Jack of Hart
Wild Card
A Hart of Darkness Novel
Violeta M. Bagia
V & V Press
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be reproduced, printed or transmitted in any form without consent from the author
Author’s Note:
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and events are the work of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is coincidental.
Copyright 2019 Violeta M. Bagia
For Sorin, thank you for being my guiding light.
Chapter One
Ace
Aloud explosion rocked the foundations of the shabby building, the ceiling above us rattled and Matt shot me a quick look which said run like hell. He didn’t have to tell me twice.
I holstered my gun and ran like hell.
‘Bet you’re happy you left New York, aren’t you?’ He yelled over the blast echoing above us.
I rolled my eyes and pushed my way through a plastic curtain and kept running.
The plaster sprinkled down on us with each rocky aftershock and with each creak of the foundation, it gave way for the overhead structure to buck and eventually break through.
Voices called from behind us and quickly following them, gun shots, semi-automatic if I had to guess. Matt ran behind me, firing off a few rounds and as a hallway splitting into two, came up, he shouted over the noise. ‘Take the next left.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, New York!’ He shouted. ‘I’m sure!’
Throwing all my weight into the door I shielded my face as the wood around the hinges splintered.
The second I got inside, I moved out of the way as Matt threw himself behind me and slammed the door shut. He exhaled loudly before quickly reaching over for a beam of wood and propping it against the busted handle.
‘Go down the back.’
Rushing through the clutter of boxes and other discarded, dusty objects, I crouched behind a column that used to hold up a fireplace.
Matt knelt beside me, checking his clip.
‘Damn.’ He muttered. ‘I’m out.’
‘Me too.’
‘Shit.’ He unhooked his legs and sat. ‘Let’s go over this again.’
‘We found their hidey hole, busted them before they knew what was happening, like we planned—’
‘And then we got screwed.’
‘Epically.’
‘Someone sold us out.’ He muttered.
‘Someone on the inside?’
‘Not my CI, he’s been solid for years.’ Matt shook his head.
He’d been one of the only agents in the FBI I trusted wholeheartedly, his soul was pure, and he didn’t have hidden intentions or ulterior motives. But even he saw something off about this situation and he was reluctant to believe we’d been sold out. I, on the other hand knew how quickly someone would sell you out for a lot less than you’d think.
Repositioning myself, I craned my neck and checked the door. They’d be breaking through any minute. The makeshift barrage wouldn’t hold them back forever.
‘Any ideas, DC?’
‘We need to find something to hold that door shut,’ he smirked, beginning his search of the dusty debris.
‘Try this.’ I spotted a shovel peeking behind a stash of boxes and picked it up.
‘Perfect.’ He propped it against the door and stood back admiring his work.
‘Where are we anyway?’
‘No, idea.’ He looked around. ‘Schematics of this building don’t show this door here.’
‘Maybe it’s an old installation?’
‘I have no doubt. The only question is, where does this go?’
‘If logic dictates anything, it’d be safe to assume the basement, or underground tunnels.’
‘Which could be good or bad for us.’ Matt said.
Nodding, I let out a deep breath. ‘Well, can’t say this is what I was expecting our trip to LA to go like.’
‘At least we can expect a nice and quiet homecoming.’ He chuckled, holstering his empty gun. ‘How you finding it?’
‘DC?’
‘Yep.’
‘Well, it’s not as busy as New York, so it’s a nice change.’
Matt chuckled. ‘It’s not models and beaches.’
‘Neither is LA.’ I muttered, looking over the dust covering my pants. ‘Though, I think I prefer this over models and beaches.’
‘Of course you do.’
‘Hey.’ I frowned, with no real conviction. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Well you didn’t really look like you were out of your depth spraying bullets all over the place.’
‘Jealous?’
‘Hardly.’
I laughed and helped him lift the small door, its size was deceptively misleading.
‘And,’ I grunted, maneuvering myself through the small space. ‘I wasn’t spraying bullets; I was tactically executing each shot.’
‘Aha.’ He laughed. ‘If you say so. And if I’m not mistaken, you could have taken every one of them down with little more than a thought.’
‘Don’t you start.’ I said giving him a pointed look. ‘I told you last time, I don’t do that anymore.’
‘I know, I heard you, but I’m just saying—’
‘Do me a favor and don’t just say it.’
He smirked again, conceding.
Shooting him a look over my shoulder, I cocked my brows when I reached another, even smaller crawl space that appeared before us.
‘Now what, genius?’
‘After you, Agent Hart.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yes, seriously. It leads out the back, scouts honor.’
‘Fine.’ I muttered. This was getting old. Why did I always get stuck going down the dark holes first? A few feet in, I motioned back to him. ‘Clear.’
Matt followed me down and we both flicked on our torches, it was still hard getting used to working with non-Sensitives, I kept forgetting that they needed more time to catch their breath, they needed light to see in the dark, and they didn’t heal like we did. So everything had to be planned to a T and it had to be executed just as precisely which made this ambush incredibly uncomfortable for me.
