Darkest Day (StrikeForce #3)

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  So I took Chance’s shift, which was mostly uneventful other than the constant sight of phones lifted to capture images of me and Amy during our time out. Amy thought it was funny, but I was less than amused.

  When I got back, I ate quickly in the dining hall, doing my best to not bump into Ryan, and ended up in David’s lab, sitting around while he worked on some of the surveillance equipment he wanted to use when I went out. As usual, while we sat around, Jenson was doing seventeen things at once. Literally. She had split herself up again. One Jenson was monitoring the closed circuit traffic feeds and security cameras we were tapped into, one was listening to the police band, one was testing out equipment for David, and another was sitting with me.

  “So how much of you is here when you do this?” I asked her. She grinned, and the other three Jensons did the same thing.

  “That is creepy as fuck,” I muttered, and David laughed.

  “It’s hard to explain. It’s all me. I’m a natural multi-tasker, so the other Jensons are just as focused on their tasks as I am on sitting here talking to you.”

  “Is there any difference between you and the multiples?”

  She shrugged. “All of my emotions, as far as I know, are in the original me. They have my knowledge and skills, and they do a good job of seeming normal, but if you watch them for a while, you can tell they’re not me. They’re a little stiff, smiles are clearly kind of plastered on. But it’s good enough.”

  “So what if one of your multiples got hurt?” I asked.

  “I’d feel it. Just as strongly as if it was happening to me, because it is. I lost one of my multiples once,” she said quietly.

  “Lost?”

  “She was killed,” she said.

  “Holy shit,” David said, setting down the sensor he’d been messing with. “You never told me that.”

  “It was a long time ago. I still kind of feel a weird emptiness. I don’t want that to happen again, for sure.”

  I stared at Jenson. “So you feel what they feel. And you felt the actual death?”

  She nodded. “Nightmare fodder, for sure, feeling yourself, or one of yourselves, die.”

  David and I exchanged a glance he was about to say something when camera-monitor Jenson spoke up.

  “I’m pretty sure this is Maddoc,” she said, pointing at one of the feeds. Real-Jenson and I stood up and went over to her.

  “That’s him,” I said. He was outside of Damian, A.K.A. Virus’s house, which we’d been monitoring since I joined the team, hoping to catch any of them around. Maddoc had pulled up in the driveway, and I watched as he came out carrying what looked like a large garbage bag, then a few other bulky things. Boxes, a rug.

  “I’m going,” I said.

  “Extra uniform is there,” David said. “I’ll go too.”

  “No, you guys stay here,” I said, going to a closet and pulling the extra black uniform out of the garment bag he had it stored in. “I can handle him, and I want to follow him a bit and see where he goes. Might lead us to Killjoy or somebody else who can lead us to him.”

  Jenson sighed. “Just be careful. Keep your comm and body cam on, okay?”

  I nodded, finished pulling up my uniform, then pulled on my boots, gloves, and, finally my mask.

  “Everything working?” I asked David, and he shook his head. “This one’s on the fritz. That’s why I had it stored away.”

  “Damn it, David,” Jenson said, glaring at him.

  “I didn’t think we’d need it right away,” he answered.

  “You should go up and get your other armor. The one you used the other night,” Jenson said.

  “Maddoc is on the move, heading East on Jefferson,” the Jenson monitoring the cameras told us.

  “It’s fine,” I said. I didn’t want to risk losing him. Jenson told me to be careful and I nodded, then headed out and made my way quickly to a flight deck and took off.

  Within minutes I was flying over Jefferson, eyes on the traffic below.

  It didn’t take long to spot the big black SUV speeding through traffic. It was just like Maddoc to totally ignore the speed limit.

  I kept my eyes on his car as I flew far overhead. My heart was pounding, energy sizzling through my body. I was almost giddy with it. There was a point in time when Maddoc was my biggest nightmare, literally. I couldn’t even recall how much sleep I’d lost due to the nightmares I’d suffered from after the face off with him, the one that had almost killed me.

