Off the Grid (A Gerrit O'Rourke Novel)

by Young, Mark

  The time stamp on what appeared to be surveillance footage indicted this information has been downloaded earlier in the day. They watched the brigadier general sitting at his desk inside NSA. He was on a telephone, and they could hear the conversation as it was instantly converted to text. Words appeared at the bottom of the screen as they were spoken, like watching a foreign film with subtitles.

  Willy looked at Gerrit. “I would imagine that phone has been encrypted by NSA. This means Project Megiddo is able to break through NSA’s firewall, gain access to their in-house camera system while simultaneously intercepting and recording this guy’s telephone conversation. We’re talking top-secret, NSA-protected stuff that anyone in Kane’s organization can access at any time.”

  Gerrit stared at the screen Willy zoomed in on, then glanced at the group huddled in the corner. Several of the bound technicians kept glancing at one man, an older gentleman who just stared at the ground. The man seemed to be listening closely to what Willy said to Gerrit.

  Striding over the group, Gerrit pulled out a knife and sliced the plastic cuff binding the man’s legs. “You, get up and follow me. Now!”

  The man with gray hair and thick-rimmed glasses stood, his hands still bound in front, looking belligerently at Gerrit. He had the look of someone in charge.

  Gerrit grabbed the man’s arm and dragged him over to where Willy worked on the computer. “Tell my friend what you have just done here.”

  Barely hiding his look of contempt, the man glared back, saying nothing.

  Gerrit drew near and whispered into the man’s ear. The man’s face paled and he turned toward Willy. “What do you want to know?”

  “You just launched Project Megiddo?”

  The man looked surprised. “I…we started about an hour ago.”

  “Where is the data stored?”

  “Here. On our servers.”

  “Anywhere else?”

  The man shook his head, but Gerrit distrusted the look in his eyes. “With the right passwords, others can remotely access the information, but it is all stored here. I swear.”

  Gerrit knew the man was lying, but they didn’t have time to push him further. He edged closer, threatening. “Where’s Kane?”

  The man’s eyes shifted to another door at the far end of the room. “There.” He pointed with his chin.

  Gerrit dragged the man back to where the others were sitting. “Stay here and you won’t be hurt. Move, and you die. Understood?”

  The man nodded and sank to the floor.

  Hurrying back to Willy, Gerrit said, “Keep getting this data pulled from the system, or as much as you can retrieve. Once help gets here, we’re going to level this place to the ground.”

  Willy nodded.

  “And Willy, if you hear any movement through the door, dive for cover and call me. I don’t want to lose you. Hear me?”

  “You got it, Mr. G.” Willy moved closer, whispering, “What did you tell that guy to get him to talk to us?”

  “It’s a secret, Willy. You better hope I never have to use it on you. Now get to work.”

  Again, Willy nodded, his focus now the computer screen. “You got it, Mr. G. ’Cause I certainly don’t wanna tick you off.” He shot Gerrit a smile. Willy did not seem intimidated.

  An instant later, they heard rifle fire in the building. It came from the ground floor above them, echoing down the stairwell. They had only minutes to finish the job.

  “Alena. You ready?”

  She backed away from the bound prisoners. “Willy, keep an eye on them.”

  Gerrit dashed to her side and pointed toward the locked door at the end of the room. “Can you work your magic again?”

  Without answering, she ran to the door, waited for him to get into position, and then punched in the code. The sequence seemed to work again because the door clicked open. He reached in his backpack and pulled out a dark-green flash-bang. “If it’s dark again, we’ll crisscross, hit the deck, and count to three. Then I open up with this.” He showed her the stun grenade.

  She nodded and reached down for the handle, pausing to see if he was ready, then flung it open.

  Completely dark inside. Gerrit rushed in, followed by Alena.

  They dived for the floor as a flash of gunfire opened up. He heard Alena crawl to the right as he edged to the left in the ensuing blackness. As the gunman opened again, Gerrit registered the layout in front of him—a large room, office and doors at the far end, farthest away from the door they just came through.

