Risk

by Raquel Belle

  “They’re like a swarm,” I say. They’re all over the house. I search the cameras and find the one with Brenner on it. “There’s that bastard,” I point him out. “Can we get audio on this?”

  “Yeah,” Derrick says.

  “Is there a way for me to talk to him?”

  “Yeah, just push this button here and talk, it’s wired to the whole place,” he points out a fancy looking microphone on a stand.

  I hold the button down and say, “Hey, fuckstick.” I see Brenner react and look around the room. “On the roof in the corner,” I say, “smile.”

  Derrick turns on the audio for that camera.

  “Jack?” Brenner looks at the camera and smiles. He’s my size, dark haired with a buzzcut and wearing the DPS uniform.

  “Yeah, it’s me, traitor.”

  “Got your memory back then, did you?”

  “Yeah I did.”

  “Good to hear it. I should’ve known that was you at Konquest,” he taps his chin, “I was thinking to myself, who’s crazy enough to pull some cowboy shit like that? Your name was at the top of my list, but I thought, nah…Jack Morton robbing folks? That’d never happen. You know, I let you live the last two years, you should be grateful. I thought since you were impotent there wouldn’t be much point attracting attention to myself and all.”

  “And now?”

  “Now I’m going to kill you. This time I’ll make sure you stay dead.”

  Charlotte pushes the button and says, “Why, Brenner? Why’d you do it? We were a family.”

  “Charlotte? That you honey?”

  “Yeah, it’s me, you sick fuck.”

  “Sorry about your plane. Didn’t know you still had that piece of shit. Look, I’d love to chat with you guys all night but you have something that belongs to me. Now, either I’m going to get it and I’ll make things quick…or I’m going to come down there and take it from you, then peel your faces off and cut you up…slowly…while you’re still awake, for old times’ sake.” He smiles and puts his hand to his ear when we don’t reply. “So, do you want to die the easy way or the hard way? I’ve got thirty guys up here and enough C4 that they’re going to have to gather your remains up with a sponge if you’re standing in the wrong place.”

  I look at Charlotte, Deanna and Derrick. There was actually a part of me that thought they didn’t believe me, but now there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind.

  Derrick pushes the button, “How did you find us?”

  “Derrick?” Brenner laughs, he truly looks like a psychopath right now, “hey buddy, how’re you doing?”

  “How did you find us?” Derrick says again.

  “You’re not as good as you think you are pal, I was on to you in the first half hour. The Russkies are the best in the world, didn’t you know? By the way, the drive hasn’t been active in hours so I know you gave up. You might as well just hand it over.”

  We all share a look—Brenner’s overconfidence will be his undoing. One of his men hands him a tablet, he takes it and then looks back at the camera and smiles.

  “So,” he says, “we’ve got a little bit of bodycam footage here from one of the guys you dropped. I know we have Jack, Charlotte and Derrick down there, but who’s contestant number four? I told you my guys were the best, Derrick. Facial recognition already has a match. That’s one of two sisters. Is it Deanna or Lilly?” Deanna’s eyes go wide. I put my hand up, signaling her to be quiet. “I’m going to say Deanna. Lilly is married and a little too respectable to be—”

  I cut Brenner off before he can say any more. This has gone on too long. “Brenner, the next time I plug this drive in, come alone or I’ll destroy it. You and me, one on one. Let’s see how good you really are,” I let go of the button. “Turn off the audio and start up the sequence,” I tell Derrick, “let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  He does as I ask and taps out some commands on the computer. “Two minutes,” he says.

  “Let’s move.”

  We go to the door at the corner, this one leads to the bunker. Derrick told me he’d make some much needed upgrades in the last few years. Now it’s like the Batcave, but all polished concrete.

  We go down the stairs and get to the Humvee parked there. In front of it is a long, upward sloping ramp that looks like something you’d see in a parking garage, except the ramp goes nowhere—it’s a hidden exit. Derrick told me he’s never used it before.

  Deanna tugs at me, “Jack, is he going to go after my sister?”

