Flames of Vengeance
1030 Words
David stepped out of the burning warehouse with smoke clinging to his clothes. The night air felt cool against his sweat-soaked face. Xavier followed behind him while Marcus and Riley scanned the perimeter for any stragglers.
Lena stood a little apart with her laptop clutched tight. Her eyes flicked to the flames devouring millions in cocaine. Inside her head she fumed. *Javier owed me big for that last hack. Now all his investments are ash. This wasn't the plan.*
"Good burn," Xavier said as they piled into the black SUV. "One down. One to go."
David slid into the passenger seat. His mind was already on the next target. Lena climbed in the back with Marcus and Riley. She forced a smile. "Yeah. We made a clean hit here. They won't know what hit them."
Xavier started the engine. The SUV rolled out onto the empty street. Sirens wailed in the distance. "Hialeah's twenty minutes. Keep it quiet till we get there."
Marcus leaned back and grinned. "Quiet? With this crew? Last time we rolled like this was that op in Bogota. Remember, Wick? You drove us straight into that ambush because you said the intel was solid. Hahaha."
David's mouth twitched. "The intel was solid. You just couldn't shoot straight."
Riley laughed from the back. "Says the guy who blew up the wrong truck. We were chasing coke and you torched a load of bananas."
"Monkeys loved it," Marcus said. "Best distraction ever."
Lena chuckled softly but her fingers tightened on her laptop. *They're joking while my payoff goes up in smoke. Javier better pay up fast.* She glanced at David. He seemed steady and trustworthy, but she had to play careful around him knowing what he is capable of.
Xavier glanced in the rearview. "Lena, you sure about this second spot? You know we don’t want no surprises?"
She nodded quick. "I have scanned the feeds. Ten guards max. I also found product in the basement and some arms in the office. Easy in, easy out."
Riley nudged her. "You're a wizard with that thing. How'd you get so good?"
Lena shrugged. "Practice. And not getting shot at like you idiots."
Marcus snorted. "Ouch. She got you, Ri."
David turned slightly. "She's right. We must hit fast and ensure we burn it all."
Lena's smile stayed but inside she boiled. *Burn it? Again? Javier's going to kill me if he finds out I led them here.* But she kept her voice even. "Yeah. Burn it."
The SUV sped through the dark streets. Xavier turned up the radio a bit. Some old rock song played low. "Remember Iran, Wick? You and me in that safe house. You said we'd never make it out."
David stared out the window. "We made it."
Xavier grinned. "Because I saved your ass."
"You talked too much," David said. "Still do."
The group laughed. Even Lena joined in. But her mind raced. She slipped her phone out under her laptop. Typed a quick anonymous text to Javier's device: *Your houses are being hit by FBI ghost. Wick is leading. Get out.* Sent. She closed the laptop and kept tapping with her fingers as the black SUV kept moving.
They pulled up near the Hialeah storage unit. The compound fence has chains on the walls, with floodlights and guards patrolling.
"Twelve on site," Lena whispered. "More than I thought."
David checked his rifle. "We go in hot."
They breached the fence quiet. David moved in first, with suppressed shots he dropped two perimeter guards.
Alarms wailed.
Gunfire exploded from the rooftop. Bullets kicked up dirt at their feet. David dove behind a shipping container and quickly returned fire. One guard fell screaming from the roof.
Xavier flanked left. "Cover me!"
Marcus laid suppressing fire. "Go!"
Riley tossed a flashbang over the wall. White light flared and screams were heard inside.
David charged towards the main door and kicked it in. Two men inside spun. He fired twice, a direct hit and bodies dropped.
More rushed from out from nowhere, automatic bursts chewed the doorway. David rolled low, taking his pistols out. Headshot and chest. Another down.
A guard charged with a shotgun. "Die, you f**k!"
David sidestepped and flashed his knife, slitting the guy by the throat. The man gurgled and fell.
Xavier burst in behind him. "Clear right!"
Bullets hammered from the stairs. David pressed against the wall. "Basement!"
Lena's voice in their ears. "Eight down there. Be advised they are heavily armed."
Marcus grenaded the stairwell. Explosion shook the building and screams cut short. They descended.
The basement was stacked with crates of cocaine, weapons racks, cash bundles. Guards waited, about six left who were barricaded behind pallets. Gunfire roared.
David took a grazing shot to the vest. Grunted but kept firing.
Xavier dropped two. Riley one. A guard lobbed a grenade but David kicked it back. "Down!" He yelled.
The blast shredded the barricade. Bodies flung. Last guard charged screaming. David met him head-on. Knife to gut, he twisted and had a clean cut. Silence followed.
David looked at the cocaine mountains.
"Set charges," he said
Lena's voice cracked over comms. "Wick… we could seize it and have it for an evidence."
"No," David said. "Burn it."
Xavier nodded. "He's right. Hit them where it hurts."
Marcus slapped a charge on the crates. "Boom time."
They cleared out. The explosion lit the night, millions in cocaine vaporizing in a fireball.
In the SUV speeding away, Xavier glanced at David. "Good call."
Riley nodded. "Lena's intel was gold."
David looked back at her. "Yeah. Thanks."
Lena smiled thin. *They think it's over. Javier's going to pay one way or another.*
.
Far away in Zulia, Venezuela, Governor Raul Vargas slammed his fist on his desk. Reports scattered.
"Two houses gone," he growled. "Millions burned. And it's this Wick. An FBI ghost from Iran."
His aide nodded. "He knows names now, sir. Ramirez talked before he killed him."
Vargas's eyes burned. "Send the best. Find him. Bring me his head or don't even think of coming back at all."
The men nodded and left immediately.
Vargas stared at the window. "Nobody touches my empire."
- Writer
