FREEFALL (A Megalith Thriller Book 1)

by D R Sanford

  Laeg briefly tapped his fingertips to the grips of his Glocks for assurance and gripped the handles of the double doors. Striding confidently into the hall, he saw the same layout he'd encountered months before. A single guard stood at parade rest, facing the doors as they stepped through.

  In one fluid motion, the uniformed guard drew his sidearm and leveled it on Laeg's chest. Without halting, Laeg moved forward, hands held in supplication and spoke in a flawless Midwest accent.

  “Evening Michael, no call for firearms right now. Andrew and I were called in to augment your forces after Walker got popped downtown. You guys heard anything?”

  The man dropped his guard for an instant, and as Laeg closed in to the optimal distance he waited.

  “No, I'm Edgar. Says so right here on my patch, and I didn’t hear—“

  Chopping down savagely on the nerve bundle between the man's shoulder and neck, Laeg dropped him in a heap of flopping limbs. He bent down, pried the weapon from his fingers, and pistol-whipped the man for good measure.

  A quick glance back to see Cullen mouthing something like “What the hell” in astonishment. Laeg turned and proceeded down the hall, satisfied by the sound of footsteps that Cullen trailed.

  The corridor they followed had no doorways. To the left, however, one could access examination rooms, labs, and the elevator. On the right were sixteen cells, eight doors on each side of the hall.

  Laeg knelt down before the intersection and placed his left palm on the wall behind him, tapping his forefinger to tell Cullen to stay put. Cullen hugged the wall while Laeg sneaked a peek to the left. Two guards with automatic weapons faced the elevator door forty feet away, ready to challenge any entrants to the lower level. From previous scouting expeditions Laeg recalled two more guards facing each other down eighty feet of hallway to the right. The closest would be within six feet of their position.

  The first time Laeg had ventured down there he had posed as a corporate auditor. From past experience, he knew their procedures, could develop a plan for Nora's extraction had she been there. This time there was no room for error. The next seven seconds would either provide them with a few minutes or bury them completely.

  Laeg felt the flush of combat overcome him, the pressure building that would accelerate his responses while those he attacked struggled to recognize the threat among them.

  He wedged the guard's stolen sidearm in his waistband, drew the Glocks from their rear holsters, and bounded into the hallway.

  A quick cross-shot with his left hand planted a bullet in the back of the nearest guard's skull. His right hand discharged eight rounds into the hapless elevator security, three in center mass and one in the head for each. Laeg spun on the balls of his feet, knelt down, and fired both weapons down the hall. The fourth guard tumbled forward, dead before he had a chance to reach the trigger.

  Laeg looked over his right shoulder to find Cullen squatting down, shock on his face, the palms of his hands pressed against his ears. Not a bad idea really, but hardly the response he'd been looking for.

  “What, no applause? Do you know just how hard that is to pull off?”

  Cullen dropped his hands and warily stepped forward, looking both ways at the intersection.

  “Say what?” Cullen said loudly, shaking the ringing from his head.

  “Never mind.”

  He bent to the nearest guard and unfastened the security card from his belt.

  “Do me a favor and start opening doors down that way.”

  Holstering his Glocks, Laeg stripped the guard of his weapons, a Kimber .45 caliber handgun and a Heckler & Koch 416 carbine. Serious hardware for a security detail in the middle of nowhere.

  He rose to his feet and covered Cullen with the HK, moving from one empty room to the other. When they reached the end of the hall, Cullen stepped to the other side while Laeg secured another carbine.

  Cullen rolled the card hand in the air and asked, “Can we get a move on, or would you like to start labeling your collection?”

  Laeg slung the HK to hang along his back and replied, “I know you're in a hurry here, boyo, but don't go getting cocky on me. We only have a few minutes before a local response arrives, and I don't want to be throwing my shoes at them as a form of self defense. There's a door there, now open it.”

  Cullen keyed the door, turned the latch, and stepped aside. Everything was the same as the other eight. Bare concrete walls, a toilet, sink, and a bed. Someone just happened to occupy this room.

