Alexander sat quietly in the tactical van as it made its way through the streets of Oakland. His eyes hidden behind wraparound shades, his gaze flicked from face to face of each member of his crew. Curt, his second-in-command, was as calm and focused as ever. Sam, their recon guy, looked ready to pounce on the nearest threat. And the rest of the men looked just as ready in their own ways.
And sitting amongst them was Harold Langford, the man they were escorting. A prim, well-dressed man who looked like he'd explode into a thousand shards of glass the moment he encountered danger, he was nonetheless their responsibility for the afternoon.
"Oakland,” Sam said. "It had to be Oakland."
"You got a problem with Oakland?" asked Will, one of the other members of the team. "I was born and raised here, asshole."
"Makes sense,” Sam said. "Because when I think of Oakland "asshole" is the first thing to come to mind."
"Not everyone thinks the Castro is the ideal place to live, my man,” Sam said. "Some of us don't have your tastes in, uh, hobbies."
The men laughed.
"Fuck off,” Sam said. "It's a nice neighborhood and the rent's not bad for what I got."
"Sure. I bet it's really the rent you're worried about."
Alexander allowed a small smile to pull up the corner of his mouth slightly, but otherwise, he was focused like a laser on the mission. It was good for the men to horse around before an op to blow off steam, but as the leader of the crew he didn't have that luxury. He checked his watch and saw that they were only a few minutes off from the meeting time. He shook his head, wishing that the op could be over already and that he could be back in the city, on the phone with the Langfords and letting them know that the mission was a success.
Alexander was surprised when he learned just what the trial operation for the contract entailed: all he had to do was escort Harold Langford to a warehouse in Oakland where he was set to meet with a few business owners for a little under-the-table deal concerning some property in the city. The Elders were to provide security for the operation, and make sure that Harold got home in one piece. But it was strange. The Langfords had no reason to suspect that anything would happen to a member of their clan. But he was happy to take an easy op, if that's he had to do in order to secure the contract.
And as if reading his mind, Sam spoke up.
"You guys think it's weird that we're doing such an easy op? Just sitting around on our asses and that's it?"
"It's low stakes for a reason,” Curt said. "You want to bring a merc crew on long-term, first you make sure they can handle the easy shit."
That makes some kind of sense, thought Alexander, realizing he was thinking worse-case scenario as always.
Alexander's eyes landed on Harold Langford, who sat as calm as can be with his briefcase on his lap and his hands folded on top of it. He found himself wondering just what kind of op Marcus and his crew had been sent on.
Just do this and get it over with.
But just as he managed to let his mind go blank, the image of Hannah appeared, followed by a strange warmth in his heart. He'd been trying to figure out just what to do about this situation that he found himself it. At first, he scolded himself for making a slip-up with his sexy new nanny, and figured that it was a one-time thing. But over time, he found himself having more and more of this "mistakes," to the point where he knew that he couldn't just chalk them up to moments of weakness.
With a sigh, he realized that he was developing feelings for this girl, and that he'd have to address it all soon.
But before he could give them matter more thought, the van stopped abruptly. Alexander looked out of the window and saw that they'd arrived.
"What's the plan, boss?" asked Curt.
Alexander counted off three men, including Will and Sam.
"You three take up a perimeter outside, just like we planned. Curt, you, Mike and I will post inside of the warehouse. Just stay frosty until this whole thing is done. Harold, how long you say this thing was supposed to take?"
"No more than a half-hour," he said in a voice that was just as prim as everything else about him. "And that's ‘Mr. Langford.’"
Alexander rolled his eyes behind his shades.
"Fine. Let's have this thing go nice and smooth, and we can be back in the city in an hour."
With that, he nodded and the men went off to take their positions. Alexander felt for his pistol tucked under his suit jacket. He hated going on an op in a suit like this, but the Langfords didn't like the look of heavily-armed and armored guards following them around.
Alexander entered the warehouse with Harold and the rest. At a small table in the center of the room was a trio of suited men. Harold greeted them enthusiastically and took a seat to begin the meeting.
Alexander flashed a few signs to Mike and Curt, indicating for them to make rounds in the warehouse. They nodded and went off. Alexander made a slow sweep of the place, checking to see if anything was out of sorts. He couldn't find anything, but a nagging feeling in the back of his mind was hard to shake. And he'd been in the business to know that when he got a feeling like this, he needed to trust it.
"Sam,” Alexander said into the comms built into his watch. "You see anything weird?"
"Nope, boss,” Sam said. "Why, everything okay in there?"
"Yep,” Alexander said. "Just got a feeling."
"I don't know if I like that,” Will said.
"It's probably nothing,” Alexander said. "But I don't want to take any chances."
Alexander looked over his shoulder at the group of men seated at the table. They were involved in a lively conversation, and Alexander checked his watch to see how much time had passed—only about ten minutes. He didn't know why, exactly, but he wanted to be back in the van with Harold in tow. Something just seemed off.
"Hey,” Will said through the comms. "I got some group of homeless guys hanging around here. You want me to get them off the site?"
"Yeah," Alexander. "Give ‘em a twenty and tell ‘em to shove off. I don't want anyone bumming around the operation area."
"You better be paying me back for that,” Will said.
"And leave your comms on,” Alexander said.
"You got it, boss."
Alexander took a slow, deep breath as he waited for the situation to resolve. He found himself tapping his foot on the ground as he waited to hear from Will.
"Hey,” Will said. "You guys need to scram—this area's off-limits."
Then silence.
"Here,” Will said. "Here's a twenty. Go get loaded—my treat."
Then more silence.
"Whoa, what the fuck?"
Will's voice was panicked, and Alexander's eyes went wide.
