Aegis Security 03 - Extreme Measures (24 page)

The sound of an explosion echoed through the basement, shaking the walls. A blinding light erupted above. Miller tugged hard on her arm. “Now!”

Olivia stumbled. Gasped. Tried to keep up. He dragged her across the basement, then stopped in front of what looked like a steel door. “Turn away.”

She didn’t know what he was doing, but she listened. Two more bangs, then the sound of metal shattering. She looked back just as he was shoving his shoulder against the door. It gave with a crack. Cement steps let up to cellar doors, which he quickly pushed open. Then warm sunlight rushed over her body, warming her frigid skin and bathing her in light.

Relief trickled through every cell in her body. She sucked in a deep breath, but the grip on her hand jolted her out of any celebration she wanted to lose herself in. “No time to fuck around,” Miller said to her. “We have to keep moving.”

Bright light blinded her, but she looked his way and realized he was holding a gun in both hands, scanning the area behind them.

“Head toward the fence,” he directed.

Grass pressed against the bottom of her feet as she forced her muscles forward, running for the fence. When she reached it, her heart sank.

The thing had to be at least ten feet tall. And metal, straight up. No footholds. She’d never scale it.

A dog barked. Inside the house, voices echoed and shouted. Footsteps pounded.

“Up, let’s go, come on. We’re running out of time.” Miller holstered the gun and then leaned over and cupped both hands together, creating a step for her.

“I can’t—”

“Fuck can’t. You wanna live? Then haul ass, woman. We’ve got seconds before they’re here.”

Olivia’s heart jumped into her throat. She gripped his strong shoulders and slid her foot into his hands. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.” He didn’t even grunt as he hefted her up. Her fingertips grazed the top of the fence, and she clawed for a tight grip. “Throw yourself over.”

Throw herself over? She managed to get one leg over the side of the fence, then made the mistake of looking back.

Three, four, no . . . five men spilled out of the house, guns drawn. Somewhere a dog snarled and barked.

“Go!” Miller screamed.

Fear froze every muscle in her body.

Gunfire erupted in the yard.

Zane’s pulse shot into the stratosphere as he slid his arms into both straps of the backpack. He’d counted four men heading toward them from the direction of the parking lot, but they were already splitting up.

Eve’s hand gripped his shirt and tugged him back into the cover of the trees.

“How many?” Carter asked.

Eve took up space near Zane, gun drawn and ready, eyes scanning the park beyond. She was in black ops mode, and all he wanted to do was shove her behind him where he knew she’d be safe, but he knew there was no way in hell she’d ever go for that.

“Four,” he answered.

“Civilians?” Natalie asked, pulling a Colt XSE from her holster.

“They’ve scattered.” Zane squinted through the trees. “I can’t see them anymore.”

“Let’s hope to God they had the sense to get out of here.” Natalie gripped the gun in both hands. “Four against four. Those aren’t bad odds.”

“Four that we can see.” Zane glanced her way. “Packing M14s and who the hell knows what else.”

She grinned. “Makes it all the more fun.”

“You should leave, Natalie.” Eve’s strained voice met Zane’s ears, but he refused to turn and look. “This isn’t your fight.”

“I’m not leaving the three of you on your own.”

Yeah, but they needed Natalie alive so she could help clear Eve’s name. “Listen,” Zane said, “maybe Eve’s right.”

Gunfire exploded in the clearing. Reflexes had Zane shoving Eve to the ground.

She grunted as her shoulder and hip hit the earth. Dirt and grass flew up around them. More gunfire ricocheted, this time from Carter and Natalie as they fired back, protected by the trees. A thud echoed to Zane’s right, and Natalie groaned. When he turned to look, bright red seeped through the white cotton at her shoulder.

Zane scrambled off Eve and rushed to Natalie. With Eve’s help, they pulled her behind another tree. From ahead, Carter hollered, “A little help here!”

Eve was on her feet in seconds, her gun drawn as she joined Carter. Tightness closed around Zane’s chest, but he knew he had to trust in her training. Had to let her do what she needed to do. He helped Natalie lean against a tree and pressed a hand over the wound.

“Shit,” she gasped. “Maybe I should have listened.”

“We’re gonna get you out of here.” He picked up her good arm and placed her hand against the wound. “Pressure here. You hear me? Don’t let up.”

She bit hard into her lip. Nodded. “Just get the fuckers.”

