by KJ Kalis
Chase shook his head.
“Okay, so what do you want to do?”
Chase reached around into the backseat where the cooler with the ABG was sitting, still upright despite Chase’s driving, “I’m gonna walk up to the front door and see if I can get my family back.”
Jess swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. She looked at her phone for a second as Chase opened the driver side door. She looked at the text she’d sent to Jamison, seeing he replied and told her to wait. Glancing up, she realized Chase was already approaching the building. “We're going in,” she typed, quickly sending the text and shoving her phone in her back pocket.
Getting out of the car, Jess realized there was no way she could let Chase go in all by himself. In some ways, she’d gotten them into this mess. She had to see it through until the end, no matter what that meant, no matter the consequences. Gritting her teeth, Abby’s face emerged in her mind again, the image floating away as Chase slammed the car door. Getting out, Jess felt the late afternoon heat radiating up from the road, pressing up through the soles of her tennis shoes. She looked around. There was no traffic, no road noise from vehicles passing by. The area was largely abandoned, only the whisper of a breeze rustling the grass in the background.
Jess walked toward a small sidewalk in front of the building. Chase was already halfway up it by the time she closed the car door. As she trotted to catch up to him, every fiber in her body was tingling.
By the time she caught up with Chase, he was already at the door. He used his fist to pound on it, “Open up! I know you have Abby in there!” Chase stopped for a second, bending over, pulling a fistful of the vials of ABG out of the bag, wrapping his fingers around them and holding them up to a small window next to the steel door. “I have what you want. Now give me my wife and my daughter!”
Jess stood back just a little, her hands sweating, waiting to see what would happen. A second later, the door cracked open, a short man dressed in black tactical gear from head to toe motioning them in.
Chase disappeared inside. Jess looked back over her shoulder at the car. Everything in her wanted to run back to it and hide, waiting for Jamison, or someone, to come and help. But she knew she couldn’t leave Chase. She was the only backup he had. She swallowed and followed him inside.
For the most part, the building was dark. Jess stood just inside the doorway waiting for her eyes to adjust. The interior of the building was empty, save for the equipment and the set up for the kidnapping. Her eyes were drawn to bright lights in the corner where she saw a chain-link cage with bright lights hanging over it. A small figure was huddled in the corner. Abby. The breath caught in her throat, anger surging in her chest. She was alive and looked to be unhurt. But before Jess could yell for her niece, she heard a voice to her left. “Pat them down,” a man growled.
Landon Walker.
Jess knew exactly who it was. He looked exactly like the image she’d identified with facial recognition just a few couple hours before. He had a pistol drawn out of its holster, black gloves on his hands. It was pointed directly at them. Jess glanced around the room. There were three other men in addition to Landon, a taller man, and then two others that were similar in size to him. Jess tried to remember if they resembled the people she’d seen at the bank. It had to be the same crew. She felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck.
A voice drew Jess’s attention as she felt rough hands pass over her body. They weren’t polite. “They’re clean, boss.”
Landon stared at them, cocking his head. “Well, you must think that you’re awfully clever finding us here as opposed to waiting for the drop.”
Neither Jess nor Chase said anything.
Landon let the pistol slump down to his side, but he didn’t holster it. At least that was a step in the right direction, Jess thought, relieved he wasn’t pointing it at her anymore. “I’m guessing you are here to get your family back, Mr. Montgomery?”
Jess squinted at Landon. She was surprised by the relaxed tone of his voice. It was as if they’d been caught into a spider web, and Landon was the spider. A shudder ran through her body. They were standing in front of four armed mercenaries with nothing but hope to defend them.
Landon glanced at Jess, “You must be Jess,” he said, staring at her. “I think we met briefly this morning at the bank, if you could call it that.”
The way the words landed on Jess, she knew he was taunting her, challenging her to respond. She didn’t. Landon finally re-holstered his gun, and started pacing back and forth in front of them, “I can see that we need to make some adjustments in our mission planning for the future, huh, boys?” He nodded at the other three men. “A couple of civilians managed to get past our planning. We’ll have to talk to Colonel Foster about that. He won’t be pleased.” Landon stopped for a second and stared at Jess and Chase. Jess caught a glimpse of Chase, who was still holding the vials of ABG in his hand, his knuckles white from gripping them so tightly.
