Authors: Riley Barton
“Right, the orders … The orders said that he would already
be
here by the time we brought her in. It’s been more than an hour and he still hasn’t shown up. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting awfully tired of sitting around waiting for Mr. Edgard to show. I mean, why can’t we just get on with it already?”
Suddenly, her ears detected another sound—the sound of a car pulling up just outside her prison’s walls. She listened, her whole body trembling with dread as one of the agents she’d been eavesdropping on walked across the floor and greeted her employer.
She heard Edgard say, “So let’s get down to business. Where’s Miss McKelly?”
“She’s tied up in the back.”
“Good. I take it you searched her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And did you find anything?”
“Yes, sir. Everything we found is over there on the table.”
“Excellent. Has she said anything, yet?”
“I don’t believe so, sir. As far as we know, she’s still out cold.”
“Okay, let’s go see how our guest is doing.”
Luna panicked as the sound of their footsteps drew closer. She drew back into the corner as Edgard opened the door.
This is it. I’m going to die, s
he thought, staring with terror at the looming figures walking steadily toward her, fully expecting to feel a bullet tearing through her chest at any moment.
But instead of shooting her, Edgard knelt beside her and began to gently wipe her swollen face with one of his monogrammed handkerchiefs. “Well Miss McKelly, it looks like you’ve gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble this time.” He spoke in a carefully friendly tone. “I sure hope these men didn’t hurt you too badly.”
Luna flinched, and despite her best efforts, she began to cry uncontrollably.
“What do you want, Saul?” she managed to squeak between sobs. “What’s with the whole nice-guy act? Why don’t you just kill me now and get it over with?”
“What do you mean? I don’t want to kill you. I just want to talk about what you …
discovered
. I know it was an accident. It wasn’t your intention to stumble into my personal files. And I completely understand that these things happen,” he said with a wry smile. “So, I was hoping we could … come to an agreement. One that would benefit us both.”
Luna bit her lip. She knew what he wanted—He wanted to pay her off. Keep her quiet. Just as he’d done with others who were too important to kill.
“Why would you want to make a deal with me? I’m not valuable to you.”
Edgard continued to smile. “It has nothing to do with that, Luna. You see, despite what you may think, I’m not in the habit of killing anyone, particularly women. I’ve found that it’s much easier to—how do I say this? —provide them with all the disposable income they could ever want or need.”
“I can’t believe you think I would just sell out like that!” Luna spat, as indignation began fighting past her fear.
“Now, Luna. Don’t be a fool,” Edgard replied, gripping her tightly by the arm. “Don’t you see what I’m offering you? You could be rich! Richer than God! All you need to do is name your price and keep your mouth shut!”
“Keep my mouth shut, or what? You’ll kill me, like you did Jack Anderson?”
Edgard’s smile vanished. “So … you saw
that
tape. I really wish you hadn’t told me that.”
“Yeah, I saw
that tape.
Do you honestly think killing me will keep people from realizing the truth? One of these days they’ll figure it out, and then everyone in the world will know what you’ve done!”
Before she could say anything more, Edgard’s hands had closed around her neck like a vice. “You still don’t get it, do you? Jack Anderson was a
fool
who couldn’t see the true potential of the company he created.
He
was unwilling to do what had to be done. But I am not! And I will
not
allow people like you to stand in the way of progress!”
Luna kicked feebly, fighting for breath as her vision blurred. But just as the darkness began to close in, he released his murderous grip.
Coughing violently, Luna toppled over onto her side and breathed in huge lungfuls of oxygen as Edgard rose and turned to the agents standing in and around the doorway.
“Take Miss McKelly into the swamp and dispose of her. She’s too much of a threat to be left alive.”
A moment later, he was gone. Two years of working for him. Two years of
idolizing
him … and he left her to die without even looking back.
For the next thirty minutes, all Luna could do was wait while the agents changed into their armored environmental suits. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. Just because her chances of survival were practically nonexistent didn’t mean that she couldn’t try. Already her mind began to work at a plan. It was a long shot at best, and it definitely wasn’t foolproof. But even a long shot was better than the alternative.
