by Arianna Hart
Now she was in charge and proud of it. This was her operation, not her husband’s and she wasn’t bowing down to anyone.
“I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed that no one connected the drug activity to the arrival of the mission.”
“That’s because I convinced James Robert to start a drug treatment center and a drug prevention program as part of the mission.”
“Pretty slick.” Lex tipped his head towards her in a mock salute. “That not only diverted attention from you, but also gave you a list of potential customers. I didn’t think Jim Bob was a good enough actor to pull off that big a scam.”
“He isn’t. He thinks the drug treatment program is for real. The lab is my doing. He has no idea what goes on down here.”
“I can’t believe that. This is a large operation. He has to know something’s going on.” Lex said.
“Nope. He thinks this is nothing but storage. He has no idea where the money comes from. I handle all the finances that have to do with the facility so he doesn’t suspect a thing. In his head, he’s a great preacher like his grandpappy was, traveling around the country preaching his message to the masses.” She laughed derisively. Her grip on the gun loosened slightly, but she didn’t put it down.
“So you play the submissive little wife to his shining star,” Jane said. “It must be hard to know that you’re really the brains of the operation while he gets all the attention and adoration.”
“Don’t try to analyze me. It won’t work. I couldn’t care less what he or his idiot flock believes. I use him and his network for my operation. It works to my advantage for him to believe I’m ignorant.”
“How did Sarah manage to find out about this set up?” Lex shot Jane a warning glare. He didn’t want Susie’s attention on her.
“That bitch! She betrayed me.” She bit back whatever else she was going to say with a look of such extreme pain Jane couldn’t miss it.
She’d seen that expression hundreds of times on the faces of her marriage therapy clients. That was the expression of love betrayed. The realization hit her at the same time her hand slipped out of the stretched wire tie. It was all she could to keep her face blank and not clue Susie in.
“You trusted her, didn’t you? She saw right through James Robert and knew you were the one who was in charge. You must have loved her a lot to trust her with the truth. And she betrayed you by stealing the information and running away.”
Susie’s face blanched as if Jane had struck her. Lex sucked in a harsh breath.
Susie turned on him. “Does it surprise you that your lover slept with other women? That she preferred girls to you?”
A stab of pain struck Jane straight through the heart. Sarah had been Lex’s lover. That’s why he came here, to avenge her. Oh God, it made so much sense now. He was compensating for not being able to save her by completing the last mission she was on.
“Sarah and I hadn’t been lovers for years. If she started playing for the other team it was long after we split up.” His eyes bored into Jane’s as if trying to explain it to her too. “It wasn’t like I was in love with her.”
“Then why did she send you a package? Huh? Explain that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because she trusted me? Or maybe she suspected you had someone on the inside at EIS?”
The smug smile was back on Susie’s face. “She didn’t have any idea I had a line into her precious employer. Not that it did me any good. I didn’t find out she was an EIS agent until after she took off with the information. If I had found out sooner none of this would have happened.”
Jane had no idea what Susie was talking about, but she didn’t care. The pins and needles stabbing her hands had finally subsided and she could move her fingers without pain again.
“I don’t understand why you’d want to hurt an agency that saves children. EIS had nothing to do with you until Sarah came here. Why did you target them?” Jane asked, trying to keep Susie’s attention off Lex.
“Don’t be so naïve. EIS doesn’t just rescue children. They have government contracts and contacts all over the country. They’re tapped into information from DEA, ATF and the FBI. My source was able to tell me when multi-agency groups were getting ready to make a bust so I could abort shipments. EIS has undercover agents gathering information for the government worldwide. And it was a lot easier getting someone into the EIS office than it would have been getting them into a government position.”
“Who’s the mole?” Lex asked. A muscle in his jaw twitched and the tendons on his neck strained.
“Why do you want to know? You’re not going to live long enough to do anything about it.”
“People were killed when your mole leaked information. I want to know who it was.”
“Just try to figure it out.” Her smile practically stretched ear to ear. “You men think you’re so smart. You think because you have a penis you’re so much more clever than us poor, pathetic women.”
Jane jumped in, trying to get the attention away from Lex before he exploded. “That’s how you’ve remained undetected for so long. You use women to do your dirty work. James Robert’s flock is mostly women, so a few more who work for you wouldn’t be noticed. You pick the ones who have been kicked around by men and convince them that this is the way to have their revenge and make money at the same time.” Jane had to give Susie credit, she knew how to manipulate people like an expert.
“Very good. You’re smarter than I thought. I can spot an abused woman a mile off. Their hunched shoulders give them away every time. James Robert gets them here, then I take over. Pretty soon they’re distributing my ‘packages’ to my dealers and spying on the cops for me. No one would have known there was Meth in Stroudsburg if it wasn’t for one little brat who got his hands on his mother’s shipment and took off with it.”
“The pizza delivery bust. The kid didn’t have enough for the cops to trace to a lab because he got it from his mother,” Lex said, nodding.
“The thief. I took care of him though. No one messes with me.”
“But you still haven’t answered my question. Who’s the mole at EIS?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she taunted.
