by Dawn Kunda
That sounded promising.
A sharp pain screamed attention across Cal’s back as he attempted to regroup down on all four, gasping for a full breath. He shuffled his knees to the side and sat facing the terrorist. Where the hell was Ranier during this battle?
Looking to his side, he saw Mary slowly crawl in his direction. The terrorist also noticed and turned to her, waving his gun. “Get over here. Sit next to him.” He pointed the gun back at Cal. When she came closer, he kicked her behind the thighs with the toe of his boot. “Hurry. Put your hands on the ground at your sides.”
Cal and Mary sat together, just short of touching distance, as the terrorist stood with spread legs.
The remaining gunman, with Ranier directly behind, emerged from the dark and entered the moonlit slice of ground. Ranier kept his attention averted from the two hostages.
“Cal,” Mary whispered with her eyes focused on her shoes. “Cal, Ranier isn’t one of us anymore.”
Glancing at her in response to the bad news, he froze as nerves skittered beneath his muscled arms. The two gunmen and Ranier exchanged words in staccato statements of Arabic.
Cal turned his head a fraction, saying, “What? How do you know?” He didn’t expect to hear such news. Little time remained to revamp a plan and get away from the three men left engaging in a fervent discussion.
Abruptly, the men quit talking and turned to Cal and Mary. Ranier sauntered back to them.
“Save the girl for last,” one of the others yelled. “Kill him first. Chenzira will think it an accident, self-defense.” In a calmer yet loud voice, he added, “Prove to us, Ranier, that you are one of us, one of the best.”
The other terrorist continued the revelry. “You’ll move up in rank if you pull this one off. Just do it. Now.”
Cal needed to think fast. He’d run out of options. He’d risked his life before to save Mary, but his life might not be worth enough to get her out of here this time. His mind churned, looking for clues to take down three armed men before a bullet found Mary.
Even if he sacrificed himself, he didn’t see how he could fight unarmed and win. Maybe there would be an afterlife where he and Mary could find a happily-ever-after together.
The heat from his anger and frustration masked the chill in the night air. He didn’t doubt the possibility of taking down one of the standing men. He’d rather die fighting than lying down.
“Ranier,” one man prompted and pointed with his gun to the seated agents.
Ranier paused, then nodded. He stepped in front of the agents. Cal met his stare, reading nothing from Ranier’s dark eyes in the minimally lit evening.
Mary shifted and winced at his side. She began to whisper. “I do. I do. I do.” She stopped and remained quiet.
Cal barely heard her admission. It didn’t make any sense and the distraction of a cold gun a foot in front of his face didn’t offer him a clear mind to dissect Mary’s incomplete admission.
“If you’re going to shoot us, get it over with.” Cal’s statement came out as a threat. His blood steamed. More from his own carelessness at not paying attention to signs he must’ve missed to denote fallout in the ranks.
Cal continued to glare at Ranier. He wanted his former comrade to know that he’d die an honest man.
Ranier put his finger on the trigger. He raised the AK-47, the barrel inches from Cal’s forehead.
Chapter 40
“No, no, you can’t,” Mary screamed. At this moment she forgot about all things in her life. All the assignments, the long days on foreign land, her resolution to make her work, her job, the most important thing in her life fell to the side. She reached for the end of the gun to avert it from Cal. He was the only thing on her mind.
Ranier whipped the gun out of her reach.
The men in the background laughed and shoved each other as the man on the left hollered, “Keep the feisty one alive for our pleasure.”
“We will have our fun with her, and then put her out of her misery just like her friend,” the other man added.
The two men, with wicked and torturous smirks pasted on their faces, came forward. “Ranier, shoot him. Shoot him.”
The command activated Ranier. Mary froze into a tight ball as she expected her world to end soon. She forced herself to keep her eyes on her soon-to-be assassin.
Ranier swung toward the other gunmen as they laughed. He kicked his foot at her. His heavy boot gouged into her ribs, sending her onto her back. She gasped for the air he knocked from her lungs.
