by Mark Goodwin
Raquel slowly raised the black box, her thumb resting firmly against the red button. “And I’ll send the people in that detention center to their grave. I know you well enough, Ava. For the rest of your life, you’ll dream about all those people, the families, the mothers with their tiny babies in their arms while they died. The little boys and girls who will never laugh and play again because of you. They’ll haunt you from this day forward.”
Ava’s finger could not have been any tighter against the trigger without making the rifle bark out the projectile which would end Raquel’s life. She slowly brought the bead up to Raquel’s head, knowing that unless the bullet pierced her brain before her finger could push that button, everything Raquel was saying was true. She’d never forgive herself if there was even the most remote chance that she could have done something differently. Ava ran the calculations in her head but she simply didn’t know if she could kill her in time.
“Put down that gun, and I’ll put down the remote.” Raquel’s antagonistic tone had died down. She seemed to be coming around to how dire the situation was between them.
Ava considered the deal.
“No,” called a faint voice.
Ava glanced down only for a second. “Foley?”
Raquel slowly positioned the pistol in her right hand, aiming it at Foley’s head. “What’s with you people? You just won’t die! But I tell you what, if you shoot me, I’ll finish Prince Charming off so you can add his face to your list of ghosts who will be visiting you regularly in your nightmares. Put—the gun—down.”
Ava shook her head. “No. Not unless you toss yours.”
“Okay, we’re negotiating. That’s good. Let’s say I toss my gun. Then what?”
Ava looked around the room. “Then I put my rifle down and you let Foley and the people in the detention center live. You can kill me or whatever you want.”
“So how do we do this?” Raquel asked.
“Toss your gun out the window. Then, I’ll dangle my rifle out the window, and you’ll hold the remote out the window. We’ll count to three and drop them both simultaneously.”
Foley grunted his objection but didn’t have the strength to formulate full words.
Raquel considered the offer. “I don’t like it.”
“It’s the only alternative. Otherwise, I pull this trigger and put you down like ‘Ol’ Yeller.” Ava faked a nod of complete confidence. “Then, whatever happens, I’ll sleep just fine knowing I tried to reason with you but you refused to compromise. It’s the only way I can be sure you won’t gas the hostages the second I put down my rifle.”
Raquel stood staring into Ava’s eyes as if she were trying to see if she was bluffing.
“And time is running out. You’ve got until the count of ten to give me your answer. If you say nothing, I’ll take that as a no, and I’ll gun you down right here and right now.”
Raquel tightened her jaw and flexed her arm holding the pistol at Foley’s head.
“One, two, three, four.” The pressure felt like so many needles pressing against Ava’s skin, only from the inside rather than out.
“Five, six, seven.” Beads of sweat formed on her brow.
Raquel took a deep breath and the color washed out of her face.
“Eight, nine . . .” Ava’s nerves caused her hands to quiver, causing her to question how true her shot would be, making her wonder if she was sealing Foley’s fate along with the men, women, and precious little children in the detention center just outside the bloody broken window.
“Wait!” Raquel screamed as Ava hit Ten.
Ava took a deep breath, ready to cry over the torment. “Time’s up, Raquel. What’s it going to be?”
“I’ll do it.”
“Exactly the way I said. No modifications.”
Raquel gave a dull nod. “Exactly the way you said.”
“Toss the gun. Out the window.”
Raquel gradually moved the gun away from Foley. She held it through the broken glass.
“Let it go.” Ava kept her sights on Raquel’s head.
Raquel growled as she allowed the pistol to slip away from her grip.
“Good. Now, take your thumb away from the button, turn the remote upside down, and hold it out the window.”
“No way. I’m not falling for that one,” Raquel argued.
“I’ll take my finger off the trigger at the same time. It’s the only way I know you won’t push the button as soon as I lower my weapon!”
“Nope. I’m not doing that. You didn’t specify.”
