Countermeasures

by Janie Crouch

  “So with the help of Mr. Bushman here, we have the new Ghost Shell ready to be sold,” McNeil continued. “But unfortunately, word of the countermeasure Dr. Fuller is working on has already leaked out. That news is making Ghost Shell less potentially profitable than I had hoped. So I’m going to need the countermeasure.”

  “Yeah.” Sawyer dragged the word out. “I don’t have it.”

  “I’m aware of that, Branson. But Dr. Fuller does. Where is she?”

  “In protective custody, probably somewhere in Virginia. Or maybe Oklahoma.”

  Sawyer wasn’t prepared for the fist that hit him on the jaw. His head flew to the side. He couldn’t keep from groaning and had to spit blood again.

  McNeil stood up, rubbing his fist. “I hope that’s not the case, for your sake.” He held out his hand and Hoodie brought over a phone.

  Sawyer’s phone.

  “You really should be more careful with your phones, Agent Branson. First you allowed your Omega phone to be cloned by Jonathan. Then he could access Omega’s system—limited access, but enough to do harm. And now you’ve lost this one.”

  McNeil came and stood in front of Sawyer again. “Looks like a pretty cheap phone. You probably won’t be too sad to lose this one. Only a couple of numbers stored. Let’s try them.”

  Sawyer struggled against the ties that bound him, but could not get loose in any way.

  McNeil laughed. “Oh, so now I seem to have your attention. Care to revise your statement about the location of Dr. Fuller?”

  “Screw you, McNeil. She’s somewhere you’re never going to be able to get to her.”

  “Why don’t we test that theory, Branson? Let’s give the lovely Dr. Fuller a call, shall we? We’ll put it on speaker to make it more fun.”

  Sawyer watched helplessly as McNeil began to dial the number to Megan’s phone.

  * * *

  AFTER SAWYER LEFT, Megan had lain in the bed expecting sleep to overtake her, but it hadn’t. She just couldn’t get her brain to shut down. Too much thinking about the countermeasure and, if she was honest, about Sawyer.

  Megan was still hurt that he would accuse her of being a traitor while lying next to her naked in the bed. But when she thought through the actual conversation they’d had, Megan realized Sawyer had been stretching himself far outside his law-enforcement comfort zone.

  He had thought there was a possibility she had gotten herself in trouble and had been offering to help.

  Okay, yeah, he’d had terrible timing in the offering of his assistance, but at least he’d been willing to listen to her side of the story, rather than just assume the worst. For a man who fought for justice so unflinchingly, that had to mean something.

  So when she really thought about it, Megan realized Sawyer was trying to show he cared.

  Megan still wasn’t ready to just forgive and forget, but neither was she going to continue to consider it the crime of the century. Sawyer was a man. He’d said something stupid at the wrong time. He wasn’t the first or the last man to do so.

  Plus, now that Megan was almost finished with the countermeasure, they had only a few days left before Sawyer headed back to Omega Sector headquarters. Megan didn’t want to spend that time fighting. She’d have plenty of time to be alone when she was attempting to put her life—in all of its many broken pieces—back together after Sawyer was gone.

  And Sawyer would be gone; Megan was sure of that. He was not the serious-commitment type of guy. She had known that going into all of this, so she wasn’t going to regret it now.

  Megan got out of the bed. Sleep was nowhere to be found, so she may as well keep working. She didn’t know how long Sawyer would be gone.

  She was so lost in her work a little while later that it took three or four rings for Megan to realize the phone Sawyer had bought for her was ringing. She stood and rushed to the table to get it. It must be Sawyer; he was the only one with the number.

  “Good to finally hear from you, stranger.” Megan laughed into the phone, hoping her joking tone would help Sawyer know she wasn’t so mad anymore.

  But silence met her.

  “Sawyer?” Megan was much more hesitant. Was he mad at her now?

  “Megan, don’t listen to them—” Sawyer’s words were cut off in a whoosh of breath.

  “Sawyer?” What was happening? “Are you all right? Sawyer?” Megan was panicked when he didn’t respond.