When Zane reached Eve and Carter, Eve was already switching magazines. Two assailants lay dead in the park, but two more were closing in fast. He skidded to his knees and quickly rummaged through the backpack until he found the flash grenades in the bottom. Jerking the pin free, he threw one into the park. “Go!”

A boom echoed, followed by a flash of light, blinding the attackers. Eve stepped out from behind the tree, lifted the gun in both hands, aimed at the man on the right, and fired. The bullet hit him in the throat. He went down like a board. She swiveled and aimed at the guy on the left and did the same. Gunfire erupted, but the man only got off two shots before he was on the ground.

“Fucking A,” Carter mumbled from yards away. “Archer!”

Lifting his Beretta again, Zane swiveled and saw what Carter was staring at.

Two more men coming from the direction of the parking lot. One carrying what looked like a rocket launcher on his shoulder.

“Fuck me,” Zane muttered.

Carter whipped around. “We need to haul ass.”

Eve stepped out and fired. Missed. Fired again. Bullets thunked against wood. She ducked back behind the tree, just barely missing being hit. “What about—?”

“I’ll get her,” Carter announced. “Just fucking
go
!”

He was already running for Natalie before Zane could stop him. Before he could argue. The guy with the rocket launcher lowered it to his shoulder and lined up his sights.

Grasping Eve by the collar, Zane pulled hard. “Go, go,
go
!”

Muscles in his legs burned as they sprinted for the far end of the park. Gunfire rang out behind him. He turned to fire one. Twice. Felt like he was in a dream. From the corner of his eye he saw Carter lift Natalie over his shoulder. Saw the blood running down her arm. Saw Carter push his legs into motion and head the other direction.

No. They were going the wrong direction. That would lead them closer to the parking lot. Where they didn’t know how many others were waiting.

He opened his mouth to yell for Carter to stop. The rocket launcher hissed.

And then the world exploded.

D
irt and leaves and grass filled Eve’s mouth.

She coughed, rolled to her side, and grimaced at the burn in her side. Heat spread over her skin. She pulled her eyelids apart to see the trees, the forest, everything in flames.

“Get up. Gotta keep moving.”

Zane’s hand tugged on her arm, pulling her to her feet. In a daze she tried to make sense of the explosion. Tried to see through the flames and smoke to what lay beyond. Tried to find—

“Carter!” She jerked hard on Zane’s arm, stopping him from pulling her.

“He’s dead, Eve.”

“No!” Eve struggled against his grip.

Zane’s dirt-streaked face appeared right in front of hers, his eyes wide and intense, and she registered his strong arms gripping her upper arms. “He’s dead. They both are. And we will be too if we don’t get the fuck out of here now.”

Dead. They . . .
Oh shit.
Natalie. Carter. Both of them.

Zane yanked her forward. Her muscles reacted even if her mind was having trouble keeping up. Gripping the gun tightly in her other hand, she ran with him through the trees, away from the carnage. Her stomach rolled. Sickness threatened, but she fought it back. Just like every other time an op had gone wrong and someone had died.

But this was Carter . . .

Don’t think about him. Don’t think about them.

They stumbled onto a golf course. Zane didn’t let up on his hold. He tugged her into the trees, around shrubs and rocks and saplings, not giving her a moment to rest. Not giving her time to think. Only time to feel.

Dead.

No . . .
Not both of them. Not because of her.

They reached another parking lot, this one for the golf course. Sweating and out of breath, Zane finally released his grip long enough so Eve could double over and suck in air. Her stomach rolled all over again. And then the burn started low and bubbled up.

She stumbled for a bush and retched what was in her stomach. Pain consumed every part of her. Dead. Both of them. All because of her.

“Come on. I got a car.”

She registered Zane’s voice. Not the words or the tone. Just that it was familiar. He tugged on her arm. “This way.”

Wiping her mouth on her sleeve, she stumbled after him toward a Honda. A back window was broken in. He popped the passenger door and helped her in. Tossing the pack in the backseat, he moved to the driver’s seat, pulled the panel off the area below the steering wheel, and yanked out a handful of wires.

She wanted to ask him where he’d learned to hot-wire a car but couldn’t find her voice. Her throat burned. Her stomach ached. And when she thought about Carter and Natalie . . .

“I’m going to be sick.”

Zane shoved her head between her knees. “Breathe.”

Seconds later the ignition started. Zane leaned back in his seat. “Hold on.”