The fast movement became a blur to her damp eyes. She felt Cal roll over and crush her beneath his weight.
A blast of shot rang through the thin mountain air. Boots scuffled near her feet. She tucked herself tightly beneath Cal. Pain vibrated in multiple areas of her body. She didn’t know if the sensations arose from existing bruises and cuts, or whether she had been shot. More importantly, did Cal survive the onslaught of fire?
She couldn’t tell if his slight movements were part of her own breathing or from himself. She pulled one of her hands from underneath his waist and clutched at his shirt. “Cal, please stay alive.” She mumbled her request from lips pressed against his chest.
Cal cupped his hand over her head and pulled her closer. She trembled with the realization that his palm and breath sent warm, living air onto her forehead.
The gunfire stopped. No one moved.
She barely believed her life had been spared. She could be on the other side where sound didn’t exist.
Cal shifted. She heard the brush of his clothing against her chest. “Stay still until we know what happened,” he whispered. Neither had an angle to see the consequences.
She didn’t answer and remained quiet.
Possibly minutes, maybe seconds later the sound of a single set of steps returned to their side.
Too early to let relief settle, Mary lay motionless. If they could fool the remaining person at their side, maybe they had a scrap of a chance. If one gunman remained, she and Cal could attempt a surprise attack.
A voice interrupted her analysis. “They’re dead. We’re the only ones left.”
That had to be Ranier. The Arabic accent had disappeared. Would he be easier to get around, if it was him, than the other gunmen?
Mary couldn’t see who spoke as her face continued to hug Cal’s chest. She noticed it rise with the intake of air. Briefly, her body softened with the release of adrenaline. She needed to remain alert. The altercation might not be over.
“You can get up now.”
Cal raised his head. Mary watched his expression as he checked the man who spoke. She saw Cal’s eyes crinkle with a confused curve to his brow.
Raising her neck, she wanted to see for herself.
Agent Ranier kneeled at their side, resting the butt of his gun in the dirt for balance. “Need help? Are you able to get up?”
Cal reached out. Ranier gripped Cal’s hand, held it tightly for a moment, then pulled him off Mary. She dug her elbows into the ground to lift her back from the dirt. Ranier released Cal and extended his hand to her.
She held back and warily stared at the offer.
“Agent Reiss, you’re safe for now,” Ranier assured her.
Ignoring his outreach, she stiffly brought herself to stand in front of the men. She stepped back out of Ranier’s reach. “You want all the glory of bringing us back to Chenzira yourself. Is that it?” Mary’s voice wavered between anger and remnants of distrust.
Cal looked at Agent Ranier, then Mary. “Mary, he saved us. We were in a bad position without him.”
She became braver after shaking off the stiffness of her sore joints. Cal’s comment didn’t lessen her need to berate Ranier for his part in the terror of the night. Before he could answer her initial question, Mary blasted Ranier with his involvement in her pain. “Saved us?” She stepped forward. “I’m supposed to be thankful for your actions?” Fury brought her another step forward. “Did you change your mind in the middle of your mission
and decide to switch back to our side? What about back at that damn cabin? You didn’t have any interest in saving me then.”
Ranier opened his mouth to speak. Mary took it as an invitation and swung hard. Her fist landed with a solid smack to the side of his face. Ranier’s eyes widened, yet he let her have her way.
Cal grabbed Mary’s arm and tried to pull her off him as she continued swinging. She hit Ranier’s chest and arms as she screamed, “Go ahead, kill me now. Now’s your perfect chance.” He tightened his stance and let her finish. “Why did you let them beat me? They wanted to rape me. Why didn’t you step in sooner? Whose side are you really on?”
Cal pulled her back as her energy faded. Tears of every sort poured down her face. She let Cal keep her from falling back to the ground as he hugged her close.
Ranier kept his distance. “Agent Reiss—”
“My name is Mary. Call me Mary.” She choked on her tears, then added, “We’re past our original op. We’re not agents together anymore.”
