The Terrorist (Lens Book 3)

by J B Cantwell

  But I didn’t fire. Not this time. It was Angela’s finger on the trigger, not mine.

  She wasn’t ready for me. I was still so weak, or so it seemed. I tightened my grip on the gun and wrenched it away from her hands, pretending I was resolved now to commit the murder she was insisting on.

  I fired, not at Kiyah’s head, but just over the top of it, just close enough to make Angela believe I had done the deed.

  Then I fell to the floor, surely a sign of weakness in Angela’s eyes. The boss.

  So she didn’t expect it when I flipped around just at the right moment and fired, putting a bullet through her skull.

  Chapter Three

  “The next time I see you, I’m going to kill you.”

  Hannah stood in the doorway, arms up above her head.

  “Come closer,” I said softly, stepping back further into the room.

  She crossed the threshold.

  “Now, close the door.”

  She closed it.

  Kiyah lay dead on her chair behind me, succumbing to her injuries, finally letting go.

  But I wouldn’t let go, not ever.

  “Do you understand? I don’t care if I have to kill myself at the same time, as long as I get to take you with me.”

  “We want the same things,” Hannah said, her voice pleading. Her eyes flickered down at Angela, who lay on the floor, her head split open. “You know we do.”

  “That’s a lie, and I’m tired of listening to you.”

  I advanced on her, cocking the gun and putting the barrel up against her forehead.

  “Do you have anything else to say to me?” I asked.

  Her eyes were wide with fear, or was it something else I saw there?

  “I’ll tell you where he is,” she offered. “He’s not dead.”

  “I know that already.”

  “But you don’t know where to find him, do you? You let me live, and I’ll take you to him, myself.”

  “No, thanks.”

  “You need me. You’ll never make it out of here alive. You know that.”

  As if she had the power to break me out. She was nothing more than a lackey.

  “Take me with you,” she pleaded. “I can go be a Volunteer. You know I’d be useful. Whatever you want.”

  “Go over there and sit down.”

  I motioned to the chair next to Kiyah. Hannah looked over at her, then shook her head.

  “Oh, come on now. I’m not going to hurt you. Not yet. Just go sit over there like a good girl and we can have a talk.”

  I wondered what a desperate Hannah looked like. I would need to be careful. She was one of the scrappiest people I’d ever met.

  She sat down at the table, eyeballing Kiyah’s dead body next to hers, then staring at Angela’s grotesquely altered head on the floor. For all she knew, I’d killed them both.

  Luckily, the silencer on the gun had done its job, and only Hannah had heard it from right outside the door. The guard at the stairway hadn’t heard a thing, and she’d opened the door without alerting him.

  Big mistake.

  “Okay. Tell me what you know.”

  Hannah’s eyes shifted back and forth, and I could tell she was trying to think up a lie to tell me.

  I pointed the gun at her right hand. She looked up at me, confused, then hugged her hand to her chest. I aimed at it.

  “If you want, I can shoot it right there, right over your heart where you’re holding it.”

  She dropped her hands into her lap, but I kept my aim steady at her chest.

  “So … where is he?”

  She looked down at her hands.

  I stood up and held the gun just under her chin, lifting up her head until our eyes met.

  “That’s right,” I said. “Look at me now. Where is he?”

  I still had the gun under her chin, and I held it firmly in case she tried to grab for it.

  “He’s being held,” she began.

  “That’s a lie.”

  “No, it’s not. I swear—”

  “Let’s see that hand again,” I suggested.

  She sat still as stone.

  “A shoulder will do, of course.”

  I altered my aim.

  I was lucky; the man out in the hall would be expecting to hear screaming coming from this room. For all he knew, Angela was still alive and toying with her prizes.

  I fired the gun, playing the same trick on her that I’d used on Angela, aiming just above her shoulder without hitting it.

  She jumped in her chair as the bullet ricocheted around the room.

  “What do you say?” I asked. “What will it be?”

  She let her chin fall, and some tears fell along with it.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know where he is.”

  “No, of course you don’t. But what I want to hear is what you do know.”

  “Only what Kiyah told me. That he’d escaped and joined the other Volunteers. That he’s waiting for you.”

  “I highly doubt she told you anything about Alex.”

  “No, she really did.”

  The extent of Kiyah’s injuries made me doubt she’d given up any information whatsoever. All the doubt I had felt about her, the worry that she was playing for the other side, had been wrong. She’d proven herself in the end; she’d been on our side all along.

  It was Jonathan who was up next on my list.

  “Okay,” I said, looking around the room. “I want you to finish what I started on Kiyah’s ropes. It’s time for you to tie yourself up.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s time for me to go.”

  “But I told you, you’ll never get out. You have to take—”

  “I have to take you with me?” I asked. “I beg to differ. Now get moving on those ropes.”

  She reached down and fumbled with Kiyah’s ropes.

  “I can’t.” Her hands were shaking.

  “It’s going to get harder and harder for you with each shot I take,” I said.

  She looked up at me, and she must’ve seen the seriousness in my face, because when she bent over again, it seemed to be no problem for her to cut through the rest of the rope with the knife that was still lying on the floor. She sat back and threw the rope onto the table between us.

