CHAPTER 191 Blood Stain on The Parapet Wall

*Sebastian*

I was standing beside a truck, still in my tactical gear, barking out orders at our men. We needed to efficiently cover our tracks in order to avoid any suspicion.

"Help Bo place the body bags behind the boxes, so they won't be seen if there's a checkpoint. Then, once you arrive safely at Mandan HQ, bury them near the lake's shore," I instructed the team tasked to get rid of the bodies. There was a small shallow lake near headquarters formed mainly from snowmelt, prairie potholes as the locals called it, that was closed off to hikers. The area was the perfect burial site for all the filth we had to discard.

The men nodded their heads as they quietly helped Xavier load the body bags onto the truck, eager to be part of the action, even if it was merely grunt work.

I looked down at the three remaining body bags that lay on the floor near the truck's freight doors, and smiled. I was extremely pleased with myself.

*Easy peasy*. We were able to neutralize the tactical unit of Blue Rogues perched atop our roof without any dilemmas. I had to hand it to Xavier and his men. They were very good with their hands, although Jake, I noticed, needed to improve his technique.

We divided ourselves into three small groups. Sam and Link were assigned to take down the group on the right, Xavier the center, while Jake and I were tasked to the group positioned at the far left corner of the building. Sam, Link, Jake and I would enter through hatches located near the group we were assigned to. Xavier, on the other hand, would enter through the door in the center of the roof. The door and hatches were all locked on the inside, specifically to keep unwanted guests out.

Before heading to the roof, Xavier gathered all his men for a short briefing at the armory.

"Once Dina gives us the signal, we will attack at precisely the same time, so none of them will be able to help each other," Xavier explained. "Remember, communications will be down, so call out if you need help."

"Knife or gun?" Sam asked, pulling his combat knife out from its holster, his lips curved upward in a menacing smile. I grimaced. Sam literally loved getting his hands dirty.

I silently prayed Xavier would answer gun. It was quick and required less effort, but judging by the playful smile on his lips, the answer was quite obvious.

"Knife, however, you may use your weapons. Marshall and his team are at the field with explicit instructions to light up the fireworks when we get the green light. The fireworks display will give us enough cover to open fire... *if* necessary and without a silencer," Xavier elaborated before placing a black ski mask over his head. "Dom, the Blue Rogues are trained soldiers skilled in head-to-head combat, so let Jake take the lead on this. The rest of you, wait by the door. We'll definitely be needing a clean-up crew when we're done. Dismissed."

Once we were positioned at the top of the stairs, Jake lifted the hatch and took a quick peek to confirm count and position. Then, with the use of hand gestures, he confirmed there were two men positioned directly in front of us and that I was to take the one on the left.

"Team, I have a visual on Primo," Dina suddenly said while we held our position underneath the hatch. "He is in the forest, about a quarter of a click away from the novelty shops. He is armed."

I expected her to narrate more, but instead, we were met with a lengthy and uncomfortable pause. I steadied my breathing, forcing myself to relax.

*The suspense was killing me*.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally heard Dina's voice over the annoying static.

"Money is in the air. I repeat. Money is in the air." Dina announced. "You are a go. Blackout in three, two, one..."

We quickly exited the hatch, combat knives in our hands. Jake went to the right, heading toward the man aiming his sniper rifle at the crowd down below, while I veered to the left toward the man that was squatting beside him holding a pair of military-grade binoculars.

When we heard the unmistakable sounds of fireworks flying upward into the sky, we dashed toward our intended target.

Taking a page in Joy's book, I aimed my knife at the base of my target's head, stabbing him with brutal force. He collapsed to his side, consequently dropping the binoculars he held onto the ground beside him, his eyes as wide as saucers from the apparent shock.

Jack, on the other hand, quickly slit the sniper's throat from behind. The man's blood instantly gushed out from his wound, staining the parapet wall and the top flooring red.

As the sniper took his last breath, his body violently convulsed, blood spurting out from his mouth in all directions. It was definitely a horrific way to die.

"Messy," I muttered under my breath before moving toward Xavier to assist him. "You stay here and make sure they're dead."

