by Matthew Rief
As Angelina moved towards the remaining guards, the one closest to Kyle grabbed his Kimbro Micro 9 pistol and quickly raised it towards her. Kyle turned, leaned his upper body back, and jumped his legs into the air. Wrapping his feet around the guy’s neck, he pressed hard and twisted his body with as much speed and strength as he could. The guy’s neck cracked audibly as he whipped backward and hit the ground with a loud thud. He’d managed to get one shot off, firing a lone 9mm round into the ceiling above. Once on the ground, Kyle kicked him across his face, then knocked the Kimbro from his hands.
The fourth and final guard had pulled a six-inch knife from his leather bag before dropping it to the floor. He engaged Angelina, grunting violently as he stepped towards her. Instead of reaching for her Glock or another throwing knife, Angelina opted for a more convenient weapon. After swooping to the side to avoid the guy’s blade as it sliced through the air, she wrapped her hands around the end of a mop handle. Spinning around, she slammed the narrow piece of hardwood into the guy’s ear, a painful blow that caused him to wince in pain.
Angelina stepped towards him, planted her left leg and snapped her right into the air. The strong sidekick hit the guy square in the chest and caused him to drop his knife and take a few steps backward to regain his balance. He’d moved too far, however. Without realizing it, he’d moved within Kyle’s striking distance. Kyle jumped his feet up again and slammed his heels into the guy’s back. It looked like a game of pinball the way the guy bounced back and forth. But as he fell back towards Angelina, she brought the fight to an abrupt and gruesome end. Having snatched the guy’s tactical knife from the floor, she sprang towards him and stabbed its blade straight through his heart. Blood dripped out of his mouth, his eyes went lifeless, and he collapsed to the floor at Angelina’s feet.
Angelina dropped the knife, grabbed her Glock from under her dress, and took a quick look around the room, making sure all four guys were down. Once she could see that it was over, she searched the big Samoan guy’s body for a key to the handcuffs. It was obvious that he’d been their leader, and after a few seconds of patting, she found the keys in his front pants pocket.
“That was a hell of a throw,” Kyle said, genuinely impressed.
It was his first time ever seeing Angelina in action, and it was easy for him to understand why Logan had spoken so highly of her combat abilities.
Angelina inserted the key into the cuffs one at a time, clicked them loose, and let them drop to the floor. Kyle bent down, grabbed one of the guy’s Kimber 9mms, and stuck it into the back of his waistband.
“Alright, let’s go find Logan,” Angelina said.
She moved over to the doorway and put her shoes back on. Then they both walked with purpose down the hall, up the metal stairs, through the kitchen, and back into the main room, where the party was still going on. A few of the staff had heard the gunshot and were frozen with fear when they moved past them in the kitchen. But the music had drowned it out in the main room, leaving all of the guests blissfully unaware of what was going on.
“This way,” Angelina said, motioning towards the hallway that led to the elevator.
As they moved towards it, Carson stepped out from a large group of people, flanked on either side by two of her guards. Kyle and Angelina both spotted her at the same time. They diverted their course casually and turned to where a waiter was handing out tuna cucumber bites. They watched Carson intently as they each grabbed one. She was heading down the hall, straight for the elevator.
“Shit,” Angelina said a little louder than she’d intended to.
The waiter looked at her quizzically and apologized that the dish wasn’t to her liking.
“It’s great,” Kyle said. “She’s just allergic to seafood.”
The waiter handed her a napkin, and she spat it out unhappily. He apologized again as Kyle and Angelina watched the elevator doors open. Carson and two of her men stepped inside, the doors closed, and the red numbers transitioned from zero down to negative two.
Angelina’s heart began to race. She knew that Logan would still be down there. They had to find another way down as quickly as possible if they were going to help him.
“Stairwell,” Kyle said, motioning towards a set of doors beside the elevator.
