The Deadly Match

by Kishan Paul

  “This is for a prize bigger than a few whores.”

  Adil’s reply had Mustache laughing. “A few whores?” He stuffed the magazine in the butt of the weapon. “Mudir expected a hundred-plus, and they are all gone.”

  On all fours, Nikki crawled behind the display case and quietly slid the door open. She glanced over her shoulder for validation. Ally gave her a reassuring nod, praying Rafi’s information about the durability of the glass was accurate.

  “These things were out of our control. I personally will discuss what happened with him and take the blame,” Adil explained.

  Nikki slipped inside the case and shut the door after her. Ally nodded at the child, who now sat protected in her glass tomb.

  “Once this is done, we will split the gold from the shop…” When Adil didn’t finish his sentence, she turned her attention to them and the gun Mustache aimed at Wassim’s head. Not only did all four men have their weapons drawn, each also found themselves on the receiving end of a barrel. Adil and Wassim at Mustache, the man in yellow at Adil.

  “No gold splitting.” Mustache lifted a shoulder. “Consider it payment for the men you’ve cost us.” He tipped his head in Ally’s direction. “You still owe me for the belt and for the bombs in the van downstairs, but I’ll forgive those expenses.”

  “This was not what we agreed on,” Adil hissed.

  Ally retrieved the knife from under her and pressed the switch, preparing for the battle.

  “The terms of the agreement changed when my men died, and the shipment walked away. You two no longer have anything to offer.” He sneered. “I’m taking what’s left of my men and leaving now. Shoot us, and my family will ruin you.” He backed away toward the door. “Oh, and if you make it out of this alive, Mudir will kill you.”

  Mustache and his man backed out of the room.

  “Fuck.” Adil locked the door as soon as it closed. He ran a hand through his hair and paced before checking his watch. “Go. I’ll bring the girl.”

  Wassim rushed past Ally, making his way to the far end of the room. He tucked his fingers behind the molding of the wall-mounted display case, searching for something. When he found it, the case swung open, displaying a darkened passageway. While Wassim climbed inside, Adil headed for the case where Nikki sat.

  The aches in Ally’s body, the spasms coursing through her, shifted into bolts of lightning ripping through her when she jumped to her feet. The intensity took her breath away and weakened her knees. The world began to spin. She swallowed the nausea inching up her throat and positioned herself between him and the child, her blade pointed at his face. “She’s not coming.”

  His gun in one hand, he pressed his free palm on his heart. “Sara Mummy, I thought you would die for us.”

  “I would,” she choked out. “But I will kill you for her.”

  Adil pointed his gun at her. “Which means I will have to kill you first and then take her.”

  Ally rested a hand on the belt secured to her waist. “And take a chance of making this IED go off?” She moved closer, her knife pointed at his throat while the barrel of his weapon jabbed into her forehead. “Try it. Let’s leave this world together.”

  The lights in the room shut off before he responded, turning their world to darkness.

  “Wassim! Adil!” Eddie’s words echoed through the halls.

  The of his voice made the weak flutter of hope in her stomach strengthen.

  “All your men are either dead or have surrendered. You two are the only ones left. It’s time we end this.”

  The legs of Adil’s jeans swished against each other as he moved to the back of the room, toward the hidden passageway. “I have something you want,” he yelled as he continued toward his escape.

  “Enough blood has been spilled. Let’s talk,” Eddie replied.

  Ally pushed off the display case, understanding chilling her overheated skin. Wassim held the remote. Once they were a safe distance, they would detonate it, erasing her and the others.

  She headed in the direction of the passageway, reaching for the uneven surface of the wall until she found it. Ally climbed inside, ignoring her body’s angry protest. “Wassim. I’m coming with you.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  THE TUNNEL

  Ally kept a palm on the wall to guide her, using the base of her bare feet to determine the end and beginning of each of the narrow steps she descended. She leaned to the left, close to the stone wall for fear of falling forward, and moved as fast as her body would allow. To her right, her hand found no banister, no support, just empty space. Her guess was if she moved too far in that direction, she’d probably plunge to her death. A theory she had no intention of exploring.

