A Bullet Never Lies(Closed for Courage)

[raiguy]

Beau groaned softly as he rolled, waking himself up. He realized Irene had already woken up. He rolled his neck and stretched, waking up a bit more, before heading to the restroom. He emptied his bladder, and then splashed some water on his face to fully wake up.

He could smell breakfast cooling, and grabbed a robe before pulling it on as he walked. He smiled as he saw his wife cooking. He moved behind her, hugging and kissing her, before grabbing plates and silverware to use, setting the table and waiting for the food to be ready.

 

[heartofcourage]

Irene smiled and returned her husband’s kiss as he moved to grab the things to set the table. She paused briefly as she cooked, brushing her hand over her bump as she felt the baby move. It’s alright, Jude, she thought to herself, grinning at the thought that she had a name to now call the little peanut.

“I guess it’s not our little peanut anymore.” She said, looking over her shoulder at Beau. “Jude Lawry has a good ring to it.”

 

[raiguy]

Beau smiled and nodded. "It's our baby now for sure. I do agree. Jude Lawry does have a nice ring to it. We just need that middle name and we are set," he said with a soft chuckle, before kissing his wife's neck and moving to put napkins out.

He smiled as the other three joined him. "Good morning. How are you all today?" he asked. He just got dirty looks, so chuckled and started pouring coffee.

 

[heartofcourage]

Irene laughed softly as he kissed her neck again and moved to put the napkins out on the table. Her husband was much too cheerful in the morning and it seemed that his enthusiasm wasn’t what the rest of their crew expected and they all shared dirty looks as she moved to start serving everyone. Once she was sure that everyone had enough to eat, she finally made her plate and sat down next to Beau.

“So, what are our plans looking like today?” She asked, looking around at all of them before taking a bite of her eggs.

 

[raiguy]

Toby turned to Irene. "Well, we need to figure out what the agencies are doing. If they are consolidating, we need to move fast, and try to get ahold of friends. If we can move around and pick them off 1 by 1, then we need to start now," he said, sitting down to eat breakfast.

Judith nodded in agreement with her husband. "What it seems like is that agencies are merging, and getting rid of their top crop, because they either know too much, or are wanting to get into a different line, and assassins are too costly," she said, settling on Toby's lap.

Ray stood, tapping his chin. "If my intel is correct, they are consolidating to create a massive PMC corporation. With a corporation that large, they can beat out the sizes of the army of almost any country. Since they are going to have assassins as their top squads, their lower squads will be well trained. It almost looks like they are trying to privatize the military, and make it so that they make all the money in wars," he said, sobering the mood.

"Warmongers?" Beau asked. When Ray just nodded, Beau cursed. They were going to use their military influences to start wars, driving economies, creating needs, and making huge quantities of money while at it. "What do we do?" he asked, unsure of what needed to be done to stop this.

 

[heartofcourage]

“We have to expose them.” Irene said, looking around the table at everyone else. “To every one. Every government agency needs to know about this.”

“I can’t be the only one that thinks this is something that Irene needn’t be involved with.” Judith said, looking from her husband to Ray to Beau. “Darling, your pregnant. You might still be able to do the job, but I’m not willing to risk it.”

“Well, I’m sure that there’s other things I can do that helps.” Irene said softly, looking down towards her plate as she thought about what she had to offer.

 

[raiguy]

Beau chuckled as he looked at Judith. "I understand where you are coming from, but they involved her for a reason. Unfortunately, we all know that it isn't safe for her to be around flying bullets. However, she probably has the best planning skills among all of us, and I designate her as team lead. She probably already has a plan," he said, knowing his wife, and knowing how amazingly smart she was.

"Well, I still-" Judith started to say, before Toby cut her off.

"Love, I agree that Irene doesn't need to be involved, but I think Beau speaks the truth. Out of every agent here, Irene is the one who has always made sure to have everything planned. We've all looked over each other's missions, and I saw the strategy she used. I trust her to plan this," he said, taking his wife's hand to calm her.

Judith nodded, knowing he spoke the truth.

Ray just grinned, remembering the few times he had actually copied Irene's strategies to brilliant success.

Beau turned to his gorgeous wife and smiled. "What do you have in mind to expose them to everyone? It'll have to be quick, damning, and global. Is there something?" he asked, knowing that they needed to think this out, and fast.

 

[heartofcourage]

“We need to get ahold of every news agency that would kill for a story like this. I’m sure there are still more than a few reporters that remember us from our time with the agency.” Irene said quickly, looking at the table at everyone. “Barring that, we hit them where it hurts.”