  “Very good,” I said. “Now tie yourself to the chair, your feet.”

  She huffed, then bent over.

  I faced a problem. I needed to tie her, but I couldn’t do it with the gun in my hand. And I refused to give up the weapon.

  I should just shoot her.

  Despite all of the kills I’d made in my life, I refused to consider myself a murderer. I couldn’t just kill her, even though I had good reason to.

  It was really too bad that she’d ended up with the Champions. She would’ve made an excellent Volunteer.

  Too late now.

  Finally, she sat up.

  “There, you happy?”

  “Not quite,” I said.

  I pointed the gun at her shoulder and fired.

  She screamed with pain, and I advanced on her.

  “I suggest you keep your voice down. Or the next one will be in your head.”

  She whimpered, suddenly so weak compared to the outer shell she showed to the rest of the world. She held her hand over the wound, pressing into it as hard as she dared. The blood slowly stained her shirt as it trickled down into the fabric.

  I scanned the room. There had to be more rope here somewhere. I doubted that they’d run out of what they used on Kiyah.

  There, on the couch was a small amount leftover.

  Hannah cried real tears of pain. It made me giddy to see it.

  She’d had it coming.

  “You’re going to regret this,” she said between sobs, her anger showing through her pain.

  I laughed.

  “Not so much. Now put your hands behind your back.”

  She glared at me and put the arm with the good
shoulder behind, but the injured one she kept where it was.

  “Both hands, please,” I said.

  I kept the gun on her as I walked around the table, coming up behind her. I put my gun in the back of my pants and grabbed her injured arm. She screamed out in pain again.

  This wasn’t going to work.

  “I warned you,” I said, standing up straight.

  I took my elbow and slammed it against the side of her head, rendering her unconscious. Then I tied the ropes around her hands and to the chair, and I headed for the window.

  I looked back at her.

  Is she faking?

  I walked back over to her, took the bloodied towel from the floor and shoved it into her mouth. Her eyes flew open as I took the last piece of rope and tied it tightly around her head, securing the huge lump of towel.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said.

  I slammed my elbow into her head again, and she slumped onto the table. I bent over, just in case she could hear me, I whispered, “Don’t forget. Next time, well, let’s just make sure there isn’t a next time.”

  I knew I only had moments, minutes at best. Hannah would come around, maybe was already yelling out to the guard at the staircase.

  I climbed out onto the fire escape, so high up over the street below.

  But there was no rope ladder here, and in broad daylight, I needed to be fast. I climbed down the steep staircases as recklessly as I dared.

  One floor. Two. Three.

  Somewhere above me, I heard gunfire.

  Four. Five. Six.

  The bullets ricocheted off the stairs, but they weren’t able to get through the several levels of fire escapes, and they harmlessly bounced off the metal above me.

  But not for long.

  Seven. And, finally, Eight.

  My feet hit the pavement and I ran for it. I didn’t know where I was, but the streets were dry.

  The Bronx.

  I zigzagged as I ran, knowing that the average marksman wouldn’t be able to hit a moving target. Then, I was around the corner, sprinting away.

  I knew they were behind me. The Champions wouldn’t leave the outside of the building unattended. I could feel them, imagine their labored breathing as they pursued me.

  I turned. Then again. Again.

  Eyes followed me, but only out of curiosity. Where was that girl with no designation running to? Or running from?

  I flew past an empty alley, nearly passed it by, when I saw a large dumpster, the lid left open. I looked around, and no one was in sight. The footsteps I’d imagined weren’t there. The firing had stopped.

  I sprinted into the alley and climbed into the dumpster, quietly pulling the plastic lid closed over me.

  I gagged at the smell, but I hadn’t eaten in days. There was nothing for me to throw up.

  So I waited, listened, dared to breathe.

  Nobody came. Nobody shot. Nobody’s boots pounded on the concrete.

  I leaned back against the metal. The dumpster had been emptied recently, but the smell was still overwhelming. If it hadn’t been life or death, I would’ve abandoned the hiding spot and looked for something else. As it was, though, I didn’t have a choice. This was Champion territory.

  I closed my eyes and tried to pretend I was somewhere else.

  He and I had been so close. He’d held me up off the pavement. I’d been weak in that moment, wanting to leave it all behind, all of my worry, all of my adrenaline, and to only exist with him, with his arms around me.

  Where was he now? Was he really with the Volunteers? Was seeing me enough to give him the fight he’d need to break out?

  I hoped for upheaval, for confusion at the loss of the Champions’ leader. Who would ascend after Angela’s body was discovered? Would they be more brutal than she was, or maybe a bit kinder?

  I doubted the latter.

  I tried to plan, to figure out what I would do next. Kiyah had said the Volunteers had moved to a different location, somewhere she and I had once been together.

  But that didn’t make any sense. I’d only ever spent time with Kiyah in Manhattan and in back alleys of Brooklyn. Neither place would be safe for a group our size to hide out.