‘You good?’ I asked as we moved through the tunnel.
‘Sure.’
‘Let me know if we need to stop.’
‘I’m fine, Hart. I know you’re a machine, but I’m keeping up.’
Scoffing, I shone the torch in his eyes with a smirk. ‘Yeah, we’ll see how long you can keep that up.’
‘Well this has definitely been one hell of a day.’
‘You need to get out more.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’ He muttered. ‘Hey, speaking of going out, dinner?’
‘Why not.’ I shrugged, sweeping the light over the upcoming path. ‘Indian?’
‘Chinese.’
‘Done.’
‘My place or yours?’
‘Yours. I can’t be bothered cleaning after.’ I grinned, shoving him forward.
‘You’re such a catch.’ He laughed.
‘Shouldn’t have given me an option then.’
‘Fair call.’
‘There’s a door up ahead.’ I shone the light and about fifteen feet away, there was a small door much like the one we’d climbed through. ‘Yay or nay?’
‘I don’t like it, but we don’t have a choice.’
The sounds of shouting filtered through the damp earth, they were closing in, probably a lot quicker than I’d anticipated.
‘I’ll clear it, and you follow.’
‘Got it.’
&nb
sp; Taking our usual formation, I slipped in, did a quick sweep and when it was clear I called for him to come through. Matt climbed in, shining the torch around pointing to the far right.
‘I know where this goes.’
‘How could you possibly know?’
He smirked. ‘Wasn’t always a cop, Ace.’
‘Oh wow. I don’t think I want to know.’
‘No.’ He agreed, with a grin. ‘You really don’t. Come on. This takes us to the street behind the bakery.’
Taking the lead, I moved to the window using a crate to hoist myself up and just like Matt said, the bakery’s back door was a few feet away from us. The alleyway was clear as far as I could see aside from the occasional employee sneaking out for a cigarette.
He wedged some discarded crates against the small door we’d crawled through and motioned toward the street.
‘We’re clear but move quickly. Not sure how many more will be coming out for a smoke.’
‘Got it.’
Matt followed me silently. Before we made an appearance in public, we had to look the part.
‘How do I look?’ I turned to him, pulling off my cropped leather jacket.
He adjusted the straps of my tank top and readjusted the hem, covering the holstered gun in my jeans.
‘Perfect.’ He stepped back, tucking his gun away. ‘Me?’
‘Good.’ I nodded and slipped out into the stream of foot traffic.
‘Rendezvous in an hour.’ I called over my shoulder.
‘See you in a bit.’
When he disappeared down the busy street, I pulled the elastic out of my hair letting my much shorter waves fall just above my shoulders. Blending into the crowd, I continued walking through the street.
There were a thousand places they could have gone and hidden, a thousand ways in which we could both be compromised again but in the open like this, there was no way they’d attempt anything.
Matt would be safer out here and I had an advantage sensing danger when there were more people around. Nothing stuck out at me as I continued through the men and women walking on the sidewalk, a few cute guys threw me looks, some smiled, returning the glance I kept as casual as possible.
But something set me on edge. There was someone here, someone strong, someone who knew what they were doing. I couldn’t work out where they were or what they wanted. There was something blocking them off from me, almost scrambling the waves that other Sensitives emitted. I’d only known a few Sensitives who could do that, two were in New York and one was dead.
My eyes darted around, sweeping the horizon. Dozens and dozens of faces came in and out of focus, but no one stood out.
I kept my eyes ahead, shielded by the dark sunglasses I had on, and walked.
Matt would be just around the corner with all the information we managed to get before it all went to shit.
Someone knew about us being there, someone knew exactly when we would be moving and that someone was dangerous to us.
Chapter Two
Ace
Director Belfort looked down at the files flashing across the screen, Matt and I were lucky to have gotten them at all and something told me that Belfort was less than impressed with what happened.
Melina Peyton, my own personal tormentor, looked across at Matt with what I could only describe as some sort of obsession and when Matt looked at me with a playful smirk, Peyton’s look turned to disgust. She cleared her throat looking at the files on her own tablet while David looked down with a shake of the head.
David Riley was one of those hard ass agents who had a great sense of humor, not only was he second in charge here, he was one of the few people I kept on my very small, very limited list of trusted people.
‘We’ve been watching this hotel for eleven months.’ Belfort said, his eyes sweeping the silent room. ‘Eleven months and this is the closest we’ve ever been. What happened?’
When I opened my mouth to answer, he held his hand out.
‘Rhetorical question, Agent Hart. I know what happened, I want to know why.’
Peyton gave me a pointed look, crinkling her perfect little nose.
Rolling my eyes, I looked back at Riley and Belfort. Through the agreement between the Agency and the FBI, they were the only two who knew my past and were responsible for keeping interested parties who snooped, off my scent, unfortunately even they couldn’t stop the hell Peyton put me through.
