Hard and Fast

by Raven Scott

  “Come on, Lucas. I know you’re annoyed with me, but just think about it a little more.”

  “Kathy, I’m hanging up the phone.”

  “Okay! Okay, I’ll talk to you when you’re back.”

  They said a brisk good-bye and Lucas shoved his phone into his pocket, wishing he could get back the last five minutes of his life. He walked swiftly across the room and through to the connecting room where he and Alex would be staying until after the races. Since the door to that room had shut just a couple of minutes earlier, Lucas assumed that Ned had returned from the truck with their extra weapons and supplies. Yet no one was there. The room was empty. He walked around, thinking that maybe he had missed something while talking to Kathy.

  Then, he spotted the cell phone on the bed, almost hidden between the pillows. Lucas leaned over and picked it up, just as the room door opened. It was Alex’s.

  “You all set?” Ned asked as he carried their locked trunk inside and put it down on the desk across from the bed.

  “Where’s Alex?” Lucas asked, standing up and looking around.

  “What do you mean? I left her here,” Ned stated. “Did you check the bathroom?”

  The door was closed, but something at the base of Lucas’s stomach told him she wasn’t in there. But he checked anyway, pushing open the door and finding the dark room empty.

  “She’s gone,” he declared sharply. “We need to find her, now!”

  Ned had the trunk popped open, and they each started to load up on concealable weapons.

  “Where would she go? And why would she leave her cell phone? She knows the protocol.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe she just forgot it.”

  “Or someone took her?” asked Ned, and the two men looked at each other, trying to gauge the threat level.

  “I don’t think so. Not forcibly. It was too quiet. I only heard the door close and I assumed it was you returning,” Lucas replied. “Call Sam and get him up to speed. I’ll call Marco. And let’s check both staircases and meet up at the truck. We need to find her fast.”

  Lucas pocketed Alex’s phone, then took out his own as they strode out the door. He called Marco Passante while Ned was already talking to Sam.

  “Is Alex with you?” he demanded as soon as his client picked up the phone.

  “No. Should she be? I thought you guys were lying low until the press conference,” Marco stated with obvious surprise.

  “That was the plan. But she’s left the hotel room by herself and doesn’t have her phone,” Lucas explained as he ran down the stairs, two at a time. “Call me if you see or hear from her. Tell your team to do the same.”

  “Of course. They’re working on the Evo in the trailer. We have our practice run at ten thirty,” added Marco.

  “Okay, my men with be there shortly,” Lucas confirmed. “I’m headed there now. I’ll keep you posted.”

  Ned was already in the truck with the engine running.

  “Sam and Renee are heading to the Magnus trailer, leaving the driver, David Ferguson, with the hybrid,” Ned provided. “No sign of Alex yet.”

  “Passante hasn’t seen or heard from her either,” added Lucas. “There is no way she would just wander away without her cell phone and not go straight to the Magnus team. She knows where they are.”

  “Which means that someone has her against her will.”

  Lucas swore viciously, while his heart pounded with an erratic drum. He quickly made another call to Raymond Blunt, the Fortis tech wizard.

  “Raymond, I need your help,” he demanded briskly when the line picked up, then quickly provided the pertinent details of the immediate situation. “I want a full search of the Whistler area over the last hour. Utilize every surveillance option, open source portals, and government assets. Pull in any people or resources you need and send anything remotely useful to the ground team.”

  “You got it,” Raymond acknowledged.

  “This is a diversion,” Ned stated the second that Lucas hung up the phone. “They want us looking for Cotts, leaving the Cicada car and design vulnerable.”

  “Yeah, I know,” agreed Lucas.

  Every fiber of his being was vibrating with the instinct to tear this town apart to find Alex. The idea that people had her, were threatening her, or planned to cause her any harm made him sick to his stomach. And he tried not to think of what he knew they were capable of or how far they would go to get what they wanted.

