Arizona

Lex's Pov

Song Whatever it takes by Imagine Dragons

Lex looked out the window as the Gulfstream roared through the clouds down on the runway. Lex got up from where I was sitting and walked down the staircase. I grabbed the pelican case and the body armor, heading through the gate and looking for Jennifer Peters's car. Out of the corner of my eye, he quickly spotted a suspicious-looking hummer outside. While I waited for Jennifer to come, he reached into my pocket and pulled out my Bluetooth earpiece

She drove the streets, passing by some restaurants and stores on her way to Scottsdale International Airport. She pulled into the parking lot outside, where she saw me standing and waiting. I ventured out through the gate, taking note of the license plate, walked over to her vehicle opened the door, and got in.

Jennifer asked," David never told me what you did for a living?"

" I'm a" security consultant," Lex stated

Jennifer nodded, saying, " I'm very sorry for the loss of your brother Lex, but my instincts tell me there was more to it."

He could tell by the way she spoke that she was nervous and afraid of her life. She looked at Lex seeing something of David in me. After we left the airport, I clicked my Bluetooth earpiece, saying, "Nicky, I need your help with something out here."

Nicky answered, "Okay, Lex, I'm here. what do you need me to find out?"

Nicky was one of the best hackers in the business; if there was something you wanted to find, she was the one for it. Truth be told, she was one of the CIA's out-of-the-box think tanks. That's why he knew she would find what I was looking for.

I had operated all over Europe with the Alpha team, but never on domestic soil. We pulled up along the sidewalk in front of the bookstore.

Climbing out, they walked over to the front entrance. She opened the door, and they entered. Jennifer closed the door behind us as she exclaimed, "David's debut book was about a CIA agent who runs on when he gets framed. I looked over the manuscript before I edited it, and I couldn't tell if there were any classified secrets in it."

"Somethings are hidden in plain sight, but I don't think David would do that. We hardly talked a lot," Lex replied.

"Nicky, see what you can find out about this license plate on a Hummer 10456," I stated.

Nicky replied, "Okay, hang on, as she typed in her on the laptop. A few minutes later, some information flashed onto the screen. She continued, "Okay, I got something for you, Lex. The hummer belongs to a shooting range owned by a front company called The Resistance That's all I got; the rest is redacted for something."

Jennifer looked at Lex, wondering what was going on, and then said, "What did you find out?"N

Lex clicked my earpiece, ending the conversation before he spoke. "The hummer that I saw in the parking lot of the airport before you came arrived. belongs to a shooting range in Scottsdale, but the shooting range is The Resistance; have you ever heard of them?"

Jennifer Peters walked back and forth, trying to think of where she might have heard of the Resistance before, but nothing came to her mind. She wondered if one of her old contacts in MI6 or the intel community might know of it.

"No, I haven't heard of it before," stated Jennifer

"Did David ever go to this shooting range? Maybe to talk to someone there about certain things for his novel, Jennifer," Lex asked

"He did talk to a lot of experts on different things that he needed help to complete his book. He got some help from me because I was an MI6 agent and the intel community," Jennifer remarked.

All that I knew was that this front owned this shooting range and everything was redacted. Why was that I wonder? Something kept nagging at me about it. I couldn't place my finger on it. Maybe I could find out some intel from Director Hamilton on this Resistance.

"Did David take any notes or photographs when he talked to these experts?" I asked.

"He might have but he always carried a backpack with him, but he didn't have it with him this time," Jennifer, stated.

"Do you still have his backpack"

"Not sure where he left it!" Jennifer remarked

Jennifer walked out through the front door of the bookstore and saw that David's car was still there. She walked over to the window, looking in to see if she had spotted his backpack there. She knew that he had taken several photographs on his iPhone that he had shown before when he was describing the places in his book.

The door on the driver's side was unlocked, so she grabbed the handle as she opened it, reaching into the back to grab it. She closed the door after that and went back inside. She didn't know what they would find. She handed it over to me while I opened up the backpack, taking out David's notepad and his phone.

Lex clicked on the screen and scrolled up to the photographs as I came to a couple of ones of the submarine base in Cartagena, Spain. Maybe he was there talking to an expert on something for his book, which he didn't know. His instinct was telling him to check out this shooting range. Maybe he would have found some answers here.

