo system. Lexy decided to look through Josh’s shelves of media. She thought maybe she could learn something about him from the music he listened to or the movies he watched.
The movies were, surprisingly, mostly comedies. From The Princess Bride to Galaxy Quest to old Abbot and Costello movies, Josh had a little bit of everything. While comedies took up about three-fourths his selection, the rest were more what she would expect from a person like Josh.
Bourne, Oceans 11, The Italian Job, and James Bond were the theme of the other fourth of the movies Josh owned. Lexy smiled to herself and moved on to look at music.
Josh’s music collection was an even bigger variety. Blues, Country, Rock, some pop, and a few rap CD’s. He also had CD’s from a few older pop singers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and Bing Crosby.
“See anything interesting?”
Lexy jumped up from where she was kneeling on the floor next to the shelves of CD’s to face Josh. He stood behind the couch nearest to her, watching her with his sharp gray eyes.
“Oh! Hi, Josh,” Lexy stammered, “I want to say I’m sorry about upsetting you earlier. I’m normally not very careful with what I say to people, Daddy says I’d make a bad politician, and I really didn’t mean to make you upset or bring up bad memories or anything.”
Josh came around the arm of the couch and sat down. He rested his elbows on his knees, his eyes flicking over the CD’s on the shelves.
“It’s alright. You don’t know about anything yet, and people have been telling me for years I need to talk more about it.”
Lexy got up and sat next to him on the couch.
“Can you talk to me about it?”
Josh’s eyes became cloudy and Lexy could tell he wasn’t looking at the CD’s anymore. He wasn’t even looking at something in the room; he was looking back in time.
“Her name was Mariah DeTrello. She was a nurse at a hospital in New York, and Nathan was dating one of her co-workers at the time and introduced me to her. She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. She had wavy light-brown hair and blue eyes that reminded you of a clear blue sky.”
Lexy shifted uncomfortably, a piece to the puzzle slowly falling into place.
Josh continued, “We were married in 2003, and our daughter, Mara, was born just three years later. Mara was just like her mom. They both loved to laugh and play and just enjoy life. And with that group of stone-cold businessmen and killers as a family, being with them was heaven.
I left the Marines in 2011, and I got home just in time to have my wife and child die in my arms. I remember getting out of the car and hearing a scream from the backyard. I ran as fast as I could around the house, but as I was about halfway I heard gunshots and knew it was too late. I got there to find Mariah leaning against the strut of the swing set and Mara lying in a pool of her own blood where she had fallen off the swing. The officer who had given me a ride to my house heard the shots and came around to see what had happened. He went inside to call 911, and I just held my wife… feeling the life leave her body. I could tell Mara was already dead…”
Josh stopped. He didn’t choke up, he didn’t cry as most people would have done. As most people should have done. He just stared for a long moment at the wood floor.
Lexy just sat where she was, frozen in shock. Even after what she had seen in the last few days, the images Josh’s story conjured in her mind horrified her. She also understood now how Josh had gotten to be how he was. If her family had died in her arms she would have wanted to kill herself right then.
Josh straightened up and looked at her, his eyes clearing.
“Now it’s my turn to apologize to you. I haven’t been as nice as I could have been, and I’m sure my actions have probably confused you. But… you look just like her.”
Lexy’s eyes widened, she had almost seen this coming, but still wasn’t ready for it.
Josh stood and made as to go back upstairs.
“I look at you and I see my dead wife, and so I haven’t been able to get over that. I’m sorry.”
And with that, Josh left the room.

~Chapter 13~

~Chapter 13~

The rest of that day and all of that night until she fell asleep was a confused daze for Lexy. They made it to some small airport where Josh convinced a scruffy-looking pilot to fly them to Portland, but she was still pretty much out of it.
The plane was a small jet, the kind some companies used as private jets. The name “Learjet” stuck in her head, but Lexy wasn’t sure. During the flight to Portland Josh offered to let her call her father and tell him about what was going on, but she was still too dazed to be a hundred-percent coherent.
