CHAPTER 159 Intervention

*Liam*

"Liam, we have company," Jack yelled, looking for cover. "Get down!"

The Colonel and his team quickly positioned themselves and returned fire.

While Jack and the Sheriff assisted the Colonel, I went to check if every last one of Pete's loyal dealers were dead. However, I noticed a red light aimed at my chest, so I quickly took cover, diving behind one of the hay bales in the barn. I may be wearing a bullet proof vest, but it was painful to get shot at.

I was surprised to find Mr. Lewis, one of the townsfolk, hiding behind the huge hay bale, with his back towards me, covering his head. Like Ol' Man Simon, he smuggled drugs to the neighboring states, using his old age as his cover.

When Dan told him the conditions of our deal, he ripped the NDA and threw it at Dan's face. "If I need to stay quiet, you need to pay me more money. My Clara is in the hospital being treated for cancer and our medical insurance won't cover all the costs. I want more money. I need more money."

Scowling, I pulled out my gun from its holster and aimed it at his back before squeezing the trigger. *Mrs. Lewis was better off without you*.

As I reloaded my gun, I noticed the gunfire had died down. I looked around and saw one of the townsfolk trying to leave through the back.

I chased after her. No one was leaving here alive.

I quickly pushed the back door of the barn open and to my surprise, I found a tall, large, muscular man shooting the woman in the back.

He was bald, his oily head reflected the light from the barn, and clean-shaven with a nasty scar that ran down his left cheek. Unlike Colonel and his men who were wearing blue, he was wearing an all black tactical suit, boots, and gloves, with two silver guns holstered to each of his thighs.

He smiled at me, as he raised his weapon, aiming for my head.

"The ten million dollar prize." His voice was low and menacing, sending a chill down my spine.

I raised my Wilson Combat Tactical gun at him.

If I have to die, I'm taking him with me.

"I can double that amount," I negotiated. He laughed.

"Peter said you'd negotiate and I've already taken a look at your finances. You do have that kind of money, but it will leave you almost penniless," he reasoned.

*He obviously did his homework*. But the bank account under my name wasn't the only account I had.

"Really now? What about my bank accounts under my various aliases? Have you checked them too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, daring him to challenge me. "The largest meth laboratory in the country is here in my town. My town. Not Peter McDowell's. He is a traitorous snake and will kill you once he gets what he wants. If you agree to work for me, I can make it worth your while. Just ask the Colonel." His eyes widened once I uttered Colonel. Every private army in the world knew who the Colonel was.

However, instead of agreeing, he laughed at my offer. The bastard.

"Funny thing... Peter says the same about you. I'll take my chances and go home ten million dollars richer," he replied, grinning sinisterly at me, the shadows on his face making him look utterly terrifying.

"Then we both will just have to shoot each other."

But before either one of us could shoot, a bullet whizzed by my head entering the large man's skull, his blood spraying over my face. He collapsed with a thud in front of me, dust flying up from the ground.

I hurriedly wiped my mouth, disgusted at the taste of blood and raw human flesh.

I kneeled down to check on the man whose dead eyes looked up at the sky. The hole was remarkably big. Obviously long range.

I quickly hid myself against the hay bales along the barn.

The Colonel's sniper had a sick sense of humor.

Eventually, the gunfire stopped. I picked myself off the ground, entered the barn through the back door and headed to the main entrance. There I found Jack wincing in pain while the Sheriff was assisting the coroner's van.

"Mayor Cohen, the area has been contained," the Colonel said, appearing from the side of the barn.

"Thank you," I said. "Sheriff grab all the car keys from the dead bodies and have Colonel and his men drive them to the impound area. Make sure to load up all the bodies in the barn into the van and have the driver head to Highland Oaks. While you do that, have the deputies dump all the other bodies in the mass grave. When you're done, suit up in tactical gear and await my instructions." He silently nodded his head. "By the way, Colonel, I'd like you to thank your sniper for me. He saved my life."

He grabbed his radio and called out to his sniper. "Eagle, I need you to trek back to ground level." We waited for a response, but we only got static. "Eagle, do you confirm?" More static. He grabbed his binoculars and looked up at the small hill in front of us. "We have a problem. I don't see my men up there."


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*Joy*

I was at the bar having a bit of fun with Noah when all of our phones pinged at the same time. It was an alert informing us of active shooters in the vicinity. All at once, the patrons inside threw money on the tables and quickly left in such a hurry.

"Uhm, Virtue, Beth and I, we need to go home. Can you tell Chip for me, please?" Patrick, the bartender, said, panicking.

"Sure. I'll tell Chip," I said.

"I'm sorry, Virtue. I'll just clean up tomorrow." He took his apron off and grabbed Beth, exiting the pub just as fast as the rest.

"Me too," Noah said, finishing his beer and throwing money on the bar. "Lock the doors and don't let anyone else inside after me. Take care, Virtue. And stay safe."

I quickly locked the door after Noah exited and gestured to Kiki to follow me to the office.

"It's a little after midnight," Kiki said. "This could be the mess happening at the Ol' Barn."

"This feels wrong though," I reasoned. "No one is allowed to go to the Ol' Barn. And why would emergency services alert the people of something the Sheriff and Liam were in the middle of? Come on. Sebastian and Cristos might know what's going on."

We rushed to Cristos' office to find them both in tactical gear.

"What the fuck?! You guys are going without me?" Kiki exclaimed, closing the door behind her. "What's going on anyway?"