“Who is the mousiest woman at EIS? Someone who blends in with the woodwork but would have access to valuable information?” Jane asked, watching Susie’s face.
“No one but Mac would have the type of information she’s talking about. And he’d have it secured on his computer.”
“What woman has access to his office?”
“There aren’t that many women at EIS. Just Sarah, a few field agents who wouldn’t be in a position to get that information, and Alice, his secretary. But she’s not a computer hacker. There’s no way she could get to those files, they’re encrypted.”
Susie’s smirk told Jane all she needed to know.
“That’s it. Alice is your mole.”
“But why? I don’t get it. She’s been at EIS for years.”
“Gratitude. Alice was one of my first operatives. I helped her get away from the jerk who used her as a punching bag and then get a job at EIS. In return, she used the information she got from EIS’s resources to help me out.”
“And Mac never suspected her.”
“Why should he? Alice had a clean record, just bad taste in men.”
“If she was such a good source of information, why didn’t she tell you about EIS investigating Jim Bob?” Lex asked.
“Your boss must have suspected something because he changed his passwords. By the time I got someone to break through again, Sarah had already gotten her paws on my laptop.”
“What’s going to happen to us?” Jane asked.
Now that her hands were free she might be able to do something, but Susie still held the gun. Granted it wasn’t pointing at them anymore but she still had it in her hand. Kickboxing hadn’t taught her how to dodge bullets.
“The two of you are going to have a terrible fight. During the lover’s quarrel, D’Angelo
here is going to shoot you. In dismay at his actions, he’ll turn the gun on himself. A tragic case of domestic violence.”
“Mac knows I’m here. There’ll be an investigation. You’ll never get away with it.”
“By the time they trace you back to James Robert I’ll be long gone.”
“And Jim Bob will be left holding the bag. You’re more ruthless than I gave you credit for.”
“Men always underestimate me.” She laid the gun on a box on the floor and tugged out a pair of wire cutters.
Jane didn’t think about what to do next, she just acted. Before Susie could stand upright, Jane pushed herself out of the chair and snapped a kick right into Susie’s face. Something cracked and Jane was afraid it was one of her toes, but she didn’t stop moving.
Susie’s head whipped backwards and a spray of blood flew from her nose. Jane grabbed her by the hair and brought her knee up as she smashed Susie’s head down. There was another crunch and more blood splattered.
Susie went limp and Jane dropped her to the floor with a thud. Her stomach roiled with nausea when she saw Susie’s battered face.
“I thought you were a pacifist?” Lex said when Jane picked up the wire cutters and limped over to him.
“That only works if everyone else is too. Come on, we have to get out of here.” She couldn’t get the blade of the cutters to fit between the tie and Lex’s swollen skin. “This is going to hurt, but I can’t get the cutters in.”
“Just do it.” Lex grunted.
She cut as much skin as she did plastic, but she managed to get him free. “Do you know how to get out? I’m completely lost.”
“We’ll figure it out. I’m not going to be able to use my hands for a while so you’ll have to carry the gun.”
“I—I…Okay.” She didn’t want to touch the awful thing, but if it meant getting them out of here she’d do it.
“Good girl. I wish we had some ties to bind Susie-Q but I don’t want to waste the time searching for them. Grab the gun and let’s go.”
Jane took one last look to make sure Susie was breathing and then followed Lex’s orders. She’d gotten good at that.
Chapter Fifteen
Jane opened the door to the storeroom where they’d been held and stepped back so Lex could lead the way. Her sense of direction was so screwed up she had no idea where they were going.
“I don’t like the idea of leaving an enemy behind me, but we don’t have much choice. How long will she be out?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never done that on a real person before.”
Lex shot her an incredulous look but kept stalking down the hall. “I bet there’s an exit near the garage. If we keep heading east we should find it. Once we get there I’ll liberate a car and we’ll go.”
How the heck he knew where east was, Jane had no clue but followed his lead anyway. At least he had a plan.
As they came to a bend in the corridor, Lex held up his hand for her to stop. He inched his head around the corner and jerked it back quickly.
“Quick. Duck into that room there.”
Jane fumbled with the handle to the nearest door and prayed it wasn’t full of more men like Tank. The room was blessedly deserted. The light from the hallway showed a painfully neat desk and computer. A black bag lay propped against a potted fichus tree.
She picked up the black briefcase with the initials S L B embroidered on the top. “Look. This must be Susie’s office,” Jane whispered to Lex who stood watch by the door.
“See if you can find anything in there we can use.”
“Like her laptop?” Jane unzipped the bag to show the tiny computer.
“Beautiful. Grab it and let’s go. I think the coast is clear.”
Jane slung the briefcase over her shoulder and followed Lex as he crept silently out of the room.
They worked their way through so many dead ends and twists and turns Jane completely lost her way. If they got separated she’d be up the creek without a paddle.
As if reading her thoughts Lex turned to her. “If we split up, take the computer to Mac. I trust him with my life.”
“We’re not going to get separated. I don’t even know how to get to this Mac person.” Just the idea sent rivers of fear flooding through her body. She knew the only way Lex would leave her would be if he were dead.
