Outside the Wire

by Holly Copella

  Melissa appeared from one of the nearby corridors and stopped when she saw the ten bounty hunters at the mercy of the team. She gasped with surprise then turned and ran for a back corridor.

  Jackie saw Melissa fleeing. “That’s her,” she announced and was about to run after her when Zack stopped her. She gave him a bewildered look.

  He made a face and cocked his head. “Come on, Jackie,” he scoffed. “Like she’s getting far in those designer heels.”

  Jackie considered the comment then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  Zack offered a sly grin. “Ten bucks says she falls twice before we catch her.”

  “You’re on,” Jackie announced and shook his hand.

  They headed across the building after Melissa in no particular hurry.

  Ross shook his head then indicated the ten bounty hunters. “Let’s secure these gentlemen and get out of here before we’re all a memory.”

  †

  Wexler stood guard outside the front of the building near the fleet of black SUVs with his assault rifle trained on the main doors. Despite hearing gunfire, his job was to make certain the bounty hunters didn’t return to the cars. Alma and Lee checked the vehicles until they found one with keys in the ignition. Darth remained by their side as additional protection, since he would be the first to notice someone approaching. Darth suddenly looked toward the side of the building and snarled, alarming everyone. Wexler aimed his assault rifle in the direction the dog stared. Jason and Kelsey appeared from the shadows and stopped when the saw Wexler holding his rifle on them. Jason aimed his rifle at Wexler. Neither man flinched while holding their weapons on the other.

  “Wexler,” Kelsey suddenly cried out and ran past Jason to her brother.

  Wexler lowered his gun as she ran to him and jumped into his arms. They shared a warm embrace. “Kelsey, I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again. Mother said you were giving them chase in the basement.”

  “Jason saved me,” she informed him then indicated Jason as he approached.

  Wexler glanced at Jason and offered a relieved smile. “Thank you, Jason.”

  Jason joined them with his weapon now lowered although ready if necessary. “I hate to interrupt your reunion, but we need to get out of here,” he announced. “Some idiot posted a bomb warning on the scoreboard. We should take the threat seriously.”

  “Yeah, I know. The bomb is real, I promise. If we’re lucky, the idiots who set it should be out any minute,” Wexler informed him then indicated the bounty hunters’ SUVs. “We need to find another set of keys for our getaway vehicles. If the guys aren’t here at the five-minute mark, we’re to leave them a running vehicle and get the women out to the main road.”

  Kelsey joined Alma and Lee in an attempt to find another vehicle with keys left in the ignition. The main building’s front doors opened, putting Wexler and Jason on alert as they raised their weapons. Ross and his team, minus Jackie and Zack, left the building with their ten captive bounty hunters. Some looked a little worse for wear than others. Lee saw Ross for the first time and nearly cried out. She ran across the parking lot and threw her arms around him. Her enthusiastic greeting caused him some discomfort, but he endured the pain and held her in his arms. Neither seemed willing to let go. Lee finally pulled away and stared at his battered face.

  “Oh, my God,” she gasped while gently touching the fading bruises and stared at the cuts on his face. “What did they do to you?”

  He looked over her and noted her healthy, unscathed appearance then smiled while snorting a soft, humored laugh. “I’m guessing your stay was a lot better than mine.”

  She laughed while fighting her tears and caressed his face. Ross kissed her warmly but passionately then immediately pulled away.

  “Sorry,” he announced almost timidly. “I’ve smelled better, or so they keep telling me.”

  “I don’t care. I’m just happy you’re alive,” Lee replied with a tiny laugh while fighting her tears. “I’ll give you a nice, hot bubble bath when we get home.”

  Ross groaned softly and kissed her in response.

  Chapter Forty-five

  Melissa ran across the grounds as fast as her designer heels would carry her and didn’t stop until she reached the large horse barn. She hesitated outside the barn, concerned she’d been followed, and scanned the moderately dark area. When she didn’t see anyone, she entered the barn and ran into a bright light shining on her. To her surprise, one of the sports cars was parked in the barn aisle with its headlights on. Melissa slowly approached the car and gave it a strange once over.

