We make the journey in the SUV, none of us really saying anything. We all have something to gain from this little outing. Tanner needs an outlet to blow off steam for Blair, me the obvious, and Noah hasn’t gotten his hands dirty in a while. I know he’s itching to get his groove back. He can be more lethal than any of us when he’s in a mood. Which he seems to be in one right now.

“What’s up your ass?” I ask Noah who’s driving slightly erratically.

“Nothing.” His clipped harsh tone tells me something’s definitely wrong.

“Noah!”

“I mean what the fuck are those bikers doing hitting on Molly anyway?” he bursts out and I raise my eyebrow in surprise.

“She’s hot as fuck, Noah… and single… and a freaking wildcat. Of course, they’re gonna try and tap that,” Tanner replies.

Noah grunts turning harshly around a corner so forcefully the tires screech.

“Hey… calm the fuck down! We’re trying to be inconspicuous here, douche,” I yell at him while he grips the steering wheel harder and nods with a huff.

“Sorry… just on edge. I need a release, Kace. Let me bang this guy up a little, yeah?” he asks and I let out a negligible chuckle.

“We might be able to get through this by simply talking to him.”

Tanner lets out a laugh while Noah shakes his head. “You think an informant of the Syndicate is gonna be happy to just have a little chat with us? Kace, you’re going soft, old man,” Noah teases.

“Enough of the old. And no, I doubt it will go down that way, but we have to try it that way first.”

Noah grunts and Tanner lets out a bemused laugh. “Lily’s getting to you, Kace. Don’t let her softness effect you when you need to be Kace fucking Colt. Sure, be a pussy when you’re around her, but when you’re on the team we need the leader of the SO7… not this guy…” She waves her hands around. “We need the guy who took out eight of the Hillana men in Baghdad when the rest of us were under fire. We need the guy who snapped the neck of the Israeli guards while they slept, so we could sneak in and gather the Intel to stop the assassination of the Princess. We need the guy who’s so fixated on taking down his own mother that he would take her out to save the woman he loves. We need that guy. We need Kace Colt... remember him?” Tanner asks, and my chest tightens as I think back to those days.

I think of the Hillana men, but were they really the bad guys? Or were they just naive and my mother sent me to kill the innocents to protect the evil? Same with the Israeli guards, I killed them all, but the Princess died two weeks later, more than likely from the intel we stole.

Everything I’ve done in the past is a lie.

Kace fucking Colt is a lie!

That guy? That hero? He’s nothing but a murderer. Killing innocent civilians.

But right now we’re heading into the den of a truly evil person. We know Jimmy works for the wrong side. The Syndicate are not the good guys, not at all. This time if things go bad, his blood won’t be innocent. This time the kill will be worth something. Maybe my name can start a fresh, maybe with Jimmy Lowe, the name Kace Colt can stand for something bigger, something better. A world where fighting for the truth, fighting for honor, is above all else.

Well, for tonight, right here, the name Kace Colt is liberated and means something new. No longer will it be tarnished by the deaths of the innocent. No, the only blood spilled now will be that of pure evil. No more innocents die by my hands. I’m liberated and tonight is the beginning of a new me.

We pull down the street knowing Jimmy’s house is right at the end. Noah pulls the SUV to a stop and we all slide out onto the street that’s lined with a park and is opposite the housing estate. There’s a collection of bushes lining the path along this side of the street, so we can be covered as we make our way up to Jimmy’s house. It unsettles me that we’re in the middle of suburbia and that in the house I’m staring at right now, kid’s bikes litter the yard. It’s a friendly neighborhood and what I hadn’t planned for is that Jimmy could be home with a family.

Noah looks to me and then in the direction I’m looking and huffs. “You thinking he has a family with him?” he whispers as he pulls his bag of tricks from the back of the SUV and we wander into the bushes.

“I fucking hope not. Not sure if I’m prepared for that.”

“I’ll deal with the wife and kids if they’re there,” Tanner says and I nod. Tanner is a hard ass but she wouldn’t hurt innocent women or children. She’ll just take them somewhere where they won’t see the carnage we’re going to wreak.

We all pull our balaclavas down and stealthily move through the bushes toward the end of the street. Jimmy’s house comes into view. It looks modern and well-kept just like all the others. No kids toys in the yard, which is a good sign, but we still can’t discount the possibility.

