by Kells, India
Then, silence. Sully checked his ammo and he clenched his teeth. The shadow of the second man crept up closer. His best chance was to launch himself on the man and disarm him.
When the tip of a weapon came into view, Sully kicked and jumped on the remaining guard. The man was smaller than him and moved like an oily snake. He had to drop his own weapon to grab his attacker to throw him on the floor. Punching him twice, Sully twisted his arm to force the guard to let go of his weapon. Sully deflected a punch to the face, but the man kneed his ribs hard. He wheezed air, but rolled to give him leverage. Now on top, he punched the man a few times, until the guard wriggled away. That’s when Sully saw an opening as the guard twisted around. Sully grabbed him from behind and broke his neck.
The man fell boneless to the floor. Sully groaned as he got to his knees and his ribs screamed. As he got up, he retrieved his gun and seized the one from his attacker for good measure.
He was examining the door when he heard footsteps behind him. Aiming, he prepared to fire when he saw Lance leading a small group of men.
“Whoa, man. It’s only the cavalry.” His friend nodded, lowering his weapon.
“Right, but the cavalry usually arrives on time.”
“Hey! If you would have remembered the signal drops in a concrete building, we would have been here sooner. And if you would have waited, you wouldn’t be bleeding like a pig. Did he break your nose?”
Sully wriggled it and winced. “I don’t think so. Now that we’ve finished our little chat, Simon is behind this door.”
Lance’s face changed and became murderous. “The bastard is lucky if he still breathes one minute from now.”
“Lance, no. We need him alive in order to find out where he keeps the baby.”
Lance nodded, but Sully knew how he felt. It took him every ounce of self-control not to kill the man on sight.
He examined the door and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “I don’t know where this door leads.”
Lance dispersed his men and came to face Sully from the other side of the door.
“I kick it down, you fire. Try the legs, but if you miss, I won’t mind.”
Sully nodded and let Lance kicked the door. The room was empty. Simon had gone through the window. Well, the room was not that empty. The boxes he saw the guard carrying earlier were piled up in the middle of the room. Lance surveyed the area and gestured to his men to go out and circle the building.
“He’s long gone, Lance.”
“Yeah. What’s this?”
Sully came closer and they all seemed like plain cardboard boxes. All square, all identical, piled up as a small pyramid. On top, an envelope. Sully took it and examined it. Nothing written outside. When he opened it, he saw a greeting card. A wedding congratulations card.
Dear Sullivan,
I didn’t have the chance to congratulate you on your marriage to the lovely Gabrielle. Let me do so right now and offer you a little gift that will remind you of your wife.
Simon.
It took a second for Sully to understand the meaning of his words. He grabbed Lance and sprinted out of the room. “Run and run fast. It’s a bomb!” Lance picked up speed and yelled orders to his men, but they barely made it to the hallway door when it all blew up. The building flew apart and started collapsing around them. Sully estimated ten paces to the front door, and he pushed his body to the limit as he heard another explosion. Now he felt fire behind him and Lance screamed. Sully turned to his friend and a third deflagration resonated, sending them airborne. Sully landed and rolled, only feet from the main door. Well, what was left of it in any case. Not even looking around to see if there was still a building, he pulled a coughing Lance to his feet and both men dashed outside. Dust billowed like a thick mist and it was difficult to see their surroundings. One after the other, Lance’s men accounted for themselves. From a distance, sirens came closer and without a word, they all ran toward the market. Surrounded by people, it was the only camouflage they could get. Lance stayed with him as the other man dispersed in various directions. Lance blended more easily with the locals now, his light blond hair covered with dark brown grime and dust.
Sully dusted himself off the best he could and Lance coughed some more.
“Don’t say it.”
Lance rolled his eyes. “You stupid bastard. It was a trap from the start. Didn’t you see it, or did getting married burn all your brain cells?”
Sully didn’t have the patience to deal with his bad sense of humor. “Shut up! I knew it was a trap, I’m not a moron. But it was an opportunity to get closer to him, maybe kill him. You would have done the same.”
Lance turned his head and grimaced. “Not without backup, not without telling anyone where I was going, not without a damn missile launcher in my hand. If not for Gabrielle, we wouldn’t have known you intended to take such a risk. Hell, I can tell you how stupid you’re, man, but I know a better way to make you regret your actions and never do it again.”
Sully couldn’t help but grin. “I doubt you have that much power. And the admiral won’t spank me for it.”
The smile from Lance seemed more and more like a menace. “Oh, I wasn’t talking about the admiral. I can’t wait to spill the beans to your feisty wife, my friend.”
***
Gabrielle was walking through the streets after making her call to Bea, finding her way back to the consulate when something nagged at her. She knew she had to go back to the consulate; it was what she had told Sully. But as she made her way through the crowd, a word painted on the wall caught her attention. Durga? Strange. She had never really been interested in Indian religion, Hindu wasn’t it? So why Durga rang so many bells she didn’t know. Durga Temple was on the wall, beside an arrow. Her instincts were screaming for her attention, so she followed.
