Jack waited in his cell, repeating the name of the city in his mind over and over and trying to relax. Helen had risked a lot getting the information to both of them, and he was determined that if he could escape he would put it to good use.
The only problem was: escape didn’t seem remotely possible. At least not under his current circumstances. Helen had moved him back into his holding cell almost twenty minutes ago after letting him see Beck. It was nice knowing his friend was alive and well.
After about half an hour of waiting, the door to his cell opened and a giant man walked inside. Three hundred pounds of muscle. The man stared at him for a second, then gestured for him to get up.
“Time to go.”
“Where?” Jack asked.
“Another location. Get up,” the man replied. Jack stood from the bed and waited for the man to back out of the small cell. “We’re going to visit your family.”
Jack felt his heart skip a beat. His family. His worst fear brought to light. He’d been praying they wouldn’t know about his family or at least would leave them out of this.
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean?”
“Are they safe?”
“For now. But they might die. Too soon to tell. If your friend stops helping, then they will die for sure.”
Jack winced.
The man led him through the dimly lit police station into an alleyway. A black truck was waiting. The cab was enormous, but he still doubted that the man felt comfortable inside. His head must touch the ceiling.
The giant man opened the passenger door and handed Jack an empty black cloth bag.
“Put that on.”
Jack stared at it for a second, then looked back to the truck. The wheels sat high and the floor of the front cab was around his waist. “Can I climb in first? I don’t think I’ll make it if I’m blind.”
The man narrowed his eyes, then stepped out of the way so Jack could climb in. He lifted himself into the cab and the door shut behind him.
He saw that the keys were in the ignition. The giant was walking around to the other side of the truck, oblivious. Jack could slide across the seat and start the truck: gun the engine, lock the doors, and escape before the man caught on.
Then he could get his bearings of this city, find help, and let people know what was going on.
But he didn’t slide across the seat. Too many things could go wrong. The huge man might be armed, and a lucky shot could end the escape in seconds. Plus, Jack didn’t know where his family was being held and didn’t want to risk their safety.
He put the hood over his head and waited. A few seconds later, the driver’s side door opened and he felt the truck shift under the man’s enormous weight. The truck started and he felt it lurch out of the alley. With an internal groan, he kept repeating the name in his head.
2
Victor paced the doorway of the warehouse, eyes on the infant girl he held in his arms but mind far away. Things were progressing nicely and he was only days away from finishing the mission. It was nearing midnight, and he was expecting William to arrive at any moment.
That was part of the reason he was holding Jack’s daughter right now. The emotional effect would be instant, lending credibility to the statement he was going to make. Marian Wallis, Jack’s wife of three years, was crying softly from behind, but that didn’t bother him. She was worried for her daughter, Jack was worried for his family, and Victor was worried about his job. Everyone had something at stake.
“Your father will be here soon, and you can go home to a nice warm crib,” Victor said softly to the baby, gently tapping her nose with his finger. The sobbing intensified behind him, and he heard Marian whisper, “Please…”
“Your daughter is fine. As long as things go smoothly you will be home in a few days,” Victor said.
Marian was tied to a chair in the doorway of the warehouse, framed nicely in the dim light to make her glow. All seven of the guards posted at this safe house were out of sight at the moment, two patrolling the exterior and the other five guarding the interior.
It was packed with hundreds of enormous crates. Some were supplies, some weapons, and a lot were old and abandoned goods left behind by the original owners of the warehouse. Rotten foodstuffs and moth-ridden clothing.
Victor had decided to move Jack to the location because he didn’t need him anymore, but he also didn’t want to let him go. He’d pulled a few local guards on JanCorp’s payroll to look after Jack and his family until the mission was over and then they would cut him loose.
Now that things were progressing smoothly, he had no doubt he would be able to lock everything down in time for his morning attack. He would send his message and then he would tie up all of the loose ends.
Including Helen.
“Please let us go,” Marian said softly. Victor stopped pacing and faced her.
“If you want to have an intelligent conversation, I will gladly participate. But if the only thing you can manage is a half-assed plea for help, keep your mouth shut. The last thing I want is for Jack to show up and find me beating his wife for her incessant nagging.”
The double shipping door to the warehouse began grinding open and he stepped out of the way. A large black truck drove to the edge of the warehouse entrance and parked.
