Two days later
Monday
Milwaukee
Safehouse T
"Come on, you two!" I called to Megan and Curtis.
"I'm tired!" Megan moaned.
"We all are; but that's part of the price of being a vigilante!"
"Fucking heartless bitch!" Curtis muttered.
"That's why you love me!" I laughed.
..._...
After breakfast, the kids had woken up and they were ready to get to work! The plan for the day was to continue surveillance, as we had been doing since Saturday. We had identified another property that seemed to be tied to Montfort; so we intended to go have a look.
The building had a large sign over the door: 'Montfort Industries'. The main section of the facility was a large warehouse, with smaller blocks for offices attached on one side. We drove past it a few times on all sides to get some good photos and video. Again, Natasha, Cameron, Curtis and Megan wandered around the area pretending to be tourists. They tried to gain access to the building, looking for a bathroom, but were turned away by men that seemed to be armed and definitely knew their business.
The building backed onto a residential area and seemed very innocent. However, we knew that Montfort had a darker side to his organisation and was linked to other shady characters. We were going to identify all if his dirty secrets and expose him and then most probably kill him!
..._...
"Well done guys!" I said when the 'tourists' finally returned to Safehouse T.
We spent the rest of the afternoon going through the information obtained, so that we could plan our in depth covert reconnaissance planned for tonight. I sent Megan and Curtis to get some sleep, ready for further work tonight. Megan and Curtis would be crucial – we would use them for distraction purposes, while Chloe and I checked the building out. The twins would be assisting Marty with the overwatch in Lucille.
That night
Safehouse T
I awoke the two kids and we all geared up.
Once Megan and Curtis were kitted out in their costumes and body armour, Chloe and I double checked each kid to ensure that they were correctly dressed and equipped.
"Look at me, both of you!" I said and sat down across from them. "We are going into harm's way – primarily Shadow and myself. Now: you – will – not – take – any – goddamn – risks; playtime is over, kids!"
"We understand, Hit Girl!" Trojan replied.
"We'll do our best!" Wildcat said.
"That's all I ask!"
Montfort Industries
We parked up the Jeep SUV behind a nearby commercial unit.
"You two stay here and chat, or do whatever you guys do when you're on your own!" I said.
"We do not get up to any of that disgusting crap Shadow and Jackal get up to!" Megan growled back.
I laughed and Shadow's posture showed she was annoyed!
"Battle Guy, Shadow and Hit Girl are checking out the area before moving in!" I called.
"Copy that!" Battle Guy answered.
..._...
Shadow and I kept to the shadows, which was relatively easy due to the relatively poor street lighting and a rail track that ran beside the street. The vehicle entrance to the building was a four-foot tall barrier that would slide open as required and was currently closed. I headed round the street corner and looked towards the office entrance – the street was clear.
Wildcat was stationed, with Trojan, in bushes and deep in shadow across from where the building's security team operated in the main office block. If required, they would provide distractions or other help as required. Battle Guy and the twins were in Lucille a couple of blocks over. We had various wireless cameras providing surveillance of the surrounding streets and alleyways. Hopefully, we wouldn't be surprised by anybody new arriving! Our entry would be stealthy and over the roof. Battle Guy had identified an AC vent on the roof, which would allow us access into the warehouse portion of the facility.
I dropped through the AC vent first and Hit Girl followed.
We slid down a support beam and then down a column. We were in a large open area with various computer-controlled metal-working machines and some curtained off sections. The lights were off, so we lowered our NVGs into place and started searching the warehouse, moving towards the office spaces and a raised office near the end of the warehouse.
..._...
We had been there fifteen minutes, without finding anything useful, but we had found the building's IT network and plugged in a special box that Battle Guy had provided, so while we were searching inside the building – Battle Guy would be reading their computer data!
..._...
Next came the raised office – Hit Girl went up the wooden stairs first, while I covered her with my silenced FN Five-seveN. At the top of the stairs was a locked wooden door, which Hit Girl proceeded to open with her lock picks – a skill that I had yet to learn!
Inside was a large desk with three very large computer monitors on it. We also had a very good view of the entire warehouse. This seemed to be the main security centre for the facility – but was obviously not used at night. The monitors showed images of cameras all over the facility, but strangely there were no cameras covering the interior of the warehouse. Something went on in this warehouse that required a visual security check, but was dodgy enough to not require a digital record of what went on.
It was time to move on.
"Battle Guy, Hit Girl and Shadow are moving into the main offices."
