by Billi Jean
“Damn, what kind of shit have you landed in?” Ace growled.
Dare ignored the painful digging Eagle was doing until he hit a nerve. “What the hell are you—?”
Eagle moved back into view, the bullet in his forceps. “You were saying?”
“Fuck you,” he grumbled, then winced when someone else applied pressure to the fresh wound.
“I don’t have time for this. She’s still out there, I have to—”
“You’ll be fine in an hour. The bullet’s out, you’re going to take some fluid then we’re off. You can eat on the way.” Tazz offered him another bottle.
“Wait just a minute,” Ace began.
“We don’t have a minute. The drug I gave him is in his system. He’ll heal within an hour, which is good, because an hour is all we have. She’s in the air now. We need up there after her. There’s no doubt they think they are free and clear. Now’s when we go. Dare’s not going to sit this out.”
“Shit, that drug can heal a man from this bad of a wound?” Eagle asked, clearly impressed.
“It can do a hell of a lot more,” Tazz said.
“And none of it good. Tazz is addicted. He needs to be weaned off the shit before his brain turns to mashed potatoes. Me? I took one dose twenty odd hours ago and other than feeling sore and shot, I’m still rock solid good to go, well, now I am but earlier, not so good. Put it this way, the superpowers come with a price no man in his right mind would want to pay. But for now, I’m good to go.”
“You were passed out and lost blood—” Eagle argued.
“Mashed potatoes? What the hell is this,” Ace asked, narrowing his eyes on Tazz. He pointed his index finger at him like a gun and ticked off points by stabbing him in the chest. “Your sister is getting married in twelve days. She wanted to remind you of that. She also wanted to remind you that if you don’t show, we”—he indicated the three of them, even Dare—“are supposed to wipe the floor with your ass. My wife suggested I duffle bag and tag you. Either way, you’re going to see your sister down that aisle.”
Tazz made a move to speak, but Ace took hold of his T-shirt. “Negative. No doubt about it,” Ace growled, pulling Tazz closer. “You’re going to face this head on, man. Get that through your thick skull.”
Ace released Tazz with a heavy sigh and turned to look at Daren. “One dose?”
“Yep,” Dare said, sitting up and letting Eagle bandage his arm. The dizziness from lack of blood was gone. He tested his arm, flexing it and raised it above his head. The movement pulled at the stitches, and his arm was tender, but not nearly sore enough for a gunshot wound.
“And you’re good to go?” Ace clarified.
“I wouldn’t miss it.” Dare nodded to Eagle. “Waste of stitches. It will be healed, like Tazz said, within the hour.”
“Good,” Eagle snapped. “My wife isn’t too keen on me being here, so if you fellas don’t mind, let’s go get the girl, her dad and this experiment out of the hands of the evil scientists.”
“And destroy it,” Tazz said clearly.
“The drug, not the girl and her father, I assume,” Ace said, giving Daren a hand to get up. The hotel room was shot to shit, but for some reason, they’d left him with only the one wound.
“Absolutely,” Dare said, with a firm look at Tazz. Tazz hadn’t explained everything to their old team mates. Not by a long shot, Dare guessed. “We think they have a man on the inside. More than Monroe, someone we know, or someone who knows us.”
“It has to be another agency,” Tazz growled. “There’s no other way they’d have this much intelligence and man power. I was two doors down. I didn’t hear a damn thing. They got in and got her out before I could do more than stumble off the bed.”
“Huh, was that bed empty?” Eagle asked, coming out from the bathroom where he’d been washing his hands.
“Is that your business? And yeah, it was,” Tazz tacked on at Eagle’s grin. “I was dressed, ready and they still made it out of here without me.”
Eagle rubbed the towel over his short blond hair and shrugged. “Agencies are a dime a dozen. Look at this one you’re in now. How’s that going for you?”
Tazz shot him a glare but didn’t say a word.
“Let’s talk about this en route. Tazz, you have the details of where we’re going, you sit up front, Dare, I want a word with you on this agency. Eagle, go find out what’s taking Mac so damn long.”
