Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen
Lyric had opened beauty salons in three different locations.
Each had been very small, and she’d done so without fanfare.
This was crazy, with drones overhead, a reporter and photographer and all of Torpedo Ink present with their women and children.
There were balloons and party favors. The salon was crowded, the sidewalk bursting with people who had turned out from not only the Caspar community but also Sea Haven.
The back patio was filled to overflowing.
Lyric recognized a few of the members from the Trinity chapter of Torpedo Ink, and it surprised her that they would go to the trouble of making the trip just for the opening of the salon of a club member’s girlfriend.
A few gave her a brief salute but didn’t actually enter the salon.
She didn’t blame them. There were so many people that it was not only overwhelming but a little scary.
She found herself looking at the fire exits, making certain they were clearly marked.
She noted that Jonas Harrington and Hannah had come, both greeting her as if she were a friend.
She felt a bond with Hannah but couldn’t help being reserved around Jonas.
Hannah wasn’t the only Drake sister who had come to support her.
Lyric was introduced to Elle, the youngest. She was with her husband, Jackson Deveau, the deputy sheriff.
The two men stayed, even after their wives left.
Her mind did what it always did: came up with reasons. Most likely it was the number of bikers in one area, although she knew Torpedo Ink had a good reputation in the community. Members of the Trinity chapter were there, but they wouldn’t start trouble with the Caspar chapter.
Lyric greeted so many people and took appointments until her first month was completely filled.
She was elated to realize her business would start off so strong.
Eventually, she was able to leave the building to go outside and mingle.
The party seemed to have taken to the street.
Even the Caspar Market was participating in the festivities.
She spotted Zyah, the manager of Caspar Market, sitting in front of the store with her husband, Player.
They held hands and seemed very focused on the crowd.
Two tables were on either side of them, filled with snacks for the crowd, so they had nearly as many people on that side of the street as she had on hers.
She looked around for Keys. He had his back to her and was talking to Maestro and Steele, all three very engaged in their conversation.
Their heads were down, and they looked as if they were in an important huddle.
The longer she watched them, the more she had a nagging feeling that something was off.
“Team two is on the move,” Steele reported.
The tiny earpieces, nothing more than a tube inserted in the ear, had been developed by Mechanic and were invaluable.
They couldn’t be seen, but the sound was high-fidelity.
“We have very little time. Player is holding the illusion for us. We’ll be on cameras, and Jonas and Jackson will have seen us in the crowd. ”
“How long can Player hold the illusion without it damaging him?” Keys asked. Concerned. Player had taken a bullet to the head months earlier, and it was only Steele’s skill and Zyah’s gifts that had saved him.
“Zyah and Blythe are both boosting his power,” Czar cut in to reassure the teams. “Declan and a five-man Ghost team, his bodyguards, are at the Airbnb they rented that backs up to the Pygmy Forest. We got lucky with that one. Team one will take the five Ghosts en route to acquire Lyric. Team two will dispatch Declan and his guards. We need to be fast and stay out of sight.”
Keys always appreciated Czar’s meticulous planning.
They had counted on Declan surfacing. He had to be furious that the men he’d grown up with and formed his corporation with were dead.
He blamed Lyric and was acting predictably.
Torpedo Ink had studied the tactics he’d used to rid himself of any opposition.
From the very first time Keys had claimed Lyric to his club, Code had begun finding out everything he could about her and her enemies.
Declan had grown arrogant, believing himself superior to those around him.
Believing he couldn’t be touched by law enforcement.
The more money he made, the more powerful he became, the more everyone feared him. And he ruled by fear.
It was inevitable that he’d come across the coalition of casino owners involved in trafficking.
That had led him to the Ghosts. The assassins actually had offices, advertising themselves as specialists in security.
Declan had found that their ruthless ways appealed to him.
He’d become one of their best customers.
He had taken the bait, even the location of the Airbnb, away from neighbors, where he believed he could monitor the capture and torture of Lyric.
Code had added the house into the several Declan was considering renting.
He’d made certain everything Declan would want was listed.
The week that included the opening of Lyric’s salon was one of the few dates available.
They kept each team small, needing the other to run interference should anyone try to talk to the missing Torpedo Ink members.
Illusions could fool cameras and people as long as they didn’t come close.
Keys, Maestro, Master and Lana appeared to be present, yet they were making their way as fast as possible to the home on the edge of the Pygmy Forest.
While they headed in that direction, four members from the first team, Mechanic, Reaper, Storm and Transporter, moved to intercept the five-man Ghost team heading straight toward Caspar using a back road.
The ambush was already set. They were all in place without having to be directed.
They’d hunted so often as a pack that they knew every movement and where each of them would be.
Step one in the ambush relied on Transporter’s skills as a driver.
Not only did he have mad skills when it came to driving, but he also possessed a sixth sense that alerted him to law enforcement and enemies as well as innocents.
He’d honed that gift from the time he was a child, just as the others had developed theirs.
Czar had always told them he believed almost everyone on earth had gifts in various degrees, they simply didn’t spend time developing them.
He’d insisted that every single day, as children, teens, young adults and even now, they continue to develop and sharpen those gifts.
Many, many times, it had been their extrasensory abilities that had saved their lives.
This was a smash and kill. No prisoners.
No interrogation. No hiding the bodies or the wreck.
They had minutes to get the job done and return to Caspar to help with the illusion that the missing members of team two were present.
The second team would need more time to infiltrate the house when the Ghosts were guarding and on alert.
The ambush site had been chosen with care.
Coming from the Pygmy Forest, if at all possible, the Ghost team wouldn’t want to be seen.
That meant they would take one of the back roads to Caspar.
The area had been a logging territory in its early history, and there was a labyrinth of old roads, most unpaved.
The widest one leading from the Pygmy Forest would be the most likely route the Ghosts would take.
It appeared inviting where the others were extremely narrow and overgrown.
Most of the old logging roads weren’t used by anyone but locals, and then only for recreational purposes.
Maintenance wasn’t kept up. They weren’t paved, so deep pits were a hazard.
Large rocks and mudslides, as well as downed trees, blocked the roads in places.
The roads often curved through thick forest and were now overgrown with brush, blackberry bushes and poison oak.
It made sense that the Ghosts would choose the route that appeared open, although it was dirt.
The location Torpedo Ink, team one, chose for their ambush was heavily wooded.
The road ran along an embankment in several places.
The bank wasn’t particularly steep, but right below it was a creek.
Several sources fed the creek, allowing the banks to swell and the water to move fairly quickly.
In most places the creek bed was rock, the water only a few inches deep, but there were spots swirling with leaves and twigs, creating small dams to form pools.
This particular site had such heavy brush grown over another road, which at one time had connected with the main road.
It was very faint and difficult to spot, but it was there.
Torpedo Ink had done a vast amount of exploring when they’d chosen to put down roots in the Caspar community.
They’d needed to know every exit route and any place an enemy might choose to approach them.
All that research came in handy for situations such as this one.
The team only had minutes to set up, and they did so.
They heard the engine of the SUV before it came into sight.
As the vehicle barreled straight for them, Transporter came out of the brush, ramming them precisely in the middle of the SUV with the heavy steel V welded onto the truck.
The truck hit the SUV at high speed, buckling the vehicle with the force of the velocity and its heavy weight, continuing to push it toward the drop, where fast-flowing water had carved the stream.
Transporter shoved the Ghosts’ vehicle over that embankment and into the creek. Mechanic, Storm and Reaper were waiting in the heavier brush on the opposite side of the stream. The SUV rolled over once, came upright and rocked. One side was caved in, the other buckled.