  Now, my nightmares were so much worse, and he was nothing but a meaningless piece of shit, a tool to use to get what I wanted. I’d check out the contents of the car later. What mattered now was making him understand what pain really felt like. Oh, and getting answers. Of course.

  I watched the SUV, barely blinking, determined not to lose it.

  This. This was what I needed right now. This was simple. Easy. There were no complications here. The only thing I’d have to figure out would be how much I’d hurt him before I took him back to Command. That would depend a lot on how much he spilled about Killjoy, and how quickly.

  Maddoc drove a while longer down Jefferson, then pulled into a driveway at a house on Grand River. Big old houses. Once upon a time, the area had been a neighborhood full of doctors and lawyers. Now, most of the big houses were subdivided and leased as apartments. I had the feeling Maddoc didn’t live in an apartment. He seemed like the type who wanted the big house, the big car.

  Overcompensating much? I wondered.

  I watched as he pulled into the garage. His yard had a nice high wall around it, which would make my life easier. Less likely some concerned neighbor would try to call for help or anything like that. He stepped out of the garage, and I landed, hard, a few feet away from him. There was something satisfying about the way the concrete cracked beneath my feet under the impact, the way the earth shook.

  The tiny fraction of a second of fear on his face.

  He opened his mouth to talk, and I sent a blast of power at him, sending him flying back into the brick wall of the garage.

  Again.

  Again.

  “Come on, Maddoc. Don’t you want to fight me?” I asked. My voice was cool. Calm. It matched everything I was feeling inside. “Don’t you want to show me what a big scary man you are?” I asked in a sarcastic voice.

  He got up and started charging for me. I toyed with him, letting him think he was getting close, and then I sent another push out at him and sent him flying.

  “What’s the matter? Too much for you?” I asked, stalking toward him. He leapt up with a snarl and charged me again. He was big and stupid, and all I had to do was step aside, then turn around and hit him again as he ran past me. He fell back against the wall again with a groan and I stalked over to him.

  “Come on, bitch,” I said. “What was it you said that day you broke out? That you’d see me later. I got tired of waiting for you.” I held my hands up. “Here I am.”

  “You’re fucking crazy,” he muttered, swiping the blood away from his mouth.

  “Wonder how the fuck that happened,” I said. And I punched him.

  An actual punch. I’d be surprised about it later. It hadn’t been as fast or hard as I’d once been able to punch, but it was enough to send his head rocking back against the wall.

  “Where’s Killjoy?” I asked him, and he started laughing, blood leaking from the side of his mouth.

  I hit him again, and his head hit the brick wall hard.

  “Think this time. Where’s Killjoy? Which hole is he hiding in?”

  “You still worried about Killjoy and which holes he’s messing with? After everything he did to you?” Maddoc said with a bubbling laugh. I reached out to punch him again, and he took the opportunity to grab my arm and fling me away and to the ground. And then he was stalking toward me, his face a mask of rage, blood and bruises everywhere. I popped back up and kicked out at the side of his knee, but he dodged it just in time.

  “Slow as fuck,” he snarled, trying to hit
me.

  I ducked. “We’re not talking about your mental capabilities right now,” I said. “Where’s Killjoy?”

  He punched out, and I ducked, but he managed to catch my chin, just a little. Unfortunately with Maddoc, and the strength he has behind him, just a little bit was enough to rock my head back at the impact. He used it and punched me in the stomach at full force and I went flying across the yard, hitting the stone wall at the edge of his yard.

  “You kidding me, you dumb bitch? Coming to my house threatening me?” He pulled his arm back to hit me and I ducked and sent a quick blast of power out at him. It did what I wanted. It knocked him back while I tried to regain my breath from that punch to the gut. It wasn't quite enough and he landed a hard punch to my side. I felt something crack and it took everything in me not to bend double in agony.