"There is a group of seven men, disguised in animal Halloween masks, shooting at the mob camped outside Highland Oaks," Sebastian said. "They've killed all the deputies and guards and have entered the residential area. We need to stop this. This isn't right."

"But you heard Bo," I argued, remembering what happened to us yesterday, "we aren't supposed to intervene."

"My ass. This isn't an intervention. This is a rescue mission," Kiki said, grabbing a suit hanging on the wall of Cristos' hidden armory. "Dom is right, Virtue. We can't allow this to happen. These people are innocent." She began to strip to her underwear. Both men turned their backs to give her privacy.

"We got the alert from Dina, Virtue," Cristos said. "Xavier was the one who sent the distress signal. Sam is already on his way there to offer assistance."

"Virtue, this is your size," Kiki said, throwing a suit at me. "If you can save one life, that's plenty. Don't be afraid. You and I will be a team." I nodded my head and began to dress into the tactical suit.

"You guys are coming with?" Sebastian asked.

"Of course, we're coming with you. I can't allow you to have all the fun," Kiki said as she zipped up. "Plus, you're injured and he's gay." She pointed to Cristos, stifling a giggle. "You guys need us."

Cristos sighed. "Fine." He typed something on his computer and up came the map to the subdivision on the huge monitor on his wall. "We enter through the back near the coroner's house in front of the McDowell's. I will have Dina disengage any security system so we can move freely. No cars just bikes. Make sure you bring your harnesses and your night vision goggles because Dina will be cutting the power to that area. It will be pitch black." He pushed on a button and up came Dina on the screen. "Dina I need all the CCTV footage you have of the shooters and when I say lights off, I want the power cut off in that grid. We are on our way to Highland Oaks."

"Copy, Primo," Dina said. "This is all I have of the masked men including possible locations, Primo. They've shot down most of the CCTV cameras, so I'm waiting for Sam for intel."

Four against seven," Kiki mumbled, making sure the assault rifle she picked out of the armory was fully loaded. "I like our odds."

"Come on. We don't have much time," Sebastian said, picking up his back pack. "We have a lot of scared people we need to save."

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*Xavier*

It was mayhem down below. Liam's mercenaries positioned at the barn appeared to be surrounded, however they had reinforcements, flanking, whom I assumed to be, Pete's hired guns.

"X, Link has activated his distress signal," Dina suddenly said. I was right. Highland Oaks was now a massacre site. "The thugs have shot most of the CCTV's down, so Sam is my eyes for now."

The ultimate cover up. No wonder there was a coroner's van on standby near the barn.

"Tell Link to stand down unless his life is in danger," I said. "I don't want his cover blown."

"He is currently protecting the Martín family at his home. He says he will not engage unless shot upon," Dina confirmed. "Primo, Domenico and the girls are at Highland Oaks. They are going over the fence as we speak."

*The girls*? God forbid.

"Tell them I'll be on my way as soon as possible."

I was having trouble finding Liam. His driver, Jack and the Sheriff were busy exchanging gunfire with the mercenaries closest to the main entrance of the barn.

Unfortunately, the remaining townsfolk who tried to escape were gunned down in cold blood. There was nothing I can do to stop that. Liam wanted to take control of this town and he had to finish off every single one who was loyal to Pete.

Honestly, I would be doing the same thing if I wanted to *conquer* a whole town.

I searched for movement inside the barn, but couldn't see much until I saw Brock walk out into the open heading towards the back of the barn. He saw one of the townsfolk exit from the back and quickly shot at her without remorse.

Suddenly, the back door opened again and out came Liam, stopping in his tracks, surprised to see Brock. He had a gun in his hand and aimed it at Brock who was smiling gleefully at him.

I paused my breathing and waited for the wind, then I took the shot.

I saw Brock's brain matter splatter all over Liam's face. I aimed again at the mercenaries near Liam and shot at them, taking them down one by one until there was no one left.

When the coast was clear, Liam quickly went back inside the barn, then emerged at the front. Jack was up against the barn door, wincing in pain while the Sheriff was assisting the coroner's van as the driver backed up at the entrance.

Then, the Colonel appeared. I peered through my scope and saw Liam giving them last minute instructions.

Suddenly, I heard the Colonel's voice on the radio. "Eagle, I need you to trek back to ground level."

"Dina, it's time for us to leave. Head over to Highland Oaks. I want to know what's happening there and make sure Cristos, Sebastian and the girls are safe," I instructed, grabbing my gun and dashing down the path to my dirt bike.

As I was making my way down the hill, I noticed Liam's silver BMW.

I quickly hid myself behind some trees. He was looking for me.

Using my scope, I saw him with a pair of binoculars, surveying the hill. He was there for while until he gave up. They drove off, back towards the main road.

"X, you need to get off that hill," Dina said. "There are mercs hiking up the hill."

I do Liam a favor and this is the thanks I get for an intervention.

"Don't worry, I have a good hiding spot-"

Out of nowhere, an explosion erupted. I climbed down the hill as fast as I could.

"X, Liam's car is headed back to the mansion and the mercenaries are fleeing the hill. Sam placed booby traps before leaving."

I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Link has just called Liam. The Martins want out of New Salem."

All this for a negotiation?

Liam was on a killing spree. I had a bad feeling he was going to kill the Martíns, Link included.

"Dina, how are Sebastian and Cristos entering Highland Oaks?"