Dangerous Connections (Aegis Group Book 9)

by Sidney Bristol

  They had an agenda to push. If she believed the dreck on their national news, Dauria was one of the last bastions of morality in the world.

  Yeah fucking right.

  She tightened her hands into fists, eyes tracking the UN team she’d come to know personally over the last few days. Two were chatting with one of the guards while the others took pictures, likely a selfie and said goodbye to their last unfettered access to the outside world. From here on out they were on the Daurian networks, and those were all monitored and locked down.

  The crowd seemed to breathe a collective breath as the UN people were loaded into a sleek black caravan of cars and headed toward the trees into the country while their luggage was put onto a waiting truck.

  She followed the road with her eyes, tracking it back over a hill where everything was obscured by the hills and trees. No sooner had the cars disappeared from view than a line of five trucks lumbered into view.

  It was time.

  She swallowed and shoved her hands into her pockets.

  If she’d played her cards right, no one had any idea what was really going on. Being in front of the cameras was all about insuring she lived but also distracting any DSS agents watching the crew. The only hiccup in her plan was last night.

  She still didn’t know who’d died in the park. It was too risky to reach out to her contacts. If that death was at all connected to her, today could still end in disaster.

  “Well, that’s that,” one of the camera crew said.

  “We better get this broken down,” another replied.

  “Yeah. Can you believe all this work for sixty seconds of footage?”

  “Crazy, man.”

  “I’m going to get some B roll.”

  Ekko studied each of the trucks in turn.

  Which would it be?

  They hadn’t discussed a signal. Truth was, any indication a truck or delivery was different could ruin everything.

  She was only vaguely aware of the crowds and crews moving around her. Even Silas standing there watching her barely registered and she’d been painfully aware of him since the moment they met.

  One after another the trucks were cleared. It was a fast process. As she understood it, the scrutiny had already happened at the loading site. The check at the border was simply to ensure nothing had been tampered with in the short distance to the border.

  The fifth and last truck was cleared on the Dauria side of the bridge.

  The first truck was less than ten yards from the Mongolian border.

  Ekko bit her lip and held her breath.

  Was this going to work?

  She’d believed it would, but she’d also known how easily things could end in disaster.

  Come on...

  “What are you watching?” Silas pitched his voice low for her ears alone.

  The arm barring the road on this side of the border rose, and the Mongolian border guard waved the trucks toward a turn out where their documents would be given a quick glance before sending them on their way. They weren’t really doing anything on this side, but a show had to be made.

  A Daurain military truck burst out from the trees, careening wildly around a bend in the road.

  The guards on the Daurian side of the border spilled out of the little house. They took one look at the truck then spun toward the bridge. An appearance like that could only mean one thing.

  Disaster.

  They didn’t need to know what had gone wrong, only that something was amiss.

  “No,” Ekko whispered. She had to do something. She couldn’t just stand here. She reached out and grabbed blindly at the camera man. “Get this. Film this!”

  She could not let things end this way. Not when they were so close.

  The only reason Dauria got away with things was because no one saw what they were doing. The government had a steel grip on its people. But this was happening in full view of the world.

  Ekko sprinted forward. She yanked her phone out of her pocket and somehow managed to hit the right buttons as she ran, activating her camera and sending everything to her online channel. In seconds thousands of people would get the notification that she was live. And given what today was, she expected a lot of viewers.

  Down on the bridge things were still in motion.

  The truck in the lead sat blocking the lane off the bridge.

  The other four trucks were slowing.

  The driver of the third truck leaned out of his window and looked back at the Daurian side of the bridge. The Daurian guards were advancing toward the trucks, guns up. She could hear them yelling from here.

  “We have a situation here.” Ekko held her phone up. “Something is happening.”

  Shit. She knew what was going on.

  The third truck’s driver cranked his wheel and the truck swung out of line.

  That had to be the truck. Any driver willing to do this job would also have to face the reality that if caught they had to run, too.

  The truck’s engine revved and the tires squealed.

  The second truck lurched forward, directly into the truck’s path.

  Oppression wasn’t just from the government. It was ingrained in other people.

  The third truck rammed into the side of the second.

  That was when two barrels tumbled out of the runaway truck, followed by a man in a long, dark coat.

  “No. No,” Ekko chanted as she ran. She was almost at the guard shack now.

  The Mongolian guards were yelling at the first truck, ordering it out of the way, but the driver remained there blocking the path.

  Four Daurian border guards advanced, yelling and waving, guns up and no doubt aimed at any moving thing they could see.

  Ekko did the only thing she could do.

  She stopped there in the middle of the road with her phone out capturing the moment as best she could. If she set foot on that bridge they might very well kill her for the things she’d said and done. Her presence on this team alone was likely a death sentence.

  “Someone’s trying to escape. We’re seeing it now,” she said and aimed the camera at the man running.

