Perceive by K E Osborn

 

 

AXEL

THE NEXT DAY

 

After Jack and Kace laid out the plans for us to raid the safe house in El Paso, we hop on a private jet and make our way over to Mexico. With Everly in our ears and Jack tracking our movements, it’s safe to say we have enough eyes and ears on us to know if I make any wrong movements, I will be dealt with.

I need to keep my focus. Even though Hendrix is firmly in my line of sight, I have to play this cool and keep my head.

Our aim is to bring him in.

If we find him, we can’t let him escape.

If he tries, I won’t hesitate to shoot him.

I’ve been trained to hunt, to shoot with precision, so I know I can sink a bullet in him without landing a kill shot if necessary. My black tactical gear feels restrictive today. My trigger finger, itchy. But as we traipse up the sandy mountainside of the red-hot desert, I find myself lost in my anger. It’s bubbling away at the surface. Thinking of all the time I lost with Kenzi. How drastically my life changed when Kenzi was taken.

I was a simple guy, growing up in club life.

Then she was gone.

Without a trace.

My life became all about finding her. In that, The Agency found me. I don’t regret my time here, finding a family with Kace and the team. They’re a part of me now, but I can’t help but think of how life would be different if Clinton fucking Hendrix hadn’t taken her.

“Man, my sweat is sweating out here,” Luca murmurs as we make our way through the dusty terrain.

“Keep it down, Devereaux, you don’t want them to hear you on approach. Over,” Everly pipes up over the earpiece.

My lips turn into a smirk as Luca mutters to himself. I think I hear something about ‘wearing the pants,’ and I chuckle as I weave around an overgrown cactus.

Kace stops, signaling with his hands. Just over this ridge is the safe house, and we’re coming in from the rear entrance. From drone surveillance, we’ve established there are at least three guards outside we’ll need to take care of before we can enter the premises.

We fan out, keeping our positions low to the dusty ground as we approach the house. It’s larger than I had imagined. I’m not sure why I was picturing more of a rundown shack, but this, this is bordering on an upscale villa. The tanned color of the large building comes into view behind a half-concrete wall. Large green cacti stand proud along the border of the fence helping to aid in our concealment. Kace signals to me, pointing to one of the guards who stands by the back pool—he’s closest to us. If we jump the fence, he’ll see us first. I know he’s my initial target. So, Blair moves in front of me for any cover fire, as I grip my sniper rifle tight to my chest.

I wait as the two guards at the door talk among themselves. When they turn their backs to the pool guard, I move as fast as I fucking can. Shifting position, I lean my rifle on the top of the wall, look through the scope, hold my breath and pull the trigger.

I don’t have time to think.

I don’t have time to hesitate.

My gun silently blasts out the single bullet which slices the air with ease. The thrill of the hunt pulsing through my veins as I hit my target in the chest. He gasps, gripping at the bullet wound, looking over in our direction.

The second he starts falling, Kace gives us the signal to move. I hand my rifle to Blair who clips it to my back, and I pull out my handgun. My heart’s racing so fast with the thought that Hendrix could be inside. That’s all I can think about right now as the seven of us jump the fence.

The guard lands face-first into the pool, the crystal blue water instantly fanning out in red as we race around the deck. The other two guards are turning in response to the commotion as they draw their weapons.

With a quick pull on the trigger, my silencer does its job. I land a bullet straight into one guy’s head, the single bullet wound oozing as he drops like a fly, the same time as Kace takes out the other.

I don’t know what it is about missions.

They fuel me.

They invigorate me.

They fill me with something—a need to be better, to do better.

But this mission, this mission has meaning. This is all for Kenzi, and it’s driving me, pushing me to make sure I do everything right.

We round the pool, Kace moving to the door and halting us. I hate the fact we need to check for danger before we can rush in and get this motherfucker. My blood is boiling to get to him and to make him pay for what he’s done to Kenzi, and for that matter, what he has done to the world.

We stop at the sliding glass doors. The thumping of running footsteps pound against the floor inside.

He’s making a break for it.

“Kace, we gotta get in there,” I grunt out in a whisper.

