Fatal Exchange

by Cindy M. Hogan

  Once on top, I stuck to the edges of the building where there was the most support and hopefully most absorption of my careful footfalls. I made it to the back edge of the building, away from the street, and leapt. I landed on the very edge of the target building, hoping to have the sound of my impact absorbed into the walls and across the roof instead of having a loud thud hit the building. After the initial hit, with ballerina feet, I took two more steps to the side to further disrupt any noise that had come with the jump.

  I then scanned my surroundings and let myself down the back side of the building and climbed into the first window that someone had neglected to shut completely. I’d dreaded having to get in the window and disable any alarms attached to it. If the window was slightly ajar, then the alarm was already out of the equation. I was only two stories from the roof and obviously in someone’s apartment. This wasn’t a business building after all. I stood in a bedroom that most likely belonged to a teenager. No wonder the window was ajar.

  Posters of rock bands and their lead singers along with bare chested movie stars hung on the walls. With that clue and the bright pink and yellow colors, I assumed it was a girl’s room. A lucky break. I crossed quickly to her wardrobe and rifled through the girl’s clothing, pulling out some black leggings and a black turtleneck. I shed my bum costume—it had too many pieces dangling from it that could get caught as I tried to move stealthily through the house. I slipped into the girl’s clothes and stuffed my discarded costume under her bed. I guessed it wasn’t my last disguise after all. The turtleneck was a bit snug, and a slice of my stomach showed no matter how hard I tugged down on it. This was Paris, though, and I needed no luck to find a scarf that I could wrap around my waist. It was burgundy with gold stripes through it and with a couple of creative knots, it didn’t look half bad used as a belt. I flung the go bag over my shoulder and moved to the door.

  I surveyed the hallway as I opened the door. Empty of people and no cameras. Maybe the cameras were only on the exterior of the building. I needed to get to the basement. In my experience most people kept their darkest secrets in basements. It probably had everything to do with keeping noises from the streets, but I liked to think that dark things belonged in dark basements. I guessed which direction would lead me down and lucked out finding a staircase. I was about to descend after discovering that the only cameras in the entryway were facing the front door, but two men appeared from behind the steps, just below where I was. I peered down at them, hiding myself as much as I could behind the wall that opened up to the spiraling steps.

  “Gonna have to go big to break them,” the voice said in French. “They’ve got to be serious professionals. They’ve been trained hard in interrogation. We’ve worked non-stop for almost three hours now, and neither one is showing signs of weakness. I think we’ve got some undercover government agents here.”

  “Not our government,” a second man laughed. “They’re our pals, aren’t they?”

  The first joined his laughter. “Man, they love us. We’re keeping them fat and happy. No—these guys must be foreign. We’ll figure it out.”

  They walked through the foyer and left out the front door. I didn’t see or hear them lock the door. They must use cameras and a central security team somewhere in the building. If I were to make it to the spot I’d seen those men, I’d need to take the cameras out, but I had no backup. I needed a distraction or another way down.

  I searched the upstairs and while I found no cameras in the living quarters, I did find my way into the ducting through a bathroom vent. It was already a snug fit, and I wondered if the old ductwork would support my downward travels. Keeping track of my go bag presented its own difficulties, too. I snagged a couple of towels and tied them around my knees and elbows to help with the noise. I moved quickly while horizontal, then slowed considerably as I hit a spot where I’d be totally vertical. I pushed my hands and feet hard into the metal hole as I lowered myself. I had counted one hundred steps on that staircase with my quick glimpse earlier, and I estimated my progress by them. Each time I readjusted my position, I figured I’d gone down one step, so I counted down from one hundred.

  By the time I hit fifty, sweat dripped profusely into my eyes, and I had to keep telling myself that I was in the Swiss Alps, enjoying the crisp air that beat against me. I decided to move a bit faster because the ache in my arms was starting to bother me. I hoped this run didn’t continue to the basement without having any arms leading out from it. I wasn’t sure I’d have the stamina to make it otherwise.

