by KJ Kalis
Chase didn’t answer. As Jess got to him, she realized there was a puddle of blood underneath his head, coating his hair. She rolled him on his back. He blinked at her, his hand covering a wound on his neck. It was gushing blood. Chase looked at her, his eyes wide, “ABG,” he said, his voice garbled with blood collecting at the back of his throat, “My pants.”
Jess stared at him, “What do you mean?” Chase didn’t answer. Jess leaned over him, trying to see where his neck had been injured. Panic rose inside of Jess, knowing she had maybe a minute, if that, to try to help him. Frantic, Jess used her hands to pat him down, trying to figure out what he was saying about the ABG. He slid his right heel along the floor, setting his foot flat. He whispered something, but she couldn’t make it out. She felt down the leg he’d put on the floor and then to his sock. There was a lump in it. She lifted the cuff, finding one of the vials of ABG still stuffed in his sock. Glancing at it, she realized it was one of the test tubes they grabbed from Building B just a couple hours before. Chase must have brought it with him into the building in case something happened. How Landon’s guys missed it, Jess wasn’t sure. Maybe Chase had more street smarts than she thought he did.
“Got it,” she whispered as another volley of bullets raged overhead. She ducked down, still holding the vial in her hand. Pulling the stopper off, she replaced Chase’s hand with her own. The blood, dark in the shadow, started to ooze between her pale fingers. She knew she only had a second to pour the ABG onto the wound. Whispering a silent prayer that Chase’s invention would work on the man that created it, she parted her fingers just enough to pour the ABG into the wound. She poured slowly, not exactly sure where the hole was. After using about half the vial, she rolled Chase onto his side. He was going in and out of consciousness, his eyes closed, murmuring about Abby in a whisper, the blood loss clouding his thinking. Pulling her hand away, Jess could see where the damage had been done in his neck a little bit better. She poured the rest of the ABG on the spot, and waited, holding her breath.
From behind her, she heard movement. She covered Chase’s body with her own, as two black outfitted people came her way. If these were Landon’s men, she knew she was dead and likely Chase, too. Her heart pounded in her chest as she heard one of them speak, “It’s okay, ma’am. We’re here to help. Let’s get the two of you out of here. We’ve chased Landon and the rest of his men to the back of the warehouse.”
Jess rolled off of Chase’s body. One of the men was unfolding something that looked like a tarp with handles. She realized it was a sling the men could use to get Chase out of the building. The man that spoke to her whispered, “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Lieutenant Commander Mitchell sent us in here to get you out.”
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “But Chase, he’s got a neck wound. I used ABG on it.”
The man nodded as his partner pulled on a set of surgical gloves and stared at the wound. He squinted, putting his face close to the wound. “It’s closed,” the other soldier said, “but I can tell by the blood on the floor he’s lost a lot. We gotta get him outta here and to the ambulance now.”
The men rolled Chase’s body onto the gurney, one of them looking at Jess, “Okay, we’re going move him. I want you to follow right behind me, okay?”
Jess nodded, standing up, waiting for the volley of gunfire to start again. She kept her shoulders hunched low behind the two men as they lifted Chase up on the sling, one man at his head, the other man at Chase’s feet. Jess followed and made it as far as the entry to the offices when she heard gunfire again. All of them dropped to their knees for a moment, waiting for it to pass. One of the men seemed to be listening to the radio, probably getting more information from Mitchell as they waited. “Roger that,” he whispered into his headset. The soldier glanced at Jess, “the Commander said we can move. Walker and the rest of his crew are still in the back of the warehouse with our team. Let’s go.”
Jess stood up, ready to follow the men and Chase, when the gunfire started again. She turned, just in time to see shadows moving along the back of the warehouse, dodging between the barrels and crates that had been left there by whoever used to own the building. The building was probably owned by Colonel Foster or someone affiliated with him, just like they’d done with the mechanic’s garage. There was no telling how many properties Zeta Tactical Consulting owned throughout the world, using them as needed to stage crimes or as safe houses. Balling her hands into fists, Jess realized that somewhere in that warehouse, Landon Walker was still running around, probably with the rest of the ABG. Her chest clutched. That man had tried to single-handedly take down her entire family. Abby would have mental scars she’d have to deal with for years, it would be a miracle if Chase survived, and Jess still had no idea what happened to Piper. Was she alive somewhere in the building? If she wasn’t, how would Abby and Chase go on without her?
