Marked for Death (A Gray Ghost Novel Book 6)

by Amy McKinley

  I slipped a thumb drive from my back pocket and inserted it and one of the USB drives from the handfuls in the drawer to the right into the laptop on his desk. I began the process of copying the files, but I would have to look over the contents later. I doubted there would be anything of use, but it was better safe than sorry. With the lack of tiny drones or references to them in his desk, I prepared to crack his safe.

  Behind the desk was a large oil painting that hid his safe—not very original. Time was passing quicker than I would have liked. Fortunately, the lock was old-school rather than electronic. In the silence, it was easy to listen for the tiny metallic clicks when the correct number registered. Turning the knob to the right twice in minuscule increments, I stopped at the nine when the slight sound pinged. Two more numbers, then the release popped.

  Please be here. I swung open the safe and shone my light inside. Stacks of money took up an entire shelf. On the top one sat another USB drive and several documents. My nerves stretched thin. I’d been in there too long. Riffling through the papers, I didn’t see anything regarding the drones. They were mostly business documents, passports, and a letter. My focus had to be the electronic files. I plugged the stick into his laptop and downloaded the contents onto my portable drive while putting everything else exactly as it had been in the safe.

  That’s when I saw it, a small mosquito, barely visible in the back of the safe. With care, I lifted it by one of its wings. I feared I would break it if I shoved it into my pocket. Rifling through Ahmed’s drawers, I found a permanent marker. I took the cap off the pen then dropped the mini drone inside before slipping it into my pocket. My heart pounded. It was what Keegan wanted. So did Ahmed. There was no doubt at that point about my precarious position under his roof.

  A few more seconds passed, and then the red light stopped flashing on the drive, indicating the process was complete. I disconnected the flash drive from the port, put it back, then shut the safe and returned the painting to its rightful place. Then I shoved the slim high-capacity drive inside my bra to conceal it and got the hell out of there. I’d spent forty-five minutes in Ahmed’s office and was damn lucky no one discovered me.

  I rounded the corner and was almost to my wing when I saw him. Ice shot through my veins, and my hands tingled from the shock. One of Jamal’s mercenaries stood outside my door. If they found the drive on me, it would be game over—I would be worse than dead.

  23

  Kara

  My back slammed against the wall. Andrea cried out from within my rooms.

  “Get your hands off me.” I blocked Jamal’s soldier from curling his fingers in my shirt. “You have no grounds here.” I waved him away. “Go now, before I report what you’ve done.” How did they know I left my wing?

  “Where were you?” His expression blank, he crowded me back.

  “None of your business. I don’t answer to you.” Off to one side, Andrea wrung her hands. Something had to be done quickly.

  A cruel smile curved his thin lips. “Today, you do. I have orders to monitor your activities. Wandering around at this time is suspicious. Jamal will want to talk to you. Come.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” No way. “Listen, every minute you waste your time focusing on me, you aren’t finding my daughter. If she has a single scratch on her, I will personally carve you, her grandfather, and Jamal into tiny pieces.” I knocked his shoulder out of the way and entered my suite, the drone and thumb drive in my possession making me more than aware of my precarious position. Thankfully, he didn’t bar me from going in. Interesting.

  I shut and locked the door behind me then grabbed Andrea by the arm and pulled her away from the door in case it was kicked in. I didn’t think it would be. He would’ve tried to stop me from entering in the first place. Maybe he didn’t have orders, but was just being a dick.

  I wondered who was watching me, Ahmed or Jamal. My guess was that Jamal was acting on his own and either hadn’t given explicit instructions to his guard dog or hadn’t had the time to be specific. Regardless, they were monitoring everything I did. I can’t stay here. It was time to go.

  My adrenaline escalated at the thought. But first, I had to calm Andrea, find out what happened, and figure out if she was leaving with me.

  I rubbed her arms then pulled her to me and squeezed her tightly. “Everything’s okay. Did he come in here? Threaten you?”

