by Ronie Kendig
Austin laughed. “With me?” He shook his head. “Oh, if only it’d been that. That’s where he made sure Austin Courtland died. That’s where he secured his latest pawn.”
“You willingly joined DIA.”
“Don’t!” Austin snapped the weapon at Dane, who raised his hands in a gesture of peace. His soulful steel gaze hit hers. Telegraphed a message.
Aspen didn’t know whether to hate Dane or trust him. To run from him or run to him. That was a fight for another hour. She focused back on her brother. “What…what happened to you, Austin?”
“Tell her,” Austin said again.
“No, this is your story. Tell us. Tell both of us what happened.”
“You know what happened.”
“I know you vanished without a trace.”
“Vanished because you betrayed me!”
“Enough!” Aspen turned to her brother. Her twin. Her mind tumbled through the questions, too many slamming her mind for her to even know where to start. And Dane—should she be mad at him? “Why…why don’t you look like…like you used to?”
Austin grinned. “When Cardinal here betrayed me, I had to vanish—completely. A few surgeries and I became a new man.”
“But your eyes are brown.” Aspen couldn’t wrap her mind around the transformation. He looked nothing like the brother she’d last seen at Amadore’s.
“They’ll be blue again eventually. The method wears off.” He shrugged. “Keeps me hidden. And I need to stay hidden to bring Cardinal and his thugs down.”
“You’re wrong. This isn’t my doing, but we can figure that out later,” Dane said. “What are you doing here now? What do you want enough that you’re willing to put your life on the line with that gun?”
Aspen heard the threat within the words. Dane knew how to take Austin down, even though Austin held a weapon and Dane didn’t. Her nerves buzzed.
“No,” Austin said with a half laugh as he moved to the side. “You don’t get to dictate this. I’m here. I’m the one with the gun.”
“Okay,” Dane said. “Fine. You have the gun.” Why did that sound like a challenge?
“Let’s bring the testosterone down a level.” Aspen had always mediated between Austin and their grandfather, both thickheaded mules. “Austin, if you want to talk, if you have questions, put the gun down and let’s sort it out. I’d rather not get accidentally shot while you’re ranting.”
“He already shot me.”
“Twice.” Austin seethed. “I’d like to go for a third.”
Dane huffed. “Then shoot me and get on with it!”
“No!” Aspen stepped between the two men, uncertain which one she would defend. Which man deserved being defended. Blood ties were stronger, right? “Austin, why are you here?”
“I want to know why he betrayed me.”
Aspen stilled, a shudder of a blink swiveling her attention to Dane. What did that mean?
“Me?” Dane looked shocked. “How did I betray you? You’re the one who abandoned the mission. Stopped responding. I spent two months down here looking for you.”
“Looking for me?” Austin laughed. “Don’t believe your own press, Cardinal. You aren’t that good of a liar. You were down here working with them.”
Silence drenched the room.
Dane drew up. “Working with whom?” His voice had lost its edge. Austin pursed his lips. “Don’t tell me you don’t know!”
“Okay, I won’t. Do you want me to tell you what I do know?”
Hesitation stretched between them. Aspen’s heart thudded against the words. Did she want to know? Would Dane tell the truth? Could she handle the truth? “You don’t know me.” His words plunked in front of her like an anchor. “Don’t trust me.” Another anchor.
Austin finally said, “Let’s hear it.”
“Yes, I recruited you—in Afghanistan. I saw you were a stellar soldier. But I also saw the anger. That made you a prime candidate for covert operations because it drives you.” Dane darted a look to Aspen, and she saw in his gaze the desperation. “I brought you in—but you came willingly.”
“That’s right. And then you had me killed.” Austin arched an eyebrow. “Tell her about that.”
“You’re still alive.”
“No. Killed me. MIA—that’s the official report for a while, then the MIA is declared dead. Right, Cardinal?”
“You knew that when you signed. You can’t claim ignorance or innocence. What is your point? Why are you so ticked at me?”
“Because—you told me something was happening in Sudan. You sent me there. But it was a trap.”
