Project Trouble X Three

N.Y.O.B., oddball, PenumbraMINE, and Jo Jo Sprout, thank you for your comments, for being with me every step of the way.

Recap

I heard a hiss behind me and spun around in my seat. Oh God, Cat heard every word they said. I thought she was asleep and would be for a while. “Cat, you know you could kill them long before they touch you. They will never touch either of you nor kill your family or us.”

“I know, but I don’t like being talked about as if I’m meat, a commodity to use whenever they want. They will feel me, but in my way, not theirs. I can’t wait to shred both of those assholes.” She sighed and rubbed her head. “I’m going to show them what a little girl can do, right Sophia?”

“Yeah, but I was hoping we didn’t have to worry about them. I should have gone with my gut feeling,” Sophia explained.

“You did. You weren’t sure about them. I could read it in your eyes. You were reserved when it came to the two of them,” Cat told Sophia.

“Where are you now?” Juan asked Pedro as we watched him through the cameras.

“I’m at the border and can be there within twenty minutes. Let me know when they call and tell you they are coming to take down the twins and make my way to you as fast as possible, ” Pedro commented, making both Sophia and Cat hiss. I wouldn’t want to be in the idiot’s shoes. They were definitely going to die and die before we take out the twins.

“Wait!” Cat yelled out. “He lied. Look.”

I gasped and stood up.

Cats POV

Martim gasped and stood up, his jaw-dropping. We were watching Pedro sign to us, but what he was saying sounded impossible. I felt as if I was in the twilight zone. I felt as if I was on the tallest rollercoaster and someone took time to drop my ass over my tail. I was so confused about what was going on and I wasn't sure if I believed him even now.

I clicked my mic on. "Madrid, please come to the main cavern, we have a situation." I needed information and I needed it now. I didn't want to hack into the pentagon's computers, but I would if I had to.

I reached to pull my laptop over towards me, but was stopped. "Don't you dare, Cat," Madrid ordered me, an incredulous look on his face. How in the hell did he know what I was about to do.

I looked at him with a confused look on my face. "Don't dare to do what? I was watching the idiots from Peru," I said innocently, too innocently. I saw Sophia cut her eyes over to me and I knew she wanted to laugh.

"Okay, what did you need me here for?"

"I need to show you something and you need to confirm it, but not by using our phones. Can you pull up the roster for the Shadow Cats? We need some information," I told him.

He nodded his head and I showed him what Pedro signed to us. He blanched when Pedro took off his hat. "What?" I exclaimed.

"Please don't kill my cousin," Madrid begged.

I pulled in a large breath and shook my head several times. His cousin? His mother-fucking cousin? What the hell? "Is he on a mission for the Peru cartel or what? Come on, Madrid, we need information or he's going to get himself killed. Is he on our side or theirs?" I said quickly, looking at him as if I could read the answer on his face.

Madrid sat down and sighed. "He's my cousin, but I don't know whose side he's on. He always liked to play it lose, very lose, but I don't see this as one of his plays. I need to call him," Madrid explained.

"Problem there, Madrid, he ditched his phones," I commented sarcastically.

I got a sharp look from him. "What about the phone he was using to talk to Juan?"

"I'm a fucking idiot," I muttered, I couldn't believe I forgot something as easy as the phone he was using. I wasn't sure if he knew I could hear or what. I was muttering to myself about being an idiot and idiot men, namely idiot cousins. I could tell I was amusing Madrid and my mate with my words but did I care? No.

Cousins and stupid plans

Plans I didn't agree with

I checked Juan's cache of numbers and found the one Pedro was using. I got up and grabbed my rucksack, running my hand around the lip of the sack. I found one of my newest toys and hooked it up to my phone, handing it to Madrid.

He looked at the phone and then me, a confused look on his face. "What's this?" He asked as he pointed to the box I had attached to the phone.

"It's called a hot box. Any call you make on the phone will make it look as if you are on base or any other place I set it up for," I told him. His eyes gleamed, knowing he had another toy to buy. It was hard to pay for all the wifi systems we had to use, but this toy would erase the need to pay for them. "Just hit dial and you will be connected to him, but I would like to record your message - with your permission of course."

"Go for it," he said. He really didn't have a choice the hot box would record it for me, but I wanted to know if I could activate it. I typed a code into the box and handed it back to him. He hit dial and we waited.

"Ayo, what the hell is going on?" Madrid asked. Ayo? I guess we couldn't call him Pedro anymore. "What do you mean you are trying to save your mate? Isn't your mate the piece of shit who wants to mate with my nieces?" He paused and I could tell Ayo was telling him something interesting. His eyebrows were furrowed and his head was tilted to the side. "I'm going to put you on speakerphone, okay?" Madrid hit the speaker and set the phone down in the middle of the table.

