Savage Reborn (Team Savage Book 1)

by Michael Todd

  “And you know something? I hate to disappoint.” Jeremiah steeled himself and dragged in a deep breath. He winced when his lungs pushed at his ribs. “I truly hate it. Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Do you want to rob me of sleep now, Linus? Because that would be mean.”

  “You’re stalling,” the man said equably. “That’s good. You know that you’re beat, and you know that you have to think of a good, unconventional way to get around the fact that you’re about to die. Defiant until the end. I can respect that.”

  “I really couldn’t give a shit about your respect,” he said. Frankly, he didn’t, but the man was right. He was stalling. Also, he wasn’t sure if Coleman was still in the room. If she was, he hoped she would take the hint and make a run for it. Anja had to be working on a way for her to get out alive with all the documents. If she hadn’t gone already, of course. Coleman was a smart woman—a doctor, no less.

  In that moment, the smart move would be to get away from the man if he could or at least get him out of the room. The idea spurred him into action. He raised his hands and launched forward. His adversary smoothly dodged his attempt at a thrust and as he crashed into him, tilted his body away and grasped Savage’s collar to drag him over his hip in an expertly executed judo flip.

  The operative landed hard and the air pushed out of his lungs in an agonizing rush.

  “Okay,” he gasped. “Maybe offense wasn’t the best defense in that particular scenario. Fuck…” He groaned and probed cautiously at his side.

  “I’m afraid you’re right.” The Englishman seemed genuinely sad that the fight was coming to an end. Savage felt a little down about it himself. He gripped the knife he’d somehow managed to keep in his hand and tried to stand. His effort ceased when Linus put a boot on his chest and forced him down once again.

  “If it’s any consolation, it will be quick and relatively painless.” He planted his knee firmly on Savage’s chest as he lowered to press the sharp edge of Bowie knife into his neck.

  “Not really.” He fought instinctively against the attempt on his life. He’d tried to kill his opponent, of course, but he really didn’t want to think about that. The sting of the blade grew sharper.

  He fought the urge to close his eyes and fixed his gaze on his killer. Linus blinked and Savage frowned as he tried to make sense of it—as well as the fact that he was now covered in pottery. But as the man’s weight lessened and he almost fell forward, Savage knew this was his chance. It was now or never. He grasped Linus’ hips as the man toppled and heaved him off before he scrambled to straddle him. With his own knife in hand, he leaned over his back and slid the blade under the assassin’s neck. He gritted his teeth and sliced in a single swift motion. A splash of warm liquid seeped over his hand before the red stream soaked into the carpet.

  The silence that ensued was deafening. There had been no gunfire for a while now, of course. He no longer fought for his life and all he could hear was his breathing—as painful and ragged as it was—and his heart hammering in his chest like a runaway jackrabbit. Despite the agony, every breath felt so much sweeter.

  He turned slowly. Coleman stood as if rooted to the spot and stared at them with a panicked look on her face.

  “I…I thought you’d taken off already,” he said and struggled for another breath. “That would have been the smart thing to do, between you and me.”

  “If I had, you would be dead right now, and I would have had a hard time getting my ass out of this hotel alive,” Jessica retorted waspishly. “So…you’re welcome.”

  “I only meant that it wasn’t the smartest move,” Savage replied and chuckled as she offered him her hand to help him to his feet. “Thank you, though. I appreciate you staying behind to help me.”

  “Come on.” A blush appeared on her cheek as she wiped the blood that had transferred from his hand to hers on her dress. “You took care of six guys and only needed my help with the last one.”

  “That last one was tough. Those SAS bastards grow a tough breed of operatives. And you wouldn’t think it with those posh accents they make them speak with, but there you go.”

  “If the two of you have finished scratching one another’s backs…” Anja said in Savage’s ear for the first time since the fighting had started. “Are you both all right? There aren’t any cameras in there so I can’t really tell.”

  “I’m a little banged up, but I think I’ll survive.” He nodded, more for himself than for her given that she couldn’t see him.

  “I’m fine too,” Jessica said.

  “Good. Because all that gunfire is bringing every single cop in the city down on your heads. They should be there in the next five minutes, but I’ve managed to clear the service elevator with some creative use of the fire alarms. That should provide enough confusion that you can use it to escape. But the clock is ticking, so you need to leave now.”

  “Thanks for the help, Anja,” Savage said.

  “Anytime, Jer.” Her voice was soft and might have held a slight tremor, but he couldn’t be sure. “But get out of there alive. Oh, and the new motel is burned too, so I think that our comms are compromised. You might want to get rid of that earbud and I’ll get you a new one later. I’ve texted you the address and room number of a motel I just paid reservations for.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  They made their escape down the service elevator with no difficulty at all once Jeremiah had recovered his pistol and checked that they’d left no other evidence of their presence there. The hacker had triggered the sprinklers as soon as they left, which would hopefully degrade any DNA they might have left.

  Thanks to Anja’s use of the fire alarms, they moved unhindered through the employees-only section of the hotel on their way to the parking garage. His wounds hurt far more than he was willing to admit, and he had to rely on Jessica to help him more than he would have liked, both in the hotel and until they finally reached the garage. It took longer than it should have to reach where they’d parked the car.

