The Pack-Retribution (18 page)

“I made sure it was done. Nobody will know what killed him. The message was sent.“ Ki jerked back. “Now, let me go.”

A hard smack landed on Ki’s face. Freaksheep’s handprint remained. “Beat it! Before I change my mind.”

Ki’s shoulder spun around as he headed to the back of the club. Shamira pushed through the crowd behind him and out the side door undetected. Several kids littered the tunnel leading from the back of the den. Shamira had to walk fast to keep a close watch on Ki as he weaved between them.

The tunnel came to a dead end. A black metal ladder went up several feet before it was enclosed in a metal cover, concealing Ki’s ascent. Shamira waited a moment before she followed. Lights aided in their rise upwards. The echoed sound of Ki’s tennis shoes as they pounded angrily on metal, vibrated around them. Shamira figured Ki was too furious to notice being followed, and she accelerated her pace to make sure he didn’t get too far away.

Chapter 27

In his anger Ki didn’t bother to close the pothole lid. Shamira grinned at his carelessness.
Amateur.
She sped up. With a final yank, she cleared the tunnel and trailed Ki down the deserted alley.

She slid her formfitting hood up to cover her face, as well as to protect her from any deadly blows from her planned attack. Although Ki was careless, she remembered the gun he’d pointed at Garcia. Her heart thundered in her chest, the anticipation of the attack excited a part of her deep within. Impatient to get answers, she reached in her pocket for the metal ball, compliments of Valens’ father’s invention for Cal. She fought against her melancholy from their absence. The metal ball fit firmly in her hand, she squinted and, with a flick of her wrist, sent it sailing.

The ball hit his thigh. Ki fell backward. He scrambled to get his bearings. “Who…”

She lunged toward him. Her booted foot came down to push his back against the ground. Bending, she thrust her knee into his stomach. He attempted to struggle. But her hand came down to hold his neck in place. “What do you know about Special Nobles?”

A flicker of fear crept across his face. He quickly recovered. His elbow came down on her shin. Shamira’s foot slid. And Ki twisted from under her.

With a hop to his feet, he pulled out a gun. Unflinching, he pointed at her, his stare deadly. “I will kill you. Get the hell out of my way!”

Figures the kid would have another weapon, Shamira berated herself. She stood, legs slightly apart, her hand on her weapons belt. “The feeling is mutual. Your choice? What will it be? And trust me, I will kill you first. If you don’t give me what I want. Special Nobels…what do you know about him?”

“I’m not playing with you!” he growled.

“Seems like you are.” Shamira shrugged. “Either answer my question or I’ll force it out of you.” She tapped her fingers on her belt. Her fingers inched closer to her star-knife.

Ki’s lips thinned. He pulled the trigger. Shamira dropped on one knee and flicked out the star-knife as the small laser-like bullet whizzed past.

The star-knife connected with his upper arm. Ki cried out. Dropping the gun, the knife cut through his jacket. He screamed a pitch higher. The star-knife returned obediently to Shamira’s gloved hand. She smirked. He sank to the ground, struggling.

In a burst of energy, Ki jumped up. His other arm fumbled around on his waist, and came up with a knife. Shamira ran at him at top speed. Before he could throw his weapon, she kicked it out of his hand. With a jump, she landed a kick to his chin.

Ki flew back and bounced several times on the ground. He tried to shake himself out of his daze, but Shamira pushed him back and sat on his chest. Tsking at Ki, she pulled out a miniature robotic truth chip. Then she jabbed it in Ki’s neck. He groaned. The miniscule legs of the tick dug deep into his skin to emit its poison.

“Now, you’ll tell me the truth. You have no choice. Keep fighting it and you won’t remember what happened to you for a month.”

“Who? Why are you…” he coughed, “Doing this?”

“I’m Shamira, Special Nobel’s daughter!”

His eyes widened. “The Sha…mira?” His head plopped back against the cold pavement submissively. “Shit.”

“Yeah, you know me?”

“Know of, you.” Tears slid from his eyes, the truth tick working. “I work for…Cal.”

“Cal had you working underground for him? Why? Who else do you communicate with?” she demanded.

