G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 3) Spirits Read online

  G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 3) Spirits

  By Bobby Brimmer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN# 978-0-9855806-4-3

  Copyright © 2017 by Bobby Brimmer

  www.BobbyBrimmer.com

  This book is dedicated to the smallest ninja in my family, Megan Rose. Uncle Bobby loves you.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  Special Thanks to Steve Tarr for being my first reader and giving me feedback. Thanks bro.

  Special Thanks to Eric Krause for giving style to my cover lettering. He can be contacted here for his graphics awesomeness: EricKrauseGraphics.com

  The artist behind my amazing cover art is Levente Rückert. More of his work and contact information can be found here: http://tanathiel.deviantart.com

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 1

  I stared at the naked goddess lying on my bed and no matter how hard I tried, I could not wipe the smile off my face. My heart raced as old emotions flooded back. The pounding in my chest was so loud, I actually worried it might wake her. After five years of letting me think she was dead, Victoria, the love of my life, showed up in my home last night. I didn’t know how she’d survived or why she’d chosen now to reappear, and honestly, I didn’t care. We hadn’t said much last night, preferring to reacquaint ourselves in a more primal fashion. Perhaps, when she woke up, we’d discuss why she was here. But, as I sat there, looking at the curves of her body and the breathtaking beauty of her face, I found that I was in no hurry to get those answers. I could stare at her forever.

  Victoria is an assassin, or at least she was when I first met her. She probably wasn’t what you expect when you think of a killer lurking in the shadows. Standing about five foot two and weighing maybe a hundred pounds, she wasn’t a physically imposing figure. Her petite frame, lightly tanned Vietnamese skin, and soft facial features just added to her ability to seem harmless. Even her perky fake breasts were crafted to give the impression that she was a girl seeking attention. But, when the moment was right, that cleavage easily captured the gaze of many men who should have been paying attention to the blade in her hand. If assassins paid taxes, I was betting those qualified as a write off. She stirred a bit, not quite waking, but rolling her body at an angle where I couldn’t help but look at the scar next to her belly button. One day I might forgive myself for putting it there.

  We first met in Vietnam, both of us working in the household of a rich Japanese diplomat named Yoshida. For the ninja clan, I was the perfect choice for this assignment. No one would ever suspect a white American was actually an assassin sent from Japan. Victoria, in an odd coincidence, was there to assassinate a different member of the household. The first time I saw her my heart skipped a beat. Her dark eyes, button nose, soft cheeks, and pouty lips were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Our eyes met and a small smile at the corner of her mouth let me know that she also found my appearance pleasing. We spent weeks finding every excuse we could to talk to each other. Conversations about absolutely nothing would last for hours. There was an undeniable connection between us. Then, late one night, as I was wandering around the property, I noticed her sneaking about.

  I’d been so mesmerized by her beauty that I’d failed to notice the control and precision with which she moved. But, under the light of the moon and stars, as I watched her effortlessly glide across the rooftops, I knew what she was. At that particular time in my life, I rarely concerned myself with the affairs of other assassins. I was on a quest to avenge my father and few other things mattered to me. But this particular mission was a long-term affair and I couldn’t afford the extra scrutiny that another assassination would bring. So, when she silently slipped into the room of Yoshida’s sister, I was waiting in the darkness.

  She didn’t see me until our faces were inches apart. At first she looked shocked, her eyes searching mine for an explanation. Then, I watched realization wash over her as she felt my blade in her belly. Her expression turned to sadness, a sadness that mirrored my own. In that brief moment, as I realized that she was about to die and be lost to me forever, everything that I’d been feeling for the last few weeks finally made sense. I was in love.

  Her body went limp, my arm around her back the only thing keeping her from collapsing to the ground. She wasn’t dead yet, just unconscious. I carried her silently out the window, intending to finish her off and hide the body. The plan was simple and clear. I’d remove the assassin and continue my mission. As you can imagine, I too was shocked to find myself standing outside of a hospital, placing her body in front of the emergency room door. I vanished before they took her inside. The surgery saved her life and whatever story she told the police was convincing enough that they never connected her or the incident to the Yoshida’s family. That night, after lights out, I found myself standing in her hospital room.

  In true ninja fashion, my arrival went unseen. I stood there for a while, just watching her, trying to get my thoughts in order. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure why I came back. I’d removed the threat, cleaned up the evidence of her attempt, and now I was free to continue my mission. I tried to convince myself that I was here for the safety of my assignment. That I needed to make sure she didn’t talk. But, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t lie to myself. I was only standing there, hidden in darkness, because of how I felt. Her eyes were closed and although my stealthy ninja entrance was perfect, she eventually noticed my presence in the room and spoke up.

  “Here to finish the job?” she asked.

  My chest tightened as I answered, “No.”

