by Mark Stone
“You should have warned me someone was after him,” I answered.
“If I’d have known that, I would have,” he said. “It just means that other people are after Eve Jensen. We have to find her first.”
“Who is she?” I asked. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
“She’s the key to everything, Detective Storm,” Nate said quietly. “You need to find her, and you need to do it now. We’re officially out of time.”
“You said we had two days,” I said.
“I was wrong,” he answered. “The party I was talking about, the one where everything goes to hell, you’re about to walk into it.”
Chapter 27
My heart leapt up into in my throat as we moved toward the white tent and into what I now knew was going to be the worst party anyone has ever been to outside of Game of Thrones. Both Nate and Terry had alluded to the fact that this party was going to be where the Archer was going to purge himself of all those who weren’t loyal to him. The fact that Nate was one of those people and he knew about the true purpose of the party meant that everyone who was plotting against the Archer did. Those were the ingredients for a bloodbath if I ever heard one.
I needed to get in touch with the St. Thomas police department. I needed to ensure that they got here in time to stop what was surely going to be a frenzy of gunfire. Doing that would be beyond difficult, though. If I was being watched before, I was definitely being watched now. This was the night everything was supposed to change, the night Al Davidson was supposed to stand as a prime example of the new face of the Archer’s people. Perhaps, it would also be the night when I finally came face to face with the Archer.
“You’re going to have to be a lot more clear with me than that,” I said, glaring over at Nate. “Eve Jensen certainly plays a part in this, and I need to know what that part is if you expect me to go any further.”
“Are you under the impression that you’re giving orders here, Detective Storm?” Nate asked. “Let me remind you that I know your secret, and I can give it away at any time.”
“And let me remind you that, at this very moment, we are marching into a party where you’re meant to be killed,” I said, looking at the white tent and hearing soft music play from inside of it. “If you think Terry and, by extension of her, the Archer himself doesn’t know that you’re part of this resistance, you’re mistaken. She mentioned you by name. She knows what you’re up to.”
“Let her know,” Nate scoffed. “I, for one, think she’s constantly exaggerating her relationship with the Archer in the first place. I doubt she’s ever seen him, much less knows who he is. That whole ‘I speak with his voice’ thing is garbage. The Archer is nothing if not completely off the grid in terms of his business and presence. He could disappear without a trace, walk away and leave this entire enterprise, and there wouldn’t be anything to tie him to it.”
“That’s impressive,” I answered. “But it doesn’t change the fact that, to find Eve, I need to know who or what she’s hiding from.”
“That’s the thing!” Nate whispered as the three of us pushed into the tent. “I have no idea. I honestly thought Donald Rightman was the Archer. I thought that was why Eve said what she said.”
“And what did she say?” I asked, looking at the inside of the tent and gasping as I took a look at what was around me. Inside the tent, where the party of the year was supposed to be, was completely empty. Where I assumed tables, chairs, balloons, and maybe even some waiters walking around with food trays, sat an entirely empty space. The sand of the beach lined the floor, all except for one part.. There, the sand had been brushed away, revealing an open door and staircase that led downward.
“What the hell is this?” I muttered.
“These parties are always hidden,” Nate answered. “I’d imagine this one is underground so that no one can hear the screams.”
My blood started to run cold. “You don’t have to do this,” I said. “You don’t have to go down here.”
“Please,” Nate scoffed. “You think I’m afraid of the Archer? I’ve got enough of my own people down there to make sure this goes exactly the way I want it to.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my eyes widening as I realized that Nate never wanted to get away from this fight. He wanted it. He wanted to go through it because he believed he would win it.
“You’re a monster,” I said, looking over at the man. “This is what you’ve been working toward. You think you can take out the people loyal to the Archer.”
“I know I can, Detective Storm,” Nate said, glaring at me as I pulled to a stop, jerking Natasha closer to me. “But that shouldn’t surprise you. I’m working toward my own ends. That really shouldn’t surprise you, should it?”
“What surprises me is that you took the time from those efforts to make me search for a missing woman who doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Archer or his people.”
“Except that she does,” Nate said. “A few weeks ago, Donald Rightman came to me. You see, he must have heard on the grapevine that I was reconsidering my loyalties. He told me that he knew a woman who could take the Archer down once and for all. You see, I can kill everyone of the Archer’s people down here at this party, but I’ll never really know if the Archer is dead because I don’t know who the sonofabitch is. I’ll always be looking over my shoulder, always be running away in my mind. But, if the woman Donald Rightman told me about really could bring down the Archer, then I would be off scot free. I would be able to take over the power vacuum left by the man and not having to worry about him seeking vengeance.” Nate shook his head. “He even offered to post a picture of her on Facebook as proof. Though, to be fair, I have no idea what a picture of a schoolteacher from the Midwest is supposed to prove.”
“Neither do I,” I murmured. But then, as the words left my mouth, the pieces started to click together in my mind. Suddenly, everything became clear.
“He thought you knew,” I said,swallowing hard.
“What?” Nate asked, his eyes narrowing.