I signal for the others to head forward. We duck down and rush forward hiding in the shadows, avoiding the street lights as we dart across the road into the bushes that line his fence. I raise my hand into a fist and we all stop running pulling up into the drive of his home as the front porch lights up. We’re far enough around the side of the house that we’re shrouded in darkness, but I don’t want to take any risks.

I raise my right hand to point my finger, circle it and turn my hand showing the back of it saying circle round the back. They both nod as we all race around the house keeping to the bushes. We run out and move along the porch ducking along the wooden paneling for shelter. I need to go and scope the place, see what we’re in for. So I signal hold for the others to wait for me as I slowly step out from behind the porch and make my way quietly up the back stairs. The wood creaks beneath my heavy feet, but I move slowly as I step up and into the back veranda area. There’s a rickety old table, the wood splintering off like it’s been well worn, or has been eaten away by the weather. I’m not sure. But it’s what’s on top of the table that confuses me.

Bunsen burners, test tubes, mortar and pestles, tongs, safety goggles, emulsifying flasks and a heap of other scientific shit litter the table top. The hairs on my neck stand up immediately, and I shake my head not liking where this is headed. I tap the rail lightly twice letting them know to come up. They both slowly step up and I look to Noah who squishes his eyebrows and quickly opens his backpack pulling out three gas masks and hands them to us. We apply them immediately to our faces. It’s better to be safe than sorry. We can still hear and talk normally, it’s just now if there’s any chemical spills or gasses we should be okay.

We step up to the back door and Noah moves in with his gizmo and quickly unlocks the door. It clicks, the sounds echoing through the still calm night forcing us to stop and wait to make sure no one else heard. Once we’re in the clear we step inside the house, and even through the gas mask, a chemical odor permeates the air. As we walk into the kitchen, on the table we notice a complex laboratory system is set up.

I glance over to Noah and he’s breathing heavily as he looks to me. He knows just like I do that any wrong moves and this whole place could go up, which considering the family atmosphere of this street would definitely be a bad move.

Tanner points the tip of her rifle to a tub of water that has a substance in it that looks like blocks of chalk and I wonder what the fuck has Jimmy been cooking up in there.

Is it for the Syndicate?

Is he a drug dealer too?

I shake my head and take a deep breath wondering what the fuck we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Footsteps on the stairs startle us, and Noah darts across the room as Tanner and I back up against the wall. A light flicks on and Jimmy walks into the kitchen from the stairs yawning and rubbing his balls walking right past us. We stay where we are as Noah comes in from behind him aiming his rifle at Jimmy’s back. Jimmy stops abruptly and turns looking right at Noah and gasps.

“Ummm… fuck!” Jimmy says as Tanner and I move off the wall and dart in his direction. Jimmy audibly grits his teeth and throws his hands in the air with a low grunt. “You the cops?”

Tanner grabs his hands and pulls them down behind him. He doesn’t struggle at all letting her manhandle him.

“No,” Noah simply states.

Jimmy nods his head and exhales. “You Bruno’s gang?”

I raise my eyebrow and look to Noah. “Who’s Bruno?”

He chuckles. “My ex-brother-in-law. He’s still sick at me for killing his sister.”

I look directly in his eyes. “You killed your wife?”

“She deserved it.” He shrugs. “The bitch.”

Tanner pulls harder on his restraints making him fall to the side slightly with a chuckle. “Oh, I hope you’re a chicka, you have the body of one and I like it when they play rough,” Jimmy says.

Tanner brings her hand up and bashes him across the back of his head making it fling forward abruptly.

“Oh baby, I think I’m getting hard.”

“Enough!” I call out.

Tanner grabs and pulls him to the table, shoving him down into a chair and then slams her foot down onto his toes—hard—a definite crunch is heard. He grits his teeth and shudders while the blood pools from his clearly shattered foot. But the guy doesn’t scream out in pain, just merely smiles but it is weak.

He’s going to be a tough one to crack. Great.

“You work for the Sinclair Syndicate?” I ask looking right at him.

“What… I can’t hear you with those masks on,” he jibes.

“You can hear me just fine. Answer the question.”

He shrugs. “Never heard of them.”

I take a step closer to Jimmy. “Ares, Ezra Sinclair… doesn’t ring a bell?”

“Sound like pussies to me.” He smiles.

“I’ll be sure to tell them you said that.”

