Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

July 2021

Carson Brooks quietly signaled to all five of his team members as the six of them advanced toward the seemingly deserted warehouse. He had done ghost operations many times before, but it didn’t mean he was any less nervous every single time he had to perform his job. Being a part of the ghost team was more than just an honor. After all, only the best of the best would be recruited into the team. The ghost team itself was a part of the military branches within the government. However, only one person from each of the branches was actually aware of its existence. No one else knew about the ghost team, and that included the president or any members of the congress and judicial branches. They might be informed on a need-to-know basis. Otherwise, the members of the ghost team were supposed to be “invisible.”

“How many people?” Carson whispered to Georgina, his second-in-command, as they made their way closer to the warehouse.

“Based on the news from my informant, there are forty-nine altogether.”

“Eight for each of us then. I’ll deal with the extra man.”

Natasha scoffed at Carson. “Or woman. Why do you men always assume that terrorists are all men?”

Carson grinned. “Fine. I’m sorry. I’ll handle the extra person. Happy now?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “f**k off far, far away from me.”

Carson chuckled under his breath as he crept stealthily toward one of the windows. “Can’t. I’m responsible for all of you. Your safety is my responsibility—”

Vanessa abruptly rushed toward him with a blade in her left hand. She slashed at something behind him a couple of times. He grimaced when he felt someone’s blood spurting onto his hair and clothes. He glanced up and saw Vanessa balancing the body of a dead man with her right hand. She was also smirking. “You were saying?”

“Show off,” Carson retorted, smiling at her. “Thanks for saving my ass.”

“You’re welcome, Beast.”

Beast was Carson’s nickname among the members of the team. He had earned that nickname many years ago when he succeeded in killing twenty-seven terrorists with his bare hands in less than three minutes. He didn’t get to become the leader of the team simply because he was forty-five years old, its oldest member. He was damn excellent at his job.

“Are we exposed already?” Nicholas inquired, sounding rather incredulous as he lifted the dead terrorist away from Vanessa and placed him on the ground.

Brandon shook his head. “I don’t think so. I saw him holding a cigarette before Vanessa took care of him and tugged him outside. It was purely coincidental. He must have opened the window for a smoke. Is the coast clear inside?”

Vanessa, who had been peeking into the warehouse, nodded. “Yeah. I’m going in.”

Carson pulled his gun from its holster, even though he wanted to avoid using it. It would make too much noise, and that would alert the other terrorists to the presence of his team. Once he was certain everything was all right inside the warehouse, he slipped his gun into its leather sheath, hanging on his waist, before climbing through the open window. He waited for the others to follow. Then the six of them ran deeper inside. For the next several minutes, they succeeded in killing another seventeen terrorists with their blades and avoided alerting the others of their presence.

“I got six,” Brandon said, a delighted expression on his face.

“Four for me,” Vanessa interjected. “Including that first man by the window.”

Carson, Natasha, Nicholas, and Georgina had only managed to annihilate two each. The six of them were about to climb the stairs when Carson noticed something moving—a gunman standing by the railing on the second floor, aiming his assault rifle in their direction.

“s**t! Cover now!” Carson shouted before he pushed Georgina, Nicholas, and Vanessa away from the staircase while Brandon and Natasha had already made a mad dash toward the opposite side of the staircase, using it as a shield.

Multiple shots rang out, and Carson yelped when one of the bullets got him in his right arm. He breathed hard and fast as he concealed himself by the side of the staircase as best as he could. He checked on his team members, relieved when he discovered them unharmed.

Nicholas smiled at Carson. “Guess we’re exposed now.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Way to state the obvious.”

Carson ignored their silly bickering and the throbbing pain in his arm. He grabbed his gun and counted internally from one to three before jumping out sideways in a horizontal position. Then he focused his gaze on the terrorist on the second floor before shooting. He smirked when he succeeded in hitting his target. He landed with a thud on the hard floor just in time for five other men to appear at the railing. He got on his feet in an instant and opened fire. All five men died in quick succession. Natasha, Nicholas, Georgina, Vanessa, and Brandon looked impressed as they headed toward him. They even clapped their hands a little.

“Holy s**t!” Brandon exclaimed. “You’re really fast.”