  I don’t know what to tell her.

  “JACK! Is he going to go after my sister? Do I have to warn her?”

  “No,” I say, “I’m going to take care of this, he’s not going to do anything…yet. Let’s get out of here first and then we’ll talk.”

  Derrick and Charlotte give me some concerned looks but they don’t say anything.

  We throw all our gear into the Humvee and climb in—Derrick and I up front, Charlotte and Deanna in the back.

  “Time?” I say to Derrick.

  “Forty-five seconds to go.”

  “We’ll wait as long as we can…”

  We hear some booming noises in the distance—the grenades or more C4, it’s hard to tell from this distance.

  When there’s five seconds to go on the countdown, I look at Derrick and say “Hit it.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Deanna

  Derrick slams his foot on the gas pedal and we’re all thrown back in our seats. “Hold on to something,” he says over the roar of the engine.

  I see him open a clear plastic cover for a red button on the dash, his hand hovers there for two seconds before he pushes it. Up ahead there’s a loud BANG! And now we’re speeding toward a black hole, my nails dig into the seat in front of me.

  When he hits the opening, we come out airborne. I have to force myself not to scream because we’re in pitch darkness and I can’t see anything. We land hard, we all bounce, but Derrick seems to be in control.

  As he races away I hear loud BOOMS!

  I turn back and so does Charlotte. In the distance, Derrick’s house is exploding and falling to pieces. There are shadowy figures milling all about it. The flames touch the sky. As we put distance between us…the shapes fade to black.

  I turn around, “Now can someone tell me what the hell is going on?” I look to each of them. No one seems very chatty. Then Derrick speaks.

  “Over the years my work with various agencies has gotten rather sensitive, so the government sprung for a plan B. If my location is compromised, I do a sort of self-destruct sequence—destroy all the data so it can’t fall into enemy hands, and then move to a backup location.”

  We’ve yet to hit any discernable road, I have no idea how Derrick is driving this fast with the lights off. We’re in absolute darkness. Thank God we’ve got the moon.

  After a moment, Jack adds, “We waited till the last second so they’d be more concerned with not getting blown up instead of looking at us getting away. This way we know they won’t be tracking us.”

  “Do you think the fireworks caught any of them?” Charlottes asks.

  “Maybe one or two,” says Derrick.

  “Brenner isn’t dumb, and we did give them fair warning,” Jack says, “we don’t need to kill the thirty guys taking orders, just the one guy giving them.”

  We speed along in silence for a while. Eventually, once we’re far enough away, Derrick turns on his headlights and gets to a road.

  “How far out are we?” Jack asks.

  “Forty minutes, give or take,” Derrick replies.

  After a pause, Charlottes says, “Is it just me or is Brenner like a full-blown psychopath now?”

  “It’s not just you,” Jack turns back and looks at her.

  “Are you sure Lilly is safe?” I ask him.

  “Yes, she’s safe,” he says, “David has a small army of his own at Fortuna and Terry knows how to run them…and it’s not going to come to that as long as this is resolved soon, like in the
next six hours. You’re a civilian, he knows the three of us, that’s who he’ll be targeting for now. We have to act fast so that that doesn’t change. We had the element of surprise on our side before—he didn’t know who we were—we could’ve taken our time and come up with a better plan. But now that Brenner’s seen all of us, we’ve got a clock on this.”

  “So, what are we going to do?” Charlotte asks.

  “I’m thinking about that very thing,” Jack answers.

  We drive in silence. My thoughts are racing. I hadn’t noticed before but I’m shaking a little. I look down at my hands, they’re twitching.

  Charlotte sees and puts her hand over mine, “Alright?”

  “My first firefight,” I try to give her a smile.

  “Don’t worry, it’s normal, it’s fear leaving the body…the tremors. Your body was flooded with a stress hormone to overcome the danger. Your flight or fight instincts. It’ll pass,” she puts her arm around me.

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s okay.”

