Free Crossfire (Book 1) (The Omega Group) by Andrea Domanski Page B

the second
man’s neck, where his spine met the base of his skull. The nerve damage caused
by the sudden trauma to the spinal cord, though not fatal, succeeded in
disorienting the man long enough for her to grab his weapon, turn it on him,
and end his life the same way he had ended Janice Campbell’s only moments
before.
    “Go, Barbie,” Mirissa said with an approving smirk.
    With a last glance at Janice, Myrine once again filed her
feeling of loss away, and lead the group outside.
    Sirens filled the air as police and fire emergency vehicles
poured into the street at the front of the building. Feeling the threat level
decline with the addition of local law enforcement, Myrine allowed herself a
moment to check on the wellbeing of her people.
    “Is anyone injured?”
     As everyone shook their heads, Myrine turned her
attention to Mirissa. “Are you all right?” she asked. Her daughter was
frantically searching her right arm.
    “I thought I’d been shot upstairs, but there’s nothing
there.”
    “That was your protector. I’ll explain later. For now, we
need to lose these weapons and bring our rings back to standby mode.” Throwing
their weapons in a nearby dumpster, Myrine grabbed her daughter’s right hand,
closed her eyes, and brought both of their snakes back down to size, their
emerald encrusted heads once again perched on the crossed swords of each of
their rings.
    Taking their time, so as to not attract any unwanted
attention, they made their way through the alleys between buildings, steering
clear of the main roads, until they had gotten several blocks away. From there,
it was easy enough for them to blend into the crowds of office workers roaming
the streets, the crowds that were blissfully unaware of the dangers that
surrounded them every day.
    Myrine had a private word with Ken as they were heading down
Forsyth Street before gathering her group around her. “I’m going to take
Mirissa to Safe House Beta. You each know what you have to do. Stay on your
toes.”
    After their group disbanded in the streets of Jacksonville,
Myrine needed to get her daughter out of town. She made a call on her cell
phone to secure a vehicle, a nondescript Ford Taurus, which they picked up in a
parking garage on Forsyth Street, then started on the road toward the safe
house.
    They made one stop at a storage unit that Myrine had rented
years ago for just such an occasion as this. She grabbed a large duffel bag
from the back seat and opened the storage unit door.
    Mirissa let out a low whistle at the sight of what lay
inside. There were racks covering two of the walls from floor to ceiling that
held an extensive collection of firearms.
    The rack on the short back wall held rows of pistols and the
longer wall on the right held rifles. Quickly making their choices, they loaded
the weapons in the duffel bag, along with extra magazines and several boxes of
ammunition for each.
    After taking one last look around, satisfied that she and
her daughter had what they needed, Myrine led Mirissa out of the storage unit
and hit the road for Jacksonville Beach, where Safe House Beta was located.
    It was about a twenty-five mile drive, so Myrine wasn’t
surprised when Mirissa took the opportunity to try and get a few answers. “So,
you want to tell me what’s going on?”
    “We’re under attack,” Myrine said absently as she smoothly
weaved in and out of traffic, staying within a few miles of the speed limit.
    “I got that much. What I’d like to know is by whom and why?”
    Myrine took a deep breath, unsure of how to begin.
“Kakodaemons aren’t the only threat out there, Mirissa. They are just the tip
of the iceberg.”

Chapter 15
    Mirissa sat in the passenger seat of the Ford Taurus waiting
for her mother to continue. Announcing that the Kakodaemons were only the tip
of the iceberg was quite a bombshell, yet she hadn’t made any attempt to expand
on the statement.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Mirissa watched her mother
drive