  The pain coursing through her sent flashes of white light flickering in her vision, making the narrow path even more hazardous. A heavy weight encased her abdomen and chest in a suffocating grip. The act of breathing made the hold around her torso tighter, transmitting wave after wave of torment through her. While her left hand palmed the wall, she gripped the weapon with her free hand, wrapped the arm around her chest, and applied pressure to the area.

  Aside from the flames of pain consuming her body, parts of the bomb stabbed into her sweat-drenched waist with every step, reminding her of the danger hugging her hips. Regardless of where the tunnel led, for everyone’s sake, being away from the building and close to Wassim was the safest plan.

  “Wassim, I am right behind you,” she warned again, sounding more confident than she felt. “Press the trigger and die with me,” she dared, knowing both men loved their lives too much to ever accept the challenge.

  Sounds were what guided her. Behind her, the muffled voices from the jewelry store she’d escaped. Not too far beneath her, the distinct thuds of shoes descending the same path. “I know you can hear me.” Her voice reverberated through the chamber. A voice she hoped all parties would hear.

  Her heart slammed against her chest. Her breath ragged, perspiration moistened her palms, making the knife’s handle slippery. She gripped it tighter, questioning not only its effectiveness but also her ability to use it against the two she pursued. One a man she considered her son and the other the man who could save her son.

  Her thoughts filtered to the ones in the room she’d left. Which life was more valuable? If Wassim triggered the IED, decisions such as those would no longer be hers to make.

  “Wassim…” Before she finished calling out to him, fingers dug into her shoulders and shook her hard. “Shut up,” Wassim growled. “I’m not dying with you because you will die alone.”

  “Don’t do this.” She angled the blade in the direction of where she believed his torso would be while thoughts of Jayden filled her mind. “Think of your son.”

  “I am.” His hands traveled up her shoulders to her neck. “Consider this my greatest gift to him.” Strong fingers encircled her throat. He shoved her backward until her shoulders pressed against the wall and tightened his hold.

  She sucked in a lungful of air before his grip crushed her windpipe shut. Wassim lifted her off the steps, her feet dangling in the air while she fought for breath. Survival instincts took over, silencing all other voices in her brain. Ally slammed the blade into his trunk, eliciting a groan from him, but his grip on her didn’t ease. The darkened world around her spun, growing distant with every second.

  She pulled the knife out and shoved it in him a second time and repeated the action a third time. He finally released his hold. She wheezed as she sucked in much-needed air. The uneven pavement where she landed sent her falling feet-first down the steps. Her hip slammed against the hard edge of the steps. Ally reached for something to grasp while gravity tossed her body over and over against the cold cement surface. Falling in darkness, with no sense of direction, she lunged toward the unprotected edge of the stairs instead of the wall. Her fingers grasped at air, the entire side of her body tilting in the direction her hand led her.

  “All, but one of the subjects on the move. He
ading down the tunnel,” Sin announced as Eddie kicked in the door and made his way to the bridal jewelry department.

  With Razaa and Ari covering his six, he scanned the perimeter, locating the one heat source still in the room. He motioned to the others and locked his weapon in on it. Eddie pointed his tactical light in the direction of the subject and clicked it on, blinding the target. The tension coursing through him chilled as soon as the small spotlight illuminated her. A girl huddled inside the glass case, her giant brown eyes closed tight as she hugged a red object.

  “All clear,” Ari announced from behind.

  “Area secure. Turn on the grid,” Eddie ordered into his earpiece. A few beats later, the bright glow of halogen illuminated the red velvet room. He moved toward the opening in the far end, leaving Raz to coax the child out of her glass cage and Ari to guard the room.

  He stood by the entrance; weapon ready. “Lashes, tell me what you see.”

