Jeff sighed and leaned back in his chair. “No, I don’t. But some things happened on the last job…I have some things I need to confirm.”
Angela huffed. “Can you take at least one night off?”
Jeff rubbed his eyes. He looked at the clock on the wall behind Angela. It was already getting late and he wasn’t really anywhere he could stop. “I guess you’re right. Maybe I can take one night off.”
“That’s more like it.” She placed her hands on the desk and leaned over it. Jeff rose to meet her and their lips pressed together. Angela broke the kiss. “Now, how about we order a pizza, open up a bottle of wine, and then I can spend the rest of the night making you forget whatever it is that’s had you so distracted all week.”
“I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.” Jeff was about to sit back down, but Angela pointed at him in a warning.
“Don’t even think about getting back behind that desk.” She pointed to the open study door. “Go lay on the couch, I’ll get the wine.”
Jeff chuckled and held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, I got it. I’m sorry.”
Angela left the study first and Jeff followed her. He walked passed her through the living room and sat on the couch. Angela went to the liquor cabinet but frowned when she opened the doors.
“Damn, out of wine.”
“I can run out to the store—”
“No, you stay there,” said Angela. “Order the pizza, I’ll go get us a bottle. Should be back before it gets here.”
“And who’s to say I won’t go back into the study while you’re gone?”
“You do and I’ll shoot you the second I get home.” Angela crossed the distance to the couch and sat on the armrest. “Seriously, what’s this all about?”
He shook his head. “I dunno. I don’t want to say anything unless I know for certain.”
“Jeff, come on. We’ve never kept stuff like this from each other. If there’s a job that’s frustrating you this much, maybe another pair of eyes can help. I know it’s technically against regulations but—”
“It’s not that.” Jeff sighed. “Okay look. Let’s just relax for now. When you get back, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Deal.”
***
“He was going to tell you what he’d learned about the Agency, and we couldn’t have that,” said Quartermain. “He knew too much and something had to be done.”
Angela narrowed her eyes, fixing a cold stare on Quartermain. “You.”
He gave a nod and stood. “That’s right. I broke into your house after you’d gone and I put a bullet in his head.”
“That’s why the Agency wouldn’t investigate the murder,” said Angela. “Because they’re the ones who ordered the hit.”
“Now you’re getting it.” Quartermain took another puff on his cigar. “Wanted to take you out, too, but Chandler thought we could control the situation. Get rid of Beam but still keep you in play. I warned him it was risky to not give you a patsy, and it looks like I was right. First chance you got, you faked your death and hooked up with Infernum. And now here we are.”
Vincente made another cut, but this one was deeper than before. Thick, dark globs of blood oozed from the wound. Angela cringed and tried to focus on her breathing.
“You’ve caused us a lot of trouble, Lockhart, and it’s all been for nothing,” said Quartermain. “The man Dante promised you had nothing to do with your husband’s death. So you might as well give up Samarin and we’ll let you live.”
“How do I know you won’t just finish the job you wanted to do all those years ago?”
“Good point—you don’t.” Quartermain leaned against a row of empty shelves. “But then again, maybe we can find another way to track down Samarin. We found him once before, in that prison. We can find him again. Without anyone to help him, it won’t be long before he slips up.”
Vincente circled around her and pinched some of the flesh on her back. Angela clenched her teeth as she felt the edge of the weapon. The blade began cutting into her flesh, and from its movement and pain it caused, she knew that Vincente was beginning a type of lingchi torture—slicing off pieces of the body.
“Now he’s getting serious,” said Quartermain. “Seems at this point, the only real option you have left is to tell me what I want to know.”
Vincente pinched another bit of skin and started to separate it from her back. Angela opened her mouth in a soundless scream as she felt the pain of the blade slicing into her flesh. She could feel the blood running down her back and resting along the line of the dress she wore, seeping drip by drip down her spine. She strained against the zip-ties that bound her wrists to the chair and the needles Vincente stuck in her hands.
But still, she managed to remain defiant.
“Bill…” she said in a harsh whisper. “Go fuck yourself.”
Quartermain drew the revolver from the shoulder holster and held it up. “I’ll make you a deal, Lockhart. Tell me what I want to know, and I can end this quick. You’ve already lost everything you had left to live for.”
He raised the gun and placed the barrel against her head.
“Your entire adult life, you’ve been used by everyone you thought you could trust. Draconi brought you into the Agency, using you as their assassin. Then Dante used you as his and still is. Even Pierce tried to use you as a way to damage Infernum. Aren’t you sick of the puppet show?”
Quartermain teased the trigger, rubbing it with his finger.
“Admit it, there’s nothing you want more than for me to pull this trigger and end it all right now.”
Angela shook her head against the barrel, her eyes raising up to meet him. “No, there’s still one more thing I need to do before I check out.”
Quartermain’s smile widened. “Do tell.”
“I’m going to get out of here. I’m going to let your attack dog know what real torture feels like.” Angela’s next words were spoken with a grim determination. “And then, I’m going to blow your fucking head off.”
Quartermain scoffed. “That’s something I’d truly like to see.”
“Give it time, you will."