The passenger door flew open, and he watched Jack stumble out of the truck. The pilot ran across the pavement to his wife, kneeling next to her and throwing his arms around her. Victor didn’t intervene, standing to the side and waiting.
“Are you okay?” Jack asked, almost crying. She stammered something, but Victor made out the words. She was delirious and terrified. “Thank God you’re safe.”
After thirty or so seconds Jack stood up and glanced around. His eyes locked on his infant daughter in Victor’s arms, and he took a step forward.
“She’s fine,” Victor said. “She has your nose.”
“I’ll kill you if you hurt her,” Jack said, his voice soft.
“I have no intention of hurting you,” Victor said. “Or your family. Not if you don’t do anything to us.”
“We won’t say a word,” Jack said. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
Victor smiled and handed him his daughter.
“Then our business is concluded,” Victor said. “Play nicely, and you’ll get to go home.”
Then Victor got in the truck with William and they started to drive off.
“We aren’t going to kill him?” William asked.
“He’s military,” Victor said. “If we kill him, they’ll hunt for us. If we let him walk, then when they find him they will charge him for his crimes. He’ll be too busy dealing with his own problems to worry about us.”
3
Jack knelt beside his wife in the warehouse with his daughter in his arms. The truck was gone and they were alone, and he was rocking his daughter. She’d stopped crying and was sleeping, but he doubted it would be long before she was crying again. He looked at his wife and saw that she was crying as well.
He felt horrible; this was his fault. If he’d never disobeyed and gone into Vegas this wouldn’t have been possible. And now his family was suffering because of him.
How selfish was he that he couldn’t survive a few months of boredom? His eyes started welling up and he knew he was going to cry soon too if he didn’t find something to occupy his mind.
“Jack, what’s happening?” Marian whispered.
He hesitated. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about everything. I don’t know what’s going on. But I promise you we’ll make it out of this okay.”
“No, we won’t,” Marian replied. “We won’t.”
“Don’t say that. We’ll be fine. They promised to let us go if things work out for them. We’ll make it out of this.”
She was still shaking her head. Jack shifted around to behind the chair and adjusted Jessica so her head was on his shoulder. With a free hand, he worked on the bonds, trying to free Marian’s hands. It was difficult and slow, but after a few minutes, he managed to finagle the ties enough that she could work her hands free.
Triumphant, he leaned back from the chair and saw that there was a guard ten feet away watching him. So much for small favors. A heavy machine gun hung at the man’s shoulder and he seemed more amused than anything else.
“Don’t mind me,” the guard said. “I’m just here to shoot you if you run.”
Jack ignored him and finished getting Marian’s hands free. She rubbed her wrists.
“Better?” he asked. She nodded, sniveling, and reached out for her daughter.
Jack handed his daughter over and stood up, positioning his body between his family and the guard.
“Jack, they are going to kill us,” Marian whispered, brushing the thin strands of hair out of their daughter’s face and rocking her.
“No, they won’t,” Jack said. He wished his voice was stronger, wanted desperately to encourage her that everything would be okay. He wanted to mean it. Unfortunately, he didn’t believe it. “They won’t hurt us.”
Not yet at least. Not until they’ve killed Beck.
4
“Are you done?”
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Lyle said. His fingers bounced rapidly over the keys, flipping through pages faster than Kate could keep up with.
“Give me an idea. Are you, at least, close?”
“I’m on the state’s network and I found applicable buildings.”
Kate waited, but Lyle didn’t say anything else.
“And…?”
“And that means I’m on their network. I have access to their systems, but I’m not completely sure what I’m looking for.”
“Safe house locations.”
“There isn’t a file conveniently labeled ‘hey dummy, here’s the data you're looking for.’ I found a lot of GPS coordinates, but I’m trying to isolate which ones are currently being used and which have been abandoned or are owned by shell companies.”
“What do you mean? Just find abandoned ones in Arizona.”
“There are six-thousand-four-hundred-and-fifty of them.”
Kate blinked. “What?”
“Yeah, so if you’ll be quiet for a few minutes, I’ll try to figure out which ones are active, and of those which are likely to be used for hiding people in remote locations.”
Kate sighed and kept pacing the hotel room. A few minutes dragged past before Lyle spoke again.