He didn’t have to tell her twice. In the blink of an eye, they both moved across the room towards the doors, hoping they could make it down in time. Hoping that they wouldn’t be too late.
THIRTY
I stood beside the desk, watching the laptop screen as lines of code appeared, then vanished, replaced by more lines. Might as well have been Greek to me; I couldn’t understand any of it. I could only hope that the Plague was doing its job and that it would be over soon. It had already been at it for a few minutes. I expected the doors to swing open and Carson’s security to swarm inside any second.
With nothing to do but wait, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cellphone. I quickly turned to Jack’s contact page, then pressed the call button. No signal. Not even an attempted call, the service was so bad.
What the hell?
I’d received Scott’s message just fine in the main hall.
Did Carson have some kind of signal blocker in place in her private office?
I reached for a landline phone that was hooked up on the desk. I remembered what Scott had said, how Carson didn’t even have a cellphone. She certainly was a unique character, unlike any evil and powerful person I’d ever encountered before.
I grabbed the handset and quickly dialed Scott’s number. He answered after the first ring.
“Hey, Scott,” I said. I switched on speakerphone and set the handset on the desk. “I’m in her office now. You with Jack?”
“Yeah,” he said. “We’re at the Anglers Club, about a mile south of Richmond Key. Are you ready for us to cruise over?”
“Not yet,” I said, staring at the laptop screen and trying to will the device to work faster.
If I couldn’t get the intel uploaded onto the USB before Carson and her guards showed up, the entire plan would crumble. The only other option we had was to get Carson to say something that could incriminate her. I shifted my gaze to my jacket, where my seemingly ordinary pen was clipped inside my left breast pocket. After making sure it was on and still recording, I looked back at the laptop. It started making sounds.
Was it almost finished?
I had no way of knowing. I’d never used it before, and the only crash course I’d received regarding its operation was to insert it into the computer and wait. Suddenly, the screen went black for a split second before going back to its default page; the same page I’d seen when I’d first pried it open. The one that asked for a password.
Must be done.
Whether it was or not, I was ready to get the hell out of there. I worried about Ange. No matter how deadly and experienced she was, I still worried. Couldn’t help it. I pulled the small thumb drive out of the computer and dropped it into my pants pocket.
“All set,” I said. “Leaving now. I’ll meet you at the dock.”
I heard a faint, muffled reply as I grabbed a small notepad, placed it on the stand and set the handset down.
With my Sig in hand, I took a step around the desk, then froze. In a flash of movement, the double doors flew open and slammed into the wall. A group of security guards poured in like sand falling through an hourglass. For a moment, I thought about trying to take them out. I could have gotten a few shots off, then dropped beneath the desk for cover. But there were too many of them. At best, I’d take a few of them out before being surrounded and riddled with bullets.
“Drop the gun!” one of the guys yelled.
There were at least six of them, and they all had their weapons raised straight at me. My grip loosened on my Sig and it fell, rattling on the hardwood floor at my feet. Two of the guys moved around the desk as the other four provided cover. They grabbed me, slammed my upper body against the desk beside the laptop, and searched me. They came
prepared. One of them had a metal detector wand and was hovering it over every inch of my body, stopping and searching every time it beeped to life.
After a full and thorough search, they’d grabbed my dive knife, cellphone, the Plague flash drive, and my pen. They also grabbed my Sig off the floor. Once they were done searching me over, they stepped back. All six of their weapons were aiming at me when I heard the familiar sound of high heels striking the concrete floor just outside the doors. A second later, Carson appeared.
She looked as strong and confident as she had upstairs, but her expression was different. As she moved into the office, I saw that her persona had shifted so drastically from what it had been up in the foyer that I could hardly believe it. Her eyes were no longer looking at me with lust, but with pure disgust and hatred. She stormed across the office and stopped across the desk from me.