Ava raised her voice. “Well, now I’m specifying. And the question of Foley living is no longer an issue since you ditched the gun. Do you really want to go back to the bargaining table with me?”
Raquel scoffed. “The question of Foley living is certainly still an issue, whether I have a gun or not. You better take another look at pretty boy.”
Ava gritted her teeth, wanting to end this now. “Yeah, antagonize me while I have a rifle pointed at your face, Raquel. That’s smart. Do what I said, or I’ll blow your brains all over the wall.”
Raquel tempered the attitude. “Okay. At the same time. I move my thumb and you move your finger off the trigger.”
Ava nodded and placed her finger on the trigger guard while watching Raquel remove her thumb from the red button. “Out the window.”
“At the same time,” Raquel insisted.
Ava stepped over the leg of the body impaled in the center of the window. She glacially held her rifle out the window as Raquel inverted the remote so she could not readily push the button.
There they stood. Raquel on one side, the bloody corpse of the SJL guard in the middle, and Ava on the other. Raquel held the remote out the window with her thumb and her forefinger. Ava dangled the rifle by the barrel below the silencer.
Ava nodded. Raquel lowered her chin in agreement.
“On three,” Ava clarified.
Raquel acknowledged, “On three.”
“One,” the girls said in unison. “Two, three . . .”
Ava released the rifle, which dropped rapidly to the ground below.
Raquel did not release the remote. Rather she smiled at Ava with a devilish smile. All the evil in Raquel’s soul pierced through her dark eyes, which were laughing with hideous malice.
Ava felt a firestorm of rage well up inside her instantly. She looked at the remote, which Raquel was already spinning around between her fingers. Ava knew she had less than a second before Raquel’s thumb hit the button and killed every person inside the detention center with the deadly cyanide gas.
Ava didn’t hesitate. With all of her fury and all of her strength, she grabbed Raquel by her hair. She clenched her fist in the matted jet-black mess. And with every ounce of her vigor, she thrust Raquel’s head down against the jagged dagger of glass protruding from the corpse between them. She felt the shard pierce deep into Raquel’s eye, but Ava plunged her weight onto the back of Raquel’s head, driving the sharp point deeper into her brain. She turned to look out the window at Raquel’s hand. Her body tensed up from the sudden trauma and her hand opened in an abrupt spasm. Ava watched the remote drop from Raquel’s hand and land gently in the grass below—right beside her AK-47.
CHAPTER 26
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Isaiah 43:2
“We did it, baby! We stopped her.” Ava knelt beside Foley.
Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth yet he still managed to force a smile. His breathing was labored and his voice was feeble. “You have to call it in to Altus. The encrypted sat phone is in the side pocket of my cargo pants.”
She hurried to unzip his tactical vest. She ripped the first aid kit from her vest and removed the EMT shears. “Sure, just as soon as we get you taken care of.” Ava cut away his shirt to reveal the entry
wound in Foley’s chest. Blood spattered out of the hole with each of his tedious breaths.
“No, you have to call Altus first. The invasion is waiting on our report.” His speech and expression showed his discomfort.
“They’ve waited this long. A few more minutes won’t matter.” Ava ripped open the packaging of the chest seal, wiped away the blood from Foley’s wound, and placed the seal over the bullet hole.
Foley’s breathing became increasingly shallow and his eyes closed.
Ava pressed the mic key on her radio. “Captain Murphy, Foley is hit in the chest. I put the ventilated seal on him, but he seems like he’s fighting for air.”
“Tension pneumothorax, do you have a decompression needle in your kit?”
“No, can you come? We’re on the third floor.”
“I’m hit in the leg,” the medic replied. “The bleeding is controlled, but my stair-climbing abilities are hampered at the moment. Can you come down to me to get the needle?”
Ava couldn’t fathom leaving Foley in this condition. “Octavio, Elizabeth, can one of you go to the captain and get a needle for me? Foley is in bad shape. I don’t want to leave him.”
