by Nick Thacker
She just needed to bide her time. There was no escaping, not now. Even if she could somehow get her zip ties off, and get to the door, and open it and run out without getting overtaken by the men in the room, Reggie, Derrick, Joshua, and Ben were still in there.
It wasn’t worth the risk.
No, Garza might kill her, but it would come after. He wouldn’t leave her in the chair in the center of the room. It would be somewhere else, somewhere where the cleanup wouldn’t be as messy.
So she waited. She tried to play Daris’ game, to take in the information. She didn’t have a plan, nor did she think there was any way to make one without having any control, but she watched and observed anyway.
The Hawk reached down to the cart once again, and once again popped open the box sitting on its top. He retrieved another syringe, but instead of reaching down for a jar of fluid next to it, he walked over to the package on the other side of Julie.
“This is just the first batch,” The Hawk explained. “We will be ready to ship immediately after our test today, if you still have the buyers.”
Daris nodded.
“Wonderful. In that case, my team is also ready to begin production at scale.”
The Hawk opened the package and tore away the cardboard from the top. He reached inside and pulled out a jar identical to the ones scattered on the rolling cart. He filled the syringe again, from the top of the jar.
“That won’t be necessary,” Daris said. “There are still some controls that need to be in place first. We can’t have this stuff flooding the market, if it… if it does what you say it does.”
The Hawk laughed. “Oh, it does, I assure you. Just wait.”
The Hawk walked over to Julie and jammed the needle into her upper arm.
Chapter SEVENTY-SIX
BEN PUSHED FORWARD, TESTING THE soldier’s willingness to engage.
It seemed, apparently, the soldier was more than willing. He spun out the bottom of the rifle he was holding, the butt of it swinging up into Ben’s gut. Then he continued the motion, this time rotating the weapon horizontally on its axis, hammering the side of Ben’s head.
Ben went down. He saw stars, two Julie's, and two of everything else.
“You — you —”
The sentence he had formed in his mind failed to come out. The words were there, but his mind refused to participate. He rolled his eyes around, hoping to dislodge any sluggishness in his head.
It didn’t work. He still felt dizzy, and now nauseated.
“Try it again, kid,” the older man said. The Ravenshadow soldier was shorter than Ben, but he looked to be in his late forties. A stubble-darkened chin shoved out from a chiseled jaw, and Ben could see flecks of gray floating in the facial hair.
Ben stood back up, the man’s rifle, now righted, following his every move.
“I really would like to hear this thing go off in here,” the man said. “Try it again.”
Ben glared at him, his jaw stiffening. He put his hands up, surrendering.
Then he looked over the man’s shoulder, toward the center of the room.
Julie.
He wanted to call out to her, to see if his words had returned. He opened his mouth and felt the dizziness grow once again.
Julie.
She was there, the man called The Hawk standing next to her. He had just shoved a needle into her arm, and he and the woman, Daris Johansson, seemed obsessed with Julie’s reaction.
Ben tensed up, also curious about what drug Vicente Garza had put inside her. What would it do? How long would it last?
And, most importantly, what are the side effects?
Julie’s head fell backwards, her eyes open wide. She began to mumble, loudly, and Ben could hear it from his position against the back wall.
The soldier in front of him didn’t move, didn’t divert his eyes from Ben. He thinks I’m going to try something again, Ben thought.
And he realized he just might. Julie needed him, and she needed him now.
Whatever ‘test’ this was would eventually end. And then what? What would The Hawk do with Julie? What would Daris do with her?
He’d seen the way Daris Johansson looked at Julie. Contempt, disgust, hatred. She hated Julie, and she’d hated Julie the moment she’d met her. Ben never understand the cattiness of women, and why they always seemed to be secretly trying to one-up the other, but this was beyond simple hierarchical maneuvering. This was deeper, something Johansson carried with her.
Even now, Daris was leaning forward, literally on the edge of her seat. She had an odd look on her face, a combination of pure, childish curiosity, and fury. Her eyes burned with hate, but her slight smile seemed to imply she was enjoying this.
Julie’s head snapped forward again, and she looked right at Ben.
He watched her face, trying to determine if the woman she loved knew who he was in that moment. If she could see him. Her eyes flitted back and forth once, quickly taking in the rest of the room. At this point there was no one behind Julie. She sat in the center of the gymnasium, her back to the opposite doors, and all the Ravenshadow men as well as The Hawk and Daris Johansson were standing or sitting in a wide arc around Julie.
He, Reggie, Joshua, and Derrick were all standing with their backs to the wall in front of Julie, but they each had a soldier, weapon drawn, guarding them.
Julie’s face scanned Ben’s, but there was no reaction. She was blank, empty.
“Ms. Richardson,” The Hawk said. His voice had changed. No longer was he the confident leader, the intimidating figure of power for his men. His voice was calm, almost gentle, and as he addressed Julie Ben wondered if the man’s voice was part of the test — perhaps the tone of the man’s voice affected Julie in some way.
She turned to look at The Hawk.
“Hello again, Ms. Richardson. I’m glad we could talk in front of the rest of these people. Ms. Richardson, do you see these people?”