  My leg slid the requisite step, and the wall seemed to disappear. I let my other leg slip down and found the run had split two ways. I had to push both forearms into the metal to ease down. I slipped, but since I had my feet angled out they landed in the side runs. A gong sounded around me, and I pushed again on the sides trying to absorb the sound some. I hoped the noise had gone unnoticed or that it would be blamed on old-house sounds. I crouched and then sighed as I lay in the horizontal ducting, rubbing my upper arms and legs to relax them. I only allowed myself ten seconds of rubbing before I searched for a vent opening. I found one, but it had long since been closed off with a board over it. I used some pliers from my go bag to yank the board off. I could see out, but apparently I was still too high up to see what was in the room.

  I placed a magnet on the vent and then set to removing one screw. Instead of falling to the ground when it came free, it clung to the vent because of the magnet. Whew! I repeated the process with all four screws. Before I took out the last screw, I bent a twist tie through a metal slat in the vent to prevent it from falling to the ground. Once it was totally free from restraints, I pushed it out, holding onto the long twist tie and lowering it slightly before grabbing the vent and pulling it inside the ducting. I could hear the intermittent clinking of chains.

  I then used a mirror to look down. A completely empty cement room lay below me with no soft items anywhere. No rugs, no curtains, no furniture that wasn’t metal. A true dungeon. That’s when I saw them, my coworkers, my friends.

  Chapter 17

  Jeremy and Ace were chained to the wall right beneath me. Where was Halluis? And how did Ace get here. I thought he was on assignment for Siron. I scanned the room for him, but I couldn’t see him. I also looked for cameras and found none. Did the bad guys really only have cameras around the front door, but nowhere else? I chirped like a bird, and Jeremy tilted his head to the side and looked up. Terror crossed his face, and he shook his head almost imperceptibly before circling his head around as if he’d just been stretching.

  Both my team members stood with their arms chained above them. They wouldn’t be able to free themselves with paperclips or any of the supplies I had in my bag. I scanned the room again. There had to be a camera somewhere or he wouldn’t have risked warning me. No cameras were visible to the naked eye. Silently, I took out my binoculars and searched the three walls I could see, one by one. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I leaned just out of the vent and, still using the binoculars, I found the embedded cameras. They were hard to spot, but a glint from a light on one of the cameras put me onto them.

  Jeremy was right. This was not the right move. First, I had to find out where the guards were located in the house. Then, I’d need to come up with some distraction to get them out of their hidey-hole and in position to take advantage of that distraction to escape. I wasn’t looking forward to climbing the ducting. In fact, I decided I wouldn’t climb.

  The security team was most likely on the first floor and not on the same floor with the family’s personal quarters. I shimmied over the vertical ducting to the other side of horizontal ducting, and heard a slight scraping noise. I stopped to listen. I heard it again. It sounded like something was in the vent with me, and it wasn’t a rat or mouse with their tip-tapping claws. It was a dragging, scraping noise. A snake? I shook my head at the idea. What was I thinking? Just because I hated snakes didn’t mean they could climb into ductwork. No. This was something much worse. It ha
d to be someone following me. Summer had been right. Someone always followed me. Yet in this case, I realized, they were out in front of me, and I was following them—the sliding, scraping sound was coming toward me from the direction I wanted to go.

  Had the security team somehow discovered me? I had to believe the guard had no idea I was so close to him or he wouldn’t be coming toward me, making noise like he was. Trying to move at the same time he was and hoping I was moving twice the distance he was, I made it to the vertical opening. Up or down?

  He was most likely on his stomach, so I’d do better to climb up a little bit and then surprise him. But if he was trained at all, he might flip just before reaching the opening and be face up, giving him a quick glance at me at the same time I saw him. I’d take my chances and go up. A quick kick to the head would knock the guard out so that I could disable him and escape.