“How?” Dane leaned forward, hands by his side. Very controlled. “How was it a trap?”
Austin’s gaze bounced between them. “Don’t listen to him, little sister. He’s a master liar. He knows how to tell people what they want to hear to get his way. No doubt that’s how you fell for him. He played your heartstrings like a prodigy.”
Humiliation clotted Aspen’s heart that had beat for Dane. Was it true? Had he worked her all this time?
“Aspen.” Dane tucked his chin and met her gaze with those steely eyes. “I did not play you.”
She could only look at him. Who should she believe? Her twin brother? Or the man she loved—thought she loved? Closing her eyes, she shook her head.
“Austin, you willingly joined. Nobody forced you. Remember, you agreed to become a spy for the American military. I sent you down here. There were rumblings about corruption. We couldn’t get a finger on it.”
“Oh, I got your finger—”
“Is it the yellowcake?”
Austin froze. “You do know!”
“Yes, we found it last night—you shot us trying to leave.”
Austin frowned. “I…no…that was…” His voice trailed off. “Oh no.”
“We found it last night. But I didn’t know till then.”
“How could you not know? The conspiracy goes all the way up!”
Even a master magician could not keep all the plates spinning forever.
Cardinal stilled at the words Austin Courtland, the man he’d remade into Neil Crane—precosmetic surgery—shouted. “What do you mean, all the way up?”
“Straight to the top.” Austin glowered. “What? Feigning ignorance?” The weapon lowered toward Cardinal’s leg.
Cement peppered his leg.
Lightning fast, Cardinal stepped forward. Sliced the bony part of his right hand against Austin’s wrist and used his left hand to swipe the weapon. Flip it. Aim it back at Austin.
The man’s grin turned greedy. He laughed.
This scenario was one Cardinal had faced a dozen times. The outcome the same—except this time, he wouldn’t neutralize the threat the way he’d had to so many other times.
“Think you’ve won?” Austin sneered. “Think again—Talon, seek!” The Lab looked at Austin as if the man had spoken Chinese.
“Talon,” Aspen said, her voice calm. Way more calm than normal. “Heel.”
With a flick of his tail, Talon moved to Aspen’s side and sat on his haunches.
“When you left me, you left him,” Aspen said. “He’s not your dog anymore.”
Finally! Something got through Austin’s seek-and-destroy mentality. “Talon!” Austin nearly growled at the dog. “Seek, boy! Seek!”
Taking his eyes off Austin would be a mistake, but Cardinal wanted to see, to verify that the dog had not moved or even wanted to move. In his periphery, Cardinal noticed Aspen’s arms dangling at her side in a loose manner. Her fingers rubbed Talon’s ears.
Cardinal removed the magazine. Let it thunk against the ground. Ejected the chambered round. Shink! Released the slide. Dropped the frame and slide. His neck wound still burned. But what burned more was the way his world had just upended. “I’m not the enemy, Austin. I came to find you, find out what happened.”
Anger whipping into fury, Austin launched at him like a tornado.
Mentally prepared for the impact, Cardinal toss
ed himself backward. Used the momentum to gain control. Flipped Austin onto his back. Rammed his fist into the man’s face.
Though Austin worked to flip him, Cardinal maintained control. “Stand down!”
“Not on your life,” Austin ground out, his face reddened as he struggled to push Cardinal.
Agitating him would only strengthen Austin’s fight. “Let it go. Talk to Aspen.”
“Don’t use her!” Austin balled his fist and shot it into Cardinal’s side.
White-hot, blinding pain exploded. His vision blurred.
Hollowed vision.
Searing agony.
Thud!
Cardinal blinked and found himself staring up at Austin, arms pinned by the man’s knees. Pounding agony in his leg eroded his thoughts. Another blink and he stared down the barrel of a weapon.
“Eye for an eye, Cardinal?” Staggered breathing. A greedy gleam in his eye, Austin was poised to fill Cardinal’s brain with lead.
“Austin, no!” Aspen screamed.
Snarling and snapping vaulted through the room.
