Danger's Halo: (Holly Danger Book 1)

by Amanda Carlson

  “I’m not a burglar.” His voice held resentment.

  “We only met two days ago.”

  He grumbled, but said nothing.

  “Watch what I do, and copy me exactly. Once I’m there, I’ll have my supplies together in less than three minutes. The one thing you have to remember is to hold on to the cable once you land, so we have a way to get back.” When he didn’t answer, I glanced behind me, inserting my foot into the loop. “If you’re not up for this, go upstairs and wait for me in the craft.”

  “If I go with you, can we bring more?”

  “Obviously. I only have one back and two arms. If you come, we have two backs and four arms.” I’d left my other pack in Case’s clean backseat. He nodded. I took that as he was coming along. I didn’t care either way. I jumped, shifting my body forward to force the pendulum to swing as quickly as I could.

  The distance between the buildings was only about six meters. When I was within a meter of my balcony wall, I jumped, bowing my back, keeping a hand gripped loosely around the cable, allowing my gloves to slide. I landed smoothly over the rim, even though I hadn’t used the swing since I’d set it up.

  The rope tried to kick back, but I held firmly.

  I turned, giving Case a thumbs-up, walking back a few paces before I ran forward, flinging the cable toward him. Even if he missed, it would bounce back to him eventually, since it was secured at the front of the building, not hanging over the side of it.

  He caught it on the first try.

  I wasn’t going to stick around to watch him cross. I had things to do. I made my way back to my E-unit. I’d switched the thing off when Darby and I had left, not knowing when I’d be back. I popped open the top. My nano-carbon cubes were right where I’d left them.

  I walked around the back. I hadn’t showed Darby where I stored my cache of all hydro-related things, which in hindsight was a good thing. I was still in disbelief that the government had him. I couldn’t think about that now. After we took care of Tandor, Darby was next on the list.

  Crouching, I eased back a partition I’d made in the wall and dragged out a large graphene box, being extra careful to slide it slowly, making sure it didn’t bump against anything. Behind me there was a thump, followed by a short gasp. Case’s feet landed right where they needed to be. It was impressive he’d made it on his first try.

  “Where should I tie this up?” he asked casually.

  I motioned toward the side where I’d hammered a double-sided hook into the wall. “Wrap it there. Make sure it’s secure.”

  Once Case was done, he came around the machine where I was carefully placing hydro-bombs the size of my fist inside two protective foam carrying cases.

  When they were full, I clicked them shut and slipped them into two carbon-fabric duffels. Twenty would be more than enough firepower to blow a compound sky high.

  “A hydro-grenade launcher is hard to come by,” Case said as I tied the tube onto the top of the duffel closest to me with carbon-fiber yarn. It was as long as my forearm.

  “Yep.” When I’d gathered all the gear, I slid the big box, still packed with bombs, back into its safe place and shut it up tight. “I’m not sure if you have a laser, like my Gem, but if you do, and it takes nano-carbon cube ammunition, I have some. Look in there.” I bobbed my head toward the end of the E-unit. Case followed my gaze and walked over and lifted the lid. His eyes met mine over the short span of the machine. I could tell he was impressed, but not by how much. After all, his own arsenal could put mine to shame. He scooped out a handful. “You might want to be careful with those,” I said. “They’re handmade and therefore unstable. I’ve never had an issue, but they could very well blow up in your face.”

  He reached into his coat and pulled out a magnetic pulse gun, which shot a high-energy pulse that excited the molecules of whatever it hit, causing the victim to basically turn to liquid internally. “I don’t have a laser, but I have this.” He held it up. “And it happens to use nano-carbon cubes.”

  I flipped on my shoulder light as I stood, peering over as he filled the cubes one by one into the magazine. “I’ve only seen two of those guns before.” I made my way around the unit, fitting one duffel over one shoulder and holding the other. “If they hit their mark, it can be pretty gruesome. I’ve heard they’re not all that accurate.”

