The Hidden Two

by Kimberlee R. Mendoza

  “Wait until I call you,” he said without looking up. The reverberating sound of disappointment sounded in his voice. This would not go well.

  She closed the door and began to pace. Why had he sent for her? The entire place was abuzz with trying to find their enemy. Most of them believed Laura and Myers must have gotten out. After all, three agents were dead outside and no one new had entered the building. Helena was starting to agree.

  “Helena, get in here,” Harding yelled through the cracked door.

  She rushed in and stood at attention at the end of his desk. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. It’s about time you remembered how to talk to me.” He nodded to the door. “Close it and sit down.”

  She complied. This whole thing made her nervous. People died for less. Laura and Myers were her responsibility, and they had escaped. Chances are, he’d kill her for it. It had been quite apparent all day that any favor was long spent.

  “Some people think Black and Luther got out of here, but I know my old partner. She’s still here. Lurking, seeking her revenge. I can sense her.” Harding scratched his goatee and leaned forward. “I also know her friends are in a green car a few blocks down the street from here. They are the reason some of my men are dead outside.”

  That made her heart rate increase. Helena did not want to face Teddy or Willow. Really, any of them. They had to hate her. Eri would kill her without blinking. An overwhelming sense of guilt was lingering, and that would just make it worse. But she was a professional. She better get on board, before he remembered she was responsible for Laura’s exodus. “So, what do you want me to do, sir?”

  “I’m going to the bunker along with the best of our men.” He stood and tucked a batch of papers in a briefcase, before looking at her. “And you, my friend, are going to blow this place up for me.”

  “Blow this place up?” Her stomach soured. “But, sir, there are close to three hundred people in this facility.”

  “All replaceable.”

  She stared at him, stunned. Evil oozed from him. Why had she followed this vile man down into hell?

  “Do you have a problem with this? Or shall I kill you and do it myself?” If Helena ever wondered what the devil looked like, she knew now. She could see it in his dark, narrowed eyes. How could he kill all these people? He walked around the front of the desk and faced her. “I need an answer.”

  “Will it kill Laura?”

  A sardonic smile crossed his face. “Likely.”

  “I thought you didn’t want to kill her?”

  He crossed his arms and leaned back against the desk. “Honestly, I knew you wanted to kill her, and that was enough for me not to allow it. You need to learn proper respect. You have made so many slipups, Helena. And in simple terms, S.I.U. does not allow any mistakes. You know this.” He shook his head and pasted on a derisive grin she had learned to loath. “Always following your hatred of Laura, which is so dumb, since Laura didn’t even pull the trigger.”

  Helena’s jumped to her feet. “What?”

  Harding got up from the desk and circled her. His mouth came within an inch of her ear, and he whispered, “I fired the kill shot.” He walked a few feet away and turned back to face her. “She only wounded him. When she saw you coming, she was going to stop. So, I brought the mission to fruition. We had orders—kill.”

  Stars flashed in Helen’s vision. Her head swam. Everything she had done for the last few years crashed around her. Without warning, her legs gave out, and she buckled to the floor. “You killed my father?”

  “Yes, yes, I did. Not by my order, of course. It was still Greenstone’s call, but I pulled the trigger.” He grabbed her chin and forced her head up to look at him. “And the beauty of that action was it helped me control you.”

  As that soaked into her brain, her body heated with fury. She reached for her gun, but Harding was ready. He slapped it across the room, then brought his own weapon hard against her shoulder and fired. Pain shot through her entire left side. Air sucked from her lungs. Blood pooled around her knees.

  “So here it is, my dutiful dog.” Harding walked in front of her and knelt down, gun hanging in front of him. “You will blow up this place, because I said so. This is not a negotiation. It never was. You have never had power here. I have always held the chain, and you have been a not-so-good dog. I used to own a dog. And when they don’t comply, when they bite the hand that feeds them, do you know what happens?”

  Helena didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Any moment, she may vomit. None of this made sense.