The Hawk made a point of drawing a wide half-circle with his open palm, showing Julie the room.
“I do,” Julie said.
Ben’s heart raced. He hadn’t heard Julie’s voice since…
Since before the phone call.
He’d heard her scream, cry out, beg, but he hadn’t heard her in so long. Her normal, day-to-day voice.
He was hearing it now.
Whatever was affecting Julie was causing her to be completely collected, at ease. She felt no strife, no pain, and she had no care in the world for the four men — four friends — standing by at gunpoint.
“Good, Ms. Richardson.” The Hawk looked over at Daris, who gave him an approving nod. “We are going to move directly into the proceedings.”
He walked over to Julie’s over side and knelt down. “Ms. Richardson, can you please point to your fiancé?”
Julie’s arm lifted up immediately, and she pointed.
At Ben.
He shifted, but so did the soldier in front of him. Try it, he thought, remembering the soldier’s words.
“Very good. And what about the rest of your team. Can you point to the FBI agent, Roger Derrick?”
She pointed.
“And can you —”
“Cut to the chase, Mr. Garza,” Daris’ voice suddenly called, breaking into the gym. “I need to know if this drug works, or if we have to go back to the drawing board.”
The Hawk seemed annoyed, but he righted himself and stood up. “Of course, Ms. Johansson. I know we are pressed for time.”
Garza took a knife from his pocket and began cutting Julie loose from her ties. Ben watched her face, but there was no grimace of pain, no acknowledgement whatsoever that she could even feel the bindings being released.
He then walked over to where Daris and Morrison were sitting on the side of the gym and held out his hand. Morrison reached behind his back and pulled out a handgun, a large 9mm, that he’d had tucked into his belt holster.
Ben swallowed.
The Hawk returned to Julie’s side and h
eld out the weapon. “Ms. Richardson, please take this weapon.”
Julie reached up and took the weapon.
“Ms. Richardson, you know how to handle this weapon, correct?”
Ben knew she did. It was a Glock, a standard-issue 9mm that could be found all over the world. Easy to use and clean, and easy to break down for storage and transport. Reggie had trained her on it himself, and Ben and Julie would often challenge each other on the small shooting range — a stand of trees behind the cabin — once or twice a week.
She nodded. “I do.”
“Good.”
The Hawk walked forward a few paces, toward Ben’s wall.
“Ms. Richardson, please follow me.
Julie stood up and trailed behind The Hawk. When Garza had reached the side of the gym Ben was standing on, he stopped. He moved sideways over to the soldier standing in front of Joshua, then stopped again. Julie followed, now standing next to Garza.
“Ms. Richardson, who is this man?”
“Joshua Jefferson.”
“And do you know him well.”
“Reasonably well. We’re friends.”
“I see. And how long have you know Mr. Jefferson?”
Julie thought for a moment. “Probably six, seven months.”
“And do you like this man?”
She nodded. “I like him. He’s a good friend, and a good leader.”
The Hawk chuckled. He spun his head around and looked at Daris, who was turned in her chair so she could more easily face the proceedings happening at the side of the room. Ben saw her face and noticed the same expression. The combination of rage and satisfaction.
His heart sank.
He knew what was happening. He’d waited too long to make a move, and now —
Reggie, standing next to Ben, caught his attention. The soldiers in front of them were watching their boss and Julie, unable to help themselves. Reggie motioned again, and Ben met eyes with him.
Reggie mouthed something to him, but he couldn’t understand.
Reggie repeated it, this time nodding his heard toward Julie.
Get Julie.
Ben knew that’s what he was trying to say, and yet he couldn’t understand. What is the plan? What are you going to do?
Reggie shook his head, a frustrated look on his face, then he turned and stood straight again, facing the soldier in front of him.
The Hawk leaned in a bit to make sure Julie could understand him, but Ben could still hear the words he spoke.
“Ms. Richardson, please shoot Joshua Jefferson in the head.”
Julie immediately complied, her arm coming up quickly. She aimed, and Ben saw Reggie lurch forward, catching his soldier off guard. Julie was now behind Reggie and the soldier, and Ben couldn’t see her or Joshua.
But he heard the gunshot.
Chapter SEVENTY-SEVEN
THE GYM BROKE OUT INTO absolute chaos.
Ben reacted quickly to the gunshot, but the soldier standing in front of him did not. Ben rushed him, taking him to the ground, and he wrestled the rifle from the man’s hands.
Before he could get a shot off, the man coughed a spattering of blood and his eyes froze in place, open as he died on the gym floor.
Ben looked up. Reggie was there, suddenly and surprisingly, and had jammed a knife — one he had taken from his own soldier’s belt — into Ben’s soldier’s neck.
Then Reggie was gone. A quick burst of assault rifle fire echoed loudly in the gym, but the shots sounded far off. Loud, but not near Ben’s location.
He focused on the next threat. Two of the Ravenshadow men were preparing to aim his direction.
He dove down, flat onto the gym’s hardwood floor, and tried to smash his large frame down as much as possible. Another burst of gunfire erupted over his head, and a second sounded, one of the rounds landing into the soldier he was hiding behind, the human shield doing its job.
