Strike Force

by Mary Alford

  Emily barely looked at the men. “I don’t understand what’s happening. Why are you in my apartment?” she asked.

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have much time to explain. We have to get out of here now. Some very bad men are coming. They’re going to kill you.” Emily flinched at Sidney’s directness. “Take only what you can’t live without. We’ll explain everything once we’ve taken you to a secure location.”

  Emily stared at Sidney as if she’d lost his mind. “I’m not going anywhere with you until I know why you broke into my home.”

  Sidney tucked Emily’s weapon behind her back and flipped on the light. “I understand this is scary, but we’re on your side and we’re here to protect you. There are people sent to kill you and they won’t stop until they accomplish that.”

  Kaiden watched Sidney and his love for her overflowed. Her gentle nature helped to calm many a frightened asset. She’d certainly made him believe in good things again. And he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with her. But first, they had unfinished business to complete that had started two years ago.

  “Scary?” Emily scoffed. “This is crazy. Why would someone want me dead?”

  Sidney glanced briefly at Kaiden before answering. “You recently investigated an attack that took place in Alaska involving chemical weapons.”

  Emily’s eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

  “You had misgivings about the attack. You brought it to your superior’s attention,” Sidney pressed on without answering.

  Emily clutched her arms tight around her body. “That’s right, I did.”

  “Your boss, Howard Duncan, is part of a high-powered group of men who planned to use those chemical weapons to attack our country and perhaps others,” Will said in a gentle tone.

  Her head snapped toward him. “That’s crazy,” she mumbled. “He wouldn’t do such a thing. He’s a good man and he’s been like a father to me. Howard told me he was investigating the events there personally.”

  Will brought out his phone. “I recorded this video recently. That’s your boss meeting with CIA Deputy Director Jake Evans.” He showed her the conversation between Evans and Duncan.

  Emily’s hand flew to her mouth while tears glistened in her eyes. “I can’t believe it. This is a fake,” she murmured and sought out Sidney.

  “I know it’s hard to hear,” Sidney said gently. “But it‘s all true. They can’t afford to have you snooping around into what happened there. The answer is to eliminate the problem you pose before you can tell anyone else about Alaska.” Sidney squeezed her arm. “We can protect you, Emily, but we need to get you out of here while we still can. Please, just trust us.”

  “Everything and everyone I know and love is here,” she exclaimed and swiped her hand over her eyes.

  Unfortunately, they were running out of time. “If you stay here, you’ll be dead in a matter of hours. There is an assassination team on their way here now. They’ll make it look like you killed yourself.” Sidney held Emily’s gaze. “Come with us. It’s your only choice.”

  During their time working together with the CIA, Kaiden had seen Sidney turn many an asset. Not because she was good at lying, but because she cared about the people she worked with. And whether she believed it now or not, Emily Pearson was all out of choices.

  “Okay,” Emily said with a weighty sigh. “What do you need me to do?”

  “I’ll help you gather your things together,” Sidney told her and grabbed a backpack from inside the closet.

  While Sidney assisted Emily, Kaiden and Will returned to the living room. Kaiden glanced through the peephole. So far, the hall was deserted. It wouldn’t last.

  “You have the cameras?” he asked and Will nodded. “Let’s get them set up around the place.”

  They worked together to place the pencil eraser-sized cameras around the apartment to gain intelligence on the people coming after Emily. Kaiden finished installing the last one when Emily and Sidney came in.

  “We’re all set,” Sidney told him.

  Before he could respond, a sound outside caught Kaiden’s attention. Someone was coming down the hall. The door rattled.

  “We’ll have to find another way out,” Kaiden whispered and ushered them through the kitchen and out to the balcony that ran the length of the apartment.

  They were three floors up. Exiting the building wouldn’t be easy.

  “Who lives below you?” Will asked as he peered over the railing.

  It took a moment for Emily to respond. “Mrs. Hopper. She lives by herself except for her cat.”

