Gone Black

by Linda Ladd

  “You are real,” he muttered softly, as if he still could not quite believe it.

  So glad to see him awake and finally making some kind of sense, Claire put her weapon aside and hugged him around the neck. “You bet, I’m real. Lucky for you. How do you feel?”

  Black exhaled deeply, shook his head, apparently still trying to shake away some cobwebs. “Not so hot. Where are we?”

  “We’re somewhere deep inside Marcel Soquet’s fortress, or whatever the hell it is. Do you remember what happened to you?”

  At Soquet’s name, Black jerked all the way up onto his knees and then he grabbed his hair with both hands as if wracked with sharp pain. He clutched his bent head for a few moments, as if trying to gain back his mental acuity. Then he looked up at her. “What’re you doing here? God, you shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”

  No kidding, Claire thought. “They said if I didn’t come here, they’d kill you. They said they’d hold a gun to your head and shoot you while I watched. Jaxy called me on FaceTime and put a gun to your forehead and pulled the trigger, but it just clicked on an empty chamber. But I nearly died in that moment. You don’t remember that?”

  Black shook his head. “You shouldn’t have come. Oh, God, you shouldn’t have come.”

  Claire searched his face, and then she cupped his cheeks with her palms. “I came to save your life. Like I said, they were gonna kill you for my viewing enjoyment. That just didn’t sit well with me. You’d do the same thing if they had me. Don’t try to tell me you wouldn’t.”

  “Oh, God, Claire, you shouldn’t have come, damn it! I told Booker not to let you come if something like this ever happened.”

  “Booker couldn’t stop me. Nobody could. And you’re welcome.”

  Black stared at her a moment, and then he pulled her up tightly against him. “I’m confused. I can’t remember much. Tell me what happened. From the beginning.”

  So Claire filled him in, told him about the kid, told him about the tunnels, told him that they were still in terrible danger of being caught, that Booker and the others hadn’t shown up like they were supposed to, told him the whole damn horrible story.

  “You got away? You got me out of that room? How?”

  “Well, it wasn’t easy. And we’re still not out of danger. We’re trapped inside these tunnels, and if Rico can’t find us a way out, we’re probably all dead anyway, and probably pretty damn soon. But I’m glad you’re awake and okay. Because I was scared about having to get you outta here on my own. You’ve got to shake it off now and help me.”

  He kept nodding his head but he was still bleary. “Is Rico that kid that I almost hit with the car?”

  “Yeah, they murdered his family, poor thing, and that bitch Jaxy kept him on a leash with a shock collar, like some kind of abused puppy.”

  Black looked around the small dank grotto with only minimal light creeping in from some cracks in the rocks up above them. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know. He was here when I dozed off. I don’t even know how long I’ve been asleep. Or what day it is or where we are. Do you?”

  Black shook his head. “The Soquets are based in France, but they move around to different places. That’s why it’s hard to catch them. We could be anywhere. Where does Rico say we are?”

  Claire realized she hadn’t even asked the kid that. She had just thought they were somewhere near Marseilles, which was what Booker’s GPS had told her.

  Black shut his eyes, rolled his neck around on his shoulders. “I’m still a little dizzy. They drugged me.”

  “Yeah? No kiddin’. It looked to me like LSD so I gave you some of his mom’s Valium. Looks like it might’ve worked.”

  “How did you know to do that?”

  “Because I worked Narcotics. Lucky for us, Rico’s mom needed an antianxiety drug after she went into witness protection.”

  “Where is he?” Black asked her again.

  “I don’t know, but I’m gonna go find out. He may be outside in the big tunnel. Lie down here and rest some more. Stay put. You know the aftereffects of acid as well as anybody. Especially as bad a trip as they gave you.”

  Black nodded and lay down on his back, but he didn’t seem to want to let go of her hand. She disentangled herself, very relieved he was awake and not in too terrible a condition. At least he could think halfway coherently. A few more hours and he’d probably be in good enough shape to help them plan a getaway. Probably not, but she wanted to believe it.

