The Laws of Kings Read online

  Grabbing a bottle, I fling the alcohol across the floor, swipe a match against the counter, and toss it, lighting up a path in front of the back door and blocking the men from pursuing the strange gambler. I throw some money down on the counter and rush out of the bar to the back alley to see the stranger battling a man with a gun. When the gun gets knocked to the ground and kicked in my direction, I stare at it until a glimmer of light flashes across my eyes. I look up and spot the knife being pulled on the gambling stranger and take a quick step towards the gun. I grab it and shoot, sending a bullet through the hand and into the handle of the knife, ending the fight and giving me the opportunity to move on. I wipe the gun down and toss it in the trash before heading down the road.

  The streets in this small city are lively, even this early into the morning. Whores and their Johns line the streets with their pimps hiding in the shadows, counting their money, just like any other city. The sound of water dripping down the rickety drain pipes is the only other sound you hear until the screams from a small doorway echo out into the street. The door slams open, and two men carry another out into the street and shoot him dead with his wife screaming in the background. I watch the wife’s agony escalate into an uncontrollable rage. She rushes at the men that killed her husband with intent on justice, but her efforts are in vain. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of a young girl crying for her mother, and I react without thinking. I go after them and pull the woman to safety before handling the two men best I can. I assume the police will come at some point. The commotion has to have alerted enough people to be of concern. However, outside of a single police car driving by down the street, no local police come anywhere near the fight. I am handling my own until a car pulls up and more attackers jump out to help their friends. I glance back as the lady I saved grabs her child, runs inside, and locks the door and windows behind her. I guess it would be stupid to assume she is calling for help in there. I look at the now ten men coming at me and take one step back and smile wide. “Oh hell! You’re not Jack and Charlie, my bad. What do you say we just call this a case of mistaken identity and we go have a beer?” Their snarling figures don’t seem to be a positive response. “I’ll buy?” I ask with an optimistic tone but quickly realize running seems to be the better choice for me. I take off running from the angry crew and into another group of men. “Oh fucking shit.” I stop dead in my tracks as the new group come at me with guns and promptly walk around my stiff posture and shoot the men at my back.

  “Get in the car, Gypsy. We don’t have all day,” the gambling stranger I saved earlier says to me. I follow the men into a car and wonder where the hell they are taking me. “Never seen anyone get into so much trouble so quickly.”

  “You know I don’t have that much money,” I say, causing them all to laugh. “Actually, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to go to my hotel and get my stuff and get the fuck out of this city …”

  “Don’t worry about your shit, Gypsy. We already got it; you aren’t going back there. You’re a wanted man now.” I am pushed out of the car and into a building where a well-armed group await me. I stop breathing for a second when I get a hard smack to my back, forcing the air from my lungs. “You can stop shaking now, Gypsy. You’re amongst friends here. By the way, my name is Peter.”

  “Friends?” I ask, looking around for any face that might seem familiar other than the one.

  “Yeah, that is if you want them? Otherwise, you’re free to go on your own. I wouldn’t recommend it, but we aren’t going to stop you,” Peter says.

  “If I go …” I start to ask and am met with laughter before I can finish.

  “Oh those men you were dealing with before will have the so-called ‘law’ here to arrest you, and then they will torture you until you pass out, and then they will wake you and torture you some more, and then hang you in the street as a reminder to not challenge the government here.”

  “And if I stay?”

  “After knowing that, does it matter what happens if you stay?”

  “Not really,” I admit.

  “Well, I’ll tell you anyway. If you stay, then that’s when the fun begins. We could use a guy like you to help us. We are preparing to help the locals take down their government and reinstate the old governing system.”

  “You work for the people?”

  “We work for who we see fit.”

  “And who has the money to pay us!” a guy yells from the back of the room.

  Peter laughs, “Well… yeah that helps.”

  “You’re guns for hire?” I ask, knowing of men like these.

  Peter, the tall rugged-looking fuck, stands and bows to me like a prince before introducing the rest of the men and some women in the room, all of which have their own look about them. You would never guess they all work in the same crew, yet each looks intimidating in his or her own way. “We are KRT, and we are at your service … for the right price. We are just like you, Gypsy—lost souls banning together to look out for the rest of the world in need.”

  “For the right price,” I remind him.

  “Well, we have to eat too.”

  “And drink!” someone yells out with laughter following.

  “And Fuck!” another yells out from the back as the roar of laughter takes over the room.

  Peter gets up and puts his arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry, Gypsy. We will teach you everything you need to know. Come on, join us. What else do you have to do? We’re a family here …” he says, and I turn to look him over and the rest of the room. Maybe it’s about time I find my purpose in this world.

  “I guess I’m home,” I say, receiving a welcome celebration like I have never seen.

  At the end, they show me to my new room where I find all my things that they somehow managed to set up for me while others poured tequila down my throat. It’s like they had this planned before they knew me. The bed is not the nicest in the world, but right now, I don’t care. Swaying with the room around me, I begin trying to remove my clothes when a woman comes through the door.

