by Doug Welch
Risking a change in his awareness he saw not one but two people in the room. The first was his old enemy, Gerardo and the second, his supposed birth mother, Sybil.
Although he realized he’d made a mistake in not anticipating more than one Adept, it was too late. If they didn’t fight back they were doomed.
Marshaling his will, he pushed against Gerardo’s force, separating the agony of the clawing tendrils that threatened to tear apart his mind. The task was made harder by the unrelenting waves of sexual feelings that flowed through his entire body. He felt Kitty join him and blushed at the raw sexual pleasure she fought as she struggled against Gerardo’s attempts to tear apart her mind.
Knowing the battle couldn’t continue for long and the outcome would not be in their favor, Paris tried to think of some tactic that might change the equation. Gerardo had to focus on more than one opponent so his attention was spread to all four of them. Sybil radiated nothing but lust. Audrey was the wild card. They couldn’t have anticipated her Adept abilities, but from her look she was confused and uncertain. He needed her focused, but where?
Audrey stood in the doorway and Caesar seemed frozen behind her. Kitty was on the floor on her knees and hands, gasping for breath, her face twisted in concentration.
He had to act quickly, they didn’t have much time. He prayed that Kitty could hold on and switched his focus to Audrey. Smoothing her anxiety, he directed her attention to Sybil, immediately refocusing on Gerardo.
It was just in time because he felt Kitty about to succumb to Gerardo’s mind force. Hoping that Audrey would act, he bolstered Kitty’s defenses with his own.
“Die bitch!” He heard Audrey scream. Multiple hisses of her tranquilizer gun sounded in the room.
As Gerardo’s pressure increased up to and near Paris’ breaking point, he suddenly felt the lust slacken. Soon, it vanished completely and he could refocus on defending himself. Feeling renewed strength, Paris rose to his feet, staring Gerardo in the eyes.
Gerardo face showed strain from the effort, but he didn’t decrease the unrelenting pressure. Rather he increased it in a desperate attempt to subdue both of them.
Paris felt Audrey enter the battle, giving him and Kitty some relief from the Borgia’s incredible mind-force. For the first time Paris saw an emotion approaching panic on Gerardo’s face.
Up to then, the duel had been conducted in relative silence but suddenly Paris heard the bark of an Uzi. He saw the rounds impact Gerardo’s chest. The force of the bullets knocked him back and he collided with a chair, slumping and dropping to the floor.
Glancing toward the doorway he saw smoke issue from Caesar’s gun. Refocusing on Sybil he saw three tranquilizer darts sticking out of her neck and chest. One was enough to subdue a full grown man. Three were bound to be fatal. Exhausted and unable to stand, he joined Kitty on the floor. Simultaneously they flopped over and lay on the floor side by side.
Kitty turned her head to look at him. “That was bad shit, Paris. I never want to go through that again.”
He stared at the ceiling. “Hopefully we won’t have to. If we can finish this, I think the Borgias House won’t be a threat. At least not for a long time.”
“Not yet,” Caesar said. “We still have to get out of here and time’s running out.”
Paris struggled to his feet and helped Kitty stand. Audrey cuddled her daughter. He could only imagine what went through her mind at this moment.
“We’re ready. Let’s leave,” Paris said.
Moving rapidly, they made their way back through the corridors, only stopping when they heard the sound of automatic weapons.
Paris peeked around a corner and ducked back. “Brian’s holding off a few security guards,” he said. “We need to eliminate them.”
Taking another quick glance he turned back to the team. “Kitty, switch and when they reload, try to get around them. If we can hit them from either end, we can take them out. Use the tranquilizer gun if you can, it’s almost silent, but make sure you’re under cover. We’ll fire down the corridor and try to drive them towards you.”
At the sound of automatic fire slackening, Kitty took off, turning the corner and disappearing down the corridor. After a few seconds, the rattle of weapon’s fire resumed.