The questions swirled in Jess’s head. Every option was unthinkable. As the men started to move forward, Jess hung back, leaning against the doorframe staying in a crouched position. She knew she should follow Chase out to the ambulance and stay outside with Jamison and the military until things were safe, but something kept her where she was standing, her heart pounding in her chest, her breath ragged and her hands shaking. She couldn’t tell in that moment whether it was fear or fury, but it didn’t matter.
Jess glanced at the men who had Chase on the sling. They were only a few feet ahead of her. One of them looked behind and nodded his head, encouraging her to follow.
She didn’t.
Running back into the area where the warehouse expanded into an open space, Jess crouched again behind the crates where she’d first spotted Chase. The pool of his blood was still on the floor. She could make out the murky outlines from the bit of light that was pouring in from the windows above. Gunfire erupted again around her. Jess stayed in place for a moment, trying to figure out where the assault was happening. She covered her ears, the noise of the rifles going off nearly deafening her. As she glanced up, she saw what looked like two of Landon’s people crouched behind barrels at the other end of the warehouse. A third person stood at the bottom of the stairs, hunkered down. From what she could make out, it looked like he had something hanging on his wrist. Jess leaned forward, staring, trying to make it out. It had to be Landon. He must have the ABG with him, she realized.
The gunfire settled down for a second. Jess was just about to run forward when she saw two of Landon’s men, hiding behind barrels, start to fire again. It was rapid, preventing any of Mitchell’s men from moving forward, the rattle of bullets not stopping. Jess saw Landon start to run up the flight of metal stops. Where was he going? Without thinking, Jess crouched down and ran to the corner of the building and then turned left, staying low, hunched behind a few more crates. She had to get to him before he took the ABG and got away. Her mind raced with possibilities. Was Colonel Foster going to land a helicopter on the roof to rescue Landon and the ABG from Mitchell’s men? Jess set her jaw, staring forward. In her gut she knew it was now or never. Either she made a move to get to Landon or she’d have to turn tail and go back outside to see what was going on with Chase and Abby.
Jess glanced over her shoulder, looking back the way she came. In that instant she knew she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t do everything she could to protect Chase’s invention. Landon and his crew had tried to ruin their lives. It couldn’t be allowed. She needed to get the ABG back and get justice for her family.
Bent over, Jess took off, running, trying to avoid any stray bullets coming from Mitchell’s men. As she did, she looked up, seeing Walker running up the metal steps. He was already on the second leg of the three flights leading up to the catwalk. From where she was stopped, she could see there was one more flight above the catwalk, with light streaming in. The roof. She took off running again, skidding to her knees as bullets flew overhead. A second later, she took off again, ending up behind two of Landon’s men. They were so focused on what was going on in f
ront of them that they never noticed she was hunched against the wall. She stopped for a second, trying to catch her breath. Her lungs were burning. She glanced up. Landon was at the catwalk. Just ahead of her, Jess could see the first few steps of the metal rungs of the ladder. Staying low, she sprinted for them, taking the steps two at a time, trying to stay out of the gunfire. Every inch of her body was burning up from running so fast up the steps. As she got to the catwalk, she looked down. There was still gunfire going on between Walker’s men and Mitchell’s. She glanced up, seeing a shadow moving above her. Landon was up there with the ABG. Gritting her teeth, Jess ran up the last flight of steps, poking her head out through the opening in the roof. Walker was nowhere to be seen.
The roof was cluttered with a maze of mechanicals for the building, the blazing heat from the day having gathered on the roof, hovering above the space. Jess’s feet slid on the loose gravel as she ducked behind a large air conditioning unit. It was humming, sending cool air down into the building. Jess glanced around the corner and saw Landon standing at the edge. He was turned sideways as though he was looking for something off in the distance. Jess squinted, wondering if he was waiting for a rescue from Foster.