  “They are when I shoot.”

  I didn’t respond. Having something that Case needed, like ammunition, made everything more complicated. He might have his own source of ammo, but more was always better. I was going to have to think about ways to protect this place adequately in the future. I’d given him no hint this was my residence. For all he knew, this was just one of my many stashes. I thrust the duffel in my hand at him. “Here, take this. Don’t bump into anything. There are ten hydro-bombs inside.” I continued over to the cable, unhooking it and climbing onto a pedestal I’d made that was welded to the ground. I inserted my foot into the loop. “I’ll see you on the other side,” I told him. “If you don’t make it, I’m taking your craft, no hard feelings.”

  Then I leaned back and propelled myself off the balcony.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The moment Case lifted Seven up in the air, my tech phone went off. It wasn’t one of the new ones Lockland had given me. It was my old one, on our regular channel. My hopes lifted. Maybe Case had been wrong, and Bender hadn’t been taken and was contacting me.

  They were dashed a second later when a voice came over the line as I drew it out of my pocket. It wasn’t familiar, but they knew my handle. “Ella. Come in, Ella.”

  I glanced at Case to see if he recognized the voice. He shook his head.

  “I’m not answering.” I stuffed it back in my vest. “Once I hear his instructions, the clock starts ticking.”

  Case increased the throttle, and the info screen blinked fifty kilometers per hour.

  A few moments later, static buzzed out of the black phone Lockland had given me. Once again, the correct handle was called out. This time, it was Lockland’s voice. “Grace, it’s Alex.” Static. “I know you’re monitoring.” More static. “The meet is set for thirty minutes. Go where you picked up the kid.” The phone abruptly shut off, no static, just dead air.

  That meant they’d turned it completely off, not caring if I got the message or not. I addressed Case. “Can they get from their holding place in The North to the gorge in thirty?”

  “They’re likely already there.” Case gained altitude, turning the craft to head toward the cliff where I’d first met Daze.

  “What do you mean?” I sat up straighter in my seat. “They were just in the canals waiting to ambush me, and you said they were heading north to where Tandor was holed up.”

  He shrugged. “They must’ve changed their plan. I don’t know everything.”

  “My craft is in Port Station. So how do they know I can get to the gorge so quickly?” I drew my Gem out and locked it against Case’s temple. “Care to answer that?”

  Case gritted his teeth. “I had no reason to let them know.”

  “Bullshit. You want Tandor dead, but you could care less if it comes at a cost to me or my friends. Admit it. You somehow orchestrated all this. What? Did you leave something with the guy on the steps? A note that I was with you?” I swore. I hadn’t bothered to pat the guy down or search his pockets before we left. How many times could I be played in a week? The jury was out. The number might possibly be infinite. “Don’t fuck with me, Case. I will blow your brains out and take your craft.”

  “I have a plan.”

  “Keep talking.” At the speed Case was going, we’d be at the gorge with time to spare. I reached to a hidden pocket inside my vest and withdrew a small dart, palming it.

  “My snitch compromised me. It was the only way.”

  “So you waited conveniently in the building next door, because unlike Tandor and his men, you knew I wouldn’t be stupid enough to blindly follow Lockland’s directives without checking it out first?
Your insider was coming to make sure you paid up?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Everything like that. What the fuck did you promise them?” He turned to glance my way, but the Gem was pressed into his face, the cold carbon barrel leaving an indent. “Keep your eyes on the horizon. We have a date to keep. What did you tell them? I want everything, so spill.” My voice was calm and steady.

  “I have a plan.”

  “I don’t give a shit about your plan. We’re doing this my way. What did you promise them? And this is the last time I’m asking.”

  “That I’d deliver you at the appropriate time and place.”

  “Am I alive in this scenario? Awake? Unconscious? Armed with enough bombs to blow up the goddamn gorge? You forgot to tell them that part, or maybe you just didn’t have time? What do you get in return?”

