by James Hunt
“Let’s move.” The group filed out of the door, and Kate bent down and put out the cigar on Locke’s cheek. “I never liked my grandfather.” Afterwards, one of the prisoners took Locke’s phone out of his pocket and took a picture of him lying on the ground.
***
When Samantha pulled up to the building, she sat in her car for a moment before heading to the guarded door. The guard at the entrance let her in, and the small office she walked into was poorly maintained. The carpet was musty and worn. The wallpaper was peeling off in places around the walls and dust was caked onto the file cabinets that lined the walls.
Derrick and Chase looked incredibly out of place amongst the worn office with their fine suits and clean-cut appearance. Chase flashed Samantha a large smile as he approached, his hand extended.
“Mrs. Kearny, it is a pleasure to meet you,” he said, his hand lingering in front of her.
Samantha looked at Chase’s hand, and her eyes followed the line from his arm, to his shoulder, to his neck, and rested on the whites of his eyes. His smile didn’t waver as Samantha stared him down. Her hand finally went into his and he clasped both hands over hers, his face fading into a sad, condoling expression.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” said Chase.
Samantha’s voice cracked from the dryness in her throat. “Thank you.”
Chase walked her to a seat at a table that was obviously brought in from somewhere else. The desk was the only clean thing in the office and looked like it belonged in the waiting room of a high-powered attorney. One of the guards from the entrance brought in a tray of drinks and sandwiches from the cars outside.
“Hungry?” Chase asked.
“No, thank you,” said Samantha.
“Well, I hope you don’t mind me indulging,” Chase said, reaching for one of the sandwiches on the plate. “I’ve been so busy today I haven’t had a chance to eat a thing.”
Samantha pulled her purse onto her lap and removed the folder containing the codes. She placed them on the table, sliding them across to Chase.
Derrick picked up the folder and thumbed through the pages. Once satisfied that these were the codes they needed, he nodded to Chase. “Excellent!” He clasped his hands together. “Send that to our plant and have them start programming.”
Derrick stuck the papers into his briefcase, locking the latch and handing it to the guard who had brought the tray of food in. He disappeared with the briefcase outside.
“Now it’s your turn. What did my husband do for you?” she asked.
Chase put the sandwich down on the plate, wiping his fingers with a napkin. “Your husband was one of our most talented engineers. He played an incredibly vital, and frankly, irreplaceable role for me.”
“He planned the attacks?” she asked.
“Not all of them, but a majority, yes,” Chase nodded. “I wish you could have known your husband like I did, Mrs. Kearny, but I suppose that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
Samantha shifted in her seat. The brothers stared at her. She could feel the beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead. “Yes.”
“But that’s not the only reason you’re here. You’re also here to spy on us for General Locke and your brother Jim, correct?”
Chase’s voice dropped a bit as he finished his words. His cordial attitude began to fade as the same guard walked in and handed Chase a tablet. “When was the last time you saw the good general?” Chase asked, tapping a few points on the screen of the tablet.
“I haven’t seen him since Phoenix,” she said.
“Well, I hope you left on good terms,” Chase said, sliding the tablet to Samantha.
Samantha slowly picked up the tablet. Her hands started to shake as she looked at a picture of Locke’s dead body lying on his office floor. Her eyes went from the tablet’s screen back to Chase.
“Go to the home page,” said Chase.
She gripped the tablet between her fingers as she pressed the home button. Her heart beat faster as the home page opened.
“Press the video icon,” Chase ordered.
Samantha found the video camera icon on the screen and her hand hovered over it; she didn’t dare press it, afraid of what she might see.
“Press it,” Chase repeated.
Samantha touched the screen and a video stream opened. She gasped and covered her mouth as she saw her daughter in the corner of a room, sitting with her knees in her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.
Chase stood up and walked around to Samantha’s chair. He leaned next to her ear and whispered, his hot breath beating the side of her face. “There isn’t anyone we can’t hurt. There isn’t anything we can’t do. So you’re going to cooperate with whatever we need you to do, understand?”
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” she said.
Derrick laughed. “What? You think your brother will save you?”
“He might not be able to save me, but he’ll get my daughter. And then he’ll kill the both of you.”
Chase snapped his fingers and two guards entered, grabbing Samantha by her arms and lifting her from the chair. She struggled against them, her screams echoing off the grimy walls of the office.
“He’s going to kill you! I swear to God if you hurt my daughter! You bastards!”
***
Brett heard the screams from inside the building. He clicked his radio on. “Jim, Something’s up.”
Jim’s voice came through Brett’s radio. “What’s happening?” he asked.