  “Killjoy shoulda killed you that day. He could have,” he said, coming after me again. “He could have, but he didn’t. Fucking weak on his part, still thinking after all that that he could turn you, that he could have you. He’s still waiting for you.”

  I sent a blast of power at him, knocking him back again. I winced and forced myself to focus. He was talking. I had to keep it that way.

  “The sex couldn’t have been that good,” he taunted. “Or maybe it was. You trashy girls must have something going for you.”

  I swallowed, hit by a wave of nausea thanks to the pain I was in. The weird thing was, it all gave me something to focus on. He lunged for me again and I rose into the air and landed behind him.

  “No, no. Don't do that flying shit. You came here for me, come on,” he said, gesturing for me to come at him. “You came for me,” he repeated. “You’re gonna see what a mistake that was.”

  I laughed. It hurt like shit, but I laughed. “You are so pathetic. You know you're nothing to him, right? You get your ass kicked, provide all his muscle, and you don’t mean a damn thing. Just like everybody else.”

  “Aw, did Daystar get her heart broken? We’re not all garbage to him. Just you.”

  “But apparently he wants me,” I said.

  “Delusional asshole. I think that injection Death gave him is starting to mess with his head.”

  He got a look on his face like he’d said too much, and he charged me. I smiled under my mask. If Killjoy was losing it, he’d slip up eventually. And I’d be there waiting.

  “Where is he, Maddoc? Last chance,” I said.

  “You’re such a stupid bitch,” he sneered. He started walking toward me, flexing his hands in a way that reminded me of what it had been like having his hands around my neck, crushing the life out of me. I reached behind me and pulled the gun out of my belt, held it up the way Ryan had showed me. Maddoc stopped short. “You’re not gonna use that. You gonna kill me?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Not very hero like.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  My finger flexed on the trigger, and Maddoc tried to run.

  I pulled, and the gun went off with a weird, hollow sound.

  And then Maddoc fell to the ground, his body twitching.

  I looked down at Maddoc. Now I had to fly him to Command and hope he stayed out until we had him secured. I slipped the stun gun back into my belt, then bent and went through Maddoc’s pockets. Two phones, a wallet, a small bag with a few pills in it. I glanced at them, then shoved them in my belt pouches along with the phones and wallet. I took a dampener out of my belt and put it around his neck and activated it, then I cuffed both his wrists and his ankles.

  I was about to stand up when a wave of nausea swept over me, courtesy of all the pain I was in.

  “Nope,” I pleaded, knowing that if I threw up now, it would only make my ribs hurt more. I heaved, and the world went dim as I almost passed out from the pain. I managed to avoid actually getting sick, but it still hurt like hell. I was dizzy, and I gulped for breath. I stayed on all fours for a bit, then looked at Maddoc.

  It had all been worth it. I had Maddoc. I had his phones, which, who knew what we’d learn from them. I had some leads. And we had Maddoc. I’d break him eventually.

  Or, I’d at least break enough of him that he’d want to do anything to get rid of me. Either way, I’d find out where Killjoy was hiding.

  I forced myself to stand, then took a few long slow breaths to steady myself. He would be out for a while. I pulled the keys out of my pouch and hit the button to unlock the SUV and disable the alarm. I opened the back door and pulled out one of the boxes he’d shoved in there. Money, electronics. He’d been cleaning Damian’s house out? “What an asshole,” I muttered. I set the box down on the garage floor, wincing at the pain that came with every movement. The rug was next, and I pulled that out and kicked it open on the driveway.

  It was almost impossible to miss the enormous reddish-brown stain on the cream-colored design. My stomach turned, and I slowly looked back at the SUV.

  Specifically, at the big black garbage bag Maddoc had loaded into the SUV. It was one of those heavy-duty kind that they sell at home improvement stores for cleaning up construction debris and crap like that.

  I walked toward the back of the SUV and pulled at the bag. Whatever was in it was heavy, and my stomach turned again. I clamped my mouth shut hard and untied the top of the bag.