"I let you know what I find out from the shooting range," I stated as I walked out of the bookstore, just as a black sedan pulled out in front of me.

The man and woman stepped out of the Mercedes-Benz and walked up to me. They looked like government agents, probably from the CIA, FBI, or Homeland Security. Courtney reached into her pocket and pulled out her ID, showing me it while she looked around.

"Lex Jackson, my name is Courtney Hanson I'm from Aegis Security and Investigation; can we go somewhere and talk?" she said, in an authoritative tone.

"What is this about, may I ask?" Lex asked, looking at the ID she had in hand.

"Your brother was a security consultant that we contracted for; he was doing a penetrating test and security audit on the NSA and a submarine base in Cartagena; that's all I can tell you," Courtney stated.

"Who do you work for? it's not the CIA, FBI, or Homeland Security," I asked

"Aegis Security and Investigation," Trevor replied

What Lex knew about them was that they were a high-end protection firm. I noticed there was something about Courtney Partner who kept looking around like he was nervous or something. I had a feeling that they were telling me all of it and that they left some stuff. Which got me thinking.

Maybe there was a connection to this Resistance, and whatever it was had to be highly classified.

"Why is Aegis interested in the NSA and a submarine in Cartagena, Spain?" Lex asked, eyeing the Sig Saucer in Courtney's shoulder holster.

"I can't tell you that it's highly classified; let us know if you hear from David; I'm on your side, Lex," Courtney stated.

After he was done talking to the security consultants from Aegis Security and Investigation, Lex decided to go and check out that shooting range to see what he could find out about what had gotten David killed. Lex walked back into the bookstore as they climbed back into their black sedan.

There were a couple of things that were nagging at him. For one thing, why was Aegis wanting to know if I heard from David? Something wasn't adding up here. And second, why was he doing a penetrating test and security for the NSA and submarine base in Cartagena, Spain?

Maybe it was for his book that he had gotten published. I walked back into the bookstore as Jennifer was gathering up the chairs with the employees there and putting them away. As I an agent for the CIA I knew where to look for things that weren't there.

"Do you have a first edition of David's book," I asked.

"Yes, he wanted me to keep one for you. I'll go and get it," Jennifer replied.

Jennifer walked up the staircase leading to her office and strolled over to her desk. She had kept the first edition with the jacket cover on it in the bottom drawer of her desk.

She opened it took out the book, and then closed it as she walked out of her office and downstairs back into the bookstore. She strolled over to Lex, holding David's first edition of his book.

"I'm going to check out the shooting range that Hummer belongs to. To see what I can find out there, I'm going to need to borrow your vehicle," I asked.

"You can take David's car; I'm sure he wouldn't mind; he thought a lot about you," Jennifer stated.

She walked behind the cashier counter, grabbed David's key, and then ventured around back to Lex, handing me the keys. Lex walked out carrying the book and the keys, walking over to the white Porsche Coupe. He climbed in, closed the door behind him, and placed the book on the passenger seat across from me. Lex drove down the street, heading to the shooting range.

I glanced in my rearview mirror to see if I had someone tailing him; so far, there wasn't, which was good.

Lex drove up and pulled into the parking area outside the shooting range. There was a sign saying "Gnat Warfare Private-Owned Property." He stepped out, surveying the surroundings around him It didn't look like any other shooting range that I had ever been to.

I walked over to the shooting range that was out in a desert hill area, looking around. It looked more like a tactical shooting range to me. A few minutes later, I heard the roar of the hummer pull and park. I caught a glimpse of a man  looking like some sort of assassin climbing out of the Hummer

"This is private property. Leave now or I'll have to put a bullet in you, Aitken Carter snarled in a harsh, demanding voice

"I just have a couple of questions I want you to answer, if you don't mind," Lex replied.

Lex sprinted down the shooting range.  He fired some rounds at him from his MP5 submachine gun that was clutched in his grip. Maybe he just had to close something, whatever it was. He didn't look like he wanted to answer some questions. Without hesitation, Lex withdrew my pistol and pivoted, firing shots at him. He dropped his MP5 on the ground as he withdrew his K-Bar fighting knife from his sheath. 