  Something else registered in his brain. Yellow light from the gunfire illuminated a man standing next to the gunman, a man with a mane of long silver hair.

  Richard Kane.

  Gerrit counted to three and hurled the flash-bang deep toward Kane.

  Chapter 64

  Flashes of gunfire across the room forced Richard to drop. He scrambled through the doorway behind him, locking it from the inside just as explosions shook the door. Gerrit and Alena made it here. He needed to call for reinforcements.

  His bodyguard banged on the door, trying to get inside. The man failed him, allowing those intruders to get this far. So now, the man could deal with his mistakes. Richard dialed the in-house phone to reach his security office on the top floor.

  The Hulk’s voice came on the line.

  “How did they get down here belowground? I need reinforcements here this second.”

  “Sir, per your order, the others are manning the perimeter, awaiting your order.”

  “You idiot! The intruders are inside the lab and blowing things up as we speak. What are you doing up there? Waiting for me to die? Get my people in here right now!”

  “Yes sir, I’ll put the order out this second.”

  Richard smashed the receiver into the concrete wall, before rushing farther down the hallway to another secured doorway. He activated the code pad to unlock it, then grabbed the door and flung it open.

  There was one last thing he could do that might make Alena and Gerrit stand down. One last chance to make them back up until his people got here.

  A message alert flashed on Willy’s laptop just as more shots fired above. He reached over and clicked on the message. It was from Beck:

  Help has arrived. Keep your head down. All hell’s about to break loose.

  Gerrit rose, flicked on a light switch he’d seen near the front door. Lights flickered across the room and he dove for the floor once again. Alena lay a few yards away. Catching her attention, he used hand signals, motioning that he’d move to the left and along the outer wall. He signaled her to move to the right and take up a position until he flushed the gunman.

  She nodded, moving in the direction he pointed.

  Turning his attention toward the gunman, Gerrit snaked his away along the floor until he reached the far wall to his left. This room seemed to be devoted to storage. Boxes of office supplies stored on metal shelves the full length of the room. A wide path cut down the center of the room—where he had seen Kane and gunman at the far end—and two narrower aisles along each wall. Only three paths to the gunman. He heard a door slam and assumed Kane had left. Leaving one man—armed.

  Gerrit inched forward down the center aisle, moving slower as he drew near the gunman’s position. Every few aisles, he would dart to the left, using cardboard cartons of supplies, stacked high on the shelves, as cover. He estimated Kane’s man was crouching about ten yards away. Or dead. The gunman hadn’t appeared in the open since Gerrit heard banging on the door.

  Left his bodyguard behind. Kane—the hero.

  Gerrit found a large box of computer paper. Above it, he had a clean shot in front of the doorway through which Kane exited. The gunman must be to the right or left of that door. Gerrit reached up and grabbed a coffee mug someone left on the shelf.

  Quietly raising himself, he positioned his rifle on a box for support, aiming it about where he thought the gunman might be hiding. Once he had the muzzle pointed down range, he hurled the coffee cup through the
air.

  He tightened his grip on the weapon, sighting down the barrel. The cup shattered against the far wall.

  The gunman lunged into the open and fired down the center aisle past Gerrit. The man fired fully automatic, shooting blindly.

  It was all Gerrit needed. He squeezed one round off, and the target lurched backward. Richard Kane just lost one more gunman.

  Rising, Gerrit motioned to Alena toward the far door. He knelt by the fallen guard and felt his pulse. Dead. He nodded at Alena.

  She dashed toward the remaining door and hurriedly entered the password.

  The lock snapped open like the others. He flung the door open toward Alena, who held it open with her foot. He held up three fingers—one at a time. When the third finger rose, he rushed in as they crisscrossed through the doorway. No gunfire. He froze, searching for movement ahead.

  Gerrit peered through a reddish gloom, tinted light giving off an eerie feeling as if they stepped aboard a submarine. More storage area. Several rows of shelves blocked his view. A central aisle cut between these shelves like the room they just left. Beyond, he saw what appeared to be an open area, although this part of the room lay mostly in darkness.