They arrived early that morning some time, and were picked up in the PDX parking lot by a man with calculating green eyes and a calmness about him that instantly put Lexy at ease. Lexy got into the back of the classic-looking car while Josh rode in the passenger seat and the green-eyed man drove.
After a moment of clearing her head and looking at the cars and buildings flashing by, Lexy looked up towards the two in front.
“Where are we?”
The green-eyed man spoke, his voice soft with a faint rasp to it.
“You are in Josh’s 1967 Pontiac GTO.”
Lexy nodded as if that answered her question.
“And… where are we going?”
“One-oh-nine-eight, West Broadway Alley in Eugene, Oregon; zip code nine-seven-four-oh-two.”
Lexy looked confused, “And who are you?”
“I am Wraith.”
Lexy threw a panicked look at Josh, who was smiling at her confusion.
He explained, “Lexy, this is Wraith, one of my best friends and most loyal allies. We are on our way to my house in Eugene, Oregon, where we will have time to rest and wait for Nathan and Scarlet to catch up with us. And you’ll have to excuse Wraith; he’s used to giving exact details. He remembers everything he sees and hears and can recall them instantly.”
Lexy looked impressed, “What does he know about me?”
Josh looked to Wraith who smiled slightly before replying.
“Lexy Gold; age twenty, daughter of Matthew Benjamin Gold and Moira Jesse Alexander. Current residence; one-three-eight-six, Van Buren Street Northwest, Washington DC.”
Lexy’s eyes grew big, “Wow.”
Josh grinned, “Yep, that’s one reason why he normally works as a kind of spy or investigator.”
Lexy sat back in her seat and closed her eyes.
“Okay, well I’m going to take a quick nap before we get wherever we’re going, ‘K?”
Josh glanced back at her before turning to Wraith.
“Alright. Wraith, I had to leave my Ninja 3 back in Washington, and Nathan and Scarlet should be showing up sometime in the next few days.”
Wraith acknowledged the information.
“Understood, I’ll arrange transportation for your bike with one of my contacts, and will get in touch with Nathan and Scarlet to arrange their pickup when they arrive in Oregon.”
“I also need a full psychological profile on both my uncle and Pyros Lite.”
“I can get those as well.”
Josh leaned back and looked at the sky through the front window.
“And we should probably restock the fridge when we get back. I don’t think I have much except beer and coke.”


“I don’t want to leave it here!”
Scarlet stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Nathan. They had driven Scarlet’s Corvette to the same airport Josh and Lexy had departed from, and now Nathan had to convince Scarlet to leave her baby in the hangar next to Josh’s Ninja 3 motorcycle.
“Listen, Red, we gotta get to Oregon as soon as we can, and that’s by airplane. Now Josh left his favorite bike in the hands of this guy and you know how much he cares for it.”
Scarlet nodded grudgingly, “I guess...”
“And besides, Josh’ is probably gonna send Wraith to pick ‘em up, and you know how careful he is about this kinda thing.”
Scarlet hung her head and nodded again.
“Fine.”
Steve Marr, the smuggler pilot that had arranged the ride for Josh, walked into the hanger and approached them.
“Hey, the next flight I can get for you is the same one Sharktooth took. But it won’t be here until later tonight, so you won’t get to Oregon until sometime tomorrow.”
Nathan nodded, “I guess that works, thanks Steve.”
Steve shook hands with Nathan and smiled lopsidedly.
“No problem, any thing I can do for the Sharktooth and his friends. Hey, can I ask you two a question?”
Nathan nodded, throwing a cautious glance at Scarlet. Steve Marr was an old friend of Josh’s; he had been a fighter pilot before going smuggler. But just because he was currently a friend didn’t mean he could be trusted.
“I guess so.”
Steve looked excited, “Well, you two are close to the Sharktooth, right?”
“Yeah…”
“Do you know if he has any plans to take over the Board and wrest control from Regent?”
Scarlet and Nathan exchanged glances again, this time surprised.
Scarlet looked questioningly at Steve, “Why would you think that?”
Steve shrugged, “Scuttlebutt in the Underworld is that the Sharktooth is planning a major power play and is going to eliminate Regent and the other head Board members. Something about Regent making his life Hell for him and getting revenge and stuff.”
