Jack grunted. “Serves him right.”
Lea dropped to one knee and swept her pistol across the street. A tin can bounced off the curb and rolled in front of us.
She rose to her feet and shook her head. “I left straight away to find you. Anthony was preparing his boat when I left on mine.”
“Did Anthony come on a boat yesterday?” I asked.
“When the second activation hit, he took a squad to Flushing Bay. His plan was to have a quick scout around the stadium. Ever since he found out that they’re in deep shit with Headquarters, he’s become more erratic and doesn’t give a shit about their plan.”
Lea doubled back and led us along 43rd Avenue. Drab brick industrial units and garages were packed together on either side of the road.
“What’s the story with HQ?” I said. “We hear they’re coming, but that’s about it.”
“Headquarters wants to meet the whole team today in Boston. Anthony told them on Saturday that he moved the control unit to Massachusetts. He’s doing it to buy some time in his hunt for you. A lot of people are getting nervous about lying to HQ. He executed a guy yesterday morning who asked to leave.”
“Why don’t they kill him if he’s risking their lives?”
“Claims he can smooth it all over once HQ shows up, and they’ll understand him stamping out a local issue.”
“We met a techy guy in Monroe who told us they were a nasty bunch. He reckoned the local team was for it,” I said.
“I heard about, Brett. Anthony said you killed him in Ohio.”
“That lying piece of shit,” Jack said. “He shot Brett.”
Lea let out a deep sigh and shuddered. “Doesn’t surprise me. A group of survivors attacked Hart Island two nights ago. They failed, but our techy guys reported it. HQ is nervous about tech falling into civilian hands and are furious that they got so close.”
“Why don’t the techs tell HQ they’re still on Hart Island?”
“They don’t need to. As soon as they sent out the second activation, Headquarters would pick up device activity on their network. Anthony doesn’t know it.”
“Christ,” I said. “Sounds like it’s all falling apart. I’m surprised it hasn’t descended into full-scale mutiny.”
“Trust me, it’s close. If I ran GA, I’d be kicking their asses too.”
“What about you?” Jack said. “Anthony and Jerry just let you tag along? I find that hard to believe.”
“I’m safe as long as I’m with Martina. She’s memorized the launch codes. If they touch me, they get no activations.”
The information came at me in an overwhelming flood. But it sounded good. Others had attacked the GA team, and Anthony had plunged the local team in even deeper shit. HQ still provided the unknown, but at least they weren’t coming for us, not at the moment.
At the end of 47th, we headed for a small industrial structure with two silver columns protruding from the top. Manhattan stood directly behind it, separated only by the river. Quite a spectacular view for such a dull building. I was surprised that hotels, housing companies, and leisure complexes hadn’t taken over these kinds of spots. It happened everywhere in Manchester city center.
“This way. I saw it from the bridge, and it looked quiet,” Lea said.
Lea squeezed through a gap in the chain-link fence and headed toward a series of small brick buildings. She walked between two of them and leaned against the wall.
I glanced around. We were obscured from any view unless somebody entered the complex.
“I’ll guard one way, you the other,” Jack said to me.
I trained my rifle back toward the road. “What happened after you left us in Monroe?”
In my peripheral vision, Lea lowered her gun, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag.
“When I split from you guys, I dodged the patrols and headed for Martina’s house.”
“We heard a shot,” Jack said.
“I think they found someone else. I don’t know. She lives by the airport on the other side of town. I went to her yard and waited. Where did you go?”
“We lay in a pit of rotting bodies,” Jack said.
I wondered if a day would go by where I didn’t think of that experience. I was sure it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
“Gross. No wonder they couldn’t find you. I heard all hell breaking loose in the town and wondered if you’d come back to get me. I figured you knew why I slipped away without telling you.”
“We worked it out,” I said. “I might have done the same thing if this idiot was hiding out in Monroe.”
Jack laughed sarcastically. Lea continued, “It had gotten dark, and I heard a vehicle approach the house. They dropped Martina off and sped away. When she went through to the kitchen, I knocked on the window, giving her the fright of her life.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t shoot you after what happened with Ron,” I said.
“She was angry and upset. We had a fight in the kitchen but quickly made up.”
“A physical fight?” Jack asked.
“Mostly shoving and screaming—it wasn’t pretty. Anyway, I told her about our journey from New York, and she began to understand the situation. Although I did tell her I tried to stop you from killing Ron, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Fine by me,” I said. “You did what was needed to survive. It’s understandable. Does she want us dead?”
“She did at first, but we’ve got bigger things to think about. I’ll get to that part. Martina uses the codes to keep us both safe. Anthony and Jerry are both furious that they didn’t have time to get them from Ron.”
“I’m glad. Pair of assholes,” Jack said.
“I’m surprised they just didn’t torture them out of her,” I said.
Lea took another drag of her cigarette and blew smoke out of the corner of her mouth.
