He brought up the webpage he had found while at the library. Carefully hidden in the deep, dark web was Sundown’s auction. It was going for top dollar, and about to make someone in the room a very rich man. Gallagher moved closer to the screen and quickly read the page. His face contorted with anger before he swung around and aimed his weapon at Sean. The younger man raised his hands in surrender.
“No, boss, it’s not me,” he said, his manner moving from anger to pleading for his innocence. “I swear I would never do that. It means too much to this country. I would never do anything to harm it.”
Gallagher snarled. “If there is nothing I hate more than a liar, it is a traitor. You’ve been playing me from the very start.”
Well, duh.
“What did you fucking expect when you hired a no-good crook? That’s what you get. I’m not a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly overnight.”
Gallagher squeezed the trigger. The windows shook from the sound of the bullet exiting the chamber. Sean fell to the floor, his sightless eyes staring up at Gallagher. Dmitry glanced over at Elena, whose eyes widened as the National Security Advisor spit on the body, desecrating it. Her nose crinkled, her entire face showing her disgust. She broke off and for an instant her eyes locked with Dmitry’s in silent communication. She gave the slightest of nods, agreeing with his plan. All hell was about to break loose and they both knew it.
Gallagher turned once more to him. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. “What the fuck is taking so long? Why don’t you have Sundown back? It’s more exposed than ever now that they know it’s out there.”
Dmitry knew his time was running out. Getting Elena and himself out of there meant he would have to work fast and pray Lucas was not far away. He was on borrowed time. Any passing moment was a blessing.
“Have you any idea the amount of trouble it is to retrieve over a hundred files from computers all around the world? From homes, schools, and offices? It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
Gallagher looked over at his MIT trained assistant. “Well?”
The young acne-ridden man looked like a deer caught in headlights. Dmitry guessed his age to be early twenties and barely out of college. He’d only just begun to shave, too young to be caught up in this mess. Dmitry felt for him, stuck between love for his country and working with what Dmitry had once thought of as a great man. His gaze shifted from the National Security Advisor to Dmitry before settling once more on Gallagher. “U-uh, y-yes, that’s about right, sir,” he stammered.
“I don’t like it.” Gallagher pointed the weapon at Dmitry. “Step away. Harrison, get your ass in there. Tell me how far along he is.”
The young man paled, stepping forward nervously as Dmitry moved away. This was not what Harrison had signed on for. He had probably been thinking of a cushy office job with the best computer equipment money could buy. He was certainly mistaken. How unfortunate that he’d thrown his lot in with Gallagher.
Dmitry drew close to Elena, and she watched his face closely, determining the moves he would make so that she could work with him, covering his back if needed. He’d never realized just how well he and Elena worked together until now. It was almost as if they could read each other’s minds and completely trusted the other with their lives.
Harrison gingerly sat down in his recently vacated place and began typing. He quickly located the paths that Dmitry had opened and began following them, seeing where they would lead him. Dmitry knew what was coming. Anyone who knew computers could easily track what he’d done since he had not had the chance to delete them. Harrison frowned. He didn’t like what he was seeing. Dmitry knew the shit was about to hit the fan big time. He cautiously moved toward Elena, trying to get to her before the tech guy had a chance to tell Gallagher what it was that he had been doing. The man was not about to take the news well and Dmitry wanted Elena out of firing range.
“A-ah sir, there are more lines open here,” Harrison said anxiously.
Gallagher glared at the young man. Dmitry could read the distain on his face. Obviously the older man hated tech geeks. Probably because he couldn’t understand a word that came out of their mouths. “In English, Harrison,” he growled.
Harrison visibly swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing up and down in his throat. When he spoke, his voice was almost as if he was quoting from a textbook or teaching a class. Something Dmitry assumed Gallagher didn’t appreciate. Four years of college gone to waste, hadn’t the boy taken a social class or something?
