Jericho glanced away to see what made the awful sound. I took the opportunity to hit Jericho over the head with his own gun as hard as I could from the awkward position I was in. That was it. He must’ve blacked out because he didn’t move. I could have shot him, but I wanted him to suffer and go to prison.
We could hear the stomping feet of others coming down and up the stairwell.
“Kozlov! Get out of here.” Jeremy shouted.
He didn’t wait, but shouted to Jeremy, “Shoot me, Jeremy, now.”
Without hesitating, Jeremy obliged. He shot him once in the shoulder and once in the leg, and Kozlov fell to the ground. I screamed out before I could reason out why Jeremy had shot him.
“Mikado, Amber, get your hands on a gun,” Jeremy barked.
I rolled out from under Jericho and wrapped my hands around a rifle. Mikado grabbed one, too. I looked toward Kozlov, lying inert on the deck. He had to pretend to have been overtaken on the ship so that it wouldn’t look like he was involved. It was the only way he’d keep his position. And we wanted him to keep his position to bring down the entire bratva. He’d need medical attention fast or he’d bleed out. We needed to hurry.
We all aimed our guns at the crowd of guards that spilled out of the stairwell.
“If,” Jeremy said to the five guards packed up against the stairwell door, “you turn around and go back the way you came, we’ll forget we saw you, and we’ll be gone in three minutes flat. Or you can choose to take us on and you will lose, just like your comrades here.”
Eyes perused the deck and one by one, the guards disappeared back down the stairwell.
“Check everyone,” Jeremy said. “And make sure there aren’t any more guards around before we take off. There can be no witnesses to Kozlov’s treachery.”
I could hear the blades of a helicopter coming, but I could tell it was still very far away. Was another of Alexander’s helicopters coming? I pointed up and then to my ear, and Jeremy furrowed his brow. “Maybe Halluis was able to pull through after all.” I didn’t dare hope. I braced myself for another wave of attackers when the helicopter arrived.
Jeremy checked the other five. All were dead. I didn’t dare check Jericho, even though I could have reached my hand out and done it easily. I stared at him, hoping he wasn’t dead one second and hoping he was the next. Both Jeremy and Mikado made their way to me. Jeremy reached out and felt for a pulse on Jericho’s neck.
“He’s still with us,” Jeremy said.
Without any ceremony, Mikado shot him in the chest, anger blazing in his eyes.
I screamed, covering my mouth.
“He can never hurt another person now. He was pure evil.” He spat. “They all were.”
“What now?” I asked Jeremy. There were no more guards, and no one to order them after us, anyway, but there was still the small matter of getting off the ship. Mikado stood guard at the stairs and kept watch for any sneak attacks from above or below.
“It’s not one of Alexander’s,” Jeremy said, and he motioned toward the sky. “That’s a chinook helicopter—government issue. We’re saved.” He smiled wryly and pointed in the direction of the shore. “And we won’t even have to get wet.”
I looked up and saw, far off in the distance, the huge helicopter moving steadily in our direction, a large black shadow against the inky sky.
“Why are they sending such a huge chopper?” I asked, incredulous.
“I told Halluis we’d need something big enough to transport a car and a bunch of prisoners.”
“A car?”
“I figured, since we’re here…” he shrugged and smiled.
“You don’t mean—?”
“Yep, our mission’s not over, yet. Come on, didn’t Ace get you a look at that shipping manifest?”
“Well, yes, but I only saw it once,” I floundered. It was true that with one look at the shipping manifest I’d memorized the container number of the director’s car—and every other car on the ship, but Jeremy wasn’t supposed to know I had that talent. “I was looking for the information on the kids,” I finished lamely.
Jeremy just looked at me expectantly. He knew what I could do.
“It’s in container AFG 145.”
“Attagirl,” Jeremy grinned, and we set off for the car, Mikado following along in silence.
We found the container. Luckily it was one on the end, or we’d have had no hope of getting the car out. Jeremy shot open the lock with one of the guards’ guns, and we were inside.
I looked at Mikado. “Still have your tools on you?”
He reached for his pocket and pulled them out, a look of absolute shock on his usually stoic face. “I can’t believe it, but I do.”
We heard gunfire as the helicopter landed. Someone must’ve looked dangerous to those in the chopper.
We hotwired the car. and I backed it out then drove it into the chinook.
“Let’s go get those kids.” We raced to the container with the would-be slaves.
I wrenched open the door, and the four of them blinked back at me in surprise. I’m sure they weren’t expecting anyone to open the door again so soon.
They were a little hesitant to leave the container, and I couldn’t blame them.
“Don’t worry,” I said, entering the container to grab the girl by the hand. “This time, we have a helicopter.”
Hope registered on their faces for the first time; one of the boys even cracked a smile.
Watching the prisoners climb into the helicopter made my heart pound with excitement and relief. Jeremy climbed in last.
As the helicopter pulled away from the ship, I looked back at the carnage behind me and wished I could feel pity. Triumph swelled inside me, and a smile of relief graced my lips. Jericho would never get his chance to hurt me or anyone else ever again. As we flew away, bright lights shone up into the air around us. I saw the brigadier’s pilots lying dead on the opposite end of the ship.
