by Seeley James
“How about I take the body armor?” she asked.
“Won’t fit, but you’re welcome to try. Before I shed it, I have a question for you.” I turned to her victim and let the camera take in the wiring. “Is it going to blow when I take it off him?”
“No.” Her voice betrayed her indignation that I would question her honesty in a deal like this.
“Y’know, I don’t trust you. I’m going to keep my armor on while I take the vest off him.”
I unclipped three clasps in the front. I turned him around and checked the back, all the while sending a video stream to Bianca. Nothing appeared to have body sensors. It was a simple device. With an extra battery. And more wires. Nema wasn’t bluffing about the advanced triggering options.
“Got a name?” I asked the guy.
“Tyler.”
A memory flashed in my brain. Back in the Andalusian wine cellar that had no wine, Nema reminded Arrianne of Tyler. A threat against her family. No wonder Arrianne turned against us after that. She was trying to save her little brother instead of the world. Tough choice.
Mercury looked the vest over. Don’t take the vest, homie. There’s no way out of this one.
I said, I have a way out, guaranteed.
Mercury said, I’m an immortal god, and I’m telling you, putting this thing on is a death sentence—and this time you won’t die a hero. You’ll just die.
I said, But you’re the one who taught me about mortals. I’m basing my plan on your teachings.
I took the vest off Tyler and handed him my rifle. Quietly, I said, “When I get this vest on, you give me the rifle back, then run out that door and don’t look back. She isn’t exactly good with stationary targets, so there’s little chance she’s going to hit you if you keep moving. Run outside and down the road until you see cops. I’ll get your sister out of this.”
He nodded.
“What are you two whispering about?” Nema shouted.
“Standard guy-debate. Is Nema hot or not?” I took the vest in my hand and slipped an arm in. I took the rifle back and slipped the other arm in. “Sorry, the consensus is unanimous: not.”
I raised my brows at Tyler.
He stared at me blankly.
“Now is good,” I said. He didn’t move. “NOW.”
His face lit up. His eyes darted to Nema. He bolted for the door.
Nema raised her rifle.
I put a bullet in the wood next to her nose. The suppressor on my rifle kept the noise down to what sounded like a soda being opened.
Tyler was out the door, up the riverbank, and gone.
Nema froze mid-breath.
“Intentional miss,” I said. “Want to try your luck by not dropping your weapon?”
“You said I’d get the armor.”
“Yeah, about that.” I paused for dramatic effect. “I lied.”
She tilted her head and furrowed her brow. She was shocked. No one had lied to her before. Which meant it was true—she’d never dated.
“Heel,” I said and put a bullet through the heel of her shoe. “I like to call my shots.”
After a repressed scream of shock and fear, Nema laid the rifle down gently. I checked her out. No sign of the deadman switch.
“Hands in the air, face the wall.”
She complied.
Bianca cut into my comms again. “We don’t see a way out this time, Jacob. The wiring looks solid. Someone presses the button, and you’re, uh …”
She choked up.
I said, “Don’t worry about it.”
Nema looked over her shoulder at my non sequitur. She hadn’t seen my earbud in the dark.
I climbed the stairs and put the muzzle in her back. “I’m just dying to meet your boyfriend. Lead the way.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Diego thought he was your boyfriend. Paladin thought he was your boyfriend. A hundred bucks says this guy thinks he is too.”
She stopped to glare over her shoulder at me.
“A bullet right here—” I pushed the muzzle between two vertebrae, “—and you’re paralyzed for life.”
She started climbing the remaining steps. “We can blow that vest any time.”
“That’s why I’m staying close, Nema. I’m counting on you to save my life. See, there’s one thing I’ve noticed about suicide bombers over the years. The boss-lady who talks them into dying for the cause is never willing to go that far herself.”
We walked down a hall and into the den being used for a computer room. I gave Nema a rough shove that sent her to the floor.
Arrianne looked up and immediately drained of all color. The guy next to her had glasses that were thicker up close than I’d noticed from outside. But not thick enough to mask his shock at seeing me standing there with twenty-eight pounds of C-4 strapped to my chest.
He reached for his trigger. I put a round under his hand. He pulled his paw back and looked at his fingers; amazed everything was still attached.
He looked up, angry and powerless.
“Got a name?” I asked him.
“Chuck, uh … Humbert.”
“Chuck-uh-Humbert, did Nema tell you she slept with me?”
He snapped around to face Nema, his face reddened by pain and fury.
Nema turned on her back and sat up on her elbows. “Not true.”
“Oh yes, it is.” I put the barrel under Chuck-uh-Humbert’s chin and turned him to face me. “Arrianne can verify.”
“Whoa, don’t drag me … I, um, well …” Arrianne swallowed hard.
“Your brother’s running down the road,” I told her.
I watched the calculations going through her head. Whose side should she take this time? After realizing her brother wasn’t the guy wearing the suicide vest and I was telling the truth, she made the right decision. She tossed Nema a look that could kill.
“It’s true.” Arrianne looked at Chuck-uh-Humbert. “I woke them up. They spent the night in the same bed.”
