by Jade Dean
Abby’s mind raced, searching for a solution as she cataloged the room. There were four agents standing within ten feet of her. Ryan was secured to a chair in the middle of the room and an older man stood a few feet behind him. He wore a dark gray suit rather than a black one and he was obviously the man in charge even though he remained silent.
“I’m using a false identity because I’m married to a very bad man,” she lied. “He is the son of a mob boss and he’ll kill me if he ever finds me. No one runs from the mob,” she explained in a flat tone.
Ryan frowned at that. Abby had sounded all too convincing. He’d never even considered that she might be married. No wonder she hadn’t been frightened by being kidnapped and being held as a captive. It seemed that she was already used to being a prisoner in her own home.
Swift searched for a lie in her pretty eyes and didn’t see one. “I’m afraid that you have seen too much, Ms. Parker. I’m going to save your husband the trouble of tracking you down. Kill her,” he said dismissively to the agent that had escorted her inside.
Ryan opened his mouth to shout in denial and heard Trevor protest from behind him, but Abby was already in motion. She moved so fast that he had trouble tracking her as she smashed her left elbow into the nose of the agent holding her. Spinning, she drew his handgun and shot him in the right shoulder. Dropping to one knee, the bullet that had been aimed at her head by one of the other men missed her by inches. She pivoted to shoot the second and third agents in the shoulders as well before either of them could fire another shot.
Swift wasn’t a field agent and watched in numb disbelief as Abby took a few quick steps to the downed agents and picked up their guns. She shoved one into the top of her jeans and pointed one at him and the other at Trevor. He didn’t reach for his weapon. It was clear that she’d end his life before he even came close to touching his gun. “Let’s not be hasty,” he said and licked his suddenly dry lips.
“Shut up,” Abby told him tonelessly. She’d shut her emotions down, ready to kill if she had to, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. No one had died, yet, but they would if they stood in her way. “You,” she gestured at the man standing behind Ryan. “What is your name?” She’d heard him countermand his subordinate’s order and she was willing to give him a chance to save himself.
Remaining calm in the face of possible death, Trevor couldn’t help but admire the young woman’s skills. It was obvious that she was highly trained and also extremely dangerous. He almost wished that she was one of his employees. “I’m Trevor Watts. Who are you?”
“Abigail Parker,” she responded with a wry smile. Abby dropped her eyes to Ryan to judge his reaction to seeing her defend herself. He was stunned after watching her in action and his mouth was still open slightly in shock.
“You didn’t know she was an agent,” Swift realized. “She duped you as well.” He laughed, but it cut off when cold steel was pressed up against the back of his neck.
“I told you to shut up,” Abby said. “If you open your mouth again, I’ll put a hole in you.”
Trevor shifted his stance slightly, bringing her attention back to him. “Who are you working for? How do you and Ryan know each other?”
“I don’t work for anyone and I met Agent Sheldon for the first time in Brazil,” she said flatly. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Ryan’s heart lurched as he realized that they were mirror images of each other. They were both rogue operatives and had met by a simple twist of fate.
“What now? What is your plan?” Trevor asked. She was in control and she was utterly unpredictable.
“Ryan and I are going to walk out of here and you’re not going to send anyone after us,” Abby said. “If you do, they will die.”
Ryan almost flinched at the dead certainty of her words. The woman that he knew was still somewhere within the steely, unfeeling exterior that he was seeing. He hoped Abby would be able to reemerge once they were out of this mess. He hadn’t forgotten the reaction she’d had after killing the bandit back in Brazil. His death had tainted her and she’d asked him to help her to forget it. She might have been an agent once, but she was trying to leave this life behind her. Thanks to him, she was back in the thick of it again.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow Agent Sheldon to leave,” Trevor said regretfully.
“Fine. I don’t have a problem with killing you all. You’re less than bugs to me,” Abby said with a shrug and prepared to pull the trigger.
“Wait!” Trevor shouted, cringing away as she called his bluff. “Why are you so insistent that Ryan should be freed?”
Dropping her eyes to Ryan’s again, Abby let a spark of emotion show. “I owe him.” He hadn’t really saved her life, she was more than capable of taking care of herself. He’d given her much more than that. He’d given her the chance to feel again, even if the emotions had been fleeting.
“The button to release the restraints is on the wall behind me,” Trevor said.
“Is that true?” Abby asked Ryan.
“Yes,” he said, speaking for the first time since Abby had been brought into the cell. Deep down, he’d known that she wasn’t a helpless damsel in distress. She’d killed the thug in Brazil and had cleaned up the mess like a pro. He was surprised to find he wasn’t at all disappointed that he’d been wrong about her. It was strangely refreshing to meet a woman that was just as deadly as he was.
“Set him free,” she instructed Trevor. “But keep your hands where I can see them.”
Keeping both hands in the air, Trevor backed up to the wall. He was reluctant to turn his back on the unknown agent. He fumbled for the button and pressed it, then stayed with his back to the wall.
The restraints clicked open and the blood rushed back to Ryan’s hands and feet. He spent a few moments massaging away the pins and needles then stood. Swift stared at him with pure hatred as he crossed the room, pulled his jacket open and took his gun.