  “I’ll tell you what happens. We put them to sleep.” He shoved the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. It snapped. Empty. Her stomach knotted, and she leaned forward and vomited on the carpet.

  “Gross. I’d say clean it, but then it won’t matter. I suppose you thought that was it. The kill shot?” He laughed. “I only put one bullet in the chamber. I love a good game of Russian roulette, don’t you? No, the bullet is in your shoulder. Only one, because I can’t go killing my dog before it completes the biggest trick yet.”

  “I’m not doing anything for you,” she cried. “Kill me. I don’t care.”

  “Oh, I intend to.” Harding walked to his desk and pulled out the bottom desk drawer. For a second, he rummaged around before removing a device attached to a lever. He joined her again, pushed it in her good hand, and forced her fingers over it. “Now, don’t let go too soon, my dear. Wouldn’t want to blow both of us up, now do we?”

  “I will kill you,” Helena said through gritted teeth.

  “Not if I kill you first.” Harding grabbed a detonator from the desk and clicked on a timer that started with the number twenty. “This entire office is set to explode. If you drop that once I’m gone, it will go early. Good luck.”

  Within seconds, he was gone. Helena couldn’t move. Her body burned, weak from the bullet that had gone through her side. Her good hand held tight. Reality flooded her. She killed that nice man, Julio. Shot Denise. Murdered Bryce. Betrayed Laura and Myers, for what? A lie. All this time, she served the man who had actually killed her father. Her body wracked with sobs. Tears blinded her. How could she have been so stupid? Part of her wanted to let go of the lever. End it all. It was pointless now. She could never have Myers or Laura’s forgiveness. She had stolen everything from them.

  An explosion sounded from outside. Helena flinched. She scooted on the floor to the window and used her head to slide back the curtain. A fire burned in one of the trees on the east side of the complex. The Calvary was likely here to make a distraction. Little did they know, in nineteen or so minutes, this entire place would blow with them in it. Could she warn them somehow? Maybe do one right thing before she died?

  Helena crawled to desk. She tried to get up on the chair, but it rolled beneath her. Three times, she slipped and fell, pain shooting through her system each try. One last time, with a big breath, pinning the chair against the wall, she struggled again. This time it worked. She was in.

  Unable to use her dead weight arm, she used her nose to push the mouse. Then an idea occurred to her. There was a pencil holder on the desk that was the same circumference of the lever to the detonator. Could she put the detonator inside the cup without discharging the clip? She had to try. Using her face, her hand, and even the floppy appendage, she managed to pull it over and insert it. She squeezed her eyes shut and let go. It didn’t open. Yes!

  Now to warn Charlie. She typed into the dating site and wrote, “Dear Charles, I know I wasn’t the date you expected, and I do not expect you to understand. I know I cannot be forgiven. For this reason, do not come to see me. For it will be quite an explosion, and none of us are ready for that. Better to wait for another day. Sincerely, Aneleh.”

  Now to get out of here. Warm and tacky blood seeped down her body. She had little energy left. Her extremities were growing cold. Could she make it?

  The door opened. It was Alicia.

  “Helena? Oh my g
osh!”

  “He shot me. He shot my father.” Helena gurgled before passing out.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Teddy blinked to clear his vision. Though hardly ever allowed, he was manning the laptop for a few hours, while Charlie took a nap. Teddy didn’t mind because it helped to keep his mind off what was really happening; he was hopeful something would change and become better. What he really wanted to do was go in and rescue his friends, but Charlie would not allow it. He said it was more likely they would lose him, than get back the other three. In most scenarios, that was probably true.

  In the corner, an alert for the dating service pinged. Teddy sat up and smiled. “Charlie, wake up.” He clicked on the digital envelope, and it expanded the screen. His eyes scanned the note. “We have a message, but it’s not Laura.”

  Everyone in the vehicle sat forward, expectant.

