Project Trouble X Three

Dedicated to all of you who are reading my book. Also, to the special one's I have thanked every chapter. You know who you are. Thank you so much.

Recap

I walked into the kitchen, noticing all the Shadow Cat’s, my mom, and my dad up. I could tell they were pleasantly surprised at my entrance, but I didn’t do this for them I did it for me. I grabbed some cereal and fixed my bowl, grabbing an energy bar too. I ate my cereal in silence and waited for Cruz to make an appearance. I was surprised he wasn’t here already.

“Has anyone spoken to Cruz yet?” My uncle Madrid asked. I shook my head no and watched him get up and go towards our bedrooms. It didn’t take but a minute later when we heard a scream from Cruz and Madrid was walking back over to the table.

“Uh, guys, are those people the cartel?” I asked as I looked at the camera in front of me. My hand was shaking and my breathing hitched when I looked at the boy who I thought was normal.

“Well, shit!” I heard my mom say as I passed out cold.

Cats POV

“I don’t think they know we are here. I think they are following a scent and it’s not ours. We know how to cover our scents, right?” I asked as I looked over at Sophia, wanting to cuss.

I walked over to the monitor and pulled up a screen. I knew what I needed to do and I needed to do it fast. I put in my code and slowly hit a button. I didn’t want to release Sophia’s smell too much. I needed it to be subtle and not overpowering. I went to different areas in the forest until I got to one far away. I barely hit the button, wanting to make it as if she was there only minutes before. I took in a breath and watched the cartel.

“What was that, Cat?” My mom asked as she walked over to me.

I snickered. “That, my dear mother, was the scent of Sophia going into the woods. I made sure to make the last spot, she supposedly was faint. I wanted it to smell as if she was there about an hour ago.”

“What?” My dad asked as he walked over to us. ’How did you come up with the smell?”

“Uh, I sensitized our smells and put it in small valves. I had to work up Sophia’s anger to get her to sweat, but everyone else was easy.”

Madrid barked out a laugh. “You did very well, hopefully it will take the cartel to another place. Do you have any more to set off?”

“Yes, I do,” I said as I smiled evilly. “I’ll set some of them in a little bit. I want to keep them on a trail to a false bunker.” Madrid’s eyes bugged out.

“A false bunker?” My dad repeated my words and my mom smiled at me.

“Uh, yeah.” I quickly looked at my dad and uncle. “We needed something with a lot of walls and mazes. I wanted them to get lost in each section I seal off from the others. Each room has dividers so I can trap them.” I shrugged my shoulders as if to say ‘what did you expect?’.

“I can’t believe you snuck this all in, but I’m forever grateful for you,” my dad whispered. Madrid nodded and patted my back. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I was afraid they would be mad at me. I was glad I made the other bunker and the one we were in now. I needed to give them more information about the grounds here. And, I needed to set our protection back up.

“Uh, if anyone goes outside of this bunker they need to let me know, okay?”

“Why?” Madrid asked as he narrowed his eyes at me.

I shrugged. “Well, if you do want to go outside then you might not want to go kaboom, right?” Madrid aggressively nodded his head, a playful smirk on his face.

After he walked away I sat up the security around our bunker. I made sure to put the canisters on a timer or when the cartel crossed a certain section. I wasn’t sure how fast the lazy asses would be but I didn’t want them to close to one of my canisters and sniff it out, so I made sure I would know when they were a few miles away.

I turned around and noticed Sophia and Cruz were up and alert. “Alright, let’s train,” I commented before I turned back around.

I watched as Cruz huffed and stood up, sulking with everything in him. He was picking up on Sophia’s actions and Sophia was being good. Wow, never thought I would see this. The Shadow Cat’s followed us as we walked into the training room.

“We are doing gun training now, so get your colored guns. They will match your ink on your arm,” Madrid explained.

Sophia raised her hand. “I don’t have the ink, but I want to get it done today, please.”

“I can do it, Madrid, sir,” Doc said as turned to Madrid. Madrid nodded his head and looked at me.

“It’s painful, Sophia, but it can be done when you’re knocked out. I have bands you can use for now, okay?” I wanted her to know the facts, not sugarcoating anything for her.

“No problem, I can handle it,” she stated, a new determination in her eyes.

I handed her a band and watched as she wrapped it around her arm. She gathered her weapons and waited on instructions. I handed her over to Dragon, for now and I stepped back. I wanted to see how she did and how Cruz did. He was about to fire a weapon but I remembered he didn’t have ink either. I threw my blade towards the weapon, knocking it out of his hands.

“What the hell, Cat?” He angrily asked as I rolled my eyes at his stupidity.

Stupid troubled child

“If you would have fired that weapon it would have come back on you. You don’t have ink and you need a band, then the right color of weapons,” I sarcastically said, mad at him for not listening to Madrid’s instructions.

I threw the idiot a band and stepped back again. He wasn’t even trying to listen to anyone and I could see Madrid about to lose his shit. Eagle walked over and took his place. I knew it was the best option for Cruz, but if he was going to keep being a baby about everything he could go back to bed and hope he doesn’t get killed when we go to the compound.

I decided I was going to watch Sophia shoot and give her pointers if needed. She was doing great with her guns. She hit the bullseye each time and I was shocked to the tips of my toes, but very proud. She had a long way to go but her determination would help keep her safe.

“I know how to shoot a gun, Eagle!” Cruz shouted in Eagle’s face as a hard look crossed Eagle’s face.

Eagle crossed his arms. “If that was the case then you would have shot the target by now.” He looked over at me. “Cat, do you want to show him how we shoot?” I knew he wanted to get a rise out of Cruz and I was all for it.

“Of course,” I simply said. “Contest or what?” I asked, a small smirk on my face.

“Of course,” he answered as he strapped one of the weapons on his chest. I walked over and pressed the symbols on the walls, opening a hidden door. I pulled out the belt and hooked on the slider on the ceiling.

I grabbed my weapon, one matching Eagle’s, turning back towards Eagle. “You can go first, Eagle.”

“Ladies first, Cat,” he joked as I looked around for the lady he was talking about, causing him to burst out laughing. “Okay, you can go first, Cat, since you couldn’t find a lady.”

I shook my head and strapped into the harness, setting the button to swing upside down. My head dropped down to the ground and started swinging quickly. I took a breath and fired as I let out my breath. I hit the target and watched as Eagle set himself up in his harness. He dropped and started swinging, firing and hitting the target.

I raised my eyebrow and smiled. He knew I was up to no good when I smirked at him. I set up my next move. The harness lifted in the air and started spinning quickly. It was if you were on the blades of a helo. I breathed in and fired as I let my breath out, hitting the bullseye.

“Holy, shit!” Tesso exclaimed as I watched Eagle.

Eagle shook his head and set up his harness. He took a few deep breaths and hit the button on the harness. He started quickly spinning, but it was taking him longer to get settled. “Look straight ahead, Eagle,” I told him through our mic. He looked straight ahead and fired. He completely missed the target. He settled back on the ground and started puking his guts up.

“Well, that was fun, not,” he sarcastically said as he looked up at me.

“Sorry, I didn’t think it would bother you so bad.”

“I hate spinning, Cat, didn’t you know that?” I shook my no. “Oh, sorry. So, time to train.”

I knew he changed the subject. I wasn’t going to have anyone say anything about me winning. It was a competition but it was also to show Cruz that he didn’t know everything.

“I can do it,” I heard Cruz stupidly say as he crossed his arms over his chest.