Final Exit

by LENA DIAZ,

  She gave him a look that should have made him burst into flames. “I don’t think so.”

  A slow grin spread across his face. “You’re spunky. I like that. But I don’t have time to spar with you right now.” He grabbed her hips and tried to shove her out of the way.

  She karate chopped his hands down and grabbed the butt of her gun. Suddenly the cold muzzle of another pistol pressed against the side of her neck.

  “Austin might be an ass,” the man said, his voice deadly calm as he towered over her. “But he’s my ass. I’m not about to let you shoot my brother.”

  Devlin Buchanan.

  She very slowly lifted her hand off her gun. He plucked the pistol from her holster and then he was gone, like a wraith, rejoining the others watching over Kade. She let out a shaky breath and wondered if her heart would ever be the same.

  The creep in the wheelchair, Austin, winked as if this were all some amusing game. He shoved the chair out of the way and wheeled behind the desk. His fingers practically flew across the keyboard as he studied the screen in front of him.

  “Austin,” Jace called out. “One of these days I’m going to teach you some manners.”

  “That day may come, but it is not this day.” He winked at Bailey again.

  She narrowed her eyes.

  He grinned.

  “Did you just quote Lord of the Rings at me?” Jace called out again from the other side of the room.

  “If you have to ask, you’re not worthy of an answer.” Austin hit Enter, frowned, typed some more commands.

  Bailey turned around. She’d been avoiding looking at Kade, afraid she’d see the hurt and anger in his eyes again. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was glaring at Buchanan, who had his gun trained on him, while Jace and Mason were . . .

  “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded, crossing the room. “Let him go.”

  The click-click of metal sounded as Jace and Mason fastened the handcuffs into place.

  “Stop it! Take those off.” Bailey’s divided loyalties were no longer divided. She was Team Kade all the way. These Equalizers could suck it. She was about to take them down.

  Starting with Jace Atwell.

  She stalked toward him. His back was turned to her as he spoke to the others.

  “Bailey.” Kade’s low, urgent whisper stopped her in her tracks. He shook his head. “Don’t.”

  He was worried about her. He was also angry, bordering on furious. She could see it in every line of his body. But above everything else, he was concerned about her.

  “Kade.”

  Jace stepped past her on his way to the desk, seemingly oblivious that she’d been about to pummel him.

  “Finding anything?” he asked.

  “The Ghost wasn’t lying,” Austin announced. “The mainframe’s been wiped clean. I figured if we had a valid ID we’d be able to pull whatever files they’re using to go after Enforcers. But there’s nothing here.”

  Bailey took a step closer to Kade, her gaze locked on his. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Did you know?” he asked quietly.

  She glanced at Buchanan and Mason standing on either side of him, before answering. “No. I didn’t. I swear.”

  “Could they be hiding files in the system?” Jace asked from behind her at the desk.

  “This isn’t a homegrown interface,” Austin answered, sounding like he was lecturing a child. “This is a vanilla operating system interface. Trust me. Nothing’s hidden. Wherever EXIT’s files are, they’re not here.”

  Devlin pressed his hand against what Bailey now realized was an earpiece, like the ones the secret service wore. “Terrance says the Feds are ten minutes out. They must have some kind of monitoring system still active out here. We need to go.”

  Kade stiffened.

  “You didn’t know they were monitoring this building, did you?” Jace called out, apparently more aware of the scene playing out in the middle of the room than he’d seemed.

  Kade shrugged. “I knew it was a possibility. But I thought it was a remote one. Did you tap into the security system? Is that how you knew we were here?”

  “Nope,” Jace said. “I gave Bailey a GPS locator. We’ve been tracking you two for days, finally decided it was time to make our move.”

  Bailey whirled around. “You’re lying.”

  “Did you really think I’d carry a pathetic little Derringer Cobra as my backup gun?”

  She sucked in a breath. “You bastard. You tricked me.”

  “Eight minutes out,” Devlin announced. “This is your mission, Jace. You’re the boss on this one. Make the call.”