Brett looked back through the scope, but then looked above him as he heard the sound of a helicopter approaching. The blades whirled louder as it neared the rear of the building in a small clearing. Brett went back to his scope and saw Samantha being carried out by two men. Brett also saw three guards around Chase and Derrick. “They’ve got Samantha, and they’re taking her to a chopper.”
Jim smacked Coyle on the shoulder and told him to drive. Coyle peeled out of their hiding spot and onto the highway. Jim knew it would take them at least four minutes to get to Brett’s location. He reached back for his radio again.
“Brett, can you engage?
Brett racked the chamber back on the rifle. “Affirmative.” He put the rotors of the chopper in between his crosshairs. The blades came into view as they swirled, preparing for take off. Just before they threw Samantha in the helicopter, Brett guided his finger to the trigger and squeezed. The bullet exploded from the rifle and tore through the back rotor of the chopper. Chase’s guards circled around him and rushed back to the building. Brett lined up another shot and squeezed the trigger. The bullet made contact with the helicopter’s tail again, causing smoke to plume. He caught a glimpse of Chase and Samantha being hurried back into the building. Brett clicked on his radio.
“Chopper’s down. They’re back in the building and heading for the vehicles.”
The van containing Jim and Twink sped down the highway.
“We’re two minutes out.” Jim loaded a clip into his rifle. Coyle kept the gas pedal floored.
Back in the building, Chase screamed at his guards. “Get the cars and pull them up to the door. We’ll use them as cover to get out.”
Samantha remained in the grip of one of Chase’s men. Before the guards took off outside, Chase grabbed Samantha and held her arms behind her back, putting a gun to her side.
“Go!” Chase ordered as his men filed out the door.
Brett watched the men sprinted toward the cars. He set one of the guards in his crosshairs. The man was fast. Brett kept a bead on him. His finger lingered on the trigger, waiting for the right shot, then he squeezed. The bullet caught the guard right in the back of the skull. He collapsed to the ground with a shower of his own blood raining down on him.
The three other guards made it to the vehicles. The sedans made a beeline to the front entrance of the building. Chase, Samantha, and Derrick ducked out and rain straight for the cars.
Brett reloaded more rounds into his rifle.
>
“They’re on the road heading north,” Brett said into his radio.
“Roger that,” Jim replied from his van.
Coyle’s hands gripped the wheel as the landscape flew by them. He turned around to Jim. “We should be running into them soon.”
Jim could see a sedan speeding in their direction. “That’s them.” Coyle slammed on the brakes as the sedan flew past them. Smoke from the tires of the van flew into the air as it made a one-eighty. Jim climbed into the passenger seat of the van and rolled down the window. “Get as close as you can.” Only fifty yards separated them.
Inside the sedan, Chase and Derrick scrambled for their weapons. Derrick pulled a pistol from his jacket and handed it to Chase. The two of them rolled down their windows.
Twenty yards apart.
Jim leaned out of the van and tried to line up a shot as the wind made it difficult to keep his rifle steady. He lined up the sedan in his sights as best he could and sent a spray of bullets into the trunk of the sedan.
Ten yards apart.
Chase and Derrick leaned out of their windows. Half of their bodies were outside the car as the two brothers took aim. “Shoot the engine!” Chase shouted. The brothers emptied their clips into the hood of the pursuing van.
Coyle tried to swerve out of the way, nearly causing Jim to fall out, but it was too late. Coyle saw the speedometer decreasing. Smoke started billowing out of the engine and regardless of how many times Coyle kept slamming the gas pedal, they continued to slow. “Shit!” Coyle screamed.
As their van finally came to a halt, Jim watched the sedan fade further into the distance. He pulled himself back inside and clicked on his radio.
“Brett,” Jim said.
Brett had his rifle over his shoulder as he made his way from the chopper. The pilot slumped over in his seat with a bullet in his head. “Still here, Jim. What’s your status?”
The doors of the van flew open as Jim, Twink, and Coyle piled out. “We lost them. The van’s shot.” Jim pressed his hands up against the side of the van and leaned into it, his head down. His whole body began to shake and he slammed his fist into the side of the van, denting it. He beat it again and again and the dent grew.
Jim stopped and backed away from the van. His chest heaved up and down. “Get Locke on the radio. Let him know we need some air support at our location and to turn on the tracking device in Samantha’s phone.”
Twink nodded and jumped back into the van. Coyle walked over to Jim.
“We’ll get her back, Jim,” Coyle said.
“Jim,” Twink called out.
“What?” Jim asked.
Twink didn’t know how to form the words he’d heard over the radio. His mouth kept opening and closing, but nothing came out.
“Where’s Locke?” Jim shouted.
Twink just shook his head as smoke continued to rise from the van’s engine.
