Verifiable Intelligence

by Kaitlin Maitland

  “Hey! It’s the best idea I’ve got.”

  “I must’ve pressed too hard on that nerve or something,” she muttered. “It screwed with the blood flow to your brain.”

  Chapter Four

  Dayne patted the twin Sigs in her shoulder holsters and her stash of extra clips before double-checking the position of her boot knives. She couldn't believe that she was about to try and kidnap this kid. If she’d really wanted the brat she could have snatched him from King as he walked out of the library.

  It was pitch dark outside. The October air was pleasantly cool. The duster had been replaced by a set of black fatigues. Her hair was braided and tucked into a black wool cap she’d snagged from Antonio’s equipment cache. She could only hope that the smears of black paint beneath her eyes and her clothing cloaked her in the darkness, because there was a great big expanse of open land to cover. She resisted the urge to pray. That would’ve been too heretical…even for her.

  The airfield lay on the far southern side of a wide valley. During the flood of ’93 the entire area had been under water when the Missouri River overflowed its levies. Since the construction of new levies, developments had been popping up all over the lush land.

  She skittered around the edge of the valley at a fast jog, keeping to the darker shadows, pacing herself. It was a long way to the terminals. Stopping for a breather near a stand of cottonwood trees, she evaluated her choice of buildings. The main terminal was out for the time being. Not even Yuri was arrogant enough to think his operation would go unnoticed in a high traffic area like that. The most likely option would be some sort of private plane, probably a Cessna or even a Learjet.

  Dayne checked her watch. It was now going on five hours since Ryan’s abduction. It felt like years to her exhausted body.

  Time was certainly something to consider. Whoever intended to fly the kid out of town would have to be starting their pre-flight procedures. No matter what Tonio’s thoughts were on the matter, mercenaries weren’t going to wait around for Dayne to make a move before preparing their package for delivery.

  A cluster of low-slung buildings sat a hundred yards from the main terminal where commercial passenger planes loaded and unloaded their human cargo. In the orange glow of the airfield lights it was possible to distinguish several smaller planes sitting outside.

  “Shit, I’m no pilot,” she muttered irritably. “How am I supposed to know if they’re getting ready to leave or just coming in?”

  She was at a loss, and she was never at a loss. This type of mission was way outside the norm. She needed a focus, a real goal. This was not focused. This was Antonio’s idea of a wild goose chase.

  Where would someone stash a kid? An office maybe? There had to be offices in those buildings somewhere. She sucked in a deep breath of night air. The cool breeze was tainted with the scent of jet fuel and exhaust. Beneath that was the pungent odor of the Missouri River, which flowed a few miles west of the airfield.

  Darting from one shadow to the next, she skirted the hangars one by one. Most were completely dark. The shapes of smaller planes loomed with weird angles and sharp corners in the blackness.

  Dayne struck pay dirt on the third building. The hangar was lighted but deserted. Only one small Cessna sat on the tarmac outside. The dingy yellow light revealed a long space open on each end. Three quarters of the way down on the left side there was a set of metal stairs that led to some kind of room. Narrowing her gaze, she could barely make out movement.

  She had no way of knowing if this was the right one. For all she knew the kid wasn’t even in one of the hangars. Hell, he could’ve been at the bus station. But something in her gut pointed to that little room twenty feet off the ground. She trusted her gut. It’d kept her alive this long hadn’t it?

  Slipping past the plane and through the open doors, she hugged the left hand side of the hangar wall and ran as quickly and quietly as she could. She was in plain sight if anyone had decided to look. Sweat beaded on her brow and trickled past her temples as she listened for the telltale sound of a round being chambered or the burn of a bullet through her skin, but she reached her destination unchallenged. Honestly, that was almost worse.

  Two black barrels sat at the bottom of the stairs. Dayne ducked quickly behind them, trying not to touch the sticky goo oozing down the sides. They stank of oil. She wrinkled her nose and opened her mouth to breathe.

