The Snake Bites MC

Chapter Eleven - Snake

We approached the outer perimeter of the estate, staying in the shadows.

"Comms check," I said into my clothes. I wasn't quite used to all this high tech stuff but I appreciated the control and safety it gave to have an instant link back to the club.

"Club house, check," Keys responded.

"Duke, check," and so on until I'd heard back from everyone.

Duke picked up a branch and tipped the fence and it sparked.

"Yep, electrified."

"Spirit, you're up. How exactly are you getting over?" I asked and she grinned.

"You and Hammer are going to throw me."

We crouched with our backs to the fence making sure not to make contact. We each cupped our hands and Spirit climbed aboard using our heads to help her balance. Her knees were slightly bent and she wobbled a little but her balance was good.

"One, two..." we pushed upwards and she also jumped. I looked up, watching her shoot up but with an arc towards the fence. As she reached the top she somersaulted in mid-air over the top and landed and rolled on the other side.

"Don't tell me, she joined the circus for a few months and became a gymnast?" Hydrogen commented.

"No, actually," she replied, slightly out of breath, "I was a cheerleader in school, one of the lighter ones that got thrown around during the displays and I was a stunt double in a cheer-leader movie."

"Kill the chatter, focus," I hissed.

"Guards, your nine o'clock, Spirit."

She shuffled back into the underbrush until they passed. She crept to the front gate and just like she had before she neutralised the guards with Amytal injections.

We couldn't see what she was doing inside the guard's hut.

"Keys, you should be...."

"Got it -- just.....one......sec"

The gates began to roll back and so the three of us ran through the gap and Keys closed them behind us.

"Good luck, guys," Hydrogen offered as they melted back into the darkness of the surrounding trees.

"Switchblade, Knockout, Zen with me, we'll find positions we can provide cover from," Sniper organised his crew.

"This way," Spirit took off up along the edge of the driveway avoiding the lit areas. She was fast but we kept up using our longer legs to advantage.

She skirted around to the back entrance and pressed a device against a key code panel. It was different to the one she'd used before.

"Keys, accessing east side back door now," she relayed to Keys.

"Message intercepted and approved."

The lock clicked and she eased the door open. Hammer pulled his gun and stepped in front of her to enter first. He moved quickly to the side and hugged the wall keeping his gun aimed at the floor. He crept forwards scanning the room. Duke went in next, then Spirit and then me. I gently closed over the door behind me but left it unlatched.

Hammer was already on the far side of a small utility room off the kitchen. Our eyes adjusted to the darkness and I made out washing machines and household supplies.

"Hold," Duke hissed just as Hammer reached for the door to the kitchen.

Footsteps approached, passed and then faded.

Hammer slipped through the door and we gave him a few seconds to check out the next room. I gestured for Duke to follow. We kept in formation partly so that we each knew where the other was at all times, partly because of the ranks and roles we had within the Kill Squad.

Hammer and Duke met on the far side of the kitchen at the foot of some back stairs we'd scoped out on the floor plans. A door banged in another room and Spirit and I ducked behind the kitchen island. Duke and Hammer flattened to the walls. The kitchen suddenly flooded with light. Spirit palmed a knife, I checked my gun.

"Where the fuck is it....stupid fucking mutt. I'm not paid to babysit a fucking dog," the large security guard looked around the kitchen and then the light snapped off again.

"We didn't know about the dog," I whispered and Spirit shrugged.

I signalled for Hammer to proceed and they slipped into the stairwell. A soft growl to my right had my head snapping in that direction. I waved for Spirit to go and she crept backwards towards the door not turning her back on the animal. It sounded potentially vicious.

Still crouching I moved out into the open and the dog moved with me. Ok, so not quite so bad. I didn't know what breed it was exactly but it might have been some kind of terrier mix but they give a good bite all the same. Its teeth were barred as it continued to snarl.

"Snake, take out your earpiece and hold it towards the dog," Keys instructed.

I felt stupid holding up the tiny piece of plastic to the dog in the silence. Suddenly, it stopped snarling, cowered down and began whimpering. Keys was obviously sending a sound through the earpiece that only the dog could hear and it didn't like it. I inched backwards towards the stairs and gratefully closed the door. I replaced the earpiece and took the steps in fours.

