by Payne, T. L.
“But I can’t leave you here, Fahima. You don’t understand. No matter what they say, no one is coming to help these people. You’ll die here.”
“Oh, baby, I been on my own out here for years. I’ll be fine. You go. These folks need you.”
“Please, Fahima,” Isabella cried, reaching for her as two soldiers pulled her toward the door.
Will wanted to stop them, but he knew she wouldn’t go on her own. As bad as it was, Fahima was better off there. He had no idea what they were going to face on their way to Louisiana, but he doubted she would be able to handle the physical demands of over a hundred miles on foot.
Will turned to Fahima. “I wish there was something I could do for you.”
“I’ll be fine. Don’t you worry about me,” Fahima said, pulling Will into a hug.
There was a deafening sound as an explosion rocked the side of the building, sending dust and debris raining down on them. Will pulled Fahima toward the door. They needed to get out in case it collapsed or caught on fire. People were screaming and running toward the exit. All Will could think about was Isabella.
The soldiers were firing back at someone. Will couldn’t see the battle from where he was hunkered down behind a car shielding Fahima. He had no idea where Sharp and Stephens were and all but two of the apartment residents had fled the scene. A twenty-something couple crouched beside an SUV that had been shoved against the building across the street.
“Fahima, are you okay?” the young woman called.
“I’m all right. You go on and save yourselves,” Fahima said.
“No. We won’t leave you,” the young man said.
Fahima looked up. “I should go with them. I don’t want to be responsible for them getting hurt.”
Will nodded. “You take care, Fahima.”
“I will. You look after Isabella and Cayden,” she said as Will helped her to her feet. The young couple ran over, and each took one of Fahima’s arms. “You hold on to that woman, Will. You two deserve love and happiness,” she called as they hurried away.
Will waved as they disappeared around the corner of a building. He searched the street to his left. The sound of gunfire seemed to be coming from that direction. The military vehicles were parked in the alley at the back of the building. That was where Isabella should be. Will moved to his right and stayed close to the east side of the apartment building. When he reached the loading bay, he crouched behind the large dumpster. He listened. It was hard to make out the direction of the gunfire reverberating between the buildings. He had to risk it and cross the distance to the back of the building. If gunmen were out there, they could fire on him, and there would be nowhere to hide. He wished he’d insisted on having a weapon but he’d never anticipated being in this situation.
At the back corner of the building, Will pressed himself against the wall and peered around to where the vehicles should be. He gasped. His knees almost gave out at the sight of the mangled Humvee. The RPG had found its target, and Isabella and the soldiers were nowhere to be seen.
“Will,” Stephens yelled. “Over here.” Stephens was crouched behind a dumpster
Will looked to his left, unsure about crossing the alley without a weapon.
“I’ll cover you,” Stephens said.
What choice did he have? He couldn’t stay there. Will sprinted toward the dumpster and dropped down next to Stephens. “Where’s Isabella? Where’s Sharp?”
Nineteen
Will
Day Six
Stephens led Will to the building on their left. They entered through the broken door and raced down a short hall. “Durant. Hollingsworth,” Stephens yelled.
“Back here, ma’am,” one of the soldiers called.
Will and Stephens rushed into the room. “Isabella?” Will called out.
She was on the floor and he couldn’t see her face. His stomach lurched. He wasn’t prepared to lose Isabella. Hollingsworth, the medic, was wiping blood from a gash on her cheek that was small but actively bleeding. He dropped down beside her. The soldier lying next to her hadn’t fared as well. A piece of metal protruded from his jaw. Somehow, he was conscious. He stared at the ceiling, wild-eyed. His skin was pale.
“How you doing, Durant? We’re going to get you out of here in just a minute and back to base so the docs can get you fixed up,” Stephens said, standing over the man.
With all of the experience military doctors had gained over the last twenty or so years of war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other war-torn places, Will thought she was possibly right, and they might be able to not only save this man but fix his face so that it didn’t leave him horribly disfigured.