Time rushed by with the scenery. Eve didn’t know how long they drove or in what direction. She heard Zane on his cell phone but didn’t know who he was talking to. Couldn’t seem to focus on any one thing. All she could see was Natalie hefted over Carter’s shoulder, Carter running the wrong way, and then the world burning in a fireball like the one in Seattle. Closing her eyes, she tipped her head against the window and tried not to get sick all over again.

She awoke sometime later. The car had stopped. It was raining. It was always raining somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Cool air washed over her when the driver’s door opened and closed. “I changed the plates,” Zane said, settling behind the wheel. Water droplets stuck in his hair and on his shoulders and arms. “And I don’t think anyone’s following us. At least not yet.”

Her eyes slid closed again as he pulled back onto the highway. Tipping her head away from him, she focused on the hum of the windshield wipers. Back and forth. Back and forth. Her stomach hurt, and her head throbbed. She didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to feel. The hum of the wipers grew louder.

It was dusk when she felt the car stop again. Blinking several times, she looked out the windshield at the monstrous log cabin with its multitude of porches and windows and different levels in surprise. “Wh-where are we?”

“Safe house.” Zane popped the door and stepped out into the rain. “Come on.”

In a daze, she climbed out of the car and moved for the front porch. Rain ran down her cheeks and beaded on her clothes, but she barely felt it. She climbed up the steps and moved onto the porch after him, waiting while he checked the pots along the side of the house for what she suspected was a spare key.

He disappeared around the corner of the house, and Eve slowly turned to look around. Tall pine and Douglas fir trees rose toward the dark sky. They were obviously in the mountains, though at what elevation she couldn’t tell, and since she hadn’t paid attention to the direction Zane had been driving, they could be in Canada for all she knew. There were no other vehicles anywhere close. No other homes that she could see, either. Just dense forest growing darker by the minute, and ominous clouds that mirrored her mood.

Dead.

Her stomach rolled again. Pain wrapped knotted, gnarled fingers around her chest. She closed her eyes and breathed through her nose to keep from getting sick once more. Carter was dead. Because of her. Carter and Natalie. Probably Olivia too. If those were the same men who’d taken her sister, there was no hope for Olivia’s return now.

She’d dealt with death before, but this hit too close to home. This was too real. This was her fault.

Footsteps echoed close, and Eve managed to open her eyes just as Zane came around the corner. He held something shiny in his hand. “Got it.”

Seconds later they were in the house. Light pine floors ran from the massive entryway toward a two-story family room and
, beyond that, an
industrial-sized kitchen. A curved staircase rose to the second floor. Wide windows covered the entire back wall of the great room, looking out over the enormous back deck, the grass, and the pristine blue lake.

He closed and locked the door behind him, then grasped her hand. “Come on.”

He led her into the great room. Plush furnishings surrounded a huge rock fireplace that ran to the ceiling. An elaborate mantle stretched from one side to the other. Above, an enormous flat-screen TV was mounted to the wall. Past the kitchen on the right, a large round mahogany table sat in a bay of towering windows, looking out toward the lake. He pulled out one of the ten chairs around it and pushed her to sit. Then grabbed the arm of her left sleeve and pulled.

Fabric ripped. Startled by the sound, Eve looked down where he was kneeling next to her. “What are you doing?”

“You’re hit. Hold still while I see how bad it is.”

The white sleeve was stained with soot and blood and dirt. She stared at the jagged wound across her biceps, swollen and red, not even feeling it.

“It’s just a scratch.” He pushed to his feet and disappeared. “Stay here.”

She looked around the room, feeling numb inside. She should get up. She should be trying to find her sister. She should be tracking those men who’d blown up that park and killed her friends. But she didn’t have the energy. Didn’t have the drive. Didn’t have . . . anything anymore.

Dead.

Zane knelt next to her again. “This might sting.”

Something cool brushed her arm, but she barely registered the sensation. He cleaned and bandaged the wound, then pushed to his feet. Seconds passed before he said, “I need to move the car. You gonna be okay for a few minutes?”

Was she okay? She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything. She didn’t answer.

Footsteps echoed across the floor. Then the door opened and closed. Minutes later he was back, shaking the rain from his hair and locking the door once more. When he moved back into the room, she heard him mutter, “God, you’re a mess,” but she didn’t have the energy to fight with him or even look his way.

“Whose house is this?”