  But maybe that wasn’t what she’d meant. Maybe I would only need to meet a contact.

  Suddenly, I was anxious to get out of the dumpster for more reasons than just the smell. I peeked out and found the alley empty, just as empty as it had been before. Did I dare?

  I remembered the bullets pinging off the fire escape. They knew I was gone. They would be fanned out now, looking for me.

  But why? For revenge? Did they even know why I’d been captured? Kiyah had said that too many people in the Volunteers had known their end game. Was it the same with the Champions? Or had the leaders succeeded in keeping their plans secret?

  Maybe Alex had told them enough. Maybe, in the confusion of leadership, the Champions were in disarray.

  If that were true, then this was my chance, and it wouldn’t last.

  I took one last look out from the cover of the dumpster, then hopped out and crouched down.

  It had been a while since I’d heard gunfire, but I took Angela’s gun out and held it, ready to shoot if I was discovered.

  It was nuts for me to be out during the day, but if I waited, if they had a chance to reconvene, it would be all over.

  I ran for it.

  If anyone saw me, if anyone called on me, I was a goner. But for now, I’d be just a flash in their eyes. A designate-free girl, armed, fast. There was no way they could know where I was going.

  Not unless it was a Champion’s eyes that tracked me as I raced by.

  Chapter Four

  Where was he?

  Did he just abandon me here, hoping I would survive?

  My stomach sank at the thought.

  Kiyah had promised him she’d get me out, but if it had really been days that we’d been imprisoned, he must be going stir crazy by now.

  I was tempted to stick close to the Champions’ headquarters, but that would be insane; they were a group of torturers, murderers, and it was only a matter of time before they found me.

  But they could find me anywhere. The Bronx. Brooklyn. Even Manhattan.

  So Brooklyn was my destination. It was the only place I might find safety. Family. Allies. And while the Champions might find me there, I stood the best chance of survival on those waterlogged streets.

  But the journey around the outskirts of the city was leagues more dangerous than my nighttime journey into The Bronx. I spent the entire day dodging behind buildings, hiding inside old train cars, under the beams of seldom-used bridges. The trip took me eight hours, and the sun was setting by the time I set foot in my old neighborhood.

  Kiyah’s cryptic clue was that someone was waiting for me somewhere that Kiyah and I had once met. Alex? There were only three options: my mother’s apartment, the alley behind the grocery station, and the school.

  I had never technically met her at my mother’s place before, but I did know that she had once hidden out there, pretending to be me. In any case, it would be madness to go anywhere near her apartment now. I was certain that it was still under heavy surveillance.

  That left the grocery station and the school. I chose the alley near the station to try first. It was a quiet place. I could hide there for a day without anyone seeing me.

  But as I inched my way there, I found myself wishing I had somewhere else to go, somewhere other than that hidden sliver of hard concrete that butted up against a brick wall.

  I wondered, not about Kiyah’s loyalties, but about details she might’ve let slip during her last days. I ran the risk of being cornered by the Champions, now more than ever. But that risk was everywhere, at every hour.

  Just as the moon was rising, I slipped into the hiding place to wait.

  And wait.

  But nobody came.

  As the minutes stretched into hours, eventually the beggars showed up in the alley, waiting for
a gift of generosity by a grocer taking out the garbage.

  My stomach rumbled. I had the small stack of untracked credit cards in my pocket, and soon I found myself waiting anxiously, not for Alex, but for four o’clock to roll around, so late that the grocer would sell to someone like me. Someone invisible.

  The money had been intended for the Volunteers, but I had never made my way back to them, so the cards had never been delivered.

  As the last of the homeless drifted away from the back door, I slipped out of my hiding place and approached the man breaking down the cardboard boxes that the food was shipped in.

  “Hi,” I whispered.

  He was tall. Not as big as Alex, or any Prime, but still bigger and stronger than I was. He had a fresh black eye and a cut above his lip.

  He took one look at me and shook his head.

  “No way, girl. You get out of here,” he said, his voice lower than my own.

  “But … why?”

  Suddenly, my heart was pounding. What did he know?

  “You should be hiding. Why on Earth are you out here at all? Don’t you know you’re wanted?”

  “Wanted? By …”

  “By just about everyone,” he said. “I’ve seen the groups, one of them yours, I think. And those armed guys who messed up my face. Then there’s that weird looking guy, all big and contorted. Not to mention the Guard. Go on and get out of here. You’re the kind of trouble I don’t need.”

  He backed up into the store and started to close the door.

  “Wait,” I said, desperate. “You’ve seen my friend? The big guy? Alex?”

  “I’ve seen him, but he’s too big to hide over there in that hole you just came out of. He hasn’t come around the past couple days. Now get out of here.”

  He slammed the door, and I heard a deadbolt lock on the other side.

  So it was true. Alex was alive.

  And waiting for me.

  I hit the ground running, barreling as fast as I could back to the high school. Back to him.

  Of course he couldn’t fit in the tiny place I’d been hiding. Of course he would be at the school.

  As I ran, tears started to fall. I pushed myself faster and faster, and the speed felt so good. I was just a flutter in the night.