  “Tandor.”

  “It’s not just Tandor, is it? There has to be more. You knew I had enough firepower to take him out. What’s worth my life and the lives of my friends?”

  The ground beneath us gave way to a sea of broken trees, the gnarled tops speeding by in a dark blur of beckoning fingers. “My sister.” I didn’t respond. Instead, I slid my gun next to his ear. “She’s one of his followers.”

  “I don’t give a fuck.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m not trading my family for yours.”

  “I know.”

  “Here’s what’s going to happen,” I relayed carefully. “You’re going to follow my instructions to a T. If you don’t, you’re dead. Up ahead, I want you to drop altitude, skim the surface of that old vehicle road below us. We’re going to be setting down in a couple of kilometers. I know a back way in.” I’d been out to the gorge countless times before. If anything, this location was to my advantage. I wondered if Lockland or Bender had something to do with that. “I know you don’t have a scrambler on this, or you would’ve used it the first time you tried to track me, so we’re going to have to go old school and fly low, staying out of sight.” I refrained from kicking the shit out of his dash in my frustration. Having Luce right now would have been a godsend.

  “I wasn’t going to sell you out,” he tried. “We have enough firepower to take them all out.” His movements were stiff and jerky, his tone raspy, layered with a hint of desperation.

  “I have enough firepower,” I corrected. “And you had no idea what I would be able to get my hands on before you sold me out.”

  “I knew.”

  “How? Did you scout out my balcony all on your own? See my E-unit from a building you’ve never been in before?”

  “You have a reputation, and in the bunker, you hinted at being able to round up a lot of firepower.”

  “I do have a reputation, and you should’ve paid more attention. Now it’s going to cost you.” He tried to move his head again, but my arm was locked, the barrel secure against his temple. “If you do as I say, I won’t kill you, even though that’s my inclination at the moment.” He dropped altitude easily, positioning Seven above the road, out of sight from eyes in the sky. “Very soon, there will be an opening on your left. It’s a leftover clearing from when people used utility poles, but wide enough to fly through. Take it.”

  Case made the turn effortlessly. He was an excellent pilot, but he’d never hear it from me. “You’re making a mistake if you don’t hear me out,” he said. “This is the only chance we’re going to get. We have to work together.”

  “Wrong. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past few days, but working with you won’t be one of them.” In this location, we were only a few kilometers away from the gorge. “If Tandor’s smart, he’ll have scouts positioned in the air and on the ground from here on in. What kind of tracking monitors does this thing have? I haven’t seen any blinking lights.”

  Case flipped two unmarked switches. “When we get within three kilometers of another craft, a beep will sound.” As if on cue, the thing beeped. One lonely beep.

  “Does it sound more than once if there’s more than one craft?”

  “No.”

  “Helpful.” Clearly, the Q7 was meant for speed and not much else. “Up ahead, veer to the right and set her down when you see even ground.” There was another lonely beep. “Does the beep give us any information other than distance?”

  “Nope.”

  My hand absently stroked the dart that was still concealed. I’d been wrestling with the fact that Tandor had known where to find Lockland and Bender. Our underground safe houses should’ve been more than secure. Even if Darby had babbled, he wouldn’t have had all the exact locations. I narrowed my gaze, suddenly understanding. “Where’d you put it?”

  “What?”

  “The tracker. And how’d you get it on me without my knowing? I’m assuming it has a listening component and that’s how you knew our movements.” While I’d been jamming his craft, thinking I had everything under control, he’d placed a tracker on me.

  “In the back of your hand.”

  My eyebrows rose. “Did you say in?”

  “You were sedated with gas in the sleeping pod.”

  “Which hand?”

  “Right.”

  I slid the dart under my thigh. “There’s a good place to land. Set the craft down.” I gestured toward a small opening coming up on the left. “Then shut it off.”