“Should we erase them?” Abby asked Ryan softly. She was willing to follow his lead on this since they were his people, or had been before he’d become a renegade.
Trevor’s bowels went loose almost to the point of soiling himself when his former agent turned to survey him coldly.
“No,” Ryan decided after a short contemplation. “I don’t think they’ll be stupid enough to send anyone after us again.”
Trevor shook his head. “You’re free to go,” he promised. Sweat had beaded on his forehead and a droplet ran down to the corner of his eye. By the time he’d blinked it away, the two rogue agents had disappeared.
₪₪₪
Chapter Nineteen
Ryan had a hundred questions for Abby, but they would have to wait. He led the way down the confusing labyrinth of hallways to the elevator, glad that his sense of direction hadn’t abandoned him.
Abby cursed softly when she saw they’d need an identification card to use the elevator. Ryan held up the card that he’d swiped from Swift’s pocket and smiled. “I have very light fingers,” he explained.
“That’s a useful skill,” she responded. He was glad to see the expression returning to her face. Her eyes were less cold now and were more like the Abby that he knew and had come to care for.
Reaching the parking level, they exited with their guns held ready, but encountered no resistance. Watts wasn’t stupid enough to sacrifice any of his people by trying to stop them from leaving. They were highly skilled and had nothing to lose, which was a dangerous combination.
Ryan didn’t bother to steal one of the agency’s cars. All were equipped with tracking devices and inbuilt GPS, which could track their every move. They left the parking area on foot and quickly ran for several blocks. He found an unlocked sedan that was old enough to be easily hotwired. Abby climbed into the passenger seat and kept watch for pursuit as he coaxed the relic to life and drove away from his former workplace.
“Where to?” Ryan asked his passenger. He was still trying to assimilate the fact tha
t she was an agent for an unknown organization.
“I have supplies stashed just a few blocks away,” Abby said and gave him directions to a storage facility. She didn’t have the key on her, but she’d taken the precaution of hiding one near her storage unit.
Ryan pulled into the driveway of a facility that housed storage units of various sizes. Some were large enough to contain the contents of an entire house. He followed Abby’s directions and stopped near the back of the property. There were hundreds of containers in total and the last few rows of gigantic rectangular boxes all looked the same. The large black numbers painted on the silver sides were the only way to be able to identify them.
They walked along one of the rows and Abby bent to dig beneath a cracked piece of concrete. She pulled out a key and led the way to her unit. His eyes widened when she unlocked the door and pushed it up to reveal an impressive arsenal and an array of equipment. He was especially impressed with the sleek black jeep that took up two thirds of the container. Running his hand down the side of the vehicle, he smiled in appreciation. “Very nice.”
“You two can become better acquainted in a minute,” Abby said dryly as she tossed her stolen weapons in a drawer then plucked a new pair of handguns off the rack on the wall. She placed them in a small black backpack along with a few more items that she took from within the drawers beneath the guns. “Take whatever you need,” she offered.
Tearing his eyes away from the vehicle, Ryan took a larger black backpack from beneath the bench that ran along the right side of the container. He chose a couple of handguns, an assault rifle and ammunition for all three weapons as well as several knives that came with handy sheaths.
Abby opened a drawer and removed the stack of passports and other false identification. She tossed several bundles of cash to Ryan and stuffed more bills into her backpack. They now had over one hundred thousand dollars in cash and access to several million more in offshore accounts under her various aliases. She assumed Ryan had similar setups storage areas and secret accounts of his own. Once they parted ways, they’d both be able to survive indefinitely, as long as they remained under the radar. She felt a pang of regret at the thought of never seeing him again, but suppressed it. Now wasn’t the time to become sentimental. Now was the time to run and hide.
Ryan grinned when Abby tossed him the keys to the jeep. He popped the hood and connected the battery then checked the oil, gas and tire pressure. Abby pointed to the containers of gas she’d stored at the back of the unit beneath canvas sheets. He filled the tank then neatly stacked the remaining fuel back beneath the canvas.
Ryan couldn’t help but compare the storage unit to several that he owned. Their tastes in equipment were very similar. While Abby strapped some knives to her wrist, waist and calf, he climbed into the jeep and let it run for a few minutes to make sure the motor was working properly. It was and Abby opened the container door before she could become asphyxiated by the fumes. Ryan drove out of the container and waited for his companion to close and lock the door then to return the key to its hiding place.
Instead of climbing inside the jeep, she stopped at his window. “I’m going to move the stolen car a few blocks away.”
Ryan nodded his agreement. They didn’t want Trevor to know the location of her storage unit if they managed to find the vehicle. “I’ll follow you,” he said and waited for her to re-hotwire the piece of junk.
Abby drove for several blocks then abandoned the car in a dark alley. “Where to now?” she asked as she climbed inside the jeep. For all she knew, Ryan would want to part ways immediately. He had a girlfriend to get back to, after all.