  “Here.” He shoved the keys in her hands. “You need to drive. I don’t think I’m in any condition to manage.”

  She nodded, took the keys, and help him to the passenger side of the car before she hurried around to slide behind the wheel. Once they were both buckled in, she started the car quickly and eased out of the parking spot to drive carefully through the maze of cars. The exit opened without any need to press a card to the RFID reader on the side.

  Once they were out of the garage, he removed his earpiece. “Anja wants to talk to you really quickly. When you’re finished, throw the earbud away.”

  He sounded like he was out of breath—much the way he’d sounded since they’d left the penthouse. Her couple of classes in medicine told her that he had trouble breathing not so much due to a problem with his lungs, but rather as a result of the blood he’d lost.

  She took the earpiece but didn’t insert it in her ear immediately as she heard sirens approaching rapidly. White, blue, and red flashing lights flooded the area. Savage made an effort to straighten in his seat and, despite how much blood he’d lost, he took the time to close his jacket over his torso to cover the blood as a police car rushed past them, the sirens shrill and clamorous.

  Jessica put the bud in her ear as soon as they were clear of the chaos. “Anja, it’s nice to be able to talk to you.”

  “And it’s nice to hear that you two are alive too, Jess,” the Russian replied cheerfully. “Look, I’m so sorry. I should have known better. I didn’t pay attention and those goons arrived without any kind of warning. I should have been that warning.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Anja.” She laughed and a part of her wondered how she managed it. “You did the best you could. We wouldn’t have gotten in there at all without you. And we got out of there—with the files and the photos, no less—which I’ll call a qualified win, thank you very much.”

  “Have we forgotten the part where I was stabbed?” Jeremiah asked. He flashed her a quick glance
and only partially looked like he was joking. “And shot? And judo-flipped onto my aching ribs? We’ve conveniently forgotten that part of the night, have we? Okay, my bad. Never mind.”

  “Oh, shush, you big baby.” The hacker sounded as if she was holding back a laugh. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

  “Anja is very concerned for your welfare,” Jessica said and grinned disarmingly. “Do you think we should drop you off at the hospital?”

  “And have the police come and ask why I’m the man who shows up with gunshot wounds, mild tinnitus, and a stab wound right after there’s been a huge shootout in one of the most prestigious hotels in the city?” He raised an eyebrow. “I think I’ll pass on that, thanks. I left a lot of DNA evidence behind in that room—which Anja’s little sprinkler trick has hopefully compromised—but I could be one subpoena away from being locked up. And you too.”

  “Well, for what it’s worth, I do think he needs medical attention,” Anja said. “And not from a hospital. You took medical classes in your time in college, didn’t you, Jessica? Maybe you could patch him up? Besides, I can probably work a little magic and make sure that if there is DNA evidence left behind that’s actually usable, it’s improperly stored or something.”

  “My studies were years and years ago,” Jessica said. “Of course, I’ll do it if no one else is available, but I can’t promise I’ll be any good at it.”

  “Is she asking you to patch me up?” Jeremiah looked horrified. There was a definite trace of doubt in his features, and she didn’t blame him for that. She doubted herself too. After a moment, a look of acceptance preceded a shrug that seemed to say he might as well let her do her best. It was probably better than what his best would be anyway.

  She took a deep breath and made sure to keep her eyes on the road. “I’ll need medical equipment. Something out of a pharmacy—something clean to help stop the bleeding and to sew it up. I won’t take any bullets out of you, though.”

  “We never took bullets out of a gunshot victim in the field,” he said and frowned as if he tried to recall the facts. “Not unless the bullet threatened the patient’s life. Otherwise, they simply patched them up with the bullet inside and let their body handle it until we could get them to a surgeon. You don’t have to worry about that, though. It was a through and through. A graze, really.”

  “You sound like the kind of man who’s walked outside of metal detectors for years now,” Jessica said in an effort to keep his spirits up. It was a good thing that he was able to make jokes. It meant that shock hadn’t settled in yet and she still had time to patch him up.

  “Not really.” He leaned back in his seat, but his eyes remained open and focused on the road. “Bullets aren’t generally magnetic. They do come up in the full body scan, though. I have a paper from my doctor about that, actually… Uh, I had a paper from my doctor.”

  Jessica glanced at him. “Are you serious?”

  “No,” Jeremiah replied and shook his head.

  She breathed deeply and stared at the road ahead as she steeled herself for what would come next. “Anja, I need a location for the nearest drugstore or pharmacy. Maybe something that’s closed so I don’t have people around to raise their eyebrows when I ask for prescription drugs.”

  “Two blocks south of your location.” The hacker appeared to be one step ahead of her already. Jessica followed the woman’s instructions and slowed when she saw the sign to a local store that had been closed for an hour. Then again, not many stores would be open at…fuck, was it only nine? How was it that early? It felt like she’d spent hours curled under that bed, half-expecting that one of the bullets would find her and hoping fervently it wouldn’t.