  We drive on without talking, I guess everyone is processing the events the same way I am. Charlotte’s out of a plane, Derrick’s home is gone, we’ve got a maniac on the loose who’s chasing us, we’ve just killed five people…maybe more…and the sun hasn’t even come up. Today’s going to be a hell of a ride—I can tell.

  I keep track of the road signs as we go, we’ve come to Santa Fe. Derrick drives up through a very remote and leafy area, another place in the middle of nowhere, but this one doesn’t look like a fortress. It’s…innocuous…that would be the word that comes to mind. A little cabin in the forest.

  We get out of the car when we come to a stop and wordlessly follow Jack as he inspects the perimeter. It’s pleasant, it’s all wood and glass with trees all around. It’s like the place belongs to nature. Whoever lives here is innocent and kind—they aren’t a threat.

  I suppose if your fortress is destroyed it makes sense to hide in the last place someone would think to look.

  Some of the foundation is on stilts. There’s a long drop on one side to some jagged looking rocks and a stream. Derrick opens up the front door and we go inside. “Mi Casa, Su Casa,” he says.

  Charlotte and I take the tour ourselves. Jack is speaking confidentially with Derrick so we give them their space.

  There’s a lovely master bedroom with an adjoining bathroom—it has a lovely, spacious shower and a large tub as well. There’s even a walk-in closet. There’s a living room with two double-seater couches and a large TV, a small but elegant and up-to-date kitchen, a little home office and a guest bathroom.

  It’s like a bachelor pad in the woods. We go out through some glass sliding doors from the living room to the balcony. It’s a beautiful view, it looks like there’s a small waterfall in the distance.

  Charlotte looks down over the rail, “Yikes!”

  “What?”

  “This is not a good place to fall from,” she says.

  She’s right—this is the place with the jagged rocks on stilts. It must be a recent addition. Either this is Derrick’s own place or the government is really looking after him.

  We go back inside and find Derrick putting on some coffee. Jack is rummaging through the duffel on the couch.

  “So, what’s it going to be?” Charlotte asks.

  “I’ll let you know in a bit,” Jack says without looking up.

  I open the fridge to see what’s inside—it’s bare.

  “Sorry,” Derrick says, “I haven’t been here in months. If I’m bringing someone for a weekend or something I normally stop in town and get groceries.”

  I give him an—it’s okay—smile.

  When the coffee is ready we all sit on stools at the island in the kitchen. Derrick pours each of us a mug from the other side. I sit between Charlotte and Jack.

  He’s quiet. I put my hand on his leg as a comforting gesture and look at him as if to say—everything is going to be okay—but the look he gives me back is sad, like the one on Sunday morning, after Anton told us the egg was a fake.

  He’d better not be thinking what I think he’s thinking.

  Charlotte breaks the spell by saying, “Is it wrong that I want him to suffer?”

  “I guess not,” Jack says calmly, “but doing that would make us no better than him.”

  We drink our coffee and don’t talk for a while. Everyone looks like they’re thinking they’re own private thoughts. When we’re near the end of our mugs, Jack finally speaks.

  “So, here’s what’s going to happen,” he says, and looks at Charlotte, “Derrick is going drive you and Deanna to the airport—”

  “What?” Charlotte says. Her face contorts in outrage. She can’t believe it.

  “I’m not finished,” Jack says, sternly. “Derrick is going to drive you both to the airport, you’re going to get the first flight you can get to Las Vegas. Deanna will take you to Fortuna and you’ll hole up there. Once Derrick has made sure you’ve both boarded a flight, he’s going to go to Kirtland Air Force Base and tell them what happened…a loose version that doesn’t include the both of you, then he’s going to tell them to send any spare men they’ve got over here.”

  “And just what are you going to be doing while all this is happening?” Charlotte says.

  “I’m going to stick this,” he pulls out the flash drive from his pocket, “into that computer in the office.”

  “Not a fucking chance,” she says. I look over at Derrick, he wipes a hand across his brow. Charlotte goes on, “You’re just going to wait here for him? Alone? Out in the open?”