  The guard came quickly, and my foot was poised to take him out. As the head slid out, I shoved my foot down, but had to hold it back at the last second. Summer’s face looked up at me, gasping, her hands flying to cover her face. My foot tapped her forehead, and her hands hit into my shoe.

  “Summer?” I whispered, my nose scrunched up in confusion.

  “If you had kicked me, I would have been forced to hurt you.”

  I shook my head, my arms ready to move my body up or let me down. “How did you get here? I thought you were in Medical with a broken arm.”

  “Partial dislocation, whatever that means. And the same way you did. I really appreciate being led in here. Ducting is my favorite.” I couldn’t miss the sarcasm in her voice.

  “Mine, too.” I wanted to laugh, but Summer’s face did not invite humor. She was mad. “What are you doing here? Did Siron send you?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding, right? I was forbidden from even thinking about y’all. But I wasn’t about to let you get all the glory on this one. Not after everything I’ve been through. I thought you’d be going after the drive, but no, it turns out you are going after the other agents.”

  “I figured it wouldn’t take me long, and then I could snag the drive from Kamal right after. No big deal.”

  “And if he passes the drives on?”

  “Then we’ll have Marco’s coordinates while he carries them around. And if he takes them somewhere, we’ll have those coordinates too. The drive situation is under control. However, as you will soon find out, Jeremy and the others are in deep trouble, and they need us right now.”

  “Are they that way, then?” She pointed to the horizontal ducting that led to the other agents.

  “Yes, but there’s no way to save them from there. Cameras everywhere.”

  “So that’s what those guys are watching. I couldn’t see the screens, I just knew they were the guards on duty.”

  “The guards are in a room at the end of this ducting?”

  “Not at the end, but somewhere in the middle.”

  “How many guards?”

  “Two.”

  I let myself down, putting one foot on the opening to the horizontal ducting opposite Summer. I let out a harsh breath of air and shook out one arm at a time. “Do you think they have a view of the street?”

  “Most likely. The room was pretty big. I didn’t notice a window, but I wasn’t looking for one.”

  “Let’s get out of here. We need a distraction.” I started shimmying up the ducting. I heard Summer sigh before she also headed up.

  Once on the roof, we looked over the edge of the front of the building, watching the crowds enjoying the festival. It would be great if they could act as a distraction. There had to be a way to use them without truly putting them in danger.

  On the sides of the building, we could see garbage bins.

  “How about encouraging the festival goers to use this building’s bathroom? With the gallons of wine they’ve drunk they must need a toilet,” she suggested.

  “Perhaps several different distractions. Maybe a fire in the alley and several invitations to a private art showing in this fine house and a few invites to use the nice, clean bathrooms?” I raised one eyebrow and chuckled. “I’ll get a bit spruced up,” I said, waving over my black blank slate, “and go looking for some interesting characters to invite into the house. Then I’ll pretend to be a bit tipsy with a full bladder and join a group that I can lead here to use the bathroom.”

  “And you want me to pick the lock?”

  “No need. The front door is open. I watched two meatheads leave earlier, and they didn’t lock up. They use the cameras to control entry. I need you to set the fire in the bin, but make sure you get an audience. Better yet, talk some drunk guy into setting it. That will divert the guards’ attentions.”

  She gave me an exasperated look, and I remembered that she didn’t typically lead missions, but followed everyone around. “Use your womanly wiles, you know, the ones that make everyone follow and worship you.”

  “I’m not that girl anymore.”

  “You are tonight.” Without giving her a chance to respond, I slinked my way to the side of the building and jumped to the neighboring one. Summer followed.

  We checked our watches and marked the time on them. In ten minutes flat, the fireworks would begin. I would be one of the revelers looking for a party and use the others as my cover to disappear behind the stairs and down to the dungeon to free my captive teammates. My stomach felt queasy, and I swallowed over and over again.

