Desperate for the weapon, the guard reached out for the pistol. Gray held tight, only able to watch and hold firm as the guard’s fingers stretched out. His fingertips reached a mere inch away from the pistol’s barrel. Sweat poured down Gray’s cheeks. Slowly the man slid from his grasp.
Gray focused his fist on the man’s throat, pounding again and again. The guard continued reaching for the gun in spite of the pain, his finger grazing the edge of the barrel. Gray beat harder, putting all his energy behind his fist.
The guard grunted with each hit, his breath coming harder. He pulled his hand back, no longer focused on the pistol, wrenching back and forth. Gray continued to pummel his throat without pardon.
Without warning the man's throat caved under Gray's fist. The guard gasped, his mouth wide, begging for air. He panicked for air. Gray continued to pound relentlessly.
The guard fought futilely for one last breath, his body writhing in agony and fear. Gray’s fist pounded again and again. Eyes wide and horrified, the guard stopped moving, his arms flopped limply to the ground.
Gray continued to pound, his body tense, adrenaline racing.
“Gray?” Austin called again. Gray snapped out of his adrenaline-induced fury. He paused, realizing the man was not moving. He let himself take in a deep breath and release his grip on the lifeless head. The guard’s face fell flaccid to the side. Gray pushed the dead body off his chest and onto the floor.
It no longer mattered how close he was to the pistol.
“Gray?” Austin called once more, his voice quieter, worried.
Gray starred down at the body. He had seen combat, fought at a distance. He had even talked down criminals in a standoff, but he had never killed a man with his hands. He shuddered, only now fully realizing what had happened. The necessity of the moment, the need to survive overriding everything else.
“Gray? Are you there?”
“Uh... Yeah. I… I’m here,” Gray stuttered, breathing heavily into the microphone. His voice shook, “I… uh… I was just a little busy.” He paused, settling himself. “Where were we? Double doors at the end of the room, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Austin confirmed, trying to hide the worry in his voice.
Gray jumped to his feet, forcing himself to focus on the mission. He stepped over the body and plucked his Glock from the floor.
“On my way.”
CHAPTER 60
January 31 at 8:05p.m. EST
Winchester, VA
The desire to break free pulsed through Ethan with every step. It was unnatural to allow them to carry him away. Against every instinct he obeyed.
The stink of rotting wood had become less poignant, but it was still there. The soles of his shoes were wet from the puddles littering the hallway floors. His heart raced. He could not decide whether it was the thought of freeing Kate or the fear of going into the lion’s den unarmed that stimulated his heart to pound.
Finally, they came to a halt outside a brown door. It was not unlike the many others that dotted the hallway, but this one was different. The shorter guard entered while the taller guard’s rifle encouraged Ethan to follow. He obeyed and stepped into a darkly lit room. A small desk set to the edge of the room, and a lone tack board hung from the wall. The guards stopped by another door.
“Sir, permission to bring in your guest?” The guard with the limp spoke into his headset. Ethan assumed permission had been granted as the guard pushed the door open. With a shove, the other guard pushed him forward with the rifle, “Move.”
Stepping forward Ethan entered a larger open space. It was better lit than the rest of the building, but the stench was stronger. Ethan crinkled his nose at the smell as he searched the room for Kate. His eyes landed squarely on Sean Abrams, standing in the center of the room, a smile lining his lips.
His eyes locked onto Abrams for a moment, glaring with hate, and then shot across the room to another familiar face. The shooter. Ethan took a quick glance at his neck where the dagger tattoo sat along his neck. He glared at the man, recording the Asian's deep brown eyes in his mind. The man returned his stare without flinching.
There was no sign of Kate.
“Welcome Ethan,” Sean greeted him slyly.
“Where’s Kate?” Ethan barked, louder than he had intended. Worry crowded his chest.
“Oh, don’t worry Ethan.” Sean assured him and stepped to the side revealing Kate strapped to a metal chair, her mouth taped shut.
Ethan’s heart dropped. Her face was marred by a bluish bruise just above her left cheekbone, her eyes stained with tears. A part of him went numb while another willed him to jerk forward to action. Against every impulse he stood his ground. He hated himself for not being there for her when she had needed him most.
“Kate…” He almost whispered, his voice shuddering. “I’m so sorry.”
“And that you should be,” Sean interjected.
“What have you done to her?” Ethan snapped at Sean.
“Oh now Ethan, she was well taken care of,” Abrams lied with an impish grin. “Now, she did cause a bit of trouble, so unfortunately I did have to rough the whore up a bit.”
“You bastard!” Ethan yelled, the heat built throughout his body. His heart broke.
Sean lowered his head, smiled and chuckled. “If you only knew the half of it Ethan.” Meeting Ethan’s eyes, Sean grinned, something wicked gleamed in those pale blue eyes.
Ethan turned away and peered into Kate’s eyes, “It’s going to be okay Kate.” He hoped he was not lying to her.
“Now Ethan, don’t be giving her a false sense of hope now.”
“Abrams, you said you’d let her go.” Ethan’s eyes were wide, begging. He knew Abrams could not be trusted, but how else could he appeal to the man.
