Caged Light

by Tom Howard

  “Michelle.” One of them replied in fear. “She was exactly where you said she’d be, and she matched the description.

  Damon took the gun from his back and shot the guard who spoke, dropping him to the ground…dead. “This is NOT MICHELLE!” Damon yelled. He turned his attention back to the girl in the chair as he placed the gun under her chin. “Who are you?” he growled. “Who are you working for?”

  Instantly she was taken back to Wyatt’s phone call. She had just finished making love in an elevator with Wyatt’s reformed hacker friend and was beginning to get dressed when the phone rang. “Eva, it’s me…I need a favor.” Wyatt sounded serious.

  “Name it.”

  “Meet me at your place in twenty minutes and bring James with you.”

  She hung up, looking at her boyfriend, tall dark, and handsome zipping his pants. He was maybe a buck ninety at six-feet tall with a stubbly beard. “We’ve got to go.”

  Just as Wyatt said, they met twenty minutes later. When Eva and James pulled into the lot of Eva’s warehouse, they saw Wyatt and Michelle leaning on the hood of his car. “What’s going on?” Eva asked as she and James walked up to their friend.

  “I need to take you into the station.”

  Eva became instantly curious. “You want to run that by me again?”

  Wyatt just wanted to make sure he had her full attention. “Not like that.” He replied with a hint of a snicker. “I need you to impersonate my friend here.” Wyatt added with a head tilt toward Michelle.

  “Look, you know I’d do anything for you, but police and I don’t exactly get along.” Wyatt knew she was telling the truth. In a former life, meaning for about the past fifteen years, until Wyatt gave her a choice, she was the world’s best thief. There wasn’t a safe she couldn’t crack or a place she couldn’t get into and out of without detection. She even broke into Fort Knox and got away with ten gold bars, two of which she kept as souvenirs. However, she always had a weakness for diamonds, especially famous ones. The Great Star of Africa which was kept with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, The Orloff, which she took from the treasury of Moscow, The Centenary Diamond she stole from the Tower of London, and The Regent was taken from the Louvre in Paris, all of which totaled 1244.55 Carats. They were kept in a safe place as trophies, and only she knew where.

  The only way Wyatt caught her was because he was across from a jewelry store and caught her sleight of hand in an attempt to walk off with a Rolex for James. That was when he gave her and James a choice to either use their skills to help those who had nowhere else to turn or do some serious jail time. Between the three of them, they made a good team with the abilities of a master thief, genius hacker, and a hitman. However, Wyatt thought it best to keep his day job to stay just on this side of legal.

  “I know, and I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”

  “Alright, what do you need?”

  “Damon’s trying to get her out in the open so he can kill her. I already know he’s got his hand in the precinct and he paid off an orderly at Shuttermore to lie to me and claim she’s an escaped patient. You two are the only ones other than the Captain I can trust, and right now, the less she knows, the better. Now I know he’s screwed you both over in one way or another, so what I’m offering you is a chance at payback.”

  “Can we take his money too?” Eva chimed in quickly.

  Wyatt glanced between her and James, then met Eva’s gaze. “Sure, after he’s out of the picture, no one is going to miss it.”

  “Don’t worry,” James smiled. “I can take care of that. I’ll have them chasing so many false trails, it’ll make SETI look good.”

  “I’m also going to need one of your trackers, James.”

  “I got what you need.”

  “What about Michelle? I need a safe place she can stay.” Wyatt asked.

  Eva glanced around. “She can stay here…there’s no safer place. After all, ask yourself what kind of security a master thief would have.”

  “Granted, but I don’t want her left alone.”

  “I’ll stay.” James was quick to speak up.

  Not long after, Wyatt and Eva were off to the precinct, but not before having her and Michelle switch clothes in the warehouse, just on the off chance they were being watched.

  “I asked you a question…who are you working for?” Damon growled through his teeth. “Tell me and I’ll make your death quick. Lie to me, and I promise I’ll torture you in every way possible until you beg for death.”

