Dangerous in Motion

by Sidney Bristol

  This might be her chance.

  She backtracked to an old emergency exit and pushed.

  It didn’t budge.

  She put her weight into it and shoved. The door opened a few inches, a thin slice of light shining into the gloom.

  How long had it been since she’d seen sunlight?

  Something was blocking the door. She’d spend too much time trying to get out that way.

  She backed up and stared at the walls.

  The windows had been painted black, blocking out natural light and giving nothing away.

  She could try to escape or she could follow the rules.

  Heidi hated rules.

  She shoved the tablet down the back of her jeans and grabbed an old pipe secured to the wall with the other. Even now she could hear Adam’s voice coaching her up that damn tree the boys liked to climb.

  Reach for the best handhold, not just the one you can reach.

  Her boots slid against the brick walls, finding little grip against the age worn surface.

  Don’t overextend yourself.

  She made a wild grab for the windowsill above the pipe and hung on by her fingernails.

  Use your head, climb smarter.

  She pulled herself up with little more than upper body strength and determination, getting one forearm up and levering her weight onto the narrow ledge.

  Time was running out.

  She grabbed the metal catch and shoved. Paint pealed, and the window groaned open. Fresh, damp air hit her in the face. The light was so bright her whole head throbbed.

  A yell echoed down the corridor below.

  She pitched forward, forcing the window open with her weight and shimmied her legs up until she was folded over the wall.

  “Oh, shit,” she muttered, staring at the ground below.

  A hand grasped her ankle.

  Now or never.

  Heidi leaned forward, letting her weight and gravity do the work for her. The hand holding her slipped, and she fell to the ground. Gravel crunched and her whole body jarred on impact. Prickly weeds stabbed her skin. The sky spread out above her, gray, dreary clouds threatening some damp weather to come.

  She was free.

  Not for long if she continued lying here though.

  Heidi rolled to her hands and knees, then shoved to her feet. Her head rang and her shoulder hurt. Neither impacted the ability of her feet to run.

  There was thirty yards or so of gravel and grass to the line of rocks around what had once been a parking lot.

  She had to go now.

  Heidi scrambled, kicking up rocks as she picked up speed. Running had stopped being fun when she was a pre-teen, but this was her life.

  An engine revved behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at a humvee rounding the corner of the building.

  There was no way she was outdistancing them.

  2.

  FRIDAY. ABANDONED REFINERY, Huancavelica, Peru.

  Adam tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of the truck, never taking his eyes off the old factory. This was a prime example of Mother Nature taking back the terrain from man. The once imposing factory was in a state of disrepair. It was obvious locals had begun dumping large items here from the buildup of garbage. A gravel path was new, marking a few improvements the interlopers had made for their stay, but even that wouldn’t last. Weeds and grass grew despite the attempt to choke them out. How long until the building crumbled and became part of the rough terrain?

  “In position,” Riley said, his voice coming through the headset.

  That was the last man.

  Now all they had to do was wait until nightfall to breech the perimeter, proceed into the building and find Heidi. It sounded simple. These jobs were never so cut and dry. In truth, they were likely to remain hidden for hours, waiting for something to happen. It was best to go in under the cover of night when the darkness would work in their favor.

  Adam wanted to be right up on the building where Riley was, but Kyle had pulled rank and told Adam to stick to his primary duty. He’d always been the team’s get-away driver. It wasn’t about to change because they were rescuing his wife.

  “Any sign of that truck that left?” Kyle asked, his voice crackling.

  “Negative,” Adam replied.

  He peered in his rearview mirror, but the plume of dust was long since gone.

  These were going to be the longest hours of his life.

  Heidi was right there, through a little brick and concrete, but she might as well be across the world. He couldn’t get to her, not right now. He hoped she was okay that whoever had her hadn’t hurt a hair on her head. But he knew Heidi. She wasn’t the sit down, shut up, follow rules kind of girl. That had always driven him nuts. She was determined to do everything in the most difficult fashion.

  The first thing he’d do when they got Heidi was hug her. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, then squeeze the life out of her. What was she thinking getting involved with some secret witch hunt? She never did see reason.

  He’d thought when he retired and went into the privet sector he might try to look her up. Working with Aegis, he had the resources. Truth was he was scared of what he’d find out. He cared for her, but he also knew that they’d grown into different people with a lot of years between them. Maybe after this they could set the record straight and decide what to do about them.

  Legally she was his wife, and yet he hadn’t seen her since the day they signed the marriage license. The girl who’d always been there when he came home vanished into the big beyond. He’d gone after her once, months after they’d gotten hitched, and seen her so happy. Being in her life would change that. Heidi deserved a shot at something better. So he’d done one of the hardest things he’d ever done—and left her alone. It was what she wanted.

  “Hey, guys...”

  “What is it, Riley?” Adam clamped his lips shut on a sigh.

  “East side, windows—see that?”

  Adam picked up a set of binoculars from the passenger seat and peered at the line of blacked out windows.

  A head and shoulders popped out from under the heavy pane of glass. He would never mistake that shade of deep, auburn red.