"Copy!"
"Trojan, report!" Hit Girl called.
"Trojan is go!"
"Wildcat, report!"
"Wildcat is go!"
At least the two kids were still safe and I was pleased that Hit Girl still had them on her mind. The next area would be more difficult, as that was where the security was.
..._...
Forty minutes later, the job was done and still no alarm had been raised. No 'smoking gun' had been found, but then we hadn't really expected anything, as these people were usually careful. We hoped that Marty may have found something in the computer data, though.
Now it was time to get out of here! Although, there was now a problem with that little idea. As we moved to go back into the warehouse, it seemed that four of the security men had wandered into the warehouse, cutting off our escape in that direction. There were also another four men at the main entrance, which stopped us exiting that way.
Hit Girl and I finally found ourselves in an inside office, with two security men in the corridor outside!
Shadow and I were stuck and we couldn't move until the damn security men moved on.
"Fusion, Shadow and Hit Girl are stuck!"
"Acknowledged!" Battle Guy reported.
There was a pause then a response from an unexpected source.
"Hit Girl – this is Trojan – we, err, we can run interference!"
I looked at Shadow and she nodded.
"Affirmative! Stay safe, guys – no risks!" I responded, feeling uneasy – but we had no choice. "Standby to move, Shadow."
Wildcat and I shot out of cover and ran over towards the building.
There were two large SUVs parked beside where the security men were located. As Wildcat kept watch, I pulled a knife, with a six-inch blade, off of my belt and then I started stabbing the tyres of the SUVs. Next I took a deep breath, before calling Hit Girl.
"Hit Girl, Trojan – standby to move!"
I reversed the knife and started smashing the SUV windows and car alarms started sounding. This caused a door to fly open and about half a dozen men appeared and I hid behind some bushes beside a mini electricity sub-station.
"Fucking kids – look: tyres and windows..." One of the men said.
"Hit Girl, Shadow – move your fucking asses, now!" Wildcat called.
"Are you guys fucking stupid?" Another man said, coming out of the building. "It's a fucking distraction, you idle idiots!"
"There!" A man called, as he aimed a pistol at Wildcat, who had just run back across the street and deeper into shadow.
"Hey!" I called and bolted out of cover and down the street. This attracted attention away from Wildcat and I felt bullets whizzing past me as I ran.
"After them!" The man in charge yelled.
I had heard the shooting and had heard Trojan over the open comms.
"Shadow, we need to move!"
"I'm on it!" Shadow responded, as we ran down the warehouse and climbed up to the roof. The shooting was louder, once we were out and I ran towards the end of the warehouse. I was just in time to see Wildcat running towards the rail tracks, when I saw a man appear and aim his pistol. Wildcat turned to check behind her, just as the man fired.
The bullet hit Wildcat and I saw the girl fly backwards, she twisted in the air and landed a few feet away, on her side. The bullet had impacted almost dead centre, but just a little towards Wildcat's left hand side. I fired three rounds from the Glock 30 that I had selected for this trip and the .45 calibre rounds lifted the man off of his feet and he flew backwards and onto the street and didn't get up. I jumped down from the roof and rolled on to the grass strip beside the warehouse, coming up and dropping the next two men coming down the street.
Shadow dropped and rolled just behind me and dropped the next two men, sending the rest scurrying back into the building. So much for covert! I saw Trojan run over to Wildcat and go down on his knees beside her. I ran towards them, while Shadow covered us.
"You all right?" I heard Trojan ask Wildcat, in a worried voice.
"Of course I fucking am; I'm not a fucking pussy like you!" Wildcat responded as Trojan pulled her back to her feet.
I had to laugh.
"Sorry – I just care about you is all!"
"Not the time for making out, you two!" I cautioned.
"Yuck!" Trojan commented.
"Hey! I am kissable, you know!" Wildcat retorted.
"Both of you, get to the damn SUV!" I ordered.
Safehouse T
Megan eased off her vest, with a little help from Curtis and she rubbed her chest with a grimace.
"You're lucky you don't have any tits!" Chloe announced. "Bullets and tits don't go together!"
Megan looked appalled at that comment and Curtis actually blushed slightly. Chloe and I checked Megan over for any other injuries, but thankfully there were nothing more than a few bruises.
"I can help rub it better if you want!" Curtis suggested hopefully, with a grin.
"You can keep your fucking hands to yourself, if you want to keep them intact!" Megan answered.
