Noble Brit

by P. T. Michelle

  “What are you talking about?” I growl as I start my car’s engine.

  A message comes through from Sebastian.

  Elijah’s jumping on to do the trace. Keep him on as long as you can. Do you know for sure he has Mina?

  “Not everyone gets a second chance in life, but I guess you’re extra special. I have Hugh and Mina. Both their lives are precarious, and finite. The question is, which one will you save this time, Dennet? Do you save the woman you care about? Or do you save a long-time friend, who apparently came back from the dead to tell you about me? Don’t bother trying; you can’t get to them both in time. I’ve made sure of that, so you’ll have to choose. Who will it be…” he sing-songs gleefully.

  “You will wish for death before I’m done with you,” I snarl into the phone. “Where the hell are they?”

  “Such violent promises in your tone! It gives me shivers. Let’s just say Hugh’s life is on a timer. Dear Mina is stuck with me, and you know how I feel about leaving anyone you care about still breathing…”

  “Motherfucker, I’m going to rip you apart with my bare hands!”

  “The great thing about diplomatic immunity?” Edgar says in an unruffled tone. “I can be so much more open with my loathing. Tick-tock, Dennet. If you’re so fucking great, you should find me before Mina meets the same fate your family did. Then again, if you choose to save her, you’ll be willfully killing your loyal friend. I hope you make a better choice than you did for my brother.”

  “If we had saved your brother that day, you wouldn’t have your father. You’d have lost either way, you bloody wanker!”

  “Between the two of them,” he says in a droll tone. “I’d much rather have my brother. Make your choice wisely.” Before I can respond, he continues, “I’ll even give you a hint to make this interesting. Our location always had an audience. If you decide to try to find Mina first, I suggest you hurry. She’ll be my entertainment until you get here. I hope she’s up to the task.”

  He hangs up before I can threaten him again. Fury boiling inside me, I immediately call Elijah. The moment he picks up, I demand, “Were you able to trace it?”

  “The signal dropped in and out a couple of times before going dead. I couldn’t get a lock.”

  “Talia and I are in the office now,” Sebastian cuts in, his tone all business. “Bring us up to speed, Den.”

  Once I fill them in as fast as I can about Hugh, Edgar and his ultimatum for Mina and my friend, Sebastian says curtly, “You know this guy, Den. What’s your plan of action—”

  “Look at this!” Elijah jumps in. “I opened my other laptop, and the GPS signal from my surveillance glasses is live. The last time I saw those glasses, Mina was trying them on.”

  “Do you think she could still have them?” Talia asks.

  “It’s possible,” Elijah answers. “Mina’s a smart cookie. If the guy took her phone, she might’ve turned them on to help us find her. Right now, the signal isn’t moving. And it appears to be in a building on the Lower East Side.”

  “Something Edgar said makes me think there might be a timer of some kind, possibly explosives, so take a signal jamming device with you,” I say. “It could buy us time if he’s using remote detonation.”

  “Bombs? Motherfucker!” Sebastian growls. “You brought this psycho down on my sister—”

  “That’s how he killed my wife and child!” I cut him off with a cold snarl, not needing to hear shit from him right now.

  Silence fills the airspace. Most likely shock.

  “While you check out the first location, Sebastian,” I continue in a calmer voice. “I’ll chase down another lead based on some coordinates I have, but I’ll need Elijah’s help to pinpoint it.”

  “We’ll head out now.” Sebastian’s tone shifts to all business.

  “I’ll call the police and have them meet you at the location Elijah gave us,” Talia says.

  “Okay, Den. Sebastian’s on his way. Hit me with what you’ve got,” Elijah’s says.

  I pull up a number on my phone and read it off. “This is a GPS signal. Lock on it and send me the location.”

  While I wait for him to find the signal, I curl my hands tight around my steering wheel.

  “I’m truly sorry, Den.”

  I shut my eyes for a second, appreciating Talia’s words. She’s always known we both suffered loss, but not the details of mine until now. I won’t let it happen again. Could I have done something different to protect Mina from this without smothering her? Sebastian is right. Mina’s life wouldn’t be in jeopardy right now if it weren’t for me.