The others were waiting at the top. Hammer cracked the door and looked through.

"Two guards each end of the corridor right and left."

Hammer cracked the door again and a bullet pinged off the metal plating on the corridor side. Something slammed against the door and when Hammer pushed it again it wouldn't budge. They'd obviously blocked it.

"We'll have to double back and use the main stairs," Spirit said, already half way down.

When we passed through the kitchen this time the dog just looked at us warily. On a whim I pulled open the fridge. There was an open packet of sliced ham and so I grabbed it and slid it across the floor, it stopped against its paws. He sniffed it, picked it up and disappeared off into a darkened corner.

The house was in commotion because of our appearance on the back stairs. Guards were running in from outside and taking up positions in the hallway, blocking our route to the second floor.

"Keys," Spirit whispered, "what's on the plans to the left of the centre staircase?" she asked.

"It looks like a small elevator shaft, one person job I'd say. Seems to go directly into the bedroom above," he replied.

"His bedroom?" she asked hopefully and Keys confirmed.

She turned to us and I knew already what she was thinking. The kill had to be hers and this looked like the only way up. She wouldn't even have to deal with the guards on the corridor.

"The kitchen's clear, I was just in there looking for the dog," the security guard called to the guy who seemed to be coordinating things.

"Will you let me go alone? I won't if you're not all ok with it."

"He's likely armed, having been warned and there may be guards in the bedroom now. Don't take any chances. We'll cover you to the elevator and then we'll try to get up there ourselves," I commented.

Every fibre of my being screamed that I was doing the wrong thing. That I should forbid her to go, throw her over my shoulder and carry her off to safety. How much of that was still residual guilt that we hadn't been able to protect her when she needed it most, I wasn't sure but she couldn't be made to pay for that.

"I'll be careful, I promise. You be too."

Hammer stepped forward and began picking off guards left and right and Spirit crouched and pelted for the elevator. Once inside she crouched low and back and it began to carry her up. Duke joined the fire fight, moving all the while towards the centre of the large semi-circular entrance way. I heard the elevator ping and glanced up.

Spirit leaned out and fired twice and then twice again. She disappeared from view and I had to assume four shots meant four dead or disabled guards.

"Sniper, hold your position and take what shots you can," I ordered and the glass window above the large double front doors exploded inwards. The guards nearer to the top of the stairs began falling. "Hydrogen, Knockout scramble, we need backup," I ordered. A few extra guns would be good right about now as we were severely out numbered.

"We've got you. Get upstairs," Hydrogen's voice echoed through my earpiece and from right beside me.

I signalled to Hammer and Duke to get upstairs and we began making steady progress shooting some guards and just flinging others over the banisters onto the marble floor below. When we finally reached the top, the quiet was unnerving.

"Keys, where's his room?" I asked and he directed us.

The door was slightly ajar and I could see Spirit standing by the side of an armchair her gun pointed at someone's head. I pushed the door and she swung her second gun up and pointed it straight at me.

"Spirit, it's Snake, stand down," I said firmly. She lowered her gun and shoved it back into the waistband of her trousers. She looked annoyed.

"Pete here denies killing Mac but agrees he tried to get the remainder of his share from me but not for himself. Apparently he was under orders from the person who hired them to steal it," she explained and I pulled the armchair around so that it was facing us.

Pete held his hands slightly raised but looked more resigned to his fate rather than fearful.

"It doesn't make sense that I'd kill Mac when I wanted his share. I'd been hoping to blackmail him with telling the others in the unit about his betrayal with Army Intelligence to get him to pay but then he died in that accident and I had to improvise."

"By sending five brutes to torture his widow?" Hammer growled and stepped closer. Pete had the sense to press back into the chair and drop his gaze.

"I didn't expect her to last past the initial fright. How was I to know he hadn't told her and she was some kind of bad ass who'd last that long?"

He glanced up at her. "You kicked their asses though, didn't you?"

"They're dead, if that's what you mean," she confirmed calmly.

"Look, all I have is this place," he gestured around the room. "You can check my bank account if you want."