He moved into the kitchen and flipped on a light. “A high-profile client. It’s a vacation home in the Cascades. No one will find us. We’re safe for the time being.”

For the time being
. That didn’t do much to bolster Eve’s mood. She turned and looked out at the water. “I thought you weren’t speaking to your boss at Aegis.”

“I am now.”

He didn’t elaborate, and Eve couldn’t help but wonder what else had happened in the hours she’d been out of it, but she still didn’t have the desire to ask.

“Is there”—she swallowed the lump in her throat—“any news about Olivia?”

“No, none. I’m sorry.”

None. She didn’t expect there to be. Olivia was dead. Just like Natalie. Just like Carter. Just like that child in the street in Seattle.

All because of her.

She closed her eyes again. Focused on the sounds. The fridge opening. A cupboard door slapping shut. A pan landing on a burner. Familiar, normal sounds.

Just don’t think. Just don’t feel.

A click echoed in front of her, and she opened her eyes to see a plate of scrambled eggs on the table.

“Eat,” Zane said.

She didn’t feel like eating. And just the sight of food made her stomach roll. He went back into the kitchen and returned with his own plate and two glasses of water.

Water. Water she could manage. She picked up the glass and downed the entire thing.

“There’s something you need to know.” He waited until she put the glass down before going on. “Jake Ryder, the CEO of Aegis Security, and ADD Roberts went to school together. I don’t know all the details, but they don’t get along. Aegis was passed over on the defense contract for the Guatemala mission. Ryder got pissed and told the government they could go fuck themselves. He makes enough money off private security where he doesn’t need the State Department’s kickback. But it was a big deal at the time. And then, surprisingly, a few weeks later, Aegis was awarded the contract.”

Slowly, Eve turned to look his way. And a tiny part of her brain kicked into gear. “You’re telling me the assistant deputy director at the CIA is the one who set Aegis up to take the fall for Humbolt’s death.”

“That’s the way it’s looking.”

“And by that theory, ADD Roberts is the one after Humbolt’s formula.”

“Yes.”

“My boss.”

“Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed. “In counterintelligence.”

Zane exhaled a breath and rested his forearm on the table. “Think about it. If he really did set Aegis up because of some vendetta against Ryder, and he sent you in to get the drop from Smith, then his hands are all over a lot of sticky shit.”

Eve considered for a moment. She worked for the world’s greatest spy agency. She knew there were double agents in the organization. Knew there were compromised agents. Hell, her job was to find them. And though there were a variety of reasons a person could turn, usually they were focused around money, ideology, coercion, or ego. ADD Roberts was, as Carter had pointed out, a mover within the Agency. Eve couldn’t see any of the above four reasons compromising his chance at one day being director of the CIA.

“How did you know the op in Guatemala was compromised?” Zane asked.

Eve’s brain was suddenly spinning way too fast. She pushed her untouched eggs away, rested her elbow on the table, and rubbed her throbbing head. “I got a call from Langley. A researcher who’d originally helped me pull info on both you and Carter before I went to Beirut.”

“And he or she said what?”

She rubbed harder. “That word of the raid had leaked, and that the op was compromised.”

“But no info about how or where it was leaked?”

“No.”

Zane was quiet for a second and then said, “Ryder’s on his way here. He’s digging up info on Roberts so we can figure out how to play this.”

She dropped her hand, and her gaze snapped his direction. “Here?”

He pushed back from the table and took his plate into the kitchen. “I figure it’s time we brought in some help on this.”

Eve’s stomach rolled all over again. Did they need help? She wasn’t so sure. The only out she could see at this point was total surrender. “Carter was right. I need to call Langley and turn myself in.”

Zane’s plate clattered in the sink.
“What?”

“You’ll have to turn yourself in too, but they’re not going to find any involvement in all of this on your part. You’ll be released in a couple of days.”

“Fuck that. They shot at me, Eve. At you too. They almost killed us, more than once. And one of them has a Chechen terrorist cell behind them. You think you’re safe at Langley? You’re not safe there. You’re not safe anywhere. Look at Carter. You’re not safe until we figure out who’s really behind this shit once and for all. You go there, and you’re dead.”

Dead.

Like Carter.

Like Natalie.

Like Olivia.

All because of me.

Eve closed her eyes, and a wave of nausea rolled through her belly.

Footsteps echoed across the floor. Then her chair jolted, and the legs scraped against the floor. “Open your eyes, dammit.”