  “No.” She sniffed, and I released her from my embrace. She wiped the moisture from under her eyes. “I woke from pounding on the door. I hoped it was news of Lily, but it was that man, demanding to know where you were.”

  “I couldn’t sleep. Rather than pacing in here and waking you, I walked around the house.” The less she knew, the better for her safety. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I’m just so worried about Lily. I don’t understand who could have taken her. How?”

  “We’ll find out.” I infused steel in my voice. More than anything, I wanted to tell her, but I had a strong suspicion there were listening devices in my suite. They suspected I was involved in her disappearance, but torturing me for the details wouldn’t serve their purpose, at least not yet. However, that could come sooner than I thought. Even though I wanted to confide in Andrea—she’d been by my side when I’d had Lily and a constant source of comfort even before that—I couldn’t.

  And she’d known my mother. I trusted her.

  “I feel partly responsible.” Andrea shifted from foot to foot. “Your mother trusted me to keep you safe, and she would have done anything for Lily.”

  I smiled sadly. “I miss her.” Mom had always been my first line of defense. “She would have raised hell.”

  “Sweetheart”—Andrea lifted my ponytail and smoothed the long strands over my shoulder—“you are just like her. She’d be so proud.” She sniffled then swiped at a tear. “I am too. And I also miss her, but you have Mr. Hernandez, and he will always do right by you and Lily.”

  No, he would not. But she had a different view as my mom’s good friend, and she saw only the best in her best friend’s husband, who’d given her a job to help me with Lily when she was down on her luck. I didn’t think she would ever understand or see the bad side to Ahmed, even when it was right in her face.

  I squeezed her arm, not quite ready to impart my secrets to her. If Jamal or his men got to her, and they would, she would fold. “Let’s get some sleep, and we can talk about it in the morning.”

  Andrea nodded then went back to her room. The door closed behind her with a quiet click. I remained there for a few more seconds, listening. There was no doubt in my mind I’d been overheard. I’d stood near enough to the door that they could have heard every word.

  There wasn’t much time. On silent feet, I padded to my room and shut the door behind me. I wouldn’t be able to take the drive. I stripped out of my shirt and bra then grabbed the lace undergarment I’d sewn hidden pockets in. There were several concealed compartments for tiny flash drives sitting inside the pushup support. I secured the miniature drone in one of them. On the off chance they stopped me and patted me down, they wouldn’t find what I was hiding.

  I transferred the saved files onto several thumbnail-sized drives then searched for the things I couldn’t leave behind. Thankfully, I’d already sent what I could through the mail to Samir during one of my many trips to town. I’d started that upon overhearing Ahmed reference the good fortune of Samir working with David’s company, Meyer Ancestry Labs. Plans were in motion to do something to David, but I didn’t know what, nor had I figured out the exact danger to Samir, only that it existed.

  I made my peace with leaving. I wanted weapons but couldn’t justify more than a knife in one of the pockets of my black cargo pants, at my thigh, and one strapped at my ankle. If I took a gun, they’d know for sure, and it wasn’t worth the risk. I typically wore the knives, so it was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Once the files had downloaded, I wiped the drive clean and tossed
it into my desk. The tiny flash drives went into the hidden pockets in my bra. I got dressed then lay down to think.

  What am I going to do about Andrea? Tears misted my eyes, and I blinked them back. Ahmed treated her well. He wouldn’t hold her responsible. If I tried to bring her with me, the chance of her being caught and tortured or killed was too high. Escaping on my own should keep her safe, or at least alive.

  I had to leave alone. The sooner, the better. They were watching my rooms, so there would be no way I could exit from my suite, or even out the window. I had to think of another way.

  There was one. Rolling to my feet, I got what I needed from my desk then went into the hall, closing my bedroom door behind me as if I was still within.

  My lockpicking tools were in my jeans, including the miniature screwdrivers. There was an air duct in the hallway that was large enough for me to crawl into. As quickly as I could, I unscrewed the vent and removed it, swapping the screws for longer, thinner ones. The grate rested against the wall as I backed in. I shimmied far enough so that I could still reach the metal covering.

