Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

barracks, joining the rest of the team already converging on the building.
    Javier and Lucas in the control room were their eyes and ears, using the security cameras set up in the barracks against the guards.
    Two up playing cards in the first room on your left. You’ve got three in the pool room straight ahead of you, the hallway dead-ends to the pool room.
    One in the kitchen just to the right of the pool room. Four in their bunks.
    Al of them had studied the layout of the barracks, but with Javier’s voice whispering in their minds, the maps were even clearer. They had to enter unseen into each room and either gas or dart the occupants. If darts were used, they had to be retrieved. Each guard would have to give up his ID,in order for Cesar Lopez to return them. This was a psychological assault rather than a physical one. They planned on completely destroying Cesar Lopez. The plan was risky and cal ed for precise timing, something that Lopez—that anyone—would believe impossible. They were ghosts entering his personal stronghold, slipping past every guard, into his very home. He would never feel safe again. Over time he would question himself, and he would lose confidence in those guarding his family. They would strike at his mind—and instil sheer terror in his heart. Cesar Lopez would understand that he was vulnerable—that his entire family was vulnerable.
    Rose was particularly grateful that Kane didn’t treat her any differently than he did his other team members. He didn’t hover, didn’t guard her as she feared he might. If anything, they al took extra care to stay close to Paul. He pul ed his weight, handling each phase of the assignment as everyone else did, but she noticed the team members seemed to watch out for him a little more than anyone else. She found herself doing the same thing. She noticed Rhianna did as wel . If anyone had asked her why, she wouldn’t have been able to articulate why exactly, but he seemed out of place in the environment—
    far too sensitive for this kind of work.

    Rose and Jacob released the gas into the room where four guards were sleeping in bunks. Kane, Gideon, and Rhianna took the three playing pool.
    Mack and Paul darted the two men playing cards, and Ethan did the same with the one in the kitchen.
    Phase five complete, Mack reported. Entering house for final phase.
    Javier studied each room. Most of the occupants were asleep. Bodyguards sat outside the rooms of Cesar and his son. There was no camera in Cesar’s bedroom, but every other bedroom had surveil ance. His two daughters were stil visiting together in the conservatory while their husbands slept in the bedrooms. Two of the teens had gone to the kitchen and were getting snacks, while a third sat in Cesar’s den and watched porn. A guard stood outside the conservatory, but no one had fol owed the teens. Javier relayed the information to his team.
    Rose had one job. Kane shadowed her through the labyrinth of hal s, up the stairs to the master bedroom. The other team members were each assigned to specific rooms and families. She had to believe they would do their jobs, one by one, putting every household member to sleep and col ecting some kind of evidence to show Lopez. Kane held up his hand, and she halted at the top of the wide staircase. The house was dark but for a few dim lights. It enabled them to use the shadows, sliding from one to the other in complete silence.
    The whispers in her head began coming fast. Done. Done. Done. Stil she waited, breathing in and out, amazed at the capabilities and unity of such a large team working together. Whitney’s idea had been two-man teams. He had stressed that the larger the number, the more room for error, and yet this unit of men— her unit—had penetrated the head of one of the largest and most dangerous cartels with an intricate and daring plan.
    You have a go, Mack said.
    At the soft order, Kane, lying prone on the floor just feet from the guard, shot the arrow into his neck. The guard tried to slap at what he thought was a stinging bug, but the needle had entered his bloodstream, and the fast-acting concoction had him slumping over, his semiautomatic slipping from his hands. Rose caught the gun and lowered it to his lap. Kane removed his ID. This was going to be the most dangerous moment. There were no cameras.
    They had to enter the bedroom without detection, put the wife to sleep, and have a talk with Cesar.
    The door was bolted, and it took Kane