Spirit of Danger (Body of Danger, #2)

by Bristol, Sidney

  Two restrained down stairs.

  One dead on their assent.

  Two dead while pursuing.

  How many were still out there?

  Arms wrapped around him from behind.

  He turned and held onto Merida with his left arm while taking in what he could see of the fourth floor.

  “Tell me it gets better.” Merida’s voice was odd, a little distant, but that was due to his ears still ringing.

  “What?” He peered down at her face mostly in shadow.

  “The sick feeling in my stomach.”

  Killing.

  She meant killing someone.

  He opened and closed his mouth.

  She wanted to hear yes, that it got easier. But the truth was it didn’t get easy for a long time. At least, it shouldn’t. And if it got easy fast, then that was another problem. The kind that had sent him into civilian life. He hoped for her she never had to do this again, that it never got easy.

  He bent his head and kissed her brow.

  “You did what you had to do. Never forget that,” he said softly.

  The door shuddered again.

  Merida let go of him. “We should move. Now.”

  “Where’s Elias?”

  “The munitions locker.” She turned and began walking away from him.

  “You have a munitions locker here with explosives?” He kept pace with her along the wide hall. He hadn’t really thought through that when they’d brought it up earlier.

  Merida glanced up at him. “Yes. It’s one of the reasons we always keep someone on-site. Honestly, most of the time there’s several people, but with the holidays we opted to be more flexible. I’m not sure if I’m glad or if I wish we had all those people here now. This way.”

  She opened a door into a narrow standing area. A window was barred by a metal gate secured to the desk at this hour. Merida bypassed that through a door wedged open. A flashlight sat on a table by the door waiting for them.

  Finley stopped inside and whistled as he stared at the munitions closet.

  His closet at home was maybe three feet deep and six wide. This was more like one of those fancy-pants closets off some home improvement show.

  There were shelves with gun cases, each sporting a color-coded tag. There were lockers. And on the far side of the room was a partitioned off portion of the room. The gate stood open and another locker was left ajar.

  Merida went straight there and began selecting pieces. She put them into a canvas bag as if she did this all the damn time.

  “Where is Elias?” Finley turned around.

  “He left a note.” Merida opened the locker door a bit more to show off a dry erase board on the inside. “Headed to north and east corners. Setting timers for :45. See you outside.”

  “Timer.” Finley nodded.

  He hadn’t even thought about how they’d trigger the detonators. Any type of remote trigger was out due to the jammer. A timer was about as perfect a solution as they could get. It also put them on a timeline they couldn’t deviate from. If anything went wrong and they weren’t out of the building, they’d be going down right along with everyone else.

  Merida glanced up again. “Reload. Get bullets and some flash grenades. Look for any case with a black tag. There are keys under the counter that should open those.”

  “What are the color tags?” He grabbed a few black tagged cases off the shelves.

  “Color tags are personal firearms. It would take too long to find the right keys.” She stood and hauled her bulging bag of explosives to the long table in the middle of the main room. “Black tags all have the same key. Those are company issue guns.”

  Finley was never going to think the Aegis Group guys were a bunch of puffed up blowhards again. He hadn’t given them enough credit for how serious an operation this was. And a lot of that went to Merida. Without someone like her behind the scenes making things work smoothly the guys going out in the field wouldn’t have such an easy time of it.

  They made quick work of trading out their stolen weapons for more reliable guns and enough ammunition to go up against a small army. Then there were the flash grenades.

  He still couldn’t believe they were actually going to blow up a building. He’d done it a few times on missions in the Marines, but as a civilian? He just didn’t do stuff like this anymore.

  “Okay, how do we get to the basement?” Merida braced a hand against the table and looked at him. “They’ve got to be on the south stair trying to get in.”

  He nodded his head. “Yeah. What are our other options? And what’s on the basement level?”

  “The cafeteria, heating, maintenance.” She ticked off the three on her fingers. “Plus some general storage.”

  Merida gripped his arm and stared at him.

  “What?”

  “There isn’t a north stair on this floor.”

  “Okay,” he said slowly.

  “I mean, the elevator lobby is completely cut off on this floor.”

  Finley had a bad feeling about where this was going...

  “We can climb down the elevator shaft,” she said. “They’ll never know where we went.”

  Yeah, he hated this plan, but there wasn’t time to discuss another one. A steady, loud bang had picked back up again.

  “You’re sure there’s no way into the lobby?” he asked.

  She grinned at him and hefted the bag of explosives over her shoulder. “None.”

  It was about time they caught a break.

  Finley took the lead out of the so-called closet. He peered back toward the south stair. Even in the shadows he could see the door shaking as someone pounded against it.

  “Come on,” he said over his shoulder.

  Together they jogged toward the north end of the building.

  “How do you think Elias got down?” he asked.

  “Not sure. South stair maybe? He knew we cleared it.” There was a note of worry in her voice.

  Finley reached over and squeezed her hand. “I’m sure that’s what he did.”