“Found one,” he said. “It’s a warehouse outside the city. It’s been closed, and they have it flagged for demolition from seven years ago. It’s an hour away.”
“Okay,” she said. She picked up her pistols. “Let’s go.”
Lyle shrunk away. “What do you mean ‘let’s’?”
“We need to leave now.”
“What do you mean ‘we’?”
“You’re coming with me.”
“Why on Earth would I do that?”
“Because I might need backup.”
“Then call in some backup.”
“From who? I don’t have anyone. And I don’t have time to call in any favors, so you’re the only backup I’ve got.”
“Then in that case,” Lyle said, closing the laptop, “we’re screwed.”
5
Lyle had to pee.
Or at least, his body was doing a convincing job of creating the symptoms. He’d tried five minutes earlier and nothing came out, so he knew it was just nervousness. That didn’t change the fact of how he felt, though, and he wanted desperately to find a tree to duck behind and relieve himself.
He was leaning against the side of a warehouse next to Kate. She was peering around the edge and scanning the front of another building two hundred feet from their position.
He wasn’t sure exactly what she was hoping to see, but it was taking a long time. And each time he tried to look around the edge she gently pushed him back. So he’d given up and was staring out into the desert of Arizona instead, wishing there were more trees.
Or at least, a big cactus nearby. But there was nothing except empty desert in front of him. They were on the outskirts of the city, watching the warehouse he had flagged and waiting.
“Anything?” he asked finally.
“Nope. No movement.”
“Maybe we’re at the wrong place,” he offered. “I could have picked the wrong one.”
“No movement is a good thing. This is supposed to be an abandoned building, so if there were a lot of people milling about outside I’d be worried.” There was another long pause, and she heard a faint sound. A second later, she heard an engine start, then fade away: “A side door just opened and someone left.”
“What’s the plan?”
“It’s not much of a plan, but here’s what I was thinking,” she said, looking at Lyle. The grin on her face made him realize she was about to make fun of him. “You charge straight at the front door, screaming like a maniac. When they open it to shoot you, wet yourself and curl into a fetal position.”
“How does that help?”
“They’ll never shoot someone covered in their own urine.”
“Uh…”
“Then, I want you to start crying and crawl away. In the meantime, I’ll sneak through the back, rescue Jack’s family, kill the bad guys, and meet you at the car.”
Lyle shrugged. “You know, I actually think I might have that in me. No one screams like I do. I’m not really digging the charge forward part, though.”
Kate only sighed.
“I’m serious. What the hell am I doing here?’
“You’ve fired a gun before, right? Just pretend it's target practice.”
“Targets don’t shoot back.”
“Don’t over think it, just react. When the fight starts, let go of your inhibitions.”
Lyle nodded. “Yeah, that’s about the time I expect to start wetting myself.”
“Shut up and follow me,” Kate said, reaching down to the device clipped to her belt and flicking a button.
Lyle saw her eyes light up, as though they were reflecting a glare, but there was nothing casting light nearby. She hesitated. “Why are you looking at me like that?’
“What was that?”
“Night vision contact lenses.”
“That is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Can I have a pair?”
“Maybe when you’re older,” she said, glancing around the side of the cactus.
Lyle closed his eyes, took a deep breath to steady his nerves, and opened them again, ready as he would ever be.
“Okay, let’s do this.”
Kate was already gone.
6
Kate sprinted forward and ducked behind a car, putting her back against the wheel and readying her pistol. The nearest patrolling guard was less than two hundred feet away, and he would pass by less than twenty feet away within moments.
Once he was gone, she would have forty seconds to get inside the warehouse before the next guard patrolled past. She was expecting it to be locked, so she was ready with a pick. That was plan A. She also had a sizable chunk of plastic explosive in her pocket with a detonator at the ready as her backup plan.
She felt a thud against the car next to her and winced. “You could have told me we were moving—”
Kate reached forward and put her hand over his mouth. He stopped talking and stared at her. Fifteen seconds later and they heard footsteps. His eyes widened, then closed tightly.
She shifted to see underneath the car and watched boots pass them. She waited until they were around the corner of the warehouse and took her hand off Lyle’s mouth.
She did a quick scan of the area and sprinted to the side door. Locked. She knelt down to work the tumblers.