  “I can’t read heat signatures down there, but I am reading Sam’s tracker. Two hundred meters from you and moving.”

  “Building’s secure. Send bomb squad up,” Eddie ordered.

  Thanks to the store owner’s help, he knew the details about the passage, including where it exited, and had adjusted his extraction plans accordingly. “HVT headed your way.”

  “Roger,” Moose quipped.

  “Have him ready, and remember, I need them breathing,” Eddie ordered as he climbed into the tunnel.

  “Understood.”

  He paused on the first few cement steps, surveying the area. He knew the steep staircase led directly to the passage several hundred yards below the jewelry building. From his night vision, he could ID three thermal images ahead of him. The target the shortest distance from him moved at a slower pace than the others. The second closest was stationary, as if waiting for the slower one to catch up. The fastest of the bunch moved at a steady pace down the steps, making his way to the base.

  “Wassim, I am right behind you,” Alisha’s words echoed through the hollowed stone path, alerting him to two things at once. She was the one closest to him, and the stationary heat signature waited for her. His sped down the steps, trying to make it to her before the other, but knowing he wouldn’t.

  “Press the switch and die with me.”

  Eddie shook his head at her taunting, willing her to shut up. When her green signature meshed with the other, his fears were confirmed. The two bodies formed one mass. The grunts of their assault echoed through the stone cavity.

  They stayed in one spot, giving him a shorter distance between him and them. The sounds of their struggle grew louder the closer he drew. Their conversation was too low for him to make out, but he recognized the man’s voice. Wassim. But it was Alisha’s distinct gasps for air that he focused on. She was in trouble.

  Still a few yards away from the scene, he stopped in his tracks as one of the two fell off the unprotected right side of the steps and plunged down the dark hole in the center. He blinked rapidly, not wanting to believe what he’d seen. No longer concerned about giving his presence away, he switched the flashlight on his helmet.

  He saw her.

  Flat on her stomach, she slid down the steep steps feet first as she tried to grab whatever she could. Eddie sprinted behind her, taking the steps two by two, aware that if she reached in the wrong direction, she’d follow Wassim over the edge.

  With every step she descended, her body inched closer toward the unprotected side. He reached her just as she began her plummet over the boundary. Eddie fell to his knees, ignoring the pain shooting through them when his kneecaps slammed against the stone steps. He lunged for her, grabbing her wrist and stopping her fall.

  He gripped her one arm with both of his and anchored her to the surface.

  She stared up at him, the light from his helmet reflected in the brandy browns while she swung like a pendulum. Thoughts of what might have happened had he not reached her filled his brain. All of which he shoved away. Until she was on solid ground, those were all still possibilities. “Give me your other hand.”

  She complied by reaching out her free palm and wrapping it around one of his arms. Eddie adjusted his grip so that each of his hands held one of her wrists.

  Using his upper body, he lifted her up until her fingers brushed against his neck. “Hold on to me,” he grunted.

  As soon as she clung to his neck, he lowered his grip to her chest, careful not to touch the IED, and lifted her the rest of the way onto the ledge.

  Eddie inched them backwards until his back hit the wall all the while he continued to hold her. He switched off the light on his helmet. They were still in danger. She still wore the IED and somewhere down there was the transmitter. A transmitter he needed to retrieve. But he couldn’t release her. Not yet.

  It wasn’t until his lungs calmed that he noticed she still struggled to catch her breath. Her head rested against his shoulder as she wheezed. He pulled off his glove and pressed his palm against her cheek. Her skin was cold to his touch. “Where are you hurt?”

  When he gripped her chin, her head fell into his hand, almost as if its weight was too much for her long neck to carry. Unable to see her, he sandwiched her face in his palms and pressed his forehead against hers. “Talk to me.”

  “I killed him,” she whispered. “The only person who could save Jayden, and I killed him.”