The poor guy started to collapse before my eyes. Just as he melted into a puddle, he appeared to change his mind about who was at fault. He scowled at Nema. “You lied to me?”
“Thank you, Arrianne,” I said to her. “Now go find your brother.”
Arrianne said, “Shoot her. She was going to kill Tyler. Kill her now.”
“We need her to stop ROSGEO.”
“Shoot her anyway.”
“I’m not your biggest fan.” I gave her my soldier stare. “Get out while you still can.”
Arrianne’s gaze dropped to my vest. She fled like a cockroach when the lights come on.
I faced Chuck-uh-Humbert. “Not only me. Diego had a shrine to her back at his house in Málaga. So, whatever your girlfriend promised you in exchange for all this—” I waved the rifle around at the computers before sticking it back under his chin “—was not exclusive.”
He had trouble swallowing with his chin pushed up by the muzzle.
“You’re going to send a command to all the operatives out there. Tell them plans have been delayed. They’re to await further instructions.”
Bianca broke into the comm again. “No! Don’t let him touch anything.”
Mercury grabbed my shoulder. Bad idea, homes. Never let a nerd near a computer.
I said, Why not? We have to get the terrorists to stand down. The cops will swoop in moments later.
Chuck-uh-Humbert started typing.
A green light on my chest began blinking. A large box appeared on one of the computer screens. It read 120, then 119, 118 …
Mercury said, Because he just remotely armed your vest.
CHAPTER 54
Everyone started talking at once. Bianca and Tania talked over each other on the comm link.
Miguel came in and stood in the den’s doorway, blocking the exit.
Chuck-uh-Humbert and I stared at each other, both resolute.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “You’ll die with me.”
“I thought she
was real.” He threw an ice-cold glance at Nema. “Turns out, she’s just like every other woman. All they do is manipulate you for their own validation.” He snarled at her, “Fuck you.”
He had a point where Nema was concerned, but the broad generalization wasn’t true. Nonetheless, it spoke to something uglier inside him.
Bianca’s voice came through the comm. “They’ve changed the system since Denmark. We need her password to open their app. It’s eighteen characters, too long for us to break in time. You have to get her password.”
The counter on the computer read 106.
Mercury said, Whatever you think I taught you about mortals, bro, I’m not seeing how that’s gonna help us.
I said, You think I’m not paying attention, but I am. I heard you talking about mortals loud and clear. They’re rarely willing to risk their lives for the cause. I’m counting on Nema to be the coward here.
Nema scrambled to her feet. She looked at Miguel, who filled the door frame. “Hey, Geronimo, get out of my way. These two are going to die over some kind of toxic masculinity.”
He pushed her back. “Geronimo was Bedonkohe. I’m Diné.”
“So?” she said. “We’re going to die. Get out of my way.”
“That’s like calling you a Canadian when you’re a Mexican. Not the same thing.”
“Did you hear what I said? That vest is going to kill us all.”
“OK.”
She pounded on him. He didn’t move.
“She meant everything to me,” Chuck-uh-Humbert said in a lonesome, resigned voice to no one in particular. “But she even lied about being a virgin. If I don’t get her, nobody does.”
His attempt to sound suicidal sounded more like bluster to my ear. But plenty of blusters turn real all too quickly. I shrugged and relaxed, at peace with the world, in the hopes my fatalistic attitude would make him rethink his.
Chuck’s gaze broke. It slid to the screen.
The counter read 97.
After watching a couple more seconds tick off, Chuck-uh-Humbert turned to Nema, “You lied. You filthy slut.”
“Have a little sensitivity here.” I pushed the muzzle into his throat to get him focused. “She doesn’t just hate you, Chuck-uh-Humbert, she hates everybody. All this racist crap is part of her bullshit.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” Nema fisted her hips and stuck out her jaw.
“Sure, I do,” I said. “I know there’s a decent woman inside you who wants to call off ROSGEO. I’m counting on you to do that as soon as you work through your personal problems.”
“You’re going to die,” Chuck-uh-Humbert yelled at Nema. “I’m going to make you pay for your lies.”
Nema and I turned to him and said in unison, “Shut up!”
Nema spun back to me. “I don’t have any personal problems.”
“Rape is not about sex. It’s about power.” I watched her gaze dart around the floor. “Someone violated you, held that power over you. Forced you to do something you didn’t want to do. Terrible thing. The guy deserves life in prison if not the death penalty.”
“Rape?” Chuck-uh-Humbert asked. “What are you talking about?”
Nema’s gaze wandered around in a circle before swinging back to the computer screen.
The counter read 85.
“She didn’t tell you she was raped at fifteen?” I said.
Nema flushed and turned away. She hugged herself. “I never told anyone about that before. Just Mom. I trusted you. Thanks for blabbing it to everyone.”
The poor sod’s gaze swung back and forth between Nema and me.
“Your mom blamed you,” I said. “Told you it was your fault for dressing the way teens do. She shamed you. She told you not to tell anyone, not to report it, not to get counseling. Is that about right?”
Nema nodded her back still to me.
“Oh, God,” Chuck-uh-Humbert yelled. “You got yourself raped.”
