Chapter Fourteen Mission Impossible
Julianna
I again thought about just telling them all the truth. I had never been the kind of person to hide anything. Well, unless it was a client-attorney privilege issue. But I had never lied or kept secrets. I hated this. I opened my mouth to start with what I’d found out the day before I met Deacon Walker at that deposition.
“Ace?” a voice…Talon’s voice cut in from a speaker Logan had on the table.
“Here,” Logan replied.
“They're in the tunnel and close to the package,” Talon said. “I am just now arriving at the front of the convent.”
Wow, that was fast. It would be tricky, but they had surprise on their side at least. I felt relieved that this would be up to well trained men. Most of them were bikers or ex-military, the kind of men you did not mess with apparently. V and Deacon’s men were about to learn that.
I could see Logan’s thermal program and I studied the screen square of the convent. The signatures suddenly changed from before. The 2 in the basement were still there, but the two at the front and the back were gone. This bothered me. I stood and went over to Logan. “Tell Talon, the guards from the front and back are gone.”
Logan nodded and tapped his head set. “Ace to Tact One.”
“Yes, Ace,” Talon replied.
“The guards front and back are gone.”
I spoke up again, “Don’t touch those doors front or back, Talon.”
“Did you get that?” Logan asked him.
“Yes,” Talon replied.
Stephano came over to the table and asked me, “A trap?”
I nodded. “I think the doors are wired.”
“Ok, we are gonna test them,” Talon said over the speaker.
“WHAT?” I exclaimed in a bit of panic.
“With an object, counselor,” he replied. “Like toss something up against it.”
“Also, you got four more signatures at the basement doors now,” Logan informed him as he stared at the other thermal box on the screen.
“Damn, the whole scenario has changed in the last twenty minutes,” I said as I glanced at Romeo.
He slowly shook his head.
“Maybe they had an alarm or something in the tunnel,” Logan took a guess.
I felt a sudden fear at what all this could mean. I leaned in closer to Logan and said, “Tell your tunnel guys to run.”
“What?” Talon asked.
“Tell them to run!” I repeated.
“Got it,” Talon replied, then he said, “Tact Two, abandon mission.”
“Copy that,” a replying voice came over the speaker.
“We're blowing the doors and going in,” Talon said.
I winced. So risky. Then I leaned forward and asked, “Logan, do you have any way to check the mausoleum entrance to the tunnel?”
“Sure.” He tapped some keys and the sat feed showed the area. “Damn, there’s three men there.” He tapped his com set and said, “Tunnel crew, come in. Tact Two come in.”
“Tact Two here, what’s the ten-four?”
“You have a welcome party at the tunnel entrance,” Logan informed him.
“Well, fuck,” the voice said.
“I got men heading there, Ranger,” Talon’s voice came on. “Will give you the clear when it’s done.”
“Copy that,” Ranger replied.
We watched the screens and waited.
“So what’s happening?” Dante asked.
“Traps, they must have set some alarm up in the tunnel,” Liv told him. “So they knew the convent had been compromised.”
I nodded. “They could have set explosives at the convent entrances and put the guards down at the basement door.”
Liv nodded and went on, “Then they were lying in wait for the tunnel guys at both ends.”
“How did you know all of this, mia cara?” Stephano asked me. “I mean how to advise in a battle like that…” He shook his head and motioned at the screens.
I shrugged.
“Battleship, Papa. Remember?” Romeo commented.
I smiled but my gaze remained on the screens. “It's natural to me, I suppose. Strategy is my favorite subject,” I replied.
“Mine too,” Liv said. “But I never met a lawyer that could calculate scenarios so fast. And don't get mad, but especially a female.”
“And that’s a compliment coming from you, Liv.” I shook my head. “I’m not insulted. I agree with it too. Most women I know love three things: shopping, dating and shopping.”
Liv laughed as she nodded at me. “And there’s always Battleship.”
“That's true,” I agreed. “But I never thought I would be playing it for real.”
“Welcome to the Familia, Ms. Regatta,” Stephano said as he gave me a bow.
I stared at him. “I don’t mean any insult, Mr. Descalia, but I never wanted to be part of the Familia. Like a made woman or something.”
Stephano stared at me then laughed.
“Made woman?” Dante asked as he looked mystified.
“Si, like a cugine.” Stephano nodded.
Dante stared at him. “A soldier? Are you nuts?”
I laughed and used another mafia phrase, “Put me on the books.”
