by Siegel, Alex
"But he thinks we're in Chinatown."
Yule climbed the ladder. He studied each rung like he was reading words off of them. His enormous vertical pupils were as large as camera lenses.
"That was my trick," Bethany said. "I changed the county records to show a different date. I also changed the owner to one Xavier would know: Global Real Estate Partners. I made it look like that's where we lived."
"Who is Global Real Estate Partners?" Marina said.
"I'm surprised you don't recognize the name, ma'am. They bought the Rosemont Tower Hotel. They'll probably buy your new headquarters in San Francisco for you. The partners are the seven legates of the world."
"I had to fool Xavier," Aaron said. "I couldn't let him know our real address. The rest of the team helped me fix up the new building to make it look convincing."
He followed Yule up the rusty ladder. Aaron found it awkward to climb while holding a heavy suitcase, but if Yule could do it, so could he. Marina was right behind Aaron.
Yule reached the top and stepped onto a huge loft. "The dust is disturbed. Xavier was here." He began to walk slowly across the wooden planks. His eyes flicked back and forth.
"What about Hanley?" Marina said. "What was his part in your plan?"
Aaron nodded. "Right before Xavier fled, he talked to Hanley. Literally seconds before. That was the moment Xavier realized Hanley was a Spear. After that, Xavier always knew Hanley was lying to him."
"Then why did you leave Hanley in place as chief of the Special Missions Unit? We should've faked his death Sunday night if he was already burned."
"I left Hanley out there for Xavier to play with. In the end, Xavier used Hanley to set this trap. Sometimes the best way to control your enemy is to give him a little help. It's not the obvious thing to do, but it can be very effective."
Aaron followed Yule slowly across the loft. Aaron only saw poorly lit dust and debris, but Yule obviously perceived much more. He pointed his finger at certain spots as if they were important.
"So," Marina said, "Xavier told Hanley he would be here at a certain time. Xavier knew the legate would find out and try to kill him herself."
"And as soon as she walks in, he'll blow her up," Aaron said, "or at least try to. He'll use his shadows to draw her into the building. That's his M.O."
Yule stopped in front of a pile of white plastic pails with blue lids. "This is it," he said. "This whole area is heavily disturbed. The pails were moved."
Aaron crouched down in front of a pail. He was afraid to touch it because it might have a booby trap. He opened his metal suitcase, which contained several devices packed in black foam padding.
He took out a gray, handheld unit with an opening at the end. He turned it on and waved it in front of the pails. He heard the soft whir of a fan. Immediately, it began to beep and words appeared on an LCD display.
"Trinitrotoluene," he read out loud, "cyclonite. You definitely found a bomb. Bethany! Come up here but be very careful. Stay in the shadows and avoid the windows. The footing on this platform is treacherous, so take slow steps. I don't want you to fall through."
He watched as Bethany made her way along the side walls of the factory. Even though she hadn't received much training, she did a fair job of being sneaky. Maybe Norbert had given her some lessons. She climbed the wobbly ladder. Her eyes bulged when she looked over the side of the high loft.
"Eyes forward," Aaron commanded. "Watch where you're putting your feet."
She held her arms out and made squeaky noises as she crept across the loft. He waited impatiently, but he wasn't going to rush her.
Finally, she reached him and looked at the pails. "The bomb is in those?" She pointed.
He nodded. "Can you help me use this equipment? It's a little too technical for me."
"Yes, sir. I read the manuals this morning during breakfast."
"Good. Then why don't you take over. We're looking for the detonator, but don't touch anything. The pails could be rigged to explode."
She knelt down and took a large metal device from the suitcase. It had small openings on the side and a computer display on top. She turned it on and made some adjustments to the controls.
"Low energy X-ray backscatter," Bethany said. "It will let us look inside."
She was struggling with the heavy device, so Aaron knelt down to help her. Working together, they passed it across the pails. The hidden contents became visible on the display in black and white.
"That's dynamite," he said.
They eventually found a complex electronic gadget inside a pail. He studied the display until he was sure he could remove the blue lid safely. Even so, he took it off very carefully.
The detonator was a collection of electronic components glued to a piece of wood. Soldered wires formed the connections. At the center were two blasting caps pressed into a small block of C-4. A red light was blinking.
Bethany put down her backpack and retrieved a flashlight. She studied the detonator closely.
"Be careful," Aaron said. "It might go off if you bump it or cut the wrong wire."
She took out her phone and pressed a single button. "Leanna, here are the components. IC4201..."
She rattled off numbers and letters for a few minutes. She went so fast that Aaron had a hard time believing Leanna could keep up. Finally, Bethany took several pictures with her phone. She stood up.
"What now?" he said.
"Leanna is performing a computer analysis."
"Are either of you trained in disarming bombs?"
"No," Bethany said, "but it shouldn't be a problem, sir. This is clearly an unsophisticated device."
She held her phone against her ear. After a minute, she nodded. She took a pair of cutters from her backpack and confidently clipped one of the many wires on the detonator. The red light stopped blinking.
"It's safe," she said. "Leanna has the radio frequency now. She'll tune the signal detectors."