CHAPTER 15
Julie pounded on the heavy freezer door and shouted through it, calling for Quartermain’s help. She told him there was a situation out here and then she heard the door turning from the inside. Quartermain stepped into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. Julie noticed the revolver in his hand.
“What the hell are you going on about?” he asked.
“We’ve got a problem,” she said. “Baxter picked up a signal. It looks like someone’s trying to find out where we are.”
Quartermain’s lip twitched. “Infernum?”
“Seems likely. Baxter might have more info, he’s waiting for you.”
Quartermain tossed a glance at the freezer door, then moved into the corridor leading to the office. “Come with me.”
Julie walked behind him down the corridor towards the closed office door. Quartermain gave a few quick raps of his knuckles on the door. “Bax, open up.”
No response came. Quartermain tried the door and found it unlocked. But when he pulled it open, he was surprised to see Baxter lying unconscious on the ground, his laptop smashed. Quartermain raised his weapon.
“They must be here, begin a—”
He was silenced by a blow to the back of his head. Julie stood over Quartermain’s unconscious body, holding the gun she’d used to strike him in her hand. Her hand tightened around the butt, and she rested her finger on the trigger. Part of her wanted to kill both Baxter and Quartermain right here. But the shot might warn Vincente she was coming and she needed the surprise.
Angela was the priority right now. Julie had to get her away from Vincente before anything else. She closed the office door and rushed back down the short hallway and into the kitchen. She approached the door and held the handle tightly, readying her gun. Julie took a deep breath and then pulled the door open, raising
her gun.
Vincente looked up from his lingchi torture of Angela. He stepped away from his victim and raised his blades. Julie pulled the trigger—although she might have misgivings about killing Baxter and Quartermain, she couldn’t say the same for Vincente. She’d seen what he was capable about, read his file—he was a monster through and through.
His ferocity was matched only by his speed. Vincente ably dodged or deflected any of the bullets that flew at him with his blades. He extended one of his arms and the blade shot from the gauntlet.
Julie slumped forward. She struggled to stay on her feet and fell onto the ground. Her hands went to the object in her abdomen and she looked down to see her blood flowing over Vincente’s blade.
The killer stepped out of the freezer and stood over her. Vincente knelt down by her, gently running the edge of his remaining blade along her face and examining her features. In his eyes, there was nothing present. Just a darkness that hungered for violence.
He wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed. Julie struggled for breath, her hands fumbling around. With her left, she tried to pull his fingers from her neck, but her strength was greatly reduced. Her right hand fumbled around on the ground, trying to find her gun.
The struggles only seemed to excite Vincente even more. He started to breathe faster, his steel-like fingers tightening around her windpipe. Julie’s mouth opened, trying to grab whatever air she could. She closed her eyes, ready for the end to come.
Something wet hit her face. And she could breathe again, no longer feeling Vincente’s fingers around her throat. But there was now a greater weight on her chest. She opened her eyes and found Vincente lying on her body, motionless. Blood seeped from a hole in his head.
He was pulled off her and his body dropped onto the floor. Julie strained as she sat up and saw her savior standing over her. A woman with brown skin, long black hair swept up into a bun, and a silenced pistol in her hand, wisps of smoke still rising from the barrel.
“Julie Kim,” she said, aiming the gun at the Agency operative.
Hours of studying the files the Agency had on Infernum told Julie exactly who this woman was. “Tauna.”
Tauna holstered the gun and offered her hand. “I understand we have a mutual acquaintance. Perhaps we can put aside our differences for the remainder of this mission.”
Julie accepted the hand and allowed Tauna to help her stand. The Infernum agent inspected Julie’s wound. “We’ll need to get that out of you sooner rather than later.”
“Just pull it out.”
“I’d advise against that. Right now it’s the only thing stopping you from bleeding out. Until we can get you some medical attention, best to leave it where it is.”
“Angela…” muttered Julie, gesturing with her head to the freezer.
Tauna pulled one of Julie’s arms around her shoulders. The two women moved together, Julie leaning on her unexpected savior for support. They came to the door and Tauna pulled it open further. She removed Julie’s arm and the agent leaned against the door frame.
“I’m okay,” she said. “Go check on her.”
Tauna stepped inside the freezer and drew a balisong knife from her pocket. Angela looked into Tauna’s eyes.
“You’re the last person I expected to come save me.”
“So am I.” Tauna approached the chair and one by one, removed the needles in Angela’s hands. With the balisong, Tauna cut the plastic ties that bound the prisoner to the chair. Angela stood and went to the shelf where Quartermain left her gun. She checked the magazine and snapped it back into place.
“How’d you find me?” asked Angela.
“Our contact within the Agency provided me with the location,” said Tauna, before nodding in Julie’s direction. “With some assistance.”
Angela looked at Julie. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We have to get out of here. The Agency will be expecting an update soon. If they don’t get it, they’ll send in someone to see what’s going on,” said Julie.
“Where’s Samarin?” asked Tauna.
“In a safe place,” said Angela. “But we aren’t leaving yet.”
“What?” Tauna and Julie spoke in unison.
“Where’s Quartermain?” she asked Julie.