  “Okay, I got it. It looks like this signal leads to the abandoned Regent Theater in the Lower East Side.”

  That certainly fits with the hint Edgar gave. “Is Theo or Calder available?”

  “Calder’s on his way in, but I can help now,” Elijah says.

  “Sebastian might need you to track another signal if that one doesn’t pan out. You should stay there.”

  “I can do that from the car and coordinate with Talia at the office,” he counters. “Mina’s family, and you need the backup. I’m coming.”

  “Bring a jamming device and see you in a few,” I say, appreciating the support. “Make sure you answer if Sebastian calls. We’re already at odds, I’d rather not give him yet another reason to be pissed at me.”

  “Got it. Heading out now.”

  Gunning the engine, I speed out of the parking lot. According to my car’s map, I’m six minutes away from the Regent. I won’t let this bastard destroy Mina’s bright light.

  The front of the abandoned theater is dark so I park down the road with my lights off. I don’t want to alert anyone I’m here.

  The moment I cut the engine, I glance at my watch. I can’t wait. Elijah is at least eight minutes behind me. Every minute counts. I check my gun in my shoulder holster once more and make sure it’s unsnapped for easy access under my jacket, then grab my knife and holder from the glove compartment. Strapping it at my back, I get out and shut the door with a soft click.

  Every streetlight is out, as if the city has written off this section of town just as much as the squatters have. Thankful for the cover of darkness, I pass boarded-up storefronts and tenant housing, all stained with soot and falling apart with disrepair.

  No lights, no heat. No heart, no home.

  Gone, forgotten, dead.

  The cold, dilapidated imagery feels ominous, gnarling a knot of dread in my chest. I inhale quickly to clear my head and swallow the cough as the frigid air fills my lungs. Setting my jaw, I stealthily slide behind a bullet-riddled bench, then a burned out car, before moving on to a bashed-in donation box just a few feet from the building.

  Broken windows line the theater’s top floor and graffiti-littered boards cover the bottom ones. A puff of cigarette smoke curling in the brisk air gives the lone guard’s position away in the shadows to the left of the double front doors.

  Idiot.

  My gaze narrows on the chain around the door handles. Not an access point. Must be around the side.

  First things first. He’s in my way.

  Crouching low next to the donation box, I pick up a small rock and toss it hard back toward the burned out car.

  The rattling ping on the hood captures the guard’s attention.

  “Who’s there?” he barks. Stepping out of the shadows, he lifts his gun and stalks toward the car, demanding, “Show yourself, motherfucker!”

  Not that you’ll see me coming. As he passes the donation box, I pull my gun and quickly stand, clocking him on the back of the head.

  Stuffing his unconscious body into the back of the car, I move over to the building and stay close to the structure, ducking under the one intact window as I make my way in the shadows to the side street.

  When I come upon an idling limo with diplomatic plates, my gaze slits in anger. Approaching from behind, I can make out the silhouette of a single man in the car. Edgar sure has shitty security. This guy appar
ently decided that being warm was more important than guarding another entrance to the building. I’ll take the win. I crouch so I can’t be seen in the rearview mirror and unknot my tie. Shoving the cloth into the tailpipe, I wait for the car to stall. Once the car sputters out and the bloke is busy eyeing his dashboard trying to figure out what caused it, I make my way around and wait just behind the driver’s door.

  The instant he opens the door, I grab him and clamp my arm around his neck, using my height to my advantage. He struggles, trying his best to knock me off him, but eventually he passes out. Once he’s tied up and tucked in the trunk of the car, I retrieve my knife and jam it into each back tire with grim satisfaction, then head for the side entrance of the building.

  Dank air fills my nostrils, along with the smell of mold and worn wood. I eye the diagram of the old theater in a worn gold frame on a wall in the lobby. It’s intended to help the ticket holders find their seat locations, but the image also gives me an idea of what I’m walking into. The bowl-like design is a true relic from the past. With high ornate ceilings for acoustics, hundreds of seats descend in a horseshoe shape from the highest entry point, fanning down to the screen and stage for live performances at the bottom.