  They were close enough now she could see his face. There was silver in his hair. It looked so out of place. His coat was the same, old worn woolen one though and he ran clutching a leather satchel to his chest.

  “Get back.” One of the Mongolian guards threw his hand in front of her.

  “Ekko,” Silas snapped. He hadn’t left her side, but he also didn’t know. Couldn’t. “Get down.”

  “No.” She pushed him away. She had to get this on camera.

  If they failed, this video would have to be enough.

  The military truck raced to the midpoint of the bridge marking the official divide. Men spilled out joining the others and in the confusion someone fired a gun.

  Silas wrapped an arm around her waist, stepping between her and the danger, using used his body to shield her.

  “Stop. No!” She shoved at him.

  The first Daurian guard crossed the border line.

  They had to know what she’d done. What she’d organized.

  This was worth her life.

  Ekko twisted out of Silas’ hold and ducked around the Mongolian guard. She sprinted out onto the bridge, nearly colliding with the fleeing man. He gripped her arm and slowed.

  “Go. Keep going,” she shouted and pushed him all the while aiming her phone at the advancing men. “Someone, a man, has just fled Dauria in full view of the news crews.”

  A hand grabbed her by the arm, yanking her back. She let it happen this time and found herself tucked close to Silas’ side as he growled words she couldn’t hear.

  Two more shots were fired behind them.

  She flinched.

  What about the driver? What had happened to him?

  She knew. He’d be executed. It had been his choice to aid them. He’d known the risks.

  She said a silent prayer for him and his family, but that was all she could spare him righ
t now.

  Camera men and people wearing yellow masks surged toward her. People yelled, calling out questions.

  Ekko turned, searching for the man.

  There.

  The Mongolian guards were clustered around the man, most of their focus still on the bridge. The Daurian guards were edging closer, their words sharp and deadly. Only the most zealous were given border duty. These were not men to trust.

  Ekko turned the camera around to face her. It was clear that her camera shield was at the end of her life. If those men fired, they weren’t going to care about cameras. “You’ve just seen it here. A man fleeing Dauria as the UN sends a team to tour the country. These people just tried to shoot and kill the man. Is that the kind of thing that’s acceptable now? Do your part. Be heard. Don’t let this become the new normal.”

  She ended the stream. It wasn’t what she wanted to say, but it was what she could say. For now. Eventually everything would come out.

  Silas gripped her by both shoulders, watching over the bridge at the men in fatigues now milling around the trucks. Four of them stood in a line staring past them at the cluster of Mongolian soldiers. Silas walked her back into the shelter of the guard shack. He looked at her, dark eyes blazing.

  “What the hell?” he snarled.

  She swallowed though in the moment she wanted to cower. That was one scary glare he had there.

  “Ekko? Ekko,” a familiar voice called out.

  God, she hadn’t heard his actual voice in years.

  “I’m right here.” She pulled away from Silas and reached into her back pocket, pulling out the passport.

  She ignored the tense Mongolian soldiers and thrust the forged Daurian passport at the man with salt and pepper hair.

  He still looked like a frazzled university professor. He was there. All their plans were becoming reality.

  The Mongolian guard took the passport and glanced from her to the man and back again.

  “Chayan Harnut?” The man read from the passport.

  Chayan jerked his head in a nod and spoke in Mongolian. “That’s me.”

  “Sir?” The youngest guard edged closer. “It’s best if you leave.”

  The other guards glared at the young man.

  “What?” the young man snapped and glared at the others. “He’s here now. You know what will happen if he goes back.”

  The older soldiers grimaced.

  “He is leaving. We’re leaving now.” Ekko grabbed Chayan by the arm. “Passport, please?”

  “The driver...” Chayan mumbled.

  That couldn’t be their problem right now. If one of those shots earlier hadn’t been for the driver, one would be soon.

  The guard in charge grimaced and handed her the passport booklet. He stared into her eyes a moment. “Good luck and God speed.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  This was only the beginning. It was a big step, but it was still only one step.

  The pair of camera men from earlier jogged forward. The red lights flashed, indicating they were filming right now.

  Someone yelled, their words harsh, from just out of sight on the other side of the truck. Chayan and Ekko both flinched. She recovered first, keeping her head up.

  “Sir? Sir, over here,” one shouted.

  “Keep walking,” Ekko said to Chayan in their native language.

  Chayan stared down at her. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

  “We did it.” She squeezed his arm.

  “You look so much like your brother,” he said softly.

  A lump formed in her throat.

  Her brother was the reason they were here. If he’d never gone back to Dauria, Chayan’s son might still be alive. And they sure as hell wouldn’t be walking away from an execution squad held back by only a few cameras and conflicted guards.

  Now all they could do was honor those who’d died and survive what came next.

  WHAT THE FUCK?

  Silas kept close to Ekko’s back watching over his shoulder. He had a hand on his weapon ready to draw it if need be.