  Adam’s mouth dried up, and he watched in stunned silence as Heidi dropped out of the window, twisting mid-air. She went down heavy, the dust billowing around her.

  “Shit,” Adam muttered.

  Heidi scrambled to her feet.

  He cranked the engine and slammed his foot on the accelerator. He shifted into gear and the all terrain Jeep lurched forward, its wheels gaining traction on the rocks and sand.

  “I’ve got lights at the loading dock. Two guys are running for a hummer,” Grant said.

  For a moment, a stand of scraggly trees blocked Adam’s view of Heidi’s escape. The nose of the Jeep dropped along with his stomach as the vehicle crawled down the slick rocks to the valley floor. Once all four tires were on the gravel he punched the accelerator, driving it harder into the factory lot. Heidi came into view, sprinting, her arms pumping, fists clenched tight—headed straight for Kyle’s hiding spot.

  Adam had a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach.

  She’d never make it. The hummer was too fast.

  “I’m going for her. Riley, Grant, stop them if you can,” he said.

  Bullets pinged off the hummer. Grant clearly wasn’t waiting to take a tactical shot.

  Adam focused on the woman. His first sight of her in years and she was neck deep in trouble. Typical Heidi.

  The Jeep ate up the distance between them.

  She caught sight of the Jeep and skidded to a stop. He was close enough he could see the whites of her eyes.

  Adam jerked the front end of the Jeep around, putting himself between Heidi and the hummer, sending up a wave of gravel. He lifted his weapon aimed out the open side of the vehicle, directly at the oncoming Hummer, and fired.

  “I’ve got her,” Kyle yelled.

  The Jeep rocked under the weight of
two bodies landing in it.

  “No! Get off of me,” she wailed.

  “We’re here to rescue you.” Kyle grunted. “Fuck.”

  “Heidi.” Adam said her name, the sound of it slicing through everything. How long was it since he’d spoken that sweet word out loud?

  She was there. She wasn’t safe, none of them were, but at least now they could focus on getting away instead of getting to her.

  Adam emptied the last of his Glock into the Hummer’s radiator.

  “Go, go, go,” Kyle barked.

  “What the fuck? Adam?” Heidi’s shrill voice was music to his ears.

  Adam shifted again and accelerated, shooting backward, past the Hummer.

  Riley and Grant sprinted for the Jeep.

  They were damn lucky she’d made a break for it when she did.

  Adam stomped on the brakes. The Jeep skidded backward a good ten feet, then lurched as two more bodies vaulted in the back.

  “We’re in,” Grant called out.

  “We really kicked the hornet’s nest,” Riley yelled.

  Adam shifted into drive and the Jeep shot forward, spitting gravel and dust in its wake.

  “You ready, Riley?” Kyle called out.

  “Get over the damn bridge.”

  Adam spared a glance in the rearview mirror at Heidi. Grant and Kyle had her sandwiched between them, protecting her with their bodies but her eyes were locked on him.

  Bullets made a trail behind them as yet more vehicles peeled out in pursuit.

  Adam had a sizeable lead.

  He cranked the wheel, and the Jeep drifted in a large arc before finally straightening out and getting a grip on the old, partially paved road that marked where the lane in and out of the factory used to be. Ahead, trees encroached on the road and in some places had broken up the pavement so as to force them down to one lane.

  “How close is the bridge?” Kyle called out.

  “Almost there.” Riley crouched in the bed of the Jeep, the detonator in hand.

  Adam stared at the ancient bridge ahead of them. There was no way they’d get out of this without a chase unless they did it Riley’s way.

  They passed over the bridge in the blink of an eye.

  “Now, Riley,” Kyle yelled.

  “Get down,” Grant barked, leaning over the top of Heidi.

  Adam hunched in his seat and kept his gaze on the road ahead of them.

  Riley squeezed the hand held device and his whole body jolted.

  For the span of a single moment, nothing happened.

  The boom came first, followed by the concussion wave which caused the road to shudder and the Jeep lurch forward. A tall plume of dust rose up behind them.

  “Suck on that.” Riley howled and pumped his fist.

  Adam glanced from the guys to the too-pale face of Heidi staring straight at him in the mirror.

  After years of wanting to be in the same time zone as her and failing, he didn’t have the foggiest idea what to say to her.

  I love you?

  I miss you?

  How could you?

  I hate you?

  The things Adam and Heidi had to say to each other needed time and privacy.

  FRIDAY. HUANCAVELICA, Peru.

  “Everything going okay?”

  Léo glanced at his assistant and driver, Crane. Between the two of them, they kept this ship running. It was a leaky boat after the on-going India disaster, but Léo could fix it. He had to, for the boss.

  “Don’t mind me.” Crane splayed his hands on the wheel and directed his gaze at the road ahead of them.

  “Sorry, these last few months have been exhausting.” There weren’t many people Léo could be real with, but Crane had been Léo’s man since they’d grown the operation from a two person gig to what it was now. If he couldn’t trust Crane, he couldn’t trust anyone.

  “You have to believe in the boss,” Crane said.

