Project Trouble X Three

Dedicated to all my friends who have followed me throughout my series and sequels. I appreciate you sticking with me.

Recap

I zoned out until I remember the diagram on the wall. I needed to study it more, so I know what he wanted me to do in case of an emergency. He knew I would be done here at one time. He knew I would understand the symbols he had left for me. If it had been Sophia here she would hide forever and wouldn’t know how to solve the symbols - even though dad had tried to teach her and Cruz. They couldn’t understand why our dad was teaching us crap - as Sophia called it.

I figured out the symbols at the same time Martim said ‘incoming’. Great, just great. I was tired of hiding and not fighting, but I had promised Martim that I would figure out the vision I had of my past life more than I had done. It was hard to go back over my past life, knowing I would see myself die, but I had to do it to protect us.

“Incoming, and it’s the twins,” I heard from Hollywood.

Cats POV

“Cat, you need to take the guys with you. Read the symbols and follow what they say. The twins are headed their way here. And, they would be looking everywhere for you. Please do as I ask. Now, Cat!”

“Will do. Be very careful, Martim, I don’t want to lose you,” I begged, hoping he could understand my fear for his safety. I knew he couldn’t speak now and I wouldn’t be surprised if he took out his earwig. I nodded at the guys, letting them know to follow me quietly.

We slithered down the tunnel, keeping our movements slow and quiet. When we would get to an intersection, I would read the symbols and move down the correct tunnel. It was slow going and nerve wracking, not knowing if we would be caught at any second. I could only pray Martim would be okay.

I heard a spraying sound and stopped moving. I could smell a scent that smelled like my mate. Oh, he was covering our scents.

Good.

I swear my dad and mate had thought of everything. I heard a whispering sound as if a door had closed quietly. I realized he had thought of everything. It would be impossible for anyone to know which tunnel we went through, or if there was a tunnel to begin with. I hoped he didn’t get hurt for his part or for any part. The twins had to know he had precautions to protect himself, especially since he loved bombs.

We came to another intersection. I read the symbols and noticed it said to hold my breath and get ready to fall. I quietly told the guys, using hand signals. They nodded their heads as I reached for the symbol and pushed, grabbing a huge breath at the same time. A mist shot out of the sides of the tube quietly and deadly. As soon as the mist finished the floor dropped out on us, closing quietly as we fell through.

I got ready to land by bending my knees but we were dropped into another tunnel, sliding down as if it were a huge water slide. It didn’t have any symbols or places to hook in. I started to worry that we would be sliding forever. I guess it was kind of fun to free fall but then again I didn’t know how we would land at the bottom. The guys were behind me, so it would be fun to see how this would end…

Oof.

“Get off me, you fat-asses,” I hissed at them, trying to pull myself free. We were a mangled mess of arms and legs.

“Don’t move until we get away from each other or you will be kneeing me in the balls on accident instead of purpose. Again,” Dragon quietly said as they tried to get off of each other.

“Whoever has their hand on my ass better remove their hands now or I won’t be responsible for my actions,” I hissed as quietly as I could. I noticed no one took responsibility. I wasn’t worried, considering I would always know who was up to no good. I could read their tells as well as any poker player.

When they finally stood up, I sat up and looked at both of them, knowing Dragon was the culprit. I stood up and looked at Dragon as he raised his hands in the air. He knew I knew it was him all along. I could tell he didn’t know how I knew, but it didn’t matter. I stalked over to him as he backed up, his hands still in the air.

“I was trying to make sure you didn’t knee me in the balls and I couldn’t reach anywhere else to hold you still. I didn’t do it intentionally,” he confessed as I looked him in the eyes. I knew he was telling the truth.

“Shit, shit, shit!, I’m in trouble. Your dad and Martim will kill me. How about we make a deal?” Dragon asked as he paced in front of me. “How about you only run thirty miles instead of thirty-five miles, how does that sound?”

“Twenty,” I countered. He nodded and stuck out his hand to shake on the deal. “But, if you ever do again I’m telling my mate, my dad, and uncle Madrid.” He gulped and shook his head as he walked away, breathing out a sigh.