Jess ducked behind a few more protrusions from the roof — a set of pipes, another condenser and some other mechanicals she couldn’t identify — using them as cover. Moving as quietly as possible, she stayed low, trying to get close to Landon. She could see he was holding the cooler in his left hand, the strap wrapped around his wrist. He had a pistol dangling from his right hand. He didn’t seem concerned at all about the gun battle that was going on below him. He simply stared off into the distance, waiting.
Emerging from behind a metal box installed on the roof, Jess stood up, calling him, “Walker! I want that ABG back.” Her breath was so ragged, she barely got the words out. Watching him, she realized her heart was pounding in her chest and her mouth was bone dry.
Landon turned slowly towards Jess, a smirk on his face, “Jess Montgomery. You are the last person I expected to find on the roof with me. You want the ABG? Come and take it!” A sneer formed on his face as he pulled his pistol.
“All you need to do is drop the ABG. Just hand it over to me and I’ll take it back where it belongs, back to Chase.”
Landon raised his eyebrows, “To your precious brother? He has no idea what he’s created with the ABG. He’s nothing but an idealist.” Landon glanced down at the ground and then glanced back at Jess, “Actually, if he survives the day, I’ll bet that this experience is good for him. Your whole family, you're all a bunch of do-gooders. It’s time you toughened up. Well, except for maybe Piper. At least she liked to have a little fun.”
The words felt like a punch in the gut. Jess knew Landon was taunting her again. Chase did have people’s best interest in mind. Whatever Piper had done, that was between them. “There is nothing wrong with what Chase has done. You and that perverse organization you work for think you can take anything you want and destroy lives in the process. That’s just not going to be the case. Not today.” Before Landon could say anything else, Jess took off at a sprint, charging at him, aiming for the wrist that held the ABG. Walker caught her with a punch to the stomach that doubled her over. Jess felt all of the air leave her lungs as she collapsed on the ground. From the corner of her eye, she saw Walker toss the cooler ten feet away, where she couldn’t get to it. She laid on the ground for a second and then stood up again, lunging at his legs, hoping to tip him off balance. He dodged her and she ended up falling on the ground, skidding on her knees, the gravel digging into her skin.
“What are you going to do, Jess? I could shoot you and put you out of your misery, but I’m finding this kind of entertaining. You don’t have a gun. You don’t have any training. I could do this all afternoon.”
Before Landon could say anything else, Jess stood up and charged at Landon again, this time wrapping her arms around his waist, trying to wrestle him to the ground. She heard his gun clatter as he dropped it, pulling her towards the edge of the roof. In her ear, he hissed, “It’s a long way down, Jess.”
Jess couldn’t breathe, panic rising in the back of her throat. As he dragged her to the edge of the roof, she caught a glimpse of some pipes out of the corner of her eye. She caught one of them with her heel and then wrapped the other leg around them, preventing Landon from pushing her over the edge.
On her side, Jess’s head and shoulders were over the edge of the building. She glanced down, some gravel from the roof dropping the three stories below, raining on the sidewalk. Terror rose in her throat. The only thing preventing her from falling was the strength of her legs, which were burning. “Almost there, sweetheart. It’ll be a fun ride down,” Landon said, kicking at her legs, trying to get them to come free. Jess twisted away, lunging for Landon’s gun, which he’d left lying in the gravel after it fell. In one move, Jess landed on top of it, covering it with her body, grabbing at the grip. She felt Landon jump on her back, punching her in the back of the head and the kidneys, trying to roll her over. She saw spots, the pain in her body excruciating, the breath leaving her lungs. Jess reached her hands around the grip of the pistol underneath her and tried to roll away. As she did, Landon ended up straddling her, landing a punch to her face. More spots formed in front of her eyes. Without thinking, she lifted the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger.
Landon’s eyes went wide as his body collapsed on top of her, the full weight of him pressing down. Jess’s hand was still pinned underneath her, the gun still wrapped in her fingers as he died. Barely able to breathe, her eyes wide with panic, Jess wriggled out from underneath him, leaving his body face down on the gravel, the pistol still in her hand.