  “I have rope. We can rappel down to the balcony below and take the stairs to the ground floor. We’ll have to be careful, though. They’re probably watching all the exits,” Kaiden said and removed the rope from his backpack. “Will, you take Emily down first. Sidney and I’ll be right behind you.”

  “All right.” Will looped the rope around himself and started to put it around Emily, but she backed away. Her frantic gaze slipped to Sidney.

  “I can’t do it,” she whispered.

  Sidney moved to her side. “It’s the only way. You can trust Will. He’ll keep you safe.”

  Terrified, Emily slowly nodded.

  Will wrapped the rope around her. Securing one end around the railing, they started to climb over. Emily lost her footing and slammed against Will who almost went over the side unprepared.

  He circled his arms around her and held her close. “Hang onto me, but whatever you do, don’t look down,” he said, and they slowly suspended in air.

  While Emily clung to him, Will inched downward. Outside of the living room, someone worked the lock to break in.

  “We don’t have much time,” Sidney said, holding his gaze.

  Kaiden hurried to the balcony door and drew the curtains before he came outside and closed the door. “We want it to look like she wasn’t out here. There’s nothing we can do about the rope. If they come out here, they’ll see it.”

  With Will and Emily safely on the balcony below, Will tossed the rope up to Kaiden who caught it and secured it around himself and Sidney. “Hold on tight,” he whispered close to her ear. They eased from the railing and rappelled through the air to the floor below. A terrifying sense of falling to their deaths ratcheted up his pulse rate.

  Once they reached the balcony, Will pulled them both over.

  Kaiden hung the rope over the balcony hoping to convince whoever was trying to break into Emily’s apartment they’d rappelled to the ground instead of using Mrs. Hopper’s apartment to leave. He didn’t want to bring their troubles to an elderly woman. “We’d better hurry,” he told Will. “Sounds like they just breached Emily’s door.”

  “Mrs. Hopper sometimes forgets to lock her backdoor,” Emily said and tried it. “It’s unlocked.”

  Inside, the TV blared, but the woman sitting in a recliner in front of the screen had fallen fast asleep.

  Will held a finger to his lips and they eased past the sleeping woman to the front door. He checked the peephole first before he opened it and motioned everyone outside.

  Kaiden locked the door as he closed it to protect the woman inside. The stairwell entrance was at the end of the hall. It felt like they’d traversed a mile before they reached it.

  “We can’t afford to take Emily’s vehicle, and I’m not sure we’ll be able to reach ours undetected,” Kaiden said. Which meant they’d need another means of transportation and quick.

  “Mrs. Hopper has a car parked near the elevator. She leaves the keys under the front passenger mat. We can use it. She won’t mind,” Emily said.

  “Lead the way,” Will told her and stepped aside.

  She headed toward an older black Mercedes.

  While Emily opened the passenger door and searched beneath the mat, a door opened to the garage.

  “Quick, get inside,” Kaiden whispered. He and Sidney dove into the backseat and crouched on the floorboard while Emily hit the passenger seat along w
ith Will, who managed to get the door closed.

  Kaiden held Sidney close. Her heart raced in time with his pulse. Multiple sets of footsteps moved closer to the car.

  “Her vehicle’s still here. Someone helped her get away,” a man’s voice Kaiden didn’t recognize echoed through the garage.

  “Check with our guys out front. Maybe they saw something.” A second unfamiliar voice said.

  After what felt like forever, the footsteps faded. A handful of minutes passed before Will sat up and climbed over Emily into the driver’s seat. He put the key in the ignition and started the vehicle.

  Once they were on the move, Will faced Emily. “Stay out of sight until we get away from this area.” He glanced at Kaiden in the rearview mirror. “Same goes for you two. We don’t know who these men are, but if they’re working for Legion, there’s a good chance they’ll recognize you both.”

  Kaiden stayed down with Sidney tucked in his arms. Holding her close, he was able to catch a glimpse of what he wanted the future to look like. They just had to stay alive long enough to have that dream come true.