  Taking the nine millimeter in her good hand again, she moved into the outside tunnel and stepped down into the wide stone trough. All she heard was total silence. She looked in both directions, not sure where Rico might have gone. She was turned around big-time. All the subterranean passages looked the same to her: cold, gray, dark, and dank. She moved off to her right, looking in all the smaller antechambers along the way. Nothing. No sign of Rico.

  She hadn’t gone far, just a few yards down the tunnel, when she heard a sound behind her and whipped around, gun up and ready to fire. But it was Rico standing there, not far from her. The big guy from the plane, the one named Barto, with the black ponytail, stood right behind the child, his left arm around his neck and a Sig nine millimeter snugged against the boy’s temple.

  “Hello, there,” he said to Claire. “Better put that gun down or this kid won’t have a head anymore.”

  Rico started struggling and fighting and trying to break the man’s hold, but Barto jerked his arm tighter and cut off the boy’s breath. “Or maybe I’ll just choke him to death right now. Let you watch. Or you can come with me. Jaxy’s got a bone to pick with you. She is really pissed off now. I don’t envy you when I get you up there.”

  So Barto liked to chat. But Rico was strangling to death under the pressure, his fingernails clawing at the man’s arm, his feet kicking wildly. Barto was holding him up in the air, Rico’s feet well off the ground. Claire couldn’t wait any longer. She couldn’t let him kill that boy. She raised both her hands, palms out, and let the Glock dangle by the trigger guard off her left forefinger.

  “Okay, let him go. He’s not the one you want. I am. No need to hurt him.”

  “No, he isn’t the one she wants. You and Black are the ones she wants. But this kid’s been helping you so things aren’t gonna go so good for him, either. He’s a brat. Go ahead, put that gun on the ground and back away from it.”

  Claire did what he said, and he released the pressure around Rico’s throat. The child coughed and choked, his feet still dangling a foot above the floor. That’s when Claire saw Black appear at the mouth of the antechamber behind Barto and ease stealthily up behind where he was holding Rico. She tried not to react, not to look at Black. It was difficult to do. One sound and Barto would spin around and shoot Black dead. She went for distraction. “Hey, Barto, how about this, huh? How about you comin’ over to our side? My guy, Black? He’s got a lot of money. Millions, I’m tellin’ you. He can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Just a snap of his fingers and you’re set up for life. What’d you say? Help us get out of here alive, and you can live like a king from this day on. Without that crazy Jaxy to order you around.”

  The man hesitated, looked disconcerted by the offer, probably because of the Jaxy part. Who wouldn’t want to get rid of that crazy bitch? But then Black was on him, grabbing the man around the neck, forcing his gun arm up. Rico fell to the ground, and the Sig went off in the ensuing struggle and a slug blasted the top of the tunnel. It zinged off the stone and whistled as it ricocheted all over the rocks. Claire hit the ground on her stomach and scrambled quickly to her gun. By now, Black already had the man down on the ground and was on top of him. They grappled and rolled around, Black still gripping Barto’s gun hand, and then he got his other hand free and used his thumb to gouge Barto’s eyes. The man screamed, and Black twisted the man’s right arm back so hard that Barto screamed again and dropped the weapon.

  Black got hold of it and didn’t hesitate. He fired one shot poi
nt-blank into Barto’s chest, and then he quickly pushed himself back up to his feet. Claire grabbed her nine and jumped up, ready to help subdue the guy, but Black didn’t hesitate this time, either. He fired twice, straight down and hit the man midchest.

  Blam, blam. The sound of the shots echoed in a curious kind of thunder up and down the caverns.

  Rico had scrambled away when Black and Barto had first gone down on the ground, and he headed for Claire now and jumped into her arms. She held the small child tightly against her, his face hidden in her shoulder, backing away from the altercation, as Black turned away from Barto’s body and faced her. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, and Claire had never seen Black’s face look the way it did at that moment. Hard. With no mercy. No quarter given. He still held the Sig in his hand, ready.

  “It’s them or us now,” Black got out, still breathing hard.

  Claire watched him. “I know.”

  “I’m gonna kill them all,” he ground out then, very low, his voice nearly unrecognizable. “I’m not leaving here until they’re all dead.”