  Summer would be the second wave, coming in full force with several weapons to clear our exit if needed. I was nervous about counting on her since we’d never worked together before, so I went forward thinking it was all up to me. If she happened to contribute something, all the better. I had to be ready and prepared for the worst. And the worst on this rescue mission was to be alone. Minute movements of the crowds caught my attention and for the first time that night, I smelled the sweet and savory smells associated with a festival.

  I didn’t know if I could live with the loss of Jeremy and Ace. That’s when it hit me again that I hadn’t seen Halluis. They must have him in a separate room, interrogating him. I couldn’t stand the idea that he was being tortured as we spoke. Especially since he was there because of me.

  I slipped into a store and grabbed some items to create a crazy outfit: feathers, a rainbow scarf, and a bright yellow, tight-fitting dress. I also picked up some knickknacks to give out as invitations to the “party”. Then I bought some sparkler-like fireworks from a street vendor, lit one, and went to work. I found the loudest, most outrageous group of party-goers and ran in front of them. “You all look like you would appreciate a private showing and party! What do you say?”

  They all looked at each other and then said, “Yes! Yes!” I handed out ten purple Eiffel Tower key chains as invitations.

  “Show up at that building with the white stoop in exactly five minutes.” I pointed to the building where my team had been chained up.” Don’t be early and don’t be late. The owner of the gallery is very picky. Don’t make me look ridiculous for inviting you.”

  Their eyes widened.

  Then I laughed and said, “He will totally love your outfits. I think they just might earn you the pass into the Dungeon. Only about fifteen people make it into the Dungeon each year. He never issues invites until a half hour before the event, and he sends me out to find the best and brightest. I choose you. Now I only need to find five others.” I consulted my watch. “Oh, shoot. Now I only have four minutes.” I hurried away and invited another five to the “event” and then put on my drunk persona and joined up with some awfully drunk people walking down the path on a collision course for the pickpocketing boss’s house. “You guys know anywhere I can take a pee?” They all shook their heads.

  “Not around here. Just pee in an alley.” They laughed.

  “No way! Oh man, there’s a good building. I think I went there last year. Really nice and really great, clean bathroom.” I had a lot of fun slurring my French words like a drunk would as I linked m
y arms through two other people’s and led them up the stairs of the white stoop just as the groups of gallery hopefuls showed up. Once they realized this place had no art gallery and no public bathroom, they’d be gone in a flash, so I’d have to be fast. “See, you guys, they love to open up their doors for the festival.” I pushed on the door and everyone flooded in. “Head upstairs, everyone,” I called out. Once they were all inside, I let myself be pushed to the back corner of the stairs, but there wasn’t a staircase going down, and I couldn’t see a door that led to one. I’d overheard those men when they’d been in this exact area, and stairways were typically stacked in these old houses. The entry had to be along one of these walls.

  As the partygoers started to climb the stairs, I took the opportunity to push along the stair wall in hopes of finding a way to the hidden basement. I was sure security would be at the top of the stairs and stop their progress, so I didn’t have a lot of time. In the far back corner, I pressed on the wall, searching for a hidden switch. It finally paid off as I pressed on a particular spot in the faux wood paneling, and a false wall opened. The door swung inward. I watched as the last of the visitors headed up the stairs before I went through the doorway. Surely the guards wouldn’t hurt the party-goers. They’d simply escort them out.

  I made sure no one was on the steps then disappeared down the stairs to the basement. Just as I reached the bottom, I heard a huge boom, and the ground shook a little. Summer did not go small, that was for sure. At least I hoped the boom came from her fire. The two guards in the guardroom had to have been lured out by now if they hadn’t already. That meant no one would be watching me go to the basement.

  I sprinted across the cold cement floor to where the agents hung on the opposite wall and immediately set to freeing Jeremy.

  “You made it,” he said, his voice weak.

  “Nice outfit,” Ace croaked. “Sorry. I didn’t bring any sweets with me.”

  I grinned, then cried out in dismay as Ace’s eyes rolled back in his head and his whole body went limp.