"Hey, hey!” Will said. "He's got a fuckin' gun!"
Then three bangs sounded out, and the comms went dead.
"Will?" shouted Alexander. "Will?"
No response.
"Sam, what the hell's going on out there?"
"Will's down!" came the panicked voice on the other end. "We got incoming!"
"Take cover and wait for us to back you up,” Alexander said. "And make your way to the van!"
"Roger!"
Alexander waved to Michael and Curt, who'd been listening to everything.
"I'm gonna get these fucking suits out of here,” Alexander said. "We got men down and we have to get a goddam move on. You two back up the boys outside."
The men nodded and headed out.
"Hey!” Alexander said, approaching the table of men. "We got a situation outside and I need you all to get a move on, pronto."
"What's going on?" asked Harold, fear in his voice.
"Shots fired outside,” Alexander said. "Site's been compromised. Now move."
Harold nodded and rose from his seat.
"You three, too,” Alexander said. "You're coming with us."
The men in tow, Alexander rushed to one of the exits of the warehouse. He opened the door and heard another string of shots fired.
Shit!
"What's the situation?" Alexander yelled into his comms.
"We got three masked men opening fire with automatic weapons,” Curt said. "We got ‘em pinned down for now; if you're gonna get the packages to the evac, you'd better fucking go now."
Alexander checked the way and saw that it was clear. He waved to the member of his crew at the wheel of the van for him to pull around. Moments later, the van squealed to a halt in front of Alexander and the men. He yanked opened the back door and gestured for them to get in.
"Now, now!” Alexander said. "You wanna live, then get the fuck in!"
The men looked at each other as if not sure what to do with themselves. Shaking his head in frustration, Alexander grabbed Harold by the collar and tossed him into the van. The other men, now broken out of their trance, clambered into the back of the van after him.
"No one touches a Langford like that!" said Harold, his eyes wide.
Alexander shook his head again, slammed the van doors shut, and pounded on the back of the vehicle to signal the driver to get the hell out of there. The driver gunned the engine and the van peeled off and out of the parking lot. Alexander sighed with relief as the van drove out of sight; he didn't even want to think about what would happen if a Langford died on his watch.
"Boss, we need backup, now!" shouted Curt through the comms.
Alexander focused his attention, slipping his gun out of his suit and running around the building toward the sound of gunfire. Once there, he saw his men all behind cover. About a hundred feet ahead was a trio of men in grungy clothes, all wielding automatic weapons. Alexander ran to where Curt was crouched down.
"What's the situation?" Alexander asked.
"Will's down," he said, his gun in his hands. "Don't know if he's dead or not. And these guys are amateurs; can't hit a fucking thing, not even with rifles like those."
Alexander, peeked his head up, a gunshot pinging above him on the side of the warehouse. The men were clustered behind a dumpster, and he saw that they'd be easy pickings if he could flank them.
"You guys keep the suppressing fire going,” Alexander said, "I'm gonna go around."
"Be careful, boss,” Curt said.
Alexander took another deep breath and ran to another spot of cover. Gunshots sounded all around him, most of them coming from his men. He moved from cover to cover until he found a hidden position to the left of the enemy's hiding spot.
"More suppressing fire…now!" he shouted into his comms.
Alexander watched as his men all rose and opened fire at the same time. Taking advantage of the cover, Alexander closed the distance on the three men, aiming his gun and firing as he did. Two of the men dropped within seconds, Alexander's shots hitting home. The third screamed out in pain and grabbed his leg, dropping his gun and hobbling off.
As he reached the area from where the men had been firing, Alexander came upon Will. He squatted down and checked his pulse. Alexander sighed with relief as he picked up a weak beat.
"Will's alive," he said, into his comms. "Two of the men are down, and I'm going for the last one. You guys get Will out of here pronto."
"But boss—”
Alexander cut off his comms and started his pursuit of the final assailant. He blazed around the corner and immediately caught sight of the man. The final attack struggled along at a snail's pace, a trail of blood behind him.
"Stop right there, fucker!" shouted Alexander as he cut the distance between the two of them.
The man turned, a look of panic on his grimy face. Evidently realizing that he had no chance of escape, he turned on his heels and faced down Alexander.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded Alexander. "Tell me who the fuck you're working for and I might let you live!"
But the man only chuckled.
"Not a fuckin' chance," he said. "I'm as good as dead either way. Might as well take you down with me."
Before Alexander could figure out what the man had meant, the assailant began to shift. Within seconds, he'd changed into a massive brown bear and began to stomp toward Alexander.
Fuck. He's a goddamn shifter!
Alexander raised his gun and drained the rest of his shots into the form of the bear, the beast roaring as the shots hit. But Alexander knew that a pistol wouldn't do a damn bit of good against a bear. Closing his eyes, he shifted. By the time the brown bear closed the distance, Alexander was fully shifted. Standing up on his hind legs, he caught the approaching bear by the claws and grappled him to the ground. Alexander spotted dark splotches of blood matting the brown bear's fur. But the bear still seemed to have most of his strength.
Letting out a booming roar, Alexander clamped his jaws onto the bear, sinking his teeth into his flesh. The other bear struggled for moments, swiping his paws through the air in a vain effort to break free. But soon, his strength faded and he went limp in Alexander's grip. Once Alexander was sure the bear was dead, he dropped him from his jaws and let him fall to the ground with a thud, shifting back into a human as he died.
"Holy fuck,” Curt said, now standing behind Alexander.
Alexander shifted back and turned to his second-in-command.
"Where's Will?"
"On his way out of here,” Curt said. "You okay, boss?"
"I'm fine," he said, his eyes on the dead man in front of him. "But this was a goddamn set-up, and I'm gonna figure out just who the hell was behind it."