  “You heard what I told him on the intercom,” Jack says, “one on one.”

  “You fucking meant that?” Charlotte looks stunned.

  “When’s the last time I said something I didn’t mean?” Jack glares at her.

  “What about the team?” Charlotte shrugs, it’s sarcastic. “What about how when we’re together we can do anything? How do you know he’s not going to show up here with every man he’s got? How do you—”

  Jack puts his hand up to interrupt her, “We are a team, and we are working together,” he says, calmingly, “I want all of you to be safe so that I can do what I need to do without worry. You’re looking after Deanna, and she’s looking after you. Derrick is painting a target on DPS and then he’ll be secure at Kirtland. Everyone is accounted for and—”

  “This is bullshit!” Charlotte stands and pushes away from the counter angrily.

  Jack stands and raises his voice the slightest bit, “Do I need to make it an order, soldier?”

  Charlotte holds her tongue but looks like she’s fuming.

  “We’re not going,” I say, my words are resolute. I haven’t even made eye contact with him. I feel like if I do, he’s going to give me an order too. I look at Charlotte instead and she searches my face…perhaps for my resolve? If Jack is staying, we’re staying too.

  He takes my hand away from my mug and I turn to him. “I need to talk to you outside,” he says, softly.

  I stand, slowly, and follow him out the front door. Jack walks us down the two steps on the porch, turns me around and then holds my hands.

  “Deanna, I need you to go.”

  “No,” I shake my head, I feel my face getting hot, “I’m not going to go. I have a very bad feeling about this, Jack. Something bad is going to happen and I won’t let you do this.”

  “I have to do this, Deanna, please understand.”

  “No! No! I don’t understand! Look, we have all this money. You, me and Charlotte and Derrick, we can go anywhere in the world, we can be anybody we want to be, we can start over. We can start a life together, you and me, just like we said. We can do the boat charter. Why can’t you just let it go? What’s the difference?”

  He looks at me for the longest time, then says, “I love you,” and kisses me.

  I sink into it for a moment, hearing the words I’ve wanted to hear for so long, but then I pull away, “NO! You don’t love me,” I feel the
tears welling, “if you loved me, you’d come with me right now and leave this alone. He can’t find us, Jack! He can’t find us unless you let him!”

  “Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day, he will,” he nods. “I have to finish this, Deanna. I owe them that.”

  “Then let us stay with you and we can do it together! Please, Jack!”

  “No, this is my fight. I’m not going to risk you getting hurt. It’s non-negotiable. You’re going. This is the only way it’s happening, Deanna.”

  The tears start pouring, “I’m asking you not to do this, Jack. I am asking you!”

  “Deanna, you can ask me anything else, anything else and I’ll do it in a heartbeat, but not this.”

  “Then you don’t love me!” I can’t see through the tears, “Please don’t do this, Jack.”

  “I do love you. I have never loved anyone the way I love you…and I never will, for the rest of my life. I need you to know that. Now I want you to go with Charlotte and Derrick…and I’ll see you out in Vegas, okay?” He’s trying to keep a straight face, he even tries to smile, but I can see the hurt in his eyes.

  I can’t talk, why is he doing this? I just feel the tears falling.

  “I love you and I know you love me too.”

  “No!” I say through the tears, I can hardly get the words out, “I don’t love you!”

  “Liar,” he says, then kisses my forehead.

  For a moment I feel like I can’t stand, but then I gather my strength and push away from him.

  I see Charlotte and Derrick at the door. She gives me a pained look, as does he.

  I storm inside to grab my bag, when I come out again I see Charlotte giving Jack a hug. “Be safe…and give him hell,” she says.

  “I’m going to,” Jack says and lets her go.

  Derrick shakes Jack’s hand and they give each other a nod.

  I don’t want to cry anymore but I can’t stop, I hate him right now. I walk past him and get in the backseat of the Humvee.

  I see the look Jack gives me as we pull away and my heart shatters into a million pieces.