Paris waited until he was confident Kitty had gotten into position and then answered the firing with his Uzi. He was joined by Caesar and their combined firepower drove the security guards back from Brian’s doorway, back down the hallway to the nearest turn in the corridor.
Keeping the security guards pinned by occasional three round bursts, Paris and Caesar kept their attention until Kitty’s voice yelled, “They’re down. You can cease fire.”
“Brian, did you hear that? Don’t shoot we’re coming in.” Turning the corner, Paris hurried into Brian’s room.
Brian rose from his prone position on the floor. “You’re just in time. I was running out of ammunition.” He handed the semiautomatic to Paris.
“Can you walk?” Paris asked, holstering the weapon.
Brian nodded. “I’ll make it.”
As a group they made their way along the corridors, past two security guards with darts sticking out of their necks and the prone one by the access door.
Out of the secure section and back into the plant, Paris activated his radio. “It’s Paris. What’s the situation in the front of the compound?”
Tom’s excited voice responded. “Paris! Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you.”
Paris thought rapidly. The secure section of the plant must have been shielded from communications. “We’ve been busy. We got the baby. What’s going on at the front?”
“That’s why I’ve been trying to call you,” Tom voice replied. “The security guards broke contact with Ali’s men half an hour ago and retreated into the plant. They could be waiting for you.”
Paris stopped and raised his hand to halt everyone. “Did anyone see where they went?”
“No,” Tom replied. “But be careful. It’s almost dawn outside.”
Running through his options Paris, responded, “Have Ali send his troops to the loading dock at the rear of the plant to give us some cover. Tell them to be careful who they shoot at.”
He turned to his group. “Kitty, you and Audrey disappear. Keep Brian with you. Caesar and I will clear the way. From now on we go slow and careful.”
Proceeding along the corridor they came to the section with the long expanse of windows. Risking a peek, Paris spied three guards on the other side in the manufacturing area.
Using hand signals he motioned everyone to the floor. Crawling below the window’s level he led them to the cross junction with the narrower hallway. With the exception of the security guards, the place seemed deserted. It made sense. The workers had likely fled into the surrounding hills.
The corridor was indefensible but it could make a handy ambush site. If guards were stationed in one or more of the rooms and he tried to lead his group down the corridor they wouldn’t have a chance.
Huddling with the other members of his team, he laid out a plan. “Kitty, I want you and Audrey to move down the corridor. Check all the doors to make sure they’re closed and no one’s waiting behind them. If you find something, come right back and Caesar and I will deal with it.”
Audrey handed the baby to Caesar and joined Kitty. They both moved cautiously down the hallway each checking alternate sides of the corridor.
At the end of the passageway, Kitty froze and motioned to Paris. Seeing her wave, Paris moved down the corridor to join her.
Kitty whispered in his ear, “I think someone’s behind door number ten, the one that leads to the manufacturing area. Any way to go around it?”
Paris visualized the layout he’d memorized, but the details were hazy in his mind. Using his radio he called Tom. “It’s Paris. We have a problem.”
Tom’s voice responded. “What kind of problem?”
“The door we came through, the on
e that exits the manufacturing area is a no-go,” Paris replied. “We’re stuck in the narrower corridor. Is there a way to bypass it?”
“Wait,” Tom replied. He was quiet for what seemed an eternity, but was in reality only a few seconds. “Yes,” he responded, “but it’s not gonna be easy. At the end of the corridor there’s a door opposite the one leading to the escape route. It’s a supervisor’s room and it has access to the exit but it’s got large windows that look out over the manufacturing area. You’ll be visible to anyone who cares to look.”
Tom’s description of the alternate route had brought back the memorized details of the layout to Paris’ mind. He gestured to Kitty and Audrey and led them a little way up the corridor.
Pointing to the door opposite the one they need to breach, he said, “I need you two to go through that door. Behind it is a room, but anyone in the manufacturing area can see into it. Since you both are cloaking yourselves, you can move through it without being spotted. I want you to get behind the guards, use the tranquilizer guns, and clear a path for us. Do you think you can do it?”