  Eva sighed. She knew what was about to happen and there was no way to prevent it. “Ok, I’ll tell you.” She said, praying her friend was in a position to help. “Santa Claus sent me, he wanted me to tell you you’re on the naughty list this year.”

  In a single shot, Wyatt used his arm to sweep the guard in front of him, lifting him into the air, and as he fell, Wyatt grabbed the M-16 from his loosened grip, and hit him square on the head, knocking him out before he even hit the ground. In the split-second following, he took out three other guards with only three shots. Damon became instantly distracted by the gunfire, causing him to look away from Eva, whom had slipped out of her cuffs, and pushed him over to make a run for it. All of the other guards began firing at both Eva and Wyatt, who had taken momentary shelter behind some of the non-explosive crates. He tried to provide cover for his friend as best he could, however, in the midst of the hail of bullets, she was grazed on the shoulder, causing her to stumble, and fall right into the arms of one of the biggest men she’d ever seen. She was no match for him. His sheer size made the Hulk look small.

  “Nice try Wyatt, I’ll give you that!” Damon yelled as the firing ceased for the moment. “But it won’t be enough to save you or your friends!”

  Wyatt had pulled the unconscious guard back with him to safety and began stripping his weapons from him. “Damon, why don’t you forget all of our faces, and I might consider letting you live! You know what I’m capable of!”

  “I don’t really think you’re in the position to be giving me orders, do you?!” As Damon yelled, one of his guards tried to sneak up on Wyatt’s side, but he was shot in the head without Wyatt even looking in his direction. “You’re seriously out- numbered and out gunned. Besides, I know where you’re keeping the girl. My men are there right now! So, you see…it was all for nothing! Everything you’ve been through…it was all futile! And believe me, when I get my hands on her, I’m going to take serious pleasure in her slow agonizing, death!”

  Wyatt couldn’t sit there and listen anymore. The rage built within him had finally reached its limit. Taking his life in his own hands, Wyatt walked out from behind his safe haven, right into the line of fire. There was no protection within ten feet of him, but in return, he could see everything. Rows of wooden crates made walls which lined the sixty-foot path between him and freedom. Above, were metal, see through walkways connecting stairs and offices. And surrounding him were more than two dozen guards armed to the teeth. Wyatt held fast to his aggressive resolve, there was no way he was going out without a fight. “Last chance boys…you can walk out of here alive…or be carried out in a body bag.” Though Wyatt’s voice was menacing, the guards knew if they didn’t stand their ground, Damon would do far worse than kill them.

  “Don’t worry boys, he’s good, but he’s not that good.” Damon said from the end of the path.

  “Let’s find out.” Wyatt growled.

  As Damon walked away, the head of his security, Drake, walked in with Eva in front of him, and a gun in her side. Coward. Wyatt thought. He glanced around at all of the guns pointed at him and knew there was a possibility he might not make it out alive...but there was no stopping him, not with Michelle in trouble. Wyatt crossed the pistols in his hands and used the rear sights of each one to cock them at the same time. In that instant, all of the guards took aim.

  As soon as Wyatt moved forward, he raised his guns and started shooting. A second later he fell to his knees, landing on a small rolling crawler use
d to transport crates, and had enough momentum built up to launch himself straight ahead. Wyatt flew through the warehouse taking out guards left and right with pin point accuracy, some without even looking their way. Bullets went soaring passed, most just barely missed him. While still rolling, Wyatt leaned back, and with one gun took out the guards on the walkway, using the other gun he continued to hit the bull’s-eyes on the shooters below. As he leaned back up, he caught the toe of his boot on the ground, spun himself around, and quickly put two bullets into a highly explosive crate. When it blew, it took the rest of the guards with it.

  Wyatt stood to his feet, looking at the carnage he’d caused, bodies everywhere, surrounded by flames. There was no stopping the fire and the building was sure to go up at any moment. Suddenly there was the sound of a hammer of a gun being pulled back coming from right behind Wyatt. Slowly, he turned around to find Drake still holding Eva hostage. Blood could be seen flowing from the top of her shoulder where she had been grazed.

  “Yeah, I heard about you,” he began sadistically. “they said you were good, but damn. It looks like the stories were true.” Wyatt said nothing, only glared in anger. “Except as I recall, you don’t like guns.”