“I didn’t even see him,” Lyle said, coming up next to her and panting. “Holy crap.”
“Shut up,” she said, “and get ready.”
“And do what?”
“Make sure no one sneaks up behind me.”
“You know if you go to Home Depot and buy all the doorknobs and keep a key from each package you can open almost any door? Most locks are universal, and the only ones you can’t open that way are custom made. That’s like five percent of all doors.”
“Oh my God, do you ever shut up?”
“I can’t help it. I’m terrified.”
“Most people talk less when they are terrified.”
“I can’t help that I’m not like most people, and by now I would think you would understand that this is not something normal people do, and I’m starting to freak out—”
“Just watch my back,” she said, working the last tumbler into position.
She felt it click and gently turned the handle. She cracked the door and peered inside. It was dark, but not excessively so. A high walkway ran through the center and connected free hanging offices.
It was packed pretty thick with old crates and there were walkways running above it in dozens of directions. To her right was a stairway leading up, and she decided that would be her first destination.
She expected guards to be on walkways so they had the best vantage possible, and it wouldn’t be advisable to move through the interior without understanding its pathways. The rail would be a good starting point.
“Follow at a distance and stay ready,” she whispered.
“Got it.”
“And whatever you do, don’t get shot,” she said.
Before Lyle could respond Kate was gone. She stayed crouched and moved to the stairs, rifle at the ready.
The only strong light source was at the enormous front door. She figured Ben would either be there or in one of the offices at the opposite end of the hanging walkway. She slid around the edge of the stairs and crawled up, slinging her rifle over her shoulder.
The stairs were made of grated aluminum with handrails and no sides, so anyone glancing her way wouldn’t have much trouble spotting her. She moved as quickly as she dared to the top and peered over.
At the opposite end of the warehouse were the offices, and about halfway down the walkway it split off to the right and left, leading to other staircases heading down. At the split stood a guard, scanning the interior, and another was positioned in front of the enclosed offices. That was a good sign.
At least, there was something worth protecting in there. She searched around, hoping to spot any other guards, but it was too dark and cramped on the ground floor. She did a quick recap in her mind: two patrolling outside, two on the walkway, and at least one near the light source at the front shipping doors of the warehouse.
Kate forced her mind clear and slid the rifle off her back. With a flip of her finger, the laser beam shot out, aimed at the stairs for now. It was an ultraviolet laser, invisible without a filter. She could see it perfectly, but with luck, no one else would be able to.
She took a deep breath, held it, and lined up her first victim. The dart whistled out of the gun with only a small expel of air. It hit the guard in the arm, knocking him unconscious before he could cry out.
He fell face first and rolled off the side of the walkway. He thudded noisily into the boxes below and Kate cursed under her breath.
“So much for keeping this quiet.”
Someone shouted from farther in the building. Kate lined up the second shot and released two more darts at another guard. He collapsed against the door behind him and slid to a sitting position, unconscious.
She quick-stepped up the stairway and lined the rifle over the edge. She spotted a third guard running for cover. Kate fired another dart and he fell in mid-stride, hitting the ground with a hard thud. If he hadn’t broken his nose, Kate would be amazed.
The response to her attack came faster than anticipated. A bullet hit the aluminum by her hip, and she dropped to her back, sliding down a few stairs as more bullets clanged around her.
They came from the opposite end of the warehouse behind a stack of crates. She scooted farther down the stairs and dove to the side, rolling behind a stack of crates she hoped weren’t loaded with explosives.
A second later and another barrage of shots came, ripping her barrier apart. That meant the guard had a higher position, probably on top of the crates, and was firing at a downward angle. She shifted along the edge of her box.
She rolled around the side, took aim, and released a dart at where she thought the man would be hiding.
A thud told her she had found her mark.
And then everything went silent.
7
Lyle crouched against the wall, in plain sight and not caring. He was terrified, especially now that guns were being discharged, and he didn’t know what to do.
He held a pistol in his shaking hand, but the safety was still on. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out how to get it off.
This was a gunfight.
A real gunfight.
If anyone so much as glanced his way, they would see a terrified man cowering and trying not to cry, and they would laugh.
Or he hoped they would laugh. The alternative was much worse.
“Lyle,” he heard, but couldn’t move.