  A text comes through from Sebastian as I make my way across the trash and leaf littered concession area.

  We found a guy strapped to a chair with an arm from a pair of glasses jammed into his eye socket and a suicide bomb jacket lying on the floor. Hugh’s not here. Where the hell is my sister? Heading to your coordinates now.

  Relieved Hugh apparently got away, I text him back with the current location. I believe she’s here. Approaching building now. Elijah should be here soon.

  Right behind him.

  As I quietly open the theater door, I hear Mina before I see her. She’s singing the Rolling Stone’s Satisfaction song, her voice wavering, pitching high, then low as her fear escalates. I tamp down my first instinct to run to her. Instead, I study the contraption she’s tied up in and try to determine the quickest and safest way to get her down. With a rope hanging down from the scaffold currently wrapped around her neck, and two other ropes attached to the scaffold’s sides that are tied around her wrists, she’s at least twelve feet in the air, perched on top of an industrial looking ladder.

  “God, my ears are screaming. Mina, Mina! Surely you can do better than that.” Edgar calls from a seat halfway down in the seating areas. Settled in the very center of the room for optimum viewing of the stage, he’s leaning back with his feet up. “Why don’t you try to sing ‘Let it Be’?” When Mina frantically shakes her head, he sighs. “No? Ugh, so young…let’s see. You have to know this one. Sing ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ and try your best to do it justice this time.”

  “I can’t sing!” she yells, her voice bouncing around the empty room.

  “Not even to save your life?” When he lifts his hand and pushes the toggle button on the device, my gaze jerks back to Mina and I step forward out of the shadows so she can see me. As the ladder lowers slightly, she grabs hold of the ropes tied around her wrists to keep her balance and bites her lip to stay calm and not give me away.

  Seeing her raise up on her toes to keep the rope from choking her, eyes wide in terror, rips me to pieces. Sheer fury flashes through every muscle and I quickly step down to the end of the row behind Edgar’s. Lifting my gun, I put my finger on the trigger, ready to blow his fucking brains out. Diplomatic immunity can fuck off! “Put down the remote, Edgar. It’s over.”

  He glances my way and shrugs, completely unfazed by my gun pointed at him. “It’s about time you got here. This was getting old and honestly…?” He pauses and sucks in air through his teeth, wincing. “A bit painful on the ears.” When I shift to a step to the end of his row, he holds the remote aloft. “Ah, ah…don’t come any closer. If my finger comes off this remote at all, the ladder will collapse on itself.” Glancing back toward the stage, he nods at Mina. “Also, see that lovely metal collar she’s wearing just below the rope around her neck? It’s tied to me via a cuff on my wrist. If my heart rate goes up at all, yep, signal goes off and…boom, goodbye, Mina.”

  “What do you want?” I bite out, not bothering to hide my vile hatred for him.

  “I want you to suffer.” He pushes the button under his thumb and the ladder lowers until Mina’s lifting up on the tips of her toes. One foot slips and she screams, but catches herself, her legs shaking.

  “Let her go!” I grit out. “I’m the one you want. This is between you and me.”

  “Because of you, I lost my family.”

  “Because of you, I lost mine, you psychotic murderer!”

  “But she’s right there,” he says smoothly, gesturing to Mina. “You love this woman, right?”

  I don’t look at Mina. Instead, I keep my gaze trained on him, hoping to distract him from hurting her. He can’t know how much I care for her. I want nothing more than to eviscerate him for killing my family, but not at the risk to Mina’s safety. “I’m her bodyguard. Nothing more. You went to all this trouble for nothing, when your focus should’ve been on me.”

  “Then I guess I’m done here.” As Edgar stands and pushes the button fully forward, the ladder drops from under Mina, quickly collapsing into itself.

  The sight of the rope cinching Mina’s neck guts me. “Pull on the ropes!” I yell, forgetting Edgar as I vault down the stairs in inhuman strides to get to the stage as fast as I can. Jumping up onto the stage, I repeat my instructions once more, right before I fire twice to sever the rope above her head. The moment the cinch rope breaks and her straining arms suddenly bear the rest of her body weight, I secure my gun to grab her ankles and hold her up.