  Faster than a lightning strike, Wyatt raised his gun and put three rounds into Drake’s chest before he ever had a chance to wipe the smirk from his face. “You’re right.” Wyatt replied, watching him fall. “Never said I couldn’t use ‘em.”

  Eva stood there for a second, stunned. “You can be kind of scary, you know?”

  Wyatt ejected the clips of both guns. “You should see me on Halloween.” He smirked, tossing them to the ground. “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.”

  When they arrived back at Eva’s warehouse, stepping out of the car, they noticed the side door was open; however, there was no other vehicle within sight. That didn’t mean much though; there were still two more sides which couldn’t be seen at the moment. Eva and Wyatt ran up to the door with an air of caution lingering about them. There was no telling what they could be walking into. They took up positions on either side of the door, with Wyatt facing the opening.

  “Bet you’re wishing you’d have kept one of those guns.” Eva whispered.

  The warehouse was dark, causing limited visibility, and with the security defenses, Wyatt really needed to be able to see so he wouldn’t get shot…or worse. “Where’s the light switch?”

  Eva held up a key fob. “Right here.”

  Wyatt glanced around, looking for some kind of weapon, and spotted a large crowbar. It must have been what Damon’s men used to pry open the door. Picking it up, he readied himself for a fight, then with a slight nod to Eva, she pressed the button, and he went charging in. However, as he went inside, what he saw was only part of what he was expecting yet hoped he wouldn’t find. The entire place was completely open with several areas set up around the massive room such as bedroom, living room, an enclosed bathroom, and many others. One of them was a computer station which controlled the security, and at the foot of it laid James, with Michelle nowhere in sight. They ran over to him praying he wasn’t dead and found he had been shot. The bullet was close to his heart but hadn’t pierced any major arteries or organs. He was lucky. Damon’s men must have thought he was dead because it wasn’t like them to leave witnesses.

  “James!” Wyatt smacked him on the face a couple times. “James! Wake up!”

  His breathing was shallow and his pulse was low, he’d lost a good bit of blood. There was no doubt if they hadn’t arrived when they did, though James wasn’t dead yet, without help, he soon would be.

  “You’d better not die on me James, I still need you.” Before that moment, Wyatt had never seen Eva worried, she usually kept her feelings hidden.

  A few seconds later James’ eyes opened as he coughed. “Eva.”

  “I’m here, baby.” As she held his hand, smiling, a single tear slipped out.

  “Don’t move, buddy, we’re going to get you some help.” Wyatt assured his friend.

  “Michelle.” James mumbled.

  “She’s not here.” Eva replied.

  “Can you tell us what happened?” Wyatt asked urgently.

  “Surveillance.”

  Wyatt looked around at the ceiling only to find the cameras had been shot up. There was no way they captured anything. “Not looking good, they ate a couple rounds each.”

  Eva was already in the chair pulling up something on her laptop. “What you see are fakes, the real ones remain hidden. Think about it, you break into a place, what’s the first thing you want to take out? The eyes.” She said, rummaging through recent videos. “Make a person think they’ve gouged them out and they stop looking and go about their business. Lucky for me, in case they take out my computer, the videos aren’t downloaded to a hard drive, their sent to an isolated server somewhere else. Ah, here we go.”

  On the screen were six different videos showing angles from all over the warehouse, including right outside the door. Looks like Wyatt was right, they used the crowbar on the door after the 100,000-volt countermeasure was disabled. When Damon’s men entered, they immediately took out every camera in sight, and could be seen exchanging words with James, who looked like he was putting up a fight, and just as he turned and hit a key on the computer to activate security measures, was shot. Michelle was next to the bed when suddenly she was enclosed by solid steel walls from floor to ceiling, which was also surrounded by a laser grid that could amputate anything which touched it. It was Eva’s ultimate fail safe, even offering a way out by climbing an enclosed ladder to the roof.