“He assumed you knew who the Archer was,” I said, my body tensing up. “Just like I did. He thought you knew and that’s why he thought the picture would be proof.”
“Why would a picture of Eve Jensen prove that she could take down the Archer?” Natasha asked from beside me.
“Because she knew what the Archer had done,” I said, my mouth going dry. “Don’t you get it. It’s the only thing that makes any sense. The only way Eve Jensen’s face proves anything to the Archer is if the Archer recognizes it.”
“You’re not making any sense,” Natasha said.
“The Archer has been so careful to keep his identity secret, to keep his hands clean from everything so that, even if this all went to hell, he could skip away without anyone having enough proof to get him so much as a misdemeanor charge. You told me as much,” I said, looking at Nate. “But what if Eve Jensen knew better? What if Eve Jensen could prove the Archer was a criminal? What if she could prove the Archer was a killer?”
“And who would the man have killed?” Nate asked.
“Eve’s father,” I muttered. “And he’s not a man.”
“What?” Natasha said.
“Eve Jensen didn’t blame her sister for her father’s death because she wanted to come to St. Thomas. She blamed her sister because she believed she was capable of doing it.” I pulled the crumpled note from my pocket again, the one Don gave me. “Go away and don’t come back for a long time,” I read it aloud. “Jessica Ferns got her sister out of the bungalow that day. When Eve got back, her father was dead and her sister was-”
“Kidnapped,” Nate said. “I know. We researched her.”
“No,” I said. “Not kidnapped. She left. Jessica Ferns killed her father and ran away, disappearing into St. Thomas until she reemerged, grown up and going by the codename The Archer.”
“You think Eve Jensen’s sister is the Archer?” Natasha asked.
“
It’s the only thing that makes sense,” I said. “It’s the reason her picture would be proof enough. If Nate knew who the Archer was, if he knew her history, then he would also know that her sister would be able to prove the murder that started her life of crime.” I held the note up. “Red hair and pigtails. What does that look like when it grows up?”
“Oh my God,” Natasha muttered. “Eve Jensen’s father’s name,” she muttered, swallowing hard. “It was Terrance.”
“Really?” Nate asked. “This whole time it was Terry? All this time, that whole ‘we speak with the same voice’ crap was because the bitch actually was the Archer?” He shook his head. “That’s a trip. I wonder why she always did all her own grunt work, even tonight.”
“What?” I asked, looking behind me. “Where is she?”
“Terry?” Nate asked. “She’s cleaning up, of course. It’s what she always does. I knew when I told her about Don Rightman’s death that she’d get rid of all the loose ends.”
“Loose ends?” I muttered.
“Any evidence of a connection between him and Archer. He was running money for him-I guess her. Turned out he was skimming it too. Guess that wasn’t the biggest secret he was keeping. If I know Terry’s methods, she’s already on her way to torch that house. It’s a shame, too. Don Rightman had a nice pad. He used to call it The Fortress.”
“The Fortress?” I gasped, remembering what Don Rightman said before he died. “He said she was in a fortress. That’s where Eve Jensen is. She’s in that house.”
“She can’t be,” Nate answered. “We searched it.”
“Then you’re missing something,” I said. “She’s definitely there.”
“The let her stay,” Nate said. “Let Terry kill her. Now that I know who the Archer is, I don’t need that bitch anymore. I’ll kill Terry myself and let that be the end of it.” He pulled a gun from his belt and pointed it at Natasha and I. “After I clean up a few loose ends of my own.”
Chapter 28
For what felt like the thousandth time today, there was a gun in my face. My body began to react quicker than my mind could keep up. That was always the way of it. In situations like this, where my life or the life of someone else was on the line, my training always took over. I was mean to be precise, cautious, and effective. I was meant to defuse a situation like this one before anyone got hurt. I was meant to make it all alright. I was a cop, the first and best line of defense against the darkness of the world. And what I was looking at right now was nothing short of pure darkness.
Though it didn’t really surprise me, all of Nate’s promises from earlier were now laid bare as lies. He never meant to allow himself to be prosecuted for any of his crimes. The whole ‘no immunity’ thing was all garbage. He meant for this to happen, to stage a coo of one of the strongest black market organizations in the world and use the secrets of a woman who lost both her father and sister years ago to make sure he could cut off its head.
Natasha and I, we were just the tools he was going to use to get it done. We were the ways and means past his roadblock, and now that the roadblock was gone, he was going to rid himself of us too.
Not if I had anything to say about it.
We stood at the open mouth of the staircase. It led straight down into the earth, piercing through the sand all around us. With my back to it and Nate’s gun in my face, I knew I was going to have to act quickly if there was any chance Natasha and I were going to survive this.
“The police are on their way, Nate,” I said, my jaw tight and my eyes scanning the area for something, anything I would be able to use to save us from what was about to happen. Unfortunately, the area was as barren as I thought it was when I first walked into the tent. “They’ll have this place surrounded in no time. I know you think you’ve one this, but you haven’t.” I shook my head. “There’s still a chance for you, though, man. You put us on the path to Eve Jensen. If you let us leave, if you let us find her before Terry does, that’ll go a long way toward helping you out in the long run. I can testify. I can stand up in a court of law and say that you were instrumental in helping us out. If you do this, though, I can’t help you. No one will be able to help you. Killing two federal agents is something you’ll never come back from.”