“The office down the hall,” said Julie. “But Angela, we can’t—”
Angela walked out from the freezer without another word. She saw Vincente’s body and fired a few more shots in his face just to be sure. Tauna held Julie upright and the two women tried their best to keep up with Angela’s long strides.
The torture she endured only seemed to slow Angela down a little bit. She moved with determination down the hall to the closed office door. With the gun in hand, she kicked in the door and stepped inside, swinging the gun around.
She grunted and stepped back out, aiming the gun at Julie.
“What are you doing?” asked Julie.
“I don’t have time for games,” said Angela. “Where the hell is Quartermain?”
“I told you, he’s in there,” said Julie. “I knocked him and Sutton out, then—”
“The damn room is empty!”
Julie kicked herself for not taking the opportunity to kill them both when she had the chance. Both Quartermain and Baxter must have escaped while she was busy dealing with Vincente.
“We have to leave now,” said Tauna. “This means that now the Agency knows what’s happened here. Meaning they will send someone after us.”
The piercing wail of sirens appeared in the distance, quickly growing in volume. The three women exchanged looks and Angela moved to the front of the restaurant first. The shutters were down and locked, but they wouldn’t hold for long. Not if there was a cadre of police after them.
“The back,” said Julie. “It’s our only way out.”
Angela readied her gun and moved into the kitchen, checking her corners as she walked towards the back entrance. The door was open, meaning that was how Quartermain and Baxter escaped. And it was their only chance.
She rushed out into the alley to check, but saw squad cars blocking the only escape route. Officers emerged from their vehicle and shouted at her in Russian before opening fire. Angela ducked back inside and closed the door. She looked up at Tauna and Julie, shaking her head.
“They’ve got us surrounded,” she said. “There’s no way out.”
“Where are your weapons?” Tauna asked Julie.
“There’s a pantry, been using it as storage.” Julie hissed as she cringed in the pain in her abdomen. “Some first aid in there, too.”
Tauna tossed a look to Angela and she nodded, going off in search of the supplies. The Infernum assassin eased Julie onto the ground and inspected her wound. “We’ll do what we can for you here. But once we’re out, we need to get you to a hospital.”
“Fine by me.”
Angela returned with a large, white plastic box that had a red cross on the top. Tauna opened the box and checked what they had in there with Angela looking over her shoulder.
“You need to give her something for the pain,” said Angela.
Tauna shook her head. “No, it’ll take all three of us to get out of this. We need her to stay sharp.”
“She’s right,” said Julie. “Just get this thing out of me, patch me up, and give me a gun.”
“I’ll cover the back.” Angela rose from the ground and returned to the pantry to claim a weapon.
Tauna took hold of the end of the blade and pulled slowly. Julie grunted and shut her eyes from the pain. The knife clattered onto the floor and Tauna pulled Julie’s shirt up to expose the wound with one hand, while trying to keep as much blood from escaping as possible with the other. She applied a bandage and wrapped gauze around Julie’s abdomen to keep it in in place.
“Can you get up?” asked Tauna.
Gunfire came from the back. Tauna and Julie both looked in the direction of the back entrance and saw Angela firing an assault rifle into the alley, then
ducking back inside.
“Have to get out of here,” said Julie. Tauna helped her stand and Julie still leaned on her for aid. She was still in pain, but she could at least move a little better.
They went to the pantry and inside Tauna inspected the weapons crates. She took an assault rifle and handed it to Julie, then claimed one for herself. Another box drew her attention and she opened it, seeing grenades inside. Tauna took one and held it in her hand, examining it.
“No,” said Julie. “These are cops, just doing their job.”
“We have no choice,” said Tauna, setting down the rifle and taking a few grenades instead. “If you had the nerve to kill the others before, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Julie wanted to protest, but she was afraid Tauna was right. They didn’t have a lot of options in this situation and that meant they would have to try things a little different. She followed Tauna to the rear entrance, where Angela still fired back at the police.
“I’m out,” said Angela, moving back inside the kitchen.
“Reload and be ready to run on my mark,” said Tauna. “Take only what’s necessary.”
“You have a plan?” asked Angela.
Tauna peered out into the alley. “I wouldn’t quite put it that way. More like a Hail Mary.”
“What is it?” asked Julie.
“The alley has sewer access. We use the grenades to create a diversion.”
“Won’t be much of one, they’ll know where they came from.” Angela looked at Julie. “Any C-4 in that weapon pantry of yours?”
“I think so,” said Julie.
“Good.” Angela reloaded the rifle and passed it to Tauna. “Hold them off just a little bit longer.”
Tauna took the rifle and moved into the alley. She squeezed the trigger, setting off several rounds. The police returned fire with pistols and she retreated back inside the door.
“Can you see the sewer entrance?” asked Julie.
Tauna gave a nod. “We just need to hope Angela has something useful up her sleeve.”
Right after Tauna’s comment, Angela returned to the kitchen holding a detonator in her hand. She tore part of her dress to make it easier to run. “Get ready to move.” She hit the button and the plastic explosive she planted on the front shutters went off.
The Fixers (Infernum Book 4) Page 9