Jeremy put headphones over my ears and then took one of my hands in his. I leaned my head on his shoulder, right in the soft little nook that cradled it so well. His thumb caressed the back of my hand, and I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
Chapter 32
To my surprise, the helicopter didn’t take us to Division HQ. Instead the pilot landed almost immediately after reaching the shore. When Jeremy questioned him, he told us he’d been given instructions to take the car, the rescued kids, and Mikado back to HQ, but we were to return to the brownstone until further notice. Though surprised, I was grateful not to have to debrief just then. The adrenaline from the battle on the ship had worn off, and I was exhausted.
Jeremy climbed out of the helicopter, pulling out his phone to call a cab, but I stayed behind a bit longer.
“Mikado,” I said gently. He looked up at me, his face completely blank, as usual. “What we did tonight,” my eyes flicked over to the group of kids, now lying huddled on the floor of the helicopter, apparently asleep. “It would have been impossible without you. Whatever else you’ve done, whatever else haunts you, you have to know that you saved lives with your courage.”
He blinked once, and I thought I caught a gleam of moisture in his eye, though I could have been imagining it.
“Thank you, Amber,” he said, then his mouth twitched in a slight smile. “Or whoever you are. For what you’ve done for my family. I won’t forget it.”
He reached out a hand, and I shook it and nodded. There was nothing left to say. I climbed out of the helicopter, and as soon as I was clear of it, it lifted into the sky.
Moments later, a cab had arrived, and Jeremy and I crawled in. The ride was a blur, and before I knew it we were back at the brownstone. Jeremy and I trudged up the steps and went inside. Halluis and Ace were waiting just inside the door for us.
“Young lady, you are way, way past your curfew,” Ace said, crossing his arms and looking stern.
After the intensity of the last 24 hours, his comment was too absurd—I started laughing, b
ut it came out closer to a choked sob. Ace dropped the stern look immediately, his face melting into panic as I leaned against the entryway wall and cried and laughed hysterically.
“I didn’t mean—I’m sorry—are you—” he faltered.
“Crétin,” Halluis muttered, pushing past him to pull me into a tight hug. “Can’t you see our girl has had a hard time? And here you are making jokes!” He pulled me down the hall, and I managed to get my hysterics slightly under control.
“I’m f-fine, really—it was funny, Ace, I p-promise,” I laugh-cried.
“Come, we will make some chocolat, and you will soon feel much better,” Halluis insisted. His kindness threatened to undo me again, and I buried my face in my hands, trying to keep a shred of composure.
Ace, Jeremy, and I sat around the table, and Halluis busied himself making hot chocolate. I focused on steadying my breathing. Once I had calmed down, I noticed that Jeremy had his arm protectively around my shoulder. He didn’t seem to realize what he was doing, and I made no move to call attention to it. Right then, I needed his arm around me more than anything in the world.
Halluis set mugs in front of each of us and sat down.
Jeremy said, “You guys really came through for us tonight. I don’t know how you got that chinook, but you saved the day.”
“That was all Ace,” Halluis said generously.
Ace ducked modestly, then said, “There may have been a little bit of illegal maneuvering going on to override the resource restrictions we were given. I might have impersonated an officer of the U.S. military—digitally, at least. I did it, but it was Halluis’s idea, to be completely honest.”
“So you were the ones who gave the ‘order’ for us not to go to HQ?” I asked.
“Mais oui,” Halluis nodded. “We thought you could use a break before facing that.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Impressive. Both of you.”
“But the helicopter would have been useless if the two of you hadn’t been able to subdue the guards on the boat. Pretty great work, yourselves,” Ace said.
“If you think about it, it was quite the miracle it all worked out.” Halluis laughed.
We all grinned at each other for a second, reveling in the successful end of the night. Then Halluis cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
“There is something I have to say,” he said. “And I think I should probably say it now, because we probably won’t get another chance.”
I frowned in confusion. What was he talking about?
“This has been the finest team I have ever worked with in all my career—and though I regret what will happen to us all after this night, I have never been more proud of my work than I am right now.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my brain still felt fuzzy, and I couldn’t make sense of his words. It sounded like he thought we were about to be punished. “We completed the mission—we even retrieved the director’s car!”
Halluis looked at me in surprise. “Well, you must know—oh, well, I suppose not, you being so very, very young.” His tone was mocking, but gentle, and his eyes flashed. He smiled a bit sadly. “Skriloff won’t want anyone to know the car was ever missing. This mission has been a dead-end for us all along. Fail, and we would lose everything. But even in our success, we will still lose everything.” He shrugged.
I looked at Jeremy. He sighed. “Halluis is right, of course. Skriloff will probably assign us to separate remote locations where we can never tell what happened, and where we can never use it against him. It’s just the way things work.”
I stared at the three of them, all taking this so stoically, and my mouth hung open in shock.
“Hey, but we were a pretty fantastic team while it lasted, don’t you think?” Ace said.
I held back tears as Halluis raised his mug. “To us?” he suggested.