  “I’m exiting the garage now,” Will announced. “It appears we’re at the south side of the building. I don’t see anyone suspicious-looking, but then again, we don’t really know who these men are.”

  Will eased out onto the road. He kept his speed steady as he made several evasive turns.

  “No one is following us. I think it’s safe to sit up now.” He grabbed his phone and called Lincoln to tell him what happened while Kaiden and Sidney righted themselves.

  Beside Will, Emily sat up more slowly.

  So far, they weren’t being followed, but the sooner they were on the plane back to Wyoming the better.

  “I can’t believe this is all because I reported missing chemical weapons to my superior,” Emily said with a slow shake of her head.

  Sidney leaned forward and squeezed her shoulder, then told her about being set up in Afghanistan.

  “I thought I recognized you,” Emily said. “I remember reading about what happened, but they painted you as a traitor.”

  Sidney nodded. “They’re good at spinning things their way. I’m living proof that things are not always how they seem.”

  The occupants of the car grew silent. They drove toward the airport where they’d reconnect with Lincoln.

  All Kaiden could think about was the impending threat from Legion. The men sent to take out Emily knew she’d had help escaping. Soon, they’d search every airport around. If caught, they’d all be dead.

  He reached for Sidney’s hand, and she glanced over at him with a question in her eyes. He shook his head. After living through two years of hell on earth, she deserved nothing but good things for the future. But until they solved the puzzle of what was being planned and the magnitude of its impact, none of them would have a happy ending.

  Chapter Five

  Sidney’s heart went out to Emily. She responded like someone in a trance. That lost look on her face could have been Sidney two years ago. Emily would need a lot of help adjusting to life in hiding.

  “Where are we going?” Emily rousted herself to ask once they reached the airstrip and Will parked the car beside the hangar containing their plane.

  “Someplace where you will be safe,” she told her with sincerity. “Where they can’t get to you.”

  “And where is that? I work for the NSA, remember? I know what these people are capable of. I’ve been targeted for death by someone within my own organization. Someone I trusted who was like a father. How do I make sense of that?”

  “You don’t because it doesn’t make sense,” Sidney assured her and got out of the car and opened Emily’s door. “For now, you just focus on staying alive. To do that, you get on that plane and you come with us.”

  Emily hesitated a second longer. Her doubts clear on her face before she climbed out and followed Sidney to the hangar.

  Once the plane was removed, they embarked and waited for Lincoln.

  “You made the right decision,” Sidney said as she took the seat beside Emily. “You’re safe now. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Outside the window, Sidney noticed Lincoln whipping his vehicle into the empty hangar. He hopped out and pulled the overhead door closed. Once onboard, Lincoln worked quickly to get the plane in the air.

  “I’m calling James to let him know what’s happened,” Kaiden said and made the call. “Emily’s safe,” he said once he’d told about their narrow escape. “I see. Well, it’s a start. We’ll be there in a little more than three hours. See you then.” He ended the call and told them what he’d learned.

  “The cameras we set up at Emily’s place are working. James has video on three men who entered the apartment shortly after we left. Unfortunately, the men were wearing ski masks and had on gloves, so we won’t be getting immediate identification, but he’s running a program that he thinks might help. It’ll take some time, though.”

  “And that’s something we don’t have a lot of,” Sidney said with a weary sigh. “Has there been any news from Ben? Is he safe?”

  “Nothing yet. But we should have eyes on Hassanzai again soon once Tegan and Peter arrive. Hopefully, he’ll lead us to the meeting location, and we can get a grasp on what’s being planned. Until we know where it’s taking place, it could be anywhere in Afghanistan and that’s a lot of territory to cover. I’m guessing they’ll select someplace remote. The fewer eyes on what’s taking place, the better,” Kaiden said.

  “We need to get eyes on Duncan as well. He’s going to the meeting. Maybe he can lead us there if Hassanzai fails to,” Will said.