“I worried about that, but she’s memorized them and said she’d rather die than give up our safety. There are plenty who don’t like Anthony and Jerry. Most of the GA guys I’ve spoken to have been forced into the organization in one way or another.”
“Why don’t they rise up and kill them?” Jack asked.
“Nobody knows who to trust locally, and Headquarters holds family members and loved ones hostage.”
“Brett told us about that,” I said.
“On our way down to New York, one of the guys called Anthony a prick. Not to his face, but he managed to hear about it. He sliced his throat in front of the convoy. That had a funny way of keeping things quiet.”
I thought about how good it would be to teach Anthony a lesson. Not a quick bullet to the head—he deserved something far more slow and painful.
“What happened when you met Jerry and Anthony?” Jack asked.
“Jerry keeps his distance and is always sneering. He’s constantly asking questions about you. Apparently, he’s like an expert hunter.”
“He’s not much of an expert. We’re still here, aren’t we?” I asked.
“And now he knows it. Man, he’s neurotic. Wanted to know your habits, what food you like, what you said before I left you, where you’re from. He recorded every last little detail in a notebook. HQ has taken a back seat in his mind. If GA suspends him, I get the feeling that you’ll become his life.”
“Suspend him?” I asked, confused about the choice of words. “Wouldn’t they just kill him?”
She shrugged and had another drag. “They’re losing men every day. Anthony thinks Headquarters can’t afford to kill their own staff.”
“But he can?” Jack asked. “You know he cut a woman’s throat in Monroe and blamed it on us?”
“I heard about her. Poor woman. There’s a rumor that he took a boat out to South Bass Island and killed two GA members for raising a false alarm about you.”
“No, that was us,�
� I said. “Although you don’t have to spread that around.”
“Honestly? None of the other guys I’ve spoken to give a shit about you. It’s only those two, and I think you know why.”
“What did they expect us to do?” Jack said. “Bring them a picnic hamper?”
Lea shook her head. “Jerry’s been kissing Martina’s ass because she holds the power with the launch codes. He boasted to me yesterday about digging up Bernie’s corpse as a message for you.”
“Did you tell Martina?”
“She doesn’t care about Bernie or you. She might not want you dead anymore, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“Did he tell you he booby-trapped it?” I said.
“No, what did he do?”
“He wedged a knife through a grenade pin and stuck it in Bernie’s body. The poor bugger got blown to pieces.
Lea screwed up her face and cursed under her breath. I had a hard time believing that she just went along with GA. I could see her motivation in terms of Martina, but it all seemed bizarre with Anthony and Jerry involved. I suspected Lea wasn’t reading them correctly. There had to be more to their motivations and actions involving her.
“How much sway does Martina have?” Jack asked.
“She sits on a council with Jerry and Anthony. They speak at ten every morning, whether that’s face to face or over a radio.”
“Jesus, a council? She’s in this right up to her neck,” I said. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“She’s kept me alive, hasn’t she?”
“We would’ve kept you alive,” Jack said.
She dropped her smoke and crushed it with her boot. “If only things were so simple, Jack.”
“What about HQ?” I asked. “Do you have any idea what’s coming?”
“Everyone’s guessing at the moment. Jerry reckons they’ll have their hands full in the UK. I’m not so sure. The tech guys speak to their people over there and are terrified about their arrival.”
“Haven’t some already arrived?” Jack said. “Two jumbos landed a hundred and fifty miles north of here the other day.”
Her eyes widened. Not by much, but I noticed and thought her reaction curious. “Surprised by the revelation, Lea?”
“I heard their ship is arriving tomorrow. Nobody mentioned anything about a plane.”
“Seems like we’re not getting the full story,” Jack said. “How many are on Hart Island at the moment?”
“The Ops team number about forty. I don’t know exactly. I know five of them didn’t make it back yesterday.”
“We took them out,” I said. “Three of them to save Judas Morgan.”
“He told us they got into a big firefight with the local defense force on the water; said that’s how he lost his men.”
“That’s bullshit,” Jack said. He dropped his guard and turned to face Lea. “That so-called ‘defense force’ was a boat full of kids and a woman.”
Lea looked nervous, and I started to question whether we should continue this meeting. I didn’t give a rat’s cock about her time on the road with GA; I only wanted to know how we could destroy them.
“What was the second activation all about? I thought they were supposed to be processing people,” Jack said.
“They are, but not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“When Anthony caught one of the scavenging teams from the stadium and confirmed you were around, he ordered the device in Manhattan to be programmed with the same instructions as the previous activation. So it’s only localized in this area.”
“The rest of the country is being processed?” I asked.
“The official second activation was launched nationwide in all other areas. One of the guys mentioned a team in Virginia.”
“That’s still going off plan, right?” Jack said.
“Right. I heard Anthony debating it with Jerry and Martina. Jerry said they could slit your throats when you came in for processing. Martina knows I want you alive, so she proposed that we just leave you to rot in the city; then GA could sweep you up when the situation was back under control.”
“But Anthony went for Plan C: Take us out with a local activation, and come in after to make sure the job was done?” I asked.
