They’d found Danny. Beaten, tortured, half dead. Rage mottled his vision a moment. Jud took a deep breath and slipped into the mental zone where all bets were off, he’d do whatever necessary to obtain the objective. Today that was keeping The Arsenal secure.

“Uncle Jud?”

“I’m here, bud. Get Marcus to sound the signal. We need everyone secure in the mess hall before I start cleaning house.”

“Okay. He’s on it. Erm…the weird blonde is on her way up to the roof. Should I let her up there?”

Good question. Bree was a bit stranger than the average person, probably because she had so much genius and not enough brain to fit it all into. “Yeah, let her up. Is she wearing a vest?”

“She’s mummified in Flak.”

Jud chuckled as he unsheathed his knives. “How many are the drones picking up, bud?”

“Ten so far, I can probably get a couple with the drones if you want. I’ve been watching Vi and Mary fly them.”

“I need you high level, bud. You’re my eyes. Let me know where the threats are. I’ll neutralize.” He thought about the battle ahead. “It won’t be pretty, bud.”

“War never is. They’re after Quillery and Edge. They started it. You end it.”

Jud loved that kid. He settled the headgear on, giving his eyes a couple moments to adjust as data streamed by. “I don’t want it all, bud. Give me locations and counts. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Right. Is this better?” A grid of the compound appeared. A huddle of green dots in the mess hall. Red dots moved inward. A few blue dots appeared. Marcus and the others.

“That’s perfect, bud. Get Marcus and the others working to clear the ones near the Mason house and the cottages.” Jud didn’t like the idea of those bastards near where Viviana and the others slept. Where Momma Mason lived. “Keep them out of my way.”

Jud studied the other red dots, moved silently through the vacant corridors and waited. Ten operatives was an insult. First phase, the sacrificial lambs. He chuckled into the com as he headed outside and inhaled the fresh air. The scent of death would permeate it soon enough. A knife in each hand, he prowled toward the first set of red dots. The first kills would set the tone—lob the first statement over the bow for whoever watched from a distance, waited.

They’d been warned.

The two men’s attention was drawn to the drone circling overhead. He slipped behind the first and thrust a blade into his jugular. The gurgle of blood was music to the raging beast in him, the one that demanded more. He struck the second man, not bothering to catch either as they died where they stood. Too quick. Too painlessly.

“Incoming,” Jacob said. “Fuck! Get down.”

Jud ducked as a concussive boom thundered from overhead. Blue light struck outward like a ball of wicked lightning. It blasted an area toward the fence line. A feminine whoop echoed from overhead. Jesus, the woman was a certifiable loon. “I think she’s got the perimeter handled, bud. Let me know if that changes.”

“Right. Okay.”

He continued, focused on the next four red dots appearing nearby. Another set of six appeared from the same area. “Need drones over in the southwest zone. They’re coming in from over there. Get Bree’s toy focused in that area.”

“Roger.”

A red haze settled over Jud’s vision as he struck the group of four. A momentary flash of reality offered one beat of data—he knew these fuckers, recognized the team leader. Jud thrust a knife into his femoral artery and growled. “Warned you to back off.”

The man’s eyes widened as he fell. One woman managed a kick to his side, but he tossed both knives forward, striking her two teammates as he twisted her neck. The Collective knew better than engage him in hand-to-hand. Idiots.

“HERA’s sounding alarms all over. Bullets. I think we have snipers.” Sounded about right. Jud went around the corner of the building and crouched as the concussive boom of Bree’s toy sounded again. The blue ball shot out, toward the direction Jud had wanted.

Screams filled the air.

“Get more drones out there, give us visuals on what the second string is, bud.”

“Roger.”

Jud plowed through three more operatives. Blood sprayed, bodies fell. Pain radiated from his ribs. Blood oozed from his side.

“Incoming friendlies from your six,” Jacob said. “Marcus and a couple others are moving to help.”

“Get them inside. Guard where you are.”

“Roger.”

Jud worked best alone. Anything with a pulse was a target that way. The only color he saw right now was red. He leaned down and yanked his knives loose, pausing long enough to wipe the blades. Movement from the side drew his focus. He fired off both. Grunts echoed as he moved on. The HERA headset was the perfect companion. It didn’t boss, just offered targets. Locations. Numbers.

He fell into the zone, losing track of time as he hunted. He took a deep breath, inhaled the stench of death. His gut soured. He’d dirtied The Arsenal with his carnage.