“He took everything.”
“No!” Aspen snapped. “You gave it up!”
Austin’s nostrils flared and stared down at Cardinal. In that second he knew the belief that consumed Austin’s thinking—killing Cardinal would solve everything.
“Even if you kill me,” Cardinal said, “you won’t find what you’re looking for.”
Shifting, Austin planted a knee against Cardinal’s throat.
Cardinal worked to wedge his arm between his trachea and Austin’s knee. He grunted and strained against the deprivation. Rocks bit into the back of his head, his shoulders, but that had nothing on the still-thundering throb in his neck.
“How’s it feel, Cardinal? Master Spy.”
“Austin!” Aspen shouted over the snapping and snarling.
“Not so tough. You took everything away from me—”
“Austin!”
“—now I’m taking it away from you.”
“Austin, so help me, God—get off him and drop that weapon or I’ll release Talon.”
Scritching forced Cardinal to glance to his right.
Aspen stood, her feet planted as she held tight to the harness Talon strained against. The powerful jaws clamped and chomped the air. Begging for a taste of flesh.
Cardinal’s heart backed into his throat. If Aspen released Talon…against her own brother…against Talon’s former handler…
“Austin!” Aspen’s scream went primal.
Booom!
A gust of hot, dirt- and debris-laden air barreled across the room. Slammed against Cardinal. He winced and jerked away.
Light and dark mingled. Dust cocooned the room.
Grit dug into his eyes and mouth. Cardinal coughed.
“Stand down! Stand down!”
“On the ground!”
“Drop the weapon!”
Blinking rapidly, Cardinal saw a half-dozen shapes emerge from the dirt cloud. ODA452 had blown the door and stormed in, all business. Candyman—the guy looked downright ticked, blood staining his beard. A big welt on his right cheekbone. No hat. No sunglasses. Whoever had undressed the guy also unleashed the monster within.
Watterboy’s hands were bloodied. The others were there—Rocket, Scrip, Pops…all roughed up, clearly having fought their way out of a mess. Now, all that adrenaline. All that fury, trained 100 percent on Austin Courtland.
Timbrel hurried to Aspen’s side.
Slowly, Austin raised his hand, gun still held firmly.
“Drop. The. Gun,” Watterboy said, taking a bead on Austin.
Talon’s bark continued. Shouts.
Two seconds later, Candyman shuffle-stepped forward fast. “Give me a reason, you sorry piece of dirt.”
“Talon, out,” Aspen said. “Talon, heel!”
Quiet dropped on the room, but the silence proved deafening with Austin’s unwillingness to yield.
A flicker of movement.
Cardinal tensed. And in the split-second camera lens of his life, he knew it was about to end. Austin would force it to end.
The guy snapped the weapon toward him.
Candyman fired.
Then whipped back and to the side. Flopped. Groaned. Cried out.
“Don’t kill him!” Cardinal hauled himself out of the fray as Candyman and Rocket dropped on the guy.
Watterboy helped Cardinal to his feet. “You okay?”
With a nod, he kept his eyes trained as the others subdued the man who’d been willing to end his life. He’d seen it—the same agonizing guilt. Cardinal felt it. Lived it. But he’d mastered it. Stopped it from mastering him. Controlling him. The way it had taken over for Austin.
“All right,” Watterboy said with a huff. “Clean up. I’m going to call this in. Burnett won’t—”
Thump. Thump. Clink.
A meaty scream announced, “Frag!”
Red-hot air blasted the room.
Thirty-Two
Blinded, Cardinal felt himself falling.
Or was that the world?
Spinning…everything… He swung a hand out. Hit something. His knee collided. Dirt…
White. Blinding white.
Ringing. Hollow hearing. A vacuum had swallowed him.
“Augh!” Though he knew air passed over his vocal chords, he heard nothing.
White succumbed to gray…
Holding his head, Cardinal waited out the disorientation. They’d been hit. Someone threw a flash-bang into the room. The overpressure of the concussion knocked out his vision. Sucked out his hearing.