“True, I did.” Sean agreed, nodding rhythmically as he stepped forward. He twisted on his heels ever so slightly to look back at Kate for a moment before returning his attention to Ethan. “I also said I was going to protect that Congressman down in Georgia too, now didn’t I?”
“You’ve betrayed the Bureau, your country,” Ethan accused. His eyes darting back and forth between Kate and Abrams.
“Betrayed the Bureau? My country?” Sean asked. A quizzical grin formed on his face. “Just depends on your frame of reference Ethan.” Sean paused for a second. “Well, maybe I did betray my country. Someone has to keep it strong though. I guess I’m just the man for the job.”
“The man for the job? What about Cerberus? You’re nothing special, just a pawn,” Ethan blurted out. He was bluffing. He hoped it did not backfire. “You were carrying out their orders, not the Bureau’s.”
Sean’s grin twitched at the organization’s name. Coming from the lips of an outsider, it burned him. His back straightened, his face became more serious. Sean recovered swiftly and let out a quiet laugh. “Maybe they are one and the same.”
CHAPTER 61
January 31 at 8:08p.m. EST
Winchester, VA
“Continue down the hall," Austin instructed Gray over his earpiece. "It’ll turn left up ahead and then I'll let you know when you're close to the right door."
Gray kept his pace slow and careful. He listened carefully to Austin’s instructions while he scanned the dimly lit hall.
“The room you’ll be in is adjacent to where Ethan is being held. You’ll have to hold there until I give the word.”
“Got it,” Gray whispered.
Since the encounter in the storage room, Gray had dispatched two other guards. One by surprise with a quick blow to the head, out cold. The other had proven a bit more difficult, requiring a more forceful touch. He eyed the blood-soaked cloth knotted around his arm.
Definitely going to need stitches.
His nose had finally grown used to the rotting smell, but each drip of water still sounded like an approaching enemy. It kept him on edge.
As he reached the bend, Gray put his back against the wall and peered around the corner. Quickly he pu
lled back. A guard paced the hall, walking in his direction. Gray waited a few seconds and peeked around the corner again. As his eyes made contact, the guard about-faced and stepped away in the opposite direction.
Gray took the opportunity, sprinting light-footed around the corner and down the hall, closing in on the guard. He failed to notice the water puddle just behind the man’s footsteps. Gray’s foot hit the puddle, splashing.
Dammit.
The guard swung around at the noise trying to take aim. Gray grabbed the rifle muzzle and wrenched it out of the man's grip and flat up against his chest. In the same fluid motion, Gray shoved his pistol hard against the man’s chest and pulled the trigger. Psst. Psst.
He grabbed hold of the man's body to steady him as his eyes glossed over and his body went limp. He let the body slide slowly to the ground. Gray holstered his Glock and took aim with the rifle in case someone had heard the noise. He checked the magazine, full.
“Alright Austin, how far am I?” Gray asked.
“The door is about six yards ahead to your right, Gray.”
Gray rushed forward. Once at the door he raised the rifle with one hand while reaching for the door handle with the other, ready. He took in a deep breath and shoved the door open and jumped forward rifle ready.
The room was empty besides a lone desk. A tack board hung on the far wall. He let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding back and let himself calm down.
“I’m in Austin,” he said. “Are we ready to go?”
“Not yet. It seems that Abrams is spilling his guts,” Austin informed him with a bit of pride. “Hold off for now.”
It was the hardest order he had ever had to follow.
CHAPTER 62
January 31 at 8:10p.m. EST
Winchester, VA
“So you think you know something about me now, because you know a name. Cerberus.” Sean jested as he puts hands up in the air shaking his finger mockingly. He looked to Ju-Long and smiled. “You don’t know shit.”
Ethan felt a cold chill run down his back, not from the weapon shoved tightly against his back, but from the realization he had been right. Abrams had been working for Cerberus.
“Well,” Sean considered for a second. “Since neither of you will be leaving here I see no harm in filling you in on a few details. Just to show you how easy it was.”
Ethan locked his eyes on Sean as his words become more proud and boastful. Kate sat to his side in her unforgiving metal chair, her eyes cried out to him for help. In time, they would both be out of here, if Gray made it soon enough.
“The Bureau sent me and a small team to infiltrate what they thought was an international arms dealer a few years back. They were right, partly. It was part of an arms dealing circle, but that was only part of it. The more we learned the more I realized I was being tested.” Sean explained. “Over the first several months I found myself moving up the ladder. I thought I was simply blending in well.”
Sean laughed faintly, “No. They were testing me. They knew me already. They let me move up to see how much I would do. It did not take long for me to realize that our goals were… aligned. In time they saw the same in me.”
“I read the reports,” Ethan broke in. “Your partners both ended up dead, one murdered, the other presumably of natural causes. But I think I know better than that.”
“Yes,” Sean agreed. “Yes, you do. Agent Lee was my initiation, a show of my willingness for brutality. Cunningham could have made a great career in the organization had he not lacked the vision. He could be relentless when necessary.”
Sean threw his hand in the air, “Some shit about God and country or something I believe it was. He simply was not a fit in the end. He had to be eliminated to ensure there were no loose strings. Sort of like tonight. That’s where Ju-Long comes in.”