“Where’s Fahima?” were Isabella’s first words to him. How was he to explain that he’d let her go off with those college kids?
“She took off,” Will said. “The kids seem to be taking good care of her. She trusts them.”
“Better than us?” Isabella asked.
“Better than them,” Will said, pointing to Stephens.
Isabella glared at Stephens. “You’re going to get us all killed, and for what? Something that likely doesn’t even exist.”
Even if Kim had had the information Stephens was searching for, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Someone knew they were looking and would do whatever it took to make sure they didn’t find it.
“They know you don’t have it, don’t they?” Will asked.
Stephens shrugged one shoulder.
“Why would they come after you if they didn’t want whatever it is?” Will asked.
Isabella waved the medic’s hand away and sat up. “So, Kim really did have something important?”
“We think so,” Stephens said.
“Wait. They knew where we were going. They had time to set up ambushes,” Will said. “They have someone not only on the inside but close to you, don’t they?”
Stephens said nothing.
“Can we move him, Hollingsworth?” Stephens said, ignoring Will’s question.
“Stephens. Someone inside your sphere knows we’re here looking for the damn thing, don’t they? Tell me. We have a right to know the danger we’re in.”
It was so much worse than Will had imagined. Insurgents were one thing, but a traitor on the inside put everyone at risk, including his son. A hollow feeling had settled into the space below his rib cage.
“Take me back to base. I need to get to my son. I’m not doing this,” Will insisted.
“I can’t do that,” Stephens said. “We can’t fail. If we fail, we might as well lie down and let them take over. Don’t you see? We can’t fight an enemy we can’t see coming.”
A muscle in her jaw twitched. “I know this looks crazy and may not seem worth the risk to you, but we have to try. There’s too much at stake. We need all the help we can get. Finding out who is in the sleeper cells and where they may be operating from is crucial, but most importantly, I need to know who on the inside is feeding them information.”
“My son, Stephens. I don’t know if you’ve got a kid, but he’s not safe, and it’s my job to protect him.”
“We have him guarded. Trust me. They’re not getting near him,” Stephens said.
“How can I trust you to protect him? You don’t even know who they are,” Will said, a bitter edge to his voice.
“I trust the people guarding him. I’d trust them with my life.”
Will ran a hand across his chin stubble as he fought back the string of woulda, coulda, shoulda that began to play in his mind. That wasn’t helpful. It would do nothing to get him back to Cayden.
Will turned to Isabella. “When you and Kim first encountered the Chinese mafia where Kim kept her car, you ran into the building across the street.”
“Yeah,” Isabella said.
“Could Kim have stashed something in there?” Will asked. He was determined to help Stephens find what she was looking for and get back to base—alive.
A soldier burst through the door, startling Will.
He spun around, ready to fight.
“Stephens, we need to move,” the soldier said.
“Where’s Sharp?” Stephens asked.
“He’s pinned down. He said to get you guys back to base.”
“No. I’m not going back until I find what I’m looking for.”
Hollingsworth stepped around Stephens. “Will you…?” He pointed to Durant. “Will you stay with him until I return?”
Stephens nodded, and the two soldiers disappeared out of the doorway. Durant began crying and thrashing in pain. Stephens pushed another syringe of morphine into his leg, and the man went silent. His eyes closed, and his breathing slowed—and then stopped. Was Stephens an angel of mercy or Doctor Kevorkian? Maybe she knew the soldier wouldn’t have wanted to lived messed up like that.
“Let’s get you ready to travel,” Stephens said, helping Isabella to her feet.
Isabella swayed and stumbled back, unsteady on her feet. Will wrapped his arm around her waist. “She can’t walk. We need to go back to base. She needs a doctor,” Will said.
“Hollingsworth gave her antibiotics. She’ll be fine. We need to move the vehicle and get to where Kim stored her car.”