“Hell, you guys all came here for me?” Daren finally asked, feeling like he’d torn everyone’s life to hell.
“Shit, man, no way. We came to bag and tag Tazz, but when we found out you’d proposed, shit, we stayed.” Eagle grinned, and easily dodged the fist Dare threw.
“We came for you,” Ace said. “Tazz called us in, gave us the low down on the Sentinels. We’re not team mates any longer, man, but we’re still friends.” Ace gripped his forearm and gave him a slap on the back. Thankfully, away from his wound. “And you found her, the woman who saved you, huh?”
Of all the men, his commander at the time, Ace had believed him the most. He’d even helped him look for her.
“Yeah, she’s real all right. We have to get her out of this, though. She’s got to be scared to death.”
“She a shy, quiet kinda girl, huh?” Ace asked, opening the door and letting Eagle and Tazz go ahead of them.
Daren grinned. “She can be.” Then again, she could amaze him with her stubbornness and clear, level headed response to any situation. He only hoped she kept her head when this all came tumbling down around them.
* * * *
Kylie fumed, pacing the small cabin on the plane, so angry she couldn’t think straight. Her father sat on a bunk watching her. He’d been doing that for over an hour. Simply sitting, while she yelled at him and the men who’d ruined her life—through the closed door.
She couldn’t think of Daren. Couldn’t feed the fear that he’d died. And yet, that’s all she could think on. He’d been so still. Had he died?
The wound she’d suffered had been minor, but she didn’t know if his had been. If it had been, why hadn’t he gotten up? Why hadn’t he jumped up and come to her, saved her from this?
The plane dipped, and she grabbed the back of the stationary chair next to her, and scanned the area. Of all the places to be held, a plane, fitted with bolted down furniture and small round windows wasn’t the place she wanted to be. It was an impossible prison to break simply because it was a plane. She was at their mercy up here and they knew it. The descent popped her ear drums. Soon they’d come in here and take her…where?
“There’s nothing we can do, Ky.”
She turned to face her dad at his words.
“Nothing at all. They have my notes, the serum and now you.”
The defeat in her father’s voice pissed her off. For the hundredth time since she’d been dragged in here, kicking and screaming, she saw things about him she’d never noticed before.
He was still the small, unassuming man he’d always been. Slender, still handsome with his dark almond shaped eyes and black hair only slightly lightened around his temples with white. He could pass for any age, she thought if someone simply glanced at him. It wasn’t until they stared into his eyes and saw the defeat, that his age became apparent.
“There is always something we can do!” She didn’t shout, but simply defying him was enough.
Her father didn’t blink. He hadn’t shown any sign of shock at her behavior since she first hit the floor where they threw her.
“Fate finds a road for us to travel on, Ky. We can attempt to shift lanes, but in the end, we arrive at the same location.”
“I don’t believe that fate crap, Dad. Not any longer. I’ve found that we can change our lives, become something more, different, and not simply follow a path like some sheep.”
He nodded as if her words proved his point. Her father was first and foremost an intelligent man. Too bad his intelligence hadn’t guided him to see that what he’d created could be u
sed to harm so many.
“Did you know?” she whispered, letting herself sink down into a chair.
At first he simply stared at her, but she knew he understood what she’d asked. After several minutes of silence, he nodded once.
“I knew. It was the price to pay for the cancer research.”
“And Eric? You knew—”
He shook his head sharply, his frown growing. “I did not know Eric would be involved. I never wanted him for you.”
Stunned, she could only shake her head in disbelief.
“I never wanted anyone for you that you didn’t want. Eric never saw your beauty, your strengths, Ky. He merely saw a means to an end. To me. My research and his glory.”
Her beauty? Her strengths. “What are my strengths, Dad? You’ve never said such things before. Why now?” she demanded.
