by Diana Ryan
“Don’t jump the gun, my friend. You have a long road ahead of you when it comes to getting back with your woman.”
“I know, but one day closer is one day closer.”
“Ooh! That’s a good one.” Then he sang to me with a smile, “One day closer is one day closer.”
I laughed. “I’ll take a twenty-percent cut if that one hits the charts!”
“Deal, dude!”
* * * *
That evening Drew and I were eating take-out pizza in my hotel room when I got a call from Agent Bowman informing us that Myers should be arriving in Point around eleven that night. Bowman gave explicit instructions to find Ava and get her out of town sooner than later. If we were still around when Myers arrived, we should take out his men but bring Myers into custody.
I called Adam right away to relay the news.
“No problem, Nolan. I know exactly where the girls are going. I’ll have her trusting me again and back to you straight away.”
“Fine, but hurry. I don’t want any surprises from Myers.”
This needs to be pulled off without any complications, my heart warned.
“Remember, Nolan, if you end up on campus for some reason, it’s imperative to Ava’s health for you to stay out of her sight until we get back to headquarters where we can put her under anesthesia. Ava’s brain still isn’t ready to see you yet.”
“Look Adam, it’s been twenty-one long and excruciating days without her. I don’t think I can—”
But he cut me off, raising his voice above mine. “Trust me, Agent Hill. You could do irremediable damage to her brain by allowing her to interact with you. If you truly want what’s best for her, you’ll stay away.”
I begrudgingly replied, “Fine, I’ll try.” But I yearned for Ava so badly at that point I couldn’t in good conscience whole-heartedly agree to such terms.
I hung up the phone just as Drew’s buzzed on the table. He picked it up, swiping the screen. “Bowman says he’s sending a tactical team up here by jet. They’ll land near the Plover rendezvous point in about an hour. We’re to meet with them at the safe house there.”
“Let’s get this show on the road ’cause I’m taking that punk down if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Oh, look at you! Two horrible clichés in one sentence.”
“Shut up, Drew!” I grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it hard at Drew’s head. The force knocked him off the edge of the bed, taking the box of half eaten pizza to the floor with him. Drew laughed as he sat up and chucked a few pieces at me. I ducked and they smacked the wall behind me, squirting pizza sauce over the paint.
“Dude! It looks like a murder scene in here!” I said, peeling pizza off the wall.
Drew picked the rest of the pizza off the carpet and threw it back into the box, laughing. “Yeah, maybe an insect murder scene. I’m going to go clean the pizza out of my ears and change. I’ll be back here in twenty.” Drew left my room and shut the door.
I got off the bed, finding myself in an incredible mood. Tonight was going to be the first step in the long journey of Ava and me getting our lives back to normal. A smile contentedly rested on my lips as I showered and shaved and then changed into my black cargo pants and FBI raid shirt.
Drew knocked on the door just as I was ready to leave. “It’s showtime, baby!”
“Let’s do this.”
We hopped in the Tahoe and headed south down I-39 toward the Plover exit. My heart was flying high as I pictured Adam taking Ava into his car and driving her to the rendezvous point. I could see her gorgeous face again in a matter of hours.
We pulled into the parking lot near a memorial dedicated to veterans from the area. Behind the statues and benches was a tiny serene lake, and off to the west stood a small cabin labeled Visitor’s Center. The agency designated a safe house in the back of the center where agents in the immediate area could find refuge should they need it. There were two black Tahoes parked in the lot with a ring of men standing around talking. They greeted us upon arrival, and I recognized a few guys from training.
A stocky and muscular man much older than the others approached us. He wore a clean goatee and his face was sharp and chiseled, radiating intimidation. He spoke in a low voice. “Agent Hill, Agent Smith, I’m Agent Mathy, captain of this mission. Agent Bowman instructed me to inform you that our mole has discovered that Myers has rounded up a team of his best men from the Midwest CBB chapters to secure Miss Gardner this evening. We expect he will not show his face in Stevens Point, but has sent his men to do his dirty work. Our goal tonight is to keep Miss Gardner safe from any counter attacks Myers’s team employs and extract her without the public even knowing we’re here.”