  She parked directly outside the store, turned the engine off, and left the keys in the ignition. Anja had told her to throw the earpiece out, which she would do as soon as it was practical to do so, but it also made sense to get rid of the car that might have been seen escaping from the hotel while first responders arrived on scene. The Russian had said that she would erase all trace of them having been there, but that only included digital records. She didn’t doubt her skills, of course, but even the hacker couldn’t help if it someone’s phone was picked up, or a witness memorized the plates of a car that sped away from a shootout barely minutes after it happened.

  “Why is this place closed this early?” Jessica asked.

  “It’s a family-owned establishment,” Anja replied. “I saw a heads-up on it. It says on their social media account that the matriarch is in labor, and as the whole family has to be there for it, they closed and sent the employees home early.”

  “That’s fortuitous.”

  “Considering that the only other option we would have on this side of town is an animal hospital closed for repairs, yes, it’s very lucky. And it’s about time some luck went our way, if you ask me.”

  She walked around and reached the passenger side, and Jeremiah smiled in a coy way that told her that he had figured out what she planned and seemed to approve.

  “So, we’ll leave the car behind now, will we?” he asked as she helped him out. She stayed close, but it seemed that he was able to move without too much trouble. He was slow, of course, but there weren’t any cars nearby—or people, for that matter—which made the next part a whole lot easier.

  “Well, yeah.” She flashed him a look that was part irritation. “And don’t ask me why since you already know why.”

  Savage responded with that little know-it-all smirk of his that could be so infuriating and tapped at his ear. It took her a second, but she finally nodded when she realized what he’d tried to say. She removed the earpiece, dropped it on the sidewalk, and crushed it under her heel.

  “I doubt that Anja would appreciate you doubting her skills like that, but it is the smart move,” he said and grinned as they reached the front door of the pharmacy.

  “How will we get in?” Jessica looked around and wished she’d at least thought to ask the hacker before she destroyed their only point of communication.

  Her companion smiled again. His cheerfulness made her wonder if he really had lost as much blood as she’d thought. Still, from the way his pale face reflected in the streetlight, she hadn’t been wrong. He looked up at one of the cameras, not at her, and a second later, the electronic door slid open.

  “Like I said.” He preened, his expression smug. “Never doubt Anja’s abilities. You may not always like her attitude, but you can trust her to come through every time.”

  “I actually quite like her attitude.” She stepped hastily through the doors. A few lights were on, which allowed them to browse the pharmacy to their heart’s content. Jessica assumed that the woman more than likely erased all digital files of them having been there at every step they took, which meant that while it was probably a good idea to hurry, they didn’t necessarily have to rush and miss anything critical.

  “Here.” She placed a couple of packages of gauze in front of Jeremiah on a nearby counter. “I’ll need to stitch that wound to stop the bleeding. The one on your arm, I mean. You’ll have to find a way to slow it down.”

  He displayed none of his usual resistance to her ideas and merely raised his sleeve a little to reveal the wound from Linus’ knife. It wasn’t that deep, but it was into the tissue. Jessica made a face as she inspected it before she pressed an absorbent cloth to the wound.

  “Hold that in place,” she said softly and waited for him to press onto the wound himself. “Is it like this every day? Your life, I mean? All gunfights and violence and running around trying not to get killed?”

  “Are you asking about my life in general or my time as a corporate spy?” he asked and shifted his pressure on the cloth as she began to wind gauze around his arm. “Although the answer to both would be yes. I took time off when my first three tours of service were over. I had some friction with my ex-wife, and I wanted to spend some time with my kid. She was growing up without me. As it turned out, the friction wasn’t about my absence so much as ab
out me.

  “When things turned sour, I elected to do another couple of tours to get out of there. The US government put a lot of money into training me to be a killing machine, and they would have been very disappointed to discover that I’d been slacking in my responsibilities. So…aside from that little break, yeah, my life has been a mixture of gunfights and violence and recovering from the aforementioned gunfights and violence, only to be dropped into another round. It’s not a great life, but it is one that I’m suited to.”

  “I don’t think anyone can be suited to something like this,” Jessica said softly and turned her scrutiny to where the bullet had injured his shoulder. “You don’t get used to the violence, you merely become conditioned to it. While it’s not something you enjoy, it’s something you can tolerate.”

  “So long as other people don’t have to tolerate it, that’s fine by me,” Jeremiah replied, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

  Jessica looked at him and wondered if he meant that. Now wasn’t the time to really ponder it, though. She told him to sit on a small bench placed conveniently to one side and entered the pharmaceutical area to rummage around for a few minutes. When she returned, he lay sleeping on the bench. Startled and half-afraid that he’d somehow died in the short time while she’d searched for the things she’d need to patch him up, she shook his shoulder.

  He awoke with a start and gazed owlishly at her. “I have everything I need,” she said and stepped back quickly to give him space to stand. “We should probably sew you up at the motel.”

  He nodded. “Probably.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Anja made sure that they were already checked into the motel when they arrived. Someone waited with keys for them at the front desk. Despite the nicer look of the place, the tall, blond man didn’t ask for an ID or even raise an eyebrow at the blood-soaked suit Savage wore as he handed the keys over. A glint of recognition in his eyes suggested amusement, but they moved away from the front desk and toward the elevator without unnecessary questions.