Ben grabbed for the man’s rifle and found it close enough to his left hand. He pulled it up, checked it quickly — he had never shot this one before, but the mechanism was familiar enough — and rolled it around and set the barrel of it on the dead soldier’s back.
He aimed, fired. Twice. One of the men went down, but the other was still running toward him.
He fired again, and the man fell.
Ben didn’t hesitated. Two down, two already dead, he thought to himself, counting the men he’d just shot and his and Reggie’s soldiers.
The trouble was, he wasn’t sure how many soldiers there had been before the fight started.
“Ben! The door!”
Reggie’s voice cut through the firefight, and he looked up to see Daris and two other Ravenshadow men running toward the exit, the same doors he and Joshua had entered from. He swung his assault rifle around and fired three bursts of three rounds each.
It did the trick. None of the runners were expecting the shots, and the first two bursts took out the nearest man’s legs, while the last burst hit Daris in the shoulder. She went to the floor, grabbing at her arm.
The man on the other side of her found himself exposed, in the open, without a weapon ready. Reggie fired from next to Ben, after having picked up his soldier’s weapon, and the man went down.
“You good?” Reggie shouted.
“Not now,” Ben said. “Where is —”
Then he saw her. She was walking in a circle, dazed, near the chairs where Morrison and Daris had been sitting.
“Julie!” he shouted. “Over here,” he yelled. “Walk over here!”
Julie looked at him, still no recognition on her face, but she complied. She began to walk toward Ben.
Ben couldn’t see Joshua or Roger Derrick, but he did notice a group of three soldiers running across the gym, aiming for the doors that led into the rest of the building. He considered firing but realized Julie was about to walk into his path.
Two bursts rang out, and one of the soldiers fell. Another burst, and the other two were hit.
How many left? Ben thought. How many more do I have to kill?
Julie was close now, about halfway to Ben’s location. He wanted to run out and grab her, but he knew the risk of being shot — by one side or the other — were astronomically high.
It had only been thirty seconds since the skirmish had begun, and already it was slowing down. Ben could see five men lying on the floor, dead, and he quickly realized they were all Ravenshadow men.
Come on, Julie. Hurry up.
Julie was still walking, painfully slow, but she was making progress. He motioned for her to hurry, but she either didn’t understand or refused to respond to the hand signal.
Then Morrison was there, behind Julie. Ben didn’t see where he’d come from, but he was there, at the side of the gym.
Aiming a pistol at her back.
Ben lifted the rifle again and began to aim.
Morrison looked up from his aim and smiled at Ben, and then fired.
Julie went down.
Ben felt the air escape his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t shoot, couldn’t move. He rolled over, trying to slide forward —
The Hawk was standing over Ben then, also smiling. Like a bird looking at a worm.
Ben twisted around quickly, trying to pull the rifle around fast enough to get a shot off, but —
The Hawk fired his handgun, the same 9mm Julie had used…
Fire shot through Ben’s body, all centered around his stomach. Excruciating pain told him everything he needed to know.
Another shot, and this time Ben felt his eyes growing heavy. His thigh was bleeding, profusely, and he could feel every ounce of blood draining away through the two holes in his body.
No…
He wanted to cry, to scream. But there were still no words.
He saw Reggie run out of the gym, following a soldier who’d gotten back up and headed for the door. Roger Derrick was still missing. Daris Johansson was lying facedown on the floor, but she was moving, slowly trying to roll onto her side.<
br />
But The Hawk and Morrison were still there. Julie was somewhere, too, but Ben couldn’t see her. He tried craning his neck around, but any movement whatsoever seemed to cause more pain than the actual gunshot wounds had.
Ben watched, the room dark and fading fast, as The Hawk turned and joined Morrison, then walked toward the exit.
He felt rage, more than he’d ever felt, but it was contradicted by the pain. The searing pain that rendered him immobile.
The Hawk stopped next to Daris. She had successfully rolled over, and he saw her good arm raise up, beckoning for one of her men to help her.
The Hawk didn’t hesitate, didn’t even speak. He lifted the pistol and aimed.
Then he pulled the trigger, and Daris’ arm fell back to the floor, just as Ben’s world went dark.
Chapter SEVENTY-EIGHT
REGGIE HUGGED THE TWO WOMEN standing in front of him.
“It’s great to see you again, Ms. —”
“You’d better call me Cornelia, my boy,” the spunky grandmother said. She smiled, however, and embraced her grandson’s new friend.
Roger Derrick smiled as well and reached his hand out to the woman standing next to his grandmother. “Roger Derrick, FBI.”
“Mrs. E,” the woman said. “Pleasure to meet you. I truly appreciate your help with this matter, and for keeping our team safe.”
Reggie looked down at the ground.
“And I’m sorry for your loss,” Cornelia said.
Neither Reggie nor Derrick spoke. What was there to say? Reggie thought. Their mission had failed, miserably. They hadn’t been able to stop Daris, and The Hawk — Garza — had made off with the drug she had been trying to improve. The test had worked — Reggie had seen it with his own eyes, used on Julie. They hadn’t needed the Jefferson treasure at all.