  Lifting it, I aligned the screws and threaded them through. Once in place, I clamped on small metal clips I’d pocketed to make it appear as if nothing had been tampered with. The covering would hold and give the appearance that nothing was amiss. It would buy me some time. I hoped.

  I’d been in there before and knew my way out. The cold from the metal seeped into my palms and knees as I moved through the ducts. I breathed through my mouth to avoid getting dust into my nose—a sneeze would draw attention. It wasn’t the most comfortable option, but I could manage, and it would get me to the wing they wouldn’t expect me to leave from, the south one, close to where Ahmed slept.

  Please, Keegan, look at the monitors.

  Keegan

  My gut told me something would go down today with Kara’s search for the nanoweapons. The threat of the Dark Wings over our heads was too high a risk for me to ignore. I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself. If they caught her, I didn’t even want to imagine what they would do to her. I knew one thing for certain: she would wish for death before they were done.

  Because I had.

  The first rays of the sun cast a deceptive glow on Caracas, making the city look peaceful despite the turmoil and starvation. I’d heard people say that the country was no longer the one they’d known in their youth, but to me, there wasn’t much difference from when I’d been there before. Growing up and surviving where and how I had left only bad memories with a smattering of good ones—the ones that featured my time with Kara or before my parents were killed.

  Jack had left, and Chris was following up on the lead about the account Kara had disclosed. We would learn soon what was there. I’d given her a small window of time to search Ahmed’s home for the drones or any evidence she could gather. I wondered whether Ahmed’s large bank transfer was to Hugo—not only that, but whether the money was payment to initiate and fulfill a terrorist act against the United States’ government. The account the funds were transferred into should give us some indication one way or the other. My gut said it was one of Hugo’s.

  An hour into my walk, I found a spot on the side of a building that would provide the coverage I needed. Ball cap pulled low, I leaned my shoulder against the wall, hidden well enough by the shadows.

  With my phone in my hand, I kept an eye on the monitors. Something told me Kara would be coming out hot, and I needed to be there to intercept any conflict. More than any other time, I committed to righting the wrongs of leaving her behind. I’d seen an opportunity to leave and had taken it without a second thought. Had I known what her life with Ahmed would become, I would’ve helped her escape from Jamal’s camp when we were teenagers. We could both have lived in the warehouse with Jack, Mike, Hawk, and the rest of the crew. It was something I would always regret.

  Connecting with her again felt like fate, had I believed in such things. Our paths crossed for the third time. Every time I was near her, I wanted to take her in my arms, kiss her senseless, make her mine. If Ahmed or the Dark Wings even thought to kill her and take her from me, I would rip their goddamn hearts out of their chests and shove them down their throats.

  I blinked to clear my mind of the bloodbath I would rain down on them when a movement on camera six drew my focus. I clicked on the frame, and the picture filled my phone’s screen. Shit. She was coming out of an upstairs window on the south side of the manor. There wasn’t anything for her to climb down except for the drainpipe, and the chances of that holding her were slim.

  It would take me fifteen minutes to get there in a flat-out sprint. I contemplated getting the motorcycle she had stashed, but it was too far away. I would have to run or thumb a ride.

  There were guards all over the place. As I sprinted, I added another of the camera angles of the front of the house to monitor. Protesters were out in full swing, probably because of the broadcast last night. The news highlights on my phone had shown images of the president along with his advisors and friends—Ahmed was one of them—dining on an abundance of gourmet food and wine. In the next panel, pictures of stores with nearly empty shelves, looting, and poverty illustrated the vast differences between the people and their leadership. The food crisis had escalated to horrifying levels.

  The protestors would surely see Kara climbing down from a side window, but I didn’t know whether they would turn her in—I had to believe they wouldn’t. She wasn’t part of the corruption. Instead, she offered solutions, handing out food and money when she went into town. I kicked my sprint into overdrive as the first flaming bottle was thrown over the fence. Please let this be a distraction for her benefit.