“To retrieve Sundown, he would only need to be working with a few open lines and use more commands on those that are open. To have as many up as Mr. Ivanov does will only slow the download speed and make it take that much longer.”
Harrison typed fast into the command box, clearly well versed on the keyboard and knowledge of the computer. He followed the steps Dmitry had made. His frown deepened as he worked, his concentration completely on the task before him. Dmitry imagined him bringing up the main page he’d been working on and the file transfer box telling him it was at sixty-five percent. He continued his quest to find what else he’d had been working on. Dmitry knew the steps the kid would make and knew the moment Harrison located the webcam file and watched as the kid nervously nibbled on his bottom lip.
Harrison opened the command file and found the open channel. From the angle, Dmitry could just make out the Harrison’s reflection as the webcam was brought up on screen. He silently signaled to Elena who gave an almost indiscernible nod. She was ready.
“Ah sir you should see this. I think we have a problem,” Harrison said, his voice nervous.
Gallagher glared at the boy. He moved across the small space dividing them and breathed down Harrison’s neck, the action causing Harrison to squirm like a little boy needing to go to the bathroom.
“I-I found this. It’s been broadcasting,” Harrison said as he revealed the webcam to Gallagher.
The Security Advisor sucked in air as he drew a startled breath as he too came face to face with his reflection. He watched as his face on screen moved at the same time he did. He stared almost dumbfounded at the mirror image before it clicked inside his mind. The man’s jaw clenched and he turned toward him, his weapon pointing straight at Dmitry’s heart.
Elena surged to her feet. She glanced his way, stark fear etched on her face. She was probably thinking she was about to lose him just as she'd done with Nikolai and he prayed she didn't act foolishly. It wasn’t over yet.
“What have you done? Do you realize what this means? Everything I have done is finished. The country is ruined, all because of you,” Gallagher yelled at him from a mere few feet away, certainly not far enough to warrant screaming. The vein in his temple pulsated and the cords in his neck were tight. The man was as mad as a rattlesnake and just as deadly. “Where does that feed go? Where did you send it?” he ground out, spittle flying from his mouth.
Dmitry sensed the panic rising within him. There was no escaping the cold hard fact. The man was screwed. It didn’t matter where that feed went or to whom. He was found out and he would never be able to go back to his job or to the life he once had. He was finished and would most likely be tried for treason.
“Langley. It’s been on for the past half hour or so. You’re well recognizable, sir, so I doubt they had trouble identifying you. Every law enforcement officer in the state is on the way here. You should give up now and quit while you’re ahead.”
Gallagher’s face wrinkled in rage. “It’s because of countries like yours, Russian, that has made all this necessary, but you made one big fucking mistake and that was fucking with me.”
He turned his weapon on Elena just as the perimeter alarms went off. Dmitry lunged at his sister, knocking her off her feet as a bullet whizzed past them, missing them by centimeters.
Chapter 28
Dmitry felt the heat as another bullet flew by before imbedding in the wall behind him. He cursed savagely. With his hands handcuffed, he navigated Elena to cover, dodging the other bul
lets Gallagher let off, determined to hit them in his frustration.
On their hands and knees, he and Elena moved quickly toward the other side of the room removing themselves from harm’s way, crawling behind a sofa while trying to keep out of the path of rapidly fired bullets. Puffs of foam from inside the sofa rained down on them as the bullets easily soared through the back support. He and Elena kissed the floor, going down onto their stomachs sliding along the well varnished hardwood floor like they were army cadets doing basic training making their way through the mud.
His face reflected back at him from the polished hardwood floor beneath him. The expression was concern mixed with anger. He’d had enough and if it weren’t for Elena he would have been trying to diffuse the situation but he didn’t want to leave her for a second. Bad things tended to happen when she was unsupervised. Elena would have hit him had she heard his thought and then argued until she was blue in the face that it wasn’t her fault. The woman had the worse luck in the world. He felt the wood shavings settle on the back of his neck as two more bullets were dispelled into the couch.