"You have a lot to learn about girls, kid!" Chloe commented with a laugh and patted Curtis on the back.
"Thanks Curtis! That was a damn good idea of yours to distract the security guards – otherwise we might have had to fight our way out of there!" I said – feeling guilty about Megan.
..._...
Milwaukee had been a success – just! But we were on borrowed time and the enemy knew we were in the City, so at eight o'clock the following morning we packed up and drove back to Chicago.
Later that morning
Chicago
Safehouse F
"I am so sorry Paige; I never meant for Megan to be in danger, I -"
"Mindy, shut up!" Paige said.
"I shouldn't have had them -"
The sound of a painful slap echoed around the Safehouse.
Damn - Paige had just slapped Mindy! Mindy just stood there with a hand against her rather pink cheek and she looked shocked. Then after a few seconds she finally spoke.
"What the fuck did you do that for?" Mindy asked angrily.
"To bring a silly girl to her senses!" Paige replied, with a smile.
"What? I'm confused..."
"Mindy - Megan is fine; I let her go out there – not you. It was thanks to you, though, that she survived, uninjured," Paige explained.
"I only got a sore tit!" Megan added.
"You haven't got any tits!" Curtis said and received a punch on his arm from Megan, which had him holding his arm tight and grimacing with the pain.
"That vest stopped the bullet, simple as that!" Paige continued, looking at Mindy. "Now shut up, Hit Girl, if you know what's good for you, or you'll get another slap!"
"Okay!" Mindy accepted. "I know when to quit!"
"Bullshit!" Dave quipped, with a chuckle.
"Oh, ha fucking ha!" Mindy growled, massaging her bruised cheek and ego.
The following day
Wednesday
West Ridge
Marty had spent all yesterday afternoon and into the evening going through the computer data that we had obtained. Abby had helped him as much as possible and between them they were making good progress towards finding 'the other guy'.
Megan had come over this morning and I still felt guilty for her getting shot. Yes, Cathy had checked every inch of Megan's body and not found anything more than a few bruises – no broken bones, nothing. But I still felt guilty, despite what Paige had said – I had allowed a ten year-old girl to get shot! Megan had given me a big hug and thanked me for protecting her and I was at a genuine loss for words as I had put her into danger in the first place!
"For fuck's sake Mindy – it was not your fucking fault – snap out of it! Or do I have to slap it outta ya?" Megan growled.
I couldn't stop myself laughing!
"Thanks Megan – I'm fine! Let's go see if Marty's found anything!"
Safehouse F
"Hi!"
"Hi Dave!" Megan called.
"You okay, Hit Girl?" Dave asked, with a grin.
"I am now, thanks to my little Megan!"
"I've told you before: less of the fucking 'little'!"
It was just then that I heard a shout from the Command Centre; so Dave, Megan and I went in to find a very excited pair of geeks!
..._...
"Found the other bastard!" Marty said.
"Montfort has a brother-in-law and he seems to be in the same criminal business!" Abby added.
"Well, do I have to wait for it?" I demanded.
"William Tait – he spends most of his time here, in Chicago and he's in the City now!" Marty finished.
"Well done!" I said.
"Worth getting shot for!" Megan added.
The asshole that we were after lived on a boat – when he was in Chicago.
In this case he had a multi-million dollar palace, which was currently moored at Burnham Harbor and she was called the 'Trinidad'.
I was going to end this – before anybody else was injured or killed.
..._...
That evening, Dave and I drove up to Burnham Harbor. We parked in the main car park and took an innocent walk along the waterfront. There in front of us was the target – I had to admit that she was beautiful.
The 'Trinidad' was over one-hundred and twenty feet in length and displaced two-hundred tonnes. Marty had obtained the specifications from Feretti, the Italian builder of the giant vessel. The vessel had over four decks and would be a nightmare to assault. But that was what Hit Girl did; she overcame and overpowered.
I had noticed that there was good armed security around the vessel. None of it was overt and only a skilled eye would notice the armed guards and automatic weapons. One problem, was the other vessels moored around the giant yacht. I could not allow collateral damage and I was certain that the men guarding the yacht would not give a toss about who else was in their line of fire. Also the vessel was moored down near the end of a long, narrow jetty, which would make a stealthy advance all but impossible; they would see us coming and cut us down!
..._...
"He thinks that he's fucking safe, but he's not… At least not from me!"
"You want to use the 'Vigilante'?" Dave asked, but he didn't mean it as a question.
"Why the hell not!"