  The dark haired beauty shuts the door behind herself and smiles as she removes all of her clothes. “The better the fighter, the better in bed they are, so I’m curious … how good of a fighter are you?” She drops to her knees, releasing my pants to the floor, and finds my cock with no problem. I gasp as her tongue swirls the tip, but when a flash of metal catches my eye, I reach down and grab hold of her by the neck, pinning her down and releasing the knife she pulled from her pile of clothes. She lies underneath me, smiling.

  “Who the fuck are you? What do you want? I don’t have anything to do with my family anymore, so there is no need to come after me,” I say, sobering up quickly.

  “I don’t know who your family is. I only wanted to see if you’re as good of a rebel as Peter thinks you are.”

  “How would he know? I just met him today.”

  She laughs. “We have been following you for two weeks. We have watched you handle yourself a few times. What is really amazing is how alert you are, even when intoxicated. Who are you really? Ex-military, Navy Seal …” She releases one of her legs and fondles my balls with her foot and a desiring moan. “Or a man on the run?”

  “None of your damn business, Puta,” I say, grabbing her leg and pinning it back to her side.

  “I’m Portuguese, not Spanish, and the name is Leandra … Babaca,” she hisses back at me.

  I look over the nude woman with my cock poking her in the stomach and don’t bother saying another word. I lean down and bite her lip and lean back with a smile. “Did you come in here to test my fighting skills or did you want a fuck?” She grabs hold of me and spins me back on to the bed.

  “Oh, I want to fuck,” she says, jumping on me like she has been picturing doing so since she first saw me. The sex is dirty, emotionless, but enjoyable.

  When I wake up the next day, my head is pounding. “Good morning, Gypsy. You better get up before the boys come in here to get you,” Leandra says, climb
ing out of my bed still completely nude. “If you’re hungry, there is plenty of food in the kitchen.”

  “You’re not going to take care of my morning erection for me?” I ask, expecting to get what I want.

  “Don’t get cocky. You were good entertainment for the night, but don’t expect to always get it from me,” she says, dressing back into her black ninja gear and walking out.

  The crew flowing in after her doesn’t give me a chance to get dressed before they pick me up and carry me into a big empty warehouse.

  “Nice of you to join us for training, Gypsy. Although, the outfit may not be best for what you are about to go through,” Peter says, fighting a smile.

  “I am happy to go back and change if you will allow me to,” I say, adjusting my balls proudly for everyone.

  “No time for that, and besides, you never know when you are going to be in a battle. Go!” he says, and suddenly, I am fighting with men from all sides. The beating I take first reminds me to always protect myself from every possible side, especially underneath. Thankfully, once I’m lying on the ground wreathing in pain, they stop the battle and allow me to get dressed before showing me techniques that I have never known before. “You have the awareness, Gypsy, and a good hand for your gun, but you have a lot to learn about fighting without weapons.”

  My intense training began that day and continued from one city to another. The group moves in, does what is needed, collects, and moves on to the next. With each new place, I learn a new skill and perfect the ones I already have. My ability to be aware of everything around me has heightened to the point that I have learned to sneak in and out of the most secure places with ease. There are no locks I can’t get through, no guards I can’t get past, and thanks to my technology training, there are no alarm systems I can’t crack. I have become so good that my new friends changed my nickname from Gypsy to Ghost.

  Chapter 3

  Dace

  We have a small break in between projects so Peter asks me, along with Leandra and Nate, to go with him on a fact finding mission about a possible new job. There is a possibility that the small group of us can handle this job on our own and quickly. A Mexican businessman has been stealing money from accounts of respectable small business owners. We have been asked to secure the accounts and get their money back. When we arrive, we are met by a woman named Nidia. The moment I lay eyes on the tall, angelic beauty, I have to remind myself we are here to work.

  My wide smile must have given away my thoughts because Peter elbows me in the side. “Keep it in your pants, Ghost. We don’t have time for your love adventures this trip.”

  Nidia guides us to an SUV that is waiting in a well-concealed area with what looks to be hired guns. An awkward exchange of looks are passed from Peter, to me, to Leandra, and finally to Nate. “I am getting the feeling this job isn’t quite what we were told,” I whisper to Peter.

  “Please get in,” Nidia says.

  Peter holds us all back. “I don’t think so. First, you talk to us about what you want.”

  “Welcome!” An older man jumps out of the van with open arms and a questionable smile. He shakes each of our hands with a vibrating excitement. “I am so happy to have you here. My name is Mateo Luis.”

  “Mateo, it’s nice to meet you, but the situation you described doesn’t seem to fit the picture we are getting here,” Peter says with a guarded stance.

  “Yes,” Mateo says, taking Nidia’s hand. “I was afraid you might not come if we told you everything.” I roll my eyes, knowing Peter is going to ask us to turnaround any second. “Please, this is my daughter, Nidia. She is all I have right now. Her sister was taken by a man named Vincent Guzman; he is the one that has been stealing from us, from everyone in our small town. A year ago, my wife was taken by the same man.” The man looks down with a mournful expression. “She was returned after being raped and so severely beaten that she died only a few days later.”

