by LENA DIAZ,
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just a bit on edge. I know I can trust you and I don’t mean to imply otherwise.”
He stared at her a moment, then gave her a curt nod.
The guy sure knew how to make a girl regret her apology.
She straightened her shoulders and moved past him. The room was just as deep as the lab but much more narrow. And it looked just like she imagined a control room would look, with an electronic panel of buttons and dials facing the rectangular window. A row of eight desk chairs were pulled up to the panel.
“You said they used this place to investigate the recent Sarin gas scare?”
He nodded. “Everything in that other room is mobile and can be taken out in a matter of minutes. When it’s not being used as a computer room, it can be used as a bio-lab. They do simulations and test detection equipment, all kinds of experiments as part of investigations, and to prepare for the worst kinds of things criminals can dish out.”
Just to be thorough, as she’d promised she would be, she took a long look around. After assuring herself that there weren’t any other doors or places where someone could be hiding, she headed to the other room.
Once again he sat at one of the computers and began typing on the keyboard. She followed him in this time and watched what he was keying. Although she didn’t know the system he was using, it seemed fairly straightforward. Nothing he did set off any alarm bells. She continued to watch him pull up various files, skim them, then close them.
Finally he pulled up a file that, once opened, revealed a set of topography maps and land surveys.
He pointed at the screen. “See these red dots? Those are all pieces of land the FBI owns in and around Boulder. Is Austin coming or not?”
“Maybe. Why?”
He shrugged, as if he didn’t particularly care whether Austin or the rest of the Equalizers showed. “I got the impression that he’s the Equalizers’ computer guy. He’d probably figure out a lot faster way to cull through this stuff than me. But if they’re not meeting us here, fine. We just might need a few extra hours to open all of these red dots and come up with a list of possible locations that could be the retraining facility.”
He clicked on one of the red dots and started skimming through the survey and associated specifications that popped up on the screen.
Bailey’s phone vibrated in her pocket. She tapped a message on the screen, giving Jace the details. Thirty seconds later, he stood in the doorway, with Devlin, Mason, and Terrance crowding behind him.
A squeak heralded Austin’s approach. Everyone moved aside so he could wheel into the room. He immediately shoved a chair aside and pulled into place beside Kade.
“I didn’t think you guys were coming,” he said.
Jace shot a look at Bailey before answering. “I wasn’t sure if we were either. Good to see you’re okay.”
Kade nodded. “You, too.”
Austin leaned toward him, staring at the screen. “What have you got?”
Soon, Kade was relinquishing his position in front of the terminal so Austin could take his place. The rest of the Equalizers formed a semicircle behind him, looking just as eager as Austin to see what kinds of information he could discover. Kade limped over to where Bailey stood by the door.
“This looks really promising,” Jace said, turning around and nodding at Bailey. “We just might get Faegan yet.”
Kade leaned back against the wall.
“It looks like coming here was a great idea,” Bailey said. “Thanks. I mean it.”
He nodded without looking at her.
She sighed. “Kade. I’m trying to apologize for acting suspicious earlier. Will you at least—”
A hand suddenly covered her mouth from behind and she was jerked backward through the doorway.
She struggled to wrench free, kicking and clawing at whoever was holding her.
Kade rushed through the doorway just as Jace and the others whirled around, alarmed at the commotion. They shouted and clawed for their guns just as Kade slammed the door shut.
And locked it.
Bailey stood in shock, blinking at the five heavily armed men surrounding her and Kade. Her hands were cuffed behind her and her weapon had been taken away before she’d even been able to register what was happening. Even the Bersa .380 had been taken out of her ankle holster. But Kade, who stood a few feet away from her, wasn’t cuffed. And no one was holding on to his arm, like they were hers, to make sure he couldn’t get away.
She looked toward the door. There was no window to let her see her friends who were trapped behind it. And the complete lack of noise told her the room was soundproofed, sealed, like a tomb.
