Strike Force

by Mary Alford

  Their tires lost traction on the wet street. Kaiden struggled to keep it on the road but was losing the battle. Spinning three-hundred-and-sixty degrees, Sidney lost all sense of direction. The nose of the car barreled toward the trees lining the road while Kaiden fought to no avail. The car lurched across the ditch and plowed into a tree before coming to a jarring halt.

  Sidney’s wrist slammed against the side door. She screamed. Pain immediately shot from the contact point. At the very least, it was sprained. She bit her bottom lip and tried to move. It took all her effort to crane her head toward Kaiden. He wasn’t moving.

  “Kaiden,” she screamed and shook him with her free hand.

  He slowly opened his eyes and tilted his head towards her. “What happened?” he mumbled with slurred words.

  “They ran us off the road. Are you able to move?”

  He nodded, but she had doubts when he struggled to unlatch the seat belt. “What about you?” You’re bleeding.” He pointed to her forehead.

  “I’m okay. We have to get out of here. They’ll come back to make sure we’re not alive.” She felt around until she found her weapon.

  Smoke billowed from the car’s engine. They wouldn’t be driving anywhere until backup arrived.

  Sidney squinted out Kaiden’s window. The car that ran them off the road was backing up. She pointed. “If they find us before help arrives, we’re dead.” She tried the door, but it wouldn’t budge. “Can you get out your way?”

  Kaiden had to put all his weight against the door, but it slowly opened. He practically fell out onto the ground. Sidney unfastened her seatbelt and climbed over the center console, ignoring the pain in her wrist.

  They raced toward the nearby woods and out of sight. Brakes squealed behind them.

  Kaiden pulled her against him, taking refuge behind an oak tree. Sidney glanced around the tree to get a good look at the vehicle. “That’s one of Hassanzai’s men from the warehouse.”

  The passenger door opened and one of the men got out and eased toward their wrecked car with his weapon trained. She recognized him—the Caucasian man she’d seen at the warehouse.

  “We should keep moving, Kaiden.” They headed deeper into the woods while Sidney pushed branches out of their way, her injured wrist throbbing with pain.

  “There’s no one here,” the Caucasian man standing near their car shouted to the driver. He spoke in the Afghanistan language of Pashto. Shock ripples charged through Sidney’s body. Who was this man? “Let’s find them.” Where was their backup? Sidney tried to shut off her troubled thoughts and keep up the fast pace. They couldn’t be captured.

  “Up ahead. I see them!” the same man yelled. Seconds later, a bombardment of bullets whizzed past their heads.

  Sidney hit the ground next to Kaiden. Both returned fire, forcing the man to retreat.

  “Others will be coming. We have to get out of here. Now.” A second man announced with a thick accent.

  The man who fired on them didn’t budge. His partner turned and headed back toward their vehicle. After another second’s hesitation, he followed.

  “We can’t let them get away,” Sidney said. “There’s a chance we might be able to convince them to talk.” She slipped from behind the tree coverage and aimed at the fleeing men. “Stop right there.”

  Both men whirled with weapons drawn. Kaiden opened fire forcing them to dive for cover.

  “Drop your guns,” Sidney ordered. “Put your hands in the air.”

  One of the men’s weapons peeked out from behind the trees. “Don’t even try it.” Kaiden warned. “There’s no way out for either of you.”

  A silent standoff followed. Both she and Kaiden were injured and wouldn’t be able to stand their ground long.

  On the nearby road, a vehicle screamed to a halt close to the assailants’ car. Two of Ben’s people, Peter Lowe and Will Grayson, emerged with weapons drawn on the two men.

  Would they give up peacefully or go out with a blaze?

  After a few tense moments, both men slowly rose to their feet with their hands in the air.

  Will rushed to retrieve their weapons and secure their hands.

  For the first time, Sidney got a good look at them. One was Afghani, like the other soldiers of Hassanzai’s they’d captured in Alaska. The Caucasian man had a faint southern accent when he’d spoken.