Someone from behind Agent Mathy handed him a small box. “Thank you,” he said. “Here are your earpieces. It is imperative you follow any commands given by me.” He handed the box to Drew, and we each took out a tiny black earpiece.
“Agent Greene has been instructed to transport Miss Gardner to this point no later than twenty-one hundred hours. Myers’s team isn’t expected to arrive here for another two and a half hours, so half of this tactical team will wait at this location for Agent Green to arrive and the other half will head to campus to stake out the area.”
“I’ll head with the team to campus,” I informed Agent Mathy.
He continued, ignoring my request. “Agent Hill and Agent Smith, you stay with the other four here. I will contact you if there is a need.”
Disappointment drilled deep within me. You can’t sit here and wait, my heart complained.
“Please familiarize yourself with the team members and maps of campus, specifically the student center, should you be requested to join us.” He pointed toward the other agents behind him looking at maps on their tablets. His phone rang, “Excuse me, agents.” He answered as he walked away from us.
Although the other guys were supposed to be studying maps, when I walked over to them they were checking the score of the Packers’ game and talking sports statistics. One of the guys pulled up the campus map and then handed me his tablet.
Drew was digging through a box of high-tech gadgets when his phone rang. “It’s Darcy,” he said with a smile. He answered the phone just as he walked away, “Hey, baby!”
Why would she be calling now? It’s the middle of the night in Ireland.
My watch read 8:30 and the butterflies danced wildly in my stomach. I let out a deep breath and wondered what Ava and Adam were doing at this very moment. The guys talked sports for a while as I tried to study the maps, and then Drew joined the group a few minutes later.
“How’s Darcy?” I asked.
“Fine, I think. Well, actually she sounded weird, like something was bothering her but didn’t offer an explanation. Apparently she couldn’t sleep and wanted to know what I was up to. She’s happy to know we’ve almost got Myers.”
Suddenly Agent Mathy returned to the group, hanging up his phone. “Boys, Intel just intercepted an unidentified phone call to Ava’s cell. Myers may be trying to confirm her location. They might be closer than we thought.” Then he turned to an agent behind me. “Get Agent Greene over to the Center immediately.”
“Yes, sir.” The agent turned on his phone, apparently dialing Adam’s number.
Agent Mathy yelled to the team, “Move out, everyone! We need to get on campus, now!” All the men jumped into their cars and peeled out of the parking lot and onto the highway. With my heart beating overtime, we zoomed north for several miles and exited quickly onto Division Street.
Drew looked over at my apprehensive state as he sped through the empty streets. “Hey, kiddo, don’t barf on my freshly detailed leather seats.”
“I can’t promise you that.” I blew out an anxious lungful of air. “I just want to get this all over with.”
Why had all my first FBI missions become so personal?
Drew drove down Portage Street and into Parking Lot R. The tactical team had pulled in right in front of us and all
the men got out. Agent Mathy barked out directions as I felt my head dizzying with fear and anticipation. What was going to happen in the next hour? What if I came face to face with Myers again? I couldn’t afford to botch it up like last time.
I heard nothing Agent Mathy said. The group broke up and dispersed towards the Student Center. Drew grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the others.
“Adam and Ava are inside.” He knew I hadn’t heard a word Mathy had said. “Intel believes Myers’s men will be here within minutes. We need to rush inside and fight them off while Adam pulls Ava out the back service door.”
I stalked silently alongside Drew, looking carefully behind us every twenty feet or so. It was dark on campus, and the October night air was bitterly cold. As we approached the building I could hear the low booming of dance music coming from inside. Ava must be at a Halloween dance.