  She opened her eyes and turned to look at me. I was lost in that moment. I’d never felt anything like it before in my life. My entire world had been revenge and it never occurred to me that I’d be able to feel this way about someone. Now that it had happened, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do. I tried to explain myself, but all I could think to say was, “I’m sorry.”

  “Why, because I’m alive?”

  “No, I…I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it.”

  “You don’t understand, I couldn’t let you kill her.”

  “She deserves to die,” she snarled.

  “I agree. They all do. But not yet. There’s too much at stake.”

  “Like what?”

  “It’s complicated. I really shouldn’t be telling you about this.”

  “Why leave me alive then?”

  “Because…I…”

  “Well?”

  I sighed heavily and tried to smile through a mix of sadness and confusion, “I think you know why.”

  She paused a moment and I watched her mind race behind those beautiful eyes. The smile on my face must have been a mix of shy, embarrassed and hopeful. I was wearing my heart on my sleeve and she could totally tell. Then she smiled a
nd my heart melted. After a long slow breath she met my eyes and said four simple words, “I love you too.”

  The tension in the room was shattered and I finally let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I laughed and smiled and in general struggled to regain anything of my composure. But it was a losing battle. I was giddy like a schoolboy and trying desperately to keep from alerting the night nurses that I was here. She giggled too, a high-pitched laugh that I loved the moment I heard it. It fit nicely with her accent.

  I sat on the bed, held her hand, and found myself gently rubbing her forehead. We sat there in silence for quite a while, neither of us really sure what to say. It was clear that she, like me, had no idea how to deal with these emotions. We were both in very unfamiliar territory. If you’ve never fallen in love, I’m not sure this will make any sense to you. There was no rhyme or reason to it. Everything was fine, and then bam, my whole body went stupid. Emotions overrode every logical circuit in my brain. I stabbed her, our eyes met, and my heart couldn’t bare the thought of never seeing her again. In all honestly, those thoughts are probably the only reason she’s alive now. My strike should have been fatal. But clearly the subconscious part of my brain intervened on behalf of my heart. Silly emotions.

  Since nothing I was doing that night made sense, I decided to let my emotions continue to guide me. So, even though I barely knew this woman, I took a huge first step. I told her about my mission and why it was so important she didn’t kill Yoshida’s sister yet. She listened patiently as I explained Yoshida’s vast criminal empire. He specialized in human trafficking. Mostly children. I was here to learn more about his organization and feed the information back to the ninja clan so that we could coordinate a strike. We’d been hired to wipe this organization off the map. Sometimes being an assassin wasn’t the worst thing ever. Victoria’s mission, however, was a bit more personal.

  It turns out that Yoshida’s sister helps with the organization, specializing in sex slaves. She was the person responsible for kidnapping and selling Victoria’s fourteen-year-old cousin into slavery. Sadly, Victoria wasn’t able to get to her cousin in time. So, like me, she was on a revenge mission. She’d already dealt with the man who took her cousin’s life and those responsible for delivering her. The only piece left was the lady who was in charge. I felt horrible for stopping her and even worse for what I had to ask of her. But, for my mission to succeed, I needed her to hold off the assassination of Yoshida’s sister for a while. Realizing that my mission would destroy a huge part of the slave trade in the area, Victoria reluctantly agreed. Thus, our relationship began.

  A couple days later, I brought Victoria back into the diplomat’s house. She explained the injury as a mugging gone wrong and I promised to care for her myself. The household was apparently very aware of the googly eyes we’d been giving each other for the last few weeks, so everyone gave us knowing smiles. In fact, Yoshida insisted that she stay in the house and be looked after. He was convinced that I was his foothold into the American slave trade, so he wanted to keep me happy. Such a nice piece of scum.

  I spent the next few days at her bedside, caring for her every need. If you’ve never suffered a serious stomach injury, trust me when I tell you that you’d appreciate the help. You wouldn’t believe how much your body relies on those muscles for pretty much everything. Even just sitting up feels like you’re trying to scale Mt. Everest. But after a bit of time, we got her up on her feet, walking around the property, my arm always there for support. Although, I guess part of that was just an excuse to be so close to each other.

  After another week she was moving fairly well on her own. The week after that her injury was almost unnoticeable to the casual observer. Once she was well enough to go back to work, we both fully resumed our covers. But every night, after dinner, she held my arm and we took walks through the gardens. The moments were priceless and it was almost enough to make me forget why I was there in the first place. But, as they say, all good things must end. There was a job to do and finally, after another month of recon, the time was right.

  It may seem odd that I would wait so long to kill my target. But perhaps I’ve never fully explained the purpose of a ninja. You see, if your goal is just to kill someone and you don’t care who knows you took them out, you hire any old assassin. Snipers and explosive experts are normally the most popular. They utilize the best in modern technology and make sure your target is down for the count. Quite often they accomplish this in a very gruesome fashion. But when you hire a ninja, you are going for something different.