“You bastard,” she said to Kade. “You betrayed them, betrayed us all.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” He pulled out his phone and handed it to one of the gunmen. “Bailey, meet Dominic Wales and Jack Martinelli, partners in crime and leaders of this sorry group of assholes.”
“They’re not the only assholes around here.” She glared at Kade, more hurt by his betrayal than she could have possibly imagined.
His jaw clenched and he looked away.
“Where now?” Dominic asked.
Kade motioned toward the second door. “The control room.”
Dominic and three of his men went in ahead of them. Kade motioned for Bailey to precede him, and Jack took up the rear. He closed the door behind them and she heard the steel bar lock jam home. She looked over her shoulder. Jack was guarding the door, a Glock 17 9mm in his hand as he calmly watched her in return. This definitely wasn’t his first criminal act. He looked completely comfortable with the entire situation. He wasn’t the weak link.
She stepped a few feet away, stopping beside Kade. The others moved to the viewing window. Dominic said something in a language Bailey didn’t recognize to one of the other men and they laughed.
She risked a glance through the window and her heart constricted in her chest. Jace and the others were running around the lab, trying the door, feeling along the walls. Jace looked up at the glass and said something to Mason. They lined up, shoulder to shoulder, and aimed their guns at the window.
Dominic swore and motioned to his men to duck.
Kade didn’t move, so Bailey didn’t either.
Nothing happened.
No sounds, no exploding glass, not even a vibration.
But based on Jace’s and Mason’s shocked expressions, they’d definitely fired their guns.
“Bulletproof and soundproof,” Dominic said as he slowly straightened. “You did good, Lone Wolf.” He laughed as if at some inside joke and motioned to the other men. They gathered in close and whispered in low tones to each other.
Kade looked like he wanted to tear Dominic apart with his bare hands.
Bailey raked Kade with a scornful glance. “What did you do, make some kind of deal to save your own skin?” she whispered so the others wouldn’t hear. “You traded the Equalizers’ and my life for yours? I never pegged you as a coward.”
He seemed to drag his gaze from the others to her. “They were going to kill me, which would have been fine. But then they showed me a video—of you—going to my old house, your old house, EXIT headquarters. They were following you. And you didn’t even know it. They were going to kill you unless I cooperated.”
She drew in a sharp breath. She hadn’t realized anyone was following her, and that scared the crap out of her.
“Did they follow me to the Equalizers’ base, too?”
He frowned. “Not that I know of. I don’t remember Faegan mentioning another location.”
She pressed her hand against her throat in relief. She must have picked up her tail at EXIT the second time she retraced her steps and performed a second round of searches. And since she’d gone straight to Colorado Springs after that, without returning to EXIT headquarters, then she hadn’t compromised any other Equalizers or their families.
Assuming that Kade was right.
“So yo
u made a deal,” she said, her voice rising. “But then you got away. You could have warned me, told me what was going on. And I could have warned them.” She waved toward the window. “We could have fought them, instead of being offered like sacrificial lambs to slaughter.”
He slowly shook his head. “The deal was that I had to lead them to the Equalizers, specifically to the leaders—Devlin and Mason. Those two are the ones who brought Cyprian Cardenas down. I think Faegan resents that and wants some payback. I didn’t know where they were, or any way to get in contact with them. Showing up at EXIT, or my old house, or even yours, would have been too obvious. I knew you and the others would be suspicious. You might expect I was being forced to set a trap. So, instead, I told them about the only other place where you might show up.”
“The house in Colorado Springs.”
He nodded again. “They had the whole place rigged with cameras and microphones. If I’d even tried to pass you a note, they’d have known. And the phone they gave me was an open line to them at all times, not to mention, it had a GPS tracker. They were going to kill you, Bailey. There was no other way. I had to give them the Equalizers.”
