A/N… Okay, this is all Edward. I'll let you get to it…
~o~H&E~o~
Chapter 12
EDWARD
The city blocks were cast in strange shadows as my team worked our way toward the street between Twi Tech and the first building we'd secured. All this shit had started just about one o'clock in the afternoon, and now the sun was dipping low in the late day. Honestly, the idea that it would be nighttime soon put a smile on my face because no one could move through darkness like my team. And if this next thing we were about to do worked, then that meant we'd be moving in on Kim in complete and utter blackness.
Our current aim was the sidewalk just outside the garage, to the grate that led down into the basement. That was our entry point. It had been vacant when Alec and I had brought the kids and Esme through, but we didn't expect it to still be empty. Using the lobby of the building on the west side, my team stepped silently to the side door Alec and I had used to cross into the garage.
I held a fist up as I peeked out onto the sidewalk and across the street. Kim had now positioned most of his men inside. Even the garbage trucks were abandoned, but I didn't want to take a chance that we'd be seen.
Pulling out binoculars, I scanned the area surrounding the grate. I smiled when I saw that the grating had never been replaced, so the hole was wide open.
"All you, Emmett," I whispered, and Sammy's drone whirled to life, lifting just inches above the floor so he could fly it through the broken glass door and across the street. Lock and Load watched it curiously from their spots in front of me.
I didn't bother to watch over his shoulder. He was well aware of what he was doing. I did, however, check my team. Alec, Jasper, Emmett, and myself were still in our "security" uniform, though we'd added tactical Kevlar vests and more weapons. Eleazar had assigned two of his own men, one of whom was Felix, which put us at ease because we knew him, knew how he worked, and we liked him.
The other man was a young sniper by the name of Mario Costa, but everyone called him Jersey. Apparently, that was where he was from, but he was a quiet kid and listened well.
Another quick look out the door, and I could see the makeshift command base in the park was being disassembled to give Kim the impression Eleazar was fulfilling one of his demands. In all reality, they were taking over the lobby of the building on the other side of Twi Tech – the one on the east side opposite of our location. They were simply coming in a door no one could see. I glanced up, looking for the helicopter, but it was nowhere in sight. If my calculations were correct, it needed fuel.
Emmett hovered the drone above the opening in the sidewalk and then lowered it gently inside. He glanced up from the smartphone, giving a quick nod. "We're clear."
"Roger that. Two at a time. Go," I ordered.
Emmett and Jersey went over together. Jasper and Felix were next, and they took Lock with them. Alec and I took the rear with Load. Once we'd dropped down onto the machine just below the entry point, I called over the radio that we were in.
"Copy that," Eleazar called quietly over the radio. "Jesus, Edward, what the fuck did you do to this garage? It looks like a warzone."
Alec and I grinned, giving each other a fist-bump. Jasper chuckled as well.
"Oh, a little of this, a little that," I sang, striding across the basement to the stairs that led up to the first floor. "For trained soldiers, these assholes allowed two men to kick their asses. I can't help it if they couldn't keep up."
Eleazar snorted. "I think you're just meaner than they are."
Alec and I shrugged. "Probably," we said at the same time.
"Okay we're in position, Ed."
"Ten-four," I whispered as I pressed an ear to the door. "Alice, have you got eyes in the lobby?"
"Barely," she replied. "Some of the cameras were destroyed when they blew the first bomb. The RPGs took care of most of the others. However, I do have eyes on you and the hallway just outside that door. You're clear to the end on your left, which is the main lobby area. You've got company to the right at the end of the hallway. Watch yourself. There's damage from east to west."
"Still beautiful, Alice," I sang in a whisper.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she chanted back. "FYI, their air support has slipped away. I'm guessing to refuel, though I couldn't tell you where. They aren't exactly calling in their flight."
"Got it," I whispered, opening the door just enough that Emmett could set the drone into the hallway.
He rolled it down the corridor that emptied out into the large lobby. Even from just my glance over at the screen, I could see the destruction. Emmett took advantage of the extremely high ceiling and lifted the drone up along the corner to get a bird's-eye view of where our enemies were.
That point of view gave us everything. The reception desk was shattered on one end and partial cover for what looked like four men on the other. The security desk housed RPGs aimed and at the ready. Chairs, benches, and newspaper and vending machines were all toppled over and being used as barricades. We caught movement and high-powered weapons every-fucking-where.
"El, come in," I called softly over the radio.