Carson shrugged. “It’s either them or me. Let’s go up to the second floor now. I’m sure the terrorists are waiting for us somewhere upstairs.”

“Why are we handling such an easy case anyway?” Georgina asked as the six of them raced up the stairs.

“Because this isn’t an ordinary case. The terrorists have been smuggling a shipment of toxic substance into our country, and unfortunately, there are at least four of our senators involved. The military branches can’t dispatch anyone without those senators knowing about it. Unfortunately, we don’t have the names of those senators, but we know one of the high-ranking members of the terrorists has those names we need. Our job is to get that info.”

“How come we don’t know anything about that?” Vanessa inquired.

“Classified. Aside from our handlers, I’m the only one who’s aware of it, and now, all five of you are also privy to it.”

“Why do you trust us with it?” Natasha asked. “As a member of the team, I’m used to following orders without asking for clarifications.”

Carson glanced at her. “Just in case something happens to me, and I don’t make it out of here.”

After that, the atmosphere became tenser, but Carson didn’t have the energy or the time to waste and unnecessarily worry about the other members of his team. He had a job to do, and he was determined to accomplish it as effectively and efficiently as possible. He was thankful that Natasha, Georgina, Vanessa, Brandon, and Nicholas had the common sense not to distract him further. Instead, they gathered around him as they sprinted toward the first few rooms, which they discovered to be empty.

“How many more terrorists are left inside this warehouse?” Brandon asked.

“If Georgina’s informant is right about the total number, then we have another twenty-five,” Carson replied.

After that, the six of them entered another room. This time, they were greeted by rain of bullets from a squad of terrorists all at once. Fortunately, they managed to escape unscathed. They pulled out their guns and began shooting. Not surprisingly, thanks to the ghost team’s marksmanship, the terrorists were all dead in a matter of minutes.

Georgina counted their number. “Twenty-one more down.”

“Four more to go,” Carson concluded as he reloaded his guns while his team members automatically did the same.

He was taken aback when they eventually got into the next room. They found three men standing in front of a woman, who appeared to be their captive. Maybe Georgina’s informant was mistaken. Maybe there were only forty-eight terrorists inside the warehouse.

“Let her go,” Brandon shouted as he aimed at them, a gun in each hand.

One of the terrorists smirked. “You only have ordinary handguns while the three of us have assault rifles. We will kill you before—”

One loud bang from Georgina’s direction, and the terrorist crumpled to the ground, eyes wide open. The other two visibly trembled as they pointed their rifles at the terrified woman on the floor.

“Put your guns down and kick them in our direction or we will shoot her dead,” one of them shouted, his eyes darting back and forth between Georgina, Nicholas, Natasha, Vanessa, Brandon, and Carson.

Naturally, Georgina, Nicholas, Natasha, Vanessa, and Brandon glanced at Carson as they waited for his instruction. He nodded, and the six of them did as they were told. Then the other terrorist sneered before lifting his assault rifle. Carson quickly genuflected onto his left knee and tugged up the bottom of his pants for the spare gun hidden inside his boot. He pulled it out and shot at the two astonished terrorists in speedy succession. The bullets got them right in the center of their foreheads.

After that, he ignored Natasha, Georgina, Nicholas, Vanessa, and Brandon, all of whom were clapping for him. Instead, he made his way toward the female captive. He offered her his hand, but she got a knife from somewhere behind her and aimed for his chest. Georgina’s informant had been right after all. This woman had to be the final terrorist. Carson instinctively shielded himself with his arms as he backed away. As a result, she succeeded in slashing his arms. He was about to move forward and try to capture her when he grew dizzy. He became even more alarmed when he realized what was happening to him. The woman must have coated the knife with something venomous, and it had entered his bloodstream.

He toppled onto his back as his vision became blurrier. He was also finding it more difficult to inhale and exhale. He panicked when she rushed toward him with the knife pointing in his direction. Everything happened too fast. His team members, weapon-less, remained too far away from him and his assailant. That was when he noticed the shape of a gun right next to him. He mustered whatever strength he had left inside him, picking the gun off the floor and aiming it at the terrorist before clicking on the trigger repeatedly. The bullets slammed into the woman’s neck over and over again. Her eyes widened before she crashed onto her back. He heaved out a sigh of relief. Then he slipped into unconsciousness.