His eyes widen slightly like he’s a little scared I might actually tell them, just a hint of a tell that he knows them. That’s all I need. “So, if you don’t know the brothers then… then I guess you won’t mind if I tell them that you’re sleeping with their sister.”

He scoffs. “Ha! Tell them what you want. I don’t know them, their sister is probably dead anyway.”

I smile. “Their sister is dead. What a weird thing for someone to say if they didn’t actually know them… right?”

He smiles wide and shrugs. “So what? You’re out seeking revenge for something they did?”

“I want information.”

“Go to a library.”

I chuckle and shake my head. “The information I want you can’t find at any library. You have to go to a particular source, like a… chemist. And what have we found here?” I ask picking up a test tube. “Looks to me like you cook up chemicals. What are you to them, Jimmy? Drugs?”

He curls up his lip. “Why the hell would I tell you?”

I shrug. “I dunno, ‘cause you’re so nice and all. Or maybe the stuff in this jar might help explain a few things?” I ask picking up the jar marked ‘Willie Pete.’

Opening my eyes I take a deep breath. Willie Pete!

“Jesus Christ, Jimmy,” I say putting down the container before I hurt myself.

He smirks with a slight chuckle. “You get it now? You know what I am?”

Noah looks to me and shakes his head like he’s wondering what the hell I’ve just realized. “You’re their chemical warfare man?” I ask knowing I’ll get nothing in return.

He shrugs his shoulders slightly as Tanner and Noah distinctly gasp.

“Holy shit! The Syndicate are into chemical warfare not just general explosives?” Noah asks.

I nod pointing to the jar of Willie Pete and turning it so the label is facing Noah.

He grunts. “Fucking hell! You have white phosphorous in here. Holy shit! What else do you have? Fucking napalm? A bloody nuke? Fuck! Kace, man, this is big… too big.”

I nod and exhale wondering what the hell we’re going to do about Jimmy. He’s a chemical engineer working out of a small house in fucking suburbia. This is horrific.

“Okay, we came here to get information. We need to retrieve it and fast, this place is making me nervous,” I say.

“I’m not going to budge. You can stab me, shoot me, break my bones, do your best… I’m not telling you shit,” Jimmy says and I look to Noah who sneers.

“Well then, if those methods won’t work maybe some chemicals might,” Noah says.

Jimmy’s eyes go large and he shakes his head slightly with a frown. “What?” he asks looking frazzled for the first time. Seems the thing that keeps him in business may very well be his undoing.

“First things first, tell us how many chemical engineers the Syndicate has?” I ask.

He shakes his head hesitantly. “I won’t say.”

I look to Noah and nod. He moves to the table and grabs a pair of massive gloves and places them on his hands carefully. Jimmy looks on at Noah as his leg agitates up and down. He suddenly jumps up from the chair and tries to run, but Tanner’s on him swiftly pulling his hair and slamming him back into the seat. He groans as she pulls out ties and binds him to the chair.

Noah grabs a beaker labeled ‘Hydrochloric Acid.’ Jimmy breathes harsh and fast as Tanner smiles at him and tweaks his cheek.

“Feel like chatting now, sweetheart?” Tanner asks, but Jimmy curls up his lip at her.

“I’m going to skin you alive, then use your tits for my pillows,” he responds and she laughs.

“Oh, such a nice dream. I think Noah should start with your balls, I hear acid does wonders for shriveled old sacks,” Tanner says then punches him in the jaw. His head flies to the side as he spits out blood and Noah stands above him with the beaker. I stand back with my arms crossed waiting for him to look back at me.

His eyes finally push up and he spits out a mouthful of blood. “There’s so many of us chemical engineers you won’t be able to wipe us all out. If you keep me alive I can take you to them all,” he says and I see the desperation in his eyes.

He’s lying.

I smirk and nod to Noah who tips a few drops onto Jimmy’s crotch. It fizzes and bubbles as he squirms and groans, but it’s merely a few drops nothing spectacular, just a taste of things to come. He grunts and shakes his head in defiance.

Puffing out a breath, I wave my hand. Tanner throws her hand over Jimmy’s mouth as Noah pours a decent amount of the liquid onto Jimmy’s crotch. It bubbles and smokes and he screams out in pain while he thrashes around in Tanner’s grip. His moans of agony are muffled by her hand, but his harsh breaths are coming fierce and fast out of his nose as Noah places the now half empty glass beaker back on the table carefully, while the toxic chemical smoke rises up through the air. A faint smell permeates our masks, but the masks are doing their job.