  She held onto him for the last ten or so yards it took them to get to the standard door leading to the fourth floor elevator lobby. There was no window here, nothing to let them look out.

  Finley dropped the bags and lowered himself to the floor. He peered under the door, not that he saw much, but no movement was good in his book.

  How were they going to do this?

  He sat back on his heels and looked at Merida.

  “I want you to pull back. I’m going to sweep the lobby—”

  She frowned. “Fin—”

  “I’m not budging on this. Pull back. Wait for me to tell you it’s clear.”

  A particularly loud bang sounded from the other side of the floor.

  Merida jerked her head in a nod, scooped up his bag of spare gear and retreated into the first room and out of sight.

  He blew out a breath, glad they weren’t going to fight over this, got to his feet and took a calming breath.

  There was no telling what was on the other side of that door. He could be risking or saving Merida’s life right now. But that was where they were at.

  Finley emptied his mind, gripped the door handle and stared down his gun.

  This was for Merida.

  He yanked the door open and stepped through.

  Emptiness met him. Well, except for a set of three Christmas trees. Someone in the building took their holiday decorating very seriously.

  Now why did he think Merida had something to do with that?

  He circled left then right, unwilling to leave even one corner alone.

  Just like Merida had said, the elevator lobby was empty.

  And now he had to let her climb down to a basement and hope no one realized where they were.

  Great.

  Just great.

  Once more he considered just running out of there with her. Would that be so bad?

  The suite door opened and Merida stuck her head out.

  �
�Clear?” she asked.

  “You were supposed to wait.” He let his rifle hang from his shoulder and crossed to the elevator.

  “It sounds like they’re about to get in.” For the first time since the security office she actually sounded nervous.

  “Then let’s not be here. Help me get the doors open?”

  It took both of them to pry the silver doors open and then the elevator doors open. By some dumb luck they’d picked the shaft with the elevator on the fourth floor. Or maybe it was lucky?

  Finley shoved the ceiling tile aside in the elevator and boosted Merida up. Once they had all their equipment with her and the tile back down, they’d covered their trail as effectively as they could given the circumstances.

  Now they had to climb. And he wasn’t looking forward to that.

  He wanted to go first, but he knew their present danger could come from above.

  Merida didn’t suffer from the same hesitation. She offered him the heavier of the two bags then reached out and grabbed the service ladder. He grit his teeth and watched her transfer her weight to the rungs and shift her gun to a better position for climbing.

  “This is gross,” she muttered. Louder she said, “Here we go.”

  He watched his heart begin to lower down the shaft.

  Voices drifted toward them, louder now.

  The intruders had to be in the suite.

  Finley shouldered his rifle and looped the strap across his body then followed Merida. It wouldn’t take long to clear the suite and see they weren’t there. They had to be as far away as they could.

  She moved surprisingly fast given how exhausted she’d been earlier. Adrenaline did that. He just hoped it kept her going a little while longer.

  6.

  Wednesday. Aegis Group Headquarters, Seattle, Washington.

  Finley hadn’t arrived at a better plan by the time they reached the basement level of the elevator shaft. He was just glad no one had thought to look here for them. There’d been a few tense moments when he’d heard someone in the elevator car over their heads, but that was at least ten minutes ago.

  There was no telling where the intruders were. He didn’t like it, but it also meant they didn’t know where he and Merida were, too. Now if only Elias was done with his half of things.

  Merida stood, hands on her knees, bent over sucking down air.

  “You okay?” He produced the bottle of water he’d taken from the desk, twisted the cap off and offered it to her.

  “Yeah.” She glanced up at him, her breathing taking on that wheezing quality again. “Lungs just hurt from the...”

  Damn it. He’d hoped that had passed.

  She took the water and drank half before passing it to him. He sipped some and stashed it, ignoring her glare.

  “Keep to the side while I open this,” he said eyeing the elevator door.

  Merida was already shifting her gun in her hand. She might not have ever been in the field before today, but she knew what she was about. He was damn proud of her while hating what she’d thought she had to do.

  Finley used a piece of a gun cleaning kit he’d taken from the munitions closet for the express purpose of getting in and out of the elevator shaft. He slid the thin bar between the doors and applied a bit of pressure. The metal bent, giving way, but not before the doors budged.

  It was enough. He jammed his fingers in the space and grunted, putting his muscle into it. One good push and the doors opened a good six inches.

  He slid his leg into the space and grabbed his gun, peering into the total darkness of the basement.

  Not a thing moved. No sound reached him save for Merida’s breathing. According to her there was no reason for these people to be on this floor, so chances were good it was clear.

  “We’re good,” he whispered, loathe to speak too loudly. They’d been lucky. That wasn’t going to last.

  He wedged the doors open a little more and climbed out then offered Merida a hand.

  “This way,” she said and struck off to the right. “Think Elias is done?”

  “I’m sure he is.”

  They went to the corner of the building and picked a spot. Merida began working with individual blocks of explosives, improvising with detonating cord to create their masterpiece. He took the bundles of explosives from her and either attached them to the wall or found a spot for them to sit.

