Chapter 14

<Gavin Forrester>

Victoria and I have been getting along well since our trip to the Soup Bowl. We've had small fights over the weeks since then but nothing major, meaning that neither of us has walked out on the other. It's been a peaceful existence and we've almost forgotten about the person we need to destroy; almost but not completely.

"How do we get rid of him when he has an army and we barely have a squad?" Victoria asks at the breakfast table one morning.

"America won the revolution and they were vastly outnumbered." Blaze points out and takes a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, well they had a plan, stupid." Victoria rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to me. "They also had hundreds of thousands of people and a multitude of other countries supporting them. We have Ainsley and some random criminals she's friends with."

"Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you're kind of dating a criminal." Blaze playfully wiggles his eyebrows which earns him a glare from Victoria.

"Can you idiots be serious for like one minute? Do you realize what we have to do? What we have to overcome?" Victoria pleads and raises her eyebrows at me.

"Yes, we all realize it and we will figure things out but we can't exactly do it if we're missing half of our team. You know the half with the inside information?" I sigh and tap my fingers on the table.

"We have to do this quick though; I'm tired of worrying about Talon when he doesn't deserve anymore of our time." Victoria gives me a serious look and then stands up.

"What are the four musketeers up to today?" Jeffrey asks as he comes into the room with the newspaper.

"Nothing, we have to wait for Ainsley until we can actually do anything." Victoria stalks out of the room, straight towards our bedroom to get ready for the day.

"What's her problem?" Jeffrey chuckles and takes her seat at the table.

"We're trying to take out Talon but we can't until Ainsley has gathered all of the information she needs." I explain in an overly tired voice.

"Sounds stressful." Jeffrey mutters distractedly as he sips on a mug of coffee.

"We're not exactly in a low-stress situation at the moment." Blaze chides his brother and gives him an eye roll.

"Do you guys want to do something interesting today? My buddy left me his boat because he got arrested and I finally got to fix it up. I think we should take a ride in it before you guys try to get rid of a mass murder boss." Jeffrey offers, changing the subject completely.

"As long as Tomas doesn't come along, I don't think Gavin will object." Slick smirks and gets up from the table.

"Who?" Jeffrey raises an eyebrow and looks towards Slick.

"That's one long, complicated story that I don't feel like telling." I rub my chin nervously as I think over Jeffrey's offer of a boat ride.

"The ride?" Jeffrey asks, pressuring me for an answer.

"What's the harm?" I grin and walk off to get ready.

I have no idea what I've gotten myself into...

~~~~~

Victoria is standing next to me in a yellow sundress, a button-up sweater and a pair of heeled sandals. The rest of us opted for shorts and a t-shirt so she stands out like a sore thumb but a beautiful sore thumb at that. The sun is shining and the water near the dock is calm. Jeffrey helps Victoria down into the boat and then allows the rest of us to get in by ourselves. Once we're all situated, he turns on the engine and adjusts all the necessities.

"And we're off." Jeffrey calls from the steering room as the engine sputters to life and he begins moving us down the river.

We move at a leisurely pace and soak up our surroundings. Of all of the things we've done during our stay on Barbados, this boat ride tops it all. It's peaceful and for once we aren't worried about who we'll run into in town or Talon or going back inside for fear of being caught. It's just us and as far as we know, we're the only ones on the river. I wrap my arm around Victoria's shoulders as we stand by the back of the boat and look at the passing wildlife. There are brightly colored flowers and tall trees on either side of the river and they create a slight shelter for us from the sun.

Jeffrey continues steering the boat and then the boat enters a wide open lake. The water moves slowly back and forth and it's as blue as the sky. Jeffrey stops the boat and comes out to enjoy the scenery with us. He opens up a cooler and tosses us each a beer. We open them and raise a toast.

"To freedom." I hold my bottle up towards the sun and my friends do the same.

"To freedom." They murmur and then we all take a long swig from our respective bottles.