  And was met with the sight of Damian’s pale face.

  I moved to the side of the garage and pulled my mask up just before I emptied my stomach, my ribs screaming in agony the entire time. I was dizzy with the pain, black spots starting to appear over my eyes.

  “Jesus Christ,” I moaned. I heaved again, and the pain this time was enough to bring me to my knees.

  I forced myself to breath and to try not to think about what I’d just seen.

  Maddoc. I had to get him locked up, put away. I had to get answers from him.

  Because now there was one more death on Killjoy and his team’s hands.

  And, one more death on mine as well, because Damian never would have gotten involved with Death and his crew, and, therefore, Killjoy, if it hadn’t been for me.

  “Okay. Maddoc first,” I told myself, forcing my body up and on my feet. I closed up the car and locked it, then closed the garage. I’d have Portia send whoever dealt with shit like this later. I took one more painful breath and pulled my mask back down over my mouth.

  I walked back to Maddoc, who was still out cold. I wanted to kick him. Hit him. Shoot him with a gun that had actual bullets instead of the stun gun I’d started carrying. I was feeling anything but heroic. Damian, who everyone else knew as the villain Virus, had been weak, and a bit of an asshole, but he hadn’t deserved that.

  I gave Maddoc’s prone form a look of disgust, then hoisted his gargantuan bulk overhead and settled him onto my shoulders, the effort making me dizzy again as I gritted my teeth against the pain.

  “Worth it,” I repeated. There wasn’t a single thing I wouldn’t do to get answers, even more so now. I was prepared to do, to give so much more before this was all over. And it was all worth it.

  I rose into the sky and flew as quickly as I could toward Command. The cool air cleared my head and relieved the dizziness. Maddoc was a dead weight over my shoulders. He wore too much cologne, and I rolled my eyes. I had no problem with a good cologne, but why did some guys think they had to bathe in the shit? But I guess it fit with Maddoc, overdoing everything. That whole overcompensating thing. I let my mind focus on that, rather than Damian’s end.

  Command came into view, and I picked up my speed a little, ready to get in there and get him secured. I reached the entrance bay, and the the two guards on duty stared, eyes wide as I landed.

  “Do you need any help, Daystar?” Dalton asked.

  “No thanks.”

  “Nice job,” the other guard, Morris, said with a grin. I nodded, then carried Maddoc toward the elevator, took it down and made my way toward the detention facility. As I walked through the corridors, I earned more than a few stares. A couple of the guards followed me, ready
to help if Maddoc woke up. When I entered the detention facility, Samantha, our new lead guard, stared at me open-mouthed.

  “I didn’t know he was coming in,” she said.

  “Neither did I. Got lucky. Where are we taking him?”

  Samantha snapped out of it and hurried toward the men’s wing, to the cell at the end. The one with reinforced doors and walls. The same one Maddoc and I had battled in the day his dampener had malfunctioned. Or, as we suspected, the day someone had messed with his dampener somehow so he’d have a chance to get free. One more thing we still had to figure out.

  The other detention guards stared as I walked past. We’d tripled the number of guards in the facility since the day Maddoc and the others had been broken out. I dumped Maddoc in the chair in his cell, and the guards went to work adding stronger dampeners, clamping his wrists and ankles to the chair after changing him into a detention uniform and inserting a catheter.

  Nobody was going to give him a chance to get loose again. He’d be fed via IVs and he’d piss through a tube. I didn’t even feel bad for him, even though I’d been in a fairly similar situation when I’d first been taken by StrikeForce. I’d sworn then that it was a messed up way to keep people under control. Most of those we detained now could move freely around their cells. Toilets and sinks had been installed. Lower risk detainees were kept that way. People like Maddoc, though… we couldn’t take any more chances and I had zero qualms about it. We had him until he gave us some answers. Once he did, we’d turn him over to the Tribunal just like we were planning to turn over all the rest. They could deal with it.