  Case complied. A few beeps went off, so there were crafts within three kilometers of us, but this spot was sufficiently concealed from the main route. Tandor, coming up from the South, would likely not know all the ins and outs of this area, especially since it was a sprawling wasteland.

  I lifted my Gem, held in my left hand, a few centimeters off his face and allowed Case to turn. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.” His gray eyes held emotion I couldn’t name and didn’t care about.

  “This was exactly how it was supposed to go. You captured me in Port Station, forced me back to your bunker, knowing you’d exchange me later for your sister. You sedated me, injected a tracker, spilled all our movements to the guy you’re trying to kill, convinced him you were on his side, all while planning to double-cross him and get your revenge. Listen, Case, I get it. I don’t really blame you. I might’ve done something similar if I were in your shoes, especially if I was out for blood. But what you did makes us enemies, not allies.” I gave him a look as I held up my right hand. “Where is it?”

  Case placed a gloved finger between the knuckle of my index finger and my middle finger.

  Military trackers, which I assumed was what he used, could be as tiny as a grain of sand. They were injected via a thin needle, painless and virtually undetectable.

  “We can still work togeth—”

  My hand dipped beneath my thigh, and I fisted the dart. “No, we really can’t.” I brought it forward, whizzing my hand down, slamming the nose into his massive thigh.

  I watched his expression as he realized what I’d done.

  It wasn’t as shocked as it could’ve been.

  A few seconds later, his eyes began to blink rapidly, before beginning to slide shut. I leaned over and whispered into his ear, “You’re not the only one who knows how to put people to sleep. Oh, and once you wake up, get the fuck out of here. If I see you again, you’re a dead man.”

  He slumped toward me, and I pushed him the opposite direction, using a little extra force to get the job done. He hit his door with a loud thunk and stayed there.

  I’d given him the biggest dart I had, one of three I carried on me. He was six-three or -four and all brawn, but the dose I’d given him should be sufficient to keep him out for at least an hour. Plenty of time to achieve my many goals.

  But first things first.

  I set my Gem down and unclipped a knife strapped to my thigh and balanced it on my leg. Then I plucked a small vial out of my vest and popped the cork with my teeth. I picked up my knife. The blade was thin and ridiculously sharp, and I inserted the tip into the flesh were Case had indicated. As blood began to flow, I
collected it in the open vial. When I was satisfied enough had gone in, I dug out my chromes and put them on.

  I switched to ultraviolet as I shook the vial.

  Sure enough, a pink dot flashed in the sea of red. “Bastard,” I muttered as I turned to examine Case’s slumped form against the door. “I should probably amend that to tricky bastard.” As far as I knew, I’d never been sedated without my knowledge.

  I had, however, had tracking devices injected into me at various times in my life.

  Sheathing my knife back on my thigh, I plucked out a medi-towel from my pocket. I bit the package open with my teeth, and once the blood had been absorbed and the cut sufficiently clotted, I reached into the much-too-clean backseat and grabbed the duffel with the rocket launcher tied to it and my pack from the hypertube. I had no choice but to leave the other duffel in here, as I had no more hands to carry anything. Then I popped my door and got out. I was going to have to race to make the deadline.

  Once the pack was firmly strapped to my front and the duffel slung over my shoulder, I began to jog, keeping a slow, even gait, one arm pressed firmly around the duffel to keep it stable and one arm across my middle. I’d come in from this direction only one other time, but that’s all I needed. The sky had brightened and the drizzle was cooperating.

  As I ran, I planned my attack.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  I lobbed the mic chip, the size of a pebble, into the trees to my right, then immediately circled left, keeping low. The device had a range of about twenty meters.

  Using my index finger as I jogged, I adjusted the earpiece, immediately picking up quiet murmuring. The group was situated where I’d saved Daze from plunging to his death only days before—correction, thought I’d saved him.

  I spotted bits of movement through the trees as I picked my way toward my best advantage point, but I couldn’t see much.

  “She should be here by now,” a male voice declared.