  Then minutes later, they arrived at the Magnus race team trailer, sandwiched between two similarly sized car haulers with enough space between to fit a race car for quick repairs. Lucas jumped out of the truck and ran up to meet Sam and Renee who were approaching him from the side entrance. Ned joined them.

  “We just missed her,” Sam stated gruffly. “She’s left with the Magnus driver to start the trial run for the Evo.”

  “What?” Lucas growled. “Why would she do that? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “The guys here were surprised to see her. But there is no evidence she’s under threat,” Sam continued.

  “Damn it!” muttered Lucas. “Who’s the driver? I want to know everything about him.”

  “Bobby Chiu. He had checked out in our original security evaluation, along with all of the Magnus employees.”

  “Then something must have changed since then. They’ve sent in someone familiar to lure her away—”

  “What the hell?”

  The exclamation came from inside the trailer. Lucas ran forward to look inside the long space. The two Magnus engineers whom Lucas remembered as Niles and Randy were standing in the middle of the long space, looking at all the equipment display screens that were now flickering as though the power was being disrupted.

  “Purdy is here. He’s going after the Cicada,” Lucas growled, turning back to his team that now surrounded him. “Sam, you and Ned have to go after Alex. We don’t have much time. You have to get her back.”

  “We’ve got it, Lucas,” his friend stated firmly. “The trials run south on the highway. We’ll head in that direction, and we will get her back safely.”

  The two men ran back to the truck that Ned had been driving and took off again. Lucas ducked back inside the trailer to wait for the network attack he knew was coming.

  “Lucas!” called Renee from outside, and the alarmed tone of her voice said everything.

  He stepped outside with his pistol drawn. Three big henchmen were approaching walking shoulder to shoulder, with big guns barely concealed under their shirts.

  “Any ideas?” prompted Renee as the men slowly walked closer.

  “Let’s start by improving the odds,” Lucas stated, then fluidly pulled a small knife out of his belt and flung it at the thug closest to him, embedding the blade deep into the side of his neck. The man stumbled back from the force while his companions paused in surprise, trying to figure out what happened. Lucas and Renee both leaped forward to attack the remaining two, as the first guy fell forward onto his knees, clutching at his neck and trying to breathe.

  The opponent Lucas faced recovered quickly and struck out at him with a big right hook. But Lucas saw it coming and ducked low, then came up with a hard punch to the guy’s kidneys. The thug groaned in pain and backed away while reaching for his gun. Lucas used the back of his left elbow to knock away the guy’s arm and the weapon went flying out of his grasp to land a few feet way. Lucas then rammed the heel of his hand into the guy’s face, crushing his nose. He repeated the hit two more times to ensure the pain was debilitating. The attacker dropped to the ground, grabbing his face and cursing in low, muttered whispers.

  “Guys!” yelled one of the engineers from inside the trailer. “Something’s happening!”

  Lucas turned around to assess the situation with the other assailants. Renee was dominating her opponent with a series of hard elbow hits into the side of his jaw, then she finished him with a roundhouse kick, catching his temple with her heel.

  “Renee, I need you to locate Edgar
Purdy,” instructed Lucas. “He’s here, somewhere close enough to access the computer system in the trailer through the Wi-Fi. I’ll counter his attack into the network, but we can’t let him get away.”

  She nodded swiftly, then turned to jog down the side of the trailer into the busy crowd that passed steady in front of it. A few people did a double take at the sight of the three men strewn haphazardly on the ground.

  Lucas went into the big hauler, pulling the side door closed and locking it from the inside. He sat down on a work stool in front of the onboard computer, quickly absorbing the rows and rows of code script than ran across the screen. Then he got to work. There was no doubt the hacker was highly skilled and sophisticated, using an incredibly fast spidering malware that was slowly breaking through the virtual personal network firewalls. Lucas immediately tried to stop the intrusion, but already knew it was too late. The hacker had a big head start and was only minutes away from breaking through. So, he changed his tactics, and focused his energy on wiping the system of all of the valuable design information with a custom, highly efficient data destruction software he had preloaded.