  Kaiden nodded. “James is working on it now.”

  “Let’s just hope there’s enough time for our team to reach Ben if he is walking into a setup,” Sidney said. “And right now, it appears he may be.”

  Beside her, Emily listened intently to the conversation, her hands fidgeting. She deserved an explanation of what they all faced.

  “I know this is going to sound crazy,” Sidney told her, “but we believe your boss and some other very powerful men are planning an imminent attack on this country at the very least. It’s possible the plot involves other major locations as well.” Sidney drew in a breath and told Emily everything they had on Legion.

  When she’d finished, Emily was quiet for a long time. “Is that part of what happened in Alaska?” she asked finally, a groove forming between her brows.

  “Yes, it was.” Sidney told her about what they’d gone through there. The chemical weapons. “So you see, whatever these guys have planned, it’s major and it’s deadly, and they have to be stopped.”

  Anger flashed in Emily’s eyes. “They do, and I want to be part of it. Whatever I can do, I’m in.”

  Sidney smiled at her. “Good. For now, you should try and get some rest. I know this has been overwhelming. Once we land in Wyoming, you’ll meet the rest of the team. We’ll get you settled in. Then, we’ll find you a place to work. Believe me, we can use someone with your skills.”

  Emily nodded and faced the window, watching the twilight sky speed by.

  Kaiden unfastened his restraint and slipped into the seat across from Sidney. She leaned closer to hear him without disturbing Emily.

  “She’s going to need your help to adjust to all of this,” he whispered.

  She clasped his hand across the aisle. “Yes, and it’s a shame. No one should have to go into hiding for trying to protect their country.”

  They’d all given up so much. Most of James’s team had been forced off the grid for years. James had almost died several times, and yet no one believed him when he tried to sound the warning against Legion.

  Like it or not, they were at war, and it was a war against some of the most powerful men in the world. This country and the freedom of the world was at stake. There could be no backing down now. No matter what, they had to stop the threat before Evans and his goons stole away the freedoms so many people had died to preserve.
/>   “We’re not going to let that happen,” Kaiden said, as if reading her thoughts.

  She loved him so, and she’d been forced to hide the wishes she had for their future deep in her heart. One day. Yes, one day, they’d be free of the shadows—free to live their lives together out in the open. No more death. No more shadows. No more threats. Just a normal married couple with a family of their own. If she never heard about another threat again, never had to pick up another weapon, she’d live a happy life . . . with Kaiden.

  ◆◆◆

  “We may have something,” Garrett informed Kaiden as soon as he, Will, and Lincoln walked into the command center.

  Sidney had gone with Emily to help her settle in. Emily had a long road ahead of her; she just had not traveled as far as Kaiden and the others.

  Kaiden reached James’s and Garrett’s posts. “What’d you find?”

  Garrett brought up a photo on the screen above. “We got a hit on one of the men who came after Emily. His name is Martin Collins. And get this, he’s from Amarillo, Texas. And he’s supposed to be dead.”

  That had Kaiden’s full attention. “This can’t be a coincidence.” He stared at the photo. Collins was CIA. “Wait, he’s with the Agency?” he asked.

  James gave him a “you nailed it” look. “He was until about ten years ago when he was supposedly killed while on an off-the-books mission in Iran.”

  “Yet, here he is, alive and working as a hitman. For whom? Evans or Hassanzai?” Kaiden asked trying to make sense of it.

  “Maybe both. If this is the guy Hassanzai and Evans were talking about last night, then Hassanzai definitely provided him refuge in Afghanistan.” Garrett typed something else into the laptop. “But Evans was his handler when he went on that final mission.”

  “Evans helped Collins fake his death so he could be part of whatever diabolical scheme Evans and Hassanzai have in the works,” Kaiden hypothesized.

  “That’d be my guess. And there’s more,” Garret said. “Collins wasn’t alone on the mission. There were five other members of his team. None of them supposedly survived.” He brought up a photo of the rest of Collins’s team.