  “Do it.”

  Bailey whirled toward Kade just as Mason jammed a hypodermic needle into the side of his neck.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tuesday, 7:45 a.m.

  Kade forced his bleary eyes open, blinking against the sunlight streaming through a window high above him. Once again he was lying on a bed, his mind a jumble of foggy, confusing images.

  He raised his hands to rub his eyes but stopped when the chains connected to the handcuffs on his wrists pulled him up short. Another chain ran down his chest and connected to cuffs at his ankles. All that was missing was an orange jumpsuit and he’d be ready for transport to a maximum-security prison.

  “Morning.”

  He sat up and whirled around in one swift motion, ready to attack, then stopped. A sense of déjà vu swept over him. Once again he was in an unfamiliar bedroom, with Bailey watching him from the doorway. Only, this time, he was trussed up like an animal. And he didn’t know whether her being here was a good thing or a bad thing. Was she friend, or foe? Regardless of which side she fell on, he couldn’t help the rush of relief that swept through him seeing that she was okay.

  She was wearing a short leather skirt and some kind of leather vest top with a zipper up the front. And damned if his heart didn’t skip a beat at the sight of her. He glanced down at his own sorry self, wishing he could shower and change clothes. And shave. The stubble on his face was driving him crazy.

  He shook his head. Obviously whatever Mason had injected him with at EXIT was making him loopy. He didn’t give a damn what he was wearing. What mattered was figuring out how to get out of here. Whether that was with or without Bailey, remained to be seen.

  “I’m so sorry.” She motioned toward the cuffs and chains. “That’s Mason’s doing. He and Devlin co-lead this group. Surprisingly, Devlin seems more reasonable than Mason and didn’t want you restrained. But Mason disagreed. Jace didn’t weigh in at all on the subject. And yet, Devlin and Mason have made it clear that this assignment, or mission, is Jace’s to lead. I think they take turns maybe? But then when it comes to a really important decision, Devlin and Mason step in. I don’t know. I can’t figure these people out.”

  She raked her hands through her hair. “I’m out of my element here, Kade. I’m not sure what to do. I’ve tried to reason with them, but I’m outnumbered. They grilled me about you. At first I didn’t tell them anything. But when I realized they thought you were the one behind the murders, I had to defend you. I told them what you told me, and how you tried to save Hawke. But I don’t know if it made a difference. And, Kade, I promise you I didn’t know about the tracker in the gun that Jace gave me. It never even occurred to me that he might do something like that. They act like they’re my friends and yet they’ve taken my weapons. It’s all a crazy mess and I’m trying to—”

  He drew a deep breath and let her ramble on. Listening to her nervous chatter was just what he’d needed. A sense of calm settled over him and the fog of confusion lifted from his mind. Bailey was okay, and she hadn’t gone to the dark side. Knowing that gave him the peace he’d needed in order to focus.

  When she finally paused for breath, he said, “Bailey. Relax. I know that none of this is your fault.”

  She blinked. “You do?”

  He tugged on the chains, wincing when the strain made a muscle twinge in his bad leg.


  She rushed forward, worry lines creasing her brow. “It’s your leg, isn’t it? Do you need some pain pills? This hiding place of theirs seems to have every kind of supply imaginable. I’m sure I can get you something to help—”

  He kissed her. He wanted nothing more than to pull her onto the bed and deepen the kiss, explore that maddening zipper between her breasts, slide his hand beneath that sexy little skirt. But this wasn’t the time or the place. It nearly killed him, but he pulled back and let her go.

  “I’m okay, Bailey,” he assured her, smiling at the slightly dazed look in her eyes. He loved that this beautiful, intelligent, ball-buster of a woman could fluster so easily whenever he touched her.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You seem okay. They haven’t hurt you, have they?” Just the idea that they might have mistreated her had his fists tightening at his sides.