Kate had to repeat his name three times for him to face her. She was ducked behind a box and waving at him. She was whispering loudly to get his attention.
“Stop whispering.”
“Then start paying attention.”
“If you use a hushed voice instead of a whisper the sound won’t travel as far.”
“What the hell good does knowing that do me right now?”
He shrugged and crawled toward her.
“I think most of them are down,” she said. “Heavy tranquilizer darts, so they will be out for a few hours. But if you see any of them lying on the ground, shoot them again just in case.”
“Like, to kill them?”
“No, you have a dart gun.”
“This is a dart gun?” he asked, holding it up. “It looks so real.”
“It is real.”
“I meant…you know what I meant,” he said, chagrined.
She laughed. “Of course, I did. Now shut up and follow me.”
He stumbled drunkenly behind her she moved through the warehouse. He was sweating.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He giggled. “No. Not even a little bit. I think I’m going to die from shock.”
“You have to get shot first.”
“Oh? Is that how it works?”
“There are two more guards at least, and by now they know we are here.”
“Okay.”
“I’m going to cover you from the railing, and I need you to move slowly toward the front doors until you find Jack’s family.”
“Okay,” he said.
She reached over and flicked a switch on his gun. “Safety off. If you see anyone, shoot them.”
“Okay,” he muttered again.
A long moment passed as he stared at the wall and she stared at him.
Finally, he met her gaze and grimaced. “You mean now?”
“Of course, I mean now. When else?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
She groaned and pointed toward the front entrance of the warehouse. “Sneak that way and don’t get shot.”
He forced himself to breathe deeply to make the stars go away. He walked in a crouch toward the front of the warehouse, weaving around boxes and trying not to breathe too loudly.
His movements were jerky and awkward. His legs felt like rubber. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be anywhere but here, and the only thing that kept him moving was the thought that Kate was protecting him.
She wouldn’t allow him to do anything really dangerous, right?
8
Kate didn’t like using Lyle as bait, but it seemed like the best idea at the time.
She tightened her grip on the rifle and scanned around. She’d spotted two other people near the front of the warehouse, but they hadn’t moved when fighting began. If she had to guess, that was Jack’s family.
Hopefully, they weren’t dead.
She watched the doors and windows as Lyle moved at snail’s pace along the ground. Nothing happened for a full minute, and she was on edge. Her nerves would betray her if she wasn’t careful.
She waited, rifle at the ready.
After what felt an eternity, she saw movement near the far left wall of the building. One of the access doors slid open and a form stepped into the warehouse.
She lined up a shot, waited for movement, and pulled the trigger. The form slumped to the ground.
9
Each time he got to a corner, he did the James Bond corner look before stepping around it. He wished he had a mirror to do the mirror trick where you hold it up to look down the hallway.
Hell, he wished he wasn’t here at all.
His hands wouldn’t stop shaking and his breath was coming in short ragged bursts. When he finally made it to the front of the warehouse he was lightheaded and dizzy.
Two people were in the center of the clearing tied to chairs, and a car seat sat near them with a baby sleeping inside.
Lyle scanned the area and then walked over to the people.
“Are you Jack?” he asked.
Jack’s eyes went wide. “Watch—”
Lyle spun. He saw a man come around the corner with a machine gun.
Leveled right at him.
Lyle started to raise his pistol but way too slowly. He knew he was dead. He closed his eyes and grimaced.
Except he didn’t die. He raised his pistol and fired, eyes still closed. Then he fired again, and again.
He fired at least six times. When he opened them, the man slumped against the boxes, four darts in his chest.
Lyle stood there, panting and gasping for air, trying not to cry. A moment passed, and then he stepped forward to look at the man who had almost killed him. There were darts all over him and he looked like he was barely breathing.
“Oops,” he said.
“Oops is right,” Kate said, stepping around the corner.
Lyle raised his gun to fire, but his sweaty palms betrayed him and it slipped out of his grasp. He tried to catch it, swatted it again, and then he heard a pssh sound as his gun fired.
Time froze as he stood there. When he looked up, Kate had a look on her face of mixed shock and amusement. She was staring at his chest.
When he looked down, he saw a dart sticking out of his shirt, wavering there.
He looked back at Kate, feeling wobbly. She smiled at him.
“Oops,” she agreed.
And then the world went dark.