“Wanted someone…still,” he gagged, the medicine’s poison working, “on the streets, find missing…Monev…leaders, and report drug oper…ation.”

“What was the last message you sent to the officer Garcia?” She pulled the tick out of his throat.

“Special Nobels will die.” Ki’s hand went up to squeeze his wound.

“Why did you talk to her and not wait for Cal?”

“She answered his private comm device.” He spit, “said he was dead and she would be taking over where he left off.”

Shamira snatched the truth tick out of him. Then she stood up and stepped back. Her eyes narrowed. “Who gave you that message that Special Nobels would die?”

“Keeper.” His eyes rolled around. He stumbled to his feet, wrapping his hand around his bleeding arm.

“From now on, don’t contact anyone but me. I’m taking Cal’s place, and I’ll take care of you. Garcia can’t be trusted. Team underground will keep you safe—I promise.”

Ki gave her a wry smile. “I know you will, but seems to me, you gotta watch your own back.” He nodded in the direction of the three shadows coming down the alley.

“Trust me, I can take care of myself. Get out of here. I don’t want anyone to know about you…and me.” She pushed his good arm.

“Whatever you want. Good luck. You want to find me, Cal‘s got a telecom signal he uses for me. I have an implant in my ear, I’ll pick it up.” With that, Ki ran off.

Shamari pulled out several stars, holding them in one hand. Her opposite hand teased the handle to her laser gun. At the ready, she hunched at the ready for an attack.

Air seeped out her mouth as one of her pursuers appeared in the dim light of the alley.

Anthony chuckled. “Come here to hunt without us?”

She relaxed and put her hand on her hip. “What are you doing here?”

Mitch and Kurt stepped forward into the light.

Kurt crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Keeping your back safe—even though you are kickin’ us to the curb every chance you get.”

Anthony nodded. “Yeah girl, we starting to think—well…”

“That you are falling back into your old trust issues. You remember them, right—the kind you had before we called you a friend?” Mitch frowned.

Shamira rolled her eyes. “I told Dion to tell you to check your leads. Hit the street. Not waste time to tracking me!” she pointed at them.

Anthony’s large form stood in front of her, his hands on his hips as he scowled down at her. “Our job is to protect you, the future head of the force. Our leader. As it stands, we failed with the last one. Now with all our jobs on the line, you need to know—in this, you ain’t going it alone!”

Fury filled her. Didn’t they know how to take orders? She was trying to protect them and they kept getting in the way. “You will follow my orders. I’m your friggin’ leader, remember. Leave me. Hit the streets!”

Kurt shook his head. “Negative. Valens and Hedi are on that job. Ours is to protect you.”

She narrowed her eyes and flipped up her hand. “Who gave you a new direction? Valens?” She grunted. “Should’ve known he’d butt in. Who does he think he is?”

Anthony put a hand on her shoulder. “The guy who loves you.”

Shamira wrenched away. “It’s over between us! I have a job to do, and he keeps getting in my way!”

Mitch stepped up to her. “Your damn way? Are you shittin’ me? He loved you when you were blind, helped you recruit all of us, and took a back seat to your bad ass attitude while you stuck your nose up at him.”

Kurt put a hand on Mitch’s chest to back him away from her. “Shamira, he didn’t send us. He told us to follow your orders.” He sighed, “We came anyway, because we all care about you. Dion told us the deal and we ditched them to come to you.”

She’d be a liar if she didn’t admit the hurt from Valens not coming with them. He’d always shown up when she went out alone, and for little over a year, he’d been her shadow. Her other half. She bit her lip to stop tears from falling. “Well I’m fine, so you can go.”

“Yeah, together. ’Cause there ain’t no way in hell we are leaving without you. Those wimp Earth Cadets might scare easy, but we don’t. ” Anthony’s almond-shaped eyes narrowed.

She pushed past him, and several shadows flitted around the exit to the alley. She hit Anthony in the arm.

“What?”

“Someone’s coming. Get ready!” She sank down, pulled out some stars while the other’s followed her lead.