"Go ahead."
"I've got eyes on about twenty-five or thirty in the main lobby. The auditorium door is blocked unless we leave them for last and go in the back way opposite you."
We knew there were two backstage entrances on either side of the auditorium. I also knew we'd be setting eyes on Mickey, Dean, Jake, and Angela soon coming out of the stairwell.
"Alice, what's the location of the others?" I asked her, opening the door again so Emmett could pull the drone back down to the basement.
"They just passed the forty-sixth floor. You know, Edward, there's an awful lot of movement on those three floors under construction. It seems there are just as many men guarding there as there are in the lobby."
"Copy that," I told her, unable to give it much thought now, but I wasn't an idiot, either. If there were concentrations of guards in one spot, Kim was up to fucking something.
"Ed, we have time to take the auditorium in black silence." El's voice was soft, but the suggestion was a good one.
"If that's the case," Alice started, "then, Edward, you're gonna go right out of the basement, and the last left is your backstage entrance, with steps down to the basement level again, because backstage is lower than the entrance from the lobby. And you've got company down there. El, you're already on target."
"Okay, you heard her," I said, glancing back at my team and spinning a silencer onto the end of my weapon, and everyone followed suit. "Jersey, Jasper… You'll get set up as soon as we clear the curtain area. We've got guards along the seats, the main doors – both sets – and several on the stage. Until then, we're silent and dark. Everyone, on me."
We left our position, taking the right. Load's hackles were already up as we neared the end of the hall. He froze at the corner, sharp, white teeth flashing in a snarl and low growl. Lock did the same, coming up beside his brother.
"Edward, there are two. First one is just around the corner. The other one is about fifty feet down the hallway. Number one has his back to you…now." Alice's instructions came calmly, softly.
I peered around the corner, stepping silently behind the guy. Three steps and I had my hand covering his mouth as I pulled the trigger on his friend down the hall. Immediately I ended the struggling asshole in my grip. The only sound heard were the bodies hitting the floor.
My team followed, staying silent as we finally made it to the auditorium's backstage door. Inside, it was dark. With black curtains drawn, spanning from one side of the area to the other, it was perfect for sneaking in and spreading out, which was exactly the hand signals I gave. My team shifted, using crates, lighting equipment, and more curtains to stay hidden. Load stayed with me, while Lock stuck to Alec.
Two guards stood just inside the curtain on the stage in front of us. Alec shot the one on the left and in doing so caught the attention of the one on the right. Before he could say a word or lift his radio, Emmett's strong arms wrapped around him, his hand covering his mouth as that wet snap of a neck being broken met my ears. Felix and Emmett then removed the men away from the stage, dropping them between the wall and a stack of boxes, though they weren't the only bodies there. I caught sight of several piled up off to the side – the first ten hostages taken out by Kim's men.
"Jazz, you'll find a way up to the catwalk on either side of the stage back there. Look for a ladder mounted to the wall," Alice advised. "And there'll be a pass-through over the stage and out over the seats."
Jasper and Jersey located exactly what she was talking about, and they went up carefully. Once up there, the catwalk gave a bit of a metallic squeak, so they slowed down. Jersey found his spot first, lying down and setting up his weapon over the right side of the seating. Jasper was next, and he moved with the utmost patience, something I was quickly losing, and set up with his sight toward the back of the auditorium.
Stepping away from the stage when I heard Eleazar's team join us, I said, "El, I've got solutions on high."
"Excellent. Alice, we're in position. What's the ETA on the group in the stairs?" he whispered over the radio.
"They should be to you in about ninety seconds. Stand by, and I'll let you know which way they're coming in."
We all went still and quiet. The only sounds heard were the occasional cough or sniffle from the hostages sitting in the auditorium seats, the shift of a guard, Lock's and Load's panting from their spot in the shadows, and the tinny sounds of radio calls in Korean. Eleazar and I took each side of the curtain. Emmett was in between us where there was a part in the thick, red fabric. Alec and Felix guarded both doors we'd come in, El's team took the hallways just outside those doors, and Jasper hummed a soft tune under his breath. He was so soft I couldn't quite make it out, until he reached the chorus, and I recognized the AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds." Fucker made it sound like damned gospel song.
Eleazar grinned, shaking his head, but said nothing.
"They're coming in the main entrance of the auditorium, guys. They'll be marching them down the main aisle toward you," Alice stated.