“Money talks with them. We need to gather computer equipment and get to their bank accounts. If they’re drained then the merger can’t occur and the agents in the field cannot be paid.”

Irene looked over at Beau and took his hand, smiling at him as she knew that her plan had a chance to truly get their attention.

 

[raiguy]

Beau looked at Irene and shook his head. He knew she was good at planning, but this was something that he was almost certain would work. Barring complications, the news agencies would just need some time of story to go on. It didn't even need to be completely accurate.

"That will work. I think we can all get the necessary equipment to do that as well. We jut need to be able to hack into their accounts, which we all know what to look for," he said, looking around the room. He knew Ray could easily find the accounts.

"What will we need to make this work. The story needs to have some truth to it, and we need to for sure have access to their accounts before the story goes. Otherwise, they can just pay people off for the story to disappear," Beau said, thinking about what they had done when operations when wrong and drew news attention. It never seemed to last after the first day or two.

 

[heartofcourage]

“We have contacts with some of the largest news agencies in the world. A few anonymous tips would surely wet their appetites for more. Perhaps even a glimpse into their financial records would sweeten the deal.” Irene suggested, smiling at Beau. “We can drag this out for weeks if need be. They’re always looking for a good story against a Goliath.”

Slowly, she ran her hand across her belly, sighing softly as the gentle kicking from the evening before began again, drawing her attention away from planning. She needed to be on her game and to ignore anything that was surrounding her, but this was one thing she couldn’t draw herself away from.

 

[raiguy]

"That might be the case, but the other issue is that they will immediately suspect us behind the tip offs. I don't know about you, but dealing with every agency is a bit of a stretch of my skills. On my best day I can handle the majority of them," Beau said, smiling to lighten the mood just a bit.

"I like the anonymous tips. We just need to think of an angle that would take the agencies by surprise, as well as protect us. I'm drawing a blank on that though. My area of expertise was executing the mission and gathering direct intel, not really learning how to take down an infrastructure," He said, wrapping an arm around Irene and smiling at her expression.

 

[heartofcourage]

“That’s why you have us, Beau.” Irene teased softly, smiling at her husband as he wrapped an arm around her and grinned. “We do all the smart stuff and you provide the muscle.”

Leaning over, she kissed her husband’s cheek and the group go to work on putting together a list of things that would be needed to make the operation a success. It seemed daunting, but she knew that this was the only way that they could ever live in peace in the end. They had to take down their former employers with no exception.

 

[raiguy]

Beau chuckled at his wife. He knew what he was good for. He could field strip almost any gun, clean it, and then reassemble it faster than anyone in the group, and as such, had an intimate knowledge of the guns. He also happened to be the biggest in the group.

As they worked to get what they needed figured out, Beau thought about how they would take out their former employers. That was the tricky part, as the bosses probably brought in extra, highly trained security. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Hey guys, we all have contacts around the world who are loyal to us. Why don't we try to set something up globally so that we aren't just freeing ourselves, but all the ex-hitmen, number runners, gun runners, and others who want to be out from under these goons we used to work for?" he asked, wondering what the group would think.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Are you suggesting that we set up our own agency?” Irene asks, looking towards her husband with a stunned expression on her face. “Cause I can almost guarantee you that all those men and women aren’t going to go straight if we pull everything down from the inside out.”

 

[raiguy]

Beau shook his head insistently. "No. Not an agency. Instead of trying to do this as our group, we try to get others to retaliate for what was done to them. We all have no real interaction other than getting the ball rolling. Basically we attack from as many directions as we can and never let them know who all is coming," he explained.

 

[heartofcourage]

Irene considered that for a moment and a slow grin started to spread across her face. It was a crazy idea, but it just might work, she thought to herself. “I think you have a good idea there, Beau.”

 

[raiguy]

Beau smiled and pulled his wife close. He kissed her softly before looking at the group. "Of course, this could backfire on us and kill us all, but I thought it would be better to have as many different hit points as possible. Instead of one big shot at the beasts, take several smaller shots in more specialized areas and ways, and watch them tumble," he said, remembering what he was taught in close quarters combat. Hit the weak points precisely and rapidly and watch the opponent crumble faster than going all out in one hit.

 

[heartofcourage]

"We all know the risks, Beau." Irene said softly, her hand patting his as she felt it slide around her belly.

"Which is why we've decided that it's too risky for Irene to go into the field with us." Came a voice from the room that made Irene instantly shoot a glare at their friends gathered.

"Absolutely not. I'll be there every step of the way." Irene practically growled, her eyes narrowing as she looked at everyone gathered with them. "You can't keep me away."