  “Why? Why would he do this to you?” Peter asks.

  “I know how to do things that most don’t. I am a chemist, and I have the ability to make new drugs to sell that can be undetected when transporting across borders. He is trying to force me to do what I don’t want to. I was hoping you could help me get my daughter back so we can leave here and get away from this man. We don’t live here. We live in Canada now. We only came back for my father’s funeral. Before we could return home, he showed up, threatened me to work for him, and we have been trying to leave ever since, but every time we try … I cannot leave my daughter —she is only fifteen. Please help me get my daughter back; that is all I ask from you.” You can feel the man’s heartbreak. It weighs heavy on us all, but this is not what we do. I am pretty sure Peter will deny him. For the safety of his crew, he must. He would never put any of us at risk for the sake of one, and he certainly wouldn’t put us in the middle of unknown situation.

  “I’ll help you,” I say on my own.

  Leandra steps forward with a heavy sigh. “I’ll help you, too.”

  Nate throws his hands up. “What the hell. We’re here, aren’t we? Might as well accomplish something.”

  I look back at Peter as he shakes his head at me. “Fine, we will check it out, but I can’t make any promises.”

  Guzman’s estate is more than just an estate, it is a military compound. Peter and I safely observe the comings and goings around the compound, and nothing makes us feel any better about the operation we are expected to perform.

  “I don’t know Ghost. This looks like a venture we should walk away from.”

  “Probably.” I think on it again. “We definitely should walk away.”

  Peter punches the car and kicks the tires a few times, cursing loudly. “I hate being a nice guy, and if we get killed doing this, so help me I will make sure you live a miserable afterlife,” he says, pointing at me.

  I nod with a smile. “I am going to need to access some pretty heavy security systems to be able to see in there.”

  “There is a military base nearby. We can piggyback their system and dive in.”

  With the help of some old military connections we are able to look in on Guzman’s house and get the full layout. We identify the heavily secured areas and where Mateo’s daughter is being held. Nate and Leandra hook in some surveillance that gives us an opportunity to listen in on our target. We go through our plans over and over and then over again. I begin to think we are all trying to find a reason that this can’t be done so we can feel better about walking away, but we know we can do this, and what’s worse? We crave the challenge.

  I get ready for bed by pacing. “Do you need a release?” Leandra asks. “It might be our last chance before we die.”

  “Is that supposed to be a joke because it’s not funny,” I say back to her.

  She cozies up to me with a purr. “Come on, Dace. We’re all tense.” One look into her eyes and I know she won’t let it go until I give in to her. I grab the back of her head and pull her in, taking hold of her lips and undoing my belt at the same time. I boldly go in and give her everything she wants. Leandra twists into positions I wouldn’t think possible as she tries desperately to hold onto me and keep me fucking her. When she finally lets go and gives me room to breathe, I explode and crash onto the bed next to her, feeling the tension release just as she promised it would.

  Leandra, as always, falls asleep almost immediately. I, however, rarely can get to sleep so easily. I have to pace and wear myself out even more. Exhausted. I have to be as exhausted as I can be, then I will be able to sleep and maybe even without waking until morning. I walk outside to stare at the stars, thinking of making a wish upon the shooting star that flies by, but what I want can’t be done now. I want my mother back. I want to feel her warmth, to feel the safety I felt within her arms again, comfort that will help me sleep soundly again.

  “Can you not sleep?” Nidia asks as she steps outside.

  “I am not much of a sleeper.”

  “Why is that?” she asks, cocking he
r head sweetly to one side and pacing towards me with one long step in front of the other.

  “It’s hard to explain. Why are you up?”

  “I’m nervous. I’m afraid for my sister, for my father, and for myself even. I am afraid of what will happen if you don’t succeed,” Nidia confesses with tears suddenly in her eyes. I could imagine men from everywhere desiring this woman. I don’t want to think about what Guzman would do to her if he ever got her. I am sure there is a reason he hasn’t taken her yet, but I don’t know what that reason is. I surprise myself and open my arms up to her. She falls right within them. She’s soft and comforting to be around. “Please stay with me. I don’t want to be alone tonight. I want to feel protected ... by you.” She pulls me inside and tries to pull me into her bedroom, but I hold off, knowing this is not something I should do, not right now and not with her. “Let’s just sit out here, and I will stay up with you all night if you want?”

  She looks up at me in shock but nods with a sweet smile. It’s nice, holding her. She needs me, and she’s delicate, maybe a little too delicate. I fear for her. I don’t know if she is strong enough to do what she needs to tomorrow. If we can’t get out, she needs to run and leave here the fastest and best way possible. We have them set to leave on the first plane available; all they need to do is run and not look back. Nidia falls asleep in my arms while I enjoy watching her sleep peacefully. I manage a few hours of sleep before morning but not much more before Peter comes in and grunts at the sight of us curled up together.

  “As long as I live, I will never understand the draw you have on women, but I will especially never understand the restraint you have.”

  “You were the one that warned me,” I remind him.