Lex slipped his pistol back into my hip holster. I sidestepped as the assassin lunged at me with the fixed blade in his grip. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't going to stop until he put me on the ground. I predicted his next movements, pivoting and delivering a tiger claw strike to his cheek, knocking him unconscious. I decided to check and see if he had any ID on him.

Lex got on his knees and searched his pockets in his pants, finding no ID on him. Whoever was behind the Resistance sure didn't want anyone snooping around. Which made me wonder what had been redacted that Nicky couldn't find out.

The shop across from the shooting range was closed and looked abandoned, like it hadn't been used in a long time My instincts were on high alert, and Lex was feeling a bit unnerved that there was more to this shooting range than it looked.

Lex ventured over to the shop, where I noticed a high-tech, sophisticated surveillance camera attached to the wall of the shop. So far, what he knew was that David had photographs of the NSA and a submarine base, Cartagena, on his phone and that Aegis was looking for him too. Some things weren't adding up. 

I noticed the door in front of the shop was locked, so I quickly pulled out my lock pit kit. I picked out a pit and gently picked the lock, eventually opening the door. I slipped the pit back into the lock-pit kit in my pocket. I moved quickly, quietly gripping my suppressed Glock in my hands. I knew I had to disconnect the surveillance camera.

The inside of the shop was large, with a counter out in front of it and a doorway behind it leading maybe to an office or a workshop of some kind. I spotted the electrical system to which the surveillance camera was connected.

He ventured over to the cupboard where the system was. Lex placed his Glock on the counter From my training, he knew which wires had to be cut to disconnect it. Lex reached into the sheath on my pants and withdrew my Half Blade Karambit, cutting the two wires that were connected to the surveillance camera.

Lex grabbed my pistol from the counter and decided to check out the office to see what I could find out or discover. I walked back behind the counter, then grabbed the doorknob as I opened the door slowly. He entered what looked like a workshop and an office put together. Lex spotted a laptop sitting on the desk; there was a highly classified, redacted file on the screen. From what I could read or make out

Name: Aitken Carter

Ouccpation: Mercernary

Operational status: Unknown

Four years ago he was mercenary for working for the CIA on their so-called dicey time-targeted sensitives targets that they wanted killed.

Instead he had pocketed some money from a private defense contractor who had been funneling money to a terrorist cell that was operating Oslo Norway. He had travelled all over the worlddoing dirty work for the rogue countries until one day he found a burner inside his hummer and pelican case containing a bolt action sniper rifle. The next he knew he was working for the Resistance.

Laying on the desk in the workshop was a pelican case I knew what was in there from having an assassin on my team that was Summer Anton. I sauntered over to the desk slipping my suppressed Glock into my Kydex hip holster.

I flipped open up the pelican case.

Inside layed a ghost black high-accuracy Orsis SE T-500 sniper rifle. I froze in my tracks staring wide  eyes as I rasied an eyebrow at what I was looking at. This wasn't good at all. I clicked my Bluetooth earpiece saying" Summer what you can tell me about the Orsis SE T-500"

"Lex, It's Russia's newest deadliest sniper rifle when I was training in Uzbekistan a few years ago I saw in action, It fire high velocity rounds up to 1500M why?" Summer asked.

"Because I'm looking at it in the pelican case at the shooting range that is owned front called Resistance," I stated, trying to put together the pieces so far.

"Then we have a problem whatever David was looking into at the shooting Range where you are now probably got him killed," Summer told me.

"Yeah, but this shooting range looks it hasn't been used in a long time expect for new sniper rifle I found. My gut and my instinct are telling me that we have may have assassin on the U.S soil here."

" Be careful Lex, we don't who were dealing with yet and what this Resistance is  yet? Summer replied.

I ended the conversation on my earpiece as I came across a pack A.C.P bullets laying next to it. I took the lid off the box that I was looking at there was no way these bullets were 50 Caliber. I glanced at the name of the box that read Russtech Ammunition 60 Caliber. I felt my heartbeat and though Fuck the Russians created 60 Caliber bullets.