She pressed a hand to her throat again, thinking about last night in a whole new light. At least she understood now why Kade had been so remote. He didn’t want the others to see or hear them. Apparently he still had some honor left after all. Her stomach lurched. But that wasn’t the horrible thing here. What was horrible was that he’d made a deal with the devil, her life for the lives of her friends.
“No,” she whispered harshly. “I can’t let you do this. I won’t let you trade my safety for their lives.” She waved toward the window. “Put me in there with them. Whatever’s going to happen should happen to me, too. I couldn’t live with myself knowing they died because of me.”
“That can be arranged.” Dominic turned from his conversation with the others. He waved them to fan out farther down the control panel, leaving him standing there alone.
“That’s not our deal,” Kade insisted. “She goes free. As soon as it’s done, you let her go. That’s the agreement I made with Faegan.”
“No,” Bailey insisted. “Let them all go. What is it you want? You’re mercenaries, right? You do jobs for money. Well, I’ve got money, plenty. You wouldn’t believe how lucrative being an Enforcer is. There are, what, five of you? How does a quarter of a million dollars sound? For each of you?”
“Bailey—” Kade warned.
Dominic waved him to silence and stepped toward her. “It’s clear you don’t understand how mercenaries operate. Yes, money is the objective, in most cases. But our entire careers, our lives, depend on us keeping the deals that we’ve made. Our loyalty lies with our current employer, until we’ve fulfilled the agreements we’ve made with him. If we took bribes every time we captured someone, we’d never be employed again. And someone else would take us out for breaking our agreements. So, trust me when I tell you this. No amount of money you offer us will save your friends.” He motioned toward one of the others. “Tie her to a chair where she can enjoy the show, without interfering.”
“No.” Kade moved in front of her. “No one ties her up. In fact, you need to take those handcuffs off her. Right now.”
A wall of guns pointed at Kade.
He held his hands up and stepped back.
Bailey cursed at the man who grabbed her and shoved her into a chair. But apparently he hadn’t come prepared to tie someone up. Since her hands were cuffed behind her, and she was sitting back against them, he used two more sets of handcuffs to cuff her ankles to the legs of the chair. Not ideally secure. She figured she could rock the chair back to free her legs. But in a roomful of gunmen, she had no plans of trying it anytime soon. He glared at her in warning before joining the others at the control panel.
“Okay,” the leader said, motioning toward Kade. “We haven’t found any traps or tricks.”
“I haven’t been out of your sight. How could I have tricked you?” Scorn seemed to drip from Kade’s words, as if he thought these men were idiots to doubt him.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “Careful, boss. You’re not the one paying my fee. And you don’t know what kind of deal he made with me.”
Kade’s face turned pale. “What did Faegan tell you to do?”
“Kill the Equalizers. That’s happening no matter what. But he didn’t seem to care what happened to Miss Stark here. As a matter of fact, I think he said something along the lines of ‘let her go with Kade if she isn’t any trouble, otherwise, do whatever you want.’ I’m thinking she’s been a bit of trouble. What do you think, boys?”
Laughter went up around them.
Bailey tensed in the chair.
“I’ll offer you another deal,” Kade said. “For Miss Stark’s life.”
Dominic laughed. “Unless you can bring all the remaining Enforcers to me in one fell swoop so I can finish the Enforcer Extermination and move on to the next job, there’s nothing else you have to barter.”
Bailey sucked in a breath. Extermination? She’d been right all along. There never was a retraining facility.
As if realizing what she was thinking, Kade asked, “Are you saying there isn’t a retraining facility?”
“Oh, there is, all right. Faegan has to interrogate every one of EXIT’s so-called assassins to make sure he knows the extent of any information they might have. It’s part of the cleanup. But once he’s satisfied that he’s found all the documentation, the extermination phase goes into full swing.” He sighed as if greatly put upon. “So far we’ve only been allowed to kill a few of them. Makes for some boring days.”