  The stairs were painfully narrow. As tired as she was, it wouldn’t do any good to get surprised in those close quarters. Craning her neck around, she searched for a less direct approach.

  A system of chains and pulleys hung above her head. She assumed it was to help the mechanics heave the heavy airplane parts around. Standing and jumping as high as she could, she caught a chain in each hand. The pulley gave, and she grunted with the effort of maintaining her balance. Bracing the soles of her boots on the wall, she climbed ten feet into the air.

  Hanging from the pulley, she gauged the distance to the next one. It was high enough to bring her within reach of the office roof. She steadied herself for a leap. It was going to have to be quiet. God knew how much racket she’d make if she grabbed one side and not the other and plummeted to the floor.

  Perspiration built on her upper lip. Ducking her head, she brushed it away on her sleeve. This was insane. After all, Antonio was safe at home. She was the one risking life and limb.

  She bent her knees and crouched against the wall to get a big bounce. Releasing her hands, she reached forward as she sailed through the air. For one brief moment she was flying. Cold metal met warm palms, and she forced her hands to clamp shut on the chains. She stiffened her elbows to stop the momentum of her midsection.

  There was one brief moment of elation before she realized her boot was tangled in a loose chain.

  Gingerly moving her foot, she disentangled her boot. Carefully, oh so carefully pulling her foot free, she willed the stray chain to stay still. It rocked back and forth, unbalanced on the pulley.

  She’d just begun to breathe again when it crashed to the floor.

  Bloody hell!

  “King? Is that you?” a deep voice hailed from inside the room.

  Dayne heard heavy footfalls. Someone was going to step outside any second. She had to make it to the roof, or she'd be a hanging target.

  A hinge squeaked. She hastily gauged the distance from her precarious position to the roof of the building. Arching her back and swinging her legs as hard as she could, Dayne lurched to the right.

  Her body thumped and skidded to a halt on the roof of the office just in time for the door slam to cover her unnecessary racket. Her head throbbed in protest as she used her elbows to drag herself to the edge. She had to see how many guys she was dealing with and who they were.

  “King?”

  “Novak, there’s no one out there, man,” someone else called out.

  The top of the other man’s head was less than two feet from Dayne’s position. She could clearly see his horseshoe shaped bald spot.

  He scratched his head. “I know I heard something, Barnes.”

  There were muffled footsteps, and Dayne inhaled sharply when she saw Tony Barnes join Novak on the landing. Tony was ex-military. If he was here it meant he was working for Yuri. That was assuming it really was Yuri who was behind the kidnapping. Antonio’s theory had seemed sound. Unfortunately, the new players emerging into the game didn’t fit the team profile.

  If Barnes was there it also meant he was working with King. He hated King. Barnes fancied himself some kind of renegade patriot. He was usually on a militia payroll. King was a cold-blooded killer. He killed for no cause. He killed for money.

  “Half of this equipment is hanging by a thread. I’m surprised more of this shit hasn’t crashed to the ground,” Barnes told Novak. “You’ve got to relax.”

  Novack snorted. “I’m not jumpy. I’m pissed about this bullshit assignment. You don’t mind that we got left here to babysit a kid when the rest of them are out there hu
nting?”

  Barnes chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. With the extermination list they’ve got going, there are plenty of targets left to play with.”

  “Hell,” Novack grumbled. “With the list they got, business is about to get real good.”

  “So long as we stay on the right side of that list,” Barnes muttered.

  “No shit. But you got to figure on a double cross somewhere. The boss isn’t going to be happy when the ten o'clock news comes on tonight,” Novack said.

  “What’s one neighborhood in the big picture? Nobody will remember what happened in a week,” Barnes said with a grunt. “American idiots, the whole lot of ’em.”

  Dayne’s breath caught in her lungs. The entire situation had just been twisted, and she did not like the direction it was going. What list were they talking about? What kind of double cross did they expect? Antonio thought Yuri was involved in this? He was crazy. Nothing these two sleazebags said fit in with a vengeful Yuri. Somebody was lying.

