Free G.H.O.S.T. Teams: Book 1 - Magic by Bobby Brimmer Page A

the lights before turning left across the Pike and into the parking lot. In front of us stood a two-story strip mall, the structure split down the middle, an archway connecting the two buildings. We drove under the arch, and the parking lot dipped down low behind the buildings. Due to the design of the strip mall, the area behind it remained perfectly hidden until we started down the incline.
    In the very back of the lot, nestled into a bunch of trees, stood a small, inconspicuous looking building. There was a hand-carved wooden sign, the remaining chips of paint long since faded, making it difficult to read. But in the early afternoon sun, we could just make out the words “Cold War” semi circled over the word “bar”. Obviously this was a bar for locals, tucked away to avoid the casual customer. A small blue neon sign illuminating the word “open” was the closest the place came to drawing any attention to itself.
    The trees at its back belonged to the Woodmont Country Club. It was a fairly fancy golf course, sitting on over four hundred acres of land right here in the middle of everything. I’m sharing this with you not because I care about golf, but rather because that is where one of the openings to the Veil is located. Somewhere right in front of us, hidden among the trees and shrubs and beautifully landscaped lawns, was the entrance to the world next door. Hopefully I’d have an excuse to visit soon. But that was a topic for another time, for now we needed to find Lazarus.
    The parking lot was fairly empty, three sedans, a pick up truck, and a minivan were all sitting close enough to the bar to make me think that their drivers were inside. As we stepped out of the van, everyone but me pulled out his or her firearm. As I said before, guns weren’t really my thing, so unless I was told otherwise, I wasn’t carrying one. I pulled a blade out from a shin sheath; it was a nice long, thin, well-balanced thrower.
    Working in our favor was the bar’s location. Due to its hidden nature, six government agents standing around holding weapons weren’t very likely to draw too much attention. The bar itself lacked windows; minimizing the chances that someone inside might notice us. As the six of us looked around, scanning the area, we slowly made our way towards the front entrance to the bar.   I looked over at Kara, keeping my voice very low when I spoke.
    “Is there any way that you can detect other magic users in the area?” I asked.
    “Not unless they are actively manipulating manna,” she replied.
    “I could give us a cursory scan, just to tell us how many people are inside,” Danny said.
    “And you can do that without anyone knowing?” I asked.
    “Yeah, it’s super passive,” he smiled.
    “An excellent suggestion Mr. Frost, if you please,” Freddy said.
    Danny closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He furrowed his brow a bit and as if he had entered REM sleep, his eyeballs dancing behind their lids. After a few moments he opened his eyes and smiled.
    “There are eight people inside,” Danny told us.
    “Okay, how about I take the back and you five head inside. That way if you spook anyone and they make a run for it, I will be out back to stop em,” I smiled.
    “Flush em out the back huh?” Freddy smiled, “An excellent strategy. Kara and Timothy will accompany you, as back up, should you encounter trouble.”
    That wasn’t exactly how I wanted the plan to work, but undermining Freddy’s decisions at every turn wasn’t going to help us right now. Everyone was already nervous and team bickering would only make it worse. I was thinking that if Freddy and the bunch walked in, dressed the way that they are, our suspect, if they were here, would make a break for the back. Then I would be in waiting, ready to take the Sorcerer out. It kept them out of my way and assuming that this person wasn’t going to start flinging magic around inside of the bar, it should also keep my team safe. Now I