“To us,” Jeremy and Ace agreed.
“To us,” I echoed, and we all clinked mugs.
The noise of a phone vibrating broke the mood. Jeremy pulled out his phone. “That’s our cue.” He looked around the table at all of us. “Thank you all for what you’ve done here. We did good work.”
Everyone nodded.
“What the heck? Let’s get this over with,” Ace grinned.
***
We sat in silence in the conference room, waiting for Director Skriloff to arrive. He walked in, chest pushed out and obviously feeling pleased with himself. Once he made it to the head of the table, he remained standing.
“I wanted to commend you on all your fine work. For a minute there, I thought you weren’t going to come home with the prize. Agent McGinnis here made it sound like you were all jumping ship a day or so ago. Let this be a lesson to you that with a little persistence, all things are possible.” He smiled down on us condescendingly.
The four of us sat calmly, knowing what was coming, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reaction.
“Of course, you’ll be reporting for your next assignments immediately. I think it will be best if we split you all up—I think you’ll all do better with a totally new challenge.”
“And you wouldn’t want us talking to each other—or anyone else—about your unethical misuse of Division resources for personal gain,” Halluis said calmly.
Skriloff sighed. “Yes, it’s exactly that sort of attitude I need to quell in my ranks. Thank you for confirming my decision. Despite your success on this mission, you have all proven insubordinate. I think a little time…away…will do you some good.”
“Why don’t you just come out and say it?” I demanded, sick of his condescension and simpering. “You don’t want the director to find out what you did.”
“Too late for that,” we all heard a voice say, and then the head director, Malcolm Kettering, strolled in. I’d seen him many times while I was in training, and he looked the same as always. Despite his serious and risky job, his kind, dark blue eyes sparkled with happiness and expectancy. The laugh lines around those eyes were pure evidence of his choice to seek joy and laughter. His handsomely trimmed, thick beard, mustache, and eyebrows had turned a dark gray, the only evidence of his gaining years.
“It is inconceivable that you would lose my priceless car and keep it from me, but it is unconscionable that you would take four of my most valuable operators and put them up against the mafia without proper backup to retrieve it. You are a coward, and as a fit punishment, you’ll have a remote assignment of your own. Maybe we’ll forget you’re even there, who knows? Despicable.” He nodded, short clipped nods.
He turned from Skriloff to us. “You all, on the other hand, deserve commendations for what you accomplished. Well done. Thank you for finding and retrieving my car, but most of all, thank you for saving those kids from a terrible life of slavery.”
He led a sputtering Skriloff to the door, where he was met by two suited men. The door closed behind them. The relief I felt at seeing him go was mirrored in the faces of my team members.
Director Kettering returned and shook each of our hands.
“Really, you’ve done fine work. You’ve proven yourselves to be among the very best of our agents here at Division 57.”
“So, will we get to stay together?” I blurted before I even thought about what I was saying.
He laughed. “Well, that’s up to you. We don’t usually do this, but I think it’s deserved in this case. I’m offering you your pick of assignments.”
We grinned at him and at each other. It was too good to be true.
“So, what’ll it be? Which of the Division headquarters would you like to be assigned to?”
No one said anything for a moment, then Halluis spoke up.
“Well, if no one else has a preference—what about Paris? After all, Christy could really use some work on her French.”
I laughed and found myself nodding. Ace shrugged, and Jeremy said, “I could do France, I guess.”
The director smiled. “Excellent choice.”
***
/> A few days later, I looked at Hank’s grave. Mounds of wilting flowers lay on top of the freshly filled grave. I added a huge fresh bunch on top of his headstone. New tears tracked my cheeks. Inside, I ached. Feelings that it was my fault ate at me.
Jeremy came up beside me. “I need you to remember that this was not your fault.” How had he known my innermost thoughts? “You were just unfortunate enough to witness it. And if you think about it, he was blessed in a way. He had a friend there when he died and someone who knew the truth about what happened to him.”
And what about Carson? His death had truly been my fault. If I hadn’t asked him to help me, he’d still be walking the earth. Then I remembered the look in his eye, and his words as he told me he knew exactly what he was doing and what danger he was putting himself in. He’d done what he thought was right. Flashes of his selfless nature and kind heart flashed through my mind until I saw the moment Jericho pulled the trigger and killed him. My tears became rivers. I took Jeremy’s hand and squeezed hard, trying to make myself stop crying.
He grabbed me into a hug. He smelled so wonderful, and I felt safe and loved. I snuggled deeper into the hug. “I can’t stand the fact that the mafia is going to live to see another day, and according to Kozlov, probably another year.”
“A year is only moments in time. The bratva will end, and Kozlov will bring it down.”
In those few words he’d answered lingering questions I had about Kozlov. I had wondered if he was dead for not being able to stop the coup on the ship. He must have been awarded for surviving or something.
He spoke into my hair. “You know, we’ll be working on our next mission together.”
“I’m so glad.” My words were muffled in his shirt.
“The hard part will be keeping it professional between us. But we have to.”
I nodded.
“Do you understand, Christy?” He pulled back slightly and looked down at me.
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