His boxer shorts are completely eaten away at the crotch, leaving a big gaping wound where his cock has been badly damaged. Tanner looks down and chuckles as his head flops to the side and he gradually slows his thrashing. She lets his mouth go and he calms his breathing a little while looking up at me as drool slides down his chin.

“As you can see, Jimmy, we don’t mess around. So stop being a dick and talk to us.”

He closes his eyes and nods slightly. “I’m the only chemist.”

“Thank you. We need to know more.”

“Fuck off! Just get it over with.”

I move in closer to Jimmy and kneel down to his line of sight, keeping well clear of him. “Jimmy, you have a chance to do something right, something good. Help us? As your last and final deed, make it a good one.”

“You just told me I’m gonna die. Why the fuck would I do anything to help you in the process?”

“Because if you help we’ll make it quick. If you don’t…” I shrug and look at the table of chemicals.

He shakes his head. “I can’t turn my back on the Syndicate.”

“Why ever not? They’d turn their back on you in a heartbeat.”

He nods. “They would… I know… but what I’m doing, my work, it’s for a purpose. I live for something, I’m making a difference.”

I frown. “So you make a product that kills innocent people?”

He shrugs. “Just because my products are used in warfare doesn’t mean the people are innocent.”

“These weapons are used in third world countries… on families, on civilians. That’s not helping people. That’s damnation.”

“I never said I wanted to help the good people.”

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Jimmy is evil, pure evil, there’s no part of him that’s virtuous or righteous. He makes weapons to kill innocent people. I don’t know what happened to make him so cowardly inhumane, but he can’t live in this world. He can’t be kept in this world. He won’t be walking out of this siege, I will make damned sure of that. Jimmy will pay for his sins, and we will get our information one way or the other.

“Jimmy, I’m going to get straight to the point now. We want to know where the Syndicate headquarters are?”

He lets out a stifled laugh and shakes his head. “Disneyland fuckers.”

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Tanner swivels her rifle and slams the butt of it into his mangled groin. He grimaces shifting uncomfortably and his face contorts while he breathes harshly, but he doesn’t scream or grumble. His pain threshold must be sky-high. Either that or he has a really amazing self-control. I wonder briefly if he’s had some sort of services training.

“Jimmy, make this easy on yourself,” I say and he chuckles.

“Make it easy on yourselves. Give it up. The Syndicate is too well established, too accomplished in their dealings to be wiped out, or whatever it is you’re planning.”

“Just tell us where the headquarters are located and don’t worry about what we’re planning.”

“No,” he simply replies.

“You know, Jimmy, I know exactly what happens when we take out that Willie Pete and place it on your skin, crack it open, let it hit the air, and maybe stick an open flame to it. I bet you know what happens too… right?” I ask and he shakes his head ever so slightly.

“I know you… your kind. You’re the so-called righteous people, the ones trying to save the world. You wouldn’t do something that damn cruel.”

I glance at Noah and he smiles. “You don’t know the kinda shit we’ve done. Yes, we’re the good guys, but fuck have we done some baaad shit,” Noah says as he purposely walks over to the jar holding the Willie Pete.

“So in light of how we are, Jimmy, why don’t you just tell us the location of the Syndicate? And our friend Pete here won’t have to come out and play?”

He shakes his head. “You haven’t got the balls.”

I’ve seen this stuff in action. Plus, heard all about its use in the great wars. I’ve seen the pictures of the aftermath of what this shit can do. It’s nasty, and Jimmy here is in for a world of pain. “Noah, find some tongs.”

Jimmy looks at me and opens his eyes wide. “Bullshit! You’re all talk.”

“Watch me,” I reply.

Noah grabs some specialist tongs off the table and brings them and the jar over to me. Unscrewing the lid, I insert the tongs extremely carefully and grab a small portion of the white phosphorous. It’s literally like a stick of chalk which I pull very carefully out of the controlled water environment it’s currently contained within.

“Jesus Christ, do you even know what you’re doing? This shit is highly flammable. You need to take precaution, man. Just careful as shit, place that stick back in the water and no one gets hurt,” Jimmy begs, and for the first time I see him cracking.

I edge the stick closer to his bare chest while Tanner pulls him back so his chest is on full display. “The time for games is up, Jimmy. Where. Is. The. Syndicate?”