“I’m just saying, don’t try and find me, I’ll find you. It’s more important to get that information to the authorities. Don’t trust anyone but Mac.”
He pulled a pen out of his pocket and pushed her shirtsleeve up to expose her wrist. His writing was sloppy since he couldn’t grip the pen correctly with his injured hands but she could read the numbers well enough.
“This is Mac’s private number, backwards. Find the nearest pay phone and tell him, ‘Lex Luther needs Superman.’. He’ll know what to do.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” she insisted, gripping the strap of the briefcase with sweaty palms.
“Shh. I need to think.”
They reached the junction of another hallway and Lex appeared to be orienting himself. “This way. I feel a breeze. We must be close to an exit.”
Jane didn’t feel a breeze but she trusted Lex’s judgment. As they scurried up an incline she could detect something other than the strong chemical odor of the lab.
“I smell oil. We must be near the garage.”
Lex used both hands to turn the handle to a door at the end of the hall. She caught a glimpse of a huge black car parked in a cavernous garage. They did it.
“Let’s go.”
Jane scrambled into the car and snapped her seatbelt on over the laptop case. Lex fumbled around under the steering wheel.
Sparks flashed in the dim interior and the car started with a roar. Jane hit the remote on the visor to open the bay door. Lex backed out with a squeal of tires. Several lieutenants stood nearby and jumped out of the way as they pulled out.
Another black-clad man ran out a side entrance of the mission and pointed a huge gun at them. Her heart jumped into her throat as the back window exploded in a mass of splintered glass.
“Get down!” Lex pulled her arm until she lay sprawled over the leather seat.
The seatbelt cut into her waist but she wasn’t going to complain. A scream escaped as more glass showered down over her. Lex let out a grunt of pain but Jane couldn’t see what had happened to him.
“Hold on, they’re trying to close the gates on us.”
She felt the muscles of his leg bunch under her cheek as he stomped on the accelerator. There was a screech of metal on metal and a thud, then nothing.
“We made it. You can get up now.”
Jane sat up carefully. She was covered in broken glass from the window. Lex had blood dripping down his face from multiple cuts but otherwise appeared safe.
“As soon as we can, we’ll ditch this hearse and find a safe location to call Mac.” He had to yell over the whistling of the wind coming in through the shattered windows.
She nodded mutely and clutched her arms around her body. Her legs felt weak with leftover fear and adrenaline. Sweat dried on her neck but she was afraid to wipe it off because of the glass shards covering her. She looked out the window at the trees flashing by. Her brain had shut down all logical thought processes. All she had left was a primitive need to cling to Lex and assure herself they were safe.
A glint among the branches caught her attention and she screamed, “Look out!” before pulling on the steering wheel. The car skidded all over the road as Lex fought her for control of the wheel.
Another shot rang out and her window burst into a million pieces. Pain seared her cheek as something hot blazed by her face. Lex let out a cry of pain and slumped to the side. The car began to slow and drift towards the trees lining the road.
“Lex!”
“Take the wheel,” he gasped.
Jane reached across and straightened the car out the best she could. Blood pumped slowly from Lex’s side.
&
nbsp; “Oh my God! You’ve been shot!”
“Not bad. Just hurts like hell.” He clamped his hand over his wound and tried to take control of the wheel again. Sweat dripped down his frightfully pale face.
“Pull over and I’ll drive. I’ll keep you safe.” She bit her lip to hold back the tears that clogged her throat.
“Can’t. Have to keep moving. I’m fine.”
Jane turned to check on their pursuers. An SUV crested the rise a little ways back. Far too close for them to pull over.
He might believe the wound wasn’t a bad one but the blood kept pumping out and his face was chalk-white. She needed to get him to a hospital and fast. But first she had to make sure Susie’s thugs didn’t catch them.
“Can you shift over if I move to the back seat? I can hold onto the wheel over the headrest and climb into the driver’s seat when you’re out of the way. We’ll slow down some but we won’t stop completely.”
He appeared to think about it for a second. They hit a dip in the road and he shuddered. The car swerved alarmingly close to the edge of the cliff as he fought off the pain. “I’ll try.”
Jane winced when tiny pieces of glass cut into her legs through her jeans as she scrambled into the back seat. It was hard to hold the wheel over Lex, but she managed it with only a few close calls. Thank God, no one was on the other side of the road.
“Climb back over, I’ve got the wheel,” Lex ordered.
His shirt was wet with blood and his hair stuck to the sweat on his neck. How much longer before he went into shock?
The wind whipped her hair into her face when she moved into the front seat. She could barely see through the starred windshield and the two passenger windows were completely blown out. Driving over thirty miles an hour was going to be a treat.
The SUV was fast on their tail.
“Do you think you can lose them?”
“I don’t think I have much choice.” Jane pressed the gas pedal to the floor and the car shot forward.
Her hands were slippery on the wheel and they tore around curves at speeds no sane person should attempt. Trees buzzed so close to the car Jane swore she could smell leaves. She blew through a stop sign and took a right turn on two wheels.