  He started to take a step when a single light bulb at the far end of the room flicked on. Cascading cold white light illuminated a man slouched in a chair, wrists bound, his mouth covered by gray duct tape.

  Joe O’Rourke.

  Cautiously, Gerrit started to work his way toward his uncle when Kane’s voice cut through the darkness.

  “Take one more step, Gerrit, and I will put a bullet in Joe’s head.”

  Gerrit halted. He’d lost track of Alena ever since he saw his uncle strapped to the chair. She seemed to have slipped into the shadows as well.

  “What do you want, Kane?” Gerrit peered through the gloom trying to figure out where Kane might be hiding.

  “I want you, Gerrit. You and your lovely girlfriend.”

  Gerrit tried to follow the sound of the man’s voice. There was a gap between a row of storage boxes and the next shelving above them. In this space, he thought he might see a figure, standing just to the left of his uncle. He would not be able to get a clear shot.

  “Yeah, right. I come up there and you shoot us dead. Not a good proposition for any of us—except you.”

  The shadow shifted closer to his uncle. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw more movement. It must be Alena, getting closer to the target.

  “Believe me, Gerrit. I don’t want you dead. You have too much to offer for me to waste a bullet on you.”

  “And if I come out in the open. What’re you going to do?”

  “I want you and your girlfriend to put down your weapons. Sit down and talk about this. We parted ways last time without talking this out.”

  Gerrit heard gunfire above him. Several explosions shook the building. “Sounds like your guys are in a world of hurt. Maybe you ought to just give up.” He edged closer, using the shelving to block his silhouette. Two rows away from getting a clear shot at Kane. “What do you say? Give up and we’ll let you live.”

  “Don’t come any closer. You think I am an idiot. I got my gun trained on your uncle’s chest. There is no way I can miss from here.”

  Peering around the edge of a gray metallic shelf, he saw Joe’s battered face. Gerrit gritted his teeth when he saw what they had done to his uncle. Joe looked back, then shifted his gaze to Gerrit’s right. Following Joe’s look, Gerrit saw that Alena had sneaked to the first row, one shelf of boxes separating her and Kane.

  He swung back toward his uncle, searching the shadows for Kane. The man must have drawn back out of the light altogether, standing just out of sight, watching for them to approach.

  There. He saw movement in the shadows. Kane must be getting restless.

  Gerrit caught Alena’s attention, pointing to where he last spotted Kane. She nodded raised her rifle to eye level.

  Kane must be drawn out into the light.

  “I’m coming out, Richard. I wanna check on my uncle.” Gerrit started to step from behind the shelving.

  “You come any closer and he dies.” Kane’s voice seemed strained, nervous.

  “Let me just check on him. You’ll have both of us covered—”

  Four rapid shots rang out and he saw his uncle twitch. Joe’s eyes widened. Blood oozed from a chest wound. Two of the shots came from Alena’s direction.

  “Kane’s down,” she said.

  “Joe’s hit.” Gerrit dashed to where he last saw Kane. The man was lying on his back, gun lying next to him. Gerrit scooped up the weapon and stuck it in his waistband, then patted Kane down for other weapons.

  Clean.

  He moved toward his uncle. “Cover me, Alena. I think Kane’s unarmed, but keep an eye on him.”

  Easing the tape from Joe’s mouth, Gerrit looked at his uncle’s wound. It appeared to be one shot—a grazing chest wound—sliced the skin enough to cause blood to seep onto his clothing. Kane’s second shot must have missed. Relieved, Gerrit pulled out his knife and sliced the tape binding Joe’s wrists.

  Seeing the older man could function, Gerrit turned and strode over to where Kane lay. The man had been hit twice, once in the chest and once in the gut. Kane was dying, painfully.

  Gerrit felt Alena draw near. Kane looked up at them, gaze shifting from one to the other, finally focusing on Alena. The man’s eyes, even in death, seemed filled with anger.

  “So this is how you repay me, Alena. After all I did for you.” Anger from his eyes carried over into his words, weak but harsh in his last remaining breath.