Forcing his mind back to their current predicament, he glanced over his shoulder to ensure Elena was still following and unharmed. She was and wore an aggrieved look on her face. He had to stall and buy the boys in blue some time. It shouldn’t be long now. They had already breached the security perimeter and the alarm was blaring in warning providing an almost deafening colophony with the bullets.
The sound of a magazine hitting the floor had him picking up speed, crawling now in hopes of getting to safety before the man had a chance to reload. The floor was hard on his knees, rubbing at his skin and irritating it. He blocked out the pain and focused on getting himself and Elena out of the way before all hell broke loose.
***
Elena moved quickly behind Dmitry, keeping her head low and out of firing range. She could feel the splinters imbedding into her soft palms. She gritted her teeth and fought the urge to stop and pull them out. She followed her brother, trusting him to get them out of danger. The rain of fire they were under had momentarily ceased while Gallagher reloaded his weapon. Her ears rung from the constant popping sound of the gun discharging and the alarm blaring. Her wrists were sore from the handcuffs and she was still feeling the lingering effects of the taser. She couldn’t see anything ahead of her besides Dmitry crawling and didn’t dare look back.
Afraid to lose her rhythm she kept her eyes glued in front of her. So focused on her task, she had no warning he was behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck rose a moment too late. He grabbed her as she crawled, yanking her off her feet. She let out a startled scream and cursed herself for being caught off guard again. She’d been taught better than that. Her feet dangled futilely as the man with the dragon tattoo wrapped his bulky arms around her chest, hugging her from behind, effectively pinning her arms to her sides. She winced and knew she would have bruises tomorrow from where Dragon Man held her that would surely blend in nicely with her rapidly growing collection.
Why does this keep happening to me?
She bucked wildly using her entire strength and will to live against the behemoth of a man. Dragon Man squeezed her hard, winding her. She fought for breath, having none. She imagined her face turning purple as he continued to hold onto her tightly. She struggled as she felt the darkness threatening to swamp her once more. As she bucked against the steel hard chest of her attacker she heard a large clunk as Dragon Man’s gun fell loudly to the floor when it slipped from his waistband at the small of his back. It was followed by a scraping sound as the man’s foot found the gun and unintentionally sent it flying across the room as she fought back, distracting him until he was entirely focused on her. She fought even harder and wilder, refusing to be rendered unconscious for the second time that day. She kicked back, putting as much force as she could into the attack, her sneakers connecting with his knees and she felt his legs buckle beneath her.
Her head jerked back, hitting Dragon Man’s chin hard with the top of her head. His teeth slammed together, his jaw shattering even as her vision swam before her eyes. He cried out in pain as he dropped her. She moved quickly remembering the skills Nikolai had burned into her head, stamping down hard on his instep before landing an elbow to his stomach and then to the nose. Bones cracked under the strain and blood spurted out. She finished him off with a knee to the groin before side stepping out of the man’s reach. She watched as he groped himself, as if cupping his family jewels would stop the hurting if he applied pressure to them. Elena smiled heartlessly. The routine always worked like a charm. Too bad if the man ever wanted kids, her inner voice quipped. She’d done the world a favor. If there was anyone who should not reproduce it was that guy.
“Why does no one remember that I’m an agent also?” she asked, astonished, as she regulated her breathing, her lungs no longer screaming for oxygen. It always seemed to her that she was being kidnapped or treated like some blonde haired bimbo in a movie, always expected to scream for help or breaking her ankle as she tried to escape. She was more than capable of looking out for herself as Dragon Man had just discovered. Her husband had been an SVR agent for Christ’s sake. He taught her every self-defense move he knew. She could certainly handle herself.
