Project Rescue - A Shifter Novel (NaNoWriMo19)
Chapter 39 - Cache

“What the hell is that?” I pointed at the screen.

We all ran to the monitor, looking at what Barbosa had in his hands. All of gasped, looking at the heat seeking missile he had. He was dressed from head to toe in military body armor.

“Shit!” Matheus yelled. “It might be the only thing that can destroy this place.” He paused. “I have another place set up. We can get there by the tunnels. But, if he replaces the place we are in deep shit.”

“We need to get something to carry Manuel with us. It’s go time,” Madrid in full General mode commanded.

The men ran to make a make-shift litter. I stood there and gaped at the monster. I turned the sound on and listened to the monster as I grabbed my backpack and rucksack.

“Come out now and I’ll let you all live. I want Selina now! She’s important to me. Give me my granddaughter back,” Barbosa ordered, holding the heat seeking missile on his shoulder.

“Yeah, cause we would ever believe you. What you have in your hands proves to me you do not have good intentions,” I accused as I pulled together some snacks and medical gear together, throwing them in my backpack and rucksack.

“Selina, you know I love you. I want you to have a good life with the mate I picked for you. You need a mate,” Barbosa softened voiced.

“Work with me, okay? I have an idea to buy us some time,” I explained to the men.

I opened the mic and started scuffling with Matheus. “Let me go! He won’t kill me. He will marry me off to his second in command. I’ll kill him on our wedding night and run to Florida. Let me go.”

“Nao, fique paqui. Nao va embora pare de lutar,” Matheus yelled in Portuguese.

“Sim!” I yelled back at Matheus. He wanted me to stay and he didn’t want me to go, to which I said no. I closed the mic part and listened to the monster.

“Get over here and tell me what they said,” Barbosa ordered.

Antonio walked into view of the camera. He had a bored expression on his face when he faced Barbosa. “He told her he didn’t want her to go. To stay right where she is. She told him no.”

“Is that it?” Barbosa questioned, waiting on Antonio, the trainer, to answer him.

Antonio nodded and walked back to where he was standing. Matheus opened a split screen so he could see both men. Antonio was rolling his eyes as he played as if he was looking around. Barbosa was standing in the same spot waiting for more from us.

“I’m coming! Are you going to kill me?” I faked sniffled, laughing at the men gaping at me. They should know me by now. I don’t cry in front of people. I wasn’t going to show any weakness to anyone.

“I won’t kill you. Come out now and we will speak about your marriage.”

I turned the mic off and snickered. “Sucker!”

The guys were laughing at me, trying to control themselves so I could answer back. I motioned for them to quiet down. “Let me get my clothes and backpack, after I convince this guy to open up. Can you give a few minutes?”

“Yes, I’ll wait for you. But, don’t take too long or I promise I will blow everyone up,” Barbosa, the monster, growled.

I turned to the guys and gave them a real smile. It was fun messing with the monster. He played with my life everyday. It was my turn to fuck with him and I was enjoying it. He always saw me as weak. But, I made sure to fail at the training when he was around. I guess in a sense I fucked with him then, too.

I didn’t answer back. I grabbed the comms unit Madrid handed me, putting it in my ear. I grabbed the mic too. I didn’t have an implanted mic in the side of my neck. The one I had was small and fit around my throat like a choker would, hitting right where the Shadow Cats mics were.

“He’s getting ready to fire,” Madrid informed everyone. “How the hell did he get a military grade missile? We are the only ones who should have that model.”

“He gets what he wants and to hell with anyone who gets in his way. Drug dealers buy their weapons from arms dealers. The one he uses is still in the military,” I answered. I had seen the guy a few times but I could never figure out what branch of the military he was in. I only knew because of the monster’s jokes about him. He thought it was funny he was getting the weapons from the government.

“So, that’s where our shortage of weapons are going,” Madrid mused. “Can you identify this guy from pictures. And, if you can will come to Washington to look and testify?”

“I will. I don’t like shifty people. And, I don’t like military weapons going to drug cartels,” I affirmed, crossing my arms around myself as Madrid nodded.

I pulled my arms away from my middle and pulled my hair into a braid, tying off the end with a bread tie I had found. As soon as I was done I walked over to Matheus. I grabbed his hand and leaned up to kiss him. I was worried we were going to die. I would make it hard on anyone trying to kill me or Matheus.

It didn’t take but a second for him to kiss me back. I could tell I surprised him with my kiss and I knew Matheus knew I was worried. I had every right to worry. After the kiss Matheus wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

“We need weapons. I have my blades and pistols but we need something for long range shooting,” I remarked, looking up at Matheus to see him smiling.

Right, he has everything ready in case we had to bug out.

Matheus walked to the opposite side of the cave. Madrid and I followed him. He pushed on the wall and it opened up into a cache of weapons. Weapons of every kind.

“Wow. You have a fucking great weapons room,” I stated as I looked around at all the weapons. "A Remington 700 AAC, a Krieger Barrel Evolution Extreme long range Hunter, a Sig Blaser Tactical 2, a Beretta 92FS, a Kahr CW45, a Ruger P250, a Glock 17.”

All the men’s mouths were hanging open as they watched me walk through the weapons, naming each weapon. They now knew that I loved anything that could shoot or throw. I could even take down an appoint with a staff.

“What?” I asked as I walked back to the men.

“You are a very lucky man, Matheus. She can cook, fight and she knows weapons. Wow,” Warrior told Matheus.

“I’m a lucky man no matter what,” Matheus voiced. “We need to get going. Grab what you want or can carry and let’s bug out, once again.”

We grabbed some weapons, long range and pistols. I grabbed the Remington 700 AAC and a few more blades. I was walking out of the room when I saw an M & P Bodyguard 380. I grabbed the pistol and ammunition, putting everything in my backpack. I walked to Matheus and nodded my head. I was ready to get to a safe place.

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Madrid ordered.

We followed Matheus while Claw and Warrior carried Manuel. Matheus walked over to the kitchen sink and burners, swinging the whole set up open. We all gaped at him and shook our heads. We had never seen a bug out shelter have so many exits. And, they were cleverly hidden.

“This way. I need to make sure we stay together, okay?” Matheus questioned as we all nodded. “You could get lost in these tunnels. Some are dead ends with consequences at the end, if you know what I mean.”

We all stayed with him. All of us knew he liked blowing shit up and we didn’t feel like testing how blast proof we were. We would go to a connected tunnel and turn right then left. We didn’t know how he knew the tunnels, but considering he built them we didn’t question his decisions. After an hour we walked into a dead end. We stood there and looked at each other, waiting to see what Matheus would do next.

Matheus walked up to the wall and opened a panel. He put his eye up to the panel and the wall slid to the side as we all gaped at him.

“Hot damn, Matheus, you never ceases to amaze me. When do you have time to do this shit?” Madrid exclaimed. He turned and looked at Matheus as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Matheus to answer him.

“Uh, remember the times I would disappear for a few days?” He trailed off as Madrid nodded his head. He scratched the back of his neck. “I, uh, would take my helicopter here and work on it for a couple of days.”

All of a sudden, we felt the ground shift and the walls shake.