"Roger that," Alec replied softly because he was far enough away from the enemy not to be heard. "Let them get all the way to the stage."
There was just enough gap between the curtain and the wall for me to see three motherfuckers with their guns aimed at Mickey, Dean, Jacob, and Angela. The latter was in tears, and she was pale and shaky. Jacob looked scared shitless, not to mention like he'd had the shit beat out of his face. However, my two team members were looking over the whole scenario, most likely for where we were because they'd been listening.
Mickey looked ready to fight. Dean was counting exits and guards. The thump of footsteps on the stage made my team tense up at the ready. But it was Jasper's lead now.
"Door, door, aisle, aisle…one, two, three, four. Jersey, stage, stage, aisle, aisle. On me in three…two…one."
The sounds of their shots were eerie, sort of a zing-thump. They'd put silencers on the end, so the end result was all that was truly heard – eight shots, eight men dropping, and then the sound of my own weapon engaging as Eleazar, Emmett, and I stepped out from behind the curtain onto the stage.
Panic rose up in the seats, but my goal was the fucker aiming at the five people on the stage.
Eleazar and Emmett took out four guards, two each on either side of the stage. Before the executioner could fire his weapon or reach for his radio, I pulled my trigger. That left one asshole unaccounted for, and he had Angela in his grasp with a gun to her head before I could blink. Lock and Load lowered their heads as their teeth flashed. Their growls were terrifying the last man standing, but he held firm.
"No shot, no shot!" Jasper called out, but he was on the move.
Jersey called out the same, but he, too, tried to move into a better position, and the catwalk above squawked with every move they made up there. Every weapon on my team was pointed at this motherfucker, but it was Mickey who moved from the other side of Jacob to the guy holding Angela, and suddenly a knife was jammed into the man's thigh. He moved, I fired, and Mickey took her knife back, handing it to me to cut her restraints off.
"Hold up, Ed," she said, rounding on Jacob and punching him square in the nose. "That's for Bella."
My eyebrows shot up as she took her knife back. "The fuck did he do, wild child?" I asked, narrowing my eyes on Jake while Eleazar secured the doors and started to calm down the people in the seats. My trigger finger twitched as I didn't exactly lower my weapon.
"He just about ratted you out to Kim!" she sneered, her lip twitching in hatred at my wife's ex. "Pussy said you'd get us all killed, but look at you now, fucker!"
Grinning, I shook my head. "Did you two do all that to him?" I asked, eyeing Jake, and I just shook my head at his bleeding nose and bruised face.
"Some of it." She rolled her eyes at Jake's scoff as she cut Dean's restraints, followed by Darren's and Angela's. She stepped to the groaning man in question, and he flinched when she brought that knife near him. "Easy, killer, I'm just cutting the zip tie."
"That's enough, Mick," I told her, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "He's seen me now." I jerked my chin to the dead guard on the stage floor who'd been sending video via his tablet. Although, the tablet had a bullet hole in it, so who knew how much Kim had seen of me. "Well, maybe."
That question was answered when all the Korean radios kicked to life with yelling from Kim himself.
Dean's head snapped around. "Shit! That lobby full of fuckers will be aiming this way in about ten seconds!"
"Okay, you heard him," I said, giving Mickey a spare weapon from my bag as Emmett did the same to Dean. "We've no longer got the element of surprise. Let's go!" I turned to the auditorium full of people. "I need everyone down on the floor between the seats. We're going to get you all out as best we can, but this is gonna get ugly. Now!"
There was a touch of chaos as everyone did as I asked, and Darren walked along the rows of seats, settling them down.
"My team, you watch the back entrance, and make your way up to the lobby on either end," Eleazar commanded.
"My team, we're taking the doors. I want fire in the hole and all weapons at the ready." I stowed away my Glock, pulling the automatic rifle around from my back.
Emmett, Mickey, and I ran to the door on the right, while Eleazar, Felix, and Alec took the other. Six grenades, six pins pulled, all six got tossed through two doors. The explosion was deafening because those weren't the only ones released into the lobby. Eleazar's men threw their own from one end of the lobby. However, ammo and RPGs only served to multiply that explosion that much more.
Once the dust had settled, Eleazar called, "Go, go, go!"
We rushed through the doors out of the auditorium, shooting anything that moved. If the lobby was a mess before, it was absolutely ruined now. Everything was shredded. The glass windows and doors at the front were already shattered, but now the frames were twisted and gnarled. The reception and security desks were no more. Small fires burned everywhere, but nothing that a fire extinguisher couldn't handle.