  However, as Eva scanned the screen, she noticed something very strange. “What’s that?” Her brow furrowed in curiosity as she pointed. Wyatt and Eva watched as a girl in a tattered gown, with long black hair, moved rigidly from the shadows, across the floor, to the enclosed bed. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

  “Trust me, the less you know, the better.” Wyatt replied, glaring at the screen. “I’m not even sure I completely understand.”

  “This goes way past Damon, it’s almost demonic.”

  James had managed to get to his feet with help from Wyatt, and all three of them watched in horror as the girl crawled through not only the laser grid, but the steel walls as well, almost as if they weren’t even there. Suddenly the security measures were shut off and Michelle was being drug out kicking and screaming.

  “Wyatt, what do we do?” Eva was worried, still trying to process what she’d just witnessed.

  The detective’s eyes didn’t budge from the video replay, and the more he watched, the more he could feel an uncontrollable rage building within every fiber of his body. “Take James to get patched up…I’m going after Michelle.”

  “Are you nuts? Have we been watching the same video? You saw what that thing did! And you want to go charging after it?”

  “Strange has been a way of life for me lately.”

  “You don’t even know where they’re going.”

  “Sure I do,” Wyatt looked Eva dead in the eye. “straight to Damon.”

  “Good luck finding him, we just blew up his hideout.”

  “Sure about that?” Wyatt replied. “The smoke was looking awfully thin as we drove away, and I didn’t hear a boom.”

  “You think it’s still there?” Eva asked as she spun around to find Wyatt walking toward the door.

  “I’d bet on it.” He growled.

  Wyatt knew somehow Damon was behind everything that had been happening. How, and why he wanted Michelle were still a mystery. But one thing was certain, every time Michelle was attacked, Damon’s men were close by, not a likely coincidence, he thought. There was more going on than what meets the eye, and as he made his way back to Damon’s hideout, he wondered what he’d truly stumbled into all those years ago.

  He briefly thought about calling for back up, however quickly dismissed the thought because he knew one person could slip in a lot quieter than a bunch of cops swarming the place and possibly
getting Michelle killed. No, this had to be a one-man operation, a quick, surgical strike. He wasn’t concerned about bringing Damon in, only getting himself and Michelle out alive. There was no doubt she would be heavily guarded and security doubled. Even with the men Wyatt killed, Damon still had dozens more at his beck and call, all of whom were just waiting for the opportunity to earn their pay.

  Once again, Wyatt hid his car among the trees to avoid detection and made his way through the woods back towards Damon’s hideout. However, this time was different, under the cover of night and a low fog rolling in, there was something eerie about the situation. An air of mystery lingered which he couldn’t quite put his finger on. His detective instincts kicked into a higher gear sending his adrenaline into overdrive. In a split-second Wyatt became the most lethal weapon for miles around, but for some reason, Damon was never afraid. That, however, didn’t mean everyone else who heard the name Wyatt Cage didn’t tremble with fear – and after his latest demonstration, they had good reason.

  The wind howled as it swept quickly between the trees causing them to sway with such a force they appeared as if they could topple over at any moment. With each step Wyatt took, he could hear others coming from all around him, however, from what he could see, he was alone. Crouching down, he approached the edge of the tree line to find he was right, the amount of security had not only been doubled, there was more heavy artillery than before. Standing at the side door, which he’d previously entered, were two guards who weren’t looking too happy. Plus, there were more patrols circling the building. It was as if Damon had his own army with all of the perks. One thing was certain, getting to Michelle wasn’t going to be a cake walk.

  Reaching down to find a golf-ball size stone, Wyatt caught sight of a red dot rapidly approaching his position. He instantly recognized it as a tactical assault weapon laser scope, and from the angle, the shooter was behind him at least twenty yards, and looking down from an elevated position. Wyatt waited about three seconds for the dot to get to him then rolled out of the way just in time to see a puff of dirt spring up from the ground. There was no noise to alert anyone of the location, but with Wyatt’s training, none was needed. As soon as he rolled out of the way, he whipped the rock into the night, hitting his target square on the head. A few seconds later, he could be heard hitting the ground as he fell from the tree. It was at that moment, a light went on inside Wyatt’s head, it was an idea he hoped would get him inside.