  Claire stared at his dirty, bearded face, so dark now with anger and determination and some kind of gut-twisting thirst for vengeance that she was almost frightened for a moment. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she hadn’t ever really known him or what he was capable of. Then his face relaxed slightly, and he looked normal again. He shut his eyes and leaned weakly back against the stone wall. Claire watched him, still clutching Rico against her. The man Black had just killed, all the people who had abducted him, they had done horrible, indescribably cruel things to him. For days now. They had beaten Black, chained him, mocked and degraded him. Black had meant what he said. No question about it. And she didn’t blame him for wanting them all dead. Not one bit. She wanted them dead, too.

  “Good,” she said at length. “And I’m going to help you do it.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Black quickly searched Barto’s body for weapons and took his rifle, pistol, cell phone, wallet, and watch. He dragged the dead body into the nearest cistern and left it there, floating facedown in the water. Then he came out and took Rico out of Claire’s arms. He took hold of her arm and moved down through the tunnel until they reached one of the caverns that overlooked the sea. Once there, he gazed out at the pure blue sky and then put Rico down and walked to the drop-off and gazed down at the roaring sea below.

  “It’s too high here. We can’t jump here and survive the fall. We’ve got to get down lower on the cliffs somehow.”

  “Rico says guards patrol the beach day and night. He says we can’t get out that way.”

  “Maybe we could get by them if we wait till dark.”

  “They’ll see us, no matter what.” Rico looked frightened by the idea. “They have flashlights and build fires along the beach after it gets dark.”

  Black turned and knelt down in front of Rico. “Tell me how that guy back there caught you.”

  “He saw me come out of the vent and grabbed me. I didn’t see him. He was out in the hall but could still see me.”

  Black took hold of the boy’s arms. “Did anybody else see you?”

  The child shook his head. “I don’t think so. He started chasing me right off. He wanted to catch me. He said Jaxy was gonna put me back in the collar.”

  Black let go of him. He looked up at Claire. “Then he probably left the vent open. It’s just a matter of time before the rest of them find their way down through these tunnels.”

  Claire met his eyes again. “I know that.”

  Black blew out a breath and slumped down on the ground, his adrenaline rush fading. She sat down beside him.

  “We don’t have many choices, Claire. If they find the way in, we’re trapped down here like rats.”

  “I know that, too.”

  “We’ve got to go up the tunnel and out through the living quarters. It’s the only option.”

  “They are looking for us up there,” Rico cried out quickly. “Going in all the rooms, one by one. I saw them!”

  Black said nothing for a moment. “Okay, we’ll just have to pick them off one at a time as they come down. That’s our only choice now. Max is smart. He’s gonna figure this out.”

  “Don’t think so. He’s dead. I killed him.”

  Black turned a startled gaze on Claire. “You killed him? You sure you killed him?”

  Claire gave a short, totally unamused laugh. “Oh, yeah. He’s dead all right.”

  “Good.” Then Black’s face took on an angry look. “Did he hurt you? Did that son of a bitch hurt you?”

  “He tried. I got the better of the situation. My wonderful luck kicked in.”

  “What about Jaxy?”

  “She’s still around and walking, I guess. Rico says you slugged her pretty hard in the face. Hard enough that she took to her bed for a while. She’s back up now and out for blood, you can bet on that.”

  “I don’t remember hitting her. I don’t remember much, not after they started force-feeding me the drugs. I hope to hell I got her with a good one.”

  “I’d say you did. Hit her in the face hard enough to knock her off her feet. Broke her nose and knocked some teeth out, probably. Hopefully.”

  “My God, Marcel turned his children into complete psychopaths. I knew he was teaching them his business, but I didn’t know he went this far. Both mindless killers.”

  “Yeah, I found that out the hard way.”

  Black was coming around pretty good now, his eyes becoming clearer, returning to the crystal blue that Claire loved so, and he seemed to be thinking clearly. Probably from the adrenaline rush. “What about Booker? They should be here by now. Where the hell are they?”

