by Vella Day
“I’m not sure.”
“Me, neither. I trust Elmer and that’s about it.”
“Ready? You can say no if you want.”
As brave as she’d been throughout her career, right now, she wasn’t so sure she was emotionally ready to break into a military base and risk it all. She could end up in the prison underground forever. “We don’t even know they’re holding Harriet prisoner there.”
He stepped so close she could feel his breath on her face. “Are you saying you don’t want to do this? Because if you don’t, we won’t go in.”
He was giving her the option to say no, but Kane needed her, and so did Harriet. “No. I’m in.”
“Good. Remember the whistleblower said prisoners escaped periodically but were always caught. The numbering system he gave us might not be exact, but it should allow us to gain access. We won’t have a lot of time to find her, so you do understand we can’t search every room or every level?”
“Yes. Men will be patrolling and checking everywhere.” She made sure her phone, with its camera, was charged, and then inhaled deeply. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s put on our costumes.”
She hurried as fast as she could, carefully applying the makeup. A few minutes later, she stepped into the living room where Kane was dressed in fatigues, like the kind the guards wore.
He tapped her nose. “You look cute.”
Where had that cheer come from? She gave him a defiant stance. “My hair is all ratted, I have brown streaks all over my face, and I’m wearing horribly tattered clothes. I can’t possibly look cute with fake blood on my cheek and arm. At least the purple bruises are real. It saved me makeup time.”
He seemed to be fighting a smile. “It’s mission time.”
Without saying another word, she followed him to the Jeep. He went over the details one more time as they headed to their lot a mile from the base. They parked there because it had to look like she’d escaped.
It was chilly, so they jogged to keep warm. A coat would only prove she hadn’t escaped from the DUMB. As they drew near, he pulled up. “I need to put the cuffs on you.” His tone implied he didn’t relish the idea.
She nodded. This was the uncomfortable part, and the memory of her boss slapping them on her wrists returned. Kane issued some orders loudly, and in less than thirty seconds, four men with guns arrived. Her pulse was racing so fast, she didn’t need to fake the fear.
“Halt. Where are you going?”
Kane stepped forward and held up his badge. “I found prisoner 45813 wandering about a mile from here. I’m just returning her.”
Silence.
She tried to jerk out of Kane’s grasp, as a real prisoner would do, but it was fifty-fifty whether they’d believe the story. They leaned close to each other and conferred. Sky improvised. She doubled over and pretended to vomit. In the dark, they wouldn’t be able to see if she was spewing her guts or was dry heaving.
“Take her inside.”
Kane saluted and trotted her toward the shed. She stumbled, and this time she wasn’t faking it.
He swiped the card and the door clicked open. The moment she stopped to look around, he jerked her arm and dragged her toward the ramp. From here on out, she had to act like his prisoner, and that meant no whispering and no improvising. She hoped Harriet appreciated their sacrifice.
The shed had been a new addition since Whistleblower2 had been there, and they had no idea if there would be stairs or not. They took the paved pathway downward, and as they reached the end of the long ramp, there were two doors. One required a fingerprint scan and the other an eye scan. Guess that answered the question why the killers took Randall Tyler’s head. The eye scan must be for more secure area.
Kane pressed the dead man’s finger over the scanner and tossed her an evil glance. Because cameras were probably watching their every move, she hung her head. The extra makeup she applied was to make her look like she’d been beaten.
The door clicked and they slipped in. She couldn’t help but take in the bizarre surroundings. “Oh, my God.”
“Silence,” Kane said, acting super tough.
The entryway looked like a subway station, only instead of tiled walls, the rounded sides were reinforced with steel girders. A train track ran as far as she could see, rounded a bend, and then disappeared to who knew where. While there was a walkway along the side of the track for human or alien traffic, there appeared to be no doors or windows. The place smelled of grease, dirt, and sweat. Gross.
“Move it.” Kane gently shoved her.
“Can’t you uncuff me, now? I ain’t going anywhere.”
He tossed the key a few feet in front of her to make it look like he was in charge. She knew he was acting tough for all the watchful eyes. Playing along, she dropped to her knees and picked up the key. With much deliberation, she unlocked her cuffs, and the relief was considerable. Regardless of the circumstances, cuffs hurt.
Whistleblower had told them that once they were through the main doors, the way to the prison was down four levels. First, they had to walk several hundred yards to get to a second doorway. They re-scanned and entered an area that looked similar to the one they’d just crossed, except this one had no train tracks. This air was stale and seemed to be a mixture of oil and cement dust. It wouldn’t be a nice place to work, especially since lung disease had to be prevalent. Sky wondered if they’d brought her here when they’d taken her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember.
“Keep moving.” Kane’s tone sounded gruff, but she could tell he didn’t like issuing the orders any more than she liked hearing them.
After a good three minutes, the path rounded a bend. What she wouldn’t give to take photos and document this place, but that would land them both in a cell.
Once they passed the parking garage, they came to a large room off to the side that was filled with huge tubs of what looked like grass or some kind of thin green vegetable. Six-foot diameter heat lamps sat overhead and workers tended to the plants’ care. It appeared the Base made some of its own food, unless the grass was there to help with oxygen production or feed animals.