  Every block, I checked the cameras. She was clear of the house and maneuvering behind the soldiers. The mob seemed to be in even more of a frenzy. A curtain shifted, and a face appeared—spotting Kara on the lawn. The front door swung open. A woman launched herself from the entryway, her arms waving in Kara’s direction as she called to her. No…

  That was all it took for a soldier to look behind him, spot Andrea, then follow her path. My breath sawed in and out. I was so close, but all I could do was watch in horror as Kara turned. The guard broke off from the others.

  The top of the manor was in sight. People were emerging from their homes, the noise of the protest reaching deafening heights. Please let me get to her in time. The cutout in the fence would still be there, but she wasn’t near that area. Without gloves to get past the barbed wire, I had to wing it.

  Pushing off my back leg, I launched myself at the fence. My hands curled around the vertical metal rod between two of the fences. In a push-pull manner, I scaled the pole. With my hands cupping the top of the beam, I heaved myself up and over, tucking my legs up and to the side to clear the barbed wire, then dropped about ten feet. I felt the impact from my feet up through my shins when I landed in a crouch.

  Trees and bushes obscured my view, forming a natural barrier from the unappealing fence at my back. Gun in hand, I parted the branches and pushed through. Mass chaos greeted me. The guards were mostly busy with the protesters. Glass bottles exploded. One guard went down, screaming as fire licked his pant leg.

  Two soldiers engaged with Kara. No—they were not soldiers but Dark Wing mercenaries. I didn’t recognize them except that they wore all black, lacking the insignia on their shirt the other guards wore.

  Kara was holding her own, but barely. A blow to the head had her staggering and down on a knee. I roared. My feet left the ground as I leapt into the air, putting the momentum behind the power of my punch. The man turned as my fist connected with his face.

  The satisfying crunch of bone splintering beneath my fist didn’t slow me down. Kara regained her feet, relief stark on her face.

  She flung her hand out in the direction from which I’d come. Then, to the nanny, she screamed, “Run!”

  Andrea took off toward the fence, leaving Kara and me to take down the two guards. My guy was up. He spun and thrust h
is leg at my gut. I pulled my knife out and dodged the hit by a millimeter. My turn.

  The soldier threw a combination punch. I blocked it then struck back. The blade sank into his kidney. I shifted for a counter. His fist slammed into my jaw, and he was on me like a fucking monkey.

  We don’t have time for this. When an opening presented itself after several more exchanges, I sliced my knife across his neck. My guy was down. Kara’s was wavering. More men were on their way. I couldn’t risk Jamal’s attack—he would slow us down to the point of capture. I snaked my arm around Kara, jerked her to me, withdrew my gun, then fired. Her attacker dropped, and then we were running. It would be close.

  As one, we burst through the shrubs. The guards who had seen the fight break out weren’t far behind. Andrea stood next to the fence, waiting. She wasn’t much older than Kara, but I doubted she could scale the fence. Fuck. She’ll slow us down.

  “Is this the best idea?”

  Kara met my gaze with determination. “Yes.”

  I dropped my pack at her feet, my gun still secure in my hand. “Bolt cutters are inside.”

  That’s all she needed. As she unzipped the bag and retrieved what she wanted, I turned to the guards that were on us. There was no need to kill them all. The men weren’t a threat like the Dark Wing soldiers were. The guards didn’t raise their weapons until they got sight of me. Kara must still have been under Ahmed’s protection. Good.

  I fired off five shots in rapid succession, alternating the target between the most pressing threats: left, right, straight, then right. I hit the shoulders of each one’s dominant hand. Guns clattered to the ground. More men advanced. We had to leave. More Dark Wings would hunt us soon.

  Kara shoved Andrea through the fence. After another round then a new clip, I followed. My pack was over Kara’s shoulders, its heavy weight slapping her as she ran. Andrea was a hindrance. She wasn’t fast, and she was arguing with Kara.