FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022
JFK TO MIA, UNITED STATES
Ella would have been more awed by being on a private jet if it wasn’t for Charlie. Charlie, who had apparently leveraged her father’s jet to get them a ride. Charlie, who had basically thrown together a trip to Miami on the fly. Charlie, who was tongue-tied and blushing while talking to Adrahasis.
Ella had never seen Charlie lose her cool when meeting someone. Not until now, and she just couldn’t resist the spectacle.
“Hey Charlie, should I tell them about that time at Karaoke Heroes?” Ella called across the cabin.
“Don’t you dare,” snapped Charlie.
“What’s her problem?” Asked Tauthe who was seated across from Ella.
“I think she is crushing on Adra here.” Ella said, not at all quietly.
Charlie gave her a glare and then extended a special finger before turning back to Adrahasis who looked cornered.
They landed and two black Escalades were on the tarmac. Charlie pointedly grabbed Adra’s arm and directed him to one vehicle while waving off the others.
“I don’t think I have ever seen Charlie in heat like that,” murmured Ella.
“I am not sure Adra knows what to do with it anyway. Usually Etana is the one fending off attention.”
Etana blushed a bit and bowed his head a bit, hiding his face.
“Where are we going anyway?”
THAT EVENING (FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022)
CASINO MIAMI, MIAMI, FLORIDA, United States
The pelota bounced off the wall and the crowd roared.
“A chula! Beautiful shot!” yelled Charlie.
“Woohoo! I am winning tonight!” Davcina screamed.
Ella still thought it was insane that Davcina, having never seen jai alai before had just dropped all her cash on a single bet. But it looked like she would make it back and then some.
Etana leaned over to whisper something to Tauthe who stiffened just a bit and then laughed.
“Hold on! Let me tell that to Ella, she will love it.”
Tauthe leaned in and said, “Etana says there are four people behind us two rows and to the right a little bit that are watching us and not the game.”
“How does he know?”
“Reflection in the glass. Now laugh and pass it on.”
Ella held her hand to her mouth and tried to pretend to laugh. It seemed so fake to her but the noise was hopefully enough to cover. She was about to tell Charlie when Davcina stood up.
“Alright. Time to collect my winnings!”
“Davcina, wait!” Called Ella somewhat helplessly as Davcina lost herself in the exiting crowd.
“Tauthe, Etana. Keep an eye on those guys. Charlie, Adrah. We need to grab Davcina. Bad shit may be happening.” Ella started trying to force herself through the crowd.
“Excuse me… sorry. Please… it is an emergency.”
Eventually they forced their way through the crowd to the betting desk. Davcina was not there.
Tauthe ran up. “I talked to security, they are already calling the police. Some men met her after she collected her winnings and escorted her off. Security followed them since it looked suspicious and they watch out for winners being robbed. When they went outside, she was thrown in a van and they took off. Etana split off to steal a car and is trailing them.”
Adra pulled out the phone he had been given. “Let’s go to the local safehouse first.”
“Safehouse? What is going on? Can’t we wait on the police?” Charlie interrupted.
Ella held up her hands. “Ummm, let’s just say this group is a bit ‘special’ you know. I really can’t say more.”
“Oh!” And then she looked at Adra and muttered a faint “oh” again.
“Go to the hotel and chill out. I’ll call shortly.”
“No! I said I am going to help. And I am going to help. Damn it, Ella. We talked about this!” Charlie pleaded.
Ella didn’t have time to argue. “Alright. You can act as a lookout or something. Get rid of the fancy cars. But we need transport. Charlie, Tauthe, figure that out! Something anonymous. Adra and I will check out the safehouse”
Tauthe tried to protest, but Ella was insistent.
Adra faced Ella and reported to her, “The local safehouse is not too far. Let’s go and see what gear we can find. I’ll report to Bahu on the go.”
Ella suddenly felt a bit shy at Adra reporting to her, “Sorry. I don’t mean to bark orders at everyone.”
“Nah. You are doing good. No time for bullshit.” Adra said.
After an excruciating five minutes, a few Ubers pulled up and they split up.
The safehouse was just north of Miami in Liberty City. The Uber driver took extra money not to cancel the fare when he found out the neighborhood they were heading to.
As they drove into Liberty City, the neighborhood got rougher. There were police cars parked in front of a bodega with their lights on. As the Uber driver pulled up to a graffiti sprayed building under the highway, he let them out and didn’t hesitate to drive away quickly.
They let themselves through the safehouse door. Behind it was a mostly empty, dilapidated room covered in yellowed formica panels and garbage. Adra took his phone and dialed a number. All of a sudden a door hidden behind the paneled walls clicked open.
Inside was a room with metal bunk beds, racks of clothing — both civilian and military, shelves of tactical gear, and lots of weapons.