Sighing deeply, he looked down and planted his hands on his spread knees. The posture reminded her of her grandfather. He’d loved to sit at the parks around their home in Korea and watch people, sitting like that, with his cane near him, his body relaxed and his attention sometimes focused within.
“Ky, we may not survive this, child.” He met her eyes again, and for the first time since she could remember, he actually looked at her with something like warmth. “I would have you know that you have always made me proud. Your beauty, yes, and your intelligence have been a gift to my life and to our family.”
If she’d been stunned before, now fear danced along her spine. “You think they’ll kill us, when they need us to create more serum.”
“Do they need us? Think, Ky. Think.”
Before she could answer him, the door opened and two men entered. The younger of the two was slim, tall with the GQ looks of the immaculately dressed upper elite. He reminded her of a snake in his dark, tailored suit and light pink shirt, with a perfectly matching handkerchief in the front breast pocket.
The other man was worse. He was at least a decade older with short, gray hair, cut to barely skim his skull, and trimmed on the sides to give his tanned face an arrogant, wealthy look. He smiled and revealed a set of teeth, similar to a shark in her mind.
Of the two, the elder one scared her more. Behind them both stood two burly men, one of them the man who’d shot her and Daren.
“Ms Chung, Dr Chung, we are only moments away from landing. I wanted to assure you that both of you will be treated with the utmost courtesy. The unfortunate circumstances of the last few days can be put behind us and we can forge ahead to create the most elite force of men and women on the planet.” The older man paused as if they would say something, possibly thank him, but when neither of them spoke, he chuckled and patted the younger on the back. “See? Already we have their attention. I think our venture will benefit us both, Dr Chung. You will have everything you could ever want in your lab. The latest equipment, state of the art computers and men and women trained to assist you. Only the best, you see, for you and your daughter. Only the best.”
The plane shuddered, and Ky felt it hit with a soft thud on its landing.
“My father and I are very interested in your latest experiments, Doctor. That’s one reason for needing those files, you see. And of course, your daughter can now assist you without having to be halfway around the world.”
“But we are not being polite, are we Ms. Chung? Now that you have calmed down,” the old man said to her with a pointed glance before turning to the man next to him. “We should introduce ourselves, son.”
Nodding, the younger put on a shark smile to match his dad’s, and reached out to offer his hand. She stepped away like he was a viper. He slowly dropped his hand, but she watched the color darken his high cheek bones, and his gaze dipped down her body, the interest there apparent when he met her eyes again.
“It’s a pleasure, truly, to meet you, Ms Chung. I’m Ryan Gallagher but you can call me R, since my father is also Ryan Gallagher, of course everyone calls him Mr G.”
“Yes, it is a pleasure Ms Chung, and now that we’ve met you, I see why Mr Monroe was so eager to assist us,” Mr G said with another sickening chuckle.
“My daughter has given up science. She will not be of much use this far into my experiments. It would be better if she were allowed to leave,” her dad murmured, standing from where he’d not moved.
“Ah,” Mr G said, frowning at her then over at her father. “Well,” he said, sighing heavily. “That is unfortunate, but I believe we can find a use for her, don’t you think, R?”
“Yes, Father, I’m certain I can find several.”
Both men laughed, and the two outside the door smiled at her over the tops of the other men’s heads.
What had she gotten herself into? Her dad shifted his eyes to her. What could he do? What could she do?
“Come, it seems we’ve arrived, let’s see you to your new homes, shall we?” Mr G said, motioning them to precede them from the room. Ryan moved in close behind her, entering her personal space and bent to breathe against her neck.
“I am sure you’ll find your stay here most educational, Kylie.”
The threat in his tone shot a dart of panic to her stomach and with it, a burst of adrenaline. To heal her, they’d given her the drug her father had created. Up until now, she’d not noticed any side-effects, not felt any different at all. At the direct threat, her mind went from jumbled and confused with fear to a shot-by-shot strategy for getting away.