He’d only killed a few of them. Could Sebastian and Amber be alive, as Kade had claimed? Bailey looked around the room, searching for anything she could use as a weapon. Somehow she had to get out of here, save her friends, and find that damned retraining facility.
“I can give you the rest of the Enforcers,” Kade said.
The room went silent. Bailey stared at Kade in horror.
“How?” Dominic asked.
“Once we leave here, once Bailey is free, I can log into the Equalizers’ network and warn the remaining Enforcers. I can tell them they all have to go to a specific location—of your choosing—for an emergency meeting about the leaders at EXIT who are trying to kill them.”
“You bastard,” Bailey hissed.
Dominic had been staring at Kade with suspicion. But after Bailey spoke, he grinned. “Very well. You have another deal, this time with me. We’ll let your woman go after the Equalizers are dead. And then you’ll go with us and lure the rest of them into a trap.”
A sob escaped Bailey before she could stop it. “I hate you, Kade.”
His back stiffened but he didn’t look at her.
“Do it,” Dominic said, waving toward the panel. “I’m looking forward to witnessing my very first Sarin gas attack. This is going to be fun. Go on. Kill them.”
Sarin gas. Oh, God. That was the deal that Kade had made? That was why he’d tricked her into getting the Equalizers to this location?
Forgive me, Jace. Forgive me, Austin, Mason, Devlin, Terrance. I’m so, so sorry.
Kade opened one of the cabinets below the panel and pulled out a small canister with a big red skull and crossbones on it. He opened another cabinet above it to reveal a round hole with a red metal cover. He carefully slid the canister into the hole, then sealed the red cover over it.
“It’s ready,” he said.
“Kade,” Bailey pleaded. But she didn’t know what else to say. His mind was obviously made up. She didn’t know why he’d bargained for her life. But he was committed to going through with this.
“Which button do I push?” Dominic asked.
“I’ll tell you after I speak to the Equalizers.”
“Speak to them? I’m not opening the door to that lab. They all have guns.”
“Afraid of a fair fight?” Bailey sneered.
“I want to warn them what’s goin
g to happen,” Kade said. “I owe it to them. They’re . . . they were . . . my friends. Or at least, Bailey’s friends. It’s the only thing left that I can do for them.”
Dominic shrugged. “Go ahead. Warn them. It’ll be even more fun that way, to see the fear in their eyes before the gas strikes them down.”
Bailey’s stomach clenched. Bile rose in her throat.
Kade flipped a switch on the control panel and immediately the sound of the men in the other room was broadcast into the control booth. They stood in a huddle by the computers, guns drawn, apparently discussing whatever plans they were trying to make. But their exact words couldn’t be heard, just a low mumble.
Kade flipped another switch, and the sounds from the other room were silenced once again.
“What are you doing?” Dominic asked.
“It’s one-way communication. Now they can hear us. But we can’t hear them.”
“All right. Continue.”
The Equalizers were all staring at the window now. Jace stepped forward and the other men joined him, except for Austin, who sat in his wheelchair a short distance away looking sullen. Jace was obviously saying something, and from the fury on his face, it wasn’t nice.
“I’m sorry it’s ending like this,” Kade said, his voice heavy with regret.
Austin made a rude gesture at the window.
The gunmen laughed.
Bailey bit her lip to keep from crying out.
“I had no choice,” Kade continued. “They were going to kill you all. I could only save Bailey. Your deaths will be quick, but painful, I’m afraid. I’m going to press a button to release Sarin gas into the chamber. You’ll see a thick, white cloud, and then your lungs will begin to seize.”
Mason frowned and shot a look at Jace.
“Even if you try to hold your breath, it won’t matter,” Kade said, sounding so matter-of-fact that it shocked Bailey. She never would have expected this of him. Never.
“The gas will affect your nerves. It will make you fall to the floor, unable to move. You’ll be dead in a matter of seconds.” He glanced back at Bailey before continuing. “I really am sorry.” He flipped the control switch again, then moved his finger toward the red button.