Ella let out a gentle whistle.
“Gear up. What’s the latest from Etana?”
“Nothing. He is still following them. They are driving out of the city.”
“Ok. Let’s grab gear and supplies for the others including Charlie.”
Adra looked at her, “How are you so calm?”
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“I’m not. But this isn’t the first time shit has gone down. Keep moving, think later.”
Ella started systematically going through the gear. Plate carrier vests, binoculars. night vision goggles, and lots of firearms. There was a row of boots that smelled of sanitizer, and she went through to find a pair that fit and quickly checked with Adra to get the right sizes for the others.
She started piling the gear for the others into duffle bags. Then they stripped down and got kitted out themselves.
Adra helped her suit up and with the battle belt and vest. He showed her how to strap on her gear so they wouldn’t rattle. He walked her through the handgun’s operation, a Glock, and grabbed M16s for himself and the others. Ella grabbed another Glock for Charlie.
Waiting was the tough part. Her phone chimed. “Charlie has a large Suburban. They are en route. Tauthe checked in with the police again. The police said they had squad cars searching. They think this is a robbery, so they won’t look too far afield.”
More waiting. Ella found some shoe polish and started painting her face. “I’ve always seen this in movies and there is no time like the present.”
After a while Adra’s phone chimed. “They are here.”
Ella opened the door for them and started handing the bags of gear to them immediately. They carried them to the large SUV parked outside and throwing the gear in back.
Ella got behind the wheel and told the others to get in the back and start dressing. “Show Charlie how to put on the vest and give her a crash course with the pistol. Charlie, you are going to stay with the car but let’s not take chances.” Tauthe helped Charlie get on gear and got dressed up herself.
“Where is Etana?”
“Still driving.”
“Fuck. They are going far. Let’s try and catch up.”
Ella floored it and kept driving south.
“Etana says they are pulling up to a house in Florida City. He’ll send over the address.”
“You guys in the back, eat an energy bar and drink some water.”
AFTER MIDNIGHT (SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 2022)
FLORIDA CITY, FLORIDA, United States
They pulled up two blocks away and spilled out of the car. Each of them checked their gear. Ella worked the slide of her gun a few times, and the action felt smooth.
The street lights put shadows over the dilapidated stucco buildings, everything was desaturated. Ella focused her attention, and she started to feel a second surge of adrenaline.
They casually walked down the street, bantering until they got to the street where Etana was waiting for them and ducked behind the hedges of an abandoned house across the street. A palm tree gently waved above them, filled with untrimmed brown leaves.
“So what’s happened?”
Etana sat down and pointed at a diagram he had drawn in the dirt. Ella pulled out a penlight and flashed it down on the map.
“This is what I was able to see. Davcina is in the back room tied to a chair and has a bag over her head. There are six hostiles, all armed with handguns. The four we saw earlier are in the kitchen right now. The other two are kind of wandering around. One of them, a tall skinny woman, appears to be the boss, and she is on the phone most of the time. It doesn’t sound happy as she has been yelling, but I haven’t gotten close enough to hear anything.”
He pointed at some circles and lines around the square of the house. “These are the approaches I could identify. It isn’t that hard but I didn’t want to take risks without a plan.”
“Six huh?”
“Okay guys. I have no idea what I am doing here. So what do we need to do?”
Everyone kind of shrugged. “We don’t spend time on group tactics til later. If we were hand to hand fighting, I think we would win.”
“How were they keeping their guns?” Adra asked.
“You mean holding them? No. The woman had a holster but the other ones had them tucked in their pants or something.”
“Okay. So not professionals. Why did they grab Davcina? Why bring her so far away?” Adra mused.
Etana shrugged.
Ella thought about it for a moment. “In movies they would make some noise to draw some people out to thin their numbers out. But that strikes me as unnecessary. Here is what we do…”
Ella laid out the plan, each person to sight one of the enemy, they would all shoot them to get kills immediately. Then they would break through the sliding glass doors of the room that Davcina was kept in and pull her out of there however they could.
Nobody had any better ideas.
Adra made one comment though, “None of us have killed here. We all knew we would have to one day except for you Ella. Anyone going to hesitate?”
Ella said, “I’d be lying if I would say I wasn’t nervous. But as I said before, this isn’t quite my first time, and I won’t hesitate.”
She wondered if she was lying. She felt calm, but maybe actually numb.
The street was well-lit and they had to make their way to another block to cross the street. Climbing over hedges, they made their way from yard to yard silently, crawling over hedges and wooden fences until they were next to the target house.
Ella took her position behind a concrete planter on the side of the house with a view into the kitchen. Adra and Etana took the back yard where they could see through the sliding doors to Davcina tied in a chair.