  Charlie slid forward, grabbed the laptop from Teddy’s knee, and opened the document. “Oh my gosh.”

  “What?” they all asked in unison.

  “It’s from Helena.”

  “Then ignore it.” Eri sat back and closed her eyes.

  Charlie shook his head. “I don’t think we can. She’s telling us to stay away and says they are going to blow this place up.”

  Teddy peered out the window as blue and red lights flashed down the distant street. The sound of sirens followed the lights. “At least the firemen and cops got our message from the burning trees. I would say they are about two minutes out. Maybe they can help with this situation. Should we email Laura back? Make sure she knows?”

  “Maybe,” Charlie said, clicking around on his computer.

  “Is that his end game? To blow all of this up?” Willow asked frantically. “This can’t be it, right? Did we trigger something? Is this on us? Our fault?”

  Teddy laced his fingers with hers and squeezed. “This is not solely our fault. We may have triggered it, but only a sick individual would think to carry it out.”

  Eri nodded. “No truer words. This is not on us.”

  “But why blow it up? This is S.I.U.”

  “Most likely he has another headquarters.” Teddy leaned his head out the window to get a better look at the property. “We know there were at least three.”

  “But all those innocent people.” Willow’s eyes pooled with tears. “Most of them haven’t even finished puberty yet. We have to do something. Just like you rescued us in Washington D.C. We have to do the same here.”

  Charlie glanced her and held her gaze for a moment before nodding. “Okay, give me a second.” He began clicking keys. At once, a blood-curdling alarm sounded in the building, and the doors opened. Water could be seen pouring from the ceilings inside. Young agents began darting across the grass away from the building.

  The fire truck, along with an ambulance and a police car, drove to the front gate. Charlie hacked that too, and the gate swung wide, allowing them entry. The emergency service personnel pulled in and parked in a circle in front of the building. It was total chaos, as the response team obviously tried to determine what was happening.

  “Now what?” Eri said.

  “Nothing yet. Right now, I guess we wait to see.” Charlie popped open an energy drink and took a sip.

  “Wait? But our friends…” Willow stared out the window. “Please, guys, we have to do something.”

  Teddy silently prayed their guys got out in time. One silver lining, Laura had said they could survive an explosion where they were at, but even still. “I’m in agreement with Willow. I don’t think we should wait and see what happens.” Teddy mocked Charlie’s tone. “We should go in.”

  “Look, from what we know they are in a safe place and Helena warned us—” Charlie started.

  “Helena? Bryce’s murderer.” Teddy raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That is what you are using as quality intel here? The ultimate betrayer who has one desire—to kill our good friend Laura Black? Pah-lease.” Teddy opened his door and stepped out on the sidewalk. Out of nowhere, an agent kicked him in the chest. His body flew against a neighborhood car, knocking the wind out of him.

  Eri, Charlie, and Willow leapt out of the other open doors and ran toward the assailant. Eri slid over the hood of car and bashed into him. The guy slammed to the pavement, just as two more took his place.

  The next guy swung at Teddy. He ducked and swung back. His fist made contact. Blood trickled from the attacker’s brow as the guy raised a gun.

  Willow palmed a knife and tossed it at the guy. It landed in his neck, dropping him to the pavement.

  Charlie also spared with one, both blocking, until the guy flipped behind him and raised a gun to his head.

  Eri darted over the top of the car and dove toward him. His body plummeted hard to the sidewalk. She stood over him and jammed her boot in the man’s throat. “Nobody points a gun at my guy.”

  The man’s eyes fluttered, and then he fell unconscious.

  Charlie laughed. “You know that was super cheesy, right?”

  She winked. “Yeah, but so fun.”

  “I really am married to the baddest girl.” They came together and began kissing.

  Willow saddled up next to Teddy.

  “Took them long enough to find us.” Teddy wrapped an arm around Willow. “I would have thought they would have been out here hours ago.”

  Charlie looked away from his wife and smiled. “Yeah, it did take them a while.”

