Chapter Two

Thea weaved through the bustling crowd on Brooklyn's 86th street with the ease of long practice. As usual the street was a hub of activity in the evening as people hurried home or made a beeline for one of the many restaurants to dine and relax after a day of hard work. How Thea envied them, what she wouldn't do for hard drink right about now. Perhaps a cocktail? Or maybe something that got straight to the point like a Grey Goose on the rocks. Thea sighed. Unfortunately her finances were stretched so thin she knew she wouldn't be able to escape the guilt if she lashed out on a night out. Her rainy day fund was looking alarmingly empty after her sudden relocation from Boston the last time that her enemies had caught up with her. She still bore the scars of that particular mad get away.

Thea grimaced. Life sometimes sucked.

Crossing the street casually to avoid some of the larger crowds, she couldn't help but smile slightly as the familiar sounds of the New York City subway as it coasted overhead. It was amazing how the noise of such a large city could be comforting rather than intimidating. It was nice and easy to hide in a big city. Thea was pretty sure she had held the crown for being the queen of hide-and-go-seek for over ten years.

As she headed for home, she waved at those locals that she had come to know while living in Brooklyn. Sure, most of them were the Italian or Chinese owners of restaurants but what could she say? She was a sucker for pasta and dumplings.

Leaving the bustling hub of 86th street she cut down the side streets, the clamouring noise and lights of the busy street slowly receding the further she moved into the residential areas. A hot shower and warm bed waited at her small, probably illegally built dungeon of a room at one of the many apartment blocks in Brooklyn. She slipped down the back of her building, headed for the small door at the back of the building. While a far cry from the American dream home with a white picket fence, the small flat had a clean bed and hot water. Not much more a girl on the run could ask for really.

Fifteen minuets later as steam hung lazily in the air from an indulgent shower, Thea sagged onto the sofa, hot cocoa in hand. She glanced at the clock to see that it was pushing midnight. She really needed to sort out her sleeping schedule. She sighed with pleasure as she took a sip of her cocoa, the hot liquid sliding smoothly over her tongue as the sugary brew brought a warm smile to her face. It was the small indulgences she savored. Thea went to take another sip, and that was when her phone began to blare and everything went to hell.

…

Jag's eyes narrowed as he watched Thea Nelsen's progress down the street. She seemed remarkably carefree and happy for someone running from the Council, even if she had clearly gotten very good at covering her tracks. If it hadn't been for a timely update on their facial recognition software from Vanderale, it could have taken a lot longer than three days to locate her. Ghost Team had been shadowing her since she had exited the apartment building that morning. Jag watched as she pivoted to greet another person as she walked with an unconscious grace down the street, her face lighting up as she broke into a smile. Did she not realize that there were two Coyotes shadowing her?

"Move the car up Lobo, be ready to move." Jag murmured into his mouthpiece, as he peeled himself from the shadows, stepping into the throng that made its way down the sidewalk as Thea began to be swallowed by the darkness of the side streets.

Jag watched as Thea reached her apartment building, slipping down the side of the building to enter a door at the rear. Loki, the ruthless assassin and whom Jag supposed he would call his best friend came up beside him.

"What's the plan?" Loki asked he casually played with a knife. Jag gave a non committal shrug, as he adjusted his comm link.

"Have we got a fix on which is her residence yet Lawe?".

"Nah, to many sources of heat, damned apartment blocks." Lawe responded in disgust. Jag dragged a hand down his face as he checked his watch. Decisions had to be made. Thea's choice city threw up many obstacles. Did Ghost Team risk extraction before the Coyotes had revealed themselves, or should they wait and use Thea as bait and hope that if things went to hell they could contain it long enough for everyone to get away? He growled, he had been trained to lead, be ruthless and make the tough decisions. But damned if it wasn't just plain inconvenient sometimes.

"They're moving" the gruff voice of Lobo filtered into his earpiece, the enforcer sounding ever so slightly surprised. Jag cursed. He hadn't thought that the Coyotes would be willing to take the extra risk and move on the girl straight away. It was always better to attack prey when their guard was down. When they were relaxed in familiar surrounds. His drew his gun, flicking off the safety.

"Loki with me. Angel containment. Lobo, you and Rule be bloody ready to move when this shit gets ugly. What is the status on our evac Lawe?"

"Heli-jet ready for evac Jersey side."

Jag's frown deepened. Who didn't love a high-pressure evac in one of the world's busiest cities? What was a few New York City blocks during a potential high speed chase?