“He’s not letting this one go. I’d bet you a million dollars that he’s breaking down Bernie’s door at the moment.”
“What about the tech team?” Jack said.
“A guy on the other end of the sat comm knew they’d configured Manhattan for a first activation. He told them to move down to a safe house outside Atlantic City . . .”
“They’re going today?” I asked.
“They might have already gone. I think they’re nervous about traveling through New York, but they’re heading out tonight.”
“You’re not mentioning Martina much. What did she say about all of this?”
“Martina went along with it and supplied the launch codes. She asked to be left alone when she punched in the sequence. She had to do it; it keeps me alive.”
“Doesn’t she realize the number of people who have died because of the activations?” Jack said. “If she’s against this thing, why didn’t she run?”
“And have Anthony tracking us? No way. Besides, we’ve come up with another idea.”
I’d been waiting for the point of this whole story. As interesting as it was, we weren’t standing here for a casual conversation. I knew Lea had found us for a reason, but I didn’t know why.
“Come on, Lea, what’s the plan?” I asked.
She didn’t reply and rubbed her face. I considered her loyalty.
“We’re not stupid,” Jack said. “You’re in bed with these fuckers. What do you want?”
“This is where you two come in. We’ve thought of a way to end this.”
“We had a way until this morning. And who is we?”
Lea paced around and stopped in front of me. “Martina and me. We all want the same thing. I’ve told you how fragmented this whole thing is. We’ve got an opportunity.”
“So where do we come in?” I asked. “I take it Martina doesn’t know you’re here?”
“She does, actually. We’ve got a small window to bring down the local operation, with your help.”
At last she got down to brass tacks. I’m sure she didn’t take us for fools. Any kind of reveal like this usually led to consequences.
“Cut to the chase. Why are you really here?” I asked.
“We’ll only be free if we eliminate Jerry, Anthony, and the control unit.”
“When you say we,” I said, “I take it you mean you and Martina?”
“Fuck off, Harry. I mean all of us. I’m giving you an opportunity to wipe out the leaders of the local team. Are you in?”
“What kind of opportunity are you talking about?”
“Tonight. Anthony likes to send night patrols out to check for anyone sneaking about in the local area. We’ll probably only have to deal with Anthony, Jerry, and a few guards. I’m sure you two can handle that.”
“And Martina?” Jack said.
“She’s going to keep them busy in the control room. I’ll pick you up at City Island, just to the right of Pelham Cemetery, at ten. It’ll be dark by then . . .”
“Sounds like you’ve got this all planned out,” I said. “Forgive me for being skeptical, but you’re in with a bunch of toads.”
Lea placed her hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. “It’s our chance. They won’t see us coming. Come in black clothes. You’ll be on top of them before they know what’s happening. I’m a familiar face, remember?”
“Yeah, but we’re not,” Jack said.
“Just walk behind me. Whoever it is won’t be able to tell in the dark. Anthony likes to have two guards stationed outside the control room, but I’
ve seen them all go out on patrol.”
“And if the patrol doesn’t go out?” I said.
“We do it tomorrow, or the day after. They won’t be staying on the island for too long. HQ will figure out Anthony’s bullshit.”
“What’s Martina doing once we’re on the island?” Jack said. “I can hardly remember what she looks like from that picture.”
I could tell he had the same reservations as me. This was the second time he’d asked about Lea’s partner. Her plan all seemed a little too convenient.
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll join in as soon as we attack.” Lea slipped a creased photograph out of a wallet and handed it to Jack. “You take out the guards and move inside for Jerry and Anthony. They’ll be in the control room with Martina. Blow the control unit, and we get the hell out of there before the patrol comes back.”
“Brett said it was in a tough protective casing,” I said.
“Martina’s going to get a tech to take off a side panel. She’s thought about everything.”
I had nagging doubts about her plan, but the opportunity to kill Anthony and Jerry had a strong appeal.
“You’re sure Anthony and Jerry will be there?” Jack asked.
I knew he would jump at the opportunity to have a crack at them. Perhaps that’s what they wanted? To lure us in by using Lea. I dismissed it as being too intricate for their brutal brains.
“Harry, are you in?” Lea asked.
“You haven’t exactly given us a lot of details. We show up at a dock tonight, you pick us up, and we kill Jerry and Anthony. Is that it?”
“That’s the bottom line.”
“I’m in,” Jack said.
His instant decision didn’t come as a huge surprise. Jack always thought with his heart rather than his head. With our previous plan screwed and a larger enemy force on the horizon, I had to agree with him. We were neutralized and could run away, wash our hands of this thing, but I wanted revenge.
“Count us in,” I said. “Nine hours to get ready and up to City Island.”
“You need explosives to blow up the control unit.”
“Leave that to us,” Jack said.
It all seemed too easy. Lea turning up and serving up two of our mortal enemies on a plate. Perhaps I was being too cynical, but who could blame me?
Second Activation (The Activation Series Book 2) Page 23