“I know a place where we’ll be safe for a while,” he said as he drove off. He caught her surprised expression and raised an eyebrow in question. “You don’t think it will be a good idea to stick together?” He wasn’t certain of that himself, but found that he didn’t want to be parted from her just yet. Not now that he knew she was just like him. He’d already been intrigued by Abby and he now wanted to know everything about her. He especially wanted to know why she’d turned renegade.
“What about your wife? Won’t she be pissed at having me along?”
“What makes you think I have a wife?” he asked, tensing at the question and shooting her a guarded look.
“You said her name in the hotel in Rio,” she replied.
Pain squeezed Ryan’s insides and his hands tightened on the wheel. “Miranda was my wife, but she died two years ago.”
Putting two and two together, Abby felt compassion swell. “Montoya had something to do with her death, didn’t he?”
Nodding jerkily, Ryan tried to box his grief and guilt back inside. He described his first mission to try to take down the drug lord and how Diego had retaliated. “Watts ordered us to cease and desist tracking Montoya, but I couldn’t let him get away with murdering my wife.”
“That’s understandable,” Abby said then hesitated before speaking again. “Was I responsible for your second mission failing?”
“Not directly,” he said with a rueful smile. “I was prepared to do whatever it took to take him down, but that was before you were thrown into the mix.”
“I should have told you who I was.” Guilt made her drop her gaze to her hands. “If you’d known that I could take care of myself, you would have killed him and put an end to your mission.”
“If you hadn’t come along, I’d be dead,” he said flatly.
“Suicide by bandits?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
They lapsed into a contemplative silence until Ryan’s curiosity had him asking a question. “What agency did you work for?”
Shrugging with one shoulder, Abby turned away from the scenery. They’d left Washington behind and picturesque trees lined the highway. “They didn’t have an official name. Our team was just called the ‘Black Squad’.”
He recognized the name, of course, and had heard that they were even more clandestine than his agency. He’d also heard that they were far more deadly. The Black Squad was used when their government didn’t want any prisoners left alive. They were a kill squad, pure and simple. “Why did you walk away from it?”
“I lost count of how many people I was told to kill during the past decade,” Abby said softly. “I was numb to it by then. Ending lives was as easy as eating, drinking and sleeping for me.”
“It was your job,” Ryan said in full agreement. “You were told that your targets deserved to die and you didn’t ask any questions. You trusted you were doing the right thing for your country.”
Nodding, Abby’s mouth quirked up in a pained smile that he understood her so completely. Why wouldn’t he when they were two sides of the same coin? “I was sent to the Middle East and I was given a different type of target. Instead of killing the leader of a terrorist group, I was ordered to murder his entire family. I was expected to wipe out five kids and their mother, none of whom had lifted a finger against the US.”
Studying Abby in quick glances as he drove, Ryan felt a surge of empathy. “If I was put in that situation, I’d have walked away, too.”
“I didn’t just walk away,” she confessed. “I knew my team would come after me if I did.” Just like the mob, no one walked away from the Black Squad.
She was silent for a long moment. Long enough for him to prompt her. “You killed them?” He kept his tone expressionless and un-accusing despite his shock.
“Yeah.” Abby hadn’t enjoyed the process of eliminating her own squad members. “It was them or me,” she explained. “They were soulless dogs working for the devil himself. He’d point and we’d tear the throat out of anyone he told us to. The others had been brainwashed beyond redemption and none of them had a problem with killing children. I realized they’d done it before and I was the only one Logan hadn’t ordered to take down a minor. It was a test and I failed it. One of the guys put his gun to my head when I refused the order and my training took over.” Five bodies had been left sprawl
ed on the ground and none of them had been hers.
“You must have some crazy hand to hand skills,” he said in genuine admiration.
“I can hold my own,” she said modestly. She hadn’t actually used her hands. Knives had been her weapons of choice. Sometimes, she almost felt as if their blood was still on her. Unconsciously, she wiped her palms on her thighs.
“So, what about the mob husband that you’re on the run from?” he asked with a crooked smile.
“He doesn’t exist.”
“You don’t have a boyfriend?” He was relieved when she shook her head. “Girlfriend?” he teased and smiled when she laughed.
“There’s no one special in my life,” Abby said. There never had been and there probably never would be. She was on the run and would be for the rest of her life. What kind of man would be able to put up with a lifestyle where they had to be constantly on the move? Unwillingly, she turned to look at Ryan who was so much like her that it was almost scary.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty
It took five hours to reach the destination that Ryan had in mind. Abby remained alert and on the lookout for anyone following them. Neither of them spotted a tail and he didn’t hesitate before turning onto a private road. He stopped at a gate and motioned for Abby to stay in the jeep. Like her, he’d hidden a key to the padlock nearby. Finding it still inside the watertight plastic bag beneath a rock, he opened the gate. Abby climbed into the driver’s seat and drove through. He locked the gate again and climbed into the passenger seat.
Abby followed the dirt road past increasingly dense woods until she spied a lake. It shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight and the light reflected off the water blindingly. The house that was set back from the edge of the lake was small, cozy and rustic. The windows were shuttered and it had an abandoned air about it. The white walls needed to be painted, but it was still in pretty good shape.