“Agent Mary, I did what I could. Four of Chenzira’s men were too much for me alone, along with keeping you safe.”
Cal interrupted. “I must’ve missed something, Alec. I didn’t know Mary thought you had gone AWOL.”
Turning to Cal, Alec Ranier explained, “I’m in tight with Chenzira. He doesn’t know who I am or who I really work for.” Mary’s sobs lessened as she turned her head to look at Alec. “Listen, we have to get out of here. Do you have transportation around? I’ll explain when we get going.”
Cal lifted his chin in the direction around the next corner. “Yeah, I have a rental around the bend.”
Alec moved fast and checked the other men. None moved. None breathed. “Help me drag them into the trees. It might give us a little extra time.”
Cal released Mary, and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “You okay? Stay here. We’ll take care of the others.”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her forearm. “I’m okay. I can help.”
“No, just—”
“I’ll help.” She turned away and went to the closest man lying in an awkward pile on the ground.
The three made a quick job of dragging the dead men past the first bunch of trees.
Alec glanced at the van. “The van probably won’t be noticed until morning. I don’t see any way of hiding it.”
Cal looked the vehicle over and agreed. “Leave it. Let’s get out of here.”
They set off at a jog around the curve. Getting into the car, Cal winced as he grabbed his arm.
“What’s wrong?” Mary reached for his arm.
“Fine. I’m fine.” Cal gunned the engine. “Grazed by a shot. Nothing serious.”
Seated in the back, Alec pulled himself up to the back of the front seat. “I’m going to give you directions on where you need to go.”
“How do you know what we’re doing next?” Mary retorted, still slightly hot from his performance.
“I have to go back to Cairo. You need to disappear.”
“I’m going to take it for granted right now that you know what you’re talking about, but I hope you can fill us in on what’s next. Which way?” Cal asked before taking off.
“Go back the direction we just came. Go north.” Alec moved to the side of the backseat, so Cal could see as he backed the car up. “You’ll be dropping me off before you get to your destination, but I’ll fill you in on what you don’t know.”
Chapter 41
Traveling ensued at a moderate speed as the mountains commanded Cal’s attention for night driving. He flipped the heat on when he heard Mary’s teeth click together from the evening chill.
“I’m ready for your story. It’ll keep me awake while I drive.” Cal rubbed his thigh, trying to erase the tightness from a long day.
“Good idea. I’ll keep it succinct, and then Mary and I can get some rest. Cal, when you’re ready to turn over the wheel, I can take over. We all need to sleep before we accomplish much more.”
Cal nodded.
“First, as you probably figured out, I’m far up in Chenzira’s line of officers. Not at the top, but I can get information the US has wanted for a long time.”
“We knew that according to the men you finally shot,” Mary informed.
Alec glanced her way and continued. “What you don’t know is that there are four other agents working the Hidden House. You know Baier and Hoffman. The other two, Meinert and Linden, work in the kitchens. A lot of information gets passed there, or can be overheard.”
“What does this have to do with us right now?”
“I’m getting to that. You’ll be dropping me off in the morning to catch a plane back to Cairo. One of those four agents is a leak. I have an idea, but I need to clean house before I’m done at the Hidden House. Whichever one is the problem will be after you, me, and Agent Grant. I’ll get to him in a moment,” Alec said as Cal attempted to interrupt.
“Okay, you need to get back and finish business. Why aren’t we going back, not being seen of course, to help?” Mary reiterated her question in another format.
“Because you no longer exist.”
Cal frowned as a few pieces fell into place. “Our op wasn’t intended to be a success?”
“Yes and no.” Alec sighed. “The best way I can explain it is that Grant is on the up-and-up. He suspected a bad seed in D.C., but didn’t know it would be with your operation.
“Apparently, you had a genuine formula to trade with Chenzira. You and Grant were told it was a fake and would get you in to obtain Chenzira’s information without jeopardizing the US.”