I finally looked around the room we were in. It looked as if it was a bunker but I wasn’t sure. I walked around, noticing how much bigger the kitchen was. There was a refrigerator, a six burner stove, a pantry, and countertops that were white. It was huge and had a huge island with drawers and cabinets everywhere. I checked every one of the drawers and cabinets, noticing it was a fully stocked kitchen.

Nice.

I saw the huge table in a make-shit dining room. I noticed a symbol and walked over to it. I read the symbols and in less than a second I pressed on the correct symbol, opening a panel for an eye scanner. I scanned my eye and my finger, causing the panel to slide to the left, showing four screens. I put the password in and the screens turned on, catching Dragon’s and Digger’s attention.

“Holy shit! So that’s why your dad wanted us to learn the symbols. I thought he was bullshitting us,” Digger exclaimed as I laughed at him.

A video came up of Martim, one I could tell had been pre-recorded. He was letting us know the chamber was sound proofed as long as we hit the correct symbol. I looked at the symbols and pushed the correct button.

“Very good, mate,” I heard him say on the pre-recorded message, causing me to smile. He told us what the extra rooms were and that he would join us soon. He told us that my family would be with us within a day or two, but not to open any of the doors to the outside or the cartel would be alerted. I was nodding my head as if he was telling us this in person, making me look as if I was the biggest idiot in the world. But, it was as if I could reach out and touch him. When the video was over it self destructed and a new monitor was there. I swear my dad and my mate were wizards. All the screens showed us around the tree house and around us.

I left the guys to the monitors and checked out the other rooms. One of the rooms looked as if it was a military bunk house. It had twin beds everywhere. I wasn’t sure how many Shadow Cats my dad was going to bring with him but with as many beds that were in the room I could make the assumption it would be a lot.

I walked into the room at the end of a hall, noticing all sorts of practicing stations. It had a gun range, a bow station, a blade practicing station, a room to make explosives. Holy shit there was a lot of TNT in the room. I closed the door to the explosives and let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

I'm not going kaboom.

I walked to the other end of the hallway and noticed a big military style bathroom or head. It had showers with low walls in between, sinks lined the other wall, urinals, and three bathroom stalls. I could only hope I didn’t have to share the bathroom with the men, although they were cleaner than most women’s bathrooms I had been in.

I walked back into the kitchen and noticed another hallway. I walked down it and opened the doors to each room. The first one was a bedroom with a bathroom, the next one was a regular bathroom, and the next one was another bedroom with a bathroom. What I didn’t understand was why? Why would there be these bedrooms when we had the others? Don’t get me wrong, I was extremely excited not to have to shower or use the restrooms in the military style bathrooms, but why did we get luxuries when no one else did? I shook my head, something catching my eye. I walked over to a symbol on the wall and read it, noticing it was a warning not to open this wall. It had to be a way to get outside and I wasn’t pushing any of the buttons on this symbol.

I walked back out into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator, pulling out some hamburger meat. I set in the microwave on thaw and turned it on. I pulled out the bins in the pantry and grabbed onions, bell peppers, and garlic out, laying them on the counter. I pulled out the huge cutting board and sat down at the island, grabbing a knife to cut them up. I was steadily chopping and listening to the guys.

“Four more gone.” Dragon snickered as he nodded his head at what Digger had said.

“Four more what?” I asked, making the men jump as if they were scalded cats. I had snuck up on them, shocking the hell out of them.

“Damn it! You need to wear bells around your feet,” Digger scolded me as I laughed at his words. I could still walk quiet and he knew it. My mom had made sure I could walk quietly by using bells. I got so good my mom stopped loading me up with bells and tied them on Cruz instead. That boy wasn't quiet for anything but he learned to be a little quieter than before.

“Four more what? I looked at the monitors and nodded as I shrugged my shoulders and walked back over to the island.

“It doesn’t bother you that he’s killing the cartel?” Digger asked me.

I shook my head. “Nope. Well, as long as he saves me the three shits who cat-napped me.” The guys started laughing as I gave them a cheeky wink.

“He had his chance to kill them but he let them go after giving us a cheeky wink, too,” Dragon informed me.

“Cool” I turned to get the hamburger meat out of the microwave when I felt air coming from somewhere.

Fun times.

Here we go.