He recited a password and code and Keys confirmed that the account had begun with five million in it and was now at twenty dollars. The transactions listed included an initial payment out of four million and the rest seemed to be for this house and it's renovation and decoration along with some luxury buys and day to day expenses.

Jesus, I felt like an accountant.

"Who hired you?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I don't know. It was all done through encrypted communications. We never met and I hope we never do."

"Where are the rest of your unit hiding?" Duke asked and he shook his head.

"Don't know, I swear."

"You at least know how to contact them or your blackmail scam wouldn't have flown" Spirit reasoned.

"They'll kill me."

"That's not a problem. You'll be dead anyway. Talk," Spirit's tone brooked no argument but he shook his head.

"Do your worst. I suspect that whoever hired me has a lot more money and power than you."

I swung before I really knew I intended to and the punch landed hard on his nose. Blood immediately ran from it, covering his lips. Hammer shoved me aside and grabbed his shirt pulling him out of the armchair one-handed and swinging him into the centre of the room. Two hard punches landed on Pete's solar plexus and he doubled over.

Spirit lowered her gun and stepped away.

"Just remember the kill is mine," she said softly and Hammer gave her a glance of acknowledgement.

Pete was on all fours on the carpet, coughing and bleeding.

"Keys, can you find any encrypted messaging from his systems?" Spirit asked and after several minutes during which Duke landed a few kicks of his own, Keys confirmed.

"Encrypted emails to four separate addresses, that's likely them."

"Copy as many as you can and then take over the account," she instructed.

She put her gun away and pulled out a deadly looking knife moving towards Pete.

"Wait..." Keys called and she halted.

"He's telling the truth about Mac. There are a set of emails where they're discussing his death but none of them take responsibility. I know it's not proof, they all could be lying but..."

Spirit was here more to avenge Mac than herself and I didn't know what she'd do next.

She looked up the three of us.

"I have a contract to fulfil, Keys. Record this from my camera so we're not identified and use it as proof of death for the others who wanted him dead."

She stood astride Pete's body on the floor and tugged his head back with his hair.

"See you in hell, asshole," she hissed and then her blade sliced his throat in one deep clean stroke. She dropped him and stepped away and a pool of dark blood began to seep into the expensive carpet beneath him.

I reached for her cheek and she covered my hand with her trembling one and I kissed the top of her head, hugging her close.

"Lower floor is secure," Hydrogen reported.

"Understood," Duke replied.

"Let's get the fuck out of here, shall we?" Hammer suggested, holding out a hand to Spirit which she grasped tightly.

Spirit's phone pinged and we all looked in as she held it up to us.

Payment successfully received.

There was nothing stopping us from leaving through the front door with all of the guards either dead, injured or tied up and so we rambled slowly down the drive towards the gate. I stood behind the group waiting for Keys to open it and then I felt something rub against my lower leg.

When I looked down the dog from the kitchen stared back up at me. In the morning light I realised it wasn't in good shape. It's ribs were visible and it's black and tan coat looked to be in poor condition. I stepped forward to leave and it stayed alongside me. Shit, that food I'd given it had probably been one of the rare times it was fed and now what....it thought I'd fucking look after it?

"Shew," I said sternly to it, waving my hand but it just ducked its head a little but didn't move.

"Ah look, Snake's made a new friend," Hydrogen jeered and I gave him the middle finger.

"Oh the poor thing, he doesn't look like he's been fed properly," Spirit commented. She turned away and I was surprised she wasn't asking to take it home or maybe she knew me better than I did because when the animal had followed me all the way to the bikes I just swung on mine and then reached down, scooped it and sat it between my thighs. Half way home I watched with horror as it stood up, turned itself in a circle and then curled into a ball. When its snout pressed against one thigh and its tail pressed against the other I knew I was fucked.

Chapter Twelve - Hammer

The mood in the compound was sombre when we arrived back and that was unusual after a successful mission. And it had been successful. None of our people were injured and we accomplished what we set out to do. Well, almost. If what Keys found was right then Mac's killer was still out there somewhere. Another only partially solved murder. Nine years on from Reverend's death and we still didn't know who'd given the order.

As soon as Snake parked his bike the little rat/dog he'd picked up jumped off and ran to the nearest post, lifting its leg. At least it was a fucking man dog. There was a lot of activity tonight and so it cowered back away from all the heavy boots stomping around it. Spirit was closest to it and so she picked it up and it immediately began licking her face.