“I’m out of darts,” Kitty said, “and almost out of compressed gas for the gun.”
Audrey pulled a spare bandolier from her pack and handed it to Kitty. “I’m low on gas too. I didn’t think to bring a spare gas cartridge. I guess we’ll have to be accurate with our shots. Like up close and personal accurate.”
Kitty shrugged. “If there’s too many of them we can freeze a couple and jam the darts in by hand. Don’t worry, Paris. We’ll get the job done.”
Kitty, telling him to not worry, worried Paris. He watched them move down the corridor and disappear behind the door.
Bringing the remainder of the group closer to the exit, they sat on the floor, leaned against the wall and waited.
Paris sat near the door and strained to listen. In a few minutes, he heard the sound of a rifle firing at full auto. It went on for a few seconds and stopped. After a long moment, the access door opened and Kitty stepped through.
“Way’s clear,” she said. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”
Everyone stood and followed her through the open doorway. They moved as fast as they could with Brian’s injuries slowing them down.
Passing six comatose security guards, Paris asked, “What happened?”
“One of the guards panicked and sprayed bullets all over the place,” Kitty said. “It took a while to get to him.”
Caesar slipped his arm around Brian to support him and they moved faster, through the manufacturing area and into the shipping room. At the roll up doors Paris paused.
Keying his radio, he said, “It’s Paris. We’re almost out of the plant. Tell Ali to have his men stand down.”
“Will do,” Tom replied “Wait until we give the order.” In a few seconds his voice resumed. “Okay, it’s done.”
At the door Paris yelled. “Hold your fire. We’re coming out.”
They emerged in daylight. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. Standing on the loading dock, Paris spied Ali’s team members scattered throughout the parking lot.
He was weary right down to his toenails, having spent the whole night hiking through woods and coping with the tension of command. But they weren’t done yet. He had to get this mob to the trucks and then to the boats before they’d be safe.
Again keying the radio, he said, “It’s Paris. Dump the security guards we captured and bring all the trucks to the front of the compound.”
“Will do,” Tom’s voice replied. “Give us a few.”
Paris looked around at the parking lot and focused in the delivery trucks. “Caesar, check those trucks out and see if any of them have keys in them.”
Caesar hurried off leaving Brian sitting on the dock. Paris watched as he ran from truck to truck finally pausing at one of them. He waved back, got in the truck and started it.
Paris turned to his team. “Okay we have transportation. Kitty round up Ali’s men and we’ll load them in the back. The rest of you get ready to board.”
The truck roared up to the dock and they opened the rear doors. Ali’s men threw cases of drugs out the rear to make room and they crowded into the interior, throwing even more boxes out as passengers jumped in.
Paris got into the cab with Caesar. Once the last passenger leaped in and waved, Caesar gunned the truck, not waiting until the doors were closed. He wound through the road leading to the compound and halted in a cloud of dust at the front junction with the highway.
People jumped from the rear and milled about while Paris and Caesar sat in the front cab waiting for the team’s trucks to arrive.
It wasn’t long before they appeared along the road in a convoy, coming to a halt in front of the Borgia’s compound.
Two of Dani’s brothers, along with Alex, opened the back doors of the now empty truck and the loosely knit group began to file in. Alex walked over to the cab of the Borgia truck and waved to Caesar. “Have fun sweetheart?”
Caesar grinned. “I don’t think I’ll be repeating it anytime soon. I’m getting too old and complacent.”
Alex hugged herself in the early morning chill and glanced back down the road. She looked again and her eyes grew wide. “Shit! I think we’ve got company.”
Paris along with Caesar followed her glance and saw two black SUVs moving slowly along the road toward their position.
The last passenger had boarded the spare truck and they waved for Paris and his companions to join them. Paris grabbed his radio. “This is Paris. Tell the trucks to get moving. We have company.”