Jim glanced back down the long highway. His hands at his sides clinched tight into fists. He was running out of resources, out of time, and out of patience. He had three men left that he knew he could trust, and now he had to face a man with unlimited resources, unlimited time, and unlimited patience.
Chapter 8
Jim stepped over the bloody bodies as flies swarmed over them. Matt’s aunt and uncle’s house was completely wrecked. He searched for any signs of life; any signs that his niece was still alive, but found nothing. Chase’s men were thorough. They killed the aunt and uncle, the guards, even the pet birds.
After searching the bedroom, Twink exited the hallway and rejoined the group. “The house is clean. No bugs or tracers.”
Jim knew Chase must have had people in Locke’s unit. Despite how much Jim had disliked Locke, he couldn’t believe he was gone. He also admitted how much harder all of this was going to be without him.
“What’s the call, Jim?” Brett asked.
“The last intel we had were the chemical weapons that Brenner was making at his plant in San Diego. We need to get to that plant and shut it down. Twink, get us everything you can on the plant and countermeasures for VX gas.”
“On it,” Twink replied, pulling out his laptop.
“We’ll need to go in alone,” Jim said. “We don’t know who else Brenner has in his pocket. When we go back to command, we keep it vague, understand?”
Everyone nodded.
“Brett, do you know anyone you trust that could get us access to Locke’s secure files?” Jim asked.
Brett nodded. “I think I know a guy.”
Jim started to connect the dots. The attacks on the cities four months ago were just the first step. Chase wanted the President to order the troops home. He wanted all of them conveniently grouped together so he could take them out with one strike. It all started in San Diego and it was going to end in San Diego.
“Looks like we’re going home,” Coyle said.
“Yeah. Home.” Then Jim heard some noise coming from down the hallway. His hand went to his sidearm. At first he thought he’d imagined it, but then it came again and he sprinted towards the sound. There was some clawing behind a door and when Jim opened it, Tigs walked out of the closet and looked up at him. He scooped her up and she purred against his chest.
“Sonofabitch. That damn thing really does have nine lives,” Coyle shouted down the hall.
***
When the plane touched down on the coast in San Diego and Samantha stepped outside onto the tarmac, she shielded her eyes from the sun. One of Chase’s guards rushed her toward the car. She looked around to see if anyone was around, but they must have landed in a private airfield because there wasn’t a soul in sight.
Samantha still had her hands tied when Chase’s guard threw her into the back seat of a Rolls Royce. Chase entered from the opposite side. “Key,” he said and stuck out his hand. He unlocked the cuffs and tossed them up front with his guards. He rolled up the privacy partition and the car started forward. “Now, I want you to remember something while you’re my guest. Anything you do to me, I’m going to do to your daughter.”
Samantha rubbed her wrists and nodded.
“I’m glad we understand each other then,” he said.
“He’ll come,” Samantha said.
“You know what most people lack in their understanding of planning?” Chase asked. “Commitment. In general, most people know exactly what they want to do and they know how to do it, but once something becomes difficult, they lose their way. A small bump in the road causes everything to fall off the wagon. Then those people cry and wail about loss and how hard life is. I’ve run into men like your brother before. Little bumps along the way. I will admit I didn’t expect Jim to have as much of an impact as he did over the last few months though. His little ‘missions’ forced me to rearrange three years of work, but still it wasn’t a setback that I couldn’t handle.”
Samantha remained quiet. She kept her eyes focused on the passing buildings outside the car window. She was tired of fighting. She was tired of feeling unsafe. She was tired of being frightened for her daughter. Whatever double life Matt had led was now eroding away the love that she had for him. Ten years were washing away from her mind the further the car drove.
“I told him not to marry you,” Chase said out of the blue. “He thought it would be good for appearances. Marrying a policewoman – an army reservist, the daughter of a decorated military officer – it would allow him to fly below the radar.”
“So, why did you tell him not to?” she asked. “It sounds like it was going to help you a great deal.”
“Yes,” he replied, “But I always knew it was going to end badly for you.”
He stared straight ahead as Samantha finally turned to look at him. “Why are you doing all of this?” she asked.
“The world we live in has become bloated. There are too many people clawing for scraps. I’m pressing the reset button, but in order for me to do that, I have to get rid of those that would oppose me. Right now there are over a quarter million troops st
ationed in San Diego. That, combined with a few other large groups in Texas and Washington D.C., I’ll be able to cripple the largest military power in the world. Once that’s done, I’ll have my political connections start passing amendments to restructure the military and I’ll be the one selecting those put into power. After that, it won’t be America’s military. It will be mine. From there, I’ll be able to pick off the rest of the weak and this country will be twice as strong as it was before.”