I pushed him backward with the muzzle. He nearly fell out of his chair. Which he would have deserved for such an idiotic remark.
Bianca cut back into my comm. “I found this guy’s online postings. He’s a regular on Reddit’s Incel forum. Involuntarily Celibates. Guys whose blatant sexism and terrible attitudes make them repulsive. They blame women instead of themselves. One of his forum mates killed ten people in Toronto.”
That explained a lot about this guy. But I needed to focus on Nema.
I said to her, “It was a relative, wasn’t it? An uncle?”
She didn’t answer.
“And you’ve been blaming yourself and hating everyone around you—including Chuck-uh-Humbert—ever since.”
“You don’t know anything!” She shouted and faced me.
“You’re not alone, Nema. I know a woman who shot her rapist in the head. But he was guilty. You’re taking it out on innocent women and children.”
She didn’t react. Something would get through to her. I needed to figure out what.
“You grew up working to get power over others,” I said. “You figured out how a smaller, weaker woman can control people. You tried all kinds of methods. And finally discovered the servant can lead through invisible means.”
She gave me a dirty look. It told me I’d hit the target dead center.
I kept going. “You’ve been exercising your power over a whole class of people who imagine they’ve been victimized: the racists. You knew they weren’t really victims of any conspiracy to hold them back, to dilute their culture. You understand real victimization, not just from your rapist but from your family as well. And that led you to have nothing but contempt for people like Paladin and Arrianne and Lugh … and Chuck-uh-Humbert.” I nodded at the guy at the wrong end of my rifle. “Out of hatred, you got them to do the most outrageous thing you could think of, terrorism.”
The counter read 71.
“What did you do that he had to rape you?” the idiot asked.
“Oh, come on. Really?” I blurted at him. “That’s where you are?”
Nema pushed Chuck-uh-Humbert’s shoulder. “Are you going to listen to his bullshit all day? Get me out of here.”
“It’s all true, isn’t it?” he said. “You’re not a virgin. You didn’t save yourself for me.”
Nema said, “Turn that damn thing off before we all die.”
Chuck-uh-Humbert folded his arms across his chest. “There’s no off-switch once it’s armed. And it’s keyed to the front door. If he stays, he’ll kill us all. If he runs—he kills us all.”
Mercury leaned into my line of sight. Hold on, now, homeboy. I see what you’re doing here. I see what you learned from me about mortals. I’m the one who told Shakespeare to write the verses you’re applying.
I said, Which verse is that? I can’t keep all your humble-brags straight.
Mercury said, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution; Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pitch and moment; With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.”
I said, If I knew what that meant, I’d take credit.
Mercury said, It means the more we think about our fate, the more we become cowards. You’re appealing to her conscience. But that raises the question, does she have one?
I said, We have to hope so.
Chuck-uh-Humbert stole a glance at the computer screen.
The counter read 65.
“You’re going to let all those young girls die?” I asked Nema. “They’re just as young and innocent as you once were. You’d rob them of their future? That would be worse than your rapist. You’re not that kind of woman, Nema. Tell me your password.”
She turned to me. “What girls?”
I’d reached her. Maybe.
“Every church and synagogue and temple will have fifteen-year-old girls in them when your people open fire. Their heads will be split open by the bullets you’re sending. Their brains and blood will splatter on the flo
or. Some will suffer for hours before dying. Their hopes and dreams ended because of something you can stop.”
Nema moved close to me, looking up with wide eyes. Her bottom lip trembled. “You’re lying. They won’t kill the girls.”
“You taught them to fire on full-auto, Nema. They’ll aim at the thickest groups of people for maximum damage.” I lowered my voice, forcing her to strain to hear me. “And you know teenage girls huddle. You’re pulling the trigger. You are the one sending them to their deaths.”
Nema blinked. Tears filled her eyes.
“Then they’ll be spared the indignations of growing up.” Her voice grew louder. Her tears began to flow. “They won’t have men judging the size of their boobs. They won’t have rich ladies judging their rags. They won’t have family judging their sluttiness.”
“They won’t have the triumph of graduating high school and college. They won’t have the joy of falling in love. They won’t have—”
“Too bad.” She shoved me hard, almost causing my finger to slip inside the trigger guard which almost cost Chuck-uh-Humbert his head. “At least those stupid girls won’t suffer.”
The counter read 53.
“NATO rounds tumble on impact, Nema.” I grabbed her hand before she could hit me. Chuck used my split focus to back away from my rifle a few inches. “As soon as they hit tissue or bone, they tumble, sending shockwaves through the surrounding flesh. They shatter bones. They wreak havoc inside the person they hit. They’re designed that way so you don’t have to hit the target’s center to kill someone. Can you hear those young girls screaming in agony?”
“You don’t care about anyone but yourself,” Chuck-uh-Humbert spat his words.
Nema faced him. “Shut up, you fucking moron.”
Tania’s voice broke into the comm link. “Problem. Problem. Arrianne’s got a gun.”
She was breathing hard. Running fast. Outside.
Something caught my peripheral vision. When my eyes tried to break through the reflected light from inside the house to the darkness beyond, all I could make out were two figures.
A three-round burst shattered the window and shredded the ceiling.