Operation 24 The Black Phone #3
The gold cross suspended around his neck shone softly against all that white.
He had one hand in his pocket, the other wrapped around a cane unlike any God had ever seen.
It was gunmetal gray, sleek and elegant, with a matte black handle.
It looked more like a weapon than an aid.
He swept it in a tight arc in front of him, controlled and exact, as if it could read the room.
The man beside him was also in white, but the color gave him an opposite appearance. His scarred face, and dark aura made him anything but delicate. He scanned the room before he leaned into the gentle man and whispered something too low for God to make out.
God hadn’t met any of the men who’d just walked in, but he knew the last two.
Ex gave him a smug smile when he strolled in wearing black denims, and a modern, Gothic-style black hooded jacket. “Long time no see, Lieutenant.”
God eyed him for a moment, but instinct, and self-preservation made him turn his head.
There he stood. Imposing and terrifying.
Meridian.
God had encountered dangerous men most of his adult life. He’d arrested them, fought them, killed them when they left him no other choice.
Meridian was in a class all his own.
Evil personified.
He wore black everything, simple and expensive, no visible weapons or unnecessary flash.
Dark goatee framing a sharp jaw. The scent of spicy tobacco beneath vetiver and designer cologne clung to his skin as he passed him.
He wasn’t the tallest or broadest man in the room, but space and shadows reorganized itself around him anyway.
The Ravens walked further inside the suite, moving because he moved.
Day stared.
Cassidy stared.
Ruxs and Green vibrated with alert hostility.
Genesis rose to his feet slowly.
Steele stilled the balls rotating in his palm.
Meridian pushed his low hood back, his face impassive, every line of him controlled to the point of cruelty. His eyes, black and glossy as wet onyx, moved once over the room, measuring, before he returned his dark attention on him.
God closed the door.
“Didn’t know you’d come this deep,” God murmured.
The bass in Meridian’s voice was ruinously smooth. Not cold exactly. Cold things still had temperature. His voice held no warmth at all.
A chill swept through the room.
“You said you needed help,” Meridian answered. “You didn’t say how much.”
God held his stare for a beat.
Meridian didn’t offer introductions of the men he’d brought with him. The low hoods covering most of their faces were indication enough they didn’t want to be known.
That was fine with him.
God pointed towards Free’s screens. “We’ve been providing protection for Xander Vale, the man in the hat you see tied down. He’s had numerous threats on his life and—.”
Meridian lifted one hand.
God stopped.
“I don’t care about your righteousness, God.” Meridian’s gaze cut to the feed. “Just tell me why I flew to the other side of the country in an extremely expensive jet. What do you want me to do?”
No one moved.
Everyone in the room seemed to realize, all at once, that the men standing in it were exactly who they looked like.
The deadliest assassins in the world.
The Ravens.
A program— no one admitted existed— created by a privately-funded organization to turn enhanced, trained men into ghosts that crossed borders and dismantled threats the government was powerless to control.
Coupled teams: Blacks. Browns. Greens. Whites.
God pointed at the main screen. “Four hostages. My goddamn family. Nine kidnappers total. They want ten million dollars. They plan to take Xander to a bank in the morning, force the transfer, then they say they’ll let them go.”
“They won’t,” Meridian said.
“No,” Day said quietly. “They won’t.”
God continued. “They’re armed. Emotional. Connected to the men we either killed or had arrested a week ago.”
Meridian stepped closer to the screen.
His men moved with him.
On the feed, Xander sat with his back against a column, pale and breathing shallow. Curtis’s split lip had swollen. Free leaned into Xander as if he were silently comforting him. Tech kept his head angled just enough for the glasses cam to capture faces when kidnappers crossed his line of sight.
Meridian watched for less than twenty seconds.
He turned back to God.
“You sure you want me to handle this?” he asked. “I’ll get your guys out. But I’m not a negotiator. There’ll be no survivors for you to arrest, Lieutenant.”
God glanced at his husband, then at the rest of the men, and his brother. Even Fox.
Day gave the first nod, slow and grim. Ruxs followed, then Green, Steele, Cassidy, Gen, and Fox. Each man agreeing to the same silent oath. That they’d each take this moment, this choice, straight to their graves.
God faced Meridian. “Do it.”
“Scar, Saint, Grace, Mirage,” Meridian said. “You’re with me and Ex. Greens, you can go do what you requested.”
One of the Whites, he’d called Scar, frowned. “How come they get to go have fun?”
Meridian rounded on him so fast the tail of his jacket flared.
“I said…you’re with me.” His glare sliced like a blade through silk. “You’ll have time to go to Disneyland tomorrow.”
God blinked.
Ruxs looked at Green and mouthed, “Disneyland?”
Scar muttered something under his breath that sounded like ‘unfair meanness’.
Meridian ignored him. “Saint.”
The soft man in white had moved toward the breakfast bar while Meridian was talking. His cane had disappeared…somewhere.
He was feeling his way around the counter until his palm landed on the fruit bowl. He picked up an apple, turned it once in his hand, and bit into it.
Meridian said, “You protect his family while we do the rest.”
Saint chewed, unconcerned.
Day leaned slightly toward God, his expression caught between disbelief and confusion. “I’m sorry. Is he blind?”
Meridian pulled a wicked blade from inside his jacket and hurled it at Saint’s back.
Saint dipped a fraction, turning just enough for the blade to hiss past him and punch into the wall inches from his head. He didn’t drop the apple. Didn’t even turn right away.
He took another bite, then reached up, gripped the handle, and yanked the blade free from the wall.
Only then did he turn around.
“I’m not a fuckin’ circus trick, Mere.”
He used the blade to cut a neat slice from the apple.
“You’re not getting this back either. It’s mine now.”
No one spoke.
What in the hell were the Ravens producing?
Meridian shifted back toward the main display. “I need the layout.”
Fox already had it. “Sending now.”
A blueprint of the building appeared on the screen.
“With Free’s system I can control the power to the entire block, traffic cams, and any police activity alerts. There’ll be no digital witnesses,” Fox added.
“Don’t let your guys know we’re coming until we’re already there.” Merdian nodded towards the screen at Free, Xander, and Tech who were hunched over. Curtis was fucking snoring as if he were in his own bed. “If they start to perk up, it’ll make the kidnappers think something’s up.”
Fox said, “I can take it dark when you’re ready.
“Not building power, they’ll panic.” Meridian’s partner Ex chimed in for the first time. “Give me exterior darkness. That’s all we need.”
Fox nodded once. “Done.”
Meridian went towards the door. The Browns and Greens shifted with him. Saint was still slicing his apple with the stolen blade as his partner fell in line beside him.
“I’ll make it dark on your count,” Fox said just before Meridian opened the door.
He walked out of the door with his men. Halfway down the hall, he spoke over his shoulder, as if he were making a quick run to the corner store. “Be back soon.”