"Let me explain before you all jump down my throat please."

"Alright, go on," I told him, waiting to see if I shook him up.

"Good. I'm sorry for my words earlier, but I had to sound convincing." I hummed. "Your mom, Cat, made a serum which could make another person think they are your mate. She doesn't use it all the time, but she knew I was going to rescue my mate. I've been off the reservation for a while, and yes I'm in the military."

"What?" I breathed out, shocked to my core.

"I'm a Shadow Cat as much as you are. I'm usually in logistics but I took time off to rescue my mate. Juan has her as a backup plan in case we can't get you even though she's his stepsister. I've had to play him the whole way."

"How do we know you are not playing us now? And, why didn't your cousin not recognize you?" I asked, needing answers as soon as possible.

"You don't know if I'm playing you, but I can prove it to you if you give me a chance. And Madrid hasn't seen me in a while. He doesn't know what I look like with a beard and longer hair," Ayo explained, giving me a sense of peace.

"One chance. Don't play us or you won't like the consequences, you feel me?" I harshly asked. I wanted him to know I would listen to him but I would reserve the option to kill him.

'Okay. My mate's name is Marlo Brenna. She's a Latin beauty. She's maybe five foot nothing and loves brownies," he said wistfully. I pulled up the web and looked for her name. The picture that came up was indeed a Latin beauty and five foot nothing. She was tiny.

"Alright, what do you need from us?" Madrid asked as he paced.

"I don't want to know where you are at. I only ask you to help me to get her out of the compound in Peru before she is sold. I know Juan wants to sell her as soon as we have you two, but there is no way in hell he's going to sell her." Ayo sighed. "I don't want to lose her. I had to lock her in her room to keep the rest of the dumbasses away from her. I know you have at least one person on the payroll in Peru, Madrid."

"Da Fuck? How do you know?" Madrid exclaimed, his pacing getting faster.

"If he didn't know for sure before you just gave him the answer he was looking for, Madrid," I sarcastically said, rolling my eyes afterward. Madrid was slipping, giving more information away than usual. I knew he was tired, but he needs to pull his head out of his ass.

"I'll take it as confirmation. I know the two. I was the one who got them the job. Can I use them to get my mate out?" Ayo asked, a fearful tone in his voice. I know I wouldn't want my mate to be in the situation she was in. I knew my mom could relate to this woman.

"Yes, get her out of there before the others rape her, Ayo. Keep me posted. Are you staying here or going back to Peru?" Madrid asked.

"I'm bringing her back with me. She's a badass and we can help you. Martim, I know you know what I'm talking about if you were to look back," Ayo stated in a confident tone of voice. My head swiveled to Martim, a shocked look on my face and a confused one on his.

"What? I don't remember you in my flashbacks, Ayo," Martim slowly said as if he were talking to a child.

I pulled up a program for face recognition, taking a picture of the video when he was looking up without his hat. I gasped at what I saw, causing Martim to look at me and follow my eyes to my laptop. "Nevermind, I know who you are. I'll take any help I can get but it's up to Madrid whether he lets you be in on this mission or not."

The picture without his beard was the same picture of the man who helped us in our past life. He sadly lost his life when he tried to save his mate from Juan. I didn't recognize Juan, but I wasn't looking for him either. He wouldn't have to worry about Juan because he would be the first person to die. I wasn't saving him for last. If I could help Ayo I would.

Madrid looked lost in thought for a few minutes. "Bring it in, Ayo, bring it in. You've got a green light." I was confused by what he was saying at first. What the hell did bring it in mean?"

"You got it, bro," Ayo answered back. I heard Madrid take a huge breath of in and release it.

"Get yourself situated and we will call as soon as we are on our way, or you will know as soon as we hit them. You won't be able to miss the sounds," Madrid critically told him.

"On it." He coughed. "And thanks for your help." He ended the call and we all looked at Madrid.

"What?" He asked, realizing what we were asking about with our eyes. "It's a saying we always said to each other. It was to let us know the other one was for real and not under any form of distress. If he would have answered 'got it' I would have known he was in trouble." I nodded my head and watched the cameras for Juan. I couldn't find him.

I walked over to Sophia and asked to use the laptop. I pulled up the cameras in the compound. I wanted to know if Juan was there or not. I knew he couldn't hide from me forever.

I gasped, my eyes widened, my heart was in my throat. "What the hell is this?" I asked loudly. I was shocked and I didn't think I could be shocked.

"Holy shit!" Martim exclaimed.