Read Deadly Weakness (Gray Spear Society) for Free Online Page A

Child picked a fight with the wrong bitch."
    Norbert couldn't agree more. Except for himself, the entire Brotherhood had been slaughtered.
    He walked over to one of the walls. The windows were one foot square and six inches thick. He looked out and saw O'Hare a mile away. Airplanes were taking off and landing continuously, but he couldn't hear a thing.
    "Let's get busy," Marina said. "We have a lot of unpacking to do, and I want it done quickly. Aaron needs my help up north. A shit load of prep work has to be done before the convention starts. We'll barely have time to do it all."
    * * *
    Xavier stared at the note in his hands. It was inscribed in Ethel's distinctively elegant handwriting. Every line was straight and firm, and every loop was just so. The words were written on real parchment. Black ink had penetrated the natural fibers and appeared especially dark. It was a note that declared its status as an important document.
    Even though the style was familiar, the words were shocking. He had read them again and again for fifteen minutes. He had never expected to see words like these in his lifetime.
    He opened up a desk drawer. It contained a framed photograph of a beautiful woman with raven black hair. She had naturally pink lips and a perfect smile. She wore a blue evening gown, a favorite of his.
    "I love you," Xavier whispered.
    Rhiannon had died two years ago, but his heart still ached terribly. Not a day went by without him longing to touch her again. He would pay any price to hear her voice one more time. She had been more than his lover. She had been his best teammate and closest confidant. Her wisdom had lit the way during some very dark times. He still couldn't believe she was really gone.
    He blew a kiss to her and gently closed the desk drawer.
    He stood up. He had to make a phone call, but he couldn't do it here.
    Xavier was the commander of the Houston cell of the Gray Spear Society. His office was full of trophies collected by himself and his predecessors over many years of service. There was a skeleton of a human hand preserved in clear plastic. The finger bones ended in two inch claws. A sledgehammer in the corner had a head that weighed fifty pounds, and it was still speckled with the dried blood of its former owner. An atomic bomb sat in an airtight glass case. The high explosives had been removed, but the uranium was still inside.
    Xavier turned around and pressed the nose of a shrunken head mounted on the wall. A narrow panel slid out of the way, and he forced his body through the slot. It seemed every year it got harder to get through his private back door.
    He stepped onto an underground train platform. Six inches of water covered badly rusted tracks. A single incandescent bulb provided the only light.
    In the 1960's, the City of Houston had decided to build a subway system. All the other big cities had them, and therefore, Texas needed one too. With a great deal of fanfare and a fresh issue of government bonds, construction began.
    There was an immediate problem though. Houston was a very flat, very wet city. It was really just a swamp with buildings on it. The engineers quickly realized there was no way to keep the water out of the subway, at least no cost effective way. After just one station was built, the entire project was cancelled and forgotten. Nobody ever mentioned the embarrassing mistake again.
    The lone station was put up for sale, but there was only one bidder. The sale went through regardless. Thus, Global Real Estate Partners added another unique property to its secret collection.
    Xavier walked across a wooden bridge that carried him over the water. He could hear giant pumps running in a Sisyphean effort to keep headquarters from flooding. They never stopped. He entered a tunnel so dark he had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust. Working by feel as well as sight, he climbed two flights of stairs.
    He came to a steel door secured by twelve bolts. Each bolt was four inches thick