“Roger,” Elizabeth said.
Ava said a quick silent prayer for Foley, then retrieved the satellite phone from his pocket. She keyed in the numbers.
“HQ, go ahead.”
She held back her tears. “This is Alpha Platoon, Austin Company. We’ve secured our objective but suffered heavy losses. We have multiple dead and severely injured. We won’t be able to hold out long without support.”
“Roger that, Alpha. We’ll get to you when we can.” The call terminated with an abrupt click.
Ava folded the antenna and looked helplessly at her husband. “God, I know you still work miracles. This wouldn’t even be the first time you’ve blessed me with one for Foley, so my faith certainly isn’t an issue here. But please, I’m begging you, save him from death once more, in Jesus’ name.”
Minutes later Octavio’s voice came from behind. “Somebody ordered a doctor?”
Ava turned to see Elizabeth and Octavio panting heavily from carrying Captain Murphy up three flights of stairs. “Yes! Thank you, yes!” Ava moved out of the way so they could lower Murphy next to Foley.
Ava lifted her eyes to Heaven. “Thank you, Jesus!”
Ava called back over the radio, “Team Five, if there’s any way possible for you to retrieve it, I’ve dropped something very important out the window.”
The leader from Five called back, “Is it life-or-death important?”
“Yes.” Ava didn’t want to give too much information about the remote, in case the enemy was listening. “It’s mission critical.”
“Then we’ll get it, but we’ve got hostiles outside the building. Would it be possible for your team to provide cover fire from your location?”
Elizabeth answered, “Roger that, Team Five.”
Ava gripped Foley’s hand once more, then picked up his AK, following Elizabeth and Octavio to the broken window where Raquel’s corpse was stacked on top of the fallen SJL soldier.
“I’ll tell you what you’re looking for when you’re en route. Let me know when you’re ready.” Ava let go of the mic key.
“We’ll go on your signal, but we need that cover fire.”
“Okay, go!” Ava began sniping off every visible guard who had left the detention center and taken up positions around the admin building. Elizabeth and Octavio did likewise.
“What are we looking for?” Team Five’s leader asked.
“West side of the building, directly below where we’re shooting, you’ll see an AK lying in the grass. Next to the rifle is a small black remote. We need to retrieve it at all costs.” Ava resumed shooting.
“Then you’ll have it.” The leader’s voice was obscured by a barrage of machine gun fire all around.
Ava kept her focus on the guards who were closing in on Team Five rather than paying attention to the remote below. She emptied the magazine of Foley’s rifle then exchanged it for a fresh one.
Seconds later, Team Five’s leader called back. “This is Sergeant Prindle, we have the device. Three good men lost their lives retrieving it.”
“I’m sorry, Sergeant. But if the enemy had located it, the hostages would have been gassed. I’m sending Octavio down to get the remote. We’ll disassemble it and destroy it, so it can’t fall into the wrong hands.”
“I’m down to myself and one other soldier, so if you could send down a couple people to help hold the front door, I’d appreciate it,” said Prindle.
Once again, Ava did not want to divulge too much information over the radio in case the enemy was listening in. “Roger.” She looked at Elizabeth. “You and Octavio go downstairs, and you bring the remote back up.”
She turned to Octavio. “Let Prindle know that it’s only the seven of us alive and that Foley and the captain aren’t in fighting condition.”
A heavy crease came across Octavio’s brow. “I’ll tell him. I hope we don’t have to hold this place too long.”
Once they’d left, Ava squatted near her husband. “How is he?”
“He’s breathing better. I gave him a fentanyl lollipop, so he’ll be out for a while. Rest is the best thing for him until we can get him to a hospital.”
“So, he’s stable?”
Murphy offered an encouraging smile. “For now.”
“How long can he stay like this?”
“A few hours.”
Ava’s stomach sank. “They said it could be tomorrow before the primary invasion force reaches Austin.”