‘You two did a good job.’ Riley said taking over from Belfort, switching the main screen to reflect the tablets. ‘Despite the ambush, the information you retrieved gave us the missing piece.’
‘Sir.’ I began. ‘Who else knew we were on the case?’
Matt looked over at him, waiting for an answer.
‘The people in this room, Ace, it’s a need to know case, like always.’
‘Someone else was there.’ I said quietly. ‘Someone had to have known.’
‘Agreed.’ He said. ‘But at this stage, this isn’t an open case. We got the information we needed, and we proceed as usual.’
‘Sir.’ Matt began but promptly stopped with Belfort stood.
‘I understand you two went through an ordeal, but this is still our priority. Exercise caution as always but focus on the task.’
‘Yes, Sir.’ We both nodded.
When he dismissed us, we got up and before I could leave, Belfort called me over.
‘Ace, if you could spare a minute.’
‘Of course.’
Riley sat on the edge of the desk and Belfort closed the doors, frosting the glass.
‘Were they Sensitives?’
‘No, Sir.’ I replied. ‘Highly trained, if I had to guess I’d say they were military.’
He pondered my response for a moment while I deliberated whether I should have said something about my persistent, Sensitive stalker.
‘Do you know what unit?’ Riley asked, forcing my attention back to him.
‘Going by the way they fought, I’d say Russian.’
‘Private sector?’
‘I’d say so.’ I said firmly, nursing the bruise on my thigh. ‘They were skilled, gave me a run for my money.’
‘Your old boss, he’s Russian, yes?’
‘Yes, Sir.’ My mouth dried up.
‘Could be worth putting it to him, maybe he knows something?’
My eyes snapped up to his and I ignored the pang of nerves shooting through me. ‘I can contact him if needed, Sir.’
‘If we don’t get anything from the footage, we’ll do that.’
When I nodded, Belfort moved on and I got the distinct impression he wasn’t surprised.
‘Sir.’ I stood. ‘What else is in these files?’
‘That’s classified.’
‘Fine.’ I changed my approach. ‘If what’s in there, somehow puts this team in danger—’
‘It doesn’t, Ace.’ Belfort admitted. ‘But I did want to talk to you about something else.’
‘Something else?’
‘Riley.’ He nodded to David who handed me a file.
‘What is this?’
‘This is what we’ve been trying to complete, and with the file you and Price retrieved for us, we were able to.’
I skimmed through the information and quickly looked up at them. It was a simple poem, but everything about it told me it was so much more than some archaic scribblings. The words looked up at me and taunted me. This was a message, one that I was meant to understand and while I didn’t at this stage, I was quickly understanding the importance of it. I shivered.
‘This is Sensitive stuff,’ Riley said. ‘This isn’t our jurisdiction.’
‘You’re right,’ I got up. ‘This is beyond what this team has been tasked to.’
‘I know.’ Riley replied, scrubbing his jaw and I could sense something else coming on. ‘Which is why we need to bring in the Agency.’
When I remained completely silent, Riley squeezed my shoulder. I was done with the Agency, a long time ago, I was don
e with everything and everyone there…
‘Ace?’
It took a while to digest what he’d said. And in that moment of quiet, I thought back to the agreement. Work here and start a new life.
‘Ace, I understand this isn’t going to be easy for you. But we’re out of options here.’ He added.
Yeah, understatement of the damn year. But before I could open my mouth to argue, Belfort spoke up.
‘Riley will brief you on what we’re looking for. In the meantime, I have some business to attend to. I’ll leave you to it.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’ I nodded, watching him leave.
When we were alone, Riley stood beside me and for a moment we looked at each other, I guess we were both on the receiving end of a job we didn’t want.
‘I’d like you to prepare the brief for the team, I’ll help with whatever you need, your security clearance will be adjusted, and you’ll have access to whatever I do.’
‘Great. Another thing to add to Peyton’s list.’ I muttered.
‘What?’
‘Peyton’s made it abundantly clear that she doesn’t like me being here, taking your jobs, this will just add to that.’
‘That shouldn’t concern you, we promote, and hire based on merit. Nothing more. You have the skills this job requires which is why we’re giving you the lead.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’
‘It’s only the truth, kid.’
My mind raced all over the place, this was too much. It was coming up to one year, one whole year since Troy…since seeing Illarion…since Dalca.
‘Ace?’
My legs weakened.
‘It’s understandable that you’re going to be having a hard time.’
‘I’m not.’ I lied. ‘It’s hard having to lie to everyone. That’s all.’
‘You’re a spy, Ace. That’s what you do. This, well it’s just another job.’
Guess it was. ‘What do you need me to do?’
‘As far as Agency goes, we’ll need you to request two field agents and prepare a brief for your team. You’ve worked with them, you can give us a run-down of what we can expect.’
‘Full personnel files. Mission briefs.’ I wrote down. ‘Is that all?’
‘Yes.’
‘Anyone you had in mind?’ I asked him, hoping to God he wouldn’t say it was up to me.
Jack of Hart- Wild Card Page 1