The street wound and started to climb a little. Another indication, another arrow, and she continued. The crowd thinned a little and changed. She was now surrounded by pilgrims and after another intersection, the view opened up and she saw it, the Durga Temple. It was immense and white with a red and golden roof. In a colorful procession, people walked toward it, some in prayer, others shooting pictures as if it was going out of style.
Gabrielle realized she looked like neither one of them and decided to make a quick detour to buy herself a blue embroidered veil—greatly overpriced, but she needed to blend in more. Swiftly, she wrapped herself into it, hiding her blonde hair and most of her face. The piece of cloth was so long, it covered her to the waist in a sea of golden flowers.
As a group of Indian women passed by, she lowered her head and walked among them. The temple was embedded on top of a hill, apart from the mundane of the city. It bustled with activities and Gabrielle couldn’t help but follow the endless flow of people pushing her forward. The inside of the temple was beautiful with carvings and paintings depicting the life of divinities. A woman, a goddess stood apart. The more she explored, the less she understood why the name Durga was significant. People around her were now whispering and she bowed, following the lead of the women around her. Deeper into the temple, the light dimmed and the perfume of incense became intense.
Gabrielle started observing the crowd, but couldn’t see anything peculiar, and certainly not Simon. At the name in her head, her thoughts veered instantly toward Sully. She hoped he was all right, he had to be. Lance was only minutes behind him and moving fast. And she couldn’t keep this pace yet. Even with all her might, her body would have betrayed her and Sully would have been forced to let Simon escape. They had a chance, she understood, even if her gut didn’t like it a bit.
People admired the temple or bowed to the altar and divinities in an endless procession. But not everyone. Her attention lingered on a man standing by a door in an alcove. He didn’t seem like he was guarding the door, but looks could be deceiving. And by the bulge in his vest, she guessed he was armed. Gabrielle let go of her cover and came closer to the alcove. When the guard turned, she bowed and kn
elt with other women by a statue. The gaze of the guard glided over her and he resumed his surveillance. Another man came into view. They spoke briefly and the first man left, replaced by a new guard. Guards in a temple? She could go with that. Caucasian guards in an Indian Temple, a little less.
Those two men were far from Hindu devotees. She got to her feet and resumed her procession. She didn’t see any more guards and decided to find out where the door could lead.
Never speeding up her pace, she got out of the temple and went to the gardens to her right. There were less people there and she rearranged her veil to make sure she was properly covered. As she suspected, there was no door leading outside. And from a structural point of view, a second story was out of the question. Which only left a basement.
But they were in a mountain, how could there be a basement? Or would that be some sort of hole underneath? A cave? The pieces came together, but it was still impossible to see the whole picture. She had to get back to the consulate quick; there must be a way to verify her theory.
When she turned back, she heard a thundering boom. The mountain shook a little. Earthquake? When people screamed, her eyes saw the smoke coming up from a building in the eastern side of the city. From her vantage point, the location was not close, but she could see it. Again, another detonation, and a tall flame speared the sky. The second time it was clear. It was a bomb. Gabrielle started making her way out of the temple when there was a third explosion and a fireball engulfed the building. The black smoke made it impossible to see the area anymore.
Gabrielle’s heart sank. Wasn’t that the exact direction Sully took in pursuit of Simon? Could it be related?
Her heart in her throat, she started to run, but the crowd was thick and she couldn’t break through. People yelled and cried as they went down the hill. Checking her phone, she discovered she didn’t have a signal. As she was going down, she could hear police sirens from every corner of the city. Even if she ran to the explosion site, by the time she’d get through, authorities would already be surrounding the perimeter. And she was way closer to the consulate. The choice was simple, even though she hated it.
***
Sully’s ears were still ringing from the explosion and Lance was coughing dust like a cat’s fur balls when they pushed the door of the conference room in the consulate basement. Both Beatrice and James were on the phone, mad as hell, from what he could see at least. Who he didn’t see was Gabrielle.
He made a face at Bea, mouthing Gabrielle’s name, but she signaled him to wait.
Sully ground his teeth. Where is she? She was supposed to make her way here and stay put, damned woman.
He was tempted to run and go see in the rooms assigned for their use a floor up when Beatrice finally hung up, her anger full blown at them.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing? May I remind you, gentlemen, we’re in a foreign country and blowing up stuff isn’t allowed. Particularly when we’re supposed to work under the radar!”
Lance stepped forward. “It’s not us, it was Simon. Sully was following him inside an empty building and the son of a bitch blew it up.”
Bea put her fists on her hips. “And it didn’t matter to you it was a trap? You decided to simply barge in and see what would happen? The plan was never to take him alone, Thorne.”