Stephens was dedicated, he’d give her that, but at what cost? She didn’t seem concerned about Sharp in the least. Will held no illusions about whether she would sacrifice him and Isabella to achieve her goal. He supposed that was what made her a good intelligence officer. Her goal was to save the country. Will’s goal was to save Isabella and his son. It appeared those two goals were incompatible at the moment.
“We’re not going. Whatever it takes, I’m getting Isabella back to base, getting my son, and getting the hell away from Houston,” Will said.
Stephens’ jaw clenched. She raised the pistol and pointed it at Isabella’s forehead. “You’re going to help me find that flash drive, or you will not live to see your son. Do we understand one another?” She tilted her head back slightly and glared at Will. “Let’s get this straight right here and now. This is not a democracy. You don’t get a vote. You are not free to come and go as you please. If you aren’t going to help me save this country, then I have to believe that maybe I was right, and you were working with Kim and the Chinese.”
Rage boiled in Will’s gut. His gaze fell to Isabella. Alarm flashed across her face, and he could feel her shaking in his arms.
“Stephens, let’s go.” It was Sharp. He’d extricated himself from the insurgents somehow.
Stephens twitched the barrel of her pistol toward the door. “Hurry.”
“Is he…?” Sharp asked nodding to Durant’s lifeless body.
Stephens nodded and moved toward the door.
Sharp held the passenger side door of the old SUV open. Hollingsworth was in the driver’s seat. The second soldier was in the back seat. “Let’s go. Let’s go. We need to get the hell out of here,” Sharp barked.
“Put her in the front,” Stephens instructed. She raced to the SUV and yanked the rear door open. “Johnson, climb in the back.” The soldier jumped out, ran around, and hopped into the back of the SUV. “Get in, Will.”
Will climbed in and scooted across the bench seat. Sharp crawled in beside him, followed by Stephens. Will was pinned between Sharp and the door. He could open it and maybe jump out before Sharp could grab him, but what good would that do him? If he somehow found his way back to the military base, would they let him back in without Sharp and Stephens? What would become of Isabella? He could do nothing but cooperate with their crazy, suicidal plan, and he hated the sense of helplessness that gave him.
Isabella glanced back. Her eyes were pleading. Will leaned forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hang in there. I’ll get you back to your apartment. I promise.”
The husks of the high-rise buildings that had burned punctuated just how devastating the EMP had been on the city’s infrastructure. Even if the government thwarted the insurgency and stopped the invasion, it would take years, maybe even decades, for Houston to recover. It could take months just to restore electricity. It was too difficult to think about. Somehow, it was easier for Will to imagine learning to live without modern technology than how they would rebuild the city.
The SUV stopped at the corner where Will had first seen the Chinese mafia pursuing Kim. Just days ago, everything had been so normal. Will had taken so much in his life for granted. He’d wasted time feeling sorry for himself for things he’d caused. Now he wished he could turn back the clock and do everything differently.
“Which building did you and Kim enter?” Stephens asked.
Isabella pointed to the property on the opposite side of the street. The two soldiers exited the vehicle and disappeared inside the building. A long minute later, they reappeared at the side of the SUV. “It’s clear. It’s just a lobby, mostly bare. There are not many places to hide things,” Hollingsworth said.
“Watch them,” Stephens said as she exited the vehicle.
The two soldiers stood guard outside the SUV as Sharp and Stephens hurried across the street and slipped inside the building.
“You okay?” Will asked Isabella.
“I’m scared.”
“I know. We’ll make it,” Will said.
Will heard the sound of an engine and spun in his seat. One of the vehicles filled with soldiers came roaring up.
“Where’s the lieutenant?” a soldier asked as he ran up.
“Inside with Stephens.” Hollingsworth pointed.
Three soldiers raced toward the building.
“What’s going on?” Isabella asked.
“I don’t know.” Will stuck his head out and asked Hollingsworth.
“Everything’s fine. Just stay in the car.”
