by Brad Taylor
They’d been inside for close to two hours, sitting on chairs in the kitchen without being given any reason for the intrusion, and she could tell the leader was getting antsy.
He entered the kitchen, nodded at the two men watching them, and Kylie shrank back. He said, “What the hell is taking your boyfriend so long?”
“I told you, he went to dinner with a friend. He’s not going to be home until late.”
The bald man leered at her, then put his hand on her thigh and said, “Lying to me won’t make me go away. But maybe if you offered something else, I might think about it.”
She slammed her legs shut, knocking his hand away. She said, “Don’t.”
He laughed and said, “Or what?”
“You’re making a mistake. If you leave here now, I promise I won’t tell them.”
He laughed again and rubbed her thigh, causing her to cringe. He said, “You miss why I’m here. I want them to know about this. It’s the whole point.”
He passed her a cell phone and said, “I’m sick of waiting on your boyfriend. Time to get this in motion.”
Confused, she said, “Who do you want me to call?”
“Pike Logan.”
Amena heard the name and it caused the first spike of fear in her. The fact that he knew Pike’s name and wanted Kylie to call him meant that this was bigger than a simple home invasion. They were here because of him. Just like had happened in Switzerland. She was going to be punished because of something he had done.
And then she remembered her own phone. A Taskforce one with a special application that had saved her in Switzerland. A way to tell Pike they were in trouble. She surreptitiously glanced at the bald-headed man, seeing him engaged with Kylie.
She slid off the chair and the bald-headed man saw her immediately, saying, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
She recoiled, saying, “Nothing. Nothing.”
“Get back in the chair.”
She did, seeing Kylie tremble. Kylie said, “What do you want me to say to Pike?”
“Just tell him what’s happened. I’ll do the rest.”
“Why?”
“Because you want to live. That’s why.”
Amena only half-listened to the conversation, looking at her backpack, and the salvation inside of it.
For all of her youth, Amena was more mature than most her age. She knew that Veep would be coming home, and walking into an ambush. She also knew that the minute these men called Pike, he would unleash a vengeance they could not comprehend. She’d seen it, up close. And yet she understood that Pike’s actions would only be retaliation, not salvation. He was too far away to stop what they had set in motion. Unless she could short-circuit their plan.
Which required her to get her phone. There were four men in this house, and she needed to give Veep a fighting chance. She needed to split them.
She looked at Kylie and said, “Call Pike. Do as they say.”
Kylie shook her head and said, “No. No way.”
The bald man grabbed her by the hair and said, “This could be a pleasant diversion for you. Or for me. Make the call.”
Kylie started to weep and Amena said, “Do it. Before he hurts you.”
Kylie took the phone, looked at the leader, and said, “You have no idea what you’re about to do.”
He grinned, showing tobacco-stained teeth. He said, “Let me worry about that. Dial.”
She did, punching in the numbers and waiting for the call to go through. Amena saw the leader and the other men fixated on Kylie. She paused a beat, then leapt off her chair, racing to the sliding glass door at the sunroom in the back of the kitchen, snatching up her backpack as she passed it.
She had a split-second gap of surprise before the two security men sprang up. She frantically worked the lock on the door, the men leaping over chairs to get to her. One came within arm’s length when she ripped it open. She went through it, and the two men collided together trying to stop her, spilling onto the ground. She sprinted out of the back of the house, leaping over a small picket fence and running straight into a park. She heard the leader shout at the men to follow and dug into her pack on the run.
Struggling to maintain her pace while searching the bag, she rifled through it until her hand settled on metal. She pulled out her phone. The one given to her by Pike Logan. She threw the pack behind her, hoping to slow the men, and tapped on the music app, still running as fast as she could.
She tried to scroll to a specific song, but had trouble running and reading at the same time, the darkness hindering her. She glanced behind her and saw the men coming, but far enough away. For a split second she slowed to a fast walk, ignoring the men and concentrating on the phone. She found the song.
U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
She clicked on it, shoved the phone in her back pocket, and began sprinting toward the ancient brick walls of Fort Moultrie.
She heard the slap of footsteps behind her and ran as fast as she could, knowing her phone could bring devastation on these men.
She just wasn’t sure anyone was listening to it.
Chapter 37
George Wolffe took a bite of his hamburger and said, “I swear, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing since I came down here. I should have gone to a cabin in the woods.”
Nicholas Seacrest laughed, but without any humor. Wolffe could tell he was nervous. Wondering why the acting commander of the Taskforce was in Charleston instead of Washington, D.C.
He put him at ease, saying, “Hey, kid, I’m here because they want to hide me. I’m not checking up on you.”
Seacrest nodded, picked at his plate, and said, “Well, it’s sort of strange to see you show up unannounced. Does my dad know you’re here?”
Wolffe laughed and said, “It was your dad who told me to come.”
“Did he tell you to send Pike?”
His beer halfway to his lips, Wolffe paused, wondering what to say. How far to go. Wondering if the president’s son would value the Taskforce mission over loyalty to his father.
Seacrest saw the reticence and said, “It was a good call. Just in case you’re wondering. Don’t worry, it’s not like I talk to my dad every day giving him an update.”