  He eyed Sidney and Kaiden as if he recognized them. It took him less than a second to figure it out despite their changed appearances. “You two are supposed to be dead,” he spewed out in surprise.

  “Yeah, well, we’re not,” Kaiden told him.

  “These are the two men who left with Hassanzai,” Sidney told Peter. “The men at the warehouse must have radioed our direction to them. I’m guessing they dropped Hassanzai off somewhere before they came after us.”

  “Probably so.” Peter nodded and helped Will put the men in the backseat of their vehicle.

  “We’ll take their car and follow you,” Kaid said. “We can dispose of it before we board the plane. Let’s just hope there aren’t any more surprises waiting for us along the way.”

  ◆◆◆

  Strike Force Headquarters. Four a.m. . . .

  The ugly purple bruises on Kaiden’s arm and chest reminded him of the nightmare that had taken place just a few hours earlier.

  We have a traitor on our team. Evans’s claim had kept him from sleep. Was it possible they had one on their team as well?

  The thought was inconceivable. Wasn’t it? Still, the what-ifs were driving him crazy. Unable to bear his troubled company any longer, he left his room and headed to the command center. He hoped Sidney was faring better with sleep.

  Neither of the men they’d taken into custody was talking. Not a surprise, but certainly not the outcome they wished for. Perhaps after a few days of sitting in a cell they’d change their minds, but he wasn’t holding out much hope. They’d taken several of Hassanzai’s men into custody after the attack in Alaska. No one talked.

  Kaiden opened the basement door and descended the stairs. Though the room was dark, he had no doubt he’d find James there working hard.

  “Hey, brother,” James said when he heard Kaiden come in and looked up. “I wasn’t expecting to see you for a while after that run-in you and Sidney had.”

  Kaiden poured two coffees from the coffeemaker at the back of the room and brought them to the console. He handed James one. “Couldn’t sleep,” he murmured and rubbed a hand across his jaw. Felt the stubble there.

  “I hear you.” James held the cup up in a gesture of thanks.

  “What are you working on?”

  “Still trying to find out who owns the land where the warehouse is located. The last purchase record I found was from ten years ago. A business by the name of LL Fittings bought it. The company fabricated oil-rig fittings. They declared bankruptcy three years ago. It was owned by a Lawrence Latham from Amarillo.” James brought up a photo of Latham.

  Kaiden pulled out the chair next to James. “I don’t recognize him. Does he have any connection to Evans or Hassanzai?”

  “None that I can find. But get this. LL Fittings hadn’t produced anything for several years prior to the bankruptcy.”

  “What were they doing there?”

  “No idea,” James said. “There’s no record of any bank owning the property or of it being sold.” A frown furrowed James’s forehead. “So, I have no idea what went on.”

  Kaiden was just as shocked as James. “Did your people have any luck on following Hassanzai?”

  James shook his head. “Not really. His driver spotted the tail and managed to lose them. Since Hassanzai wasn’t in the SUV with the two men who attacked you, I assume they dropped him someplace before coming after you.”

  Kaiden shook his head. “Unbelievable. What about Evans?”

  “The car was a rental in his wife’s maiden name. He definitely wanted to keep his movements quiet. We tracked the vehicle to a private jet service at the Amarillo airpo
rt and checked his destination. He’s heading back to Langley.”

  “Just when we thought we might get some answers. I can’t get the idea out of my head that we don’t have a lot of time left before these guys mount their attack.”

  The conversation they’d overheard troubled him. Who was the person Evans referred to? They’d been working under the assumption Evans was calling the shots along with Hassanzai. Now, Kaiden had his doubts.

  “I’m still checking on the name Duncan that Evans mentioned last night. I didn’t like what he said about the woman. I have a feeling that her time is running out. We need to fit the pieces together and find out who she is before that happens.”

  Kaiden’s phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. Ben’s number popped onto the screen. “What’s up?” he asked with a frown forming. Ben kept his communication with the Strike Force to a minimum to protect them both.