“We’d appreciate it if you’d leave one alive for questioning.” Viviana’s voice soothed the raging beast within him.

“No need. They’re Collective, recognized the shady bastard leading them.” He looked around, noting he’d lost track of time along the way. No red dots appeared in his headgear. Blue hovered around and inside the primary building—well away from him.

Drones flitted about around him. It’d been too simple. The Collective had a massive hoard of teams. Why send so few for a six-million-dollar payday? The situation stunk. “We need to sweep the compound, the grounds and at least two miles around. This was too easy.”

“That was easy?” Bree asked into the headset. “I never want to see your definition of bad.”

“We took out the second phase, too, Uncle Jud. Drones aren’t picking up anything.” Jacob’s voice rose with excitement. “They underestimated us. They went against the Quillery Edge and the Judge and got punished. Hard.”

“Rule one of back office is we never celebrate a perceived victory, not when our teams are still in the field. We assess what’s unfolded and predict what could befall them around the corner. It’s not a celebration until everyone’s home and secure.” Viviana’s voice tumbled through the com, calm and almost seductive. Confident and cautious. “Let me know when you’re clear, Jud. Marcus is inbound.”

She knew he wasn’t clear, had likely handled men like him a while. Men who embraced the rage and slipped into the killing zone as easily as taking a breath.

“I’m clear.”

“Head to the visitor parking area. We’ll converge there and assess,” Mary ordered.

“And the teams?”

“We had a complication I’m handling right now,” Viviana replied. “Mary will help you and Jacob with the compound.”

Jud didn’t ask about Danny and the others. He needed to keep Jacob focused, in case the next hammer fell. He stepped over the bodies and made his way toward the designated zone, which was marked with a big, green x in his display. He didn’t bother hiding the smirk when Mary exited the building with his nephew in tow. The kid’s eyes were wider than saucers and he was firing off commentary at a thousand miles an hour. Mary was tapping her handheld tablet. Bree flounced out behind them. Her hair was disheveled as if she’d gone ten rounds with a monster and lost.

“You okay?” Mary asked her.

“Peachy,” the woman replied. “I had a few issues with the new toys, but we worked it out. They’re listening to Mommy now. We’re good.”

Mary’s gaze narrowed, but she didn’t comment.

“It’d be better if we did this debrief inside,” he said.

“Sheriff Patterson’s on his way with his deputies. I’ve also alerted the alphabet soup, but I’m not sure which will show up to slap a classified sticker on our party before Nomad sends their crime squad and collects the bodies.” Mary put a hand on a hip. “You’re a messy one.”

Amusement glimmered in her gaze as it settled on him, then swept downward. “Looks like you need a trip to medical.”

“I’m fine.” For the first time in a long while he realized the words rang true. He was fine. The few hours after a mission were always the roughest, when doubt fed guilt and they chewed away at every move he’d made, every life taken.

Neither moved in and settled in his gut this time. He’d warned everyone to stay away from Viviana and Mary. They hadn’t listened.

“This isn’t over,” he warned the women.

“No. The war just started.” Mary crossed her arms and looked around. “You’re right. This was too easy.”

“You didn’t even see the fight. Have you seen how many bodies our one-man army here piled up?” Bree asked.

“They would’ve known he would,” Jacob said.

“Vi, I need your eyes on the situation here. Something’s off. You at a holding point?” Mary asked into the headset. “Right, okay. Well I need your eyes on this for two minutes. You’re better at assessing scenarios than me.”

Mary reached over and pushed a button on the side of his headset. Vi’s voice filled his ear.

“One second,” Vi said. “I need you farther away before you blow this, Dallas. You’re too close.”

“She’s a bit busy,” Mary replied. “Okay, so first and second wave were taken out. Drones aren’t picking up a third wave anywhere close. Maybe they’re waiting.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Vi replied into the com. “Dallas, I said farther away, not closer. I’m knocking you aside the head when you get back. So, Jud, I hear you taught Dallas how to use a knife. He’s pretty handy.”

“Pfft, she clearly hasn’t seen your handiwork out here yet,” Mary replied.

Explosions sounded through the com line. Jud’s insides clenched as silence descended.

“I’ll stay here and pick off stragglers,” Dallas said. “Get everyone exfiled from camp three. I’ll rendezvous with them at exfil.”

“Roger,” a voice replied.