  “What should we do with them?” Willow asked.

  “Leave them. Look!” Teddy pointed to the front of the building, shocked at who he saw coming their way.

  Alicia appeared to be struggling to carry Helena in her arms. Her “sister” did not look well. Her body was covered in blood. Her eyes closed and face ashen.

  “Should we drop them?” Eri readied her gun.

  A pair of paramedics crossed their line of fire, heading for the two women with a rolling gurney.

  Eri lowered her gun. “Great.”

  “Helena didn’t look good. Maybe she’s already done for.” Teddy touched her back. “We can hope. Right?”

  “Laura will not like the fact they made it out.” Eri shoved her gun in her waistband and reclined against the hood of the car.

  The paramedic motioned for a gurney to be moved toward an ambulance. The man and his partner hoisted the rolling bed onto the back of their vehicle and began administering first aid.

  Alicia stood guard, glancing around. Her eyes fell to the group. Their gazes locked, both knowing this battle was not over. In some ways, Teddy sensed her fear. Their Camelot had fallen. Soon their prince would too. She stepped up next to the EMT, who then closed the door. With sirens blazing, within minutes, the vehicle was gone.

  “Charlie, you have to monitor where they are going. If Laura makes it out alive—” Eri started.

  “You mean, when?” Teddy crossed his arms. “You mean, when she makes it out alive. Right?”

  Eri nodded. “Of course. When Laura makes it out alive, she is going to want to know where they are. We have to do whatever it takes to end this. If not, she’ll always been haunting us.”

  “I think Alicia is the bigger threat,” Willow said.

  Charlie nodded. “I agree. I mean, I could be wrong, but I think she was the mastermind behind most of it.”

  “Are they even sisters?” Teddy wondered out loud.

  “Probably not,” Charlie responded.

  “So, are we going in now, or what?” Teddy asked.

  Charlie glanced at his watch. “It’s set to blow. We don’t know how much time we have. I know it isn’t the popular answer, but we wait.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Oh no!” Laura’s eyes went wide as the familiar figure came into view. “Harding.”

  Myers turned to the monitors and then to Deshawn. “I can hold them out for a while, but if Harding has an override code, that will be it.”

  “Can we hide?” Laura glanced around the small space. “Let him come in. Get him when h
e is least expecting it?”

  “How many men are with him?” Deshawn asked, stepping between them.

  Myers tapped on the screen. “Maybe five total? It’s Harding for sure, but I don’t know the others.”

  Myers snapped off the TV.

  Deshawn grabbed the empty bottles and wrappers and tossed them in a box.

  They only had seconds to figure this out. Each of them peered around the room and at the ceiling, looking for a hiding place. Together, they moved to the only place not seen at the entrance—the bathroom. It was tiny, and the three of them were practically on top of each other, but it was all they had.

  Laura angled to the left to free a hand. Part of her left leg was going numb from Myers’ body weight. “We have to be able to fight. I don’t think this is going work.”

  “I have an idea.” Deshawn walked out of the room.

  Laura started to follow him but decided against it when she heard the beeping of the code box. “How long?” she whispered in Myers’ ear.

  “Two minutes tops.” He motioned for her to get in the shower, and she shook her head. “You know I’m the better fighter.”

  He nodded and pointed to the door.

  Laura positioned herself behind it. When they came in, she would have to put them out with a sleeper hold. Anything else, and it would give them away. Even a silencer in this small space would echo. It didn’t matter. All she cared about was shooting Harding. After that, the chips could fall wherever they may.

  The bunker door slid open. The men filtered in laughing and talking.

  “I told you,” one deep-voiced male said. “She totally fell for it. Dumb brunette.”

  “You’re just sorry that she—” The room fell silent. Did the men know they were here?

  “What are you doing here, Agent Browning?” Harding asked.

  “I was told by Operations to report here,” Deshawn said coolly. “Something about protecting you. I don’t know. I do what I’m told.”