As I dashed to the center of the roof, I pulled out my FNX-45 tactical gun and quickly screwed a suppressor on it. Although I knew Xavier was the best assassin the Blood Disciples had ever had, he was outnumbered two to one.

My suspicions were correct. I found Xavier facing it off with one of his intended targets. The two of them were busy taking swipes at each other with their knives, while a dead body lay at their feet drowning in a pool of blood.

I didn't hesitate. I aimed and fired, hitting Xavier's adversary on the shoulder. It was enough to give Xavier the advantage. He stabbed the man in between the eyes, then kicked him in the leg, making the man fall face first onto the concrete floor.

"Sam! Link! Status report!" Xavier yelled, as he pulled his combat knife out from the dead man's forehead.

"Both dead as a doornail!" Link yelled back. "We already have one in a body bag ready for transport!"

Once the bodies were all in body bags, we handed them to our men who were patiently waiting at the roof's door. After instructing the clean-up crew and leaving Sam in charge of the roof, Xavier and I went back down to the warehouse to oversee the loading of the bodies onto the truck.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! I can see you guys have been very naughty boys," I suddenly heard a familiar voice say on the other side of the rig. I chuckled. Cristos was still in character.

"Chip, I'm on the other side of the truck," I called out to him. I heard the heels of his shoes make a clickety-clack sound against the epoxy flooring of the warehouse as he made his way around the front of the truck, away from the body bags.

"Ah, there you are," Cristos stated flatly, looking quite grim. I expected him to be in happier spirits, since we'd had quite an eventful morning, so it was odd to see the seriousness in his face. "Dom, we have a problem."

Those five words wiped the smug grin off my face. I heaved a sigh, annoyed I wasn't allowed to savor the small victories of our team. Not only did we neutralize a team of the Colonel's snipers, we had Pete in custody. The way I saw it, we were ahead of the game.

"Well, hello to you too," I replied playfully, trying to delay the inevitable. I tried to manage a smile, but I felt myself grimace instead. "Nice save, by the way. Dina saw you entering the forest before everything went dark."

"Dom, I'm serious," Cristos muttered anxiously. "After what just happened, the Colonel isn't happy."

"And he has good reason not to be," I stated flatly. "So what did you find out?"

"From what I heard from the Colonel, the snipers were here to take down a specific target," he answered. "Who? He didn't say. Anyway, there's another reason why I'm here. I came over to tell you guys that the Colonel ordered his tech guy to fly in a drone over the complex. He wants to know what happened to his team."

I quickly raised my wrist to my lips to alert the remainder of our team who were busy cleaning up the mess we left on the roof. "Sam, we have intel that the Colonel is flying in a drone. I need you to shoot it down. Use the fireworks display as cover."

"Unfortunately, the fireworks display is over," Sam replied. "I'll go old-school and shoot it down with an arrow."

"Fine. Have a team retrieve the drone when you're done. Make sure you have eyes on its location," I instructed.

"Copy that," I heard Sam's gruff reply. "Men, keep an eye out for a bird."

"Problem solved. Anything else?" I asked, lowering my arm. Cristos opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. "Spit it out, Chip. We don't have all day."

"Uhm, you see, Joy-"

The loud sound of the truck's trailer doors slamming shut interrupted him. Xavier finally appeared from behind, a smug grin on his face.

"Time to take out the trash," Xavier exclaimed triumphantly as he approached. He cheerfully patted Chip on the arm, obviously proud of our success. "I'm guessing you're here to remind us to get ready for the wedding-"

"Ah, actually no," Chip answered, causing Xavier's brow to furrow. "I'm here to borrow your car."

"My car?" He asked, his confusion quickly turning into anxiousness.

"Uhm, you see-"

Before Cristos could explain, Dina's voice suddenly erupted through our communication devices.

"Beaufort, Miss JT is en route to St. Elizabeth's. According to Autumn, she is suffering from a sprained ankle," she stated. "Don't worry. I have a visual on the ambulance, and I am also currently monitoring everyone's movement-"

"VIRTUE IS SUFFERING FROM A SPRAINED ANKLE?!"

Xavier's voice was so loud, all of his men froze...

From the looks in their eyes, they were waiting for their underboss to give the order to attack.

*Oh boy*.