Before long two of the armor-clad men walked into the room, picked her up between the two of them and carried her outside.
She squinted against the wind-blown rain as her kidnappers carried her down a steep, muddy embankment to where a small boat waited, barely visible in the stormy night.
“Here, take her!” the man on her left shouted to the agents crewing the small launch. Several of the men grabbed hold of her then promptly deposited her on the boat’s pitching deck before helping the other two agents crawl aboard.
They left her where she lay, so that she was forced to endure the nauseating voyage
without a clear view of anything except the underside of one of the agents’ seats. However, this was exactly the sort of thing she had been waiting for.
From her vantage point, she could clearly see the bolts running down the entire length of the boat—including the ones on the patch of hull directly behind her head. Slowly, she repositioned herself so that her back was against the hull and felt around for the bolt. Then she began carefully running the plastic zip tie over the rough edges.
The boat lurched and bounced over the waves, bashing her body against the hull. Minutes turned into hours as the boat traveled farther and farther from New Denver.
The storm was on top of them now, and the boat began to pitch even more violently, forcing the agents to hold on tightly to avoid being thrown overboard. Which meant that none of them noticed when the plastic tie finally snapped.
Before any of the men had time to react, she jumped up and threw herself into the choppy water. Immediately she began to flounder, coughing as the gray-green swamp muck splashed into her mouth and eyes. Behind her she could hear the agents shouting and firing their weapons.
A bullet hit the water near her shoulder, sending up a fountain of spray, and she dove, hoping that the rain and water would shield her from view long enough for her to get out of range.
She continued swimming underwater for as long as she could, then she made for the surface and filled her lungs with the musty swamp air. The rain was coming down in torrents, forming a protective curtain around her. She smiled—surprised that her plan had worked—and made for shore.
In the distance she could hear the sound of the boat’s engine circling just out of view. They were searching for her.
She held her breath and waited as the boat drew closer then slowly began to move off. A few minutes later it faded all together.
She had escaped certain death, true. But now she was faced with the reality that she was stranded alone in the swamp with no way to call for help. Now she was likely doomed to a slow lingering death—
either by the Blister Wart disease slowly consuming her body, or by the teeth and claws of a massive predator.
Slowly she struggled through the mud toward the remains of a nearby cottonwood. Shivering with cold, Luna sat down beneath the tree’s slimy, rotten boughs. No longer able to contain the emotions building up inside her, she pulled her quivering knees up to her chin and began to sob.
Chapter 25
Edgard’s fingers flew across his keyboard as he entered the kill codes for Luna’s all-purpose device. He quickly entered the last four digits of the self-destruct algorithms and pressed
enter
, watching closely as the headset’s blue status light slowly dimmed, flickered, and died.
Smiling he tossed the tiny device to the agent standing beside him.
“Here, Manning. Get rid of this; make sure no one
ever
finds it.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it personally.”
Edgard nodded, “I take it you’ll do better than you did when you
saw to it personally
that Miss McKelly was ‘taken care of’?”
Manning’s eyebrow twitched. “Sir, I assure you my men did all they could.”
“If they’d done all they could, they would have put a bullet in her head,” Edgard sighed.
“Don’t worry, sir. In her present condition, I doubt she’ll last more than a few days. The swamps are dangerous. They’re no place for a civilian—let alone a sick one. She’ll probably be dead by morning.”
“I hope so,” Edgard replied, “because, as of tomorrow, Miss McKelly’s
abduction
will be all over the headlines. And it would be very … inconvenient if she showed up
alive
after she’s been declared dead.”
“If she does show up again, my men will take care of her. Don’t worry.”
“Excellent,” Edgard said, leaning back in his chair. “Well, I guess that means there’s only one thing left to do.”
“You want me to notify her next of kin, sir?”
