Friday, February 28 - Airplane, JFK to MIA, United States

Ella would have been more awed by being a private jet if it wasn’t for Charlie. Charlie, who had apparently leveraged her fathers fractional jet share 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 has 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 Adras 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?”

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 she lost herself in the exiting crowd.

“Tauthe, Etana. Try and find and keep an eye on those guys. Charlie, Abrah. 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 got to the betting desk but didn’t see Davcina there. Tauthe ran up to them.

“The guys grabbed Davcina and took her. Etana is following them and will call back with their location.”

Tauthe pulled out the phone she had been given. “Let’s go to the local safehouse and see what is up.”

“Safehouse? What is going on. Can’t we call 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 Abra 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 lookout or something. Get rid of the drivers but we need transport. And let’s call the police too. Tauthe you saw it so you stay here and file that report.”

Tauthe tried to protest, but Ella was insistent. If they could get more eyes looking it was worth it.

Abra stood up after browsing on his phone, “There is a safehouse not too far. Let’s go and see what gear we can find. I am going to report into Bahu while we go.”

“Charlie, can you go rent us some vehicles? Something relatively anonymous? Abra, I’ll get a ride to the safehouse now and then text where to bring the vehicles.”

Ella suddenly felt a bit shy, “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 large SUV pulled up and they piled in and headed out. Charlie and Abrah got a ride to the airport car rental to pick up some cars.

The safehouse was just east in Model City. The Uber driver took extra money not to cancel the fare when he found out the destination.

They pulled up to a graffiti sprayed building under the highway. As they got out of the car they heard yelling voices and saw flashing lights of police. They walked over to the building and keyed in through the lock. Behind it was a mostly empty, dilapidated room. Abrah took his phone and dialed a number. All of a sudden a door hidden behind the Formica panelled walls clicked open.

Inside were metal bunk beds, a rack of clothes of various types, another rack of tactical gear, and lots of guns.

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 and he stole a car to keep following them.”

“Ok. Grab gear for the others including Charlie. Everyone grab a power bar from over there and chow it.”

Adra looked at her, “how are you so calm?”

“I’m not. But this isn’t the first time shit has gone down. Keep moving, think later.”

They girded up: Ella strapped on a vest. There was a row of boots that smelled of sanitizer, and she went through to find a pair that fit.

She started piling more gear in the middle for the others and then they waited.

Waiting was the tough part. Ella started systematically going through the gear. Bulletproof vests with plate carriers. Binoculars. Night vision goggles - she had no idea how to use those but figured it out.

Her phone chimed. “Charlie has a large Suburban. She is at the casino, Tauthe is filing the police report saying she saw some woman pulled into a car after winning a bet.”

Ella hissed a bit, “If they think this is a robbery, then they won’t probably go looking too far afield.”

More waiting. Ella found some shoe polish and started darkening 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 gear to them immediately. They carried it to the large SUV parked outside and throwing it in back. Adra and Ella both stood outside openly armed to the teeth to deter opportunists.

Once the gear was thrown 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?”

“They are 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 back, eat an energy bar and drink some water.”

They pulled up a block away and spilled out of the car. Each of them checked their gear. Ella hadn’t handled an M4 before and left her clip out while she stood there and got a feel for the balance. The handgun was a Glock 34, ubiquitous. Action on both was smooth.

The street lights put shadows over the dilapidated stucco buildings, everything was desaturated. Ella felt her senses focus, 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 waved above them, 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 enemies, 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 the keeping their guns?” Asked Adra.

“You mean holding them? No. The woman had a holster but the other ones had them tucked in their pants or something.”

“Okay. So they don’t sound like professionals. Why did they grab Davcina? Why bring her so far away?” Adra mused.

“We don’t know.”

Ella thought about it 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.” But she wondered if she was lying.

They slowly moved from yard to yard until they found an area of the street where the light was out and crossed it hunched over.

Then they went back over hedges and wood fences until they were one yard from the house.

Ella took position behind a concrete planter which she looked at with a sense of deja vu. Adra and Etana slinked over the fence and took positions in 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 another person digging through the refrigerator looking for food. She set her stance and sighted down the rifle. “I see mine but currently blocked.” 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, the only one on the side of the house watched as Tauthe grabbed a pizza box from the 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 read to shoot.” Tauthe replied and then reached out and rang the doorbell again.

“Milano’s Pizza” she cried out. “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 and Etana and Adra grabbed the chair and Davcina and dragged her out. Ella kept her gun pointed in the room and started shooting when she saw some movement. It was the woman who dove behind a couch. Ella kept peppering the couch with bullets.

Her gun ran empty, and Ella kept pulling the trigger for a moment. The woman calmly appeared on top, steadied her aimc and shot Adra on the shoulder.

Ella quickly dropped and began fumbling a reload. Etana had cut Davcina loose and they ran to the side. Davcina stumbling.

The woman tried to take another bead on Adra who was crawling to cover leaving a copious blood treatment visible in the dark. 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 her hand. Ella stood trembling, having managed to reload and shoot in time.

Etana yelled at her, the 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 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. Let’s go.” And then Davcina gave a vicious kick to the woman on her knees, knocking over. “I’ll feast on your organs you bitch!”

The woman rolled over onto her back, “Aqramuabelu! 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 a seat. And piled in and Charlie took off.

“Fuck… that was wild!” yelled Charlie.