Though he knew it’d only last three to five seconds, it felt like an eternity. No way to defend yourself. No way to fight back.
He didn’t even know who to fight.
Was this Austin’s doing? If it was, he’d kill that punk.
Shapes took form like pillowy giants. Cardinal felt the dirt beneath his hands and slowly straightened. Searching for bearings.
The door…where was it? He turned his head.
The room tilted. “Augh!” Warbling noises hammered.
Movement…the doorway! Light bled through it, piercing against his corneas, which were still traumatized from the concussive explosion.
Two or three shapes hurried out the door. Who?
“Cardinal!” Though it sounded like someone spoke his name under water, he knew it was someone close by.
He turned. Saw a large shape looming beside him. He shook his head—the room whipped around. He groped to steady himself. A hand caught his. His vision, still vibrating, brought the image into focus. “Watterboy.”
“You okay?” The man wiggled a finger in his ear.
“Yeah.” Coordination returned. Hearing, mostly. Vision clear.
“Everyone okay?” Watterboy asked, turning a circle.
As the affirmatives came in, Cardinal hesitated. “Nobody’s hurt?” That didn’t make any sense. He searched the team for injuries. Timbrel sat against the wall, pinching the bridge of her nose. Candyman knelt beside her and offered a rag for her nosebleed. Rocket and Scrip were still shaking off the effects.
Wait. Cardinal jerked. Nearly fell. “Aspen.” She’d been right there with Timbrel. He whipped around. Ignoring the way the room canted to the left. “Aspen!”
His mind ricocheted back to what he saw.
He sprinted for the door. “Aspen!”
A curse sailed through the air behind him. Boots pounded. He burst into the inner room. Two of the four men they’d caught were down. Cardinal threw himself at the rear cavernous area that served as a garage. How long? How long had it been? Ten, fifteen seconds?
He sprinted into the garage. Gaping open. Sunlight shatteringly bright. He flinched. Popping! He ducked then realized it wasn’t gunfire. Tires! He bolted out. Saw a black SUV stirring up dust.
Cardinal plunged through the bay. Bore down on the vehicle spitting rocks as he scrambled for traction on the dirt road. The rear end fishtailed. Caught purchas
e on the paved road. Squealed and tore off.
He pushed himself. Hard.
Couldn’t stop. That was Aspen in there. Someone had taken her. He’d kill them. Cut out their hearts and feed them to the dogs.
A high-pitched whistle shot through the day.
Trailing smoke careened past him. Hot. Wicked fast.
Grenade?
He spun. Candyman, kneeling at the corner of the building, an M203 propped against his shoulder, pulled the trigger again.
Boom!
Cardinal jerked around. A building rained down dirt and fire.
The vehicle swerved. Banked right.
Boom! The building in front of Cardinal exploded.
Tires squalled. The shriek of death.
And they were gone.
Teeth grinding, Cardinal stared at the fires that mottled the poverty-stricken street. Breathing hard and struggling not to allow the demons of his past, of his ancestry, to awaken, he dug himself out of the chaos. Aspen was gone.
And he knew exactly who was responsible.
“Sorry, man. I wasn’t fast enough,” came the empty words of Candyman.
Cardinal pivoted around, stalked toward the man decked out in gear, patted his chest, deftly swiping his thumb over the flap. “Thanks. You tried.” And with one expert move, he extracted the Glock from Candyman’s chest holster.
“Hey! Stop!”
Confirming a round was in the chamber, Cardinal stormed back into the building.
Thirty-Three
FOB Kendall, Djibouti
Trailed by a security force and his two senior officers, General Lance Burnett strode into the command building of the temporary forward operating base covered in dust and heat. The wake he and the others left as they stormed ahead shone on the faces of those serving under the command of Admiral Kuhn. The hushed whispers haunted his steps.
Banking right, Lance caught sight of two armed sentries guarding the offices of the commanding officer. The two snapped to attention, fingertips pressed to their temples.
Burnett returned the salute. “At ease.” He slowed and hesitated, staring at the door handles. He shifted his gaze to the left. “How is he?”