“Too well. Where are we?”
That was the moment when the fasten-your-seatbelt signs above them lit up. Surprised, she looked out the window. The sun was just rising, painting the sky in a pink explosion of color. Further down below she made out the runway that was coming towards them fast.
Great! She’d slept right through the flight. She quickly checked the messages she’d missed, almost twenty by Julie. The last one was a selfie in front of the airport terminal in Tacoma. Ally breathed a sigh of relief and looked more closely at the photo. Julie was grinning into the camera, pointing at the current headline of the Seattle Times:
CIA SKANDAL WIDENING
President Mitchel in the Line of Fire
Whoever was feeding the press was putting Mitchel more and more under pressure.
Several screens at the Washington D.C. airport showed similar headlines, all of them directed against the current president. Even members of his own party were beginning to back down and ask questions.
Ally still assumed Sergej was behind the leak, even if he’d denied it. By now, the oh so secret research project by the CIA was being hashed over everywhere. In some articles Mitchel’s former right hand, Cyrus Patrick, came into the focus, deputy director of the CIA, former head of the research department of the Firm, as the CIA was called in insider circles.
When Ally read Cyrus’ name, she stopped short. Something about it seemed oddly familiar though she couldn’t put a finger on it. Although it didn’t feel good, it wasn’t the right time to investigate it further. Jean impatiently pushed her out of the arrival hall and into a limousine, which was waiting for them in front of the terminal. She gave the address to the driver, 1536 Poplar Place in Mc Lean, and couldn’t help that her heart was beating faster with excitement. In half an hour she’d come face to face with her dad!
To calm herself down she took hold of the pin inside the pocket of her knitted coat. Since she woke up the connection had changed. Strangely enough it was getting weaker. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The shorter the distance, the stronger the gravity? But that wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, she couldn’t look through his spirit, so she assumed he was sleeping. Was that the reason behind her barely being able to grasp his energy?
The further they got from the airport, the more nervous she became. What if Cole didn’t want to see her? If she’d misinterpreted his intentions about the pin? What if he slammed the door in her face? If he became angry, or even worse, disappointed.
The longer she thought about it the more she marveled at the idiotic idea to surprise Cole like this. What the heck had she thought? It must have been the stress, the lack of sleep–maybe she’d been in shock? There was no other way to explain why she was sitting in this limo, together with Jean, Viktor, and his two watch dogs. It could be the intro to a joke: A Russian, a Frenchman and an American Woman are driving to a killer’s house. Says the Russian…
“Are you okay?” Viktor inquired, apparently sensing her discomfort. She almost laughed. But she didn’t feel like laughing. With every mile behind it became evident what she’d done.
Cole had been hiding for years and here she was, two SK offspring in tow, and both wanted the list. Not to forget the armed bodyguards. She must have been nuts!
When they turned onto Poplar Place, she realized the entire scope of her mistake. If it had been possible, she would have cancelled the whole thing, but it was too late. Now it was all about damage control.
Therefore she asked Viktor and Jean to give her few minutes alone with her father. Of course they declined–finally a point they agreed on. Now that they had their target within their reach they didn’t want to risk her messing it up. Luckily she could convince them that Cole would probably run if the three of them showed up on his doorstep.
When she left the car, her heart was beating in her throat. She’d never been to the capital of the United States. She had assumed that no other city like Seattle would have such lush vegetation, but she’d been wrong. Virginia possessed similarly extensive forests, trees and parks, as far as the eye could see. Somehow she had always imagined Cole in a big city like New York or Los Angeles, in a loft or condo on the twentieth floor of a building. This place looked more like a ‘home, sweet home’-version. Either that was part of his cover or…oh no. She was getting sick.
What if he’d gotten married and had family?
Dammit! The thought never crossed her mind. Just because he was pretending to be James Bond didn’t mean that he didn’t have a life. Arnold Schwarzenegger had set the example in True Lies. His family had no idea he was making pancakes for breakfast and went to work in a fighter jet in order to defuse nuclear bombs and beat up terrorists.
She wanted to run back to the car and beat her head against the roof. But it was no use, she'd to face the music.
When looking for the doorbell she noticed that the door was ajar. She hesitantly knocked and entered. “H-Hello?” she called out in a small voice and looked around.
She had a scary déjà-vu-feeling when she saw the mess that had also greeted her in her own home last Friday. Had it really only been three days?
Carefully she moved further into the house. “Dad?” Fear paralyzed her steps that were becoming more and more hesitant with each breath she took. Her heart was beating like crazy and just as she feared to start hyperventilating, she saw the blood. It was everywhere. On the walls, the floor, even on the ceiling.
Her stomach clenched and her teeth started to chatter as she approached the door that separated her from the cause. She knew what was behind this door. By now her knees were shaking so badly she could barely move forward. Cold sweat was running down her back while she supported herself against the wall in order not to fall. Oh God, please let me be wrong…,” was all she could think.
But she’d never been wrong, that was the curse of her gift. She knew for sure that Cole was waiting behind this door. And there was no doubt he was dead.
