Wrecked (Erebus Assassins #4)

Chapter One

“I ’m telling you, he’s out there killing with no restraint,” Savage told the men sitting around the conference table.

The Erebus leader had arrived at the Nightfall Drifters Ranch earlier that morning. And Crow couldn’t fathom why the man had come all the way to Nevada because of one rebellious teenager.

Crow stared at Savage across the conference table. Early September midday sun shone through the window and sent shadows skittering across the man’s ruggedly handsome face.

Crow frowned. He very much doubted that Rebel was out there killing indiscriminately, as Savage would have them believe.

Crow’s boss, Real, scowled at Savage.

“What happened?” Real frowned at Savage. “Rebel was just here in July. He wanted to go back and live at Dave’s and work for Erebus.”

Savage grimaced. “I…benched him.”

“What does that mean?” Crow squinted at Savage.

“It means he wasn’t fucking ready.” Savage squeezed his fists. “We had some…words and he took off.”

“Did you try to find him?” Crow asked, but he doubted Savage had put in much effort. After all, the guy did have his hands full.

“Yes, but he’s gone dark,” Savage said, crossing his arms. “Rebel is…difficult and I don’t have time to babysit him.”

“You’d have to find him in order to babysit him,” Crow said sarcastically.

“Knock it off,” Real said and Crow clenched his teeth.

“Apparently, he doesn’t want to be found, but he needs to be monitored,” Savage said.

“And that’s Genesis’s problem, how?” Real growled and Crow could tell by the sound of his voice that he was two minutes away from throwing Savage out. Real wasn’t one to fuck with.

“You’ve taken hard cases before. Rebel has potential but lacks discipline. Plus, he knows you guys,” Savage said, not at all fazed by Real’s anger…or maybe Savage was just good at keeping his face devoid of all emotion.

“This is a training facility, not a fucking daycare,” Crow said and Real threw him another stern look.

He didn’t give a rat’s ass.

He had given up trying to convince Rebel of anything. The kid was a walking bad attitude with no redeeming qualities that Crow could see. There was no doubt he had rubbed Rebel the wrong way, but so what? Not everyone in life gets along, so Crow chalked their run-in up to that.

If Rebel turned out to be good at his chosen career, then so be it, but according to Savage, Rebel wasn’t showing any promise.

Crow remembered his run-in with Rebel at the ranch two months ago.

Wrath and Rebel had stood talking near one of the brown barns.

“You should give Dave’s place a try,” Wrath said.

“Maybe, but I’m not working for Erebus.” Rebel looked stubborn and Wrath smirked.

“What else are you going to do?”

“You guys sure are fucking nosy,” Rebel said and turned away from Wrath.

After a moment, Wrath grimaced and walked away.

“He’s only trying to help,” Crow said.

Rebel whirled around, caught sight of him, and glared. “What’s it your fucking business?”

“Like Wrath said, what the fuck else are you going to do?”

“It’s my life.”

Crow made a derisive sound in his throat. “You really need to give Erebus a try.”

“Why?”

“It beats being a degenerate.”

That wasn’t the right thing to say, but the kid’s aggressiveness rubbed Crow the wrong fucking way.

“Fuck you. What I do is none of your damned business.”

“What do you think of this?” Real asked, bringing Crow back to the conference room and it took him a moment to realize Real was speaking to the man standing at the end of the room.

Every pair of eyes turned to the man in a black three-piece power suit, who had yet to say a word.

William Caldwell’s steel blue eyes held Real’s across the room. Caldwell was forty-three this year and one of the youngest to hold the office of Secretary of Defense.

Caldwell was in charge of Genesis and hence this training facility, so it was the man’s call as to whether or not they would bring in someone without military experience.

Almost all of the personnel at Nightfall Drifter’s Ranch were current or former military and Crow couldn’t see the SecDef changing that rule.

The main exception to the rule had been for Jagger, who was former CIA.

“Can we make it work?” Will asked Real.