She reached out, dragged the gun from the bruiser’s side holster, used her surprise and momentum to duck under his arm, turned on her pivot and slammed the gun to Ryan’s temple. As it impacted, she twisted, and hit his father in the stomach with her right leg, and drove her head into his. Something cracked under her forehead, but she didn’t stop to see what. He went down with a louder yell than his son. She raised the gun and fired at the burly man’s leg, shooting him point blank in his thigh. He went down with a groan.
From behind her, she felt her dad do something and the other guard hit the floor with a gasp, then groaned.
In the space of heartbeats, they’d downed four men.
She met her father’s narrow-eyed stare and nodded. “Go! To the pilot and turn this around!”
“No, you go, I will stop these men from getting up. And, Ky, be careful.”
She barely acknowledged the warning with a nod before she had to run. There wasn’t a question of what to do, or how, she had to run or her heart might explode from the amount of adrenaline flushing her system. She raced through the empty seating area and right into the captain.
“What the hell?” he demanded.
At his shout, another man came around the corner, and she spotted daylight out the open cabin door. She also faced two men. She shot him in the shoulder, sending him back and over the seats.
“Make one move and you’re going down,” she said to the captain. “Raise your hands above your head.”
He did and kept them up. Behind her she heard shouts then a gunshot, followed by her name.
“Ky, I’m fine. Discover where we are.”
Her dad’s voice sounded fine, but she didn’t turn to look, instead she gestured to the cabin with the gun. “Go, I want coordinates and—”
A woman with red hair, and dressed in black suddenly sprang up from behind the captain. She hit him with her hand against his temple and the captain fell with a soft thud. “Look, Ms Chung, you’re screwing up my mission here.”
Kylie steadied her gun, aiming it for the attacker’s head. “You’re one of the women from my father’s first trials.”
“Yeah, so glad I’m remembered.”
“I want off this plane and out of here. Are you planning on stopping me?”
“I’m planning on talking to your father. Is he still alive?”
“Yes.”
The woman anchored her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “And you’re on the meds.”
It wasn’t a question, but Kylie nodded. “I was shot. They used the drug to heal my wound.”
&
nbsp; “I’m Sonya. And you’re Daren’s girl, Kylie Chung.”
Daren’s girl. Relief swelled in her chest, followed by a tremble she couldn’t hide. “Is he dead?”
“Not even close.”
Daren’s voice, after so long without it, made her trembling turn to full out shakes. He appeared behind the woman, and shoved past her, reaching her within one painful heartbeat and gathered her carefully in his arms. He held her closer, gently, as if she might break.
“Shh, Ky, I’m here, baby. Don’t cry, baby. It’s okay.”
Cry? She never cried. Crying never solved anything. Never brought her what she wanted.
“Shh, Ky, really, baby, you gotta stop—”
“Let her cry, Mr Scott. My daughter has suffered a great deal, because of me, and, I believe, for you.”
She shook her head against Daren’s chest. She’d never suffered for him or her father. She’d suffered by not doing what she thought was right until it was too late. She’d been too late to save Daren from those men the first time. She’d been too late to go to him and get out without them finding her. She’d been too late to realize all her father ever wanted for her, was her happiness.
“I’m crying because I thought I’d lost you,” she managed, and reached out to grip her father’s arm. “Both of you. I thought I was too late, too late to stop this. I knew what you did was wrong, Dad. I should have said something to you. I should have told you it was wrong.”
“Ky, do you think you could have stopped me?”
“Yes,” she said, firming her voice. She reached up and brushed the tears aside angrily from her cheeks. “I could have. It wasn’t fate that led you down this path, Dad. It was a dream. Dreaming isn’t bad, but your dreams can be used to create nightmares if you’re not careful. I found that out with Eric. I wanted to please you so badly. Instead I created a monster. Without him, this may not have happened.”
“Ms Chung, you’re wrong. Men like the Galligers, powerful men, always draw the men like Mr. Monroe—weak men who want something they have no right to.”
Kylie nodded at Sonya’s words, understanding her point. There were always more sides to a coin, wasn’t there?