  The ninja, as you know, is famous for stealth and invisibility. The art of not being seen doesn’t just apply to hiding in the trees and dropping down on an enemy. It also applies to our methods of assassination. While we train heavily in hand to hand combat and weapons, these are just to compliment our mission. More often than not, unknown poisons or a staged accident are the method by which we hide our killings. Sure, sometimes we’re hired just to take a life. But in my experience there are only a couple of reasons for such a simple request. Either the client is a traditionalist who wants to use a ninja because that’s what his family has always done. Or there are special requests regarding the treatment of the body.

  Often, when honor is at stake, we are tasked with taking a life in a certain fashion as to be respectful of the family. I know, being respectful to the family of the person you just killed doesn’t make a lot of sense to most people. But, in the world of shadows that I grew up in, honor, tradition, and respect are very big deals. Such is the bizarre world of assassins. If you’ll forgive me a brief diversion, I’d like to tell you a story about a ninja. It was a tale my mother told me and it has always fascinated me. I think it will better explain how the ninja are traditionally used.

  Long ago in Japan a ninja was hired to take out a powerful shogun. This ninja got a job as a member of the shogun’s household staff. The ninja worked there for months, learning all she could. She studied the shogun, looking for routines that could be exploited in the assassination. Finally, after many months, the ninja realized that the most consistent thing in the shogun’s life was his garden. Every day he walked the grounds and smelled his favorite flowers. The ninja waited for the perfect moment, and eventually that patience was rewarded. The shogun had taken a bit ill the night before, a simple cold, nothing more. But that morning the ninja made her move. She snuck into the gardens before any of the household staff had awakened. Knowing the shogun’s favorite blooms, she sprinkled a bit of inhalable poison on those flowers. As the shogun made his morning rounds, he inhaled the poison without even realizing it. A short time later he was bedridden with fever and the next morning was dead. The poison left no obvious marks, making it easy for everyone to assume his cold had gotten worse and he’d died of natural causes. After a few days the staff was let-go, as their services were no longer needed. The mission was a success and the ninja was free and clear to vanish back into society, no one ever knowing an assassin had resided in their midst.

  So, that’s the kind of thing you normally hire a ninja for. Or, in the case of Yoshida, I was working in a slightly more spy like fashion to learn about his organization and provide all of the information needed to destroy it. I’d love to tell you that this was all for the good of the land and its people, but sadly, our employers were more often than not just the rival criminal organization trying to remove the competition. Either way, I was glad to be destroying someone so evil. If there is an upside to assassination, I guess it would be that fairly often our targets are very bad people. This often worked in my favor. You see, criminals are even more suspicious and untrusting than regular people. Which meant that when the clan had to send in a ninja, they wanted to send the ninja least likely to be suspected of foul play. My white skin often made me the obvious choice. So, as luck would have it, I spent most of my time as an assassin taking out very bad people. Although if I’m being honest, even that is a small consolation when I think about the evils I’ve committed in the
name of avenging my family.

  Now, after months of gathering information and feeding it back to the clan, we had what we needed. The layout of the entire organization was clear and today dozens of very bad people would die. We’d be wiping this bit of human trafficking off of the map in one clean sweep. I lay in my bed, Victoria in my arms, and we both waited patiently for the first scream. It came from Yoshida’s sister’s room. Victoria squeezed me a bit tighter and I felt her whole body relax. A short time later another scream erupted and eventually we open the door to show the servants our shocked and curious faces. They explained that the Yoshida’s were dead. Of course we already knew that, since we poisoned them in their sleep. They’d been dead for hours. But we played our part, shocked and concerned, helping the household alert the police.

  We were questioned for a while and eventually everyone was told they could leave. The poison wasn’t something that could be easily detected and honestly the authorities didn’t seem that interested in finding the killer of known criminals. They were almost lazy in their investigation. But either way, I knew what I was doing and these deaths would never be traced back to Victoria or myself. We packed our things and left the house arm in arm.

  Standard protocol after an assassination is almost always to spend a few weeks in the area, slowly fading away into the background. An abrupt departure could raise a few red flags and make people look twice at my cover, which wasn’t good for my future in assassinations. But, after this mission, I decided to take a bit longer than normal to fade away. So, for the next two months, I spent every single day with Victoria, every breath another chance to fall more in love. It was the happiest time in my life, until it all fell apart.

  Although Victoria had made a clean escape from the Yoshida family, the Russian family who had originally purchased her cousin, wasn’t entirely out of the picture. They were seeking their own justice and they managed to track her down. I was young, dumb, and in love. I was so blissful that I’d let my guard down. I didn’t even realize we were walking into a trap until a moment before they revealed themselves. It was the first time I’d ever been shot. Needless to say, a bullet puts a cramp into a ninjas style.