  “No, no one has done anything to me. Are you sure your leg—”

  “I’m sure. I don’t suppose you have an extra key lying around somewhere to take these chains off?”

  “Not yet. But I’ll get you free somehow. I’m still working on the ‘how’ part. There are only five of them here right now, but there were a lot more earlier. The men you saw last night—Mason, Devlin, Jace, and Austin—plus a new guy, Terrance. You remember they call themselves the Equalizers?”

  He nodded. “I’m not sure what that means, though.”

  She frowned. “From what I understand, most of them are former Enforcers. Their goal seems to be the same goal that you have—to bring EXIT down and ensure the program isn’t reinstated.” She fingered the chains between his wrists, her jaw tightening. “But obviously we have a difference of opinion about how to make that happen. We’ve got to make sure they realize that you’re not behind the killings.”

  “Bailey, we don’t know that anyone has been killed—not on purpose at least.”

  Her brows drew down and a tiny spark of temper sizzled in her green eyes. “You still don’t believe me about Sebastian and Amber?”

  “I believe that you believe they’ve been killed. But until I have proof, I prefer to give my peers the benefit of the doubt.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s Tuesday.”

  She gave him a funny look. “Every week, right after Monday. Why?”

  “I never did get a chance to check my email. I should have that report from Gannon by now.”

  “At this point, why do we care?”

  “It’s part of that proof we want.”

  “You want. I already know the truth. My friends were murdered.”

  “Fine,” he said. “It’s part of the proof that I’m looking for, a thread I can follow to help our investigation into what’s going on here. I suspect that two members of the team that I sent after you are impersonating federal officers. They might be mercenaries. If that’s the case, and I can find out who hired them, I’ll be in a much better position to figure this out.”

  She reached for her phone, then stopped. “Damn. They took my phone along with my weapons. But there are computers all over this place. We’ll just have to convince stubborn Mason to let you log on and check your email. Then we can—”

  “We’re ready,” a man’s voice called from the doorway.

  She narrowed her eyes, keeping her back to him. “His name’s Terrance,” she whispered. “I figure I’ll kill him first because he’s been ordering me around all morning. Then I’ll take out the smart-ass in the wheelchair. I’m saving Jace for last. His death will be slow. And painful.”

  Kade chuckled. He knew she wasn’t serious. Or at least, he didn’t think she was.

  He leaned to the side to see around her. Terrance was impressively muscled, with dreads that hung to his shoulders. And, lest Kade get the idea that he could escape with six feet of chains woven around his limbs, another man stood in the shadows. The one Bailey was saving for last—Jace.

  “We’ll get through this,” he assured her in a whisper. “We’ll figure it out. But I would very much appreciate it if you’d refrain from killing anyone for now. I prefer to get out of these sticky situations with all lives intact if at all possible. Okay?”

  “You’re spoiling my fun.”

  “I know.”

  “Fine. I’ll wait. For now.”

  He smiled. In spite of the craziness that was going on, his failed mission, the near-death experiences of the past few days, he’d smiled more with Bailey than he had, well, for as long as he could remember. Now, all he had to do was figure out how to get both of them out of here without a bloodbath.

  A minute later their little entourage filed into a large room dominated by a long rectangular table. The rest of the men who’d been at EXIT last night were sitting there, waiting, with piles of folders and papers on top of the table. The one in the wheelchair, Austin, had a laptop computer in front of him. They looked like the Spanish Inquisition, ready to throw baseless accusations at him and then burn him alive.

  Jace waved him to a chair at the far end. Bailey sat beside him. She scooted her chair slightly closer to his and crossed her arms. Message clear. If it came to choosing sides, she chose Kade.

  “Where’s the retraining facility?” Jace hit him with the heavy artillery right from the start.

  Kade kept his face carefully blank. Bailey had said she’d told the Equalizers things about him. Was this one of those things? What else had she shared?

  “What retraining facility?” he asked, not planning on making any of this easy on them. As far as he was concerned, they were no better than thugs.