  “I owe you nothing, Richard. You brought this on yourself.”

  Gerrit looked from one to the other, puzzled. “You knew him?” He searched her face for an answer. “You worked with him?”

  “Not anymore,” she said, walking over to Joe.

  Kane turned his gaze toward Gerrit. “Ask her about your father. She has blood on her own hands.” The man struggled to raise himself one last time. He wheezed, “Gerrit, your parents…only following orders. Only following orders, boy.” The man’s last words seemed to take all the strength he had left. Kane closed his eyes and stopped moving.

  Gerrit knelt and felt the man’s carotid artery. No pulse. He looked over at Alena. What was Kane trying to tell him? Others ordered his parents’ killed? More questions left unanswered. More paths to follow. Never ending! He hung his head.

  One thing was for certain, Richard Kane was no longer a threat.

  Chapter 65

  Gerrit heard a blast at their level. One of the doorways breached.

  Willy.

  “Alena, sounds like they blasted their way to where we left Willy. Keep Joe covered. I’ll check to see who’s coming our way.”

  He dashed through the front until he came to the door separating him from where they left Willy. Reaching the doorway, his back pressed against the cinderblock wall to the left of the door, he reached down and quietly turned the knob with one hand. He slowly pulled on the door, opening it just a crack to allow him to see into the next room.

  A man yelled across the room. “Gerrit. Hold your fire and stand down. Beck and Jack sent us to save your butt.”

  Relief swept through him as he opened the door wider. “Show yourselves.”

  A man in camouflage gear rose from behind one of the consoles and walked toward him. “The place is secure. All hostile fire has been dealt with. What’s your status?”

  “Main target dead. One friendly in need of medical help. Half dozen of Kane’s technicians are cuffed and cornered in this room.” He pointed with his chin.

  “Don’t shoot!” Willy shouted, rising from behind a computer console, hands held high.

  “And that,” Gerrit said, “is our computer genius. Whatever you do, don’t shoot him.”

  Gerrit propped the door open. He returned to where Joe still sat in the chair. His uncle seemed weak, badly shaken.

  “How you feeling, Joe?” Gerrit’s c
hest tightened as concern broke through his resolve. How much pain and injury had Kane inflicted on his uncle? Anger gripped him like a steel vise.

  Joe grimaced, his face even whiter under the harsh glare of a fluorescent bulb. “I’m breathing, Gerrit. That’s a whole lot better than what I thought might happen.”

  Patting his uncle’s shoulder, Gerrit looked at Alena, standing next to them. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

  She gave him a hard look, then shouldered her rifle, abruptly turning away without saying anything.

  He started to follow, but Joe tugged on his sleeve. “Gerrit, wait. Hear me out. I heard what that creep said.”

  “Is it true?” Gerrit asked, trying to mask his anger, staring down at his uncle. Only his hands shook. “Is my father’s blood on her hands?”

  Footsteps could be heard drawing near. Several men approached with a stretcher. “These guys are going to check you out and then move you to the chopper.”

  Grasping Gerrit’s wrist, Joe clung to him for a moment. “You have to hear the whole story, son. We all make mistakes. Alena has changed. Just give me a chance to explain.”

  A medic appeared and began a cursory check of Joe’s medical condition.

  “We’ll talk later. Just let these guys take care of you and I’ll see you topside.”

  Joe tried to push them away. “I’m just fine. I don’t need to—”

  “Do me a favor, Joe. Let them check you out and get you upstairs. You’ve been through a lot.” Gerrit backed away, allowing the men to cluster around Joe as they began to care for him. Seeing that his uncle’s needs were taken care of, he turned and retraced his steps through the building.

  A few minutes later, he reached the front doorway and walked outside. Willy joined him. “Jack and Beck arrived at Sea-Tac and will chopper over as quick as they can. They asked for you to stay put.”

  Alena stood on the helipad, staring out beyond the cliffs to the sea below. She seemed alone in the midst of all the activity. As he looked at her, Gerrit could not shake Kane’s last words. A few minutes later, she walked toward the cliff’s edge, never looking his way.