  Then a much louder voice came on the line. “Hello, Dr. Fuller. It’s Fred McNeil. Do you remember me?”

  Fred McNeil. Yes, Megan definitely remembered him, and not in any sort of good way. She shuddered just thinking about him. “What do you want?”

  “We want you to deliver the countermeasure you’ve been working on to us.”

  “Megan, no—” She heard Sawyer call out again before his words were cut off, by a blow, Megan was sure. She flinched.

  Megan didn’t know what to do. Did she bluff and pretend like she didn’t have the countermeasure? Would they kill Sawyer if she told them that?

  Chances were they would kill them both if she just handed the countermeasure over to them.

  “I don’t have it anymore.” Megan prayed she was saying the right thing. “I handed it over to the FBI. The real FBI this time, McNeil. I can’t get it.”

  “Hmm. That’s unfortunate for Agent Branson, Megan. Let’s talk to him about that for a moment.”

  There was silence for several moments before Megan heard the sickening crunch of a human bone being broken. She heard Sawyer’s deep moan of pain before he silenced himself.

  “Sawyer!” Megan sobbed, bile pooling in her stomach.

  “Megan, no.” Sawyer said it through deep gasps of breath.

  “Now, that’s a shame. It looks like Agent Branson’s arm is pretty broken. But don’t worry, he still has his other one. And his legs, and all his fingers and toes. Lots of unbroken bones still left.”

  Tears poured down Megan’s cheeks. What was she supposed to do?

  “Fine, McNeil. Just stop, please. I’ll bring you the countermeasure.”

  “I thought you said the real FBI already has it.”

  “No, they don’t. I have it. I’m in a safe house.”

  “Megan—” They cut him off again with another blow. Megan couldn’t stop the sob that escaped her.

  She knew what Sawyer was trying to tell her. McNeil would kill both of them once he had the countermeasure. Sawyer didn’t want her to give up her life. But neither was Megan going to allow them to torture Sawyer to death.

  “You need to bring me the countermeasure.” McNeil provided her with an address just outside Asheville. “Right now.”

  “Fine, McNeil, but I’m in Charlotte. Omega didn’t think the Asheville area was a good place for me to stay after DS-13 blew up the safe house.” Megan closed her eyes and prayed this bluff would work. It was the only shot. “It’s going to take me a couple of hours to get to you.”

  “Fine. Two hours. After that, I will break one of Agent Branson’s bones per minute.”

  Megan bit back her sob. “I’ll be there.”

  “And if there is any sign of police or anyone else, I will kill handsome Sawyer here in the most painful way possible.”

  Megan heard another thud and groan. She thought she might vomit.

  “Clock’s ticking, Dr. Fuller.”

  Megan stared at the silent phone in her hand. Her mind kept replaying the sickening crunch of Sawyer’s arm breaking.

  Megan wasn’t sure what to do, but she knew she couldn’t do anything alone. Sawyer was right: if she showed up and just turned over the countermeasure, there was nothing to stop McNeil and DS-13 from just killing them outright.

  Megan punched the button for the other number stored in her phone: Sawyer’s sister, Juliet. But it was a man who answered.

  “Sawyer?” the man asked.

  “Who is this?” Megan asked. “Where’s Juliet?”

  “Is this Dr. Fuller? I’m Evan Karcz. We talked briefly on
the phone a few days ago. You might remember my foot being firmly planted in my mouth during that conversation.”

  Yes, Megan did remember Sawyer’s friend Evan. “I thought this number was for Juliet.”

  “She’s inside Omega right now, so she had calls from this number forwarded to me. Where’s Sawyer?”

  Megan felt the sobs bubbling out of her. “They have him.”

  An ugly expletive burst from Evan. “What? Who?”

  “Fred McNeil.” Another expletive from Evan upon hearing that news. “Sawyer went out to get us some dinner, but then I got a call from McNeil saying to bring the countermeasure.” She gave Evan the address. “I only have two hours.”

  “Why did they give you that long?”

  “I told them I was in Charlotte and couldn’t get there before then.”

  “Smart, Dr. Fuller. You probably just saved Sawyer’s life with that bit of quick thinking.”