“Well, well, well,” she said, her eyes shooting daggers at me. “So you must be Logan Dodge.” She shook her head slightly. “I can only assume that you are, since you’re here with Quinn. I would’ve thought you’d both be halfway around the world by now, hiding out someplace. I guess you’re not as smart as people say you are.” There was a short pause, then she added, “What the hell are you doing here?”
Her voice was much different than before. Her tone harder, more sadistic. If I’d been blindfolded, I would’ve sworn that I was talking to a different person altogether.
I didn’t answer, and one of the guys stepped towards her and set the contents of my pockets on the desk in front of her. She went through each item, one at a time. Grabbing the flash drive, she held it in the air, then dropped it to the floor and slammed her heel down. The small device cracked to pieces, then she grabbed the pen and examined it carefully.
“Now, that’s very clever,” she said before snapping it in two and handing it back to the guard. “I’m not mad, Mr. Dodge. I’m only disappointed. I was looking forward to enjoying your company this weekend.” She sighed. “Alas, I’m not going to kill you. Quinn I will kill, but not you. You killed two of my men and nearly killed two others. You will rot in jail for what you’ve done today.”
“You and your group are responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, including children,” I said sternly, speaking for the first time in what felt like ages. “Yeah. I know all about your corrupt deals. I know that you were the one who ordered the massacre of that entire village in Colombia and that you made it look as though FARC rebels were responsible.” I paused a moment, letting the fact sink in that I’d been a SEAL fighting alongside Kyle years earlier. “I know that the only reason we were in Colombia was so that we would be ambushed, killed, and used as pawns to further your own corrupt agenda.”
She paused a moment, then smiled devilishly and began clapping her hands.
“Bravo, Logan,” she said mockingly. “Bravo. And it only took you ten years to figure it out. It’s too bad for you that no one will ever believe you. It must hurt to know that you’ll be the one jailed after all of this.” She looked down at the broken USB. “Did you really think that you could take me down? Do you have any idea how powerful I am, how many people adore me?”
She laughed villainously.
“Look,” I said, “you’re a murderer, and a big-time criminal, nothing more. You make your living by ruining people’s lives, by killing, and by deceiving. You’re nothing more than a—”
My words were cut off by a strong punch to my jaw landed by the guard at my left. The room went blurry and my head snapped back. The pain was explosive. It caught me completely off guard and almost knocked me to the floor. If it wasn’t for the guy holding me from behind, I probably would’ve fallen over.
I tried my best to shake the pain and dizziness away, then turned my gaze back to Carson. She’d moved right up to me, allowing me to smell her strong perfume as she stared at me like a lion about to take down its prey.
“Keep it up, Logan,” she said. “You’ll be watching more of my schemes unfold on a staticky old television while a group of fat inmates use you for pleasure.”
She snarled, then slapped her hand across my face. It hurt more than I thought it would. Her nails cut deep, drawing blood that streaked down my cheek. It was the first time I’d seen her break away from her usual calm and collected demeanor.
“Take him out of my sight and off my island,” she said. “Contact the police and let them know that there have been multiple homicides, but make sure that this is handled tomorrow, and on the mainland. I’d hate for my new resort to receive bad press on its opening weekend.”
“We’ll take care of it,” one of her guards said. “What about Quinn?”
“Kill him,” she said. “That is, if they haven’t killed him already.”
She shot me a final evil look, then turned her head. She took just two steps when a foreign voice cut the silence of the office.
“Miss Richmond,” Scott’s voice said through the speakerphone.
Carson froze in place. She whipped around, her eyes zeroing in on her phone resting beside the computer. I glanced down at it and smiled. I’d blocked the disconnect button with the small notepad, making it look as though the phone had been hung up while in reality, Scott and Jack had been listening the entire time. They’d also been recording the entire conversation. Carson was frozen still and kept quiet for a few seconds. She’d been quick-witted and seemingly on top of things all evening until Scott’s voice came through the speaker.