Alex glanced toward the now loaded team vehicle and then jerked the Borgia’s truck’s cab door open. “Move over. I’m driving. You two shoot.”
Paris hesitated but then remembered how Alex drove. “Scoot over and let her in, Caesar.” He checked his Uzi and changed out his last magazine of ammunition.
Alex jumped into the cab and started the truck. “Does anyone know how to operate the radio?” she asked. Seeing the looks on their faces, she grinned and added, “Guess we’ll just have to live without it.”
“Be careful Alex,” Caesar said. “Remember, we have a son to live for.”
“I’ve spent this whole time changing bedpans,” Alex replied. “Someone has to keep you two alive. Guess it’s up to me.”
The black SUVs sped up but the team’s trucks seemed to take a long time to begin rolling. Alex waited until the last truck entered the road and jammed the accelerator to the floor board.
The Borgia’s truck leaped forward and she spun the steering wheel. The truck’s tires smoked and the truck fishtailed onto the roadway, cutting off the SUVs which had almost arrived at their position.
The convoy slowly accelerated, heading down the grade to Naples. Paris knew the road. It twisted like a plate of spaghetti. They wouldn’t be able to drive fast. “Alex, there’s a lot of switchbacks on this road. You’d better take it easy.”
“I’m gonna try to put some distance between us and the trucks ahead,” she said “You try to make those assholes behind us back off.”
The leading SUV tried to pass them but Alex swerved the truck, almost trapping the SUV against the rock face on the left side of the road.
To the right of the truck, a guard rail was the only thing preventing them from careening down the steep cliff and cars heading toward them passed on the left. Whenever the left lane cleared the SUV tried to get alongside but Alex cut it off.
The rattle of bullets pounded the truck’s rear.
Alex glanced in the rearview mirror. “They’re trying to take out the tires. If they get alongside and hit the sidewalls, the game’s over. Make them back off.”
With Alex providing interference, a large gap between the team trucks and the one they rode in had opened up. Paris rolled down the window and turned in the seat, leaning out of the cab and facing back.
He readied the Uzi and waited. The wind of their passage whipped his hair forward obscuring his vision. He watched the SUV swer
ve toward the left and then drift back to the right near the guardrail. Timing it, he let lose with a string of bullets from the Uzi. He’d aimed at the front tire but peppered its hood. Nevertheless the vehicle slowed and dropped back, keeping out of range.
“That did it,” Alex yelled over the wind noise.
Paris rolled the window back up. “No it didn’t. All they have to do is follow us to the boats and call for reinforcements. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Alex was quiet for a while. Her eyes searched the roadway.
“I’ve got an idea but you ain’t gonna like it,” she said. “Get ready to jump out the passenger side when the truck stops.”
Before Paris could respond she jerked the wheel to the right and then cut it as hard as she could to the left. The truck slewed and the rear scrapped the guardrail. Then she jammed the accelerator.
Blue smoke billowed from the underside of the truck as it skidded sideways down the road. The ear splitting scream of the tires on the pavement was deafening. With a grinding, tearing sound of tortured metal, the truck came to a bone-jarring halt, throwing Caesar against Paris.
“You guys shoulda worn seat belts,” Alex yelled. “Get out, they’re coming.”
Groggy from the impact, Paris struggled with the door, finally opening it and lurching out of the cab. He was followed by Caesar who reached back into the truck and dragged Alex behind him.
“Let’s go,” Alex yelled again.
Focusing on his footing, Paris followed her and Caesar down the road. Drivers coming up the grade were already slowing and stopping.
Alex turned and jogged backward, admiring her handiwork. “They won’t be able to get that baby outta there without dismantling it.”
Paris turned to look. The truck was wedged between the rock face of the cliff and the guardrail, completely blocking the road.
Alex chuckled and resumed running. “I’ll bet in a few hours there’s gonna be a whole lotta pissed off Italian drivers.”