“Okay, let’s look at the compound problem,” Vi said. He could almost hear her brilliant mind processing the scenario, running what-ifs. “Call Patterson. Get him and his deputies to back off, stay far away from here.”

“Why?” Jacob asked.

“Because they are the third wave,” Vi said.

“The crime squad,” Mary whispered. Face pale, she motioned Bree inside. “Get up and get your new toys moving. The next wave is about to hit.”

Fuck. Of course.

“Command, this is team seven. Come in.”

“Where the hell have you been?” Mary’s voice was lethal calm but steely with rage.

“We ran into a few unfriendlies needing an education in manners,” Fallon replied. “We’re en route to exfil. I’m rendezvousing with Dallas at camp four to assist. My team will help with camp three.”

“Roger,” Viviana replied. “Glad you’re okay.”

“We’ll talk about why we’re okay when we return home, Command. We had a big assist.”

Jud was glad the teams were all accounted for, but he didn’t ask about Danny. He was surprised Jacob hadn’t, but he suspected his nephew was still in shell shock over the attack they’d just neutralized. Now all they had left was the next wave. Then the real war would begin.

The Collective made a huge mistake today by ignoring his warning.

* * *

The external line rang as Vi clicked off from the teams. Everyone was present and accounted for.

“Zero. What just happened?”

“I helped neutralize the problem your team ran into. I’m burned,” the woman said. “It wasn’t a take down like Hive, but I did what I could to keep good men breathing. I hope it’s enough.”

“It was. They’re en route home, with a few stops to hospitals and military bases along the way.” Vi read the subtext behind the woman’s statement. “You hung your ass out there for me today, Zero. I won’t forget that. Get yourself secure, get out and come down here. Edge and I always have room for someone of your caliber. Come help those good teams breathe every day.”

“I’ll have fall out from what I did today. I pissed a lot of people off,” she admitted.

“Get up and walk out like nothing is wrong. They won’t move, not right away. Don’t go home. Get in your car and drive to the nearest airport. There’ll be a ticket waiting there for you. If you want, I’ll send an escort to bring you home. We’ve got two teams in Dover.”

“No. I’m good,” the woman said quickly. “I’ve gotta go home. I have a cat.”

Vi couldn’t help but laugh as she wondered what Jud would think about the cat. “Stay where you are, in public. There’s a coffee shop down the road from the base you’re working at. Gage Sanderson will meet you there in one and a half hours. I’m sending you his picture. Don’t trust anyone but him. Get to that coffee shop. Edge and I will have you on surveillance the entire time. I’ve pinged our cell numbers and Gage’s to you. He’ll help you secure your cat and gear. Okay?”

“Okay.”

She sent the data and orders to Gage. She headed outside as she studied the bloody carnage awaiting her. Jud’s wake was extensive, and proved what Dallas had said. The man knew his way around knives. Marcus and a couple of the new operatives arrived. The potential team lead’s gaze swept over the bodies, then at Jud. He offered a lone chin lift, which was returned. Men. Mary had extra drones heading toward the fence line. The operatives tracked their progression.

“There’s still a problem,” Marcus guessed.

He was a recruit from Delta, a recommendation passed to Nolan. So far, he’d fared well and all the Mason brothers wanted him fast-tracked to a lead role. Vi glanced up at the rooftop closest to the fence line.

“Potential enemy penetration of the crime scene investigation, or the alphabet soup. We won’t know who, if anyone, is a threat,” she said.

“Until they are,” he finished.

“Me and the guys will take the rooftops. Sal here is a sniper. I can snipe from the roof. Where do you want him?”

Vi studied the area. Before she could reply, Jud was motioning past the entry. “Across the road, where the incline starts. That’ll box them in if needed.”

“On it,” Sal said.

“You should be in medical letting someone tend that wound instead of bossing around my men.” She yanked Jud’s shirt up and ignored the blood sticking it to his skin.

Most wasn’t his. But someone got a hit. She turned him around. Exit wound. Whew. At least there wasn’t a bullet wandering around in Jud’s body. Heat spread through the palm splayed on his abdominals. She peeked up at him. He stood motionless, mouth tipped up in a slight grin as she molested him like she had every right to.

“You done?”

“No,” she clipped. “Get inside and to medical.”

“If you think I’m running inside while another squad of Collective agents comes to plow you and Mary down, you’re crazy.” His voice lowered, rumbling with a rage she’d noted on the footage. “I warned them off, they didn’t listen. I know you’re used to being the growly dog in the yard, the one who goes after the bad guy first. But we’re in a bigger, badder yard than before, Viviana. This isn’t just your fight, not any longer.”

