***
Ty watched as Ghost’s chopper landed. Surprisingly, he felt calm. He was in what everyone who knew him in the force called, his ‘kill mode’. No one fucked with this Ty. Tanesha was locked inside his room for now, with the windows locked and the already locked door blocked with a chair. He’d taught her how to position the chair so that even if someone was able to unlock it from outside, they wouldn’t be able to open the door. He hoped the Arrowheads would put in an appearance soon. Till then, Ty hoped he could continue deceiving Ghost and his pack of wolves. After all, Ghost had shown no indication when they last spoke, that he was suspicious of him or had a problem with him.
Ghost stepped out of the chopper, followed by six fierce-looking men. Ty made a quick calculation. There were eight men in the chopper…the six-plus Ghost and the pilot. Then with him in the house were Donk, Shark, Jess, Mickey, and the two fools who replaced Polks and Heat. That meant he had fourteen men to deal with. Ty knew he wouldn’t blink an eye when it came to killing all of them to save Tanesha. Mickey, he hoped would be reasonable. After all, he was in love with Tanesha.
“My friend.” Ghost extended his hand to give Ty a firm handshake when they got to where Ty stood on the porch.
“Hope you had a good flight,” Ty said, turning to open the door for them to enter.
“It was great.” Ghost answered with a devilish grin as he took a seat at the big oval table. “I couldn’t wait to get here and get down to business.”
“Good,” Ty said, taking the seat opposite Ghost. “You guys need something to drink?” Ty didn’t miss the threatening stance of the six criminals who had come in with Ghost. He made a quick note of where each criminal stood. They had no idea who they were up against, Ty thought calmly.
“That won’t be necessary.” Ghost waved his hand. “Our client claims he has a feeling something is going on, he’s worried, blah, blah, blah. They all get scared at a point.” Ghost laughed. “Pussies. That’s not why I’m here though. Three of my human trafficking units got busted. None of my men survived.”
“Wow,” Ty said with a blank face. He would have smirked if he could. Insisting the Arrowheads bust Ghost’s human trafficking operation had been a dangerous move on his part. But Ty had just wanted those kids to the rescued. He knew he would make the same decision again any day. “That’s rather serious.”
“And very strange.” Ghost chuckled. “You see, the way they got busted was very…what’s the word? Meticulous. Looks like the Feds had the exact information to conduct their operation. I was devastated. Have any idea the money I’ve lost?” Ghost tilted his head and gave Ty a questioning look.
“I can imagine.” Ty relaxed into his seat, his eyes fixed on Ghost.
“I couldn’t fathom how that had happened as no one knew about the deal. It was just between myself and my contact in India. Poor man died of a heart attack when he heard the news. Very sad indeed. He was a good man.” Ghost shook his head slowly, a mockingly solemn look on his face. “So there I was, wondering how the deal could have gotten out. Then it hit me…I told you all about it the last time I was here.” Ghost’s face hardened. “In fact, you even gave me pointers. Told me the best route to use, where to dock, and who to contact.”
Ty resisted the urge to groan. Much as he didn’t regret what he’d done…saving those kids had been paramount as far as he was concerned…Ty couldn’t help but think the chickens had come home to roost.
Shit!
***
It was a day neither Ty nor Tanesha would ever forget. For Tanesha, Skull was a totally different Skull. A Skull she’d never had a glimpse of. He was like a robot that had been programmed to kill. And kill, he did. Ty on the other hand had never felt so numb during an operation. Initially, he thought he had everything under control. Then he’d realized that Ghost had more men than he’d counted. Apparently, he’d dispatched men to the Island the day before. As he put it, his own special army. Ty was totally outnumbered. He therefore had to think fast, act fast, use all the skills he had…otherwise neither he nor Tanesha was getting off that island alive. It was kill or be killed.
Immediately Ghost, not too subtly, made Ty aware that he was onto him, Ty was ready to act. He knew the kind of people ZONKAI was. They killed before they asked questions. But it was even worse if they decided to torture someone for information. They were ruthlessly sadistic. If his life was the only one at stake, he might have drawn it out…gathered as much information as he could. But Tanesha’s life was also on the line too. He couldn’t take chances. So when Ghost smugly told Skull what he planned to do, he knew he had to act fast.
“You see, I know you feds have been looking for me for a long time.” Ghost drawled arrogantly. “Can you imagine looking for a ghost?” He turned to ask his men, who burst into laughter. “Who does that? This is the closest you’ve ever come though, and I’d very much love to know how you managed that. I’m grateful actually.” He gave a salute. “Because this has made me realize that it’s time I cleaned house. You wouldn’t have been able to get this far if you hadn’t gotten help from some of my people. So you, my friend, are going to help me identify all the traitors in my kingdom.” He grinned. “And don’t try anything stupid because the Island is crawling with my men. I didn’t want to take chances so I dispatched them to the Island yesterday. So you better start giving me names before I start cutting your little bitch.”
That was all it took for Ty to snap. Cut Tanesha? Hell no! Ty didn’t blink. He didn’t even try to deny. He simply went into action…