“Seriously?” Crow asked and Real snapped him a dark glower.

“Shut your mouth.”

“Sorry, sir.” Crow grimaced.

“What’s your hesitation, Crow?” Will turned to him and Crow shifted in his chair.

“Like Savage said, he’s a foul-mouthed rebellious teenager,” Crow muttered.

“Does he have the skills?” Will asked him.

Crow couldn’t deny that Rebel was skilled, one of the best at knives and guns. The kid was also fair at hand-to-hand street fighting, but could use a lot more training.

“Yes, he has the skills, Solomon made sure of that. But he’s a loose cannon with a lot of anger issues.” Crow sucked in a deep breath. “And some memory loss.”

“Memory loss?” Will asked with a puzzled frown.

“Yeah, he doesn’t remember his childhood before Solomon and Tanis. He only remembers what his mother has told him about it.”

And Crow only knew that because he’d overheard Rebel share that tidbit with Boston. Boston was another young assassin that had come out of the fucked up world of Solomon and Tanis.

“Rebel had been sold off by Solomon to Tanis,” Savage told Will.

“Solomon created a tornado of shit,” Will muttered, his voice hard. “We owe these boys a fighting chance, especially the worst ones.”

Nobody around the table could argue with that and silence settled over the room for several moments until Will spoke again.

“So, let me ask you again.” The SecDef turned his gaze to Real. “Can you make it work?”

“There’s that property with the cabins just past the north pasture. We could build something there to house the worst of the worst,” Real said slowly as if thinking aloud. “I don’t want them mixing with what’s going on here until they are tested and acclimated.”

Will nodded and squinted at Real. “I don’t want them joining Genesis per se, but bringing them here and getting them ready to join Erebus would be doable.”

“You do know that some of them will have to be brought here by force,” Savage said and the SecDef nodded.

“Yes, and that’s not going to be pretty,” Real said with a grimace.

“Rebel has been here before,” Savage pointed out.

“Yeah, but forcing Rebel is not going to fly,” Crow said and Will turned to him.

“You seem to know him.”

Crow shrugged and glanced away from the man’s penetrating stare.

“Speak up,” Real growled and Crow grimaced.

“Yeah, I know him a bit. He’s stubborn and difficult at best. It’s going to be hell to get him here.”

“Answer me this,” Will said, “can Rebel be saved?”

Crow knew what the man was asking. Could Rebel be brought into the fold and want to stay?

Because wanting to stay was a whole lot different than being forced to stay.

But maybe if he got through to him, Rebel would want to come back there. If they had some time to work together, perhaps the young man would change his mind, attitude, and possibly his life.

“I believe so, I hope so,” Crow said.

“Then I’m giving you the task of bringing Rebel here,” Will said.

“Me?” Crow gaped and then snapped his mouth shut when Real glared at him. “Yes, sir.”

And Crow hoped to God he was making the right decision.

Rebel didn’t like him one bit. So now it was a matter of capturing the teenager and transporting him from California to Nevada.

Somebody just fucking shoot me , Crow thought and shoved from his chair.

“Hey, need some help?” Rip asked, standing at the same time.

“Don’t you have Boston on your hands?” Crow asked, shaking his head.

“No, I’m sending Boston back with Savage,” Rip said.

“The fuck you are!” Boston shouted from the doorway and turned and ran.

None of them had noticed the slender seventeen-year-old standing in the doorway listening to every word they spoke. Boston was crafty like that. The reason the teenager was there was because he refused to leave Rip and that was a whole other story.

“Yeah…” Crow smirked at Rip. “I can handle Rebel on my own.”

Rip grimaced and stalked out of the room after Boston.

Crow turned to Real. “I don’t know how long this is going to take, but I’ll keep in touch.”

With that said, Crow gave Will a salute and left the room.

Now, he just had to locate Rebel.

But first, he needed to stop by the medical building to pick up a sedative.

Crow was going to need something to knock out Rebel, of that he had no doubt.