2:25 pm
Undisclosed warehouse, New York City
Nikki looked over at Simon who was wearing a scowl on his face as he continued staring at the same spot on the side of the warehouse that he had been looking at for the last 10 minutes when she finally said,
“What’s wrong Simon?” He blinked a couple of times and brought his gaze over to Nikki and looked into her eyes for several seconds before releasing his breath and saying,
“I don’t know. I haven’t felt right since we were briefed on this mission. I don’t know what it is. I have verified for myself what we were told during the briefing, I just have this weird feeling…” He looked back into Nikki’s eyes, “It’s probably nothing.” Nikki paused for several seconds considering his words and then she said,
“Maybe it’s because Dante isn’t here with you?” Trying to snap him out of the funk he had been in since they were briefed on their current target 3 days ago. The team had been tasked with eliminating Curtis Madison, one of the most powerful men in New York and also one of the elite political power brokers in the country. Madison was rumored to have control of candidates in both political parties in DC and he had powerful connections all over the country. The team had been informed that the main source of funds Madison used to swing political favor came from the sale of illegal arms, right here in the US. He was making millions selling illegal arms to street gangs and then backing political figures who were supposed to be working to eliminate gangs and illegal arms in the country. The hypocrisy alone was enough to get Simon’s full attention, but for some reason, he also had reservations about the job.
Simon looked back at her and said, “I would love to have him on this job with us, but that isn’t it. I verified all of the intel we were given and it is all as they said it was, I just have a feeling….” His attention moved to the blacked out SUV that just pulled into the parking lot. He activated his comm unit,
“Bravo 1, do you have eyes on the SUV that just pulled in?”
“Roger Alpha, switching to thermal now…reading 4 occupants.”
Simon thought for a few seconds and then hit the comm again,
“Bravo 2, do you see anything on the north side?” A few seconds later, they heard static and then,
“Negative Alpha, every..” They heard a grunt. The doors on the warehouse opened a second later and men dressed in full tactical gear came pouring out. At the same time, the doors opened on the SUV and 4 heavily armed men exited the vehicle. As men were still streaming out of the warehouse and moving towards both sides of the building, Simon keyed his comm,
“Bravo 2, pull back, it’s a trap.” Static was all he heard in response and then the comms went dead.
Simon flung his door open, grabbed Nikki’s hand and pulled her out the door right behind him as bullets began shredding their car. The two were crawling towards the dumpster just behind the car, glass and bullets flying all around them. Once they got behind the dumpster, Simon put his shoulder into it moving it forward about 2 feet until a manhole was visible underneath. He quickly pulled the cover back and Nikki was climbing down the ladder a second later. Simon followed right behind her after securing the cover back again and pulling the pin on the grenade he had already rigged to the opening. Once they got to the bottom, Simon grabbed her hand and activated a small flashlight and they headed toward the east as fast as they could. Simon had learned long ago to always have a back up plan and a way out of any situation. His preparation had saved him more than once and he would never have Nikki with him without one. The tunnels were a virtual maze and unless their pursuers knew where they were going, they wouldn’t find them. The booby trap would also buy them valuable time to make their escape. After several turns, they came to another ladder and climbed up and found their back up vehicle waiting for them. Simon was seething as they headed back to the Farm, not knowing the status of Dead and Lee.