Nathan shook his head, amused at the thought of Josh Taske running the Board in Regent’s place.
“I can assure you that Sharky has no intentions of challenging his Uncle’s control over the Board. He really just wants to be left alone.”
Steve shook his head in wonder, “I would have thought that, after the murders of his wife and kid a few years back and how the recent attacks here in DC, the Sharktooth would be pretty pissed-off.”
Nathan threw a wicked grin at Steve.
“Oh, he’s pissed-off alright, and so are Scarlet and me. You can spread it around with your Underworld buddies that the Sharktooth isn’t gonna play nice with anyone who tries to collect on the bounty Regents has out on him. Not like he did with Trissex.”
“I heard Trissex was killed.”
Nathan winked at him, “Hell yeah, the Sharktooth put a bullet between his eyes. But he might not let the next guy die as quickly, or as slowly. And you can also spread it around that Scarlet and the Wolf have put Carl Mash in his grave for trying to mess with the Sharktooth as well.”
Steve’s eyes grew wide when he heard that.
“You’re pulling my leg, you off-ed the Brit Regent hired?”
Scarlet nodded, “Put his own gun to his head and pulled the trigger. So warn anyone you know who might be fool enough to try to take out any of us.”
Steve nodded and grinned, “Damn, you sure you don’t wanna eliminate Regent as chairman of the Board?”
Nathan shook his head, “Nah, not interested. But we would be interested in a place to stay until we leave.”
Steve started off towards the small building that was neighbor to the hangar.
“Right this way, I can set you up in my office until tonight. There isn’t much but a cot and a mini-fridge of Miller, but it’s better than nothing.”
Nathan cocked his head and smiled at Scarlet, who shook her head and grimaced.
“Hey, it’s better than nothin’.”

Lexy didn’t know how long it took for them to get to Josh’s house. All she knew was that she fell asleep listening to Josh and Wraith talk about their plans, and the next thing she knew Josh was gently shaking her awake.
Josh’s house was nice looking from the outside. It was very nondescript, with grayish siding and light blue gutters. A small two-car garage was next to it, detached from the house but matching in appearance. A wooden fence lined with shrubs and trees hid the house from one side of the street.
Wraith pulled up the driveway and reached up and pushed two buttons on a small remote hidden by the sun-visor above his head. The garage door opened, and Lexy could see the floor inside the garage was slowly lowering. They waited a moment, and drove down the ramp created by the lowered floor into what Lexy could only describe as a large parking lot.
The underground garage seemed to be the size of the above property. Cars and vehicles of all shapes and sizes where parked in neat rows, with the back wall lined by a number of motorcycles, bicycles, and even a rack with a rowboat, kayaks, and a few canoes.
The collection of vehicles was impressive, everything from a Ferrari to a BMW bug and van. From what Lexy knew of cycles, she could see a Harley and a Honda, but there were about four other bikes she didn’t recognize, and one looked to be custom built. On a trailer in one corner Lexy could also see a small speedboat.
Wraith pulled the GTO into a spot between a purple 1970 Chevelle and a gold 1966 Nova and killed the engine. Lexy got out of the car, being careful not to dent the Nova, and followed Josh and Wraith back out the garage door and into the smaller garage above. After closing the door to the underground garage and the door going to the driveway, they exited the garage through the door that went into the backyard.
Lexy couldn’t help but notice the play structure out back. It was the kind you’d normally find in a park, metal with two swings and a pull-up bar. But the chain to one swing was broken, the seat of the swing dragging on the ground. It almost looked like someone had splashed red paint on the broken swing and on the support bar next to it.
“Come on, let’s get inside and get things sorted out.”
Josh had opened the back door and held it so Lexy and Wraith could go inside. Lexy found herself standing in an indentation in the floor next to a kitchen table. Two steps up from the table area was a nice looking kitchen. To her right was a living room with a couple black leather couches, a coffee table, a big screen plasma TV, and two shelves on either side of the TV filled with DVD’s, blue-rays, and CD’s. Beyond the living room was a pool table, and Lexy could see the railing of the stairs going to the second floor.