“I believe you two have already met,” he pointed to his right where Ju-Long stood silently, his eyes glued on Ethan with no outward expression. “Ju-Long became my new partner soon after my initiation. I’d love to claim all the credit, but as you know already Ju-Long likes to get his hands dirty too.”
“Why the Congressman,” Ethan ignored Ju-Long, keeping himself focused. He needed something concrete about the assassination, something useful.
“The Congressman. Ah yes, you would be interested in that now wouldn’t you. You see, he was in possession of some, let’s say, valuable information regarding some U.S. weapons sales that had inadvertently ended up in the hands of Syrian rebels. ISIS, to name one. That information just could not become public. It seems when a whole village of civilians is wiped off the map people don’t take too kindly to it regardless of who it is.” He stopped for a moment of thought.
“He also was gaining ground on an amendment to the upcoming defense spending bill that would have threatened funding for many of our partners. And he was part of the movement to let the Davidson Act expire. No more military drones in U.S. airspace if that happened, and several partners were adamant about that not happening.”
Ethan tried to absorb the information. Suddenly the video of Abrams in Raleigh shot into his mind.
“Daniels. What about Representative Daniels in North Carolina?” he asked.
Sean cocked his head in genuine surprise, furrowing his brow.
“I know you were there,” Ethan asserted. “The surveillance feed shows you talking to the representative just moments before he was murdered.”
“Ah yes, the North Carolina Rep. So you finally figured that out.” Sean commented approvingly. “Let’s see, if I remember correctly, he was simply a growing threat in a race we could not lose. Something about being too anti-government, and he was already trying to impede drone usage and intelligence programs at the state level. He was planning to run for Congress. My handlers could not have that.”
“He was a father,” Ethan said, not knowing what else to say.
“He was,” Sean agreed, “But his son is dead anyway now. He died a few weeks later while in a coma if I remember correctly.”
Ethan squinted, confused. He had not known the late Representative's son had died. His heart heaved in his chest.
“I must say you had me a little worried at first. When I realized that my face was on the video I was sure you would be making a visit. But, you never came.” Sean grinned. “I thought about scrubbing the feed, but that would have been obvious. After a few weeks I realized you didn’t know.”
“Your investigations garnered the attention of the Council. They were worried you were becoming a threat.” Sean grinned, “We lured you to Georgia. We knew you could not turn down an opportunity to stop the Congressman’s death.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“I set up the plan personally. The town drunk, overly zealous conservative with a checkered history and a hint of bi-polar disorder. He played right into our hands. We knew he’d freak soon and let the word slip.”
“You mean when he called the Congressman’s office?” Ethan asked.
“Yes.”
“Are you saying that none of this would have happened had I not come to Georgia? The Congressman? None of it?” Ethan’s mind crowded with the realization he had been played.
“Oh no, don’t over estimate your importance Ethan. The Congressman was to die regardless,” Sean explained. “You were two for the price of one, well three. Can’t forget your buddy Jason.”
Ethan glared at Sean. He clenched his teeth. The heat rose in his face, adding to his already reddened cheeks.
“It all had to work out perfectly, and you two played right into our hands,” nodding toward Ju-Long.
“Why?” Ethan exhaled through clinched teeth. He wanted to burst out in anger, to throw every insult and angered thought he held in his head, but it would do no good.
“Why?” Sean asked with a raised eyebrow. “Cerberus, as you call it, requires that a delicate balance be maintained. War, the threat of war, surveillance, security technology, GMOs. Hell, I don’t even know half the shit
they invest in. Anything that keeps the money flowing in the right direction, and more importantly the strings of influence. Just enough to make the gentlest of moves send ripples through the pond. No one person holds all the information, and national borders mean nothing.”
Sean paced slowly, switching his eyes between Ethan and some lone corner of the room. “See peace is great for the average person. But it is worthless for those of us who desire something more, something more meaningful.”
Ethan was awestruck at the honesty and forthrightness. He had thought being right about Abrams, about Cerberus, would have felt better. Maybe it would bring some relief. No. Instead, the weight of it all seemed to bury him. It was much worse than they had imagined. If Cerberus was all Abrams claimed he was only the tip of the iceberg.
“We realize that power is the real objective. Money can lead to power, but real power comes from a structured, well maintained order. One made in our image. That requires that certain people be in places of authority, with just enough opposition to appear balanced, of course.”
“You’re manipulating the lives of millions,” Ethan started, “for your own benefit. Harming people who have no idea what is going on, who just want to live and be left alone.”
“It’s not simply for my benefit, it’s even for theirs. People need order, they need someone to help them along, to show them what they really need,” Sean retorted.
“Cerberus has been around for a while. They’ve tried numerous methods. Lords over their people, priests, tyrants.” Sean paused for a moment, looking toward Ju-Long before returning his gaze to Ethan, “Freedom.”
“The illusion of free will, of freedom, is a useful tool you know. Let people think they are free and present them with a danger to their so-called freedom, a fear. It’s amazing how much you can get them to deal with just as long as you tell them they’re still free.”
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