“We’ll have to make a move before that.”
Ava stood up and looked out the window. The first hints of daylight were glowing softly in the sky. “SJL guards are still all over the place. We can’t get out of here. And even if we could, we’d be abandoning the hostages.”
Captain Murphy sighed. “I’m sure SJL backup will be arriving soon.”
Ava grabbed the satellite phone again and punched in the number.
“HQ, go ahead.”
“I need to speak with Colonel Barr, please.”
“The colonel is indisposed. We’ve just activated Operation Lone Star.”
“I’m the acting CO for Alpha Platoon, Austin Company. We’ve completed our mission, but we’ve lost all but seven people from our platoon. The hostages are not in immediate danger, but we’re being surrounded by SJL troops. Once they neutralize us, they’ll still have the hostages in the detention center. I’m guessing they probably have redundancies for releasing the gas manually. All of our sacrifices will be for nothing if we can’t get reinforcements. Please, get this message to Colonel Barr.”
“Ma’am, I’ll do what I can to relay the message, but we’ve just committed all of the available Alliance resources to the invasion. I’m afraid there is very little he can do.”
“Then can you patch me through to the Austin Company safe house? I know Barr has back-channel communications with the resistance members there. Maybe they can send help.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. The regime disabled all landlines, cell towers, and internet when we began the invasion. Markovich is even using jamming signals to interfere with radio frequencies. You may even begin to experience disruptions with your satellite phone.”
“A lot of good it’s doing me. Please, just get the message to the colonel for me.”
“I’ll do what I can.” The call ended.
Murphy looked up at her. “Not good?”
She exhaled deeply. “We’re on our own.”
“Here’s the remote.” Elizabeth handed Ava the small device, which had cost so many lives.
Ava quickly took out her multitool and used the screwdriver to remove the back panel. She removed the battery, then used the wire cutters to snip the power supply. Afterward, she pulled out the circuit board and snapped it into pieces.
“Ava, you should take a look at this.” Elizabeth stood by the broken window.
Ava peered through the broken glass. “Oh, no.”
“What’s happening?” Murphy inquired.
“Three armored personnel carriers just pulled into the lot,” she replied.
Captain Murphy struggled to get up off the floor. “If you guys get me a chair, I can shoot from a stationary position.”
Elizabeth quickly rolled the office chair around from behind the desk. “Should we move the bodies out of the way?”
Ava looked at Raquel and the dead SJL soldier. “No. They’re not really hindering our ability to target, and they might even block a few bullets.”
Ava pressed the mic key. “Octavio, you and the other two men head on up here. We’ve got company coming, and we’re going to have to make a stand.”
Sergeant Prindle replied, “We’d be better off trying to get out of the building, maybe find some cover or fall back to the ORP.”
“Foley is unconscious and Captain Murphy can’t walk. I’m not leaving them behind.”
Prindle replied, “We’re trapped in here. Nowhere to go. Staying here is equivalent to sealing our own coffins.”
“I appreciate your commentary, Sergeant, but we’re making our stand here. Get to the third floor, pronto. Collect as many grenades and as much ammo from the fallen soldiers as you can on your way up. We’re going to need it.”
Octavio replied, “Roger that.”
Prindle, Octavio, and Dillon, the other survivor from Team Five soon arrived, carrying several full tactical vests they’d taken from the dead.
Ava pointed to Prindle. “You and Dillon stay in the stairwell. As soon as you hear SJL troops hit the first flight, start dropping grenades on them. Unless they brought a ladder, there’s only one way up.”
Sergeant Prindle seemed less than enthusiastic about Ava assuming the role of CO in Foley’s absence, but because of her knowledge of Austin, the matter had been decided long ago at the outset of the planning stage. “Yes, ma’am. If I may offer a suggestion.”
“Go ahead.”
“That window will be a target for RPGs. You should move your wounded and munitions into the hallway.”