She glanced down at Dragon Man who was still lying on the floor in a fetal position, blood marring the pristine wax job. He had one hand on his genitals and the other on his nose. Tears fell from his eyes mixing in with the blood as he swore. Satisfaction momentarily filled her, quickly disappearing when he glared up at her with a promise of retribution in his eyes. He climbed to his feet in one swift motion, his teeth grinding together in pain. He made one threatening step forward before taking two steps back, his eyes wide with shock as a loud boom shook the room. A neat red hole appeared on his chest right above his heart before he collapsed in a heap on the floor.
She swung around, her mouth open in an O as she took in her little brother. His eyes were cold and narrow, firmly attached to the dead man on the floor nearby. The gun in his hand trained toward the motionless body, waiting for any slight movement telling him the man was still alive. She shivered slightly as she saw the look in his eyes. Dmitry had never looked so primitive, so cold and deadly. He looked every bit the scary Russian he’d often been charged of being. She’d told Lucas Dmitry could be cold and indifferent but this was a new facet. She had a sudden insight into the man who was her brother, the man who would do anything to protect those he loved.
She was still processing what her brother had just done for her when his heavy weight suddenly slammed into her, knocking her off her feet before making contact with the hard surface of the floor. Dmitry rolled and covered her protectively with his body just as the front door of the safe house was barreled open. FBI agents forced their way inside, their AK-47s at the ready as they entered, shooting those who resisted, swarming through every entrance. Glass shattered as windows were broken and doors hung precariously from one hinge as they were rammed.
Gallagher’s eyes bulged as he took in the federal SWAT team. His face turned desperate as he spun around at the men surrounding him. Before anyone registered what he was about to do, their attention solely on rounding up the men with guns and detaining them, the National Security Adviser raised his arm and squeezed the trigger before he could be stopped. For the last time that day the sound of a bullet exiting the chamber filled the room followed by the scent of a recently discharged weapon. Every eye in the room turned its focus on Gallagher as his lifeless body hit the soiled carpet beneath him.
Elena jerked unconsciously from what she’d just witnessed and her stomach rolled. She closed her eyes in an effort to block out the sight of fresh blood and brain matter. It was something she never wanted to see again. When this was all over she was going on a vacation—a proper one hopefully with a beach and free-flowing alcohol.
She opened her eyes as an FBI agent stepped gingerly over to the body, kicking the gun away, moving it out of reach before he squat
ted down beside Gallagher and checked futilely for a pulse. He shook his head, addressing the room at large who were all watching him. The rest of the FBI SWAT team turned back to their duties, knowing there was nothing they could do for the man.
Chapter 29
Lucas entered the residence last. Since this was not his bust he had been relegated to the back. He’d not liked it one bit and had made his displeasure known but even that had not changed the FBI Agent in Charge’s mind. His sharp, alert eyes moved across the room taking everything in as he searched for Elena. His gaze found her as a young agent helped her to her feet. He drank her in, from her pale hair in disarray right down to her sneakered feet. Considering what she had been through and witnessed she was looking quite well. Although, Lucas had to admit, Elena could put up with a hell of a lot and still be up for more. The woman had marvelous perseverance as he had witnessed on more than one occasion in their time together.
He strode across the room to get to her, the desire to hold onto her tight and never let go overwhelming him. If he thought she would let him, he would lock her away in his house where no one could hurt her. He realized the stupidity of that thought immediately. She had been taken from his house. He would amend that as soon as he got home and make it safe once more. A place she would want to stay—permanently if he had his way.
She looked over at him and smiled brilliantly before catapulting herself into his arms, her handcuffed wrists stealing around his neck, the cool of the stainless steel sliding against his skin. She kissed him with the same passion she had the night before, leaving nothing of her feelings for him questioned. He loved how uninhibited she was. He kissed her back with the same amount of passion, matching her, wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. Her feet hung limply, several inches off the floor as he lifted her into his embrace unable to remain even a breath away from her. He’d almost lost her again. He wasn’t chancing a third. He didn't know what he’d do without her. She was a part of him and his heart belonged entirely to her. He tightened his arms around her, his entire concentration on the way her tongue mated with his with a promise of things to come.
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