We approached the side basement door, and Drew tried the handle. It was locked, so he pulled a lock-pick from his belt and expertly opened the door within seconds. We found ourselves immersed a vestibule soaked in almost complete darkness. Loud beeping announced our presence. With confidence, I rushed to a box on the wall, pried the faceplate off and pulled a red wire from the back, snipping it quickly with a tool from my pocket. The beeping stopped immediately.
“Sexy,” Drew teased and then touched his earpiece. “Outlier and Raven are in the east service entrance.”
“Copy that. Proceed to underground entrance,” I heard in my ear.
Drew pulled from his pocket a small black gadget a little bigger than a deck of cards and turned it on. It glowed bright green and displayed a map of the area we were standing in. Suddenly bright red arrows lit up, indicating which way to proceed. Drew hit the flashlight app on his cell phone and illuminated the empty hallway before us. The GPS device showed a few little yellow stars scattered throughout the map, warning us where enemy agents were hiding.
“They’re here. Be ready, Agent Hill.”
My heartbeat quickened wondering if Ava had been taken to the safe house yet or not. We sped through the hallways using the GPS device to take twists and turns through the basement service areas. We eventually approached a closed door labeled tunnel.
Our earpieces spoke up, “All agents are in place. Prepare to attack on my count.”
My heart rate was through the roof and my armpits soaked through my undershirt. I held my Glock pointing to the ground, eyes wide with anticipation for what was coming.
Drew consulted the device. “There are two guys stationed just down the hall from this door on the left. The other FBI agents will advance from the opposite end and we’ll meet in the middle.” Then he stuck the device back in his pocket and stared me in the eyes. “This is it, Nolan. Remember all those physical tests you aced at Quantico? You can do this!”
Agent Bowman buzzed in our ear to advance, and Drew kicked the door open. We ran, hugging the right wall. As we approached the spot where Drew’s device had indicated men hiding, we slowed down and crouched near the floor. It was dark in the underground pathway, which was lit only by warm yellow service lights every fifty feet.
Then I noticed it as Drew did—a slight movement in the doorframe down the hall.
Drew took the shot and got the man in the neck. Although that was one down, it gave away our position and suddenly the hallway was showered with bullets. Drew went to the other side of the hall to split up the targets, and we advanced on the enemy, shooting with confidence. Adrenaline flowed swiftly through my veins as Drew and I took down several men.
Suddenly the shooting stopped and Drew gave me the sign to hold fire. He dug the GPS device out of his pocket and checked for stars.
“We’ve cleared them out of this area, but there are several down past the open space ahead. Let’s go!” He ran forward, and I followed. We cautiously approached a large open area, scanning the scene from the cover of the door. This part of the underground tunnel was apparently a storage area. There were racks after racks of boxes, crates, and barrels. The sheer amount of hiding places would make this more than challenging.
Drew was still holding the gadget, and we spotted eight men stationed around the room. Drew pressed his earpiece. “Outlier and Raven, stationed at the warehouse east entrance.”
Our earpieces rang out, “Copy that. The rest of the team is holding at the west entrance. Go on my signal.”
The next twelve minutes moved quickly through my mind, but slowly through my heart.
When Agent Mathy gave the go-ahead, the team charged the warehouse. Our opponents were dressed like us—all black—except they had nylon ski masks on. They were using the element of surprise—popping out of corners and jumping from hideouts between crates and boxes. I narrowly missed being hit several times. Not having much field experience, I surprised myself, injuring a few of Myers’s men, and distracting others while Drew took them out. We worked well as a team, reading each other’s minds and anticipating the next move of our partner.
We worked the perimeter of the room, disarming many and shooting others. Even though I felt well prepared for combat during training, this authentic raid was nothing like I had imagined. My shoulder and forearm were still healing from Harper’s torture, and this fight was more physically demanding than anything I had done since training. My survival instincts kicked in, guiding me to throw punches and to be in heightened awareness of everything around me.