Aaron smiled. "Great job. You're the best."
"Thank you, sir, but one thing bothers me. This device was poorly constructed. It's unreliable."
He stared at her. Then he turned to the pile of pails. "There are two detonators."
He and Bethany used the X-ray machine to scan the rest of the pails. They found another electronic device at the bottom of the pile. To reach it, several of the pails had to be pushed out of the way. Aaron was sweating despite the cold as he carefully moved each one. They were packed full of dynamite.
Bethany examined the second detonator. "This one has slightly different components. We'll have to repeat the analysis."
Aaron heard distant shouting from the direction of the street. "We don't have time. The protesters are coming back." He looked at the flashing red light on the detonator. The device was sitting inside a pail on top of a big block of Semtex. "Is it safe to move this thing?"
"It doesn't have a motion sensor, but it's fragile. Be careful not to break any of the connections, sir. That will set it off."
"Everybody else get out of here. I'll deal with this and catch up."
Bethany, Marina, and Yule headed back to the ladder. They left the bomb detection equipment behind. Yule guided Bethany along a safe path so the group could move more quickly.
Aaron studied the detonator for another moment. I can do something useful with this, he realized. He put the lid back on the pail containing the detonator.
Very carefully, he lifted the pail by the plastic handle and carried it across the loft. He kept his hand steady despite the uncertain footing. When he reached the ladder, he found an old piece of rope and used it to lower the pail to the floor.
The protesters were passing the factory, and his teammates had already left. He didn't have much time. He ran smoothly across the floor with the pail in hand and went outside.
He spotted a giant piece of heavy machinery. It had probably been used to mix cement, but now it was just a huge rusting mass. Moving at a quick but steady pace, he walked over and placed the pail on the side of the mac
hine facing away from the factory. He tried to tuck it underneath as deeply as possible.
Marina had rejoined the protest march. He hurried to catch up with her.
"Was that the bomb?" she asked quietly. It was hard to hear her voice over the shouting protesters. "Why did you put it there?"
"To take care of Hanley." He winked at her.
She shook her head. "You're so damn smug these days. If we weren't in a crowd, I'd slap that goofy smile off your handsome face."
"I have a better use for my face." He grabbed her and kissed her on the lips.
She resisted for an instant before melting into his arms.
After he let her go, she said, "You're not going to hurt my new recruit, are you?"
"I promise he'll be fine, except for being dead, of course."
She narrowed her eyes.
* * *
Xavier looked through his telescope. The protest march was disappearing up the street, but he didn't care. His attention was fully focused on the legate.
She and her eight companions were still waiting in their boats. They were against the side of the river channel in a spot where they couldn't be seen from the factory. From his side of the river, Xavier had a clear view of all of them.
He desperately wanted to use his sniper rifle. However, the legate's bodyguard, Guthrum, was right next to her. It didn't matter how good a shot Xavier made because Guthrum would just push her out of the way. Xavier grimaced with frustration.
Stick with the plan, he told himself.
He turned around and created two shadows. His twin clones stared back at him silently. He was shocked at how worn down he looked. His whole face sagged and his eyes were bloodshot. The wound on his thigh was bleeding through the bandage.
"Let's get you guys into position," he said. "One more hour until show time."
* * *
Hanley was riding in the lead car of the Special Missions Unit caravan. It felt odd to be running an operation without Colonel Rosecrans by his side. The Army hadn't appointed a replacement yet. Hanley wondered how long it would take the FBI to replace him after he was gone.
It was a very strange operation for other reasons. The Unit would be nothing more than window dressing today. Normally, Hanley sought out battle, but on this occasion he would avoid it. True monsters would be fighting today. His brave men would just be fodder if they got caught in the fray.
Hanley knew he was already on the road to becoming one of those monsters. Marina had mentioned God's breath, and Hanley could feel it in his guts as a kind of prickling heat. The Lord was angry.
Hanley checked his watch. He was ten minutes ahead of schedule, which he found amazing. Somehow, he had managed to get the entire Unit on the road without any delays or mishaps. Of course, it helped that they had left most of their weapons behind. Side arms and simple Kevlar vests were the order of the day.
The driver of the car turned and drove through an open gate. They had arrived at the cement factory. There was a big white building that had the general shape of a giant warehouse. The walls were made of cinderblocks and the roof was sheet metal.
"Go inside all the way," Hanley ordered. "Make room for everybody else."
The car went through an open garage door and into a vast empty space. The floor was cracked concrete. When they reached the far end of the building, the driver parked.
Hanley got out and stretched his arms. A steady stream of cars and trucks were flowing into the factory as the rest of the caravan arrived.
Now I just stand here and look pretty, he thought. I wonder where the legate is hiding?
* * *
Aaron was lying on a flat rooftop a hundred yards to the east of the cement factory. A tarp covered his body and matched the tar covered surface of the roof perfectly. From a distance he would be invisible. The air was cold but he felt warm.
"Almost time," he whispered.
Yule was lying beside him under the same tarp. Both men were watching the brick buildings of Chicago in the distance. Aaron was holding a massive .50 caliber sniper rifle, which weighed thirty pounds.