“Over here!”
Jess heard yells coming up onto the roof, the sound of boots on the roof. Without thinking, she crawled on her belly to get the cooler with the ABG, wrapping the strap around her wrist as two of Mitchell’s men approached her. She curled herself into a ball, hugging the cooler to her chest, Walker’s gun still in her hand. One of the men knelt down in front of her, pulling off his helmet. “You’re okay, Jess. We’re here to help. I need you to let go of the pistol, okay?”
She stared at the soldier in front of her, the tip of his rifle resting on the gravel as she stared down at her hands. They were covered in blood. Walker’s blood. She opened her fingers just enough to let go of the pistol, still clutching the cooler of ABG to her chest. She closed her eyes knowing she’d gotten Chase’s ABG back.
29
The next few minutes were a blur. The two men on the roof became four and then a team of medics joined them. As one of the medics examined Jess, he looked at her, “Are you able to stand?” She nodded, whispering, “I think so.”
The medic looked at her and nodded. “Good. We’re gonna help you get downstairs. Walker beat you up pretty good. We’ve got an ambulance standing by. They’ll get you checked out.”
As Jess stood up, feeling the strength of the two men lifting her, her legs felt wobbly, pain in her head burning from where he’d punched her. She glanced to her right. Landon’s body had been covered with a yellow tarp. How long it would stay on the roof, she wasn’t sure.
The medics guided her back down the metal stairs, a team of paramedics meeting them at the bottom of the steps with the gurney. Jess sat down slowly, feeling every ache in her body. She felt straps being secured around her as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The wheels of the gurney rattled on the concrete floor as it passed back through the space, through the offices, then to the area where Abby had been held. Jess opened her eyes enough to see techs working on the command center, the bright lights over the cage having been turned back on again.
As they pushed the gurney out of the door, she heard Abby’s voice, “Aunt Jess! You’re okay!” Jess looked up in time to see Abby and Jamison standing at the foot of the gurney.
She nodded. “Okay enough. Where’s your dad?” Jess said, her eyes going wide. “Is he okay?”
Tears rolling down Abby’s face, “They said you saved his life. You used his invention to help him.”
Jess nodded. “He’s a clever man, your dad. He had just enough in case of an emergency.” Jess reached out her hand and squeezed Abby’s. “It’s all over, honey. Everybody’s okay.” As the words left Jess’s mouth, she realized that she hadn’t seen Piper. She felt confused for a moment and then glanced at Jamison, who shook his head ever so slightly. Jess closed her eyes for a second, biting her lip.
The paramedics rolled Jess’s gurney over to the back of an ambulance, where they put a blood pressure cuff on her and started an IV, looking for wounds. Jamison had stayed right by the gurney, Abby trailing behind, “Where’s Chase?”
“Over there,” Jamison said, pointing. “He wouldn’t let them take him to the hospital until he knew you were okay.”
As Jess glanced over toward the ambulance, she saw Abby standing nearby, holding her dad’s hand. Jess looked at Jamison, “What happened to Piper?”
“Mitchell told me they found her body in the dumpster behind the building. Single shot to the head.”
Jess turned her head to the side, tears rolling down her face. The day had been too much. Jess had done more that day than she ever thought she could. But Abby was safe and the ABG was back where it needed to be.
Her dad was right. She was stronger than she thought, Jess realized as they loaded her into the ambulance, the doors slamming closed.
Epilogue
After a few hours of sitting in the emergency room, Jess was released with a black eye and two broken ribs, plus some scrapes and abrasions from wrestling with Walker. Chase had been rushed to surgery to repair his carotid artery. The doctors had received a full briefing on the phone about ABG from Charlie before they worked on him. When the surgeon came out to talk to Jess and Abby, he shook his head, “I have to say, in all my years as a surgeon I’ve never seen anything like this. What your brother has developed is a game changer for us as medical professionals.” Jess reached down and squeezed Abby’s hand, looking at her, “You should be proud of your dad.”