  Something tight inside Megan loosened just a little, until she remembered... “Oh, God, Evan, they hurt Sawyer. Broke his arm while I was on the phone with them. Said they would break the rest of his bones—”

  “Megan.” Evan didn’t let her continue. “We’re going to get him out.”

  “How?”

  “I’m nearby and you’re nearby. McNeil doesn’t know that and we’re going to use it to our advantage.”

  “Okay.” A plan. Megan knew she needed to focus on a plan in order to keep from panicking. “How?”

  “Do you have enough stuff to build something that looks like a fake countermeasure device?”

  Megan looked around. She didn’t have much. “Maybe. I could probably fool the average person.”

  “Can you fool McNeil?”

  “I think so, yes. But only for a little while.”

  “Okay, build something quickly, make it seem as legitimate as possible. But, Megan, you need to leave the real countermeasure at the hotel. If something goes wrong, we can’t take a chance on McNeil and DS-13 having both Ghost Shell and the countermeasure.”

  “But—”

  “Megan, Sawyer would want it that way. You know that.”

  Megan sighed. She did know that. But she didn’t like it.

  “I’m going to get a couple of local law enforcement I know I can trust and head over there. I’m looking up the address McNeil gave you, and it seems like it’s a junkyard, which is both good and bad. I will try to get Sawyer out before you even arrive, but if you don’t hear from me, go in at the scheduled time.”

  “And do what?”

  “Show them the fake countermeasure. Stall as long as possible. Don’t get yourself killed and be ready to run at any moment.”

  All that sounded a lot easier said than done. “You know I’m not an agent, right, Evan?”

  “After all the great things Sawyer’s said about you, I have no doubt you’ll do fine.”

  Megan hoped so; all their lives depended on it.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Despite the cold weather, sweat pooled on Sawyer’s forehead as he sat in the room. Everything in his body hurt, but his broken arm, now retied to the chair, was the worst.

  No, knowing Megan was on her way here to face down McNeil and his cronies, and not being able to get out of this damn chair, was the worst.

  The sun had set not long ago and Sawyer knew time was running out. He wasn’t sure where McNeil and Bushman were, but they weren’t in this room. Only one guy, looking bored and mad not to be part of the action, stood guard here with Sawyer. Which just served to frustrate Sawyer more. He was one measly guard away from being able to save Megan.

  Sawyer knew he had only one option, but it was going to hurt. He took a deep breath and began rocking until he tipped over his chair.

  Even landing on his uninjured arm, the pain was excruciating, rocketing through his entire body. Sawyer fought to hold on to consciousness.

  “What happened? Did you pass out?”

  As Sawyer had hoped, the guard came over to see what the commotion was about. Sawyer pretended to be unconscious, then kicked out the guard’s knees when he was close enough, causing the man to crumple to the floor. Sawyer then spun—gritting his teeth from the agony in his arm—and kicked the guy as hard as he could in the chin. The guard fell back, unmoving. Sawyer scooted around until he was able to grab his gun.

  Sawyer used all his strength to shift his weight, cursing violently as he was able to break off part of the chair. His hands weren’t completely free, but at least now he was able to move. Sweat poured down his face as Sawyer took unsteady steps toward the door.

  He saw the doorknob turn and jumped to the side, hugging the wall. Sawyer couldn’t get a good grip on the gun with his functional arm because of the pieces of the chair he was still tied to. He placed the gun in the hand of his broken arm, praying his fingers would work when he needed to pull the trigger.

  The door opened too slowly to be a member of DS-13. Sawyer didn’t let his guard down, but didn’t attack, either. A man he didn’t recognize, dressed in black, entered the room, weapon raised. Sawyer put his gun against the man’s temple.

  “I really don’t want to have to kill you. And my fingers may be a little trigger-happy, so you should definitely not make any sudden movements.”

  “Agent Branson?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m with Agent Evan Karcz. We’re here to help get you out.”

  A voice came from behind the man. “Sawyer, if you’re done messing around, there are some bad guys to get rid of.”

  Sawyer lowered his weapon. Only Evan would say something that asinine.