Wolffe smiled and said, “Then no. The president of the United States has no idea what I’ve done. But others do.”
“Who?”
Wolffe’s phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and said, “Speak of the devil. This never ends.”
“Who is it?”
“SECSTATE. Hang on.”
Wolffe walked out of the bar onto the deck surrounding the restaurant, Seacrest seeing him talking and waving his hands in the air. When he returned, he said, “I’m going to throw this damn thing in the ocean.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. Croft helped Pike in Brazil, and because she did, she thinks she deserves constant updates.”
“Why does she care?”
“No reason. Other than political.”
Seacrest laughed and said, “Other than sleeping with Knuckles, you mean.”
Shocked, Wolffe said, “You know about that?”
“Shit, sir, he’s on my team. Of course I know.”
Wolffe took that in, then changed the subject, saying, “Why’s this place called Poe’s? What’s up with the ‘Raven Burger’ on the menu and the Edgar Allan Poe memorabilia?”
“A little historical legacy. Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie down the street when it was still an active-duty post, and apparently he got a lot of inspiration for his books here.”
“No shit?”
Before Seacrest could answer, Wolffe’s phone vibrated again. He cursed, saying, “That’s it. Into the ocean.”
He answered, and Seacrest heard, “Which phone?”
Then, “Why?”
Finally, “No way. Check the transmission. Pike’s in Brazil. That’s a mistake.”
Wolffe hung up, looked at Seacre
st, rubbed his face, and said, “Creed’s telling me that Prometheus Three is transmitting a Prairie Fire emergency, here in Charleston, but Pike’s in Brazil.”
Seacrest snapped up, saying, “Prometheus Three? That’s Amena’s phone.”
“Amena? The refugee? She has a Taskforce phone?”
Seacrest leapt out of his chair saying, “Yes, she does. Those fuckers are here, right now.”
Wolffe saw the fear on his face and said, “Whoa, wait. Let’s not go crazy. It could be anything.”
Seacrest grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, threw a wad of cash on the table, and said, “You do what you want. Amena is with Kylie. And both are in a safe house picked by Pike. I’m out of here.”
He jogged to the door and Wolffe followed, saying, “What are you going to do?”
Seacrest didn’t answer, running to his car in the parking lot. Wolffe reached him and put a hand on his arm, saying, “Take a breath here. We need to explore a bit before we charge in like a bull.”
Seacrest said, “Can you work a weapon? Do you know how to use one?”
Wolffe chuckled at his eagerness, saying, “Son, I was shooting people in a country you couldn’t find on a map while you were in grade school. Take a breath here.”
Seacrest opened the trunk of his car, exposing an arsenal of weapons. Wolffe saw it and said, “Jesus Christ. What the fuck is this?”
“Pike said the men who killed Kurt might be coming back. I’m the one dedicated to protecting them. And I’ve wasted my time talking to you instead of protecting them. That alert is real. Amena or Kylie set it off.”
Wolffe could have waffled. Should have waffled. As the commander of the Taskforce, he should have taken some time to figure out the state of play. Should have ordered Seacrest to stand down. But he’d seen men killed in the past precisely because of such actions.
He said, “You got something for me?”
Seacrest handed him a piston-driven H&K assault rifle and said, “Can you work that?”
Wolffe took it and said, “Yeah, I can work it.” He pointed at the trunk and said, “What were you going to do if you were pulled over by the police?”
Seacrest slammed the trunk closed and said, “Tell them I’m a Navy SEAL. Instead of getting arrested, I’d become a hero on the news.”
Wolffe smiled and said, “Where are we going?”
“The safe house. And we’re hitting it hard. You good with that?”
Wolffe snapped the charging handle back, chambering a round, saying, “Oh, yeah. It’s about time I could do something besides talk on the phone.”
Chapter 38
Shoshana took a seat at the outdoor table, aggravated at her assignment, even after she voiced her concerns about the target itself. Assaulting a church was bad. She could feel it in her core, but even given that, she knew, no matter what Pike said about her worth, he feared her skills. Feared what she would do if she were on the assault team.
Sitting within view of the church, at an outside cafe, Pike waited until the waiter had taken their drink orders before bringing out a tablet and starting his brief.
He said, “We don’t have a lot of time for this mission. The BOPE guy told me the ferry assault is going down tonight, which means we need to do this quickly if we’re going to have any influence on those actions.”
He set the tablet on the table, showing Jennifer’s research efforts, saying, “I think this is enough information to execute the assault. Anyone disagree?”
Shoshana said, “We have enough information, but the target should give us pause. I don’t like attacking a church.”
Pike said, “I don’t like it, either, but it is what it is.” He waited on her to continue, and when she did not, he said, “Okay, from what you guys found, it’s the corner room, in the old guest suite for people visiting the convent. We know they keep an observation post on the balcony, and have to assume they have at least three inside. The balcony OP is the first target.”
He turned and said, “That’s you, Jennifer. You’re sure you can get up?”
“Yes. There’s scaffolding on the south side alley. They’re doing renovations. It’ll be easy.”