Edgard nodded. “Make sure you’re convincing, and do it tomorrow afternoon—right after the media frenzy starts.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll see to it immediately.” Manning saluted and walked through the office door into the dark hallway beyond.
Edgard watched the door slide shut then smiled and folded his hands behind his head. Despite this little hiccup, everything was going to turn out exactly as he’d hoped.
Chapter 26
Luna shivered and pulled the tattered remains of her shirt around her drenched shoulders, straining her eyes as she tried to see through the downpour.
If it hadn’t been for her curiosity, she would be back in her apartment, sleeping the night away in the warm comfort of her own bed. Instead she was trudging through knee-deep swamp muck in the middle of a torrential storm.
She grimaced and struggled to pull her foot free of the thick mud that enveloped her numb toes. The swamp had already claimed both of her shoes and her socks.
She struggled for a few moments to work herself free, took another labored step, and stopped to catch her breath, wishing desperately that the agents hadn’t confiscated her inhaler when they’d searched her.
She was cold, wet, and tired and would have liked nothing more than to sit down and rest her eyes for a few minutes. But she knew that if she did, she probably would never get up again. Either she would sink into the mud and drown in her sleep, or she would become prey to one of the hundreds of predators she knew were lurking just out of sight.
Initially she had been so disoriented that she
had
rested underneath what was left of an old cottonwood tree. But that had been before her mind had cleared enough for her to realize just how stupid it was for her to be anywhere
near
a tree during a lightning storm. At which point she had decided that she would try to make her way back to civilization on foot.
She exhaled in frustration and ran a grimy hand through the tangled mess of wet, stringy hair that strayed into her eyes and mouth; wincing as her hand made contact with her injured cheek.
It’ll be a miracle if I don’t get an infection from being out here,
Luna thought grimly. But at least she hadn’t vomited again—not that she could. Her stomach was far too empty.
That was another thing that could possibly kill her—starvation. With all the rainwater, there wasn’t really any risk of dehydration. But unless she could find some edible plants, or hunt and kill something with her bare hands—and then eat them raw—she would undoubtedly succumb to her hunger long before she got anywhere near New Denver.
For every hour of strenuous work she put into pulling her feet out of the mud, she was only making about a half-mile of progress. The statistics were definitely
not
in her favor.
She bit her lip and took another staggering step forward. As much as she hated the ideas of starving or being eaten, she knew that it was a far worse fate that awaited her: death by Blister Wart fungus.
She coughed and pressed a trembling hand to her chest, wheezing painfully as her lungs strained to fill with the dank air.
How long had it been since her last treatment? Two days? Three? Maybe four? It was hard for her to tell exactly how much time had passed since she’d entered the swamp. But she knew she was running out of time.
“Okay, Luna … come on. You’ve got to keep moving,” she wheezed, pulling her tired feet out of the muck. But before she could take another step, her foot caught on something hidden beneath the mud, and she uttered a strangled yelp of surprise before she toppled headlong over a steep embankment into the marsh below.
If the fall hadn’t winded her, Luna would have probably begun to sob. Instead she wrapped her bruised arms around her aching stomach and curled into a tiny, miserable ball as her quivering body struggled to breathe.
Why couldn’t I just leave well enough alone?
She thought helplessly, succumbing at last to exhaustion and to the swamp. She could feel her body slowly being dragged down into the foul-smelling slime.
A bolt of lightning flashed overhead, and for a spilt second she thought she saw someone illuminated in the pale, white light standing in front of her. Then everything went dark, and she felt her head sink beneath the mud.
She began to struggle,, trying to pull herself back out. But it was no use. Her arms and legs were sunk too deeply into the thick, immobilizing muck. She could feel the cold mud bubbling into her nose and ears.
Her lungs burned, screaming for air.
I’m suffocating! No. Please, someone, help me!
Frantically, she tried to kick and squirm, but her efforts only caused her to sink deeper. She was holding her breath, but she knew that eventually her body would force her to breathe in the cold, wet mud.