  Or did Antonio have a score to settle somehow?

  She slapped a lid on her doubts. She had to focus. Get the kid. The rest of it would keep until later.

  She was reasonably certain these two were the only ones guarding the kid. At least until Ross King walked back on the scene. That was a scenario Dayne hoped to avoid. Messing with King required a certain amount of planning. Quick was starting to look like a good option.

  The men were still talking in muted murmurs on the landing. She carefully reached into her holster and drew her weapon. The expanse of empty air in the hangar was going to give her modified Sig shots a big echo. She hoped they would be quiet enough not to draw outside attention.

  Her stomach clenched in anticipation as she trained her sights on Barnes’ neck. There was no price on their heads. She’d tranquilize them, and hopefully the drug would take them out of the game long enough for Dayne to get in, get the kid, and get out. Barnes had to go first because he was the bigger problem should it come down to hand-to-hand combat. Dayne briefly wondered how quickly Novack could reach his gun, because if he pointed it at her she was going to kill him. Bracing the butt on her wrist, she exhaled and squeezed the trigger.

  Her bullet slammed into Barnes perfectly. The casing containing the Datura solution would leave a nasty bruise but the force effectively injected the drug into Barnes’ system. Not a kill shot. She’d just eliminated his ability to perform voluntary muscular functions for a little while. Before Barnes’s body had crumpled to the floor, she’d nailed Novack in the same way.

  Letting out a breath she’d been unaware of holding, Dayne jumped lightly from the rooftop to the landing. She holstered her weapon but didn’t touch the bodies. She wasn’t going to accidentally cause a fatality after taking such pains not to end their worthless lives.

  The office door was slightly ajar. One dim fluorescent bulb flickered overhead. Nudging the metal door with her foot, she peered inside before taking a hesitant step forward.

  “Ryan?” Dayne called in a low voice. “I’m here to get you out.”

  She suddenly found herself bent in half. Her lungs were screaming for air. Something long and hard had caught her in the stomach. Tears prickled her eyes.

  A squeak to her left alerted her still functioning systems of her attacker. Though she couldn’t breathe, she could move. Her left arm darted out, fingers finding cloth. She squeezed and held.

  “Let me go!”

  The childish voice belonged to Ryan. The kid had just jumped her!

  “I saw what you did! You shot those men. You’re going to kill me too!” he puffed as he struggled.

  “Not…dead,” Dayne wheezed.

  “I don’t wanna die! My brother’s gonna…” he paused. “What?”

  “They…aren’t…dead.”

  She could’ve sworn her eyes were going to pop out of her skull. The blood was pounding in her ears. She hadn’t had the wind knocked out of her so thoroughly in years. Thank God the kid had stopped beating on her. Maybe now she could manage to stand up.

  “I heard it. I saw the bullets even,” Ryan argued. “You shot ’em.”

  “I tranqed them,” she corrected. “It’s not the same thing.”

  “Tranqed?”

  “Tranquilized, I’ll show you.”

  Using the hand that still gripped the kid as support, she stood upright. The little bastard grunted under her weight. She didn’t care. It was his own damn fault.

  Dayne shoved him out the door in front of her. She had no idea how long it’d be before King came back from wherever he was. Now wasn’t the time to be taking chances.

  “They look dead,” he said with skepticism.

  “That’s because they’re unconscious.”

  “Ew, they’re drooling.”

  “Yeah, that happens.”

  “How’d you do it?”

  “I’m sure your brother will show you when you’re older.”

  Ryan looked up at her with interest. “You know my brother?”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  “Did he send you?”

  She considered this. “Not exactly.”

  Ryan began to pull away. “Then I’m not going with you. If you really knew him you’d know the safety word.”

  She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Only Jace would come up with something as stupid as a safety word. The man was all about rules, fail-safes, and gathering intelligence. It was the one area they never saw eye to eye on.

  “Leave me alone!” He pushed her hand away.