Isabella’s head swiveled, searching the street behind them. “It’s not fine. None of this is fine. What the hell have we gotten ourselves into here, Will? Why do things just keep getting worse and worse? It’s like some freaking nightmare that I just can’t wake up from.”
“I know. It’ll be over soon,” Will said and then realized how patronizing he sounded. She wasn’t a child. She was smart enough to know that they could very well die out there. He agreed. It was a waking nightmare. One he was growing tired of, and it only served to increase the rage he felt boiling to the surface.
Stephens exited the building flanked by soldiers. Sharp brought up the rear. “Get that SUV running,” Sharp called as they crossed the street. A soldier pulled the Humvee up, and Sharp and Stephens jumped inside. Hollingsworth was just putting the vehicle in gear as the Humvee sped up and disappeared around the corner of Main Street. Hollingsworth weaved back and forth around cars trying his best to catch up.
“What’s going on?” Isabella asked.
Hollingsworth said nothing.
When they reached the freeway, it became clear to Will that Stephens had found what she’d been looking for inside that building, or else she wouldn’t have given up the search. Kim must have hidden it there when they encountered the Chinese enforcers. Relief washed over him. Now they could get back to the military base. He could get Cayden and leave the area before the shit really hit the fan. He was more convinced than ever that the city was no place to survive this.
“Will,” Isabella said. “When we get back…”
An explosion rocked the vehicle. An RPG had slammed into a pickup two lanes over. Hollingsworth yanked the wheel and raced between a mid-sized sedan and a box van. Will lost sight of the Humvee.
“Can you see Stephens and Sharp’s vehicle?” Will asked.
“They just pulled down the exit ramp,” Hollingsworth said.
Out the front glass, Will spotted two Humvees racing toward them. They stopped fifty feet away and began firing off to Will’s right. Will looked back as Hollingsworth pushed the SUV as fast as it would go past them.
“They’re ours?” Will asked.
“Yep!”
A moment later, the SUV pulled through all the military checkpoints before coming to a stop outside the bu
ilding. Will threw open the door, rushed up the walk, and entered the building. Stephens and Sharp were at the end of the corridor.
“Stephens, where is my son?” Will yelled.
She didn’t answer him. Instead, she and Sharp disappeared into one of the offices. Will and Isabella raced up and down the corridor, pulling and banging on every door trying to locate where they were holding Cayden. All the doors were locked. Will pounded on each one and called Cayden’s name. He received no reply.
He wasn’t there.
“I have to find Stephens,” Will said, turning back toward the lobby.
Twenty
Will
Day Six
Two soldiers stood outside the door of the room where Will had last seen Stephens. As Will and Isabella approached, two of them blocked their way.
“You are in an unauthorized area,” one of the soldiers said, holding a hand out in front of him. His other hand was on a pistol holstered on his hip.
Would they shoot him? Will wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t risk it. He shifted from one foot to the other. “Stephens!” he yelled, fear stretching his voice high and tight. “Stephens. Where is my son?”
The second soldier grabbed Will, twisting his arm behind his back and slamming him against the wall. He drew his lower lip between his teeth and attempted to pull away. It didn’t work. In seconds, he again was in flex cuffs and being led through the maze of corridors. Thankfully, they were more gentle with Isabella and allowed them to remain together. His eyes bored into the soldier as they were shoved into the room. Will heard the door being locked from the outside. They were trapped.
Banging his fist against the door in the windowless room did nothing to free them, but it gave an outlet for his rage. When he’d exhausted himself, he dropped onto the chair and placed his head in his hands. He looked around for something to break the window or smash through the wall. All he saw was the plain steel desk with a laminate top typical of government office furniture. Metal filing cabinets took up the wall behind it. A framed photo of a man in military uniform hung on the wall on one side of the door. Will rushed around the desk and pulled open drawers, looking for a letter opener or anything he could use to pry open the door. He found nothing useful.