He glares at me but signals for Eli to go in first, who nods, moves in, gun drawn, scoping the place out. It’s the living room—large, open, and modern in design. Eli glances around the room, then turns back. “Clear,” he calls out, but as he does, Eli steps on something, a slow creak resounding through the room. He turns to face the wall as my adrenaline spikes through the roof.

“Eli, drop!” Kace calls out.

We all drop to the ground waiting for whatever is about to come our way.

Suddenly, a mass of blades flies out over the top of Eli like something from Indiana-fucking-Jones. He groans as one sideswipes his arm, causing his tactical gear to rip.

“Shit! Eli… you good?” I call out as the blades fall to the floor seconds after Eli’s bulky frame.

I stand, rushing forward, Kace grumbling under his breath as I reach Eli. He stands looking at his arm. It’s not bad, just a small gash.

What kind of fucking house is this?

“I’m good, but Kace, we need to be on guard. Who knows how many booby traps this place has installed?” Eli states.

“Kace, make a judgment call. If you need to withdraw, you do it now,” Jack’s voice comes down the line.

My head snaps to Kace.

We can’t back out now.

Hendrix is here. I know it!

We’ve been through worse than a few booby traps.

Surely, Kace knows that.

“We keep going. We need to bring him in. Just… watch your steps. Eyes open, everyone,” Kace instructs. “Noah, take the lead.”

Noah dips his head, then takes off. We follow in a single line. I move in behind him as we exit the living room and make our way through to a hall. Adrenaline surges through me as we take in the long dark hall.

All I can think about is Hendrix, my mind focused on that pot of gold at the end of this fucked-up rainbow. If we can get through this stupid maze he’s left for us, then this could all be worth it—everything I’m going through with Kenzi.

I just need to find him.

As we enter the hall, the further we go, the darker it gets. My senses become more attuned, more alert. I know Noah is watching out for any kind of trap. We all are.

Suddenly, the hallway lights up so fucking bright, it is difficult to see—it’s blinding. I bring my arm up to shield my eyes just as the light flickers off again.

Fucking great.

Then it happens again.

And again.

The lights strobing as Kace grabs my back.

I grip hold of Noah. “Get Noah to put on his goggles,” Kace calls out to me.

I feel for Noah’s backpack and unzip it, my eyes are clenched tight, but I know what the darkened goggles feel like. So, I pull them out and hand them around to Noah. He understands straight way and puts them on. I’m clinging to Noah, Kace to me, and the rest of the team holding on in a long line. Hendrix might think he can blind us, but we will always find a way out.

Noah leads us out of the hall, my eyes hurt, it’s hard to see anything.

The light in the kitchen is normal, so Noah takes off his goggles keeping guard for us all as we try to refocus our sight.

“Everyone okay?” Noah asks.

“Yeah,” we all reply.

“This guy’s a real fucker,” Luca quips.

“You’re only just finding that out now?”

“Guys, shut it! While you’re yammering, Hendrix could be getting away. Less chatting more searching,” Kace orders.

I agree. “Maybe we should split up? Two teams?” I ask.

Kace is hesitant but nods. “Okay… Luca, Noah, Eli, you go with Axel. Tanner, Blair, you’re with me.”

“We’ll search the bedrooms,” Luca states.

“We’ll keep going further. Make sure your comms are always on,” Kace instructs.

“Got it! Let’s go, kids.” Luca waves his hand through the air. With a roll of my eyes, I take off after him. We head down another hall with rooms to the right that are clearly bedrooms.

“If we check each room individually, we’ll make up time,” I tell Luca.

“Okay but keep up your guard. We know there are people in this villa, and who knows what other booby traps are in here. Keep your wits about you. Meet up in the hall.”

“Roger.”

We each take off into a separate bedroom. As I walk in, it looks like a room for a couple. The thought crosses my mind that maybe this was the room Hendrix and Kenzi shared together. My stomach churns making me nauseous.

A rattling noise in the closet makes me spin on my heels, turning to face it. I bring up my gun, my pulse quickening with every beat of my heart. If this is Hendrix, it’s going to take everything in me not to shoot him in his fucking butt-ugly face.