~~~~~

Our little group has been enjoying the sun for a few hours and now Jeffrey is starting up the boat again so we can go back. My phone begins buzzing in my pocket as Jeffrey goes to turn on the engine. I see Ainsley's number on the caller ID so I pick up almost instantly.

"Gavin, I've found some stuff on Talon's computer and I don't think you're going to like it." She admits and waits for me to answer.

"Try me; I can guarantee I've probably seen it coming at one point or another." I run my hand over my mouth in anticipation.

"He has a file with your name on it and it's filled with every crime you've committed since you joined his company."

"I could've told you that; he does it for everybody." I bite my lip and wait for her to continue.

"You don't understand; my program can also tell me if he's sent it anywhere and bad news is, he has. He sent it to a secure database in D.C. which can only mean the government. I think he's setting you up so you'll be in prison even longer."

"Well, I'm screwed either way because I already escaped from Attica. Anything else?" I mutter impatiently and look back towards Victoria.

"Ah yes, the grand finale. I did a search through all of his encrypted files and I found one that involves you. It was filled with notes he's taken on you since you escaped Attica; where you've been, what you've bought, who you've talked to, how you escaped, who you escaped with. He knows every move you've made since that night back in April." Ainsley states seriously and continues typing away in the background.

"Please tell me that's the worst thing about his computer..." I screw my eyes shut, hoping for the best yet expecting nothing but the worst.

"No but I do have a little good news before I give you the other bad news..." She says calmly, like she's testing the waters.

"What is it?" I snap.

"I found a list of operatives he's fired and half of them live near here. I think we have a way to beat Talon at his own game. These people were cheated and betrayed by Talon Tenebris; there is nothing more they want than revenge on him. I'll bet if we told them we wanted to take Talon out, they'd agree in a heartbeat." Ainsley sounds pleased with herself but I'm still skeptical.

"That's great; anything more about the files?" I ask with an edge in my tone.

"Besides the fact that half of his computer could incriminate you and him equally? Well, he sent his surveillance file of you to some database. I can't find the location but I'd put my money on a government agency. Gavin, I think you need to count your blessings and pack your bags before the FBI shows up here to cart your ass away." Ainsley warns and then continues to type on her keyboard.

"Call those people up; I'm going to get rid of Talon Tenebris before I go anywhere near New York." I clench my fist as a million thought race through my head.

"Gavin, please just be careful; watch your back. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you." Ainsley's voice gets quiet as she finishes that sentence.

"Thanks but your job is to make sure this plan works. We can worry about my well-being later." With that I hang up and shove my phone in my pocket.

I cross my arms and glare at the perfectly blue sky. Jeffrey has got the engine to turn on and we're moving but that only lasts for a few minutes. Something knocks the side of the boat and sends us all flying towards the ground.

"What the hell was that?" I heard Jeffrey curse as he comes out from the steering room.

We all shake our heads and look around frantically. Then I hear a loud shot as if from a gun and before I know it, a bullet hits the side of the boat. I hit the ground and pull Victoria down with me. We all lay down and duck on the floor of the boat, not making any movement whatsoever. A few more shots ring out and then there's silence. I let out a deep breath and am about to stand up when the shooter begins to rapidly fire at the boat.

"Gavin, what are we supposed to do? They're going to kill us." Victoria whispers with a pained look on her face.

"They don't want to kill us." I say thoughtfully, the gears in my brain turning at top speed. "Whoever they are, they want to sink the boat, not kill us."

"That's much better." Victoria glares at me before a look of fear enters her eyes again.

"Jeffrey, I need you and Blaze to take the engine out and throw it over board. If they shoot that then we'll really be in trouble." I whisper and look carefully at the both of them.

They nod and obediently army crawl towards the engine room.

I turn back to Victoria and Slick and find two tense, scared faces looking at me.

"Put on life jackets, now. If we go down, I want to make sure you both aren't going to drown."

Victoria bites her lip and agrees silently. She and Slick move towards the side of the boat where the life jackets are located. I lift up the hem of my shirt, revealing a gun. I never leave the house now without making sure I have some form of self-defense. I lock the bullet into place and take in a deep breath.

