Smoked (The Invincibles 5)

“What is it with IMI not giving proper response?” he asked, hitting the kill switch on his mic before he spoke.

“Hey, now.”

“You’re definitely the exception, Siren,” he muttered before turning his mic back on. “Remove your headset.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked you to,” he answered without looking up at me. “Here.” Decker handed me something flesh-colored and not much bigger than the head of a pin. “What is this?”

“Put it on the tip of your finger and then insert it as far as you can into your auditory canal. Casper?”

“Testing, test, test, test,” I could hear her say inside my ear.

“Copy,” I responded.

“Copy back,” said Casper.

“You amaze me,” I mumbled.

“Why, thank you,” said Casper, although I was sure she knew I was speaking to Deck.

“By the way, no one outside of the Invincibles knows about this technology. Except you and now Hughes.”

“Understood.”

He showed me something on his phone. “Is this a back entrance to the complex?”

“Yes.” I pointed where they could enter and park without being seen from my house.

“Wait for my signal,” he said, climbing out. “Head out in five, and I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Roger that.”

* * *

“We’re in position,” said Deck.

“Doppler indicates a count of six,” Casper reported.

Smoke, Uncle Gene, Byrne, and the other three had to be muscle.

I was little, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take even the biggest guys. It was all about where, when, and how I struck. Casper outweighed me by at least a stone and a half.

With the four agents Hughes had delivered from IMI, we had Byrne far outnumbered. It was just a matter of striking in such a way that the hostages—which we had to assume Smoke and Uncle Gene were—remained unharmed.

“Move out. We’ve got your six,” said Decker.

“Roger that.”

When I pulled up in front of my place, the first thing I noticed was one of the doors on Gene’s car was partially ajar. Second, there were no other vehicles in sight.

When I walked inside the house, the first face I saw was Smoke’s. He made brief eye contact, then his eyes went left.

“One, one, one, five,” I whispered as quietly as I could without moving my lips.

“Siren,” said Byrne, who stepped out from where Smoke had indicated at the same time another man approached from my right, frisked me, and took my weapons. “So glad you could join us.”

“What are you doing here, and what in the hell is this?” I motioned with my hand toward Smoke and Gene, both of whom were gagged and bound to chairs.