To the left was a dining room with a big table. Against one wall was a glass-faced cabinet full of trophies from everything from marksmanship awards, a Purple Heart, baseball trophies, and a few martial arts and boxing trophies. Beyond the dining room, down two steps, were the front entry and the door to a bathroom.
Wraith was also looking around the house.
“You had someone take care of the place while you were gone.”
He said it as a statement, not a question.
Josh was looking through mail on the kitchen table and looked up with a slight grin.
“Yeah, my neighbor is an OK guy; he’s an amateur film director trying to make it big or something. I asked him to get my mail and clean house once a week while I’ve been gone. Speaking of which, I need to go over and pay him.”
Lexy saw an opportunity to see a bit of the neighborhood and meet Josh’s neighbor.
“I’ll do it!”
Josh and Wraith looked at each other, clearly amused.
Josh brought his gray eyes back to rest on Lexy.
“Why?”
Lexy seemed off-balance a moment, “Well… Um… I can see what kind of people live around you, and I can see some of your neighborhood. Not to mention I’ve been cramped in closets, airplanes, and cars for I don’t know how long. So I could use the exercise.”
Josh nodded and walked over to take a small envelope off the fridge.
“I guess those are good reasons. While you’re gone I’ll get the guest room ready for you and Wraith can go get some food for this place.”
He handed her the envelope, “Give this to Mr. Shipman next door, and tell him I said thank you for all his time.”
Lexy nodded and, happy with her mission, headed for the front door.

Lexy knocked on the door of the house next to Josh’s. It was opened by a tall, skinny man with brown hair and a thin face.
“Mr. Shipman?”
“Hi, I’m Isaiah.”
Isaiah Shipman had a slight whine to his voice, and Lexy could tell he wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable answering his door.
Lexy smiled disarmingly, using her natural charm and beauty to try and put the man at ease.
“Josh Taske sent me over to thank you for taking care of his house, and to give you this as payment.”
She handed him the envelope that Josh had scrawled “Isaiah” on the front of.
Isaiah took it and opened it. When he saw the contents his eyes widened in shock.
“No, I can’t take all this!”
He pulled out what appeared to be three thousand dollar bills. Lexy had to stop her self from laughing; it was just like Josh to give him that much.
“I wouldn’t worry about it, I’ve only been with Mr. Taske for a short time, but he doesn’t seem to be short of money.”
Isaiah eyed her suspiciously, “Why are you staying with him? You a girlfriend?”
Lexy shook her head, “No. Why, he normally brings a lot of girls home?”
Isaiah seemed to think a moment, “No, now that you mention it, since his wife died I’ve only seen one woman over there. Some red-headed girl, but something told me they weren’t romantic or anything. But what about you? What are you to him?”
Lexy did have to laugh at the obvious nosiness of Josh’s neighbor.
“I’ve been in a bit of trouble lately, and Josh has kindly offered to take me in for a time until things get sorted out.”
Isaiah nodded thoughtfully, “Yes that does seem like him.”
“So, Josh tells me you are an amateur film director?”
Isaiah smiled widely, obviously proud of his dream profession.
“Yes, I write my own scripts and try to sell them to studios to film.”
“Sold any good ones yet?”
“One or two, ever heard of the movie I Feel Like a Monster?”
Lexy had, and thought it to be a very good movie.
“That was you? I love that movie!”
“Yep, I wrote the script and sold it to Universal who did the rest.”
“Wow, keep up the good work!”
Isaiah bowed his head modestly, “Thank you, I will.”
Lexy looked back towards Josh’s house.
“What do you know about Josh Taske?”
Isaiah shrugged, “He keeps to himself really. I think he works for the government, though. I saw some government paychecks in his mail. All I really know is his wife and kid was murdered in his own backyard about four years ago.”
Lexy nodded, and shook Isaiah’s hand.
“Thank you, for taking care of the house and for the information. Good luck with the movies.”
“Thank you, and good luck to yourself.”
With that, Isaiah Shipman went back into his house and shut the door, while Lexy Gold went back to the house next door. And back to the mystery that was Josh Taske.