  “Look kid, it’s them or me,” Dayne gestured to the two men on the ground. “And I’m going to feed you.”

  “I gotta pee.”

  “That too.”

  “Okay.”

  She grabbed his arm and dragged him down the stairs behind her. There was no time to lose. She had to get back to Antonio and then figure out where to go from there. Things weren’t exactly looking on the up and up with trusting Antonio, but she didn’t have anyone else to rely on at the moment.

  Chapter Five

  “I cannot believe you actually managed to pull this off,” Antonio said.

  Dayne was sprawled out on the long leather couch in Antonio’s cavernous garage. “If you didn’t think I could do it, why the hell did you send me out there?”

  “Did you see anything other possible course of action?”

  “No.”

  “Ryan is asleep by the way,” Antonio commented before flopping down on the overstuffed armchair opposite her. “I locked him in my storage room.”

  “That’s real child friendly.”

  “At least he can’t hurt himself in there,” Antonio frowned. “I could’ve sworn that kid was going to kill himself with my power tools when you first brought him in here.”

  “I don’t think Jace would’ve appreciated that.”

  “He’s going to need therapy after all of this anyway. I don’t think anything I’m going to do will make him worse.”

  Dayne rotated her right shoulder experimentally. She’d wrenched it badly when she hit the roof of the office. Hopefully it was just bruised. She didn’t have time for anything more serious than that.

  She closed her eyes and settled a little more comfortably into the camel-colored leather couch cushions. They felt heavenly. Anything would have at that point. Just being off her feet was a huge bonus.

  Antonio shifted in the chair. “Tell me what happened with you and Jace in the past. I need to know.”

  Dayne cracked open an eye and used it to glare at him. “Why should I trust you?”

  “If I were going to sell you out I’d have done it already.”

  “Not necessarily. Now you’ve got me and the kid. We’re twice as valuable. Maybe you’re looking to get Jace, too. That’d make us a triple helping of dough.”

  “Look, I’m not overly excited about getting mixed up with Jace McKay to begin with,” Antonio said in agitation. “I just need to know what I’m dealing with.”

  She obser
ved him for several minutes. His handsome face looked tired, and his short black hair looked as if he’d been stabbing his fingers through it repeatedly. He was obviously stressing over something. She wished she knew exactly what.

  “You already know the story, Tonio.”

  He scratched his chin and trained his dark eyes on her prone form. “Tell me again.”

  “It’s pretty simple, we used to traffic illegal weapons down to those rebels in Guatemala.”

  “Yeah, the Guerillas, I remember.”

  “I’m no pilot.”

  “Jace was your pilot?”

  She yawned and stacked her hands behind her head. “Yep, Jace McKay. I bought the goods through Ramsey’s connection with the Russian mafia in Boston. Then I transferred them to Jace’s plane on a godforsaken strip of land in South Texas, and he flew them to the buyer in the jungle.”

  “Didn’t McKay have a serious falling out with your supplier?”

  “You could say that. He and Vitale didn’t see eye to eye on much.”

  “The way I heard it, Vitale and McKay didn’t see eye to eye on you.”

  That wasn’t a pleasant memory. You didn’t say no to Ramsey Vitale and walk away very often. She still didn’t know exactly why she’d turned her back on a long time association with the sexy Russian mobster. Ramsey had been all too quick to point the finger at Jace. How he’d decided Dayne had thrown him over because she had a thing for Jace McKay, she would never understand. She and Jace were like oil and water. They just didn’t mix.

  “How have you stayed alive this long?” Antonio demanded.

  “Quick reflexes.”

  “Yeah, I can tell.”

  “Back off! I’ve had a rough day.”

  There was a loaded pause. “Did you and Jace have a thing?”

  “A thing? What…like a romantic thing?”

  “Who said anything about romance…?”

  “Stop right there, Antonio. You make it sound like I’m some international harlot.”

  “Well if the shoe fits…”

  Dayne groped beside her until her hand found a stray pillow. She lobbed it at Antonio.