….

There had been far too many occasions such as the one she found herself in now for Thea to be happy with. There had been a myriad of instances when her phone had blared warning at her unexpectedly from a blocked number. Through various trials and tribulations she had learned to never hesitate or question the warning, just grab her things and run. This was the least amount of warning her guardian angel had ever given her. What was he thinking? She was only half way out of the small window, wiggling her bottom to get through and wondering where the extra pounds had come from when she heard the front door slam open. A scared yelp escaped Thea as she felt a strong pair of hands grip her ankles and wrench her back into the room. Thea twisted as she hit the floor, the wind being knocked from her as she hit the tiles. Not stopping to care, she kicked out with both feet avoiding any fancy tricks and going straight for crotch of the tall man looming over her. She managed only a glancing blow, but it was enough to make him grunt and give her enough time to scramble back and dive over the bed to put some space between her and the intruder. Already the blood was pounding in her ears, her heart racing a mile a minuet, it felt like it was about to leap right out of her chest. She whirled to face her attacker.

Her stood casually on the other side of her bed, a six-foot wall of solid muscle, a smirk on his face as he regarded her. His casual dress of jeans and dark jacket didn't fool Thea for a moment, she could clearly see he was concealing weapons. It looked like he had a small armoury hidden beneath his clothes. His companion who was occupying her broken doorway was no less imposing, although the shaggy school-boy cut of his brown hair ruined the elite killer look he was obviously aiming for ever so slightly.

"Didn't your mamma ever tell you it was polite to knock?" Thea accused, desperate to buy time as her mind raced to figure out how to get herself out of the predicament she found herself in.

"And two of you! Well that just isn't very fair is it! How about giving a girl a fighting chance?"

The man closest to her chuckled as the School Boy grinned,

"I'll sight back and watch darlin'".

"Yea, he's always been a bit of a voyeur." It was clearly an inside joke between the two, and as they flashed knowing smiles at each other it was then that Thea caught sight of their canines. Her heart sank; they were Breed. She really was pretty far up the creek with no paddle this time.

"They didn't really tell us what a little morsel we would be picking up." Drawled School Boy, "You might have to make Bone over there feel a bit better for aiming at his man jewels."

Thea sniffed in disdain. "I thought you Breeds were all meant to be like super army soldier guys, clearly the news reports have been exaggerating as usual if a little kick slows you down so much."

Inside Thea's brain was yelling at her mouth to shut up and be quiet, but it really seemed to have a mind of its own. What better way to get out of a deadly situation than to be glib?

"Super army soldier guys huh?" Bone snorted, "I'll have to remember that one." Thea slid along the wall trying to put more distance between them as her hand searched desperately behind her for some sort of weapon. Did a book count?

Bone's smirk grew into a dangerous grin as his keen eyes watched her every move.

"We don't really like playing fair" was all he drawled before making the lunge across the bed.

…

Jag's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of fighting before he and Loki had actually located the exact apartment. With so many smells piled on top of each other it made it hard to trace Thea's tantalizing scent.

"It must be a granny flat down the back", Loki muttered into his mouthpiece as Jag gave a stiff nod in agreement.

They slunk down the narrow passage Thea had used, the smell of Coyote drifting towards them on the breeze. Jag and Loki didn't need to share anything more than a look as they both readjusted their weapons. The pair worked well together, and now only had to find a way to subdue two Coyotes in a small confined space with as little fan fare as possible with a civilian liability. Jag's adrenalin kicked into overdrive as years of training took over. The endorphin rush was a blessing, he was beginning to notice more frequently that it was the only time he really felt that he was alive. The only time he really felt something was when he was putting everything on the line for the Breed cause.

"Go," he whispered into his mouthpiece.

…

Thea did her best to twist out of the way of her attacker as he lunged. Sure, she was no Bruce Lee, but karate classes over the years for self-defence had at least provided her with some form of life preservation skills. The only weapon she had been able to grasp was a lamp, which she swung with all her force at his head. The light bulb shattered with a satisfying tinkle and a curse from the Breed.

"No more games girly". He growled, as his arm shot out, grabbing her in a vice like grip as he picked her up and hurled her at the wall. As she had been taught, she went limp as she hit, but her head still cracked violently against the wall, bright lights flashing in her head as she crumpled to the ground. Before she could rise he was on her again, grabbing a fistful of her hair as he wrenched her off the ground.

"You mean we were playing the whole time?" Thea panted as she stared angrily into his eyes. This time he didn't grin as his hand wrapped around her throat and he lent in close.