Landon stopped for a second, looking at both of them, “So, I suppose we should try to make the best out of a bad situation, don’t you think? You have something I want. I have something you want,” he said, nodding at Abby. Landon looked straight at Chase, challenge in his eyes, “Oh, don’t you worry, dad. Your little girl is unhurt. We haven’t done anything to her at all, at least for the moment.”
“Where’s my wife?” Chase hissed.
“I’m not exactly sure, to be honest. She was here at one point, wasn’t she?” Landon glanced at the other men, half a smile pulling on his cheek. Jess knew Landon was mocking them. No one moved.
Jess held her breath. It was taking every bit of her self-control not to bolt out of the door behind her. Landon was dangerous, far more dangerous than she’d ever expected. Not only did he have military training, but he was likely a sociopath. He was playing with them, batting at them with his long claws, like a cat with a mouse cornered. They were just play toys to him, something to be enjoyed. Question started to fill her mind. Would he actually make the trade? Why wasn’t Piper with Abby?” Jess swallowed.
“I see you’ve brought something to trade with, Mr. Montgomery,” Landon said, giving a short nod. “Is that the ABG?”
Chase was still holding the fist of vials. Jess closed her eyes for a second, hoping that Chase didn’t grip them so hard that it broke them. “Yes. Let’s get this done,” Chase said.
Jess watched Chase as he spoke. It was like they were stuck in a slow-motion movie. Jess moved her eyes down Chase’s arm. The knuckles that were holding the strap on the cooler were white. His other hand was balled into a fist, his lips pressed together into two white lines. It was the four mercenaries against the two of them. Chase was holding his own, but for how long, Jess wasn’t sure. Landon turned to her, “Are you expecting someone else to show up, Jess? Is that why you’re looking at the door? I can call you Jess, right?”
Jess didn’t answer, knowing that whatever she said he would use against her. She just stared back, locking eyes with him, a fresh wave of anger surging through her.
Landon looked back at Chase, “I can see your sister is a fighter. Sounds a lot like your wife, huh?” Landon folded his arms across his chest, “Yeah, Piper is a real fighter, especially in bed.” He cocked his head to the side, “I wouldn’t have taken you for a guy that likes such an aggressive woman. What are you, mild-mannered on the outside but you like it rough when the doors are closed?”
Jess watched Chase, willing him to stay calm. Landon was using tried and true psychological warfare techniques, ones that Jess had read about over and over again in her work, to try to break them down, but had never experienced. She sucked in a breath, trying to separate herself from the words coming out of Landon’s mouth, knowing they’d have to stay clear headed. If they weren’t careful, she and Chase would end up locked in the same cage as Abby. The only advantage they had was the fact that Chase was gripping the ABG in his fist.
Landon must have seen her pressing her lips together.
He turned back to her, “Would you like to say something? Did you want to comment on your brother’s sex life? I mean, I’m here, I’d be happy to make a go of it with you if you’d like. The bathroom isn’t big, but we could make it work.”
The other three men chuckled under their breath, as if listening to Landon tear apart Jess and Chase was some sort of sport. Probably to them, it was, Jess realized. She pulled in a breath slowly, willing her body to relax. Landon could clearly read signs of tension in a body. The last thing she wanted to do was give him any indication she was weakening. They’d never get Abby back if that was the case.
Jess didn’t bother answering. She glanced at the cage. Abby had gotten up from her spot on the bench and was standing at the front, her fingers looped through the chain-link. Abby was staring right at them. Jess wished there was some way she could tell Abby things would be okay. But she couldn’t. Worse yet, there was no way to promise that. Jess swallowed.
Chase straightened up, “Do you want this ABG or not?”
Landon raised his eyebrows, “Is it really the ABG? What happens if I test it?”
“It’s the ABG.”