  “I just heard from Evans. He wants me to fly to Afghanistan in two days’ time.” The uneasiness in Ben’s tone had Kaiden sitting up straighter. The news made him uneasy.

  “Any idea why?” Kaiden asked and explained about Evans’s conversation with Hassanzai. The declaration that there was a traitor within the Legion. After the attack on himself and Sidney the night before, Kaiden had to wonder if Evans had somehow uncovered Ben’s true allegiance. “You think he knows you’re working for Hernandez?” Kaiden put the phone on speaker so James could hear the conversation.

  “I sure hope not, but in light of what you found out, I’d say it’s a real possibility I could be walking into an ambush. At this point, I don’t even know where I’m going in Afghanistan. But I’ve asked Peter and Tegan to go on ahead of me today. They’ll be wheels up in a matter of hours. At least I’ll have some backup in place when I land.”

  The weariness in Ben’s tone came through the line as clear as day. Kaiden knew a little about Ben’s past. The heartache he’d shared recently when he and Kaiden were alone. The job had cost them all so much, Ben included. He’d lost the woman he loved. Their ten-year marriage crumbled around him a few weeks back because of the secrets he’d been forced to keep from his wife.

  “I can put a tracker on your phone,” James told him. “We should be able to locate you through it.”

  Sounds of what appeared to be a door closing and then Ben said, “Sorry. I’m at headquarters and it feels as if there are eyes and ears everywhere. I found out Evans keeps a separate laptop locked inside his desk, so I got here early thinking I could clone it, but he arrived a short time ago. He’s been popping in periodically and is nervous about something.”

  Ben blew out a sigh. “Anyway, I don’t think a tracker on my phone will work. We need another way to keep tabs in case they confiscate my phone the minute I’m on the plane, and I have a feeling they will.”

  James’s frown deepened. “I’ll call in my people. Let me see what we can put together for you. Something that can be concealed in your clothing and can’t be traced. There’s no way I’m letting you board that plane without us having some means of finding you.”

  “Thanks, James. I knew I could count on you.” The relief in Ben’s tone was clear. “I have a bad feeling about this trip. I’ll need all the help I can get.”

  Chapter Three

  They’d almost died again. How many more times could she and Kaiden cheat death and tell of it?

  Hours had passed since the attack in Texas, yet Sidney’s hands still shook. Sleep wasn’t an option. She paced a route on the floor of her room until daybreak with Samson keeping in step. But she could no longer stand the noise of her troubled thoughts any longer. More than ever, she desired human contact to take away the fear that wouldn’t go away on its own.

  “Want to get out of here, boy?” she asked the dog who immediately headed for the door.

  Like her, Samson must have sensed the walls closing in and needed a break.

  Though the house was quiet, a sliver of light crept out from beneath the basement door. Someone was working. She wasn’t surprised to find Kaiden and James along with several members of the team hard at work already.

  Samson spotted his friends and barked before running over to push his nose against James’s hand. James was only too happy to grant Samson’s request for an ear rub.

  Kaiden rose to his feet the minute he spotted her and came over. “How are you feeling?” His gaze slipped over her face and Sidney could almost read his concerns.

  “Better,” she said to convince him even though her appearance said otherwise. “It looks worse than it is.”

  He nodded toward her injured wrist. “How’s that?”

  Doctor Oviok had wrapped the wrist on the flight back to Wyoming. Sidney was thankful he’d insisted on going along with the team as a precaution.

  “Functional with this.” She held up her wrist and tried to sound optimistic. “What’s going on here?” She pointed to the front of the room. “Do we have new intel on the men working for Hassanzai?”

  Kaiden shook his head. “Unfortunately, they’re not talking. They’ve been fingerprinted. We’re running them through the database to try to identify them.” He paused for a moment, and she focused on his face. There was more.

  “You have something,” she said.

  He slowly nodded. “Yes, and it’s potentially bad. We heard from Ben. Evans wants him to fly to Afghanistan soon.”

  Kaiden was right about that. The news was alarming considering what they’d discovered already.