  —Chapter 10—

  THE CHASE

  Cullen sprang into the room and knelt at the head of the bunk. A woman lay on her left side, facing the wall, knees pulled up high inside her hospital gown. Her chestnut brown hair was a tangled mess concealing her face. As Cullen pulled a strand of hair from her cheek, the woman emitted a low wail that startled him.

  Laeg called impatiently from the doorway, “I know this is a big moment for you, Cullen, but we have to get moving.”

  “Okay, it’s just... what if she's...?”

  “Tell you what. I'll give you a moment here. Toss me the key card so I can check the other seven rooms.”

  Cullen obliged and returned his attention to the captive on the bunk. Could it be Nora? Was the nightmare almost over?

  Reaching forward once again, he peeled back the layer of sweaty, matted hair. Her lips ceased their unintelligible mumbling. A bleary eye cautiously opened and rolled back and forth while the lids blinked moisture onto the orb. Cullen rose a bit and leaned over for a closer look at her features.

  Without warning she spun and launched herself at him. Already retreating from the surprise, Cullen was crab-walking backward when the wild eyed prisoner landed on him, her teeth gnashing and nails clawing at his face. She pinned him to the wall. Raising his hands in an attempt to grab her arms was the only defense that came to mind, and once Cullen seized her wrists he succeeded in shielding himself against her snapping teeth.

  For all her ferocity, the bedraggled woman was nearly weightless. Through a web of hair, Cullen caught a glimpse of her eyes and was disappointed to see crazed brown orbs drilling into him with hatred.

  Not Nora’s sapphire blues.

  He planted both feet on the floor and bucked hard with his right side, rolling them over to the left. Cullen maintained his grip on the captive's wrists and settled his weight on her abdomen. She twisted for all she was worth, but he could feel her strength waning, the thrashing of her legs and arms losing their intensity.

  “Shh, shh, it’s alright. I'm not here to hurt you. We'll get you out, just calm down.” he repeated, over and over until she gave up the fight.

  Her eyes glossed over, and Cullen allowed his grip to loosen slightly. The mewling sounds issued from her lips again. They were cracked and bleeding, whether from negligence or chewing on them he could not tell. He leaned closer to catch the whisper. “—aby... baby... my baby.”

  Her arms went slack. The brown eyes, swimming in bloodshot pools of tears, stared blankly on the ceiling above and transported her elsewhere as she continued her refrain. Cullen released her arms, brushing her locks away from her face. He supposed she must have been beautiful once but was terribly diminished after her term in captivity. What if Nora was living through the same horror, unable to escape unless she turned within to catatonia?

  Motion in the doorway caught his attention, and Cullen turned to see a concerned Laeg looking down on them.

  “Looks like she gave you a bit of a fight there, Cullen. I'm glad to see you're okay.” His tone softened a bit when he saw the defeat in Cullen's eyes. “Sorry, brother. I take it that is not your Nora?”

  “No, it's not her.” His brow tightened with hope. “Did you find anyone else?”

  “None, and it's well beyond time to go.”

  Cullen looked back down at the nameless prisoner and declared, “We have to take her with us, Laeg.”

  “The hell we do. It was hard enough getting in here, and it will be twice as hard to leave. We
cannot afford to have any dead weight slowing us down. Hell, we don't even know her name. She'll get us killed, and what good are you to Nora dead?”

  Cullen stood to confront Laeg, his finger pointed at the helpless prisoner on the floor.

  “Look at her, Laeg. That is a human being lying there, someone's daughter, a wife. Judging from the relative flatness of her belly, I would guess she's already given birth. How much longer do you think this Jane Doe will be allowed to live?” he asked, recalling the burned corpse they’d substituted for Nora.

  His voice rose to a commanding growl at the end, saying, “We’re the only chance she has.”

  Perhaps he was transferring some of his own emotions for Nora, but there only seemed to be one choice.

  He crossed the floor to her and, sweeping his arms beneath her knees and neck, picked her up. Laeg looked as though he would continue to block the way but stepped aside, pointing down the hall. “Miss Jane is your responsibility then, brother. Let's get moving.”