Kane shoved her again. “Stop gawking.”
She kept walking until the sidewalk turned to dirt, and the walls became rock. So far, Whistleblower hadn’t steered them wrong. They rounded another curve and were faced with a fifteen-foot tall door that was twelve-feet wide. Given the size, it had to be at least three feet thick, reinforced again with steel bars. It wasn’t something anyone could escape from. So how had she supposedly gotten away? Dear God. If they were caught, no one would find them—FBI or no FBI.
Kane must have sensed her despair, because he grabbed her neck. She bet he made it look rough to any onlookers, but when he massaged her muscles, she almost sank against him. She wondered how he had gone on missions where he could have been blown to smithereens at any moment or tortured and held captive when he didn’t have anyone around to rub his neck or give him comfort. She shivered at the thought.
They entered the big doorway. Behind glass windows were science labs run by humans. The typical equipment was there, ranging from computers with large screens to machines that probably did tests on different materials or on humans. It wasn’t something she wanted to think about.
If they couldn’t find Harriet, she and Kane needed some evidence to show what the military was up to—whatever that was. Several armed men in uniform strode by. A few saluted, but they mostly ignored Kane and his prisoner. They then passed what she guessed was a cafeteria next to an empty library. She darted inside.
“Prisoner. Stand down.”
When no alarm sounded, Kane ducked in behind her. This looked like a small high school library with maybe twenty rows of books, fifteen-feet tall. She was surprised they had any books, unless they figured electronic files were too easy to hack into. Four tables housed artifacts that could have been alien or pieces from a space shuttle. On the second table were several large boo
ks. She flipped through a couple of them, noting all were in foreign languages she didn’t recognize, and the paper felt old. Then there was a sealed glass container that held the first two pages of some kind of legal document. She quickly scanned the contents.
“Holy crap.”
This time she didn’t wait for Kane to come over. She pulled out her camera phone and snapped two pictures of the contents.
“Sir, what is the prisoner doing in here?”
She froze.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sky straightened and slipped the phone in her pocket before facing the too tall man in a well-fitting uniform. She hoped Kane wouldn’t have to take him down, as the adversary’s chiseled jaw and broad shoulders indicated he would be a formidable enemy.
“At ease, sergeant,” Kane said. “I was taking the prisoner back to her cell when she dashed in here.” Kane grabbed hold of her arm. “I won’t let her get away again.” His lip curled.
The military man hesitated for a second, firmed his mouth, and then saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Thank goodness Kane wore a high ranking uniform. He dragged her from the room and leaned over close to her ear. “Don’t do that again.” He wasn’t playing this time. She scrunched up her nose and debated spitting at him for effect, but then decided not to.
An exit door was off to the side, which hopefully led to the other levels. She prayed no one was coming up who would stop and question them. According to Mr. Morris, not only was the prison below, so might be the aliens.
They skipped level 2, 3, and 4 and went straight to level 5. Damn. She really wanted to take a quick look at level 3 to see if she could spot the extra-terrestrials, but they didn’t possess Randall’s eye, which they would have needed for the security scanner.
Now came the hard part—checking out the jail. Kane didn’t plan to hand Sky over; they merely wanted to see if Harriet was there.
At the end of the stairwell sat a door. He faced her. “Stay here. If I’m not back in five minutes, get the hell out of here.”
She’d assumed she’d be by his side throughout the mission, but with her palms sweating and terror kneading her gut, perhaps this was for the best. “I won’t move.” The five-foot wide steps ended four feet from the door. She flattened her back against the wall and tried to be as invisible as possible, though if anyone entered the stairwell, he would see her.
Kane stared at her for a second. “You have to leave if they catch me. Promise?”
“They won’t. You’re too good.”
She thought she caught a small upturn to his lips. “Then I guess I’ll be back soon.” He kissed her quick and disappeared into Level 5 before she had a chance to say more.
The next few minutes drove nails into her heart, as the narrow space closed in on her. The stairway turned twice before reaching the next level, and she was constantly on alert for footsteps. She was a professional for God’s sake and shouldn’t be afraid, yet she was, not only for herself, but for Harriet, for Kane, and for all of the other people held captive against their will.
A noise sounded on the stairs above her. Shit. She dropped to her haunches and waited, blood pounding in her ears. She counted silently to sixty, and then again and then once more.
The door to Level 5 eased open and when Kane stepped out, she was so relieved that her feet almost slid out from under her. He shook his head implying no Harriet then motioned with his hands to go.
She pushed off the wall and stood on trembling legs and mouthed, “Right behind you.”
They made it as far as the library when two men in uniform stopped them. The first was squat, the second thin, but both appeared fit. “Where are you taking the prisoner?”
Her heart flipped, and she could barely breathe, sucking in air in short raspy spurts.
With no hesitation, Kane stepped forward and cold cocked the first guard, stepped back and dropkicked the second. She’d never seen anything like it. The two men collapsed to the ground without a word. Next thing she knew, Kane grabbed her hand, and they were racing toward another door. Her lungs burned, and the soles of her feet hurt.
“I can’t run…any…faster.”