  “James and his people are scrambling to come up with an alternative way to get eyes and ears in the room with Ben for his protection.” Kaiden motioned to Garrett Craig, one of James’s top technology gurus.

  She and Kaiden went over to where James and Garrett worked.

  “Garrett’s come up with an ingenious way to fit a small video camera into a button,” James said and held out the seemingly innocent button for her to see. “The camera is here.” He pointed to the center of the button concealing the camera behind fake thread. If she didn’t know differently, she’d never suspect it was anything but a button. “And the microphone should be able to pick up most all conversation in the room.”

  “That’s amazing,” she said. Sidney was in awe of the team’s ability to come up with a solution in a short period of time.

  James and the people he’d recruited through the years were talented in their own right. Most had known James for years. By many in the world, they’d be considered conspiracy theorists, but Sidney knew them all as patriots, and she was grateful to have them on Strike Force.

  “So far, we don’t have any idea who we’re dealing with beyond Deputy Director Jake Evans, Ahmad Hassanzai, and Principal Deputy to the Secretary of Defense, Kent Foster,” Kaiden said with a shake of his head. “There are other more powerful people involved in this without a doubt.”

  Dread slithered into Sidney’s stomach and stayed there. Like it or not, she was back in the game again. Though injured, physically she was ready. But mentally she wasn’t so sure. The past two years had taken a heavy toll. More and more lately, she found herself wondering what normal looked like. Longing for it even.

  “You okay?” Kaiden whispered next to her ear, and she released the fear churning up to God. Facing down death again made her realize she wasn’t invincible and the war they waged was lethal.

  She put on a smile for his sake. “Yes, I’m okay. Just feeling a bit in the dark, I guess. There’s still so much we don’t know.”

  The sober expression on his face confirmed he still worried about her. “There’s time. And if you want to take a step back, James needs plenty of help here at command.”

  There was no guarantee about the future, but one thing she was sure of. No matter what, she had to see this thing through to the end. She needed to know why so many innocent people had to die.

  Sidney shook her head and sought to reassure him. “I’ll be fine.”

  Kaiden didn’t break eye contact. She was pretty sure he didn’t believe her.

/>   “Well, this is interesting,” Garrett said, and she was grateful for the distraction.

  Both she and Kaiden approached.

  “I have Will on the phone,” Garrett told them. “He followed Evans back to Langley.” Garrett put the call on speaker and typed something into the laptop. Live video feed of two men in what appeared to be a park setting came on the screen, the morning shadows clung to everything making it difficult to make out details, but Sidney was certain she knew the man with Evans.

  “That’s Howard Duncan, Deputy Director of the NSA,” she whispered and turned to Kaiden. “He’s the one Evans spoke about last night. We have a big problem on our hands if the NSA is working for Legion. Are there other branches of intelligence involved in the conspiracy?” She couldn’t fathom the depth of Legion’s reach.

  “I’d say it’s a good possibility,” Kaiden assured her.

  The conversation between Evans and Hassanzai played through her memory. They’d mentioned Duncan and a woman.

  “Will, can we get some audio?” Garrett asked.

  “Yes, hang on a second.” Background noise filled the room before they were able to hear the discussion between Evans and Duncan.

  “The problem is being handled.” Evans could be heard saying. “There’s no cause for alarm. Emily Pearson will be taken care of soon enough.”

  The noise of the keystrokes of James’s frantic typing penetrated the silence of the command center. “Emily Pearson is NSA and she has one of the highest clearance levels available to their employees. She reports directly to Duncan.”

  “So what did she do to warrant her death?” Sidney asked the stunned room.

  “I don’t know. I can’t crack the NSA security firewall yet,” James told them.

  “Wait, Evans mentioned someone asking questions about what happened in Anana Harbor. Maybe that’s what got Emily targeted,” Sidney said, recalling the conversation.

  As they continued to listen to the exchange, it quickly became clear that Duncan wasn’t convinced Evans had the problem contained.