He shakes his head slightly while breathing harshly as the phosphorous begins to steam.

I sigh. “Okay, let me just place this here,” I say putting the piece on his chest. He squirms, but Tanner holds him steady as it starts to steam against his skin. “Once I crack it open it will turn yellow, and then I can light it, right?” I ask knowing full well what it will do.

Jimmy shakes his head dramatically, but I give him credit he tries hard to keep perfectly still.

“Nah man, it’s faulty. It’s a bad batch, it won’t work.”

“Oh, really, should I try… you know… just in case?” I ask edging closer. Reaching around I grab a knife from the table to crack it open.

“Wait! I’ll tell you! Just… please man, don’t crack that open.”

I stand back and nod. “Okay, where is the Syndicate based?”

He slumps his head. “On a ship. They thought if they were based in a warehouse it’d be too obvious. But a boat in a shipping yard? No one would suspect that.” His eyes close and open like it’s painful to even say the words. “They can get their shipments in and out of the port really easily and no one suspects a thing. Everything’s in cargo containers, it works flawlessly. The whole boat is their base, they work from there. I swear.”

I glance to Noah who smiles and nods. “That’s smart,” he says and I nod in agreement.

I would have never suspected, but I can see how it would work and work efficiently too. Well, we’re gonna stop it.

“What port, Jimmy?”

“Aww… c’mon man—”

“Jimmy, don’t make me light this shit up,” I demand.

He winces looking down at the phosphorous and nods. “Okay, okay, okay… it’s a boat called Lady Liberty. It’s a cargo ship on Pier 81 on the Delaware River.”

“In Philadelphia?” I ask and he nods.

“But that doesn’t make sense. If they’re in Philly, why would they have their chemical engineer thirteen hours away from them?”

“For tough guys you’re not really that smart. You wanna have highly flammable combustive elements in the same space as explosives? Yeah, that’s genius. Why didn’t I think of that? Ya dumbass,” he murmurs the last words.

It does make sense not having chemical warfare at the same location as explosives. If the chemicals reacted with the explosives it would be one hell of a mess. Having them separated is definitely the best option. The Syndicate are smart, I’ll give them that, but only having one chemist, not so much, because he’s about to be taken out by his own weaponry.

“Thank you for helping us, Jimmy. I do appreciate you being up front with us.”

He smiles and looks down at his chest. “Now if you’d be so kind as to take Pete off my chest, thanks.”

I half-smile and tilt my head. “The problem is though, Jimmy, I might be a nice guy, but I have a dark side, and right now I’m shrouded in darkness. This…” I wave my hands around, “… this lab you have set up, in suburbia no less, it’s heinous and I won’t stand for it. I won’t stand for you making weapons that will kill innocent lives.”

He furrows his brows and shakes his head. “You’re sick.”

“No, you are. Chemical warfare is a disgrace and should be left for the yesteryears. Not today. You can’t be allowed to continue this. We won’t let you.”

Tanner grabs the knife from my hand and twists the phosphorus stick open, the inside turns yellow instantly and Noah brings over a lighter.

“This is for what your Syndicate did to Blair,” Tanner says grabbing a shirt from the floor, scrunching it up and shoveling it into his mouth. He shakes his head from side to side as Noah steps forward with the lighter. The phosphorous is already starting to sizzle and pop slightly with the addition of air and Tanner stands to one side being careful to get nowhere near the substance.

“Goodbye Jimmy,” I say

He starts to thrash from side to side. I step back as Noah throws the lighter on the small chunk. It ignites, hissing and popping like a sparkler. Jimmy finally screams, but they’re muffled by the shirt in his mouth as the flames burn so hot they’re white. We watch on as it burns through his flesh, melting straight through his sternum, sizzling and melting every inch on the way down to his bone. He groans loudly, but eventually he stops writhing as the congealed blood splatters from his chest and the fire falls inside his chest cavity continuing to burn his insides.

It’s not pretty, it’s a gory, horrible death. But it’s what he deserves for the lives of the people he’s taken and the lives he would have, if we didn’t take him out. Even though I’ve stepped into a very dark place, I feel it was for a good cause. My conscious is clear on this one. But I won’t be telling Lily what happened here tonight. She won’t like this version of me. And I don’t want her to know anything about this Kace—the man in the shadows.