  In the span of five minutes everything had gone to hell. That sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that another shoe was going to drop hadn’t expected this.

  This wasn’t a shoe dropping. It was a hundred pound weight, crushing everything under it.

  “We need to move faster,” he said. “Those border guards aren’t carrying anything more than a nine mil and the Daurians are packing real fire power.”

  More yelling had Silas glancing back.

  All of the Mongolian guards were now out of sight, likely on the bridge.

  Then there was everyone else.

  The camera crews had reacted first. Now, cameras were aimed at them, catching whatever this was on film. A few were keeping pace with Silas’ group. For the first time since he’d seen Ekko, she wasn’t paying the cameras any attention. She stared straight ahead and walked as fast as the man at her side could.

  The protesters were just figuring it all out. Some were coming out from behind cars or wherever they’d taken cover when the shots were fired. When they got wind of what had happened Silas worried about the next move.

  He took a quick step and came alongside the man.

  “Give me your arm. Here.” He pried the man’s arm up from his side and put it over his shoulders. “Come on. We have to get out of here. Now.”

  “Don’t run,” Ekko snapped.

  “Ekko,” Silas growled.

  Her eyes today were a brilliant, unnatural blue. “You don’t run. You can’t. It makes us look guilty.”

  “Aren’t you though?” He stared across at her.

  Last night in the park had been about her. That dead guy was connected to this.. He knew it.

  Why did he have the sinking sensation he’d been played?

  The stern faced man from the UN organizing the trip jogged toward them. He was one of two who would wait for the team to return and serve as a liaison. “Ms. Kaur? Ms. Kaur, what is going on?”

  “Don’t say anything,” Ekko ordered them in a whisper.

  “Fucking hell,” Silas muttered to himself.

  A camera crew planted themselves right in front of them with the other UN staffer right behind them.

  There was more harsh yelling from the bridge.

  Silas glanced back and saw three of the Daurian guards at the very edge of the bridge gesturing at them. One was peering through a scope.

  How fast would it take for things to go even more wrong if one of those guys decided to fire?

  They were sitting ducks.

  “Ekko, did you just help this man escape?” one of the camera men called out.

  Silas could feel the impending danger. This situation was a powder keg. There were too many people. Too many variables.

  They had to get out now.

  “Move.” He threw out his right arm, batting one camera away then shoved through the people.

  The man Ekko had called Chayan kept a tight grip on Silas’ shoulder. The press of people forced them into a single file line behind Silas.

  “Move. Out of the way.” He kept pushing through the throng of people calling out questions.

  The van was just ahead of them.

  There were people wearing the yellow protest masks around them now. They didn’t get in front of Silas, but they stretched out hands and touched his shoulders and arms almost reverently.

  Ekko had planned this. Silas didn’t know what this was beyond getting this man out of Dauria, but this was her goal all along.

  Why hadn’t she told him? Didn’t she know what he did? How he could have helped?

  They reached the van, the side doors still open.

  Silas turned, grabbed the man and pushed him into the van.

  Ekko didn’t meet his gaze, but she slipped in, too.

  “Get back.” Silas batted hands away as he grabbed the doors and swung them closed.

  People pressed their bodies to the side of the van, slapping th
eir hands on the glass and chanting something. Were they wishing the man well or hoping he got caught?

  He opened the driver’s door and found their UN driver blinking sleepily at him.

  “Out,” Silas barked.

  He didn’t want to be responsible for this man’s safety. Besides, it would be easier to get three people out of the country than four.

  His job had just changed in a big way.

  The driver just kept blinking at him.

  Silas grabbed the man’s arm and hauled him out.

  As Silas climbed into the driver’s seat he said over his shoulder, “Go find your boss.”

  The keys were still dangling in the ignition.

  He cranked the engine and checked his mirrors.

  There was no way he could swing left. He’d have to go right and make a turn in the grass.

  Hopefully it wasn’t wet. They’d never get out of here if there was mud.

  Silas eased the van forward then turned the wheel. Those few people in front skittered back, clearing the way. He nodded his thanks then hit the accelerator harder. The van shot forward, finding traction in the dirt and grass and turned. They bumped and jostled over the uneven ground but he got them pointed toward the interior of Mongolia.

  “What the fuck?” Ekko called out as they hit a dip.

  Silas grit his teeth.

  He was going to get some damn answers.

  But first they had to get somewhere safe, if safe existed this close to Dauria.

  He glanced in the mirrors, but no one else was giving chase. Yet.

  So far they had the element of surprise on their side. Once the Daurians and Mongolians coordinated he was fairly certain a manhunt would begin. He was even more certain that Ekko had no idea what she was doing.

  They bounced along the road until he could steer them back onto the asphalt. Once the tires were on hard ground, he pushed the van as fast as he dared on the two lane, winding road.

  The more distance they had from the border the better.

  Silas adjusted the mirror so he could see Ekko and Chayan. The two had their heads together and spoke softly.