Street Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

fast-crawling snakes, rolled into the shadows, and disappeared. Mack scanned the warehouse once again. “Kane, check every warehouse. Look for a grouping or singles—sentries or a group bunched up ready to come at us. They have to be hidden somewhere. Marc, you and Lucas find us at least two clear routes out of here. Take us up and over the rooftops.”
    He wasn’t taking his men into a trap. He was going to ram this right back down their throats. But . . . He glanced at Javier Enderman. Javier looked the least like a soldier of any of them, and yet was maybe the most lethal.
    “Get back to Jaimie, Javier. You know what to do. She won’t like it and she’ll give you hell, but you kill anyone that comes near her. Don’t let anyone in or out of her place. I don’t have to tell you what Jaimie means to me . . .”
    “To all of us,” Javier corrected. “She’s ours too, Mack. I won’t let anyone get to her.”
    “I want to hear your voice in my ear every second, Javier. You suspect anything, I want you telling me. Don’t wait to confirm. I want to know if her neighbor blinks or a rat makes its way in. You got me?” He wanted to go himself, but Javier would stick to Jaimie like glue and no one, no one , was better up close and personal than Javier.
    “I’ll keep her safe, Top.”
    “Don’t trust anyone, not even those we know. We’ve got a rat problem ourselves.”
    Paul stirred, frowned, and then glared at Mack. “Are you accusing me of something?”
    “You’re just the new kid, Paul,” Mack said. “Not necessarily the rat. And if we all get blown to hell, I’m guessing you’re going to be right alongside us.”
    Javier winked at the boy. “That doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense, although if you were a dumbshit rat, maybe it would.”
    Paul stared at them for a long moment, obviously making up his mind whether or not to take offense. He seemed satisfied that they didn’t consider him the rat and shrugged. “I’m no dumbshit rat.”
    “Glad to hear it, boy. Just the same, I’m keeping a close eye on you, so stick to me like glue,” Mack said, and winked at him.
    Javier slid back into the shadows and worked his way down the fire escape to the uneven sidewalk. He stayed low, sticking as close to the side of the building as he could, his gaze restless, moving along the buildings. There were too many windows and doorways. Tension wound him tight, coiling his gut tighter and tighter. Every entryway was a potential threat. Each boat tied up to the wharf. Every car. Everywhere he looked, above and around him, were places the enemy could easily be hiding.
    Voices had him crouching low, a statue, not so much as breathing in the cool night air, not wanting the vapor trail to give him away. Nerves stretched taut. Couple of civvies, Top. The two men were older, grizzled. Unlikely terrorists, their heavy worn sweaters smelled of fish and age, yet their belts were heavy with tools. He could see a knife tucked down into a scabbard lying along each man’s thighs.
    That was the trouble with urban warfare. You had to have good instincts, nerves of steel, good eyesight, and fast processing to be able to move through a city where anyone—man, woman, or child—could be a potential enemy.
    Don’t go hero on me, Javier. We’re all going home tonight .
    Mack’s determination flooded Javier with warmth. He didn’t ever like to admit it, but even Mack’s lectures could make him feel as though he belonged.
    Javier waited in silence, unmoving, watching the two old men shuffle along the sidewalk until they came to a car. The vehicle seemed as beat-up as they were. He watched them drive down the street, the car hiccupping and puffing out gasps of black smoke.
    We’re good here. Just a couple of C.O.B.s . Javier reported the two civilians in the battle zone. He stayed in the shadows as he made his way down the blocks of warehouses back up toward Jaimie’s place.
    So far he’d had good cover, and there