Landon blinked and stared at Chase, “Do you know what will happen if it’s not really the ABG?” Chase stood, unmoving. Landon didn’t give him time to answer, “There are several options if it’s not really the ABG you’ve brought me, since the two of you were nice enough to join us here at our facility,” Landon said, extending his hand as if he were giving them tour of the local art gallery. He continued, sarcasm dripping from his voice, “We could simply take you with us. Now, I would have the option of leaving your sister and your daughter here. Oh, and your wife, too. If we can find her, that is. We can drag you off to one of our facilities and have you re-create the ABG for us at which point we will decide whether to let you go or not.” Landon glanced at the other men as if there was really an option to be discussed. “The other option would be that we kill all the women in your family in front of you and take you with us. Or, depending on my mood, we could just kill all of you and leave your bodies here. This building is abandoned, so there is no real telling when someone might show up to help. I have noticed there seem to be a lot of flies. They do a thorough job on a dead body.” Landon furrowed his eyebrows in mock concern, “That’s a problem, isn’t it? I think they eat eyes first.” He turned to stare at Jess, “I’m assuming you’re the one that figured out where we were hiding? You’re an intelligence analyst, correct?”
Jess didn’t say anything. The anger in her chest was building. Landon was working on the two of them, grinding away at whatever sense of normalcy they had, bit by bit. He was pushing them towards a reaction, one they couldn’t control. She had to stay calm if she wanted to keep her wits about her.
The tension in the room was growing moment by moment. One of Landon’s men shifted the rifle on his chest, lifting it a bit higher. Next to her, she could hear Chase’s breath going in and out, almost like he was panting. She said a silent prayer that Chase would stay under control. It was their only hope.
When Jess didn’t answer, Landon stopped talking. A stalemate. Landon looked back and forth at Jess and Chase a couple of times, as if he was calculating what to do next. From the computer set up behind them, Jess heard a couple of quiet beeps, the hum of the air conditioning in the warehouse kicking on, cool air filtering down and touching her skin.
Landon’s eyes narrowed, “Throw her in the cage with the kid,” he growled. He pointed at Chase. “Bring him over to the command center. Let’s get this ABG tested. Baker, send a message to Foster. Let him know we’ve been invaded and ask for orders.”
One of the men grabbed Jess by the arm, his grip so tight it pinched her skin. He gave her a shove and pushed her towards the cage, never letting go of her. As she drew closer, she saw Abby, who had slunk back to the corner, perched on the metal bench, her knees pulled up to her chin. The man who held Jess pinned her up against the cage with his body as he unlocked the padlock where Abby was trapped. Jess could smell his sweat and his breath as he pressed up against her. He didn’t use his hands, but his body was enough. She could feel the hard shell of his Kevlar vest across his chest and back, the corner of it digging into her side. Once he got the chain off the door, he shoved her inside with enough force that she tripped, having to catch herself on the back of the cage. Behind her, she heard the rattle of the chain being looped back around the gate. She watched as the man put the lock back into place, sealing her inside.
As soon as she regained her balance, Jess reached for Abby, wrapping her in her arms, “I am so sorry, honey,” she said, letting go of Abby long enough to look at her face. Glancing at the rest of her, Jess said, “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
Jess could see Abby was blinking back tears, “No,” she whispered.
Hugging the girl close to her, Jess glanced at the inside of the cage. There were two sandwiches and two bottles of water on the ground, uneaten, flies buzzing over the top of them. Letting go of Abby, Jess pushed the food away with her foot, under the gap in the fencing and outside of the cage. No one would be eating those. The shock of joining Abby as a hostage settled on Jess. She frowned. “Abby, where’s your mom?” she said quietly. Glancing around her before Abby answered, Jess noticed that Landon and his crew had dragged Chase away. She thought she could hear low voices in the background, but under the bright lights of the cage, it was difficult to see. It looked like all of the men were with Chase. They probably figured Abby and I aren’t going anywhere, Jess realized.
Abby grabbed Jess’s hand, her fingers cool and clammy against Jess’s warm skin, “I don’t know, Aunt Jess. They took her out one time and brought her back. She had a little cut on her neck. She wouldn’t tell me what it was from. Then, the same guy came and got her again. They went outside, I think. She didn’t come back after that. Maybe they brought her in a different way and put her someplace else?”