  “He pinpointed your GPS signal, right here, outside Marseilles. They were supposed to fly in right after I got on Soquet’s plane, and we planned the extraction to go down as soon as they got into position. We had to wait for Soquet to call us before we could do anything. It took days, Black; they had you in their power for almost four days before they contacted us again. I was so scared, afraid we wouldn’t get to you in time. I read your files on them, every word. So did Novak. And it was a good thing I did. I knew how to pull their strings.”

  For the first time, Black seemed to notice her injured hand. He picked it up, held it gently. “They’d never kill me in a hurry. They like to toy with their victims as long as they can. Torture them for months sometimes. I can’t believe you managed to get me out of that room. That’s how you hurt your hand? Fighting Max?”

  Claire did not want to talk about fighting with Max. She was trying to forget the horrible, nasty, bloody memory. “Yeah, but Rico’s the hero in all this. He got me out, hid me in the tunnels, and then he helped me get you out. We owe him, Black, big-time. He saved our lives. So far, anyway.”

  Rico was sitting cross-legged across from them, listening and displaying his little gap-toothed grin. She hadn’t seen much of that before; hell, the kid hadn’t had much to smile about. “You helped me, too. You made Jaxy take that collar off me.”

  “Yeah, we’re all in this together all right,” Claire said, smiling at the kid. Inside, however, she was terrified that they were all going to be captured soon, and this time there would be no mercy given. Jaxy would do her worst to them, now that Claire had killed her brother and put her father in the hospital. And her worst was very, very bad.

  “Okay, let me think.” Black was pressing his fingers up against his temples. The drug wouldn’t completely leave his system, not for a long time. His pupils were still partially dilated and he might even have flashbacks and psychedelic episodes for a while. She had seen people on LSD before, arrested them and taken them in to lockup, and watched them pace and rant and rave and flee in terror when nothing was pursuing them. Just the way Black had done. Black was holding up well enough mentally at the moment, but how much longer would it last?

  “I’m okay,” he told her, apparently sensing her thoughts. Then he said it again, as if trying to c
onvince himself. “I’m okay now. I mean it. I’m in control. I know what I’m doing.”

  The fact that he was telling her all that probably meant that he wasn’t completely in control again, not yet. But he was good enough, maybe, tough enough to be intimidating and to kill Jaxy and her men, even going at half strength. He’d put Barto down in nothing flat, while still under the lingering effects of the acid. “I know you do. I’m very glad you are back. Because I didn’t know what to do. And I couldn’t keep this up by myself much longer.”

  “All right, let’s get a plan nailed down and go for it. We don’t have much time.”

  They discussed their options at length, and it turned out to be a fairly simple equation. Keep going down and find an opening that overlooked the sea at the lowest possible point in the cliff, maybe the place where Claire had called Novak, and try to contact help again with Barto’s phone. If the bad guys came a-calling down that way before then, they had to hunker down and kill everybody who showed up. Yeah, right. That was an unlikely plan, at least not a plan good enough to get all three of them out alive and in good health. They both knew it, too, but they had no other choice. No way could they fight their way out going up through the fortress and across the courtyard. So it was an easy decision and they made it quickly. She wished they could deposit Rico somewhere safe and get him out later. He’d been through enough during his stint with the Soquets. But it wasn’t safe to leave him anywhere, not anytime, not anyplace, not with Jaxy angry and on the prowl. She’d kill the kid this time just to get it over with, just to salve her fury over the death of her whacked-out brother. So he had to go with them, and they were all going to make it out alive. Damn it, they had to.

  Black grabbed an empty backpack out of the storage cabinet and stuffed it full of bottles of water, medical supplies, and all the foodstuffs he could find, which wasn’t much. Just a few crackers and the peanut butter. He ate some of them and drank a bottle of the water, and Claire and Rico did the same. Then Claire collected Rico’s father’s. 38 revolver and the ammunition he had deposited there, which wasn’t a lot of firepower. No way was there not going to be a big firefight with their captors in the near future, and she did not want to run out of ammo. So, the three of them took off down the main tunnel that honeycombed the rock cliffs, all three with their backpacks secured.