“There you go comparing me to a dog again, Judson,” she snapped.

“I’m thinking a Rottie with a couple pups,” he commented. “An instant family.”

Her belly warmed at the thought. She curled her toes in her sneakers and rocked back on her heels. As much as she’d love to argue the merits of cats over dogs, they had a situation to handle. Nomad was the larger town of what locals called the tri-county. Nomad was the north most point of the triangle for the county of the same name. Resino was twenty miles southwest and in a different county. It was fifteen miles west of Marville, which was a dump of a village twenty miles south of Nomad and in a shadier-than-hell town.

Vi let her mind wander to Riley’s friend, Rachelle. Trouble of some sort had spooked the blonde and they’d hauled her over to stay at the main house. With things going sideways with their own mess, Vi and everyone else hadn’t had time to wade into whatever trouble lurked at their backyard. They would, though, as soon as they figured out what the heck was about to go down. A high-pitched whistle sounded from across the way. Excellent. Sal was in position.

“We have incoming,” Bree shouted from the rooftop.

“Let me take the lead on this one,” Jud requested. Hand on the small of her back, he leaned down. “Jacob, help them get personnel records for Nomad. We need facial recognition scans on everyone. Hack into their bank accounts, personal data. Make sure there’s no abnormal deposits, payoffs, assets moved under their name. If someone paid them off to get them in, there will be a paper trail of some kind. Greed makes people stupid.”

Vi flashed a look at Mary, who grinned. It was fun to work with someone more paranoid than them for a change. “Mary, you and Jacob head inside. I’ll handle the front line with Jud.”

She didn’t want her best friend anywhere near danger. She’d endured enough. Fortunately, neither she nor Jacob offered her any guff. Marcus had slipped away, hopefully to take a higher position. She and Jud were alone. Too bad they hadn’t at least gotten him a clean shirt or something. He looked like a rejected extra for some Rambo movie, but way sexier.

Approach would be tricky. If they gave away their suspicion by being leery, a kill shot could be made from fairly far away. Neither of them wore a bulletproof vest. She made a mental note to get onto Jud for not bothering to try and wear one. It’s like he was made of Teflon and shit just slid off him. Her pulse quickened as vehicles appeared. Sheriff Patterson and a deputy exited from the first. So much for keeping the nice man out of their unfolding drama.

“I heard there was a ruckus out here. The boys aren’t here?”

“No, they’re gone. We had some trouble, but we’re handling it.” Vi let her gaze settle on the coroner’s van and crime scene unit from Nomad. “You’d best head back home, Sheriff. This mess is more in the alphabet soup camp.”

“Right.” He remained behind the door to his vehicle. “Gary, get on the horn to Nomad, get them on the way.”

“But…” The deputy’s gaze widened as he scurried into the vehicle.

“We heard there was some trouble,” one of the men commented.

“There was.” Jud moved in front of Vi. “There is. Take a look around, we’ve got higher ground advantage on two sides and enough juice in the drones to need a few more bags when the real coroner arrives.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ready on your mark.” The statement resonated confidence Vi appreciated. She hadn’t thought too much of Marcus, but he’d gone to the top of her cool list.

“You know I was ready five minutes before the bastards showed up,” Mary declared. “Light the bastard up if he reaches for a weapon.”

“Roger.”

“Roger.”

Vi’s gaze swept to Sal’s position across the road. The coverage was sound. Two snipers and an army of pissed off drones? The bastards moving around her didn’t stand a chance.

“You fucked up,” Vi stated. She let anger and rage fill her words. “I don’t give a shit who you are or who you work for. There’s no out for you, not today. Anyone who comes after my crew doesn’t walk away breathing.”

The man moved his hand behind him, but blood appeared on his forehead. One of the other men screamed. Drones whirred overhead. Chaos ensued. A heavy weight settled atop her as the drones spewed darts. Bullets flew. Sheriff Patterson remained behind the door to his vehicle, returning fire.

But the fight was over. Drones zoomed and darted toward Sal, then moved the direction the vehicles had come. Mary was seeking more prey for the drones. Vi shoved, but the weight atop her didn’t budge. It grunted.

No. He grunted.

“Get off me, Judson.”

He chuckled as he rose up on his arms and looked down. “You’re definitely not a boring cat person, Viviana.”