"Eleazar, you've got runners!" we heard over the radio.
El rolled his eyes and waved it away. "Ten-four. Send a team after them. But I need my extraction team on the east side now. I need to get these people out of this building." He pointed toward the side door that faced the building where he'd set up shop. "They'll come in there." He touched his earpiece. "And send medics. Some of these people need checking, I think."
"You shouldn't bring 'em through here," I said, gesturing to the mayhem surrounding us. "First, it's not stable. Take 'em out the stage area, up the steps, and around the hallway to that door."
"Yeah, you're right. Go ahead," he said, and I stepped back in through the doors.
I was just about to pass this shit off onto someone else and take my ass up seventy floors to get to my Bella, but a warm, shaky hand landed on my arm.
"Edward," Miss Evelyn said through tears. "Thank you, son."
Nodding, I hugged her. She was the sweet older woman from the accounting department who could cook a mean lasagna. Bella fucking loved her. She'd known Miss Evelyn since she was a little kid, so seeing her now made me protective.
"We need to get you guys out the back," I told her, glancing up when Darren and Dean walked to us. "You okay?" I asked the latter, and he smirked but nodded.
"Carlisle and Bella are holding their own, but I don't know for how much longer. And I swear Cho may have a heart attack before this shit is over," he stated, shaking my hand. "But thanks."
"That was fucking close… Er, sorry, Miss Evelyn," Darren said, blushing of all things as if his ass hadn't been a hair away from being executed. "Thanks. Did I hear you right? We need to move them?"
Chuckling, I nodded. "Out the back is safer and not so…scenic." I raised an eyebrow his way. "They'll be coming in the east side door…so up and around to the side."
"Got it," he replied, turning to face the people behind us who were all starting to stand up and mill around. "All right, everyone we're going out through the stage, so stay calm, stay in line, and we'll get you out of here."
Darren and Dean took control of lining up the Twi Tech employees and visitors who had gotten caught up in all the bullshit. However, I had a promise to keep. I stepped around the line and made my way to Angela, who was funnily enough being guarded by Lock and Load as she sat on the edge of the stage.
She was still pale, and I pulled out a bottle of water from my bag.
"Your doing?" she asked with a shaky smile, gesturing to the dogs.
"At this point, I think they're just reading my mind."
She huffed a laugh, rubbing their heads.
Offering her my hand, I said, "I promised Ben I'd hand deliver you."
Angela laughed, but tears formed in her eyes, and her hand instantly went to her stomach, a habit Bella used to have when she was pregnant. "He told you."
"He did. He told me while practically shaking the shit outta me, so let's get you to him and let them check you over, okay?"
She slipped down off the stage but rushed to hug me. "You gotta get Bella out of there. I think… I think she's barely holding her shit together, Edward."
"I will. That part's next." I sighed deeply, wrapping an arm around her to guide her out of the auditorium. We went through the back, up out of the basement level, and down around the hallway to the side door. We bypassed everyone else, slipping out onto the sidewalk into what was now dusk.
I saw the man in question across the street about to pace himself sick.
"Benny!"
I swear to God, the man had aged ten years since the whole thing had started, but to see the palpable relief on my friend's face erased it all.
"Ang," he breathed, gathering her into his arms, and I squeezed his shoulder when he thanked me silently over the top of her head. I started to turn away, but he stopped me. "What are you gonna do now?"
Smirking, I pointed up the side of Twi Tech Tower. "I'm going to get Bella and my dad." I walked back through the lobby, calling for my team to meet me at the stage.
Jasper, Dean, Emmett, Mickey, and Alec were already there with Lock and Load when I walked to the edge. Jersey was there too, but he looked nervously toward the lobby doors, like he was breaking Eleazar's orders.
Pointing to Dean and Mickey, I said, "I want you two checked out before—"
"Oh, fuck no!" Mickey cut me off. "I'm going to go get my girl and Carlisle outta there. Just try and fucking stop me!"
Dean grinned. "Nah, Edward, we're okay."
I eyed his split lip but nodded. If they wanted in, then I could definitely use them. Pressing the commlink, I said, "Gravity info team, come in."
"Edward Cullen!" Eleazar barked from the lobby. "You'll wait for my say."