The closet rattles again, so I step over to it and slowly grab the handle. With a quick step to the side, out of the way of any kind of flying objects, I then yank open the door. I aim my gun as something falls to the floor. I jump back a little looking at the life-size mannequin, dressed in a lab coat, with long brown hair. Attached to the face is a picture of Kenzi. Hanging around the neck of the mannequin is a necklace and on the necklace is a count-down timer.

My blood runs cold.

The timer has just over four minutes left.

I don’t know what it means.

Is it a threat to Kenzi?

“We’ve got someone,” Tanner calls over the coms.

With quick hands, I grab the timer from around the mannequin’s neck and take off. Taking one last look at the fucking bedroom, I know for sure was hers and Hendrix’s, I close the door on that part of her life for good. I make my way back out into the hall where Luca, Noah, and Eli are all waiting for me.

“What you got there?” Noah asks.

“This was in the room stuck to a mannequin with Kenzi’s face on it. It’s actively counting down.”

Noah’s eyes widen as he glances at Luca. “We gotta get out of here.”

I look down at it again. Why the fuck didn’t it click into place before? I was so focused on Kenzi that I didn’t realize the timer was for us.

“Kace, grab whoever you got and get out. This whole place is gonna blow,” Luca calls down the comms as we start running for the exit. We race through the hall, into the kitchen, when a man comes out of the pantry, hurtling a meat cleaver at me. I duck as it shoots over my head and lands straight in the wall. I turn to face it as he pulls out a gun. He fires a round before I have a second to think, but lucky for me Eli tackles him as the gun goes off. The bullet grazes my bicep, and I grunt out in pain. Luca steps up and shoots the douche right in the head. Blood splashes on Eli, and he grumbles as he stands, swiping it off his face.

“Thanks, big man,” I call out.

He smirks and gives me a sideways glance, then we rush out a side door off the kitchen, heading out to the back patio, then around the pool. Kace drags along some guy as we all hoist him over the concrete wall making a last-ditch effort for the mountains when the timer rattles and alerts in my hand. My heart jumps in my chest.

We all stop, turning back to the house.

Nothing.

I stop, my feet frozen in place and glance at Kace. “If the timer wasn’t for the house, then what was it fo—”

Suddenly a wave of heat smacks my body as the house detonates in a massive explosion. The shockwave hits with such force, it throws me over on my ass, and I hit the deck completely winded. Sweat covers my skin as I cower, covering my body from the erupting inferno. Dust and debris from the villa begin to fall to the earth all around us as I glance over at Kace.

“We gotta move. We gotta move!” Kace calls out.

Somehow, I find my strength and hoist my ass up. On shaky legs, I stand and start running. A clump of roof tile slams down beside me sending up a swarm of sand and rocks into my legs. I groan as I run, trying as best as possible to avoid the falling hazards.

We rush down the side of the mountain, the flames flick and dance in the sky behind us. The building burning and with it, my hopes of finding Hendrix.

My plan was to capture him.

No questions asked.

It was a matter of honor for me.

I’m trying to do this for Kenzi, and I feel like I’ve fucking failed her.

Again.

As I run down the side of the mountain, the anger inside of me boils over. I rush over to the man Kace is holding and grab hold. “Where the fuck is he!” My hand balls into a fist, and I land it square into the man’s jaw. He recoils to the side from the force.

“Axel!” Kace bellows, while yanking the man away from me. 

“I don’t know, I swear,” the man states, then spits out a line of blood as we all come to a stop.

My breaths are frantic as I run my hand through my hair, turning and pacing, trying to walk off some of my frustration.

This man works for Hendrix.

He’s been close to him.

Knows him.

Hell, he probably knows Kenzi.

The fact is, Hendrix is a ghost in the wind, and we’re no fucking closer than we were yesterday.

“Did you set those traps in the house? Did you blow it up?” I grunt.

“No, I didn’t know anything about those. Honestly, Hendrix doesn’t trust me with shit like that.”

“Then what fucking good are you?” I yell, pulling out my gun and aiming it at his head.

“Axel! Pull your shit together!” Kace yells as Noah grabs my hand, yanking it away.

I’m on edge—I know it.

But this shit is eating at me.

I just need to find this asshole and destroy him before I destroy myself.