Aggravated at her tasking, Shoshana cut in, saying, “If it’s easy, I should go. We don’t need her climbing skills here. We need what I bring.”
Pike paused and said, “What’s that?”
“You know. You beyond anyone else knows.”
Pike looked at Jennifer, letting her give the response, and Shoshana saw he wondered about her as well.
Jennifer leaned back and crossed her arms, insulted. She said, “I can do the mission. Why are you asking about this? Because I questioned your willingness to murder a guy in cold blood? Because of that you now don’t trust me?”
Shoshana said, “You’re going to kill that observation post, and he won’t see it coming. You’re not going to ask him to surrender.”
Jennifer said, “Yeah? So?”
Pike said, “So she’s just making sure you can do it. It’s a legitimate question.”
“Because I didn’t murder that guy in Charleston? The one with his hands in the air saying, ‘Don’t kill me’? Is that why? Pike, you know better than that. There is right and there is wrong. That’s all. This is right.”
Pike looked embarrassed, but Shoshana could tell Jennifer’s actions in Charleston were exactly why he was asking. He pressed ahead, saying, “Okay, but Shoshana’s got a point. When I call, you need to drop him, no questions asked. I don’t give a shit if he’s reciting the rosary or praying for his mother with cancer. He dies. Can you do that?”
Jennifer squinted, and, while nobody else at the table could feel it, Shoshana saw the heat coming out of her. Jennifer said, “Hold up your hand.”
Confused, Pike did so. She said, “Your other one.”
Intrigued, Shoshana sat up. He switched, spreading out four fingers, the fifth, the pinky finger, nothing but a stump. Jennifer said, “You remember when you lost that?”
Shoshana saw he knew where this was going, but she didn’t.
In a cold rage, speaking in a monotone, Jennifer said, “I’m the one who killed the men in that room. I’m the one. The woman in this church lost the same finger, for the same damn reasons. Evil people with an agenda. That man on the balcony is complicit in torturing a mother and child, and I’ll bring him the vengeance he deserves—while we assault. Don’t ever question my commitment. But if we secure the target and a bad guy is still alive, wounded or otherwise, we’re not murdering him in cold blood.”
Pike slowly nodded, and Shoshana saw a hidden strength inside Jennifer she hadn’t recognized before. Something Shoshana yearned to own.
Shoshana was an unrivaled killing machine, but deep inside she hated the talent she’d been given. In the past, Shoshana had executed targets just because she’d been ordered to, and those actions had caused her unimaginable pain because she’d known she was killing innocents, all on the order of a man who was evil. Unlike Jennifer, she hadn’t been strong enough to say no.
It was a quality Shoshana revered. A thing that, in Shoshana’s mind, made Jennifer something better.
She said, “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I meant no insult. Truthfully, I just don’t want to sit out front doing nothing but pulling security.”
Jennifer relaxed, nodding at Shoshana. Aaron spoke for the first time, saying, “This is not our mission. We support, and we have to lock down the front door. Prevent interference. That’s your job. Enough discussion.”
Coming from anyone else, Shoshana would have snarled an answer. Coming from Aaron, she simply nodded, saying, “I understand.”
Exasperated, Pike said, “Are we done?”
Shoshana gritted her teeth and Pike said, “Okay then. You stay right here. You’re squirter control for anybody who runs out of that church and early warning for anybody trying to get in.”
He didn’t wait for acknowledgment, turning to Jennifer. “You got the OP. When I’m outside the door
, I’ll call. You drop him, and Aaron and I are breaching. You meet us inside.”
Once again, he didn’t wait for any questions. He turned to Aaron and said, “We’ve got the assault down the alley. Final door, up the staircase, and in. Anyone inside that’s not a forty-year-old female or a child is dead.”
He looked around the table, his eyes daring the assembled group to respond to his next question. “Anybody have anything to add?”
Shoshana thought about asking for a better mission, but Aaron caught her eye. She remained silent.
Pike said, “Okay, then. Jennifer, you go first. Call when you’re on the roof, and we’ll work our way to the alley. Shoshana, you stay right here. We’ll be back within ten minutes.”
Jennifer stood, put on a small backpack, and began walking away without another word. No witty banter, no kisses, no nothing. Shoshana realized Jennifer had been deeply insulted by her words.
Shoshana stood, and Aaron touched her arm, saying, “Let her go. It’ll be okay. Let her focus.”
Shoshana nodded, unsure, and Pike’s cell phone rang. He took a look at the number and said, “Jesus Christ. What now?”
He answered, and Shoshana saw his face blanch. She read him in only the way she could, and saw his aura go black.
He said, “Don’t worry. Don’t worry. I’ll get help,” then a pause, followed by “No, you listen to me, you fuck. Let them go.”
He said nothing for a moment, then clenched his fist, turning in a circle, looking like he was going to lash out at the first person who approached. His aura went to red. In a voice from the grave, he said, “You let them go and I’ll let you live. You don’t and I will carve you up.”
Then he looked at the sky and said, “Okay, Okay. Don’t hurt them. Promise me that.”
He heard a few more words, then put the phone down. Whoever had called had hung up.