  Laeg passed them on the way to the intersection. He moved swiftly, heel to toe, the muzzle of his carbine sweeping left to right. As they reached the middle and shifted around the inert form of a guard, Cullen heard the 'ding' of the elevator chiming down the corridor. Both men froze for an instant, but Cullen was propelled onward by Laeg's sharp command.

  “Move! Keep moving!”

  ***

  Laeg took cover against the far right corner, sights trained on the elevator and the cargo of armed men it was sure to hold.

  They never should have come here. He regretted the decision to go along with Cullen's whim but knew he'd never hear the end of it otherwise. Thinking back, he'd rather live with scorn than die in a building that was nothing more than a mockery of ancient traditions. They'd even had the gall to plant a live oak in the building's center so they could hold 'ceremonies' around it.

  He steadied his breathing again, narrowing his vision and mind on the elevator forty feet away. A quick glance to the left showed Cullen moving swiftly considering the hundred plus pounds of dead weight.

  The elevator chimed a second time. As the doors separated, Laeg's trigger finger squeezed off a ten round burst into the opening. Hopefully a few ricochets found their way home. Shadows moved in the confined space, but no one dared exit. Cullen had twenty feet to go until he reached the doors and the stairs beyond.

  Shifting his attention back to the elevator, Laeg saw a canister rotating end over end in his direction.

  Immediately he bolted toward Cullen, screaming, “MOVE!”

  He cleared the intersection and perhaps ten more feet when the blast cut through his ear canals and penetrated his closed eyelids. The flash-bang had temporarily rendered both sight and hearing useless, making him an easy target for the assailants on their heels. Laeg reached to the wall for support but lost his balance and tumbled to the floor.

  Not one to lay down and die, Laeg pushed up onto his hands and feet. Pressed his right shoulder against the wall. Blinking his eyes furiously, all he could see was lights and multiple copies of Cullen swimming up ahead. He flipped around with his left shoulder to the wall and squeezed off the carbine’s final twenty rounds in the direction they had come, all the while stumbling backward.

  Laeg dropped the HK and searched for the other carbine's sling. The echoing reports of twin .45's fired behind him. Surprised, he spun and tripped over his feet in the process.

  His feet and hands continued moving, however. Always keep moving. Learned long ago, the simple advice had saved his life numerous times.

  Both boots gripped the floor while his left arm swung the carbine up. He fired bursts into the distance, praying the rounds would either hit something or hold them back. A hand gripped his collar and hefted Laeg off the floor. He steadied himself, using the pulling grip for guidance as he backpedaled toward the double doors.

  They finally reached the security of the stairwell. The dim lighting was a blessing, and Laeg saw Cullen looming close by. Cullen's hands took hold of the HK's sling, removing it from Laeg's shoulder. He felt himself pushed out of the way and held his hands out until they made contact with the stairwell railing.

  Their Jane Doe was sprawled on the first steps, oblivious to the gunfire and explosions.

  He stepped around her and continued upward when Cullen slapped him between the shoulders. Laeg shook his head, slid an open hand along the railing, and propelled himself upward with single-minded intensity.

  He could not hear Cullen ascending below him, yet he had to trust that they both wanted to get the hell out of there.

  Upon reaching the upper level's landing, Laeg drew the Glocks from the small of his back and oriented them on the stairwell below. To his relief, the darkness remained empty except for Cullen and his burden climbing the last few steps.

  Laeg pushed on the exit door and was greeted by a hail of gunfire from the other side. He caught a brief glimpse of two men using his GTO's open doors as shields before he jumped back inside the building and lay down on the top steps.

  Cullen stopped his ascent, huffing and puffing with the girl's backside propped on a knee.

  “Looks like we're caught in a pickle,” Laeg said.

  Laeg rifled through his mind for options.

  Heavily armed men were sure to come storming up the stairs at any moment.

  Two men pinned them down from the outside.

  Cursing loudly above the ringing in his ears, Laeg reached into his front pants pocket and withdrew his key fob.

  He looked to Cullen and yelled, “She better be worth it!” before flipping open a small black box and pressing two buttons simultaneously.