"What are you doing?" Victoria mouths.

I put my finger to my lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet. Slick makes a few gestures, telling me where the shooter is located. I nod and turn over so I'm on my elbows.

"Gavin, you could get shot." Victoria whispers.

"Or he could drown. There are only so many options." Slick hisses and I silently thank him for his logic.

I take in one more deep breath and stand up, gun pointed out in front of me. I squint and see the outline of a figure. I aim the gun and allow my steady finger to pull back hard on the trigger. The sound of gun shots fill the air for the next few minutes. I send a few shots towards the person across the lake and then they return the favor. It continues on like this until the person runs out of ammunition and then they run away. However, the damage to our boat has already been done.

Water begins to fill the boat and it sinks lower and lower into the lake. Victoria screams as the boat finally sinks below the surface and she becomes engulfed by water. Her life jacket puffs up and she comes back to the surface, completely drenched. I begin to swim across the lake towards the place where the person was shooting from.

"Where do you think you're going?" Victoria shouts and I hear her race after me.

I don't give her an answer as I reach the forest on the other side. I fling myself onto the warm grass and gulp down some air, my ribs moving up and down with rapid breath. My hands brace the ground as I stand up. I walk towards where I thought I saw the shooter and begin to examine the surrounding area. I inhale the air and there's a strong presence of gunpowder. My fingers run over the trunk of a tree and are stained with a deep black powder when I remove them.

"This is definitely where the gun was shot." I mutter as I stoop down low where a piece of black metal that's partially concealed by a bush catches my eye.

Victoria lets out a sharp breath and drops her life jacket on the ground. She kneels next to me and stares intensely at the gun.

"Give me your sweater." I hold out my hand and she drops the soaking wet garment into it as she stands back up.

While on my knees, I wring out the sweater and use it to pull the gun out from underneath the bush.  It's a large gun that holds at least one magazine, which explains why the shooter could fire so rapidly at us. It looks to be some sort of an assault rifle but no brand that I recognize.

I hope Talon hasn't been inventing again...

I turn it over and find the magazine clip empty and no spares lying around which means the shooter thought we'd be an easy target.

Or they're just a fail of an assassin...

"Gavin, I think I know who was trying to shoot us..." Victoria's voice is shaking as she stares at a hole in the side of the tree.

Whoever was shooting at us must've made a hasty escape because they left all of their equipment here. There's a black bag, a pair of sunglasses and a knife stuck in the wood of the tree right by the hole.

"Who?" I ask gently as I take the stuff out of the tree.

I set the bag down gently on the ground and then I use her sweater to pull the knife out of the trunk.

"That knife is from Carter's house. I remember his dad had it locked away in some display cabinet when I was over there for dinner. I could never forget it because the handle was a black snake which reminded me of Carter." Victoria opens my hand so she can look at the knife blade more closely.

Tears fill her eyes as she stares down at its handle.

"Are you sure?" I rub her shoulder and then set the knife in her hand so I can sit down to look in the bag.

My fingers fumble with the zipper and the second it's open, I dump the contents on the ground. There's a flask, a file, a gold ring and a letter. I unscrew the top of the flask and smell it. It reeks of whiskey.

"It's definitely Carter. No wonder the guy was such a lousy shot; he was smashed off his ass." I chuckle a little and set the flask down on the ground.

"Only Carter would get drunk and try to shoot a gun." Victoria agrees and helps me go through the rest of the stuff.

She opens the file and begins to flip through the pages.

"Did you find anything useful there?" I ask absentmindedly as I rip open the letter.

"This file is filled with surveillance on us. Our phone conversations, where we went, who and what we saw. This is how he knew where we were going to be today. Either somebody in our house is a snitch or Talon has us wired." Victoria bites her lips and hands the file to me.

"Good use of vocabulary." I smirk as I flip through the file.

She's right; it has scripts of our conversations and notes on where we went as well as pictures. Talon has known our whereabouts since the day we left and it was stupid of me to believe that he'd let us slip through his fingers so easily.