The guards on either side of me leaned over the desk, then looked up at Carson in amazement that they hadn’t noticed it was on. I didn’t really blame them. The small LCD screen was counting up, but it was dark and difficult to notice unless you really looked at it. The phone looked like it was dead.
“Miss Richmond,” Scott said again loudly. “Are you still there?”
She collected herself as best as she could.
“Who is this?” she said, trying her best to sound confident. But her persona was dwindling with every passing second.
“That’s not important,” Scott said. “What’s important is that you know that we’ve been recording everything. You should expect a call from the CIA in the morning. I suggest you contact your lawyer.”
Filled with anger, Carson stomped towards the desk, removed the notepad, and hung up the phone with a loud slam of the handset. She paused for a moment, then looked up at me. Before she could say a word, a scuffle broke out at the door. I looked up just in time to see two guards as they toppled over and slammed hard facefirst against the ground. Angelina and Kyle came into view, each raising their weapons towards Carson. For a moment, the guards on either side of me didn’t know what to do. They raised their weapons towards Angelina and Kyle. A big mistake.
Without hesitating, I dropped down and swung my right leg forcefully towards the guard to my right. My shin crashed into the back of his legs, causing him to topple backward and his head to bang against the hard floor. As the guard to my left tried to engage me, I held his handgun, forcing it to aim away from me. With my left hand, I pressed firmly into the back of his skull, forcing him down, and slammed his forehead into the corner of the desk. I ripped the handgun from his hands, spun around, and had Carson in my sights before the guy had even hit the floor. Only Carson and two of her guards were still standing. The tables had turned in the blink of an eye.
My narrowed and focused eyes shifted from Carson to the two remaining guards.
“Drop ’em!” I said.
They paused a moment, not knowing what to do.
Carson raised a hand. “Just do what he said.”
The two guards let go of their weapons, letting them fall and rattle at their feet. Angelina and Kyle moved into the office. I strode over to them, and the three of us stood in front of Carson. It was clear that she was pissed off beyond belief, but she was still trying her best to look as though she was in control of the situation—an act that was as much of a habit as breathing for her.
“This is Kyle Quinn,”
I said, placing my left hand on his shoulder while my right held up the snoozing guard’s Ruger. “He was a first class petty officer in the United States Navy. Former Special Forces. He served nine years active duty, including four deployments. He’s a patriot, an American hero, and an all-around badass. He’s married to a loving and faithful wife and is the father of two girls.” I paused a moment, then continued, “I just thought you should meet the man whose life you destroyed. Or tried to, at least. You’re also responsible for the death of Petty Officer Manuel Estrada, as well as countless others.”
I was breathing heavily and didn’t even realize it. Carson was still staring back at both of us. If she’d been affected at all by anything I’d said, she hadn’t shown it.
“So what, you’re going to kill me now?” she said.
I shook my head. “Nope.” I stepped over to the desk, hinged the laptop shut and picked it up. “We’re just gonna walk right out of here.” The three of us made for the door. I stared down Carson as we walked by her. “And if you do anything to try and stop us, well...” I paused for a second. “I think you know how that will end.”
We kept walking, and just as we reached the door, Kyle stopped and turned back to look at her.
“You messed with the wrong fucking people,” he said. “If you send just one more of your guys after me or my family, I’ll hunt you down, look you in the eyes just as I am now, and put a bullet in your surgically altered face.”
Carson remained motionless and silent as we moved out of the office and down the hall.
THIRTY-ONE
The three of us headed up to the main level via the elevator. When the gold doors opened, we stepped out and walked towards the main entrance of the resort. The party was still alive, the band still playing, the guests still enjoying themselves. We stepped through a massive archway, then out an automatic sliding glass door. The beach was just a short stone’s throw away. We headed down a wide granite staircase toward a cobblestone path that led to the resort’s private beach as well as its two docks. The Baia was just cruising up to the end of the nearest dock when we shuffled down a few more steps and headed toward it over the cedar planks.