  “Is that my car?” she remarked softly. She then saw Riley standing alongside the car. Melissa’s eyes suddenly widened. “You! I knew you had something to do with this!”

  Riley didn’t react or comment. Two neatly dressed men stood on either side of the sports car with one standing directly behind Riley.

  “Look what we found outside the back entrance,” the man standing behind Riley announced while holding a gun on her. “What would you like us to do with her, Ms. Pendleton?”

  Melissa sneered her annoyance. “Take the bitch out back and shoot her.”

  The man behind Riley shoved her toward the nearby door. Something creaked within the barn. Pigeons flew from their elevated perches in the raters and swarmed out the open barn door behind the car. Both armed men and Melissa looked around the dimly lit barn to see what caused the commotion. Riley darted looks around as if anticipating something worse than her current situation. Melissa was in a state near panic, already having a good idea what caused the pigeons to take flight.

  “Check the rafters,” Melissa cried out.

  The second man turned on a light attached to his assault rifle and aimed it toward the ceiling, shining light along the rafters. He caught a glimpse of something dark, but before he could follow it, it was gone. There was a loud grunt followed by a bang. The second guard shined his light across the car. The first guard had struck the side of the sports car and was already sinking to the concrete barn floor. Riley was gone! The second guard, now on edge, again scanned the barn and ceiling with the light on his assault rifle. Jackie somersaulted from the rafters and landed gracefully on the roof of the car with a loud bang. Despite her graceful landing, the drop and her weight severely dented the car roof. The surprised guard aimed his rifle at her. Jackie flipped off the roof and over the guard into the darkness behind him. He attempted to follow her with his assault rifle and light. Instead, he found Zack standing where Jackie should have landed. Zack spun into a roundhouse kick and knocked the rifle from his hand. His return kick sent the man crashing against the passenger side door with a tremendous bang, knocking the wind from him.

  Melissa gasped when she saw both men taken out by the Russian. She turned to run and came face-to-face with Jackie, who now stood behind her. Jackie grinned, frightening Melissa. Before Melissa could attempt to dart past her, Jackie flipped through the air, caught Melissa around the neck with her legs, and rode her to the barn floor. The woman screamed the entire way down. Jackie sprang to her feet and yanked the woman up with her. Melissa had been tossed right out of her designer shoes, and her expensive dress was now torn and dirty. Jackie clutched the woman’s throat, cutting off her air and causing her to gasp.

  “Give us your boss, and you may just live,” Jackie informed her.

  Melissa wheezed while attempting to loosen Jackie’s grip as her hand squeezed her throat. “I don’t have a boss,” she managed to gasp and stared into Jackie’s hateful eyes.

  “If you don’t have a boss that means it was you who put the hit on my team,” Jackie snarled while staring into her eyes. “That also means there’s no reason to keep you alive.”

  “Enough,” a man suddenly shouted in anger.

  Jackie looked across the barn to the car headlights. Riley was forced into the light by a man standing behind her with a gun to her head. Jackie immediately spun behind Melissa, placed her arm around her neck, and stared at the man in the sh
adows.

  “Who are you?” Jackie demanded. “I’ll snap her neck; I swear.”

  “I’m sure you will,” came the response.

  Jackie watched as Riley moved forward, allowing the man behind her to step into the light. Jackie felt her heart pounding as she stared at former Governor Lyle Kempton holding the gun to Riley’s head. She hadn’t seen him since she testified against him in court, putting him in jail for multiple murders. She masked her shock and horror with anger.

  “I thought you were dead,” Jackie scoffed.

  “Not for lack of trying from your friend, Zack,” Lyle remarked. “I nearly died in prison thanks to some friends of his. Something he didn’t seem to realize though. I have friends too. I survived the attack. Some friends of mine faked my death and kept me from returning to prison.” He stared at her with a sneer on his face. “And I thought about you and your friends every minute since.”

  “So you put the bounty on our heads,” Jackie remarked. “All of this is because of you?”

  “And everything I’ve been through is because of you,” he snarled. “The rest of your team was insignificant. All I really wanted was revenge on you and your friend, Zack. Since he died on Giovanni’s island, I had to settle for you.”