"It's funny," Yule said. "In a way you played the same trick on Xavier twice. Here and at the camp, you invited him to kill us. He should've learned his lesson after the first failure."
"Being insane is a significant mental handicap."
Aaron took out his phone, opened it, and placed it on the roof face up. The speaker was just inches from his ear.
He looked through the scope on the rifle. There were thousands of windows in his field of view, and Xavier could be behind any of them.
"How long do you think we'll be able to hide the relationship between Smythe and Odelia from the legate?"
"I don't know," Aaron said. "I'm more worried about the relationship between me and Marina. It's one thing for legionnaires to sneak off on cross-country personal trips. It's a very different matter when commanders do it. I have a feeling it won't happen nearly as often as I'm hoping. Ethel would kill us if we got caught. You're sure God wants us to keep seeing each other?"
"The Big Man was clear on that point. You two are meant to be together for a long, long time. Maybe you should use a video conference system with Marina, like the one we're creating between Chicago and Los Angeles. Adding San Francisco won't be hard. At least you'll be able to see her face."
"I'll probably do that. It may be the closest I can get to her for a while."
Aaron stretched his hands to loosen his fingers. He would get just one shot at Xavier. He settled into a good firing position.
Chapter Twenty-four
Xavier watched through his telescope as the Special Missions Unit streamed into the factory. Through the open doors in the back of the building, he could see the soldiers milling about. Occasionally, Hanley would wander into view. Gullible idiot, Xavier thought, and soon a dead gullible idiot.
Two of his shadows were sitting on the roof of the factory. He could jerk them around with his eyes closed, but to make their movements appear realistic, he had to see what he was doing.
The legate was still sitting in her boat on the river. Two legionnaires had crept onto the dock and were peering over the edge of the river channel at the factory. The rest were still on the boats, but they could jump onto the dock easily. Once the order was given, the attack would happen very swiftly.
Xavier checked his watch. Finally, he thought, it's time.
He had one of his shadows climb down using a drainpipe. The two legionnaires on the dock immediately waved to their companions. The legate and the rest of her team got off the boats but stayed down.
Xavier made his other shadow peek over the edge of the roof. The legionnaires saw it and hesitated. Hopefully, they would believe the first was just a decoy and the second was real. Xavier sent his first shadow into the building and let it vanish as soon as it was out of sight. He wanted to focus all his attention on the second to make it look as good as possible.
The legate was watching now. Her eyes were just above the level of the ground.
Xavier made his shadow climb down onto an adjacent storage shed. The shadow carefully looked around. The legate immediately ducked out of sight. Moving quickly, the shadow jumped to the ground and ran into the factory.
The legate hopped off the dock and onto level ground. She drew her two machetes from sheaths on her back. The silver blades flashed in the sunlight for an instant. She ran forward at an impossible speed and the rest of her team sprinted to catch up. Xavier watched the whole group of legionnaires slip covertly into the factory. The huge bomb he had planted would bring down the whole building and kill them all.
Too easy, he thought.
He pressed the button on the radio detonator.
He instantly knew there was a problem. The explosion was much smaller than he had expected and in the wrong place. It demolished a huge piece of machinery to the west of the factory. He stood up and stared through the window in confusion.
"What the fuck?"
* * *
"Signal detected!" she yelled. "Building twelve, fifth floor! Building twelve, fifth floor!"
Aaron referred to a map on his right and located the building he had previously designated as number twelve. He sighted through the powerful scope on his rifle.
"I see him," Yule said. "Fourth window from the left and second from the top."
"Damn, you have good eyes."
Aaron spotted his target. The window was dirty, but he could still see a man standing in the dimness behind it. Aaron held his breath and pulled the trigger.
A bullet carrying 11,500 foot-pounds of energy left the barrel. The recoil kicked him in the shoulder with stinging force. The bullet crossed the distance between him and Xavier in less than a second with an almost flat trajectory.
"Beautiful shot!" Yule said. "I definitely saw a large blood spray. I don't think you hit him in the head though. Maybe a shoulder or an arm."
Aaron recovered from the recoil and looked through the scope again. The window was broken in the place he had aimed at. There was no sign of Xavier though. Maybe he had fallen down.
Aaron grabbed his phone. "Bethany!"
"Yes, sir," she said.
"You told everybody the location?"
"Our people are already converging. The building will be surrounded in less than a minute."
"Good," he said. "Also tell them I wounded Xavier. If he isn't dripping blood, it's a shadow. The real Xavier will be leaking all over the floor. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Aaron put down the giant rifle he had been using and picked up a much lighter model. It felt like a child's toy in comparison. It fired a .22 caliber round that wouldn't kill a man unless the shot was well placed. Aaron reoriented his position and aimed at the front of the cement factory.
* * *
Xavier looked down at his left arm. There was just a stump with a jagged piece of bone sticking out. Exploded muscle and skin hung loosely from the ghastly wound. The rest of his arm was lying on the floor, and the fingers were clenched in a fist.
It didn't hurt, yet, but he knew the pain would come very soon. He was still in shock.