  Léo resisted the urge to cringe. He did believe, but he knew more than the others that the boss’ will was not always driven by the best intentions. What had happened to Léo, saving him like that, was the work of an angel. But the boss didn’t have the same kind of clarity anymore.

  “I do believe,” Léo said softly. His belief didn’t change the fact that the boss’ obsessions had nearly caused an outbreak the likes of which could not be contained or cleaned up. And for what? To free a woman who did not want to be free?

  The boss was slipping and Léo had to hold things together.

  “Hey Crane? Do me a favor?” Léo was feeling the strain of the boss’ mistake, the multiple labs, the stacked jobs, handling the business and boss’ side projects. He needed what help he could get.

  “Hm?”

  “If you hear anything, let me know?” Léo had known Crane long enough he hoped he didn’t need to expound on what type of chatter he wanted to hear.

  “Something on your mind?” Crane didn’t miss a beat.

  “I don’t know. What have you heard?”

  “About India? Same thing as you.” Crane glanced in the rearview mirror. “Those French mercs that got away talked.”

  “Our people took care of them.”

  “And died in the process. I’m not blaming you, but cost of business has gotten steeper. Not everyone working here believes in the boss. A lot of them believe in money. Results. Things were better when it was just us.”

  Didn’t Léo know that?

  He missed the days when the people who came to work with him were fanatical about the boss to the point of worship. Now, half their employees preferred the almighty dollar.

  Léo turned to stare out the window. He had a growing, unsteady feeling rooted in the upcoming East Coast job. He still knew nothing about it. The boss had decided to oversee that one without Léo’s help. That concerned him. The boss was good, their whole enterprise was built on the foundation of what he’d begun doing, but the truth was that the boss sometimes lost sight of the big picture. Of course Léo couldn’t have that talk with the boss because it would be a distraction. The boss needed everything perfect or no forward motion would happen. Léo couldn’t manage the job which meant anything could go wrong, and then where would they be?

  After the Siberia gig everything took off. Léo hated the idea of so many labs and locations to manage. He couldn’t be in South America, the US and India all at once. The boss had told him to not worry that the growth was good for them.

  That was Léo’s problem. He didn’t care about the business. It was a means to an end. What he cared about was the same thing he’d always put stock in—the boss. Ever since the day when a doctor in a lab coat told Léo he could save him from his abusive parents, Léo had believed whole heartedly in the boss. The boss needed this business, so Léo would do what was needed to keep it going, no matter what. Even if it cost him his soul. For what they did, he knew he was damned. It didn’t matter. So long as he served the boss.

  “Just so we’re clear?” Crane glanced over his shoulder. “There’s a lot of us who believe in the boss. A few setbacks aren’t going to scare us away. The rest? They don’t belong here.”

  Léo nodded.

  Did people like Crane know who—and what—they were pledging their lives to? Did they understand?

  Léo had been the first recruit. There’d been others before him, but Léo was the first one the boss had truly worked with. The boss had put a toe outside his routine. Léo liked to think it was because he reminded the boss of himself, but that was too much flattery. The boss didn’t care about him that much and believing otherwise was folly. No, the boss’ goals and plans were his own. Léo would remain by his side no matter what. If the others understood him, Léo wasn’t sure they’d have the same kind of faith.

  His phone began to vibrate. The head of security’s name for the South American lab flashed across the screen.

  He’d just fucking left.

  What the hell kind of emergency did they have now?

  He sucked down a breath and pr
ayed it wasn’t anything like India.

  “Yes?” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The pressure was building, his head throbbing, thanks to the impending storm and all the plates he was juggling after the India disaster. He wasn’t that old, and yet after having most of the bones in his body broken they ached whenever the pressure changed.

  “The woman, she got away,” the man on the other end of the line said.

  “She—what?” Léo sat up and twisted in his seat, as though he could see the factory behind them.

  “She got out through a window. A Jeep was waiting to pick her up. It wasn’t any of our people. What would you have us do?”

  “How the hell could you let her get away?”

  Heidi Novak was the boss’ latest obsession. Without her work could not progress, the boss wouldn’t eat or sleep until they’d converted that woman to their case. Then there was the uncomfortable fact that they needed her. After the India lab went sideways, they were short on manpower. The boss was not going to like losing his latest pet, especially after his last one had tried biting the hand that kept it alive.

  “She got away while shift was changing.”

  “Did she take anything with her?” Léo had to think fast. Just because she was gone didn’t mean they’d lost her. They could still recover her.

  “No, nothing.”

  Léo doubted that. Heidi Novak was annoyingly resourceful. He’d bet money that she’d thought to leave with something in her possession.

  “Pack everything, get out of there, and torch the place. Call me when you’re mobile.” Léo hung up, muttering curses under his breath. If they hadn’t just lost the India lab, he might not be this paranoid. But the truth was they were walking a tightrope of disaster between their lost manpower and the upcoming jobs, they couldn’t afford another fuck up. He was already worried about their clients. They needed to nail down details, target sites, windows of opportunity—and the clients were radio silent.

  His boss would not be pleased with this development.