“It was a setup before we left the homeland,” Mary murmured.
“Yes, it was,” Alec summed up his knowledge. “Grant’s superior, don’t know which one or ones, will write you off as dead along with Grant. If they find you, they’ll make it happen.”
“We can’t go back then.” Cal tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Where are we going and who else knows? And what about Vic Grant? Does he know, or is he in trouble right now?”
“I know you’ve contacted Grant. So does his superior, though. I hope he gets out before he’s taken care of. I haven’t been able to contact him for a couple days. When you two escaped, I got busy.”
Cal altered the conversation. “Where are we going, why, and for how long?”
Cal looked in the rearview mirror, seeing Alec rub his jaw. “You’ll be dropping me off in northern Turkey, before we cross the border. You need to find a way to get to Austria.”
“Austria? Why Austria?” Mary turned to look at Alec.
Cal yawned. They’d already driven for nearly an hour. He knew he could make it for a while, but his tired mind made it difficult to absorb so much information.
“Austria will be safe. For a while. There’s a safe house you can go to. From there, you’ll need to find something more permanent. I won’t know where that’ll be, and I don’t want to know. Again, it’s safer.”
“What’ll we do there?” If Cal hadn’t been awake for too many hours, he might think a trip to Austria with Mary could make a little magic.
“You’ll live there.”
“You’re serious?” Cal came alert at the sudden change in his whole life. “In other words, dead or alive, we don’t exist?”
“You’re catching on.” Alec paused. “Knowing Grant, he’s gone from the States by now. He’ll probably go to Norway or Sweden to start with.”
“Will he contact us?” Mary asked.
“Yeah, he will. By the way, keep whatever cell phone you last talked to him with. That’ll make it easier for him to find you. He’ll have an idea where you’re at and that’s about it. He’ll contact you anywhere from two to six months.”
Cal turned the plan over in his mind. Mary remained quiet. He guessed she felt a bit overwhelmed, if they had any similar feelings and thoughts.
Chapter 42
“Once we get to our house”—Cal paused at the term “our house” “we’ll get rid of th
is rental car and use the metro.” He repeated the plan he and Mary had hashed out on their flight from Turkey, the last place they saw Alec, to the airport outside of Graz, Austria. The lack of a vehicle would disguise their existence by one more step.
Mary studied his profile, admiring the sharp cuts the early morning light cast across his face. The abrasions he obtained less than thirty-six hours ago during her rescue had dulled from the initial bright red. “Seems a bit odd that we have to live like normal people for who knows how long.”
Their visit to the safe house, which Alec Ranier had sent them to, was brief. They had hoped to stay and catch up on sleep and try to get a head start on whatever was expected of them. Instead, the no-name contact didn’t give them typical agents-in-action orders, for they didn’t exist. How can you have work orders when you don’t exist? The no-name contact told them to stay out of sight, keep quiet, and be normal. He handed them an address near one of the six universities of Graz and wished them a long life.
“Be normal, have a long life, and live in a house together.” Cal drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel. “All a strange concept for agents from the CIA who never have that chance.”
Mary matched his stare for a quick moment as he glanced her way, then looked back at the road.
They drove in silence for a few miles. She rubbed the tattoo on her neck, reminding herself that they weren’t normal people.
“You don’t have to do this.” Cal blurted the statement as he took a turn off the main express. “I mean, live with me. I could drop you at the address and find a different residence, if you aren’t comfortable with the plan. Either way, we’d both disappear.”
“No, no that’s not what I was thinking.” She said it before any pretense of a wall could build between them. She didn’t want that. She didn’t quite know what she wanted. Looking his way, she watched the muscles on his arm twitch while maneuvering the car.
She had always considered herself a loner, someone who didn’t need assistance or anyone else, let alone a man, to lean on. The city of Graz didn’t frighten her. It had a charming atmosphere of learning and history mixed together. She wondered if coming so close to a coffin once again finally had an effect on her.