Sully didn’t have a lot of patience left. “I know it was a trap, but there was also a possibility of catching him, once and for all. Besides, we didn’t stay to welcome the cops.”
Beatrice lifted her hands. “That I know, but you may have forgotten that both of you and your men don’t exactly blend in this country. It’s only a matter of time before someone starts pointing a finger at the bad Americans. Especially that blond giant there. We were only supposed to find him, not blow stuff up.”
Sully had enough of talking. “Where is Gabrielle?”
Beatrice shook her head. “When she called me to ask for Lance and his men, she told me she was on her way, which in Gabrielle’s words would mean different things. I know her well. That’s why I began tracking her cell phone. It wasn’t an easy task, but as I suspected, she took a detour, but should arrive soon.” Bea glanced at her phone. “Two minutes to be exact.”
“A detour?”
Bea’s phone started ringing again and Sully was about to punch something when he heard footsteps hurrying down the hall. Lance opened the door to Gabrielle with a flourish and a mock smile, and before Sully could let his anger loose, she was in his arms, hugging him tight.
“Are you all right?” She took a look at Lance. “You’re both covered with dust and grime, I was sure you were in that explosion. As soon as I saw it, I came running.”
Sully took a step back and fingered the blue sari wrapped around her, sarcasm close to the surface. “You went shopping? That’s the reason why you didn’t come back here?”
He knew his tone was harsh, but he couldn’t shake off the fear that’d taken hold when he entered the room and she wasn’t there. Gabrielle crossed her arms on her chest. “I had a better reason than shopping for not coming here directly, Captain Thorne. Would you like to start your interrogation now, or would you rather remove the bug crawling up your ass before you do so?”
Lance whistled, but Sullivan ignored him.
Gabrielle didn’t, and turned to his swim buddy; finger pointing and ready to flatten the blond Norse on his ass. “And you? What do you say in your defense?”
Lance took a step back in mock surrender. “Hey! I came to the rescue of your husband.”
“Oh, and you did a fabulous job, didn’t you?”
It was now Lance’s turn to be offended. “We didn’t know Simon had rigged the place. And don’t get domestic on me because you’re mad at your man.”
Gabrielle took another step toward the angry SEAL in front of her and part of Sully was proud of her. She wasn’t afraid of anything, not even a man twice her size and strength. It was quite a feat.
“One day, Lance, you’ll fall in love with someone and he’ll piss you off to no end. Then, you’ll let me know how you would react.”
Folding his arms over his chest, Lance arched a brow. “Been there, done that. And you married him.”
Sully felt a punch to his gut. The whole atmosphere was surely about to take a turn for the grim … but Gabrielle started laughing.
“You’re one unique SEAL, Lance. I have to give you that.” And she did the unexpected by taking the tall man into her arms. “And I know now why Sully cares so much about you. You prickly, sarcastic bear.”
Lance returned the hug. “Yeah, that’s why I’m so lovable, you stubborn, ass-kicking ice queen.”
Gabrielle giggled as she let him go. “Now we’re all on the same page.”
Sully shook his head, his anger now at a controlled simmer. “Why didn’t you come back here after I started tracking Simon?”
Gabrielle angled her head. “You’re even more stubborn than I’m. You really want an answer?”
“Maybe because I almost lost you too many times already. It makes me more edgy than usual, so bear with me, honey.”
James came to stand beside them. “If you’re all done with the blaming game, we need to establish a plan and make a move fast. I just got off the phone with one very mad Indian minister. I told him we weren’t responsible for what happened and the fact that nobody got injured should have weighted in our favor, but it didn’t. Now that we’re all together, let’s report. Gentlemen first.”
Sully started by telling him what he saw at the market and his pursuit of Simon. Lance added more details, but what he was most impatient to hear was Gabrielle’s little escapade and how it would help them find Alie’s baby, and probably Simon.
Bea stayed silent but her eyes darted often to Gabrielle. As if she was assessing her.
When Gabrielle started telling them about the Durga and how it led her to the temple, and the link with the white guards, Sully listened and part of him understood why Gabrielle strayed. It occurred t
o him that his love for her made it more and more difficult to have any sense of perspective and detachment. She was in his blood, woven into him too tight.
James nodded. “I have a contact that may help us in finding out if there is something underneath the temple. Gabrielle, you have might have found Simon’s lair after all.”
***
Sully got out of the shower to see Gabrielle, sitting on the bed, a towel around her and her eyes to the wall. She was still in the same position he had left her, and he didn’t like it. It hadn’t been long enough since she’d had that vague expression on her face. It tore at him, and he had to take a deep breath as he crouched beside her. He couldn’t feel anything but relief when she turned her head and he didn’t see complete emptiness in her beautiful blue gaze.
“What’s wrong, Sully?” He saw the concern in her eyes as she pet his beard.