Stephano chuckled. “How smart you are.” He looked over at Romeo. “You are not so mafia, I know. But your girl knows all about it. She’s in.”
“Wow, not sure that is really a compliment and I don’t want to be in.” I shook my head. “I didn't mean to put me in for real, Mr, Descalia. Being your attorney is enough for me.”
Stephano smiled at me. “Of course, mia cara.”
I looked from him back over to the screens. I might not be around long enough to become a permanent member of the Descalia family period… if they all find out my secret.
A huge rumbling sound came from the speaker on the table. The doors on the convent were now blown apart.
I stared at the destruction on the screen and covered my mouth.
“Wow, you were right,” Dante said as he glanced at me. “They were ready to go boom.”
We all watched closely as Talon turned on his body-cam.
“We are Charlie Mike,” Talon spoke into his comm, “Oscar Mike.”
I looked over at Liv for a translation as I had no military knowledge at all.
Romeo looked a bit lost as he didn't understand either.
Liv nodded at me and translated it, “Continuing mission. We're on the move.”
Talon and his men stepped over wood and stone debris as they slowly made their way through the destroyed entrance while aiming their rifles.
All we could see was thick, dark smoke. The only sound we heard was Talon’s bootsteps and some crashing sounds. Then his camera caught movement and he slowed to a stop.
The camera spanned around, but showed no one seemed to be present in that area.
Over the comm, Talon spoke to the men in the tunnel, “Tact One to Tact Two.”
“Tact Two here,” came the response from the tunnel team.
“I got the all clear text from the gravemarker. They disposed of your welcoming committee,” Talon said. “Come to the convent after you are up top.”
“Affirmative,” Ranger said.
“Over,” Talon said as he moved down a long set of stone steps.
“Watch it, Talon,” Logan warned him over the comm. “Two sigs at the base of the steps.”
I was nervous as I watched and caught myself biting my fingernail.
“Is the package signal still there?” Talon asked.
“Affirmative,” Logan answered. “Same two as before, I assume.”
“What’s the locale of the other two?” Talon asked.
“They moved coordinates down along the tunnel.”
“Tact two?” Talon called out to the tunnel team. “You got gunners on you.”
“Copy that, we took them down. Disposition alive and in custody.”
“Hangfire,” Talon replied.
We looked over at Liv for the meaning of this word.
“Wait until you’re given the next orders,” she translated.
Gunfire went off as the two guarding the basement crypt tried to ambush Talon and his team.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
On the screen there seemed to be loud chaos as the place looked dark and gunshots were fired. Finally, after a couple of minutes, the shooting stopped.
“All clear,” Talon came on as he flashed his light onto a door. Two bodies laid in front of it.
Talon’s men moved ahead of him and checked the men on the floor who laid in pools of blood.
One of the team knelt by them to check for pulses and said, “Toe tags.”
Well, we didn’t need a translation for this phrase, did we? I couldn’t believe I was watching this drama and death or that it was all too real.
“Ranger, go Charlie Mike,” Talon told his other team calmly as if he did not stand above bloody bodies. “Meet us at the front after we get the all clear from the sat feed on the gravemarker exit...Over.”
“Oscar Mike…Over,” Ranger said.
“Ok, Logan we’re gonna head to the unknown package on the other side,” Talon reported.
I leaned into the comm mike to say, “Wait!”
“What is it?” Talon asked.
“The door may be wired like the others.”
Logan agreed, “Seems to be a running theme.”
“Shit,” Talon said, sounding disgusted. “Ok men, step back. Smoke,” he called to one of his men there with him. “Hand me that brick over there.” Talon’s camera turned to be aimed at the door and he backed up quite a ways, until we couldn’t see the door anymore.
We watched as something flew through the air in the flashlight beam. Suddenly, a blinding light glowed out toward Talon’s body-cam and a roar boomed out. The walls seemed to rumble as well.
“Oh, wow,” Dante commented.
“Si, there was a bomb on it,” Stephano said as he looked over at me.
I shook my head. “I’m sure Talon would have thought of it.”
“Maybe,” Stephano murmured.
We all continued to watch as we waited for the smoke to clear. Eventually, it dissipated enough for Talon to move with his rifle up and three men with him.
His camera tipped down and we could see a body on the floor.
I held my breath as I looked over at Liv and silently prayed…Please don’t let it be Jarret.