I watched his face, hoping it might break or give me some sign that I was getting through to him, that he was buying the lie I laid out in front of him.
“Do you think I’m an idiot, Dillon Storm?” Nate asked, his gun still pointed at me. “You think I don’t know about that little satellite phone your ex-girlfriend has in her pocket? I had it disconnected, by the way. So there’s no need for you to try to actually call someone to come to your rescue. You won’t get out. I know everything. I see everything, including all the calls she made. She called her boss once earlier, hours and hours ago. He never called her back. He’s not coming. No one is coming. And then she called her father. That’s it.” His slyly cruel eyes moved over to Natasha. “I guess you must have known how this was going to end, sweetheart. You wanted to say goodbye?”
“Something like that,” Natasha said through grinding teeth.
“Smart girl,” Nate said, looking back at me. “Too bad you couldn’t keep her in real life. Oh well. At least you’ll be together in death now.”
“Hey idiot,” Natasha said, her eyes, as fiery as they were focused, trained on him. “I’m the one who killed the man who killed Donald Rightman.”
“Is that right?” Nate asked. “You’re even more impressive than I thought. Just for that, I’ll kill you first. That way you won’t have to watch.”
“You know everything, right?” she asked, as Nate tilted the gun just a little in her direction.
“I think I’ve proven I have,” he said.
“The gun I used to kill him,” Natasha started. “You know where that is, you cocky sonofabitch? I doubt it, because if you did, you wouldn’t be smiling.” Like a flash, Natasha reached for something in the back of her dress. My heart jumped. She could be quick when she wanted to be, but even she wasn’t quicker than a trigger finger on a gun that was already pointed. As my training kicked in again, I realized she didn’t need to be. This was a distraction, and I was going to make the most of it.
Lunging forward, I grabbed Nate’s arm and pulled it up just as he pulled the trigger. I felt the power of the shot reverberate through his arm and into me. It shook everything. The whole world went just a little sideways. I held on, though. I couldn’t allow things to go anymore south than they already were.
Of course, that was exactly what was about to happen.
Nate pushed forward, trying to jar his arm, and with it, the gun from my grip. Holding tighter, I stepped backward once and then again. Unfortunately, the ground wasn’t there to meet me the last time. I tumbled backward,falling. Still, I couldn’t let go of Nate. if I did that, Natasha would have to fend for herself. Even with the gun, that wasn’t something I wanted her to have to do.
Pulling Nate closer to me, I felt the blow as my body landed on the first of the stairs. Nate landed on top of me and we began to tumble down the staircase. Pain ran through me as we descended over and over again. I heard a popping noise and then felt a rush of pain flow through me, hot at first and then ice cold.
As we slammed hard onto the floor below, having finally come down all the stairs the hard way, Nate rolled off of me. My eyes were bleary and my body hurt, but I looked at him as he tucked onto what seemed to be marble tiled floors. The gun wasn’t in his hand anymore. He must have lost in the transit.
This was my chance. I might not have had much of a chance when he was armed and I wasn’t, but now that the playing field was level, I knew I could kick his ass six ways from Sunday. He didn’t stand a chance.
As I stood, tasting metal and wiping fresh blood from my nose, I took a second to actually take in the room around me.
Where upstairs, the space was empty and desolate down here was an entirely different story. Trays of food were being taken around by wa
iters, women playing the harp sat in the back of the room, making the music I heard from the outside. People dressed in fancy suits and gorgeous dresses all stood there, looking at me with their mouths agape. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were all the bad guys. They might have been on opposite sides of some brewing civil war, but they were all against me. They were all my own opposition.
As I took it all in, I understood just how dangerous this was. Nate might not have been armed anymore, but the playing field certainly hadn’t been leveled, not even a little bit.
“Kill them!” Nate said. “Do it now! Kill everyone of the Archer’s people!” The man screamed, meaning to bring his plan of overtaking this party to fruition. Then, pointing to me with a scowl on his face and blood pouring from a fresh cut over his eyes, he added, “He’s mine!”
That was when all hell broke loose.
Chapter 29
I stood there at the end of the staircase, looking out at a hidden party filled to the brim with horrible people. I had no doubt that, if given the opportunity, I could find a reason to lock everyone of them up and gather ample evidence to have them all put away for decades to come. The problem was, in order to do that, I would have to survive the night, and things weren’t looking very good.
As soon as Nate’s command went out, loud shouts erupted from the crowd. Roughly half the people in there started attacking the other half, pulling guns, knives, and other weapons out from their pockets, purses, and holsters and going to town. I even thought I saw someone come at a party goer with a hammer, which struck me as both old school and odd.
Seeing as how both sects of this ridiculous grab for power were prepared for tonight, it took all of a second and a half for the people who were being attacked to go on the offense. Soon enough, guns were out all over the place and bullets were flying everywhere.