  ***

  A blast from outside rained parts, both human and machine, against the stone walls and metal door. Cullen reflexively ducked from the percussion but recovered his hold on the woman.

  Laeg was still cursing, slipping into an unfamiliar language, but the intent was clear. Cullen saw him draw the guard's handgun, bump the magazine's bottom, check the chamber, and then wave them up to the landing.

  Though the rescued prisoner had been light in the halls downstairs, her weight was taking a toll on Cullen. His adrenaline reserves had petered out. Both legs shook, and his arms burned from unaccustomed exertion.

  Laeg pressed his lips to Cullen's ear and yelled, “Two seconds. If there are no shots, follow my light."

  He stepped back, flicked on the small flashlight and nodded. Cullen nodded back. Just keeping up mentally at that point was beginning to challenge him.

  The same smile that streaked across Laeg's face the first day they met sprang up again. Then he charged the door and disappeared into the night.

  Cullen counted a fast two beats of silence before he fumbled for the door's push bar and used Jane's limp body to press it open. He swept his head from right to left, shocked by the wreckage strewn about.

  The explosion reduced Laeg's precious GTO to a smoldering pile of wreckage, its true form unrecognizable in the darkness. There was no gunfire challenging their exit, and Cullen spotted Laeg's circle of light moving rapidly to the left toward the parked sedan blocking their exit.

  Promising his body a lengthy rest if they survived the night, he squeezed Jane closer and bolted after Laeg, dodging hunks of metal and rubber along the way.

  By the time he reached the sedan, Laeg had thrown open the passenger doors facing Cullen and seated himself behind the wheel. Utterly exhausted, he unceremoniously dumped Jane Doe into the front seat and slipped to his knees in the process.

  Laeg shouted urgently, “You get the door, I'll strap her in.”

  Cullen regained his feet and closed the front door without a word. He spun around the rear door then pulled it shut as he slid into the back seat. Laeg brushed his hands away when he attempted to assist with Jane's seatbelt.

  “Get yourself buckled up.”

  He yanked his shoulder strap across his chest and fumbled around on the seat cushions for a buckle but found nothing.

  "I can'
t find a buckle. They're wedged underneath the seats.”

  A sharp edge sliced his searching hand. Cullen acquired his only wound of the day so far, finding it quite ironic after surviving a manhunt and becoming the target of wild teeth, claws, and gunfire in the last ten minutes.

  “Then hold on tight.”

  Cullen held the unsecured strap tightly while Laeg reached for a button to the right of the console's gear shift. A low rumble from the car's engine greeted them. Laeg pulled the shifter into drive and wasted no time with his exit. Over a curb and through a low bush, they bypassed the parking lot and drove directly for the worship center's access road. The car sped for the intersection with county road Q, its brilliant headlights illuminating the countryside.

  Laeg continued to accelerate through a right-hand turn, away from the city, out toward the two lane road that meandered among miles of farmer's corn fields. The sedan continued to gain speed, pressing Cullen into the plush leather seats. A glimpse of Laeg in the rearview mirror betrayed a smile curling the edges of the Irishman's mouth.

  “What's so funny?” Cullen asked.

  “Huh?”

  “You're smiling. What could possibly be entertaining you right now?”

  “Oh, well, one door closes, and a window opens, right? Here I just blew The Judge to smithereens and we jumped into an Audi S8. Brother, we have ten cylinders and four hundred fifty horses rocketing us to freedom. For a bunch of immoral mercenaries, they sure do have good taste in weapons and wheels.”

  Laeg's right thumb pressed a wheel mounted paddle, and Cullen felt the Audi engage a higher gear, forcing them to dizzying speeds. Jane's head lolled right and left. A low groan issued from her lips, and just as Cullen leaned forward to comfort her, a blinding flash of bright lights struck the rearview mirror.

  Instinctively, Cullen spun around to face the vehicle closing in. Perhaps two hundred feet away and steadily reducing the gap, a pair of high beams aimed directly for them. Laeg resumed his multilingual cursing and fueled the engine's pistons to gain more speed.