  Jace clasped his hands together on top of the table. “Let’s clear a few points up from the start so we don’t waste time talking around each other. Most of us used to work for EXIT. We know all about the clandestine program that was supposed to prevent future tragedies like 9/11. The main difference between EXIT and other agencies is the level of proof, and timing. The evidence used to justify an EXIT mission wasn’t the type that would necessarily hold up in court.”

  “Like illegal searches,” Kade accused.

  “That’s one example, yes. Since EXIT’s goal was to save lives, not prosecute, the tactics were a bit . . . different. The other big difference of course is that Enforcers were often tasked with taking out the bad guys before they killed more innocent people. They wanted to prevent national tragedies, not wait until after they happened, when it was too late. And that’s the whole problem right there. A program like that was bound to be abused. Once some Enforcers were tricked into killing innocent people by leaders intent on eliminating their own personal enemies, or worse, lining their pockets, the dangers of the program were deemed to outweigh the good. It had to be shut down. Can we at least agree on all of that? Make that the baseline for our discussion?”

  Kade considered, then nodded. “Agreed.”

  “Excellent.” Jace leaned back in his chair. “Now here’s where it gets murky. EXIT as an entity was supposedly taken off-line months ago after the CEO was killed. But then someone sent messages through the Enforcers’ online communication network trying to trick them into meeting up with representatives from EXIT, allegedly to discuss compensation for past services. Anyone who went to one of those meetings has never been seen again. From what we’ve gleaned, that’s where you come in. You and some fellow FBI agents are tasked with bringing in anyone who didn’t voluntarily come in. The question is what’s happening to those Enforcers after you capture them?”

  He waited, and when Kade didn’t respond, Jace said, “You’re supposedly turning them over to a retraining facility. And from there they should eventually re-enter society as fully productive individuals who aren’t a threat to anyone. But that’s not really the concern, is it? The concern is whether they can ever talk about EXIT and destroy the careers and lives of whoever else in the government was ever associated with the program. That’s why you’re capturing and killing the Enforcers, isn’t it?”

  Again, Kade remained silent.

  “Why are you using mercenaries, if not t
o kill Enforcers?”

  Kade stiffened. Had Gannon sent the promised report and confirmed that Jack and Dom were fake agents? Had these Equalizers cracked the lock code on his phone and gotten into his personal files? What else had they found?

  Bailey was staring at Jace, her teeth biting her bottom lip. She seemed as if she, too, was trying to figure out where he’d gotten his information.

  “What are you talking about?” Kade asked.

  “Two of the members on the team that went after Bailey aren’t federal agents. Dominic Wales and Jack Martinelli. But, then, you knew that, didn’t you? How can you work with mercenaries and not expect that they’d be killing your mission targets?”

  “I had my suspicions about Jack and Dom.” He saw no reason to deny it. “Regardless, no one on any of my teams is out to kill anyone. That’s not our goal.”

  “Hawke doesn’t count? What about Sebastian, and Amber? And countless others who haven’t been seen since your team ambushed them?”

  “Hawke’s death was tragic. I still don’t know exactly what happened there. As for the rest, if anyone else has died, I intend to find out and take the necessary steps to prevent further deaths. Something I could be working on right this minute if you weren’t wasting my time.”

  “So, you claim that you don’t know anything about the deaths of Amber Braithwaite and Sebastian Lachlan?”

  Kade frowned, wondering what he was leading up to. “I know nothing about them other than that they were taken before I began my mission.”

  Jace pulled one of the stacks of papers toward him.

  Kade eyed it warily, wondering what it was.

  “This is a stack of reports I took from your house the night that Bailey was there,” Jace said. “They list the property owned by various Enforcers. The funny thing is, your name is listed as the person who requested these reports.” He picked up two stapled stacks from the rest and slid them across the table.

  To Bailey.

  She frowned and thumbed through the pages. Her face went pale.

  “I see you’ve come to the interesting part,” Jace said. “Care to tell Special Agent Quinn what you just read?”