  The other man with Evan moved into the room to secure the unconscious guard. Evan helped Sawyer get loose from the rest of the chair. “Damn, Sawyer. You look like hell.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Sawyer grimaced as Evan helped him splint his agonizing arm against his chest. Then Sawyer pushed the pain aside. “Evan, talk to me. Is Megan okay? Please tell me she’s not coming here.”

  “I couldn’t stop her, man. It was our best possibility of getting you out. By now, she’s already here. I had her leave the countermeasure at the motel and piece together a fake. She felt pretty confident that she’d be able to fool McNeil and buy us some time.”

  Sawyer cursed under his breath. “It’s not just McNeil she has to fool. It’s her assistant, Jonathan Bushman. He’s the mole who has been working for McNeil and DS-13. She won’t be able to trick Bushman for long. Where are they?”

  “It looked like McNeil and his men are camped near the main fence. It’s a good vantage point for them, junk piles on three sides. No easy way in or out. I left one man there covering everything with a rifle, but he won’t be able to take out everyone...”

  Before Megan got killed. Evan didn’t say it, but Sawyer knew it was the truth. If bullets started flying, Megan would be in the middle of it.

  Time to change the plan.

  “Evan, grab another chair and tie me to it—they won’t recognize it’s a different one in the dark. And get rid of the guard. McNeil’s men will be coming for me. He’ll want me down there to keep her in line. They’ll have to untie me and won’t be expecting me to have a weapon.”

  “Sawyer, no offense, man, but are you sure you can even fire a weapon right now? You look like you might keel over any second.”

  “You guys just get over to where Megan is meeting McNeil. I’ll make it. Be ready to move, and take out all of McNeil’s men, on my signal.”

  Sawyer tucked the guard’s gun into the waistband of his jeans, under his shirt. Then Evan helped take the splint off Sawyer’s arm and tied him back to the chair. Sawyer took deep breaths to try to keep the pain in check.

  “Hang in there, man,” Evan told him on the way out the door.

  “Evan, Megan’s the most important thing. She makes it out of here alive, no matter what. You make sure your men know that.”

  “Roger that.” Evan disappeared into the night.

  They were almost too late. Just a
few minutes later one of McNeil’s men—Hoodie, just Sawyer’s luck—stormed into the trailer. He looked around for a moment. “Where the hell is Edwards?”

  Sawyer didn’t respond, so the man walked over and kicked Sawyer’s chair, sending pain radiating throughout his body. His moan of pain didn’t have to be faked. “Hey, where is Edwards? The guard.”

  “I don’t know.” Sawyer mumbled the words.

  “That screwup never knows when to stay put.” Hoodie was still cursing as he untied Sawyer and began pulling him out of the trailer. Just as Sawyer suspected, the man didn’t retie Sawyer’s hands and definitely didn’t think to check him for weapons. Given how swollen Sawyer’s broken arm was, Sawyer didn’t blame him.

  But that didn’t mean Sawyer wouldn’t use the underestimation to his advantage.

  * * *

  MEGAN’S HEART POUNDED as if she was running a sprint. She was driving into this junkyard by herself, taking the word of a man she’d never met—just because he was Sawyer’s best friend—that he would protect her somehow.

  She was bringing in a useless piece of hardware to pass off as a sophisticated anti-encoding hard drive. A technically savvy ten-year-old would be able to see through it in moments.

  The real countermeasure was supposed to be back at the motel, but it wasn’t. It was under the passenger seat. The longer she had waited for Evan’s call, the more frantic she had become. When she couldn’t wait any longer, and had to leave immediately in order to make it to the junkyard in time, she had made a decision: she would bring the real countermeasure. If the countermeasure could possibly save Sawyer’s life, then she was damn sure going to have it as an option. Omega Sector would just have to find some other way of getting it back.

  Megan could feel her heart beating again and wondered vaguely if she would have a heart attack and all of this would be for naught anyway. She took some deep breaths to try to get herself under control.

  Evan Karcz had told her to stall if she got to this point without word from him. Megan tried not to imagine all the things that could’ve gone wrong that would’ve led to him not calling. Those thoughts would just get her pulse up in the stratosphere again.