"No, the fuck I won't!" I snapped, pointing his way. "I'm fucking done waiting. I want my wife off the top of the goddamn building now! This motherfucker is probably going to lose his shit when he realizes he just lost like a hundred fucking hostages to negotiate with and a huge chunk of his soldiers. I want my wife out of his reach."
"And we'll get her and your dad," he vowed, holding up a hand. "Just give me two minutes. Fuck!"
My nostrils flared as my temper skated a razor's edge. "You have two minutes!" I held up two fingers, shaking my head.
I was fucking tired of pushing Bella and my dad to the back burner. All damned day something else had to be done before we could get tothat motherfucker in my dad's office. The snipers, which allowed for us to approach the building, the kids, which was absolutely top priority, and now the hostages, but fuck, I'd always put Bella first in every situation, and not doing that now was really starting to piss me off.
Despite how exhausted I was, I started to pace, and I found myself backstage. Jacob Black was watching a soldier lift Lauren's body onto a gurney. His eyes were fire and sadness, and when he locked gazes on me, they were hate.
"This is all your doing!" he ground out through gritted teeth.
"Oh, you think so?" I said, grinning, because if this asshole wanted to push, he'd picked the wrong fucking moment to do it.
"You guys were supposed to stop this shit."
"If I remember correctly, Jake, Gravity weeded out this motherfucker and said he couldn't come. We knew he was possible trouble, and we said no. He came anyway. He came because he'd been planning this shit for fucking years. He'd been attacking Twi Tech for two years. And if you want to place blame on me, that's fine, but you'll place it on my crew, Bella, and even my dad, too, because the reason they're here is because we stopped them from acquiring nukes two years ago in Russia – a trip you were supposed to take."
Jacob gaped, sputtering nonsense, but I was too pissed off and too intense to shut the fuck up.
"But I didn't see you too worried about it when you were kissing Cho's ass for that contract, right? You weren't too worried about Lauren when you were fucking that brunette bartender from the bar down the street last week, right? Right?!" I stepped up into his face. "You forget who your boss is, so I hear every-fucking-thing."
He shoved me hard, and I came back with my Glock pointed to the middle of his forehead.
"You might be the most worthless piece of shit I've ever met," I told him, but a smile curled up on my face. "And you know it, too. You know it every time you look at my wife, every time you place blame on someone besides yourself, and when you look at yourself in the mirror every day. Honestly, I should've let Bella pull the trigger on you ages ago at the safe house, but I knew what that would do to her. And I'd pull the trigger now, but in light of new circumstances, you've got sole responsibility of your son. That is the only reason I'm not killing you now. It's not his fault. Do you understand, Jacob?"
His eyes drifted beyond me, and I knew my crew was standing there. Not one bothered to stop me. And I wasn't sure they'd care if I killed my wife's ex.
I waited, and he looked over at the gurney, finally muttering, "I have no idea how I'm going to tell my son."
I didn't envy him that, but I also wanted to make sure I didn't have to have the same conversation with my own kids. Pulling my gun away from his forehead, I walked away from him, pressing my earpiece as I stepped back out on the stage.
"Bethy?"
"Hey, Daddy."
My eyes burned because I just needed to know they were okay. "You guys safe?"
"Yeah, sure. They moved us to the building next to Poppy's."
"Okay, good. Just stay with those two soldiers for me."
"We will. Be safe."
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, meeting Eleazar's gaze when he stepped back into the auditorium, his team following.
"Ready?" I asked him.
"Yeah, we'll split up," he said, pointing from his team to mine. "We'll take the main stairs, and you take to the walls."
Smiling ruefully, I nodded and pressed the commlink. "Alice, I think we need that diversion now."
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," Alice muttered wearily. "We do this, and Kim knows the locations of some very dangerous, very expensive toys, Edward."
"Yeah, well, he's got something priceless now, and I need her back."
Alice cooed over the radio. "Okay, I'll give you a head start to the stairs."
A click came over the earpieces, and Bella's voice was soft, but her message was only meant for me.
"Edward, hide and seek. I'll meet you there."
Grinning like a fucking madman, I led my team at a run toward the secret stairwell. "Ten-four, sweetness."
~o~H&E~o~
A/N… Edward's about to snap, the hostages are out, and the auditorium is clear. We're back to both Bella and Edward next.
I hope everyone had a fun and safe new year celebration. I was out before 11pm I think. LOL But I was working 7 days straight.
Okay, so I'll see you guys again next week. Thursday/Friday for the teaser and Sunday for the update. Until then… Mooches, Deb ;)