Mitch turned, his back to her. “Shit! More coming from the back.”

Kurt snorted. “Of course, why wouldn’t they?”

“Keep movin’, don’t make it easy for them.” She didn’t hesitate before she flicked three stars at the group of covered men that attacked. Two hit their mark. One of the assailants dropped to his knees to fire his gun, but turned to ashes on his way down. The putrid smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and another two felled assassins met their death with silver stars wedged in their foreheads.

She spun out of the way of the return shot.

“I’m covering you!” Anthony fired with a gun in each hand.

She charged toward the three remaining attackers. “I’m getting some answers!”

One threw down his gun. Barreling towards at her with a yell, his elbow snaked out to land on her jaw. Lights formed behind her eyes. The sharp pain came swiftly, knocking her off balance. His knife glinted as it swiped at her stomach.

Twisting away, she side-kicked him at the knee. It cracked, he growled. His body bowed oddly toward her. And she landed a blow to the side of his neck. He roared, scrambling to get at her. She yanked a truth tick from her belt.

The veins in his face blackened from the poison. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “WHO SENT YOU!” She jabbed the truth tick on his neck.

In a hoarse whisper, “Sna...” His body incinerated with a pop in her hands.

Choking back bile, his ashes fell around her. She screamed her annoyance at his death. But turned to fight the others with renewed vigor. Her eyes widened when the guys headed toward her, ashes falling like rain around them.

Kurt wiped his hands together. “We’re done.”

Mitch nodded at her. “What about you?”

She sighed. “Done, let’s go. I’m tired and I want to see my parents.”

“Not happening, Hedi checked on them before we left. She wasn’t admitted in. They locked the doors at 8 p.m. Told her they should be ready for visitors in the morning,” Mitch responded.

Anthony gave her the metal ball she’d thrown at Ki. “This yours? Did Valens create it?”

Exhaustion and grief filled her chest to the point where it ached. “Yeah, it’s mine. Valens’ dad made it.”

Mitch frowned. “I thought he only made stuff for Cal. How’d you get on his list?”

She shrugged. “Cal let me use his stuff. I was his trainee.”

They walked in silence to their motorcycles. She slid on Cal’s and started the engine.

“Hey, they told me to tell you your brothers and sister are at Valens’ place. You can crash there too!” Anthony waved.

“Okay.” The drive to Valens would be one of the hardest ones in her life. If he was there, she didn’t know what she would say, how she would hold up this hard front when all she wanted to do was be held in his arms and cry her eyes out. But she’d do it. Putting up blinders was her former way to deal with things. Shove away fear, pain and hurt, to show her anger. The rage that caused her rebirth, and of which she tried to control for the last year tried to lull her back. It was the only thing left she could count on to bring down whomever was trying to kill her and the ones she loved. Keeping Valens at a distance was something she had to do, there was no other choice.

Chapter 28

Shamira accelerated Cal’s motorcycle into the desert just beyond Sector Two. Valens’ home was well hidden. His family had two of them, but decided to sell the home where his mother was killed about a year ago. His father couldn’t deal with living there afterward.

Valens curled blond hair and soothing blue eyes continued to melt her. The closer she came to where she knew there was a chance she’d see him, the more she slowed, not ready to face him or his father. The first day they met, Valens tried to save her life. They met during one of her many set-up traps for Monev’s drug dealers that she’d suspect of kidnapping children to use for mining, selling and prostituting themselves for the crime empire Renu’s built. And what did she do? She fought with him.

She’d never forget the time she’d first saw Renu face to face. She’d thought he was Cal, but…with an edginess that Cal’s joking nature didn’t seem to emulate. That time though was nothing like when she’d first confronted Renu. He’d almost killed her, and if it wasn’t for Kurt jumping in front of her, she’d be dead now.

Jumbled memories poured through her head, the kids that joined in the fight, some who lost their lives to have the ultimate freedom from an organization that used them, beat them down, then discarded them for drugs and money. That victory was bittersweet now. Her heart jumped knowing that what she’d won had only been a battle. Cal had known, even with his brother dead, that Monev would find a way to go on—or at least, crime would.