  “Did you stop it?” asked Randy as Lucas pushed the stool back while clenching and unclenching his cramped fingers.

  “No, I had to wipe the data instead,” he replied.

  “But what about our information?” Randy probed.

  “It was the only way to stop the attack,” Lucas explained patiently. “But we’ve only lost any modifications you guys have done since last night. I have your backup on a secure drive.”

  The two men looked at him speculatively.

  “This is about Alex’s hybrid, isn’t it?” Niles asked. “They’re still trying to steal it.”

  Lucas’s phone beeped with a call.

  “Renee, any luck locating Purdy?” he quickly asked after answering.

  “I’ve got eyes on the target in the conference center, boss,” she confirmed. “He looks a little different from the pictures, with a full beard and his hair dyed dark brown. But it’s him. There are very few people in the foyer working like crazy on a very expensive piece of hardware, while a racing event is going on.”

  “Keep your eyes locked on him. I’m on my way.”

  “He’s sitting in front of the left fireplace, and I’m standing just inside the closest entrance doors,” she explained before they disconnected.

  “What’s going on?” asked Niles as he and Randy followed Lucas as he unlocked the door and strode out of the trailer into the morning sunshine.

  “We’ve identified the hacker. You two need to stay here and lock the door behind me,” Lucas instructed, then he was running through the parking lot toward the big building that was also headquarters for the Sea-to-Sky race.

  It was a fast, three-minute sprint, yet it felt like an hour. All Lucas could think about was whether Sam and Ned had located Alex. Was she okay? Was she safe? Maybe he should take the time to call them for an update? But Lucas knew he couldn’t allow the distraction. If they hadn’t found her yet, and she was still in the hands of Purdy’s people, Lucas honestly didn’t know if he could stick to the mission plan. Magnus and Alex would only be safe if Fortis took down Purdy and his Crow organization. That had to be his main priority, and there was no room for any other focus.

  He found Renee positioned exactly where she had indicated, and Edgar Purdy was still working on his intrusion attempt. She was right, his appearance was a little altered from the last picture they had, but it was definitely his old boss and mentor.

  “Any change?” he asked right away.

  “Negative.”

  “Well, get ready for him to make a move,” suggested Lucas. “Any second now, he’ll be deep enough in my network to realize he’s too late, and there’s nothing there.”

  They watched him silently for another couple of minutes.

  “Any word from Sam or Ned on Alex?” Renee asked quietly.

  “Not yet,” he replied in a neutral voice. “Okay, looks like it’s showtime.”

  Purdy had just shut his laptop with enough force to suggest he was frustrated. He then looked around as though he suddenly realized his distractions may have been thwarted.

  “You stay here, and I’ll flank him on the right,” he told Renee. “Then we’ll follow his exit, and take him down while he’s still on foot.”

  “You got it, boss,” she agreed, and they split up.

  Purdy stood up just as Lucas passed his position across the room. But their eyes locked for a couple of seconds from a gap in the crowd, and it was enough to spook his target. The hacker took off in a dead run away from him, pushing his way through a path of people, directly toward Renee’s position. Lucas sprung forward in pursuit, his eyes fixed on the top of Purdy’s head, only losing sight when the other man rushed outside through one of the exit doors, looking pretty agile for someone in his midforties.

  When Lucas got outside, he was only a few paces behind Purdy who was sprinting hard across the grass in front of the conference center. Renee was even closer. She was breathing down his neck, when Purdy twisted his upper body and fired a gun straight at her. The loud bang echoed across the open area, and several people screamed. Lucas watched with alarm as his agent ran for a few more steps, then fell flat on her face. More people screamed, running away from the scene in fear.

  “Renee!” he yelled as he approached her lying body, gently turning her over to check how badly she was wounded.

  “It’s okay,” she gasped, coughing and clutching her side where her fingers were now coated with blood. “It’s just a graze.”