She looked a bit white as she stared at the same feed as the rest of us. Stepping closer, she studied the screen and finally whispered, “It isn’t him.”
The whole room seemed to release a breath of relief.
“It’s a guard,” Talon said.
Again, a team member knelt to take a pulse then he shook his head.
“Must be another toe tag,” Dante commented.
Talon and the other two spanned their rifles around the room.
As Talon’s camera swung around, we could see caskets everywhere. “Take it slow and search for anyone living.”
Romeo scoffed. “Such an odd thing to say in a casket room.”
The men all did as Talon said. They would stop and look at a coffin to see that it was hermetically sealed.
“Careful,” I said into the mike.
“Yeah, there could be more explosives,” Talon stopped moving and said over the comm, “Ranger, what are your coordinates? We need an OPX kit.”
“At the convent doors, boss,” Ranger replied. “Or what is left of them.”
“All of you stop moving,” Talon ordered his men in the crypt room. “We need to wait for the OPX.”
The men in the room with him that we could see, stood still and waited.
I glanced at Liv for clarification.
“OPX is a detector for explosives,” she explained.
“Wow, it's like watching Mission Impossible,” Dante exclaimed.
Romeo laughed.
“No, really, it is,” Dante reiterated. “I mean does Talon do this all the time?” he asked as he glanced over at Liv.
Nodding, she shrugged. “From what I know, yes. He is not in the military anymore, but we put together a successful rescue for Glory just recently. The man used to be a rescue phenomenon in the Middle East.”
“Well, he is far taller than Tom Cruise, that’s for sure,” Dante joked.
Romeo chuckled at his brother’s usual smack talk. “He’s more like a younger, larger Chuck Norris, maybe.”
“Very clever, Romeo,” Dante said. “Walker, Texas Ranger!”
“Per tutto ciò che è sacro,” Stephano chided his sons, “Stop with the infantile antics. Can’t you see this is serious?”
“Ok everyone, back up,” Ranger’s voice came from the speaker.
Talon’s camera seemed to move backward. Then it picked up a figure of a man that we assumed was Ranger. He swept this detector that he held in his hand over one coffin, then the next. We couldn’t tell how many were in the room, but Talon’s body-cam seemed to follow Ranger along three caskets so far.
I gasped as I saw something on his camera, so I bent over to speak into the comm, “Talon, you just passed something along the wall.”
Talon’s camera moved back some, then he turned to the wall space that could be seen in between the coffins.
“There!” I said. “That is a wall crypt but look at the paint that’s chipped away from the edges.”
“You think Jarret’s in there,” Liv said.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just noticed the chipped paint.”
Talon called Ranger over.
Ranger moved the detector over the wall crypt and it beeped loudly.
I even jumped as it sounded loud to me for some reason. Nerves…yep, nerves.
“It’s hot,” Ranger confirmed.
“So, what—”
“Tank’s heading in,” Ranger cut me off.
Everything went quiet as we waited for this Tank guy to show up in the crypt room.
A huge man could be seen coming through the door on Talon’s cam. Yes, that had to be Tank. He looked like a damn brick wall times 4.
“Ok, give me some room,” Tank said in a deep booming voice. The man sounded as large as he looked. He gently snipped a wire or so it looked like from our view. Then passed the gauge over the crypt space again. No beeping. “All clear. Ranger,” Tank said. “Hand me the tools.”
Next, we saw a crow bar and Tank’s large hand as it pried the sides of the indentation lines on the wall. After a moment or two, he broke through.
Talon kept his camera on the wall crypt as it took both Tank and Ranger to tug it open.
We all held our breath as we stared at the screen in a nervous anticipation.
The coffin slid out and we could see a body in it.
“Get me some oxygen!” Talon yelled.
We couldn’t see anything as Ranger and Tank blocked the camera view.
Suddenly, we heard Legend’s voice, “I’m coming.”
Talon’s camera turned to the door as we could see Legend and Glory coming through it.
Legend rushed over and set his bag on a casket then dug out a small oxy kit.
“Dad,” Glory exclaimed in panic as she rushed over to the coffin.
“Stand back,” Talon told her.
We could see Legend standing next to the slid out coffin as he took Jarret’s vitals.
Those of us in the security room waited in a tense silence.
After several minutes, we heard a loud cough.
“Dad, are you okay?” Glory exclaimed loudly over the comm.
“Yes,” a deep voice replied. “But why am I in a god damned coffin?”
The people in the study – including me – laughed.