She leaned against the frame of the entrance, took a deep breath and pushed open the heavy wooden door with the tip of her foot.
The very next moment somebody grabbed her from behind and pressed a smelly cloth over her mouth.
Then everything went black.
15
When she came around she couldn’t tell how much time had passed. What she did know though was that she was lying tied up in the back of a utility van, which was racing down the road. In the driver’s cabin sat two men. The one on the passenger side was incessantly yelling swearwords.
Suddenly, something bumped into the van from behind, making it jolt forward. Now she realized what had woken her. Somebody had sedated her and thrown her into the van like a sack of potatoes. But those guys apparently hadn’t come far. Someone was going after them at full speed, hitting them from the side, another time from behind. Whoever it was wasn’t squeamish. They were crashed into quite vehemently one more time when the passenger seat guy left his place and crawled into the back.
Ally pretended to be still out cold, but she could have saved herself the effort, because the man wasn’t her paying any attention. He was searching for something inside a metal box. When he found what he’d been looking for her heart skipped a beat. That thing seemed to be a…hand grenade?
No way would she let this nut attack her saviors with that. Though they had bound her arms and legs with adhesive tape she wasn’t helpless. It was starting to dawn on her why David hat beaten her to karate training–literally.
Lying on her back, she pulled in her legs, then kicked them forward, hitting the man into the small of his back. She’d put all her strength into this kick, and, man, had she been angry. The guy fell forward and hit one of the boxes with his chin and slumped down like a marionette, whose strings had been cut.
One less worry, she thought, grabbed onto one of the boxes and came to a standing position. She had to get out of here, like, pronto. And definitely before the nutcase came to, which unfortunately happened the very next moment. Dazed, he g
ot onto his knees, still holding the grenade.
With trembling hands she unhooked one of the double doors in the back, which wasn’t exactly easy with bound wrists.
Again, the van got smashed into from the side and one of the metal boxes fell onto the dazed man, who–because of reflex or shock–pulled the safety ring off the grenade, which then fell out of his hand and rolled…right in front of her feet. At the same time the back door flung open. Due to the side impact the adhesive tape got stuck on the door latch, making her fly out together with the flap. But instead of landing on the road she was stuck to the lock as if a higher power had pinned her there.
She cried out in horror, then a car approached from behind. A moment later her feet found a grip on the hood.
She had to get out of here as quickly as possible. The van would blow up any second. She’d rather break every single bone on the asphalt than burn in a flaming inferno.
With the kind of courage one could only summon in desperate situations she kept tearing at her bonds. The latch cut through the tape and she fell backwards onto the hood of the car, which slowed down at once. Thank God, because the very next moment the van took off. The explosion lifted it about fifty feet into the air where it was ripped in half. The last thing she heard was squealing brakes. Then she flew through the air and her world became dark once more.
~ * ~
When she woke for the third time that day she found herself in Viktor’s arms again. Man, she could get used to it. This time she didn’t care if she was drooling. Every freaking bone hurt and her entire body felt sore. The more she came to, the more crushing the inventory became. Her right hand was broken, that much was sure. Probably also a few ribs. She had abrasions, countless bruises and a twisted ankle.
But she was alive.
Somebody had outfitted her with a neck brace and had provisionally put her hand in a splint. Dazed, she looked around. The freeway was closed off in both directions. The red light of the ambulance and the blue light of the High Patrol car were immersing the scenery into an eerie light. More and more new patrol cars arrived. A paramedic leaned down and asked her how she was feeling.
Good question, moron! Splendid, couldn’t he see that? Apparently, Viktor was thinking the same, because he barked something that sounded like crappy, but she wasn’t sure.
A second paramedic put her into recovery position and together with his colleague they pushed a stretcher underneath her.
Viktor was holding her hand and didn’t let go when they started moving towards the ambulance. It made her feel better in an inexplicable way.
Ally paused. No, it wasn’t his presence that made her feel batter. Her eyes wandered to their intertwined hands. The palms were tingling and she could feel a light energy stream running from him into her. Her jaw dropped, but she couldn’t make a sound. He was healing her. That’s why the painful throbbing was easing off.
“You…,” she began. He leaned over her. “Shhh!”
“But…”
“Not a word,” he whispered. His eyes captivated her gaze. “I can’t give you too much otherwise your bones will grow together the wrong way.”
He’d saved her life, she was sure of that. “Were you driving the car?” she asked.
His eyes sparkled with amusement. “Who else?” he asked so gently.
Ally lifted her free hand to touch his face, but a fiery pain flashed through her like a hundred volt charge.
“Careful! You can count yourself lucky to be alive,” the paramedic said. By now they’d reached the ambulance car. Before he could push her through the door she heard somebody call out.
“One moment. We have to interview the witness!”
“She hardly escaped death!” Viktor, who was still by her side, flared up.
“But she lives and is an important eye witness.” The man flashed his badge.
“Special Agent Smith and Agent Wallice.”
FBI. Better than the CIA, Ally thought. Then she heard a familiar voice.
“Alienor?”