“Two in the room with Davcina, I’ve got the one on the right,” Adra whispered over the comma.
“I’ve got left.” Etana replied.
Ella peeked over the planter and saw a tall man, pale white skin and red hair, digging through the refrigerator looking for food. She set her stance and sighted down her pistol’s site. “I see mine but he is in cover.” She waited for the refrigerator door to close. “Got him.”
Tauthe had shimmied across the front yard to the other side. “I don’t see anyone over here.”
“Shit, where are the other three?” Ella whispered. Her heart was racing and she was trying to pace her breaths. She could feel sweat bearing on her forehead.
A dog barked in the distance, and Ella almost pulled the trigger.
“Shit. Do we take it?”
“No, I’ve got an idea.” Tauthe replied.
And Ella, from her vantage on the side of the house watched as Tauthe grabbed a pizza box from the neighbor’s trash bin and walked up to the front door. She put the rifle leaning against the wall on the side and pulled out her handgun.
And then she rang the doorbell.
“Fuck! Fuck! What are you doing?” Ella said, still whispering.
“What’s going on?” Adra asked.
“Guys, get ready to shoot.” Tauthe replied and then reached out and rang the doorbell again.
“Milano’s Pizza” she yelled through the door. “Come on out here or I am taking this pizza back!”
A light turned on inside the house and the door opened.
“We didn’t order…” and there was a loud report as Tauthe fired her pistol twice.
Ella did not hesitate and put a bullet right through her target. The gun was a lot louder without ear protection, and she could not hear anything for a moment.
She climbed over the fence, almost landing on her face, and raced to the backyard just in time to see Etana taking a rusty iron chair and smash it through the sliding door glass.
Ella heard two more shots from the front of the house.
“Tauthe? What’s going on?” screamed Ella.
She heard panting. “Got one. Other one shot me in the leg but I am in cover.”
Ella heard the growl of a car skidding to a halt and more gunfire and screaming.
“Get her! Get her! Get her!” Ella screamed.
Etana and Adra grabbed the chair with Davcina still strapped to it and dragged her out. Ella had raced around the side to support them and kept her gun pointed in the room and started shooting when she saw some movement. It was the woman they had identified as the leader. She dove behind a couch. Ella kept peppering the couch with bullets and was gratified to hear the woman curse as the bullets penetrated.
Her gun ran empty, and Ella kept pulling the trigger for a moment. The woman calmly appeared on top, steadied her aim and shot Adra in the shoulder.
Ella fumbled a reload, dropping the magazine. Etana had cut Davcina loose and they ran to the side. Davcina staggered and wasn’t walking quite straight.
The woman tried to take another bead on Adra who was crawling to cover leaving a copious blood trail. Ella watched as she took aim, as she carefully sighted down her pistol.
Suddenly, the gun flew out of the woman’s hand along with a large portion of that hand. Ella stood trembling, having managed to shoot in time. She had been aiming for the woman’s head.
Etana yelled at her, his raspy voice cutting through her paralysis.
She ran over to the woman who was standing there staring at her mangled hand. Blood was pouring out of it, black and thick and definitely not human.
“Well shit,” said the woman conversationally.
Ella kept her gun on her and yelled, “On your knees facing away from me. Hands on your head.”
“Is Adra okay?” She called back.
“Yeah, I am fine.” Said a voice right behind her. Ella jumped a bit and turned to see Adra holding a pistol with his off hand on the woman.
“Let’s take her with us.”
Ella grabbed a zip tie from her belt and tied the woman’s hands behind her. The blood made everything slick and Ella pulled it tight.
She took a chance and flared her eyes and could sense magic coming off the woman.
“Is it all clear?” she heard Charlie’s voice through the comm.
“Yes.”
Charlie came through the interior door of the room. “Don’t shoot. We need to get out of here. That was fucking loud.”
Etana asked, “How is Tauthe?”
“She is okay. I’ve got her in the front seat of the car. Let’s get out of here.” Charlie said over the comms.
“Davcina?” asked Ella
“I’m fine. Took a while for blood to start moving in my legs. Let’s go.” And then Davcina gave a vicious kick to the woman on her knees, knocking over. “I’m going to sting the shit out of you and feast on your organs, you bitch!”
The woman was curled up around where Davcina had kicked her. But looked up, “Aqrabuamelu! Fuck. This was a shit show.”
“She knows who we are!” growled Etana.
“We are taking her with us. Let’s go” yelled Ella.
They dragged the woman to her feet and pushed her into the trunk. Everyone piled in and Charlie took off. They could hear sirens from the police coming to the house.
Charlie rounded a corner, shut off the headlights and parked on the side. A police car went flying by them a few minutes later.
“Huh, that worked? Saw that in a movie once.” She said cheerfully. Then pulled out slowly and began driving normally.