  “Feels like I’m being pulled apart,” Mina whimpers hoarsely.

  Please let this old building’s concrete and stone walls help block that psycho’s phone signal. Where the hell is Elijah? “It’s going to be okay.” I keep my tone calm as I shift around her and hold one hand out, palm up. “Put all your weight on one foot on my hand.” As soon as she does it, I move completely under her, and capture her other foot. Lifting her up, I fully extend my arms, taking the pressure off her shoulders and arms completely. “Now you can just use the ropes for balance.”

  While Mina shifts her weight on my hands and exhales her relief, Hugh steps through an exit door at the back of the theater. As he makes his way around the edge of the stage, he assesses our predicament. “Does the ladder work?” he asks, his gaze shifting between Mina, me, and the scaffold.

  “No time,” I say shaking my head. “Get my knife. It’s at my waist.”

  Hugh retrieves the knife from the holder at my back. As he starts to climb up the left side of the scaffold, Elijah pulls open the main entry door. “Did you bring the jammer?” I call out before he starts down the stairs toward us.

  Lifting the box in his hand, he continues down, his echoing footfalls drowning out my next instructions to turn on the jammer. The second he reaches the stage, I growl one more time, “Turn the goddamned machine on now!” I bellow, hating how helpless I feel.

  Dark brows pulled together, Elijah quickly sets down the small box on the stage edge. “I’d left it off so you could contact me—” Cutting himself off, he opens the box, flips the switch, then nods curtly. “We should be good now.”

  I look at Hugh, who’s shimmied up the pole to saw the knife against the rope. “Once Hugh cuts the first rope, she might lose her balance. Get ready to support her until I can move over and redistribute her weight once more. We have very little time to get that collar off her before Edgar gets beyond the jammer’s range.”

  Working together, the three of us cut Mina down quickly. Once I cut the ropes from her wrists and try to examine the rope burns on her fair skin, she touches the fat bird on her bracelet and tears fall.

  “I’m so sorry, Mina,” I say, staring at the angry welts on her arms while Elijah examines the collar for a way to access the electronics.

  She turns the willow betw
een her fingers, staring at the dents in it. “The ropes damaged my bird.”

  Chest tight with worry, I tell her it’s okay as Hugh and I do our own evaluations of the collar. After looking at it, we all shake our heads in frustration. None of us have had as much training with sophisticated explosive devices as her brother has. “Where is Sebastian?” I snap, my deep voice echoing loudly in the empty theater.

  “Right here,” he says as he and Calder enter the theater.

  “We have to get this explosive off Mina now!” Elijah calls out to them.

  Sebastian bolts down the stairs and jumps onto the stage. Squatting beside us, he turns the collar until he gets the best access to open the door covering the electronics. With a multi-tool knife, he unscrews the cover, then asks Elijah and me to confirm the colors of the wires before he cuts.

  The moment the red light turns off, disrupting the signal, I exhale deeply, the pain in my chest slowly easing. Sliding the collar off Mina, Sebastian sets it down gently, then pulls her into a hug, his voice gruff. “Jesus, Mina! Let’s not do this again. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

  Nodding, she croaks, “You and me both.”

  He helps her to her feet and examines the red marks on her neck and wrists. “I’ll have Ben meet us at the office to examine you.”

  “I’m fine, Seb. A little sore, but—”

  “Let Ben check you, Mina,” I say, holding her gaze. “He can give you something to help the rope burns and ease your sore muscles. You’re going to feel this tomorrow.”

  Shutting the signal jammer box, Elijah looks perplexed. “Where did the GPS signal you gave me originate, Den? What was the source?”

  I lift Mina’s arm and tap the bird. Locking gazes with her, I say, “There’s a reason the willow was so fat.”

  “It had a tracker in it?” she asks, her eyes wide.

  “I had no way of knowing if Edgar would come after you, so I tried to be prepared without worrying you unnecessarily.”

  Sebastian’s mouth tightens, his tone terse. “I take it Edgar got away?”