“David” she sighed. She couldn’t believe he was here. Relief engulfed her and with it came the waterworks.
“Alienor,” he repeated and climbed into the ambulance. She blinked away the tears and examined him. Worry lines had dug their way into his forehead like furrows. It seemed he’d aged in the last few days. “Uncle David,” she whispered and took his hand. “Is he dead?” She didn’t have to make it any clearer, he knew who she was talking about.
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “No,” he breathed so softly, thus only she could hear. This broke the dam. She sobbed, letting her tears flow. He carefully took her in his arms, something he’d never done before. Crying, she clawed her fingers into his coat, when one of the agents cleared his throat.
“Miss, we have a few questions.”
Ally saw David change from caring uncle into the shark that his opponents in the court room feared more than a guilty verdict. “Gentlemen,” he said in a cold voice and pulled a business card from the inside pocket of his jacket. “I am David Reynolds, legal guardian and lawyer of the witness. She is incapable to be questioned, so I’m asking you to contact me in the next few days.” He handed Smith the card, who looked at it as if he wanted to tear it up and throw it into his face.
“Mr. Reynolds,” the special agent began, inhaling deeply. “We are investigating in a top secret matter. We have reason to believe that…”
But David wouldn’t take it.
“I’m staying at the Hyatt, where you can reach me during business hours,” he cut in. “Right now I have nothing else to tell you, so, please excuse us!” He directed his laser stare at Special Agent Smith, whose jaw was clenched. With one last poisonous look the men turned and walked away.
As soon as they were out of sight, another ambulance arrived, lights flashing and siren howling, making its way through the debris. The two paramedics seemed confused, but David took over this matter as well, no surprise. After barking a brief instruction Ally was transferred into the other ambulance.
Since only a relative was allowed to accompany Ally, David threw Viktor the keys of his rental car and instructed him to follow them. He didn’t need to be asked twice. With Jean on his tail he jogged over to David’s beamer and started the engine.
Ally assumed, he and Jean had already given their statements. Fact was that she wouldn’t have been able to give a reasonable account. In the last few hours her hard drive had crashed a few times and her memories where at best fragmentary. One thing she could remember quite well though.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Cole’s energy. All that blood…
All of a sudden her ECG went off like crazy. David said something to the accompanying doctor, who leaned over her and… Her breath was taken away. “Dad?” she whispered in disbelieve. He smiled.
~ * ~
Viktor got behind the ambulance and gritted his teeth. Jean, who’d hopped into the passenger seat asked something, but Viktor didn’t pay attention. All he could think of was how Ally had been flung from the van. She’d landed on the hood of their car and had been exposed to the explosion without any protection.
At the memory his hands tightened around the steering wheel. Without his healing powers she would have been dead as a doornail. How could he’ve been so stupid to agree on letting her go into the house alone? The whole thing was reeking trap from the beginning. But instead of going with his gut, he’d let her have it her way. A few minutes alone with her father, what could it hurt?
He would have liked to hit his forehead against the steering wheel. What could it hurt? Everything! He’d broken pretty much every rule his father had taught him, one of them being: Don’t trust anybody!
But he trusted Ally, even if he couldn’t tell why. He’d never met anybody who was as bad a liar as she was. Her natural honesty was disturbing and fascinating at the same time. Unfortunately, this girl confounded him in a way that blindsided him. Ally had almost paid the price for that.
&
nbsp; Normally, he didn’t let anybody or anything distract him. But ever since they’ve met he was behaving like a bloody rookie. On the plane he’d been forced to stare at her the entire time like he’d never seen a sleeping girl before. Granted, the sight of that was a rare occasion for him since his one night stands never stayed long enough to get some sleep.
To hold her soft, warm body in his arms had stirred something in him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time, but had yearned for what felt like an eternity. Peace.
He shook his head at the thought. Goddammit, he had to stop it! But as if they had their own will his thoughts wandered right back to Ally. When Jean and he had finally realized that she was being kidnapped he had panicked. He, Viktor Iwanow, who couldn’t be thrown by anything, not even the sight of his half dead father. His mind had blanked and when he finally reacted it was much too slow.
The fact that the captors had been able to increase their lead had also been his fault. When they tried to pursue them he’d killed the engine several times because his hands had been shaking badly. Out of anger. At those cowardly bastards–but also at himself. He should have been watching out for her. It had been his goddamn job! He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight. He should have…
When they finally caught up with the van they weren’t able to stop it. While he kept crashing into it, Jean was trying again and again to open the rear door via telekinesis. But they were locked from the inside. When they finally jumped open he had to watch helplessly how Ally was almost hurled onto the street. Thanks to Jean’s powers she didn’t land underneath the tires of his car. Jean had tried to keep Ally in position as good as possible, but in her panic she was fighting it.
And then he saw why. One of the kidnappers had triggered a grenade, no doubt to throw it onto the roof of their car.
After that he acted more by instinct than purposeful deliberation. He drove the car as close as possible to the van until Ally’s feet touched the bumper. Jean had barely pulled her onto the hood when everything went down real fast.
Operation Heartbreaker Page 17