  “That’s why you doubled the bounty on me if I were taken alive?”

  “Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to torture you slowly before I eventually kill you,” he informed her. He seemed to realize something was missing and glanced around. “Where’s the Russian?”

  “I told you not to take your eyes off him,” Melissa growled beneath Jackie’s firm grip around her neck.

  “I wouldn’t worry about the Russian,” Jackie announced with a bored sigh. “I’m sure he’s behind your boyfriend waiting for some secret signal to take off his head, but I’d really like to finish our conversation first.” She was hoping wherever Zack was at the moment, he’d take the hint and not simply kill the man.

  Lyle cast a glance behind him but didn’t see anyone. The two guards were alert enough to collect their guns and pull themselves to their feet. They saw what was playing out before them and aimed their weapons at Jackie holding Melissa.

  Lyle eyed the guards then grinned at Jackie. “I think you’re a little outnumbered,” he announced with some humor to her situation.

  Jackie cast a look at her tactical wristwatch not far from Melissa’s neck.

  Melissa was becoming annoyed with her predicament and glared at Lyle. “Enough of this! Will someone just shoot the bitch?” she shouted out in anger.

  Jackie placed her lips close to Melissa’s ear and whispered, “It’s not wise to piss me off. I could snap your neck and not lose a second of sleep.” She allowed her eyes to stray to Lyle as he held the gun to Riley’s head. She watched the Governor’s hired goons with their weapons aimed at her and calculated when they’d feel they had a clear shot and start shooting. She again eyed her watch then smiled at Lyle. “Sorry, Governor,” she announced. “Your time is up.” Her watch counted down to double zero.

  †

  The racetrack’s main building suddenly exploded into a ball of fire followed by a cloud of smoke and thick debris raining down upon the track and parking lot. The entire area shook for miles. The rest of the team stood behind the bounty hunters’ SUVs, which were now moved closer to the racetrack entrance and further away from the building itself. Despite their distance, their vehicles were covered in dirt and debris.

  †

  As the ground shook, the barn rattled and seemed to shift. Dirt and debris fell from the ceiling covering those within the aisle. Everyone reacted with surprise except Jackie, who had been anticipating the explosion. While keeping her arm around Melissa’s neck, she threw herself into a forward flip, taking the woman with her, rolling her across the ground. Lyle mistakenly released Riley during the explosion. Zack tackled the young woman to the floor, rolling several times with her before springing to his feet near the sports car. Before the first man with the gun even had time to react to the explosion, Zack was spinning into a high roundhouse kick, striking him in the head. He again struck the car with a thud. The second guard snapped back into reality, saw Zack, and aimed his gun at him. Zack was already flipping through the air across the roof of the car and landed on top of the man with the gun, riding him to the ground.

  Jackie sprang to her feet and saw Lyle returning to the reality of the situation. He aimed his gun at Jackie, but she was already running for him. He fired at her, missing as she flipped through the air. She kicked him in the head, throwing him against the stall behind him and cracking the wood. The gun flew from his hand and onto the floor a few feet away. Jackie landed from the kick and spun around gracefully facing Lyle. He looked at the gun not far from him and saw her staring directly at him in attack position. His body suddenly tensed. He knew she wanted him to go for the gun. She was waiting for him to give her reason to attack. Melissa saw the confrontation between them and ran from the barn, leaving Lyle to fend for himself.

  “I’m not going to do it,” Lyle bluntly informed her. “I’m not going for the gun and giving you justification to seek your revenge.” He smirked almost smugly. “I’ll take my chances in prison.”

  Zack approached and stood alongside Jackie, allowing Lyle to see him up close for the first time. It took a moment for Lyle to realize the identity of the Russian since he never really got a good look at Zack the only time they’d ever met. Horror suddenly swept over his face.

  “You!” he gasped.

  “Yes, Governor,” Zack announced while grinning. “It would seem we were both resurrected from the dead. Convenient, huh?” He cocked his head and boldly raised his brows. “What makes you think we intend to turn you over to the authorities? If I’d finished the job I started, the last two weeks of hell could have been avoided. I’d be an idiot to give you another opportunity to take out my friends.”