Jess didn’t want to be the one to tell Abby that her mom might not be alive anymore, but she needed to find out how much Abby had absorbed of the situation. “Okay, that’s good information. You could do my job for me! Tell me what other details you can. Did you hear anything? See how many people went outside with your mom?” Jess was treading lightly. Abby had already been through so much. There was no reason to traumatize her more, especially if nothing was confirmed. Maybe Abby was right. It was possible Landon stowed Piper somewhere away from Abby just to keep her off balance.
Abby stared down at the ground, chewing her lip, “I think three of the guys took my mom outside. The one that put you in here, he stayed with me. He just sat on that chair over there and ate sunflower seeds. It was gross. He spit the seeds out on the floor.”
Jess glanced toward where the chair was. Sure enough, there was a smattering of shells on the ground. At least it was better than chewing tobacco, Jess thought. “Okay, that’s good. What else? Did you hear anything else after they took your mom outside?” Jess knew she was fishing, but if they were able to get out alive, Abby was going to need help. The details in her memory might be able to help her heal.
“I heard a loud pop. I wasn’t sure what it was.”
Jess stroked the back of Abby’s hair. Apparently, Abby didn’t want to think about the fact that it could’ve been a gunshot. If she wanted to describe it as a loud pop, that was okay. Denial was okay for now. “That’s good, Abby. Really good.” Jess looked behind her. There was still no sign of Chase or the men. And there was still no sign of Jamison. They were all alone.
27
Landon didn’t know whether to be furious or grateful. The fact that Chase and Jess Montgomery had shown up on his doorstep with the ABG was like Santa delivering presents on Christmas. On the other hand, there was a serious flaw in their mission plan. Clearly, there was no need for them to go and stage at Hacienda Park and as far as he knew, all of their exfil plans were still in place. Following as Baker and Alvarez dragged Chase over to the table where they had the testing equipment ready to
go to the drop, Landon shook his head a little. Who shows up to confront a bunch of mercenaries without a weapon? Either Jess and Chase were naïve, or they were more brilliant than anyone he’d ever encountered in his career. Which one, he wasn’t sure just yet. He pushed the thought to the back of his head. What was important now was that Chase had done what Landon asked — he’d shown up with vials of something he claimed to be the ABG. Whether it actually was or not remained to be seen.
On a table behind the command center in the corner of the warehouse, Baker opened up a small test kit. He’d been trained during their mission prep to run the test on the ABG. With Baker’s background in bomb disposal and chemical warfare, he was the perfect one to do it.
Alvarez pulled a chair over and pushed Chase down into it. Chase was still gripping the vials of the ABG in his fist like a grenade. Landon tried not to snicker. What was he going to do? Smash them on the floor? If he did, that would get he and Abby and Jess exactly the same treatment he’d offered Piper. The one-shot cure.
Alvarez pulled the cooler out of Chase’s hand, almost having to pry his fingers off of the nylon handle, “Come on, man. Your way out is to let us test this. Don’t make it more difficult than it already is.” Finally, Chase let go of the handle of the cooler. Alvarez took it from him and set it on the table next to Baker, opening the lid. Landon looked inside. He saw a test tube tray that had vials sitting in it, their teal stoppers still in place. Off to the side was a sheet of paper. Landon pulled it out. It was filled with notations and chemical markers he didn’t understand. He shoved the paper at Alvarez, “Take a picture of this and send it to the chemist. Let’s see if this stuff is for real.”
As Baker took one of the vials out of the cooler, Landon stood back, his arms crossed over his chest, studying Chase. It wasn’t very often that he got to interact with his target. Usually it was get in, get them secured or eliminate them, and leave. Not a lot of time for chitchat. But, with the mission prep for this operation, he’d gotten to know the Montgomery family. He still didn’t understand why Piper would choose a man like Chase. From the way it looked to him, Chase was too quiet and too bookish, the kind of guy who had no hobbies and no interests outside of his test tubes and microscopes. Definitely not the kind of person Landon would want to hang out with.