Why is he letting us think we have the upper-hand? Why doesn't he just come and take us out all at once while we're still sitting ducks? Talon never lets things get this far; he's up to something and it goes way beyond torturing us. Talon's biding his time and waiting for the proper moment to remind us who's in control.

"We have a bigger problem plaguing us now than Carter trying to kill us..." I mutter and pull out my phone to dial Ainsley's number.

I stand up, the file still in my hand. The phone rings for a few seconds and then Ainsley picks up.

"Please tell me you have good news, Gavin." Ainsley sighs and waits for my answer.

"God forbid I'd ever actually be able to give anyone good news." I shake my head and run my fingers through my hair.

"What is it?" Ainsley's voice is controlled but there's a nervous edge in it that I've never heard from her before.

"Well Victoria and I were almost shot down in a boat by Carter Jacobson." I state bluntly.

"He's such an asshole. I can't believe that Talon has held onto him for so long." Ainsley begins ranting but I interrupt her with a grunt.

"He's stupid on top of everything else. He left his bag and his gun behind."

"I'm sure Victoria could've told you about his stupidity." Ainsley chuckles.

"There was a file in the bag and Talon has scripts of every conversation that happened inside of the house we're staying in since we arrived. Ainsley, I think he knows we're trying to take him down and I don't think he's very happy about it." I rub the back of my neck nervously.

"Apparently." Ainsley exclaims with a tone of indifference.

"Can you come pick us up? We need to start planning."

"First, it depends on where you are and second, where do you think we should plan our take-down since your safe haven is no longer safe?" Ainsley takes in a deep breath and waits for me to say something.

"We're on the banks of Lake uh..." I look around for Jeffrey so I can ask him what lake we're on and give the name to Ainsley.

"I'm gonna guess that it's the only lake around here..." Ainsley says in a knowing tone.

"Yeah." I mumble awkwardly.

"I'll be there in fifteen. We can finish this conversation then." Ainsley hangs up and I turn around to find Victoria crying on the ground, her hands grasped around the letter that Carter had in his bag.

I squat down and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She looks up and shoves the letter at me.

"Gavin, he left this stuff on purpose. He wanted us to find it. Read the letter; it'll tell you the reason why." Victoria breaths deeply and looks down at the ground.

I smooth the letter out and skim it to see what made Victoria cry.

I've done some pretty screwed up things in my life but Talon has done more. 2354 Fairview Drive, Mockingbird Gated Community.

"He left us the address. Why would he do that? After everything he's put me through, why would he start being nice now?" Victoria stands up and uses her arm to wipe away her tears.

"He's not being nice. Victoria, he's probably setting us up. Ainsley and I have already found Talon's headquarters..." My eyebrows furrow as I say that, uncertainty taking over my eyes.

I hear a car drive up behind us and stop just as it reaches the tree we're standing near. Ainsley, wearing a pair of shorts and a hoodie, steps out of the front seat of the car. She looks like a mess with her bloodshot eyes and unkempt hair. Ainsley is either hung-over or like the rest of us, hasn't slept well for weeks.

"I look like hell, I know. Please just get in the car if you want a ride." Ainsley unlocks the doors and waits for us to get in.

I take shotgun and Victoria, Blaze, Slick and Jeffrey take the seats in the back two rows of her SUV. Ainsley gets into the driver's seat and locks the doors before buckling her seat-belt and turning on the car. She drives back down the forest path she came on and we all remain silent for the first few minutes of the ride. I hold the duffle and gun in my lap, the letter and file tucked safely in the front zippered pocket of the bag. Ainsley pulls up in front of Jeffrey's house and then puts the car in park.

"Go get the file I gave you and any electronics you have in the house. We're going back to my place to plan and check your gadgets for bugs." Ainsley states seriously and motions for me to get out of the car.

I oblige and race up the steep staircase with Jeffrey's house key in hand. I get to the door and that's when I realize that there's no need for the key.