She squirmed away from its pink tongue and then began laughing.

"Stop that, you little scamp," she said between giggles and laughter.

As if a switch had been flicked the sound of her laughter lifted the mood of the place entirely. The music from inside ramped up and the two teams who'd backed us up began ragging on each other.

Snake joined her and she handed him the dog but he hesitated.

"Oh no, tough guy. You brought the dog home you look after the dog. Besides I have some serious drinking to do," and she pushed Scamp into his chest.

Snake caught its body in one hand. Jesus it was small. I had an inclination that Snake was probably thinking he couldn't put it down and yet he didn't want to carry it around like a fucking man bag.

When he popped the animal onto his shoulder, wrapped his arm around Spirit and strode into the clubhouse I thought I was going to wet myself I laughed so hard.

The place was heaving and it seemed like every member and every slut and old lady had turned out.

Whiskey sent a prospect down to us with our beers and Snake sent him off to get us and the dog some food. I spotted that there were seats available with Hydrogen and Sniper's crews in a quieter corner so we went to join them putting us next to the Wolf's Paws couches.

"Nice fucking work tonight, guys," I said, clinking bottles with them all before I flopped onto the free couch. Spirit sat in beside me and I pulled her into my side and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"All ok?" I asked and she nodded. She looked tired but relaxed.

"Any idea what that is, other than being a dog, I mean?" Knockout asked and Snake shrugged.

"Some sort of terrier, I think."

Spirit pulled out her phone, snapped a picture of the dog that had now moved off Snake's shoulder onto the back of the couch and as I watched over her shoulder, opened some app that would identify it.

"It's a border terrier, apparently," she announced.

The prospect returned with a few friends helping out and laid a variety of takeaway boxes and trays on the small table between the couches. He dropped two bowls on the floor, filled one with water and the other with a small tin of dog food and slid them under the table.

Coyote was this year's prospect handler and so he introduced them.

The kid we'd nabbed was just beginning to fill out into a man's body but his face hadn't quite caught up and was called Fox. His two friends were Speed and Hours.

"Give Whiskey the receipt and he'll pay you back," Coyote instructed and they reluctantly left us. God, I could remember being that eager and wanting to be in the company of the officers and senior council. I'd a bit of an in, though what with Reverend fostering us and taking us under his wing but they still made us earn our positions.

Snake moved Scamp onto the floor and pushed him in the direction of the bowls. It didn't take him long to empty them and then he curled up under the table.

"Hey, what was that thing between you and Grizzler the other day when he pulled you off his back and said, this brings back memories?" Switchblade asked Spirit and she laughed.

"You've heard the story of me sneaking into the compound when I was eighteen, right?" they shook their heads and she launched into the retelling. I watched her face and eyes become animated as she recounted that night.

"Grizzler found me on the roof looking in through the skylights at Doc tending to Reverend and Snake who'd both been hurt. He picked me up like I weighed nothing and I thought I was going die when he stomped down the fire escape, me dangling in the air over a sheer drop to the ground. Then he brought me into you guys and you tried to scare the shit out of me to get me to behave."

"You were so undisciplined but had so much potential," Grizzler chimed in.

"It was just a pity I didn't have a cock and balls was that it?" she argued crassly and I slapped her thigh.

"Do that again and you'll lose your hand," she threatened, her hand on the hilt of the knife she'd used earlier.

"Say something like that again and I'll wash your mouth out with soap."

"Oh man, I'd like to see you try to do that but it would be a shame for our sergeant at arms to be de-balled when he's in his prime. Think of all the little handsome Hammers you'd deny to the world," Knight ragged and everyone laughed.

She probably would give me a run for my money but we all knew, even Spirit, that at the end of the day a man's strength put any woman, no matter how skilled she was, at a decided disadvantage. I tuned back into the conversation.

"What made you join up?" Sniper asked.

"Partly because I fell for the ad, you know the one. See the world, learn new skills. Partly because it was a cheap way to get some discipline and maybe come out with some transferrable skills. I'm not sure they intended to spawn an assassin for hire, but hey, it paid the rent."