  “Are you sure? Let me see?” he demanded, trying to move her fingers.

  “You don’t have time,” she insisted urgently. “He’s getting away. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

  Shit! She was right. Already, he could hear police sirens. He needed to take down Purdy now before they lost him for good.

  “Stay still, and try to stay calm. Help is on the way.”

  “Go,” she urged again, and Lucas finally stood up.

  For a couple of seconds, he thought Purdy had managed to disappear, until he saw people pointing in the direction of a shopping plaza. Lucas took off in that direction, but drifted to the right to avoid being detected. About a half a block later, he finally caught sight of the hacker as the other man cut down a main street toward a block of high-end resort hotels. Lucas stayed low, running along the storefronts until he was almost parallel to Purdy, who had slowed his pace to a light jog. Then when the moment was right, Lucas dashed forward and tackled the older man around his waist, effectively immobilizing him. They flew onto the street with a hard thud on their left sides, sending even more spectators running with screams.

  Lucas didn’t pause to catch his breath. He rolled forward so Purdy was lying on his stomach, then he pressed his forearm into the man’s neck so the side of his face squished roughly against the bricked laneway.

  “Where is she?” demanded Lucas in a low growling voice.

  Purdy started laughing. It was the deep, crazy cackle of a madman.

  “Where is she, Edgar?” he shouted, slamming the hacker’s head into the ground with a loud crack.

  “You’re too late, Lucas,” Purdy finally replied once he’d caught his breath again. “I knew you’d come after me. You were always so dedicated to the job. So predictable.”

  He started laughing again, this time higher and even more gleeful.

  “It’s over!” Lucas exclaimed, leaning close to the other man’s ear. “You lost, Edgar. Now tell me where she is?”

  “Oh, Lucas, my boy. Don’t you get it? I don’t give a shit about files or that fucking car,” Purdy gasped. “I just wanted to see your face when you realized you went after the wrong asset.”

  Lucas pulled back, his brain working through the meaning behind Purdy’s words.

  “It’s over, Lucas,” Purdy added in a stronger voice. “And you lose!”

  Within seconds, the haunting sound of firetruck sirens grew
louder until it drowned out Purdy’s shrieking giggles.

  “What did you do?” Lucas growled, bashing the other man’s head to the ground again.

  His former boss only looked back with eyes wide with hatred and satisfaction.

  “I think your pretty little asset has just gone up in flames!”

  CHAPTER 26

  “Why are you taking this route?” Alex asked Bobby as he turned left onto the Sea-to-Sky Highway, heading north of Whistler and in the opposite direction of the race route.

  “I heard about this really great stretch of road just past the city that I want to try out,” he replied, looking around with searching eyes.

  “Are you sure we have time? Our trial time is in fifteen minutes,” she added with concern.

  “We’ll be fine,” he assured her, but his posture and furrowed brows suggested Bobby was not at all as relaxed as he tried to appear.

  Alex sat back in the passenger seat of the Evo and tried to relax. She had bigger problems than whatever was bothering the young driver. By now, Lucas would know that she had taken off on this reckless joyride and he was going to be pissed. Even though she was still very raw with hurt and disappointment at his words about her and their relationship, Alex was already regretting her rash actions. After weeks of hard work and sacrifice, she had risked their project over rejection and stupid pride.

  “Bobby, I have to go back to the hotel,” she finally stated, rubbing her hands into her eyes. “I shouldn’t have come with you.”

  At first, Alex was too wrapped up in her misery to realize that Bobby hadn’t replied to her request. They continued north on the highway at over eighty miles an hour.

  “Bobby,” she said more sharply. “Did you hear me? I have to go back.”

  He turned to her with a strange look of sadness mixed with resolve.

  “Sorry, Alex,” he mumbled, looking away from her eyes. “I can’t go back.”

  “What do you mean? We have to go back, now!”

  He went quiet again while checking all the mirrors repeatedly.