  His chest heated with emotion, her words stabbing at him. It was the one thing he’d promised, and he’d failed. He’d failed her in so many ways. He kept his voice steady, not allowing her to hear his concern. “We’ll deal with that later. Right now, you need to tell me where you’re hurt, so we can help you.”

  “It hurts to breathe.”

  Eddie pressed on the earpiece, opening it up to all channels, no longer caring who on his team heard his cry for help. “I need a medic down here now.”

  “Not an option. Until the suicide belt is taken off, we can’t risk anyone touching her. Bomb Recovery’s on their way to the jewelry store now.”

  She rested her head against his chest. “Eddie.”

  The one word, a soothing balm to his soul. He held her tighter, overwhelmed.

  “Don’t. I have an IED on. Wassim had the remote control last,” she wheezed through her gasps for air.

  “I know. I’m going. Let me check you out first.” He pressed his lips against her cheek and moved his fingers down her body to assess for injuries.

  Her head shook. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “Agreed,” he replied, inching his fingers down her neck to her shoulders. “Neither of us should be. Which is why as soon as they get this belt off you, we are leaving.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  When he applied pressure to her ribcage, she whimpered and shoved his hand away. “Being around me is dangerous.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked. “No shit? I hadn’t noticed.”

  Her laugh eased some of his worries. “Eddie.” She paused to take in a breath. “If anything happens to me… I need to know my boys will be okay. You’re the only person I trust to take care of them.”

  He continued his assessment, not revealing that the boys she mentioned were all listening to her request.

  “Remind them not only who I was, but who they can be. Their lives can’t turn out like Adil’s. If this is how mine ends, at least give me that. Please.”

  “On my way,” Raz announced into Eddie’s earpiece.

  Whatever injuries she had didn’t appear life threatening, unlike the belt around her hips. Eddie planted his lips on her forehead before propping her against the wall. “You have my word.”

  A promise he planned on never having to fulfill. Her death was not an option. Which meant the fucking transmitter needed to be found and in his possession before the belt was taken off her. “I need to go find the transmitter, and you need to stay here. Raz is coming for you. Promise me you won’t move until then.”

  The moving green phosphor image he knew to be Adi
l had at least a good five minutes on Eddie. The piece of shit had already reached the base of the steps and sprinted down the passage toward the exit. Eddie had no intention of following him. There were others lying in wait for that trash.

  He had another goal in mind. The other green light near the base of the steps. Before Eddie made it there, the soft glow of a flashlight illuminated the ground below. He stopped, observing Adil approach the body. The man’s light weaved across the ground until it landed on Wassim’s crumpled remains.

  Eddie cursed under his breath, pressed on his earpiece, and continued down the stairs. “Send him now.”

  “On it.”

  Adil lowered himself to the body and pulled out the knife wedged in Wassim’s throat. “Bhai,” he moaned, and lowering his head, he sobbed over the dead man’s body.

  “Hello, brother,” Om announced as he approached Adil, his gun pointed at the grieving man.

  “Omar,” Adil sniffed. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Om aimed his weapon at his brother’s head. “Get up. It’s time to go.”

  Eddie made it to the base and inched toward them as he watched the two brothers’ reunion. Somewhere in the shadows a third brother, Moose, waited with his own weapon drawn. He was the safety net Eddie hoped they wouldn’t have to access. A member of the team Adil was unaware of. A member with orders to kill one if not both brothers if the need arose.

  Adil reached his hand behind his back just as Om stepped closer and shoved the barrel of his weapon into his forehead. “Don’t make me shoot you, brother.”

  The piece of shit gazed up at Om’s face and nodded his understanding, raising both hands up for him. “Kill me, and you’ll never get your sister back. Help me, and you’ll get everything you desire.”

  “I helped you enough the past few months, and I’ve gotten nothing you promised. Where’s my sister?” Om growled.

  “Somewhere safe, but if you kill me you lose her forever.” Hands still raised, Adil climbed to his feet. “She asks for you, you know. Help me get away from your team, and I will take you to her.”