  “I’ll tell you why you’re not going to kill me,” Lyle gasped then straightened with conviction and indicated Jackie. “Because she won’t let you. She’s not like you. She won’t kill an unarmed man. She needs to be justified, and I won’t give her that justification.” He grinned. “That’s why.”

  Zack removed his semiautomatic and aimed it at Lyle’s face from only two feet away. His look was cold and without emotion. “Take a walk, Jackie.”

  Jackie remained in attack position and still didn’t move. Zack glanced at her and noted her look.

  “Jackie,” he announced a little louder, jolting her back into reality. He gave her a stern look. “I’ve got this. Find Melissa before she gets away.”

  She relaxed her stance and shook her head. “No, Zack,” she informed him. “It wouldn’t be right. You can’t kill him.”

  Zack groaned with annoyance while Lyle gloated. “We can’t let him go back to prison,” he insisted. “He’ll find another way around the system and come for us again. Holden’s partner is dead because of him. Holden nearly died because of him. He ordered the hit on us at Giovanni’s island. This is all because of him.” Zack suddenly hesitated and sank into thought. “This is all because of me. I went after him, and then he came after the people I cared about.” His look then turned serious. “I started this, Jackie. I need to finish it.”

  Jackie looked at Zack and stared at him with surprise. “You didn’t start this.” She indicated Lyle with a demanding finger. “He started this when he executed a federal agent in front of me and sent his hitmen to silence me.” She drew a deep breath and ran trembling fingers through her mussed ponytail. “I’ve got this,” she informed him and extended her hand. “Give me a pair of zip ties. I’ll take care of the Governor.”

  “Jackie--” he protested.

  She snapped her fingers and indicated his pocket. “Just give me the zip ties. Melissa’s getting away.”

  Zack frowned and handed her a pair of plastic ties. He headed for the side door, leaving Jackie to tether Lyle’s wrists. Jackie fiddled with the plastic ties while st
aring emotionless at the Governor. As Zack disappeared through the doorway, Jackie’s look suddenly turned cold and hateful.

  “You ordered a hit on my husband, and you tried to kill my family, you son-of-a-bitch,” she snarled with revenge in her eyes. “You’ve fucked with me for the last time.”

  “You wouldn’t--”

  Jackie suddenly spun into a high roundhouse kick and struck Lyle in the face. As he dropped to the ground, she grabbed him by the head and snapped his neck. She let out a slight gasp along with a tiny sob as she released his limp body. Jackie shut her eyes and listened to his body hit the floor with a soft thump. Without looking back, she turned. Zack once again stood several feet from her, having witnessed the entire incident. Jackie trembled slightly and touched her forehead with a shaking hand.

  “He, uh, went for the gun.”

  Zack nodded. “I know.”

  As Jackie broke down sobbing, he pulled her into his arms and held her against him. She clung to Zack and cried on his shoulder.

  †

  Melissa hurried through the torn section in the chain-link fence and saw the unattended sports car. She let out a sigh of relief and hurried to the car, throwing open the door. As luck would have it, the keys were still in the ignition. She was about to slip into the driver’s seat when a shadow fell over her from the additional lights at the distant racetrack. She looked alongside her and saw Mac standing by the car door only a foot away.

  “Mac?” she gasped with surprise and straightened. “What are you doing here?”

  “I saw what happened at the mansion with your guards and the hitmen,” Mac remarked and stared at her with a strange look of concern. “Are you okay?”

  Melissa managed a smile and an uneasy laugh. “No, not really,” she replied and held her head. “I never should have gotten involved with my old boyfriend. You were right. I should have listened to you.” She looked around with concern. “It’s not safe here.”

  “He turned out to be a jerk, huh?”

  “Sort of,” Melissa replied then looked at the distant burning building. The inferno was bound to attract attention, even in the middle of nowhere. “We really need to go.” She suddenly hesitated and looked at Mac. “How did you know where to find me? Did you follow me?”