  Truth was they had more than enough in the bag to level the building, which was why Merida had emptied the locker. They wanted to control the blast.

  “Want to do the honors?” Merida asked when it came to the end of the cord.

  He looked at the clock face of the detonator. Part of him didn’t like doing this on American soil. More of him trusted Merida though. If she said this was bad, he trusted her.

  Finley punched in the code at her urging and set the timer.

  They didn’t have long to set the last charge and get free of the building.

  Merida seemed to catch his mood. They scooped up the gear and jogged, almost ran flat out, across the building. Their flashlights bobbed in the darkness and if anyone else was out, there they’d ambush them easily, but it was just them.

  They worked twice as fast on the second set of charges, as if they could feel the sands of time slipping away.

  Where was Elias? If Finley were in the man’s shoes he’d have come back to help.

  “There.” Merida finished setting the timer on the second detonator and looked at him. “Would it be a bad idea to check on Elias’ side of the building? Just in case?”

  He grimaced. “I’d feel better.”

  “Let’s go then. We can do it quick like and use one of the side exits. They’ll never know we were there.”

  Was there luck really that good?

  Finley shouldered the last of their gear and together they took off at a jog. He slowed, hanging back for Merida to lead them room to room at the other end.

  One by one they poked into the cafeteria kitchen and pantry rooms to find each empty. Everywhere Elias should have been working.

  There was no sign of Elias or the charges.

  Their luck had run out.

  For a moment Finley stood there watching Merida stare into the darkness without seeing it. Was it time to cut their losses and go? But what about Elias? Finley couldn’t leave a man behind. But he also couldn’t put Merida at risk. How did he go about rescuing Elias while keeping her safe?

  “Okay, one of us has to set the charges. We won’t get two sets so we’ll have to do a big third. The other needs to scout and figure out where Elias is and what happened to him,” Merida said.

  It was the best plan Finley was going to get. She’d be as safe as he could make her down here while he ventured upstairs.

  “Sounds good. Get to work. I’ll come back for you. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “I’ll come to you. The clock is literally ticking. We don’t have much time, Fin.”

  He knew that, and yet he needed her to agree to this.

  Finley stopped and cupped her face, forcing her to look up at him. “You’ll wait for me. You won’t go upstairs on your own without me. Promise me.”

  “Okay. Fine. Yes.” A hint of annoyance threaded through her voice.

  Somehow they’d managed to come through this with nothing more than bruises. He didn’t think that was going to last. What came next was going to have a cost, he just prayed she wasn’t the one that had to pay it.

  “We’re going to get through this,” he said.

  “We are.”

  He licked his lips. Now more than any other time he wished he’d taken his chances, that he’d told her how he felt before now. “Listen, this isn’t a good time to talk, but I want you to know that you mean a lot to me.”

  “You mean a lot to me, too.”

  He swiped his thumbs over her cheeks.

  Finley loved her, but that wasn’t the sort of thing to dump on her now. What if he died? Did he want to weigh her down with that for the rest of her life?r />
  “Be safe. Be careful. I’ll see you soon.” He bent his head and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to her lips.

  If he ran the risk of dying, he wanted that kiss.

  Finley didn’t look back. He kept his eyes on the beam of light ahead of him, knowing full well that if he looked back at the woman behind him he’d lose his nerve and go back to her and Elias would be as good as dead.

  MERIDA’S HANDS SHOOK and the silence seemed to press in on all sides. With Finley there she’d been able to bluster her way through what had to be done. She couldn’t act like she’d only done this stuff in practice, not with him there. He was already doing too much just by picking up a gun and having her back.

  A bit of dust swirled in the light playing tricks with her. She knew it and yet she snatched up the flashlight and whirled, staring at the rack where people placed their trays once they were done with their meal.

  There wasn’t a man in the shadows about to kill her. It was all in her mind.

  She blew out a breath and turned back to the task at hand.

  When Zain had proposed disaster planning she’d thought of things like wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, an odd hurricane or tornado. Then she’d glimpsed the kinds of disasters he meant and she’d realized how out of her depth she’d been. Sure, he’d thought of things like natural disasters, but he’d also made contingency plans for other disasters. Like what to do in the event of a direct attack by enemies of the state or more personal ones.

  That was where the manual kill switches came into play. Anyone who did the overnight shift also had access to the server room for exactly that purpose.

  The leadership team had talked long and hard about their disaster plan in the wake of what they’d found out about Ethan. Truth was, though they believed all of their intel about him was on their secure network, what if someone had printed off a hard copy? What about evidence they’d had delivered to them?

  Merida couldn’t be certain those switches were enough. And because she wasn’t, the whole building had to go.

  Zain was still investigating exactly what happened to Ethan in those intervening years. It wasn’t like Ethan could tell them. He’d disappeared again, though Merida’s understanding was that this time he’d gone with trustworthy people who were keeping an eye on him.