In the heat of the fight, I witnessed a bullet hit a box close to Drew’s ear. As he turned to shoot at his attacker, a tiny man jumped out from the corner, bounded off a wooden barrel, and kicked Drew in the side of the head. He fell to the ground and the attacker stood over him for several seconds with his gun pointed at Drew’s fallen chest, clearly deciding whether or not to shoot.
I witnessed it all from behind a large shelf, and before the attacker could take out Drew, I kicked out the man’s knees from behind. He fell to the ground, his body crashing into a stack of empty wooden crates. Drew stood up, head bleeding, and obviously pissed off. He yanked his assailant’s legs out from under the pile of boxes, pulling off his ski mask in the process.
What we saw forced me to gasp and Drew to drop the legs instantly in shock. There, lying in front of us, was not a man but a woman.
Darcy McCombe.
She frantically found her mask and stood up, running along the back wall of the warehouse and out the west entrance, Drew still frozen from shock and devastating heartbreak.
Suddenly the earpieces spoke in our ears, “Myers’s men have retreated. Still no sign of Agent Greene or Miss Gardner at the rendezvous point. All team members search the Center.”
Drew turned to me, pointing behind him. “I’m gonna confront her. You head up these stairs. They’ll lead you right out the back door. Find Adam!” And before I could even agree, he ran off down the dark hallway and toward the outside door.
I scaled the stairs two at a time and busted through the heavy metal doors at the top. How could Darcy be here in Wisconsin? Why was she fighting for Myers’s team? I suddenly felt very sick. Had she been playing us the entire time?
I emerged into a dark alleyway at the back of the student center. The cold air took my breath away, but I was so sweaty my skin didn’t seem to notice the temperature change. I jogged down the perimeter of the building, keeping my eyes open for movement. It seemed like we took out most of Myers’s men, but I had no idea where the survivors retreated to. I half expected to bump into Darcy again around the corner.
Down at the end of the brick wall I saw Adam. I tapped my earpiece and reported that Agent Greene was in my sight. I approached, holding my Glock down at the ground, anger filling my heart.
“God, Adam, what the hell were you thinking? You were supposed to get her out of here hours ago!”
Chapter Eleven
It was only a handful of minutes later when I excruciatingly left my sweet Ava in the possibly incompetent hands of Agent Greene and ran through the courtyards of the Student Center, Glock at th
e ready in case Myers’s men were waiting for stragglers like me. I found Drew waiting by his Tahoe, pacing and looking angrier than I had ever seen him before.
“She used me.” He kicked the tire and then raised his voice to a yell. “Even her accent was freakin’ fake, Nolan! She’s on Myers’s team and I’ve unknowingly been feeding her information this whole time!” He punched the side of his Tahoe, leaving a slight dent and grunting loudly.
My heart sank in frustration and defeat, but I knew my friend needed some comfort. “Come on, Drew. It’s not your fault. We had no idea.”
“Dammit! I thought I knew her! I was falling for her!”
“Where is she now?” I scanned the parking lot around me. “Did she get away?”
He paused a few seconds before answering. “No, I tied her up. She’s in the backseat.”
“What?” I moved over to look in the back window. There in the dark backseat of Drew’s Tahoe sat Darcy with her wrists and ankles bound together. “How did you do that?”
“I knocked her out with the butt of my gun first. She came to just a few minutes ago.” He actually looked a little embarrassed.
“And what are you going to do with her?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Drew’s face exhibited a rare state of disgust and perplexity all at the same time.
Agent Mathy buzzed in my earpiece. “Outlier, Raven, report.”
I stared at Drew, silently asking which one of us would respond. When Drew didn’t move I pushed the button on my earpiece. “Raven and Outlier are leaving the Center. ETA ten minutes.”
Drew walked around to the Tahoe as I opened the door to get in the passenger’s side.
A voice with an American accent sounded from the darkness of the backseat. “Nice to see you again, Agent Hill.”
Without turning around I replied to Darcy. “You sound much sexier with your phony accent.”
Drew started the ignition and left the parking lot, still looking mad as hell.
“Let me explain,” Darcy started.