“You have to.”
She knew the alarm would sound the moment anyone saw Kane running toward the exit with a prisoner. They’d be caught and maybe killed. Her heart squeezed until the physical pain was almost unbearable.
When they reached the final door, Kane had to scan the dead man’s finger once more to exit. For a long second, the door didn’t send out the familiar click, and a tight band squeezed her chest. Dear Lord, they could be locked in for life.
Then the door mercifully opened, and she and Kane entered the final stage of their journey. If she could have stopped to catch her breath, she would have, but there was no place to hide and take the needed break. The train tracks had a third rail that probably carried the electricity, so there was no way she’d be jumping down into that pit to hide. Touching the rail would kill them.
Kane pulled her along with him, their pounding feet echoing in the cavernous room. Finally, they made it to the shed without being stopped, and while the cameras probably caught their whole departure, no one had shot them. She found that odd but good.
Kane drew to a stop just outside the door to freedom, and before he pushed it open, the big garage door slid opened.
“Shit.” Using hand signals, Kane motioned her toward the outside, knowing a guard was out there somewhere with a big gun. She went first, and was met with nothing but blackness. Even the moon must have decided it was best to hide.
Kane came up behind her, and they headed north, in the opposite direction from the ledge where she’d nearly fallen to her death. Several hundred yards later, he held up a hand for her to stop. It was probably because her breaths were too rapid, and he feared she might not make it.
He clasped her hand, and they slowly inched along the top of the canyon wall. One misstep and they’d tumble. There’d be no rope to save them this time. Kane must have deemed it safe, because he lowered them to the ground and pulled her onto his lap. He rubbed her arms. Only then did she realize the temperature had dropped to near freezing. Fear had a way of disguising certain discomforts.
“You okay?” he whispered in her ear.
At that moment, she loved him more than she ever had. He’d risked his life for her friend. She nodded. “I’m dreaming of a hot bath.”
The moon made its appearance and glinted off his smile. “I say, let’s do it.”
* * *
Kane paced outside Sky’s bathroom, angry with himself for going ahead with the plan. They hadn’t found Harriet after all. He’d also found no evidence of foul play, which meant the FBI wouldn’t have enough reason to charge in and see who was kept below. In fact, Kane saw no prisoners at all. Perhaps they’d learned he and Sky were coming and had moved the captives to a different level, one that required higher security.
He slapped the wall. The fuckers knew he and Sky had been there the whole time, and allowed them to see that nothing was amiss. Smart bastards. He’d put Sky through hell for nothing. Someone had to have betrayed them. Was it the Chief, Harold, Elmer, or someone else?
Chief Lapahe had told him to call him no matter the hour if Kane learned anything about Harriet’s whereabouts, but that was when he believed they were searching for her tomorrow. Kane had to trust someone, and he believed the Chief was clean. When he called, it took a moment to tell the Chief about the change of plans.
“You and Sky went in? Does that mean you freed Harriet?” From the anxiety in his tone, Lapahe wasn’t in bed at this late hour. Most likely, he was refining the plan for tomorrow.
“No, sir. I found no evidence of any prisoners.”
“Shit. Then where is she?”
From that question, Kane assumed there’d been no ransom demand. “I don’t know, sir.”
“Is Sky okay?”
“Yes. We can debrief in the morning.”
The moment Kane hung up, the bath
room door opened, and Sky appeared. She was a vision with her hair wrapped in a towel and her body encased in a fluffy pink robe. “Next.” She smiled, and his groin ached.
He wanted to grab her and kiss her, but he needed Sky to explain the note—when she was ready. He wouldn’t feel right taking advantage of her in her fragile emotional state. She had to be reeling—one minute she was about to realize her dream of living in a big city, and the next, she was on a dangerous mission with him.
Kane took longer in the shower than usual, partly because he kept going through the details of the Base fiasco in his mind. They should have been caught and questioned. He’d seen the cameras mounted on the ceiling and didn’t think the military would have fake security cams. As for Harriet, he had no idea where she was being held.
After he shaved and changed into jeans and a T-shirt, he had every intention of grabbing a beer and dropping into bed, but Sky was in the kitchen on her computer.
“You’ve got to see this.” The excitement in her voice surprised him.
He pulled up a chair and sat next to her as she downloaded photos. He leaned closer. “What is it?”
She clicked to one of the pages she’d photographed in the library. “This is some kind of contract between the human race and the aliens.”
“You can’t believe that garbage. If it meant anything, a ton of MPs would have been down our throats.”
“I hid the camera in front of my stomach. Unless they had cameras every few feet, they might not have seen me take the shot.” She lowered her chin. “If this was junk, why keep it in an underground secret Base, under glass, where no one can steal it?”
From her bloodshot eyes and the way she slumped in her chair, she was barely holding on. He wouldn’t be surprised if the military planted the evidence there—assuming they’d been tipped off about their break-in. What they hoped to gain, he didn’t know. “Okay. Tell me what it says.”
“I’ll need to read it a couple more times as the whole concept is a real paradigm shift for me.” He cocked a brow. “Basically, it says the aliens made an agreement with the human race a long time ago as they passed from one life to another.”