"Our orders were not to harm you in any way," he growled softly in her ear, "but they did permit us reasonable force to make sure you came along."

"Well, I'm glad we cleared that up." Thea said as she slammed the discarded pen she had picked up off the floor into his thigh. Thea had hoped he would release her, but all he did was growl low in his chest as he tightened the grip on her throat. Sweat broke out on her brow as her heart began to race even more wildly in her chest as she struggled to remain calm as she fought to breath.

"Wrong move little girl" Bone growled as he slapped her across the face. Thea couldn't contain a cry as pain exploded along the side of her face and the copper tang of blood filled her mouth. He grabbed her again,

"Crusher, catch" he called as he tossed her to the other Coyote.

Jag rapidly assessed the situation as he and Loki eased through the broken door. Stupid Coyotes, they were so absorbed in their little play that hadn't even noticed their arrival. From the corner of his eye he saw Loki grin. The man really was insane.

"Aww, isn't that cute", Loki drawled as Crusher grabbed Thea as Bone finally noticed their arrival.

"Bone and Crusher. Did you boys come up with that all by yourself when they released your sorry asses from the labs?" The sickly sweet patronizing tone used even made Thea's stomach turn. Crusher let out a vile curse as he quickly jumped away from the door, dragging Thea with him and using her as a shield as he confronted Jag and Loki.

"Not very imaginative at all" Jag chimed in lazily. Thea tried to squirm from Crusher's grip as he drew his gun and placed it against her temple. Already her vision was dimming courtesy of the black eye Bone had given her, but the two ruthless men that stood on her threshold looked like angles to her. Especially if they really were on her side and were going to lend a hand at getting rid of the two Coyotes.

"Filthy felines, go find another toy to play with." Bone spat as he drew a pistol from his waistband and levelled it at Jag. Loki hit him square in the jugular with a tranquilliser before he had even taken aim before quickly hitting Crusher as well. Thea hadn't even had time to blink. Both men collapsed to the floor within a heartbeat. Thea breathed out a weak curse as Crusher dragged her to the floor, his dead weight falling on top of her.

"Jeez Loki, have a little care." Jag growled as he heaved the Coyote of the girl.

Thea tried to focus her gaze on the man as he gently helped her off the floor as her vision swam. It was a pair of captivating dark eyes that held her attention as she slipped into oblivion.

"God Jag, look what you've done now, she's passed out." Loki chastised as he stooped to retrieve the weapons from the Coyotes as Jag glared at him. He brushed aside Thea's hair as he checked her pulse. He had the sudden urge to lick the velvet smooth skin at her throat. With a shake of his head he ordered the rest of Ghost Team to move in and finish the extraction. Time was of the essence. Jag could hear movement in the apartments closest to Thea's, they needed to get the hell out of New York. His senses were on high alert. He couldn't shake the feeling that getting to the girl had been too easy. Why send only two Coyotes after such a potential juicy target?

"Shut up Loki," he growled, not his finest come back, but hey, he had a lot on his mind.

"Lawe get that car close, Angle, Loco and Rule get your butts in here and clean everything out, we move in three." Jag turned to Loki as he gathered Thea gently in his arms,

"Make sure those Coyotes are secure, Jonas has some questions for them." Jag breezed through the door as Angel and Rule moved in to gather Thea's personal items and their unwilling guests. Lawe had the Land Rover ready to go on the street. He reached over to throw open the back passenger door as Jag reached the car, bundling Thea into the car and clipping on her seat belt.

"Geeze man, did the sight of your face make her pass out?" Lawe joked as he jumped out of the car to help. Jag gave him a blank stare as the man chuckled.

"You need to find your sense of humour buddy." Jag growled and the agitating man. Rule, Angel, Lobo and Loki hurried back to the car, quickly throwing Thea's gear into the trunk before Angel and Loki dragged the two unconscious Coyotes to their second car and unceremoniously dumped them in the truck.

The engine roared to life as Lawe kicked the car into gear and Jag made himself comfortable in the seat next to Thea. As they pulled away from the kerb to join the rush of city traffic, Jag only felt his uneasiness grow, something wasn't right.

To all the lovely readers who reviewed/liked – thank you! And I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I've been working six days a week for the last few months and have had trouble finding a minuet to write! Good news is, I've regained some more sensible working hours, and am looking forward to really having a good crack at this story. I hope you enjoy the next update!

Happy reading. Cowlt.